Daughter of Fire: A Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master

This is one of the great books of my life. Especially for those of us in the west who do not grow up with traditions around spiritual masters - true masters - a book like this is GOLD. It is one that I will return to again and again...that perhaps I will read for the rest of my life. It is one of my most cherished things.Some have said the book is repetitive. I needed this. If you're on a true journey, so do you. For in it, I felt the struggle, I felt the pacing, I felt the "what's wrong with me"...even on an accelerated journey. So much inner criticism and "struggle with the struggle" left as I read these pages. The quest is great and mundane, horrible, ecstatic, exhausting and dry....it is everything, even at its best. So much was accepted, made peace with, that I had thought singular to myself.And Daughters of Fire is as a transmission. A mighty one.This book is a diamond on this planet today. Cherish it as such. not those hidden in vaults that perhaps are worth less than they are paid for, or kept artificially high...but of the kind and nature not seen in this world today because they are so beloved by God that they are hidden. I suspect it took a lot of prayers from a lot of lifetimes of old ladies in this country for such a thing to manifest. And I honor each and every one.Thank you to this incredible Russian woman, to the land of India and the lineages from the deserts of the middle east, to the blanket wearers from the earliest of days, to either the stubbornness of writer or an editor who caved and allowed the full version to in fact be bound....thank you. Thank you. ~ashley

This diary is the best I ever red describing the disciple experience with a spiritual teacher. In my twenties I spent about 8 years in a Sufi group in the middle east. It was bad, flat, fake teachers, they don't know what they are talking about. All their information got it from books, hearsay accounts, and down right lies. They didn't achieve enlightenment or even close. They don't know how to meditate. I also practiced Zen in a Zen center, but it was also nothing.This is the real thing. Bhai Sahib is the SatGuru, he realized God, and made Irina Tweedie also realizes God in about 4 years. Ms Tweedie wrote every word he pronounced and every feeling, doubt, question occurred to her. It was a hard way and a lot of sufferings, but this is the only way to realize God. I red the book twice and I will continue to read it till the end of my life. I didn't believe that such thing existed as planting love in the heart of disciples, but it is true. This book is a must read for any one interested in the spiritual life.

This is one of those rare books that I will keep with me forever. I am not a Sufi, but am a Kriya yogi who is yoked to my own Guru. This book gives me such a deep understanding of the guru-disciple relationship, among other things, and how both guru and disciple are to behave. Also, Bhai Sahib gives a good example of how to treat others when they are less spiritually advanced but come for help. His life is also a good example of how to behave towards one's spouse and family when they are not also on the intense spiritual path, and he also teaches that one must not mind that others hurt your feelings when you are trying to help them. In addition to all these examples that he sets, there are many deep spiritual secrets revealed or hinted at which for me are water for the thirsty soul. At times I felt that Bhai Sahib was with me in spirit and sort of winking at me, as if to say, "This is why I had her (Tweedie) write this book. See?" It has helped me to have a much better relationship with my own Guru.

Best book on mysticism and learning of reasoning behind spirituality that I've read so far. I've read many, many books on this topic. If you seriously want to learn about these topics, this is the right book to go to for many answers. It is taking me a long time to read because I want to fully understand everything conveyed. Hard to put down. Again, just cautioning that this book is more for those who are really interested in spirituality and what it takes to get from one place to another. So far it has been extremely helpful to me, as my Guru hasn't published enough books with the answers I am looking for -- It is great not to have to figure out everything on your own and wonder if you are correct...This book makes sense of things I have long wondered about. I am so glad to have come across it and will be purchasing more copies for my like-minded friends, who are chomping at the bit to borrow mine!

I was led to Sufi forms of prayer and meditation by Mrs. Tweedie's successor Llewellyn Vaugn Lee whose own book Bond of the Beloved is to the say the least inspiring. I am still reading Daughter of Fire but was afraid I wouldn't be asked to review about it again. I read a few chapters every day. It is 800 pages long and I feel as if I am right there with her in the difficulties as well as the sweet moments of her training. The book is said to out of print but you can get it either used from Amazon as I did or order it from Vaughn Lee's Golden Sufi Center in California. This is a book for the ages.

I cannot put the book down. It is authentic and her Master is an enlightened Master who knows what he is doing as all great masters do. It may not fit with your concepts but they only want to take away the devotee's ego and turn them into themselves. Incredible!!

Excellent Book in Excellent Condition

This book was like reading my own life, even though I had nothing in common with the outer circumstances she spoke of. It draws you into your heart and opens a portal to begin life over again from the inside of your heart. Probably the best book I ever read and it began the spiritual journey for me. There are groups all over the world that have formed doing this meditation which leads to love, peace, growth, light and The Divine within.

A truly stunning work. I have read this three times and gifted it to many friends. It is a unique spiritual journey and experience. The essence of Sufism is love but the way in which Ms Tweedie received her insights and enlightenment were like torture to her at the time. As Rumi said "The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” In essence, the journey was a testing love affair with the unseen. Perhaps in the end the most rewarding.

The most extensive and sincere spiritual biography that I have read. Besides her spiritual attainments, Irina Tweedie was a very talented writer and there are many passages of great beauty in this book. I very highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the reality of the process of spiritual development, experienced from the perspective of the seeker.

A very detailed and personal account of an accellerated evolution of consciousness under the guidance of an unusual Sufi master - a Hindu who was himself, along with his father, guided by a Muslim Sufi master. Not for the faint-hearted, such a path. irina showed great courage, not least because she was humble enough to document and publish her smallness, pettyness and confusion through the process towards a widened consciousness.

Amazing book, it's stayed on my mind ever since reading it. Found it very helpful and fascinating

Most amazing book, couldn't put it down (read it twice) if you are spiritually seeking and intersted in the guru/disciple relationship then this is a must...