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Hologram

This period room recreates an office typical of the 1970s in Iran and presents artifacts that belonged to Hazrat Shah Maghsoud, the 41st master of MTO Shahmaghsoudi®. This space brings the timeless principles of Sufism to light, highlighting their relevance in the modern world. Every detail of the office offers valuable insights into the environment where the Sufi master conducted his intellectual and spiritual activities. Antiquarian books, calligraphic manuscripts, and personal objects reflect his deep commitment to the study of the sciences, mirroring the depth of his spiritual quest finding its fullest expression in this room. The hologram shown here depicts the master sharing the spiritual teachings of Sufism.

Lecture on Tawheed (Unity) by Hazrat Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha, on ….

Indeed, the subject I consider essential to talk about is unity; however, just like any topic of interest, it is crucial to understand some preliminaries first. To achieve this understanding, I expect you to research the subject within yourself when I present it. This research – this term “re-search” – is quite an interesting word.

Irfān (Sufism) states that the reality, which is the cause of your existence and being, is you. This is the subject. Such that each being, as a real entity, is the reflection of its reality within the depth of absolute Existence. Meaning the presentation of your manifestation is based on your own reality, either in Existential terms or in terms of your own being.

“Existential” refers to your universal (total) connection with the infinite. “Being” is when you claim, “I am that I am,” in a much weaker definition.

A notable issue is when one is referred to as devoted, it signifies their presence within the realm of Existence, where their connection with the infinite is certain. Yet, when there is no reference to “devoted”, it is a mental illusion of a being who is needy but fails to recognize it. A person sees themself as a separate individual while they are not. Do you not consider this to be an error? Meaning the perception of “individuation” within Existence is false.

Therefore, devotion, for a being within Existence, is innate. There is another explanation, and that is of a drop. Although you label it as a drop, if you envision Existence as the ocean, then the drop within it is the ocean itself. Why do you call it a drop? Because you have perceived it in its limited form. And why do you call that an ocean? Because you compared it to a collection of drops. If Existence is the ocean itself, then there has to be one definition for the drop and the ocean, and that is water.

So, in the pure and vast infinite Existence, the concept of “other” does not exist, as “other” implies duality.

For this reason, I have stated that irfān (Sufism) has one aspect. That is, as explained by us, if you cannot visualize your being within the pure and vast infinite Existence, then you lack knowledge and cognition. When you fail to discover that you are not separate from Existence, if you fail to discover that, then you have not cognized your own being. You will become cognizant of your own being when you eliminate and eradicate the limitations. That’s when you embody the essence of a darvīsh. This is what it means to be a darvīsh. A darvīsh is someone who, through existential cognition, has not accepted individualistic attributes. This is why one seeks God from God. He must therefore discover and cognize the truth. Therefore, one’s annihilation means breaking one’s limitations within infinity, and such annihilation is a prerequisite to eternal existence attained within Existence itself. So, it would be right to say “annihilation for eternal existence”; it is a correct statement. If this annihilation does not take place and you remain within your limitation, then you are ignorant, not an arīf. You see yourself as a separate individual within the infinite. You imagine limitation in the unity of Existence. This is clearly something false. It’s a foolish notion.

This immersive experience has been brought to life by a dedicated creative team of historians, designers, and technologists, who collaborated closely to develop both the hologram and the detailed recreation of the period room:

Hologram design and production;
- Ian O’Connell, Musion, Producer;
- Stephen Ley, Musion, Director of Photography;
- Dominic Faraway. Musion, AI Face Swap and Content Production;
- Dariusz Kozlowski, Musion, Foil installation and set build;
- Bliss Coutinho, Musion, Runner and catering;
Nathan Gray, Gravy, Video and show control;
Trent O’Connor, Archlite, Stage and lighting design and control;
Ryan Bridgen, Screentech, LED Installation;
Rob Lawrence, RBL, Framework design and installation;
Rick Strickland, Campbell Associates, Hair and wig stylist;
Astrid Schulz, Theatre Group, Wardrobe;
Valérie Grall, Claire Gringore, Period Room interior design;
Atelier Artom, Period Room interior production;
Tahmores Tehrani, Actor;
Nicolas Titeux, sound engineering;

Omid Rezaei, Afsoon Rezaie, and Amina Ait Ali, Production managers;
Marusa Arian, Archival research;
Dr. Ghazaleh Esmailpour Qouchani, Collection curator;
Saba Asgari, Farnoosh Nouri, Parvin Summerland, Translations and captioning;
Made possible with the generous support of MTO Shahmaghsoudi® London