Fanaa

SUFI MYSTICS SPEAK LONGINGLY of fanaa or ‘dissolution’, the exalted state in which the seeker finally becomes merged with existence as his ego fades away, dissolving into the cosmos. In this subtly shaded mandala, the strident tones of the ego have gone, leaving behind a vast, impersonal presence that radiates gently out from the single point at the centre, and ebbs back in towards it again, pulsating softly with limitless, yet relaxed energy. All the ego’s crutches, its attachment to polarities of good or bad, white or black, pleasure or pain, are transcended as both yin and yang are absorbed into this state of dissolution.

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Yet, for all that the harshly separated egoic state is gone, still the awareness of unique individuality remains. There can be no self-abandonment into some hive-mind-like collective consciousness. Our journeys remain always our own, individuated, but the more we recognise that we are also in union with the all, the easier it becomes to push the ego's clamour into the background of our response to life.