Love is a Fire

Book excerpt: Based on live talks and meetings with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, this is an introduction to the passion and wisdom of the Sufi path of love. The call of the heart and how it draws us back to divine union is one of mankind's greatest secrets, and for the Sufi, this love is a fire that burns away all traces of separation. Vaughan-Lee teaches how to live this burning and describes stages of the path of love on the soul's journey home. Love Is a Fire includes descriptions of the "friends of God," early Sufi saints who burned with the fire of divine love, including Rumi, Ibn 'Arabi, and Rabi'a. It also introduces elements of the path and important tools that purify the wayfarer: tauba, the moment of the turning of the heart when the soul remembers its divine origin; dhikr, the central Sufi practice of remembrance of God through repetition of the name of God or a sacred phrase; meditation, a way of drowning thoughts in the fire of love; and dreamwork, a way of listening and attuning to the mystery of what is hidden within us—the stories of our deeper selves. This book is also available as an audio recording, Love is a Fire and I am Wood, published by Sounds True. “... forged in the fire of the heart, this is a book for all those who are looking for the direct way to connection with the Eternal Now. Simply to read this fine expression of a lifetime's longing is to feel aligned with the Divine Ground.” —Anne Baring, coauthor, The Divine Feminine “... a gift to all seekers, whatever path they are on.” —Andrew Harvey, author, Light Upon Light: A Celebration of Rumi