All in all, I felt as though Mo was not very welcoming and based on my experience, would not suggest anyone go unless you already have an understanding of Sufism, and maybe only if you consider yourself Sufi already. It is not, as it is marketed, an introduction. The event was poorly planned and it seems little thought was given as to how to make newcomers comfortable and to educate them about their practices and beliefs. An introduction should be planned, not set up with, "Ask me anything" and then follows with criticism when the questions given are not to their liking. This is, quite frankly, absurd. I was very disappointed as I was genuinely excited about and interested in learning about a different culture.
I was escorted upstairs to a large room and told to sit down while Mo went off to do something. I was the only one there. When he returned, sat next to me and remained silent a good and slightly awkward 30sec of meditation where he looked down at the floor (again, I can appreciate seriousness and meditate myself, so I went along, and though I thought it was awkward, appreciated the silence). He then looked up and said, "Ask me anything." And then sat in silence again. I thought this odd, as most introductions to a topic include an introduction from someone who knows something to someone who doesn't. However, I played along and proceeded to ask questions about Sufism. After receiving a general overview, I continued to ask questions (like how long ago he started this organization, whether it was affiliated with the local mosque, etc.,...). He seemed to become frustrated and eventually said, "These are not the right kind of questions. If you came here to develop an intellectual understanding of Sufism, you did not come to the right place." I thought this odd, given the first thing he said to me ("Ask me anything.") and the lack of introduction. Regardless, I thought I was in a unique situation, having someone who knew something about Sufism all to myself, so I tried to ask other questions about meditation and told him I had my own practice. After a few questions he said, "Based on your questions, it is clear that you are meditating incorrectly." I told him nothing of my practice, but simply asked him questions because I wanted to learn about how his meditation practice was different from mine.
Path to peace
I went on the first Sunday of the month, when they host an, "Introduction to Sufism" event. I found them on-line through Meetup. The website gave no more details other than, "Introduction to Sufism." When I arrived, I was greeted by a man named Mo. Mo did not make an attempt to make any small talk and when I did, he remained silent and only signaled for me to go up the stairs. I played along, as I can appreciate seriousness, but thought this odd.
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