Because of that moment, my mind spun out of control; my feelings intensified as I weighed what I was experiencing, interacting with a force that transcends us as humans. I was in a state where I thought in that way and went with it, a state that led to the destruction of the self, taking me on a journey through heaven and hell.
This was not a Sufi vision of one of the saints or Buddhists, nor did it result from meditation or the performance of a religious ritual, but from "Psychedelic. This image is from an artificial intelligence program.
I closed my eyes and was propelled into what I can only describe as the other dimension, feeling my consciousness separate from ordinary feelings, seeing in my life only a mere stage of the realities. My life became infinite, a minor element in a series of existence that deviated from me in a fractal pattern, I saw the past and the future from my consciousness, surpassing my current life, into what lies beyond the universe.
... This concept delighted me with an infinite happiness, I felt as if paradise was welcoming me; I grasped an idea of what happens after death.
 …..
This was not a Sufi vision of one of the saints or Buddhists, nor did it result from meditation or the performance of a religious ritual, but from "Psychedelic," a pseudonymous account on the Reddit platform. The protagonist of the words, as recounted in his post, is a young man who used LSD, which the composition describes as "revealing" and "inspiring," while doctors refer to it as a "hallucinogenic drug," banned by law in most countries.
During the 1960s and 1970s, when hippie culture was on the rise, LSD and DMT were commonly used. These substances, also known as "trips," raised the question of whether they could aid in understanding the spiritual and human aspects of Sufism and the lives of saints.
Here, we delve into the Sufi experience by exploring the use of LSD trips, which leads us to an important question: Are the spiritual states and stations of the Sufis a divine gift or an outcome of their spiritual frays? Further, are these states and stations defined by transformations in nerve cell movements in our brains as a result of LSD? Lastly, does the Sufi experience's apathy for the body and its desires undermine its very essence?
What is the meaning of "Al-Wajd" or "spiritual intoxication" in Sufism? Can we define it? Is it similar to Nirvana, which Buddhists believe in, or the enlightenment experienced by monks? Is faith in certain beliefs and commitment to rituals a necessary condition for a disciple to approach an "aesthetic" understanding that enables us to comprehend the states of the Sufis and their experiences?
Soul and Spirituality: The Sufi Perspective
Understanding the essence of Sufism requires a grasp of the Sufi perspective on the soul.Â
Sufism believes in a spiritual experience expressed through the emotion of love, which is imbued with a profound existential dimension, infatuated with God or the Supreme Being.Â
According to the great Sufi master, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, the life of the visible body is a result of the soul's life, just as the light on earth arises from the sun. When the sun sets, its light follows it, leaving the earth in darkness. Similarly, When the soul leaves the body and returns to its original world, its life goes with it, leaving the body as lifeless matter in the eyes of the observer.
The Sufis regard the soul as the energy that enables us to perform various actions, including seeing, smelling, remembering, acting, desiring, and hating. Ibn 'Arabi stated that God referred to the soul as "the tiniest atoms." The soul cannot be divided, split, or deficient. It is similar to the whiteness present in every white thing in its essence and reality.
With time, the Lord created the soul that possesses itself, and controls its own affairs, which the Master of the Knowers, Ibn 'Arabi, calls "the soul of Muhammad the Prophet." Then, the souls emerged with the movements, and they existed in the unseen world, distinct from the seen world.Â
Recap:Â Sufism believes that the soul is the essence of our being, and it is through the soul that we connect with God or the Supreme Being. The soul is eternal and does not die but departs from the body to the world from which it came.
Can We Describe the "Wajd" Experience?
Youssef Salamah, a Professor of Philosophy, has attempted to provide an explanation of religious experience based on Phenomenology which is a philosophical approach that emphasizes the study of subjective experience and the sensory response to phenomena as its starting point. It seeks to understand the world through individual perception and interpretation rather than relying solely on objective measurements or scientific analysis.Â
He asks: Is it possible to find a suitable language to describe the religious experience related to the most essential religious experience, which is the experience of God or the Supreme Being?
The biggest challenge in describing the Sufi experience is defining and understanding its emotional and religious nature - a task that requires cognitive clarity.
In his study, Youssef Salamah mentioned that the American philosopher William Alston observed that we lack the vocabulary necessary to describe the Sufi experience in a sophisticated manner. The Sufis believe that only those who have lived it can truly understand this experience, and doubt its possibility of being comprehended by others. Muhammad Abd al-Jabbar al-Nafri, the author of "Al-Mawaqif wa-l-Mukhatabat," states that the wider the vision, the narrower the expression. He also adds that if expressing oneself is difficult when writing, how much harder it must be when not writing. Additionally, Al-Hallaj says that only those who have tasted the Sufi experience truly know it.
According to Alston, the object of mystical perception is God. He argues that the mystical experience cannot be easily described as there is no simple connection between the conditions that lead to it and the experiences that result from it.
It can be challenging to describe the Sufi experience in comparison to more common aesthetic experiences, like feeling a breeze on your face. Describing the latter is easier because it is simple to recreate the circumstances that lead to that experience.
Nevertheless, in the end, our inability to find suitable vocabulary should not prevent us from attempting to describe the Sufi experience cognitively.
The Sufis themselves, the possessors of esoteric knowledge, divide things into apparent and hidden, so for Islam, for example, in their view, there is apparent and hidden; the apparent is related to the limbs, i.e., the senses, and the hidden is related to the heart.
However, according to Salamah, others see the Sufi experience as "a state of pure consciousness or pure feeling: pure in the sense that it is not consciousness of any empirical content, as it has no content other than itself."
Does the Sufi God Differ from Others?
In his book "Routes of Sufism," the Iraqi Sufi thinker Hadi Al-Alawi says that the Sufi reaches directly to the heavens, connecting without intermediaries, interpreting revelation from Gabriel as a symbol that is interpreted but not embodied. The Sufis reject religious authority between them and the heavens.
Al-Alawi marked that the Sufis often used the term "Al-Bari" instead of "Allah" or "Al-Khaliq." He explained that this indicated the Sufis' desire to name their God specially and distinctly, bringing Him closer to the concept of the Absolute, which is the reference point around which everything revolves. This idea doesn't draw a line or create a divide between God and His creation.
Al-Alawi suggests that the Sufi Muslim God is more akin to the gods of the Taoists than to the gods of traditional religions. saying: "The Sufi conception of the Creator differs from the religious conception, as the truth does not exist in a direction or in a place, but the Taoists and Sufis are accustomed in their meditation to turn towards the sky, indicating an implicit recognition of the gods of religions."
Youssef Salama reviews another experience called "the experience of delusion," meaning "the effectiveness of imagination capable of producing delusional experiences existing beyond life and even after death."Â
Youssef Salama cites the Sufi Harith al-Muhasibi: "The fundamental image of Sufi creativity for al-Muhasibi is the imagination's ability to imagine experiences that the believer will go through on the Day of Judgment, starting with preparing to enter Paradise and ending with seeing the Truth himself."
Here we notice the widespread ambiguity in Sufi literature and teachings; what does "delusion" mean? Does it mean that we imagine ourselves on Judgment Day, experiencing the same emotions of our imagination to the extent that they become real, and then we meet the Truth himself afterwards?
 It is possible that the Sufis intentionally avoid sharing their experiences accurately, either because they fear that those who have not experienced their "delusions" may misunderstand them, or because they have faced repression from scholars who only acknowledge the apparent and the literal.
Is the Soul a Neural Activity?
Some scientists have proposed defining the soul as "the activity of the nerves associated with the process of perception." They argue that, just as matter has shown similar challenges, especially when studying subatomic elements such as molecules, electrons, and quarks, where doubt and uncertainty prevail, clinging to the mind's inability to encompass it.
But what if we redefine the "soul," abandoning its theological concept as "the immortal part of human or animal essence," and try to adopt a more contemporary concept, saying that the total sum of the neural essence, neural communications, interconnections, and flow of neurotransmitters is what makes you, you?
According to this view, hallucinogenic drugs, LSD or DMT, numb the neural circuits related to the sense of self and identity, causing the nerve cells in a wider area of the brain, in areas that have not moved before, to move, freeing their owner from his dualistic perspective. He understands plurality and immerses himself in waves of love and peace; he rejoices and falls into a visual state that differs from ordinary visual perception.
States and Stations or Al-Ahwal and Al-Maqamat
Sufis categorize the level of a disciple's spiritual progression into "states" and "stations or Al-Ahwal and Al-Maqamat." A "state" refers to the human experience that a Sufi undergoes, which is either intrinsic to their nature or a temporary condition bestowed by God. On the other hand, a "station" is a spiritual rank that a disciple aims to achieve by striving, seeking, and remaining steadfast in their pursuit of closeness to God.
Youssef Salama shares the Sufi belief that a state can be attained effortlessly, and with pure intention, bringing joy, expansion, and awe to the heart. This state is not acquired through force or need, but through a meaningful connection with the self.Sufis divide the level of a disciple's spiritual progress into "states" and "stations." A "state" refers to the human experience that a Sufi goes through, which may be intrinsic to their nature or a temporary condition bestowed by God. On the other hand, a "station" is a spiritual rank that a disciple aims to achieve by striving, seeking, and remaining steadfast in their pursuit of closeness to God.
Youssef Salama shares the Sufi belief that a state can be attained effortlessly, and with pure intention, bringing joy, expansion, and awe to the heart. This state is not acquired through force or need, but through a meaningful connection with the self.
A station is "what the servant achieves in his station from the disciplines, which he reaches through a kind of insight, and he achieves it through seeking and effort commensurate with his ability."
The Sufis differentiate between the two, stating that "states are gifts, and stations are acquisitions. States come without existence, and stations come through effort."
"Delusion," experiencing the sublime, worshipping the Creator, and the "special consciousness" in imagined and believed events of the afterlife, all these are accompanied by "states" and "stations," inseparable from them, such as adhering to the stations of truthfulness, patience, and mercy.
As we approach these states and stations through the eyes of neuroscientists, other questions arise: Does experiencing the sublime have a tangible material effect on nerve cells? Is there another way, like hallucinogenic drugs, as we will explain later in the following sections, that may have the same effect on those cells, meaning it precedes the Sufi experience? Is this possible?