The Bond with the Beloved: The Mystical Relationship of the Lover & the Beloved

This book is the best I have read on this topic. I have looked for a LONGGG time for a book that could give me this information without religous dogma or preaching. I highly recommend it for anyone who is searching for a spiritual path.

About ten years ago I read Dr. Vaughan-Lee's book, THE LOVER AND THE SERPENT, in which he used Jungian terms to describe Naqshbandi Sufism and spiritual transformation. The simplicity and power of Dr. Vaughan-Lee's writing made a deep impression on me, and I looked forward to reading more of his writings on the subject. In THE BOND WITH THE BELOVED, Dr. Vaughan-Lee continues and elaborates on this Sufi tradition brought to the West by his teacher, Irina Tweedie. This book focuses on the stages of spiritual transformation, what the seeker can expect to encounter at each stage, and the practices that aid the seeker in the journey. He draws from both Sufi and Christian sources to illustrate that the mystical journey in any tradition is basically the same. In fact, he uses the four stages of prayer identified by St. Tereasa of Avila to illustrate what the seeker can expect to encounter. The practices Vaughan-Lee describes that put the seeker into the arena of transformation are very simple. He writes, "In our Naqshbandi group meetings we meditate, drink tea and discuss dreams. The lack of outer form or collective ritual (music or the chanting of the dhikr) emphasizes the individual inner journey." But he also stresses the powerful transformative effect of these simple practices - especially the stillness of meditation. "In deep states of meditation there is absolute stillness, darkness and nothingness. . . . We Leave the mind completely behind in order to enter the uncreated, dark light of God." He writes like someone who has been there. Though the methods Dr. Vaughan-Lee describes seem so simple, they were verified for me by the work of the renowned Jungian analyst, Marie-Louise von Franz, in her book, THE WAY OF THE DREAM. Her description of dreamwork, which she says she used almost exclusively with her patients, echoes the dreamwork and transformation that Vaughan-Lee describes in THE BOND WITH THE BELOVED. Another book that corroborates Jungian theory and Sufism is J. Marvin Spiegelman's SUFISM, ISLAM, AND JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY. All three books are excellent material on the inner dynamics of spiritual/psychological transformation. BOND WITH THE BELOVED. TABLE OF CONTENTS. (1)The Shadow Side of Spiritual Life (2)Pregnant with God (3)Stages of Prayer: The Birth of the Beloved (4)Stages of Prayer: Living in the Two Worlds (5)Stages of Prayer: Ecstasy (6)The Dhikr (7) Meditation.