Book knowledge awakens consciousness, but Experience is the living beyond time and space that connects us with our deepest nature: our essence. Provided that the quest is in an authentic and prophetic tradition and ensured by an initiatory chain that has proven itself through the centuries by a living teaching. We have the great honor to meet the naqshabandi way, once reserved for an elite. On the way of Sheikh Nazim, Sultan of the saints, I had the happiness to receive the teachings of René Guénon by my first master Michel Valsan (sheikh Mustapha) at the age of 18 and launched in Paris the Aikido clubs, India was for me a source of experiences and awakenings that I was able to transmit by teachings and retreats for the aspirants.

Sheikh Amanoullah de Vos

Experience of attachment of Sheikh Nazim by his master Sheikh 'Abdallah Ad-Daghastani may God sanctify his secret

".... Sheikh' Abdallah, moreover, says that it is in this period of the night before dawn that the spirit of the master comes, par excellence, to visit the disciple. Sheikh Nazim, during this first ritual practice with Sheikh 'Abdallah, tells of the vision he had, seeing himself ascending from his place of prayer to Bayt al-Mamur (the heavenly Kaaba), the "house of God", step by step. When he arrived there, he saw the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets in a row, praying behind the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the one hundred and twenty-four thousand companions also in a row behind him, then the seven thousand seven saints of the Naqchabandi order, then the one hundred and twenty-four thousand saints of all the other Sufi orders, all in a row for prayer. There was a place next to the companion Abû Bakr as-Siddïq; great sheikh ('Abdallah) came there with sheikh Nàzim, who tells that this prayer behind the Prophet (saw) was one of the sweetest and most beautiful experiences of his Life. When the vision ended, Sheikh 'Abdullah asked him to make the call to prayer. So Sheikh Nàzim performed the morning devotions with him and then received the initiation of the Naqchbandi order."

Complete text in the book : "Genèse de la Sagesse"

Gurdjieff's experience with Sheikh 'Abdallah Ad-Daghastani

Every day, about a hundred disciples came to see the Sheikh at his center in Rashadiya, and this is how Gurdjieff, who had just arrived in Turkey after escaping from Russia, introduced himself. As soon as they met, Sheikh Abdullah ad-Daghestani, may God sanctify his secret, said to Gurdjieff: "You are interested in the knowledge of the 9 points. We will talk about it after the morning prayer. But now go and eat and rest. After the morning prayer and reading of the sura "Yassin". As he was finishing, Gurdjieff approached him and asked permission to tell him about the spiritual experience he had just had. Gurdjieff said: "At the end of the prayer and the beginning of the Qur'anic recitation, I saw you come to me and take my hand. We were transported to a beautiful rose garden. You told me then that this garden was your garden and that these roses were your disciples, each with its own color and fragrance. You led me to a particular red rose and said, "This one is yours, go smell it. As I did so, I saw the rose open, disappeared into it and became the rose. I entered its roots and they led me to your presence. I saw myself enter your heart and become a part of you. Through your spiritual power I was able to attain the knowledge of the power of the nine points. Then a voice addressed me as 'Abd an-Nûr (servant of light) and said: "This light has been given to you from the Divine Presence of God to bring peace to your heart. However, you should not use the power of this knowledge."

We know the end and the disobedience of G. Gurdjieff.

Sheikh Abd al-Azziz Al-Dabbagh

his experience of illumination "fath rabbani", initiated by sayydina Khidr of the naqshbandi golden chain

I was out of our house and God granted me, through some of His servants, four coins. I bought some fish and took it to our house. I felt a shiver and an intense trembling in my body arrived in Bab ftuh. Then my flesh began to tingle enormously, I walked while being in this state which was going to intensify, my chest began to tremble violently, to the point that my collarbone hit my beard. I said to myself: "This is death itself without a doubt". Then something came out of my body that looked like steam coming out of a couscous pot. My body began to grow until it became bigger than everything. Things began to reveal themselves to me and to appear as if they were in my hands. I saw all the villages, all the cities and towns, and I saw everything on this earth, and I saw the Christian woman nursing her little one in her lap, and I saw all the oceans, and the seven lands and all the beasts and creatures in them, and I saw the sky as if I were above it looking down on it.

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Then an intense light, similar to a dazzling flash coming from all directions, came above me, below me, to my right and to my left, in front of me and behind me, and I felt an intense coldness from it, so much so that I thought I was dead. I hastened to lie on my face to avoid seeing this light, but when I lay down I found that my whole body was all eyes, the eye seeing, the head seeing, the foot seeing, and all my limbs seeing, and I looked at my clothes and found that they did not want this ability to see that had been circulating in my body, and I realized that lying on my face and standing still did not change the situation.

God Most High was merciful to me by making me meet some acquaintances among his saints. This happened on the day after the night after the day of enlightenment. I was going on a pious visit to the shrine of Mawlây Idris, and I met the doctor of law Sidi al-hajj Ahmad al-Jurundi and sat down with him. He said, "Tell me what you have seen. I told him about it, and I saw him crying. He said, "There is no god but God, it has been four hundred years since we heard someone mention such things. And he gave me a lot of money.”

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In the line of the extraordinary harmony existing between AIKIDO and the Sufi way, here is an extract of a text of our respected master Ueshiba experience of spring 1924 where the master realizes the identification with the universe, called in Islam the fath rabani, experience also fundamental and necessary for the Sufis.

Word of Master Ueshiba:

"I was walking alone in the garden, when suddenly Earth and Heaven shook. From the great earth, golden ki (light) sprang up, enveloped my body, and I had the sensation that I was transmuted into a golden body. Simultaneously, my heart and body together became light, I could understand the meaning of the whispering of the little birds and became capable of clear intelligence with the heart of God who created this universe. At that moment, I understood that the origin of Budo is the love of God (the spirit of protection and love of the ten thousand beings) and tears of ecstasy flowed endlessly down my cheeks. From then on, I felt that the whole earth was my home, that the sun, the moon and the stars were all mine. Moreover, status, honors, treasures, and the desire to become powerful were all gone. Budo is neither slaughtering the opponent by using physical force or weapons, nor leading the world to its destruction by weaponry. True budo is putting the ki of the universe in order, protecting the Peace of the world, properly producing, protecting and raising the ten thousand beings of the world. In other words, the practice of budo is to put into action in one's heart and body the loving force of producing, protecting and correctly raising the ten thousand beings of the world."