What are the similarities between Sufi Islam and Zen Buddhism?
Amori Patel, Studying Levantine Arabic
Answered Apr 26, 2019
While there are many irreconcilable and unbridgeable doctrinal and theological differences between Islam — of which Sufism, Tassawuf, is the inner kernel, see section below on marifa — a culmination of Abrahamic revelation representing monotheistic faith and Buddhism which is Dharma based, there is much common ground, incidentally the title of the book “Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism”, with a forward by his Holiness the current Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama states, “My Muslim friends have explained to me that since God is characterised as compassionate and merciful, faithful Muslims are actually offering complete submission to the ideal of universal compassion. By this means God’s compassion can flow through the actions of the faithful. Such a practice is clearly a way of purifying the mind and seems to parallel what the Buddha himself said about the importance of actually living your life in a compassionate, ethical way. Thus, from a Buddhist point of view, the practice of Islam is evidently a spiritual path of salvation.”*
Most of Buddha’s teachings are on the plane of ma’rifa (spiritual wisdom) in Islam, and not on that of ‘aqida (doctrine), it is difficult to compare Islam and the various schools of Buddhism. If one goes beyond the letter, there is some affinity if one operates in the plane of the spirit. While one cannot call Islam and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace) an offshoot of any school of Buddhism, there are most certainly resonances and affinities, for the spiritually inclined, if you will.
*Source: Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism, 2010, Fons Vitae (PDF)
