12 Mar Women Mystics: Irina Tweedie
Irina Tweedie (1907-1999) was a mystic and Sufi teacher. She was born in Russia and educated in Europe. When Tweedie was 54, her husband died and, in her grief, she set off on a spiritual quest that led her to the Theosophical Society and later to India. While in India she met her guru, Radha Mohan Lal, under whom she studied, the first Western woman to be trained in that ancient yogic system. She kept a diary of five years of her intensive training which became the spiritual classic Daughter of Fire: A Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master. (An abridged version was first published as The Chasm of Fire: A Woman’s Experience of Liberation.) The book shares Tweedie’s journey, full of emotion, heartbreak, and doubt, and takes the reader on their own journey of spiritual transformation.
Tweedie’s teacher often taught through exposing the student’s shadow and by humiliating the ego in ways that would not be considered acceptable today. It is the story of the gradual grinding down of the ego of the disciple by the guru, down to the levels of love and compassion that lie beneath. When one watches YouTube videos of Tweedie, her obvious love and humility shine through and deeply touch the heart.
After her guru’s death, Tweedie returned to London where she began teaching, gaining a following throughout North America and Europe. Llewellyn Vaugh-Lee, a prominent Sufi teacher, continues her work today. She remains a beacon as a female spiritual teacher for all times, but especially when women were not considered to be worthy of that title.
References
Levenson, N. (2011). Irina Tweedie, part one. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mFqZuEHsc&t=212s
Tweedie, I. (1986). Daughter of fire: A diary of a spiritual training with a Sufi master. Blue Dolphin Publishing.
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