Applicable(?) Aphorisms #22

"Die before you die." (Sufism, Hadith Qudsi)

True, false, good, bad, useful, not so useful, etc.? Discuss.

My thoughts:

Ascribing the aphorism specifically to Sufism rather than to Islam generally seems erroneous to me, but I can see why it's more associated with Sufism than with other Islamic schools.

Why it's somewhat erroneous: The Hadith Qudsi are a separate category of Hadith. Briefly:

• The Quran is considered by Muslims to be a direct revelation from God, delivered via Muhammad.
• The Hadith, generally, are a collection of sayings attributed to Muhammad or to his inner circle (the "companions").
• The Hadith Qudsi are in between. They're sayings that purport to be, like the Quran, attributable directly to God, albeit via Muhammad. So they're more like the Quran than the other Hadith.

Why it's more associated with Sufism specifically:

Its implications associate easily with eastern religious teachings (Buddhism and Hinduism), and Sufism is highly informed by those eastern teachings, which tend toward killing the ego ("the false self") and replacing it with something "higher."

There is, in fact, a Christian analog: Baptism. Not the post-Paul "sprinkling" stuff, the dunking like John the Baptist gave Jesus. That's described as a second birth of sorts ... when you go under the water, your old self dies, and when you come back up it's a new self joined to the deity.

I've always found the whole idea embodied here interesting, but I'm not sure I buy into it very well. I'm at least somewhat skeptical that there is or can be anything else than the ego to "self." But I can't say for sure whether that's a matter of good reasoning skills on my part, or just a matter of my disinclination to let go of said self.