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One of the world's foremost experts on traditional Sufi sources in both Arabic and Persian, is William C. Chittick. Prof. Chittick gave a very illuminating talk, titled On the Cosmology of Dhikr, at the Paths to the Heart conference.
His talk and essay trace the origin of the Sufi practice of dhikr (literally "remembrance" but often used for the practice of invocation of God's Name, or other formulae) to the Islamic emphasis on knowledge. Chittick shows us the 'natural' extension of the knowledge of God's Indivisibility or Unity (in Arabic, Tawhîd) to the human response to this cosmic reality, namely the practice of dhikr and all else that this imposes on humankind. Although much rooted in Islamic and thus Sufi thought, readers/listeners will again be able to find a great deal here that is also clearly applicable to Eastern Orthodox thought and practice.
The audio clip of Dr. Chittick's talk is 8 min. 33 sec. long.To listen to this audio segment,
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