From Shaivism To Sufism: India's Eternal Spiritual Path'Dharma/Dhamma/Deen is Annihilation of the Self (Fana) for its Immersion in the Divine (Baqa)
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
15 February 2026
India’s [former] Permanent Representative to the United Nations in both New York City and Geneva, Janab Kamalesh Sharma Saheb— a senior Indian diplomat who served and represented the nation at the UN headquarters and major multilateral institutions, remarks: India’s religious history is often narrated in terms of diversity. Yet beneath this diversity runs a remarkable continuity — an inward spiritual movement that privileges self-transcendence over dogmatic rigidity.
In a recent conversation with this writer at a spiritual retreat in Varanasi—revered in Hindu sacred geography as Kashi, the eternal abode of Shiva—India’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Kamalesh Sharma, reflected on the shared spiritual grammar of India’s religious traditions. “Whether articulated as Dharma in Hindu traditions, Dhamma in Buddhist thought, or Deen in Islam,” Sharma Saheb observed, “the essential spiritual demand remains the same: overcome the ego-self to realize ultimate truth.” He further noted that he finds a particularly powerful expression of this inward trajectory in India’s two most inclusive mystical traditions—Shaivism and Sufism.
In a moment of candid spiritual introspection, he added: “I am a Shiv Bhakt and a devotee of the divine feminine manifestations of Shakti—Parvati, Durga and Jagdamba—but I often wonder why I feel so deeply drawn towards Maula Ali ibn Abi Talib. Whenever his name is mentioned, I sense divine traits and attributes strikingly similar to those of Mahadeva.”
His reflection was not theological conflation but spiritual resonance — an intuitive recognition of archetypal virtues: courage, renunciation, justice, compassion and cosmic strength. In this contemplative space in Kashi, the conversation seemed to affirm once again that India’s mystical heritage transcends rigid boundaries, inviting seekers to discern unity in the language of devotion.
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2008–2016), Sharma Saheb is a senior diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service who played a significant role in India’s multilateral diplomacy and held several senior positions in India’s Ministry of External Affairs. What dazzled me is that he actively supports multifaith divine feminine while at the same time presiding over Maa Anandamayi Ashrams across India—Haridwar, Varanasi, Dehradun and Kankhal. In this recent retreat at the Assi Ghat of the Ganges River held in deep esteem in Kashi-Varanasi-Banaras, we ideated on reliving, reinterpreting and revitalizing India’s spiritual history—not as a collection of isolated religious denominations or dogmas; but as a continuous civilizational dialogue. From the ancient currents of Shaivism to the mystical flowering of Sufism, one profound idea flows persistently through the ages: the annihilation of the ego-self (fana) and its immersion in and union with the Divine Reality. Call it Dharma, Dhamma, or Deen — this essential spiritual movement remains the same in all Indic traditions. The journey is inward. The enemy is the ego. The destination is union.
The Shaiva Realisation “I Am Shiva” and the Sufi Gnosis “Anal Hqq” (I Am the Truth)
In the non-dual traditions of Shaivism, especially in Kashmir Shaivism, the ultimate truth is Shiva — not merely as a deity among others, but as Universal Consciousness itself. The individual soul appears separate due to ignorance (avidya), but in essence it is never apart from Shiva. Within the metaphysical framework of Shaivism, the declaration “Shivoham” — I am Shiva — is not an assertion of individual divinity but a statement born of ego-transcendence. It is rooted in the Upanishadic insight that ultimate reality is non-dual. The mahavakyas of the Chandogya Upanishad (“Tat Tvam Asi”) and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (“Aham Brahmasmi”) establish the philosophical foundation for this realization.
The Shiva Sutras begins with the aphorism Caitanyam ātmā — “Consciousness is the Self.” Bondage arises from limited awareness (jñānam bandhah), and liberation dawns when the individual recognizes his or her identity with universal consciousness. Thus, the utterance “I am Shiva” signifies not the exaltation of ego but its annihilation. The finite dissolves into the Infinite.
Now see this with the prism of Sufi mystic-martyr Mansur Al-Hallaj. Reflect and contemplate on his ecstatic proclamation of “Ana al-Haqq” (I am the Truth). Contrast it “Shivoham” — I am Shiva and decipher both realisations of a Shaivite and a Sufi within this framework of ego-annihilation. Hallaj did not assert personal divinity; rather, he articulated the extinction of individual selfhood before the Absolute. The Andalusian metaphysician Ibn Arabi further developed this and propounded the ontology of Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being), arguing that all contingent existence is a manifestation of Divine Reality. Yet Islamic orthodoxy maintains a doctrinal distinction between Creator and creation. Thus, divine union in Islam is experiential and relational, not ontological identity. But in Shaivite-Sufi metaphysics, a parallel interior movement is articulated through fana (annihilation of the self) and baqa (abiding in God). The Qur’an declares:
“Everything upon it will perish, and there will remain the Face of your Lord…” (Qur'an 55:26–27)
Here too, the ego-self must perish for Divine reality to be fully realized. It is within this contemplative intersection that many seekers in India have sensed spiritual resonance between the Shaiva ideal and the luminous personality of Maula Ali ibn Abi Talib. In Islamic spirituality—particularly within Sufi and Shia traditions—Imam Ali (A.S) is revered not merely as the most rightly guided Caliph of the Prophet but as the embodiment of his inner knowledge (ilm-e-batin), chivalric virtue (futuwwa), ascetic detachment, and unwavering devotion to Divine unity (tawhid). The hadith reported in various prophetic traditions, “He who knows himself knows his Lord,” mirrors the inward epistemology central to both Shaiva and Sufi thought. Ali is the manifestation of the “Self-knowledge” (ma’rifat) which becomes the gateway to Divine knowledge.
However, the close resemblance between Mahadeva (Shiva) and Maula Ali in the devotional imagination of many Indian seekers is symbolic rather than doctrinal. Both figures represent archetypes of strength fused with compassion, asceticism united with engagement, destruction of ego paired with protection of truth. In the Shaiva vision, Shiva is the destroyer of ignorance. In Sufi reverence, Ali is the gate of knowledge and the lion of Divine courage. The resonance, thus, lies not in theological equivalence but in spiritual aspiration. Both point toward the same inward imperative: transcend the lower self to awaken to the Real.
In essence, the proclamation “Shivoham” and the Sufi path of fana fi’llah converge phenomenologically in the annihilation of ego. But while Shaiva metaphysics may affirm identity, Sufi spirituality culminates in perfected servanthood. In both traditions, however, the message remains uncompromising: The ego must fall for truth to rise. Therefore, an important theological distinction must be preserved. In Shaivism, the realization “I am Shiva” often affirms metaphysical identity with the Absolute. In Islamic theology, even at the highest station of sainthood, the servant remains servant. Imam Ali never claimed divinity; rather, his life exemplified total surrender to God. His nearness to the Divine derived from humility, justice, courage and annihilation of self-will before the will of Allah.
The ecstatic declaration of Mansur Al-Hallaj, “I am the Truth” echoes the same mystical dissolution found in earlier Indian traditions. Yet, like the Shaiva sage, Hallaj did not speak from ego but from its extinction. Ibn Arabi elaborated the same experience and termed it Wahdat al-Wujud — the Unity of Being — affirming that all existence is a manifestation of the One Reality. Similarly, in the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi, the soul longs to dissolve like a drop merging into the ocean of Divine love.
The Shaivite-Sufi Syncretism in India
Centuries ago, when Islam entered India, its mystical dimension and internalisation—Sufism—found fertile soil. The Sufi masters spoke in a spiritual idiom that resonated deeply with the subcontinent’s contemplative temperament. They articulated the path to eternal salvation in two essential stages: fana—annihilation of the ego-self—and baqa—abiding in Allah. The epithet “Baqi Billah” (abiding in Allah) itself became historically significant in India. It is famously associated with Khwaja Muhammad Baqi Billah, the founder of the Indian branch of the Naqshbandi order (Silsila Naqshbandiyya). The title signified not personal immortality in a literal sense, but spiritual subsistence through Divine proximity—an existence purified of egocentric desire and sustained by remembrance of God. The Qur’anic foundation of this doctrine is: “Everything upon it will perish, and there will remain the Face of your Lord…” (Qur'an 55:26–27)
From this metaphysical premise emerged the Sufi understanding that all contingent existence is transient, and only the Divine Reality endures. Through remembrance (dhikr), discipline of the nafs (lower self), and spiritual companionship, the seeker gradually effaces ego-consciousness until nothing remains but Divine awareness.
Yet it is crucial to underscore a theological boundary carefully preserved within Islamic orthodoxy. However intense the mystical experience of nearness, Islam maintains an ontological distinction between Creator and creation. Union in Sufism is experiential (dhawqi), not essential (dhati). The servant (abd) never becomes the Lord (Rabb). Rather, through fana, the servant’s ego-will dissolves, and through baqa, the servant lives in complete conformity with the Divine will.
Thus, while Sufi language may at times sound strikingly similar to non-dual affirmations found in Indian metaphysical traditions, its doctrinal framework remains rooted in tawhid—the uncompromising unity and transcendence of Allah.
Dharma, Dhamma, Deen—India’s Eternal Inner Trajectory of Oneness
India’s civilizational genius lies in its ability to recognize shared inner truths across traditions. In Dharma, the ego dissolves into Brahman or Shiva. In Dhamma, the illusion of a permanent self is transcended. In Deen, the nafs (lower self) is purified until nothing remains but God’s presence. Thus, India has different vocabularies with the same inward movement. The Upanishadic insight “Tat Tvam Asi” (Thou art That) and the Sufi realization of “Fana” both challenge the rigid sense of separateness that imprisons the human soul.
When Sufis arrived in India, they did not encounter an alien spiritual landscape. Rather, they entered a civilization already steeped in contemplative wisdom. This resonance helped Sufism take deep roots in Indian soil. From the khanqahs of Delhi to the shrines of Ajmer, the language of Divine love echoed in harmony with older currents of devotion and non-dual realization. India’s mystic message — whether articulated in the contemplative silence of Shaivism or in the ecstatic devotion of Sufism — remains profoundly clear and simple:
What remains is the One!
Die before you die.
Annihilate your false self!
Awaken to the Real!
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Contributing author at New Age Islam, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is writer and scholar of Indian Sufism, interfaith ethics, and the spiritual history of Islam in South Asia. His latest book is "Ishq Sufiyana: Untold Stories of Divine Love".
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