Faruk Arslan

Transcendence Sincerity: a Heart-based Sufi Mindfulness Spiritual Practice Employing Self-journeying Faruk Arslan

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of the human evolution of consciousness. The heart occupies an important place in Sufism and is considered to contain the divine spark that leads to spiritual realization. Fethullah Gülen?s action-oriented Sufi methods described in his book series ?The Emerald Hills of the Heart? provides the basis for a heart-based therapeutic intervention through self-journeying, which is the objective of this work. These self-purification and mindfulness-related transpersonal methods generate a form of treatment that is culturally sensitive. Through my reflections in this research, I transformed my personal experiences into a transpersonal narrative by writing 80 poems in 80 days, and this output, along with Gülen?s teaching methods, techniques and spiritual practices formed the source of my intellectually generated data, and the basis for the new therapy model. This work presents my journey in Fethullah Gülen?s Sufi path and an emerging model for a heart-based Sufi mindfulness spiritual practice. In this research, I propose a faith/spirituality-based model of heart-centred psychotherapy rooted in the spiritual philosophy.