Making An Offer You Can't Refuse
If truth be told, the foregoing 'headline' is a bit of hype. After all, one can
always choose to refuse an offer, but I am hoping that after reading what I have to say, you
won't want to refuse what is being extended to you. Consequently, although the following presentation is rather lengthy, nonetheless, I hope you will pursue what is being said here all the way to the end of the page ... the five minutes, or so, that you spend on reading the information below could help to generate a great many dividends later on.
I'll cut to the chase. The essential character of what is being proposed through this web page can be stated in the form of a question: How would you like to own $1,000.00 worth of educational and thought-provoking software for free?
The Nature of the Offer
What does investing a little time in obtaining the free Bridge software package get you? ... Access to more than 14,000 pages of exploration into an array of principles, values, practices, and ideas that are are at the
heart of both Western and Sufi perspectives. In effect, the Bridge software package takes the essential teachings of the Sufi path and
applies them to a wide variety of topical issues, ranging from: Shari'ah, to: Education, morality, economics,
political science, 9/11, terrorism, fundamentalism, spiritual abuse, corporations, history, atheism, feminism, indigenous peoples, the first Gulf War, mysticism, theology, psychology, philosophy, democracy, ecology, evolution, mythology,
sovereignty, scientific method, international affairs, leadership, tasawwuf (the esoteric or mystical dimension of
Islam), constitutional law, physics, cosmology, evolution, and much more.
The foregoing 14,000 pages come in the form of 40 books, 39 poems set to music, five videos, and 10 episodes of
the Sufi Study Circle Podcast that have been collected into one executable file, or software program, that allows
one to easily navigate from book to book, chapter to chapter, poem to poem, podcast to podcast, and video to video.
The poems are accompanied by music (i.e, they are in an audio format) and are entirely
rooted in a Sufi perspective, while the former 40 books are put together in a way that, with just a
couple of exceptions, permits a person to read the essays, commentaries, critiques, and short
stories contained in those books in any order one likes. Not only are mny of the chapters relatively
short, for the most part, but all of the 14,000-plus pages are fully searchable so that one can look for
specific words, terms, and phrases according to one's interests.
In addition, some of the chapters/essays are repeated in a number of books. Originally, those sections
were included in certain books that were intended to be read as individual works, but the
fact that a few of the essay/chapters appear in several books is merely an indication of the
importance of the contents encompassed by those essays/chapters.
Finally, all of the pages in the: Bridge software package are adjustable with respect to size of the screen, as well in relation
to the size of the print on the page. Furthermore, the library is fully searchable, with a capacity to
highlight whatever words, terms, or phrases one might be seeking.
Why is this software package entitled Bridge?
Perhaps the best way to provide an explanation concerning the significance of the software package title is to relate a
short story involving my spiritual guide. More than 30 years ago, my teacher was reading an English translation of a book on the Sufi mystical tradition that had been written
by a Sufi master more than 800 years ago.
Originally, the book had been written in Persian. However, my teacher -- who also was reading a Persian edition of the original
book that had been translated into English -- was marveling at how the translator had taken the original Persian words and transformed
them into English without altering the basic meaning of the original text and, moreover, the translator had done this through a literary
style that was quite different from the literary style of writing that had characterized the original work.
Although I certainly do not have my spiritual guide's understanding of Islam and the Sufi path -- indeed, far from it --
nonetheless, in the Bridge software package, I have endeavored to offer a translated transformation of what my spiritual guide taught concerning the nature of the Sufi
mystical tradition, just as the modern scholar being alluded to above provided a transformed rendition of the original Persian work by a twelfth-century
Sufi sage but did so in the scholar's own literary style without altering the basic message of the original work. I believe the Sufi
path offers a bridge that is capable of bringing together western and eastern perspectives concerning existence, and, according to my
limits -- both conceptual and spiritual -- I have sought to translate my guide's way of talking about the Sufi path and Islam and used that
approach to shape what I have written in relation to a variety of topics ... and have done so in my own literary style without, hopefully, introducing
too much distortion into the translation process. In this fashion, the material contained in this software package serves as something of a bridge between the perspective of my
spiritual guide and the many issues facing the western world today. Naturally, whatever errors in understanding are given expression within the Bridge
are entirely mine.
The Quality of the Bridge Software Material
With one exception, I began to publish my work starting in 2005.
In the past thirteen years, or so, thousands of my books have been purchased in different parts
of the world (approximately 16-17 countries), and, as well, there are a number of libraries
that have acquired copies of my work (e.g., Harvard, University of New Mexico, McGill,
the University of Maine, as well as several universities in New Zealand and South
Africa, along with a few public libraries in Canada, America, and England).
Below are some of the words that people have used to describe my written work:
Why I Am Releasing the Bridge software package
Although I could write in depth about the different reasons for
releasing the Bridge software package, the comments below help summarize some
of my motives for releasing this software package ... in no particular order of
importance.
The Bottom Line
I am not a spiritual guide. I do not claim to have all the answers
or any of them. I am not offering spiritual counsel concerning the problems of life. I am not
seeking followers. I am not a politician who wants your vote, nor am I seeking to become a
leader in the Sufi or Muslim community. What I have to offer is whatever God has equipped me with in
relation to capacity, experience, and realization or understanding.
I am not asking you to accept what is contained in the Bridge software package
as presuming to give expression to the truth. The Bridge is not necessarily a 'book of answers', but, instead, seeks to
serve as a library of mental, emotional, and moral exercises which call upon the principles, values,
teachings, and ideas of the Sufi path to address a wide array of topics, issues, and problems.
The Bridge software package seeks to challenge readers/listeners to reflect on the purpose of life and the nature of the Islamic spiritual
tradition, both in its outer (exoteric) and inner (esoteric/mystical) forms. This library software package
seeks to offer constructive sources of: encouragement, inspiration, critical reflection, and
exploration of the Sufi spiritual tradition. I believe that, by the Grace of God, the
aforementioned 'library' is capable of accomplishing the purposes (listed earlier) for which the
parts were written and the whole was compiled.
Software Requirements
The Bridge software program requires a PC with a
Windows operating system and an Internet Explorer browser.
One will need a minimum 1.28 GB of free space on one's computer. Depending on your internet
connection, the software might take a while to download, but once the software is on your computer,
it operates very quickly.
Contents of the Bridge software package
Aside from containing approximately 18 hours of audio that give expression to: 10 episodes of the
Sufi Study Circle Podcast together with 39 selections in the Floetry in Mystical Motion portion of the library, along with five videos (three audio-visual florety selections plus two talks
on (1) Lessons from Babel and (2) Revivalism, the Bridge software package also includes the following
forty written works:
If you are interested in obtaining personal access to the foregoing set of 40 books, 39 floetry compositions,
10 episodes of the Sufi Circle Podcast, and 5 videos, as well as help provide the same learning materials to
various libraries in the United States and Canada, then please right-click on the following link:Click on a book in the listings below this introduction, and you will be taken to a page about that book. When you want to return to this page, click on either the back button at the top left-hand side of the browser or click on the Bilquees Press link near the top of the page.
If you like what you see and hear in the foregoing software package, then, I hope you will come back to this web site to click on the following link that will take you to the Anab Whitehouse Patreon Page and contribute whatever you can to assist me to purchase real world copies of the various creative and learning materials that, by the Grace of God, have bubbled to the surface in me so that, God willing, they can be gifted to libraries that are interested in receiving the material.