Islam has always been a beacon of controversy; through it's religiously-steered politics, archaic views and some very aggressive tactics in the pursuit of “Change”. The images given to Muslims portray a gravely pious and sometimes barbarically bearded bunch that seem to revel in the blood and massacre and would do nothing short of killing themselves so that their God can ruin your week. Very rarely do we see anything about the lighter side of the religion; the views that are not as gruesome, the beautiful artwork which comes in too many forms to list, or the peaceful religious radicals on the opposite end of the spectrum from violent extremism. In some factions of the Islamic faith, followers of specific schools not only seem to thrive in the arts, but they use it as a tool in the pursuit of their faith. Sufism is an example of a psychological devotion to an artistic faith. Ancient mysticism, thought to predate Islam itself, overtakes the mind of a Sufi dervish and begets a trance-like state in which they may have an encounter with God. An opportunity opens up to bring forth a question for the deity, so as to bring back an answer for Mankind. The answer of course, is limited to how the dervish himself interprets it, and any proof of it's origins are locked away in the mind of the absent-minded. Outside of the religious boundaries of Sufism, these teachings are taken more in the form of art then as devout interpretations. Sufi poetry has spanned across centuries and continents, with fundamental principles at it's core, and has come from depths of the mind that not every human can fathom. A Sufi's psychological exploration is, in the name of God, expressed through artistic interpretation; but in the hands of an artist by profession, in an evolutionary period of art expression, the results were extraordinary. This artist was famed surrealist Salvador Dali, who used the Paranoid-Critical Method, seemingly his own interpretation of Sufi mysticism, in order to transport his mind to another place, far from reality, for the sake of the arts. As a Surrealist, “Dali used his gift for drawing to offer a pictorial representation of his psyche” (4), but the Paranoid-Critical Method was a far more psycho-analytical tool for him. A technique said to be developed by the artist to “induce hallucinatory states in himself”(5), Paranoid-Critical Method carries many of the same psychological characteristics and produces a holistic flair in the creative arts comparable to some of the greatest Sufi scholars.

Just as great Sufi dervishes were renowned as scholars in their Orders, Dali had been the renowned pioneer of the Surrealist Movement, a movement which was highly wrought with the advances in psychology of the time. The Surrealists placed a heavy confidence on the work of Sigmund Freud; especially freeing the unconscious and the importance of dreams. Dali would cite The Interpretation of Dreams as a paramount finding that allowed him to reflect back on everything that had happened to him in his life. His “first phase” of paintings conveyed “rational, conscious symbolism”(6) derived from dreams; a fusion of art, psychology and the comprehensible. After some time, Salvador Dali added P.C.M. into his interpretation of Surrealism; the result tuned his mind to be as harmonious as a piece by Mozart, but the products were eerier then the stare of a one-eyed cab driver. The Paranoid-Critical Method was a remarkably perceptive tool of irrationality which he used to search for the inner meaning of everything around him. His views, as seen from the eyes of a person still thinking in the rational order, seemed remarkably absurd at times. But just as with the Sufi mystics of the past, it would take a deeper inquiry to find the proper meaning of the interpretation. A breakdown of the Dali painting Daddy Longlegs of the Evening – Hope!, would utter “At first glance, the piece appears utterly mad....On closer inspection, however, it proves to contain artistic and philosophical complexities far beyond the expected.” (6) The painting was a philosophical foreshadowing of what was in store for the world Post-World-War-II, a nuclear meltdown in a calamity of chords. Whether portrayed as a delusional insanity or a reasoning with madness, Salvador Dali used an exploration of his mind in order to produce an irrational image of something only he will have ever truly understood.

"If someone remarks, 'What an excellent man you are!' and this pleases you more than his saying, 'What a bad man you are!', know that you are still a bad man.” (3, Sufyan Al-Thawri) By the way of Sufi Orders, poetic interpretation of clerical information became the method of passing along the teachings of Islam. Some of these Orders also taught Dhikr and Muraqaba, the chanting and meditations used by Sufi scholars to induce a mystical transfixion. Rumi, Al-Ghazali and many other honored Sufi scholars were not only renowned for their prose and their command of the mysticism, but were also revered as some of the top jurists and theologians of their time. They touched on a great number of topics, and were recognized for the depths they dove in order to achieve their mystical connections with an ethereal existence. Their knowledge was vast and divine, their perception was deep and their teachings were righteous; they were given a gift and entrusted to search for Truth. Through the practices of Dhikr and Muraqaba, Sufi scholars are still exploring the unconscious yet dynamic existence of their mind to this day and learning more about Islam, but the teachings of the past still seem to find application in the present day Sufi's world. Modern dervishes are still seen throughout the Muslim world as the most prosperous of Muslims; not with the prosperity of blinding wealth or international fame or even martyrdom. The Sufi mind is a wealth of knowledge, a traveler on an astral plane, and sets the example of mental discipline.

Salvador Dali didn't limit his Method to his paintings, it was applicable to all creative mediums. It was his greatest contribution to art; a vividly abstract use of a flexible mind, with no physical or mental creative boundaries. Moorish Sufi scholar Al-Kattani states “Sufism is a good character, so anyone who improves your character has improved your Sufism also.”(3) As an experimental model, Dali may have been open to the idea of other artists using his Method for the good of their own creativity, although attempts of re-creation and imitation of the style had not produced the zealous images that emerged from the Spaniard's own subconscious. But the Method could be applied to literature and lifestyle just as it was applicable in painting and aesthetics, it was only a tool of perception. The Sufi meditative methods took the teachings of subconscious perceptions and used them to define not only a lifestyle, but a complete movement of expressing devotion for a deity. Stripped of it's spiritual elements, the Sufi Way is that of wholeness and singularity within oneself and a sense of selflessness from without. From the outside, it may seem that this humble and investigative mood is a stupor, but the Way was the pinnacle achievement of a Sufi dervish; it was the culmination of a lifetime of devotion, which led to the gateway of self-expansion on an unexplored peak.

A psychological dissection of Sufi mysticism would call it a “process that enables the person to better understand the structure of its self and its soul”(1), and although Sufism involves a great deal of spirituality, it is still a trip within oneself, the product of which can only truly be understood by the “tripper”. The Sufi Psychology Association says that “our externally based life purposes and derived life goals are constantly alienating us from our true self and true identity,” (7) which rings a close tone to how Salvador Dali approached Art. P.C.M. is a dismissal of what we deem convention or organized, but it is the inner psyche that deems it so. Rationality is left out of the equation, replaced by brutal truth and a vibrant darkness, and the product is utterly real yet unorthodox and almost unimaginable. Dali's art through P.C.M. seems nothing more then a mess of images, one after the next with no logical order or connection, and it takes a sort of brain-melting cohesion to make sense of it and expose the conclusive meaning behind it all. This confused and misunderstood method is a bicycle without an assembly guide, not to mention a lack of the proper tools that allow for a straightforward assembly. But under a different classification and in a completely different philosophical grouping, adding the spirituality aspect of Sufi psychology makes the Paranoid-Critical Method is nothing more than fierce prayer, or at least gives madness a direction. “Asking good questions is half of learning.”(3, Prophet Muhammad)

Work Cited

1. Australian Sufi Centre, “Sufi Psychology” Australian Sufi Centre

<http://www.australiansuficentre.org/sufipsych.htm>

2. Daddy Longlegs of the Evening – Hope! By Salvador Dali

<http://gravitando.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/daddy-longlegs.jpg>

3. Fadiman, James, and Robert Frager, Essential Sufism, Castle Books, 1997

4. Laurent, Sabrina. “Salvador Dali: a Genius?” Boheme Magazine July 2004

<http://www.boheme-magazine.net/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=260>

5. "paranoiac critical method." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Mar. 2009

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/443098/paranoiac-critical-method>.

6. Ross, Aaron “The Art of Salvador Dali: From the Grotesque to the Sublime” Spring 1990

<http://www.dr-yo.com/grot.html>

7. Sufi Psychology Association, “Sufi Psychology/Sufi Psycho-Therapy” Sufi Psychology Association 2008
   <http://sufipsychology.org/page_sufiPsychotherapy.htm>

8. Wikipedia, “Sufism” Wikipedia, Last Updated: 2/25/2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism>

9. Wikipedia, “Surrealism” Wikipedia

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism>