Question

explain the common features of the bhakti and sufi teaching

Answer 1

They believed in the one ness of god - god was one despite many names.

They believed in bhakti or total surrender and devotion to god .

They believed in the equality of all human beings . God was inside every person .

They believed that the way to realise god was through simple living and loving and serving others .

They denounced elaborate rituals in religions and spoke against superstitions .

They believed in the prescence of a personal god who could be approached without the help of priests .

They believed that people could pray to bod in thier own simple language and questioned the role of sanskrit as the only language of prayer .

These were of the bhakti saints. The sufi saints were similar .

Just like the bhakti saints the sufi pirs ( saints ) believed in meditation , love and devotion to god rather than in rituals and rigid customs. They expressed thier devotion through dance and music. They were respected greatly by the common people.

Answer 2

India in the medieval ages saw a silent revolution brought about by a vibrant and radical group of socio-religious reformers, and from the period of 1oth century onwards, religion took a tum with a burst of spirituality via these reformers. These reformers had a deep devotion to God, and belonged to two very different faiths: Islam and Hinduism. Sufi mystics were born out of Islam, and the Bhakti mystics born out of Hinduism. Although these mystics plunged into contemplation and meditation, they had a strong influence and rapport with the common man. Though the two religions were far apart in terms of their doctrine, they had much in common. They were not a part of their respective orthodox groups. Both the orthodox Brahmins of the Hindu faith and the orthodox ulema of the Islamic tenets, although they learnt each word of the scriptures - the Vedas, Upanishads and the Quran - it seemed they lacked the appreciation of the core essence of its message. However the mystics of both these religions touched the hearts and souls of the common man, emphasizing the importance of 'Knowledge' 1 , which was imparted by their messengers and as such, the Bhakti and Sufi saints have contributed to the making of a particularly charismatic religious history. The teachings of the Bhakti and Sufi saints had much in common which can be traced back from different ages in various regions, and though both movements were not of the same period, they were for some time contemporary. Introduction of Sufism in India began around the eleventh century, though it had been active outside India from the tenth century. Sufi saints such as Muinuddin Chishti were responsible for bringing Sufism to India around the same period as the Muslim conquest. The Bhakti movement, which was highly influenced by Buddhism, was a combination of Hinduism and Buddhism, and the birth of Bhakti can be attributed to Sankarachaya melding the best of both faiths in the eighth century in south India, spreading to north India during the twelfth century after the decline of Buddhism in this area.