Diary written in the form of a letter to a mentor as a Sufi psychotechnics (psycholinguistic analysis)

Kangieva Alie Memetovna PhD in Philology Scientific Associate, Research Institute of Crimean-Tatar Philology, History and Culture of Ethnoses of Crimea of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov 295015, Russia, respublika Krym, g. Simferopol', per. Uchebnyi, 8 aliye.kangiyeva@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Currently, there are new psychotherapeutic directions, new techniques for the rapid and effective solution of psychocorrective tasks of a modern person. Psychology is becoming more and more open to other sciences – from cybernetics to neurophysiology, biology of emotions, from art history to communication studies.

Increasingly, in the work of psychologists and in research, one can find an appeal to narrative practices, philological research to clarify the connection between language and thinking, the mental and linguistic dimensions of a person. Narrative psychology, psycholinguistics, psychological literary studies, psychoanalysis of literary heroes, bibliotherapy are actively developing. Psychologists of different directions widely use therapeutic fairy tales in working with clients, various methods of keeping diaries as an additional way of self-help for the client.

In addition, there is an increasing interest among psychologists in ancient spiritual traditions and techniques: meditation and mindfulness practices, self-contemplation, breathing exercises borrowed from Eastern traditional cultures can increasingly be found in textbooks on psychotherapy.

In the course of psychological counseling of clients with various requests, we were asked to start keeping a diary in the form of letters to significant figures as a homework assignment. For this article, we will choose an analysis of the diaries of clients living in the Sufi picture of the world, since the diaries of this category of clients include elements of traditional Sufi communicative psychotechnics, the analysis of which will be presented in more detail below.

The prophets, saints, and founders of Sufi schools were most often significant figures for a person living in the Sufi picture of the world. We have combined such figures under the term "mentors", by which we mean a person in the mind of the author of the diary, giving guidance, support in order to help him in his mental and spiritual development. Mentoring in this article refers to the process of transferring knowledge, experience, care, support, and values from mentor to mentee.

The relevance and novelty of this study is due to the fact that keeping a diary in the form of letters to mentors is a new psychological practice that has not yet been studied in the scientific literature and has not been used in the practice of psychological assistance.

The purpose of this study is to study the effectiveness and degree of influence of the use of a diary in the form of letters to Sufi mentors in psychological practice, to expand understanding of the psycholinguistic aspects of the practice of writing letters to Sufi mentors in the context of psychological assistance.

The main focus of the research is focused on the therapeutic effect of this method, as well as its impact on the mental state of clients living in the Sufi worldview.

To achieve the purpose of the study, a combined methodological approach was used. Firstly, the analysis of fragments of diaries in which clients turn to mentors in the form of letters was carried out. This analysis helps to understand the features of the content and structure of diary entries.

Secondly, a survey was conducted among the authors of the diaries to study their subjective perception and assessment of the impact of this method on their anxiety, relationships, and the course of addictions for clients with signs of addictive disorders. This allows us to get a more complete picture of the clients' perception of this practice and its effectiveness.

The subject of our research is diary texts written in the form of letters to mentors. In total, more than a hundred clients participated in the experiment and kept such a diary. During the research, we were provided with 15 diaries, the authors of which gave us their texts in handwritten form remotely for anonymous analysis. A survey was also conducted among the authors of such diaries about how the authors assess the impact of letters on their mental state. Fragments of manuscripts (FR) and also an analysis of the survey will be given below.

In addition to factual material, remotely collected manuscripts and survey results, in order to achieve the research goal, we also turned to works on psychology about the therapeutic effects of the diary, among which the book of Tina van Wijk "Gestalt as inspiration is of particular interest. The method of automatic writing in gestalt therapy" ^[7], the book by Kathleen Adams "Diary as a way to yourself" ^[1], the works of Ira Progoff ^[18] containing practical recommendations for self-help through a diary, dissertations by Tepina M. N., Nizovskikh N. A., Bolshunova N. Ya., as well as works, including randomized studies on the impact of the diary on physical health ^{[15, 16]}.

We have studied linguistic studies of the diary genre, among which we highlight the work of Anna Zaliznyak "Diary: to define the genre", as well as the dissertations of Egorov O. G., Krivolapova E. M., Podgorsky A.V., Novikova E. G., Romashkina M. V., Buzalskaya E. V., etc.

We have also studied classical Sufi sources describing the verbal ritual practices of a Sufi, which in the Sufi picture of the world establish a connection between a Sufi and prophets, saints, spiritual maternal and paternal figures. Among the rituals of communication, one can distinguish tavassul, istigasu, istiana, rabita, etc. ^{[2, 3, 20]}. It is these rituals, as will be shown below, that are reflected in the diary in the form of letters to mentors.

1.            Diary in psycholinguistics

"Language is the house of being..., the way of an event, its melody... A person would not be a person if he were denied to speak — incessantly, all-encompassing... in diverse varieties and mostly in the unspoken "this is that"... The essence of man rests in language," writes  Martin Heidegger in the article "The Path to Language". The above quote clearly shows that the psychic is possible only in the linguistic space ^{[14, p. 345]}.

Modern psycholinguistics has conceptualized what Aristotle wrote about – a written word indicates the sounds of a voice, a spoken word, and sounds "indicate the sufferings that exist in the soul" ^{[14, p. 351]}.

Speech and the psyche are inextricably linked and one of the proofs of this is the widespread use of the diary as a self–help tool in the therapeutic practice of psychologists of different directions. The method of expressive and reflexive writing by J. Pennebaker has been studied quite well statistically and neurophysiologically ^[40]. Therefore, despite the controversial use of the term "evidence-based psychotherapy", this method, along with CBT, EMDR, etc., is referred to as methods with proven effectiveness.

Analyzing the psychological "clarifying" effect of diary entries, Lotman writes: "The treatment of texts, speeches, arguments to oneself is an essential fact not only of psychology, but also of cultural history, which does not happen without a record" ^[11]. A number of books give detailed instructions on how to use the diary to strengthen mental health. Anna Zaliznyak writes: "within the framework of traditional epistemology, a diary can be studied for different purposes" and, accordingly, by different sciences: literary studies, history, cultural studies, semiotics. Psychology explores the diary to "Extract information concerning the structure of human consciousness: the mechanisms of memory, reflection, evaluation, emotions, thinking, verbalization of experience, creative activity, etc." ^[9].

The diary allows a large volume of unsystematic mental material – to express, systematize, symbolize, name, give the inner, psychic – a name, turn it into a material with which you can work in the outside world, which you can influence with your will, intention, consciousness. Statistical studies on how written therapy for two months facilitates the course of rheumatoid arthritis and asthma are of interest ^[16].

2. The results of the survey of the authors of the diaries in the form of a letter to the mentor

When researching such a specific form of diary discourse as a diary in the form of letters to Sufi mentors, we conducted a survey among Internet users who practice Sufism and regularly keep a diary in the form of letters to various spiritually close figures. We interviewed more than 30 participants using the interview method. When forming both open and closed questions, a hypothesis was put forward that long-term diary keeping in the form of letters to a mentor (mentor) reduces the level of anxiety, increases stability, helps to live conflicts in an environmentally friendly way, facilitates the course of addictive disorders, thanks to the experience of intimacy and meeting between "Me and You" ^[5].

The interviewees were asked 20 questions, respondents from 23 to 48 years old, men and women of various professions (doctor, cook, engineer, etc.) from six countries participated in the survey. The diary in the form of a letter was written both on paper and using technical means (smartphone, computer).

To the question: "What do you feel after the letters?" 18 respondents out of 30 answered "relief, lightness". 20 respondents answered that they manage to "find their tears" through their diary in the form of a letter to a mentor. 23 respondents indicated that they noticed a decrease in anxiety as a result of long-term writing of a diary in the form of letters.

Separately, we should focus on how the survey participants assess the impact of a diary in the form of letters to mentors on their relationships with other people. Most noted an increase in emotional stability in conflicts, adaptability and increased integration: "[After the letter] there is an opportunity to express their feelings more collected, think about the feelings of another," "There are fewer conflicts."

Interestingly, some survey participants said that they are engaged in short- and long-term planning through a letter to a mentor (mentor), describing their plans in a letter and placing them in a new communicative situation: "I like to link my letter, including with planning," the respondent writes. Some keep a family diary in the form of letters to mentors, in which each family member writes in turn.

Interpreting the survey results, let's assume that such written practices in the context of the author's beliefs help shift the focus in communication to communicative rationality: the desire to understand and be understood, manifest yourself and see the recipient of the letter, coordinate your values, feelings, beliefs – with the mentor's personality, his values, feelings, beliefs described in Sufi sources.

In interpreting the survey results, attention should be paid to two factors: firstly, we see the general therapeutic effect of any diary, and even the oral naming of feelings, their naming and expression; secondly, the effect of the diary is due to the significance and magnitude of the mentor (mentor) figure in the psyche of the author of the diary in the form of letters. Gordon Newfeld, a developmental psychologist, has formed a cascade model of caring: in order for a person to take mature care of others, as a full-fledged resource adult, he himself must be filled with the care of Another. This model resembles a cascading waterfall, in which each level is filled with the help of the previous one ^[12]. Through such letters, the author of the diary lives a state of love and hope, can take the position of accepting guardianship, weak, he is open to the spiritual care of a mentor, is convinced of the connection and hopes for an answer. Such a connection becomes an "invisible support" for the psyche of the author of the diary. As one of the respondents wrote: "At first my neck hurt, as if it was difficult to share my thoughts, then I felt hope and a sense of foundation, support."

When writing letters, we are not talking about the deification of the mentor (attributing the ability to create to anyone other than God as a whole takes a person beyond the Sufi picture of the world), about shifting responsibility for his life to the figure of the mentor (Sufism shares the postulate about the existential loneliness of a person in the face of death and before the Judgment of God, a person is alone with his responsibility nevertheless, the feeling of connection with a significant, emotionally "warm", responsive and at the same time strong figure through the fabric of writing, which includes various Sufi rituals, helps the author to form a new narrative about himself through such a diary.

The author of the diary regains subjectivity, significance, authorship in relation to his life; learns to look at himself "through the eyes of a mentor", changes the position of perception of himself and notices value in himself; legalizes his imperfection, weakness, need for care, support. And, despite his own imperfection, he models a kind, caring attitude towards himself on the part of a prophet or a saint. The psyche lives this experience of a kind, careful, accepting and respectful attitude towards itself, internalizes, appropriates this experience and learns to reproduce the experience of respect and care for itself in the future. And then this experience is transferred to those Others who are present next to the author in real life: family, loved ones, society.

 Further, when the mentor's figure becomes one of the main ones in the mind of the letter writer, he looks at events in the world and at his own feelings through the mentor's figure, modeling his attitude to what is happening, his possible actions or interpretations. And, most importantly, he learns to feel himself through the mercy, care and strength of a mentor. This is achieved through the mechanism of emotional intimacy, through communicative action more than through cognitive attitudes; through the sensual living of contact: a sense of the beauty of the personality of the prophets, teachers, a sense of supra-rational connection between hearts, hope for an answer, as it was written in one of the answers: "... I have hope that he [the prophet] will answer this letter, at least in a dream."

And, what is especially important, living through the care and closeness of caring figures, the author of the letter has the opportunity to build in reality more mature, stable, deep relationships with those people who surround him.

3.            The author's communicative strategies in a letter to a mentor and Sufi rituals of communication (psychotheological aspect)

Examining the diaries in the form of letters to the prophets and saints who have passed away, analyzing the manuscripts provided by the authors of the diaries, it can be noticed that they have the features of classical diary discourse, the same semantic dominants that are inherent in most diaries: "fragmentarity, intertextuality, incompleteness, lack of a single plan, incoherence, mixing of documentary and artistic, blurred, illegible fragments" ^[9]. We can see such fragmentarity in the following passage, written in the style of "stream of consciousness", devoid of a single plan and aimed at giving free flow to feelings:

"... ah ustazym, ah Ustazym ["oh my teacher, oh my teacher" – trans. from kr-tat. our, A. K.] ... what have we become without mentors? We don't Know, we don't Understand, we're not Afraid.... ah Ustazym ["O my teacher" – trans. from kr.-tat. our, A. K.].... you are our native person... you help us with your words, heal our sick hearts... ah ustazym [o my teacher – trans. from kr.-tat. our, A. K.]... ask the Almighty God for us... to grant us barakat ["grace" - trans. from kr.-our tat.] ... tears are pouring from our eyes... ah ustazym [o my teacher – trans. from kr.-tat. our, A. K.], help us... let the angels say Amen" [fr. 12].

At the same time, the structure of such a diary, its vector and boundaries are set by the Sufi worldview of the author, because the purpose of the author of such a diary is proximity to God. The structure of the letter will be set, first of all, by the author's relationship with God. A mentor is a prophet who has passed away, a teacher, a saint, a saint – this is both an independent value, like Another, with will, consciousness, heart, You are beloved; and a means, "vasil", of approaching God at the same time.

But a mentor is not a creator and not an object of worship. This is the same creation as the author himself, the same weak slave of God, unable to create anything, who, however, has known God deeper and closer than the author of the diary.

Writing as a form of written appeal combined various communicative practices known among the early Sufis: tawassul – the use of the saint as a reason, a means of approaching God; rabita – a mental representation of the mentor's face; istiana, istigasa – requests for help through reading prayers for the petitioner, through the descent of grace; tabarruk – seeking the grace of a saint or prophet. Some of these practices have a specific verbal form, some are built in the form of non-verbal metacommunication. 

The general communicative strategies and the choice of the author's vocabulary can be reduced to the following dogmas that define the boundaries of the diary text:

1. Prohibition of deification, worship and requests to create the desired to the mentor, since no one except God is able to create, which is confirmed by the verse of the Quran (35:3):

It means: "O people, remember the gifts of Allah. Is there a creator besides Allah?! He feeds you from heaven and earth. There is no god but him, why do you live in illusions?".

An appeal to a mentor in a letter is possible in the form in which it would occur in real life, as to an ordinary weak living person. With sufficient integration of the psyche, a person is able to retain a sense of closeness and contact both during physical contact and after the death of a person. But the essence of conversion is an appeal to the servant of God, not to the creator, not to the Lord.

2.            Preserving the Monotheism Frame:

"Monotheism is the ability to distinguish the Eternal from the created" (per. our – A. K.), as the classic of Sufism Abdulkarim al-Kushayri writes about it in his "ar-Risala fi ilm at-tasawwuf", quoting another Sufi thinker, Junaid al-Baghdadi ^{[20, p. 3]}. None of the created he is not worthy of worship, supreme humility and submission.

3. Working with causes as a form of addressing God through the language of action (the way of approaching God. The principle of working with causes comes from the verse of Scripture (5:35):

"O believers, fear God and seek the reasons for approaching Him."

On the basis of this verse, which uses the term "wasila", the cause, the means, the Sufi ritual "tawassul" arose, working with the cause, searching for a path, a vector of effort for the knowledge of God. And the hearts of the righteous, the connection with them, the appeal to them, the love for them is one of the main reasons for knowing God and approaching Him in Sufism.

The author of one of the diaries describes his experience of tauassul as follows:

"My dear Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon You, I really like the feeling that I think and then speak. I began to focus on the state of my heart. On the sincerity of intentions. By the Will of God, we began to swear less. I feel such love that fills me, that I can give..." [FR 11]

Then the same author writes: "O Prophet, I ask God for wisdom, humility, patience in trials, I ask for Your sake and for the sake of Your whole pious family" [FR 11]. In this fragment, the author hopes that love and closeness to the prophet will become the reason for approaching God, this is the tauassul. I.e., the prophet, being an ordinary person, nevertheless becomes a model of love and patience, self-control and sobriety on the way to God for the author himself.

If we take into account the main postulate of Sufism – the difference between the Eternal God and the created ones – then speech acts addressed to mentors should not contain requests for the creation of anything, for salvation from eternal fire, for the creation of health or happiness. All this, according to the basic dogma of faith, is created by God.

The need to operate the reasons that not contrary to the hope and the hope of God, displayed in the tasawwuf of the hadith: " ", "tie my camel and trust in God." This advice was given by the prophet to a man who asked him: "O Messenger of God, I came on a camel, what should I do: tie him up or leave him and trust in God" ^[6]. The need to tie a camel is working with the reason. The reasons do not create, but they show the focus of the heart and the focus on the result in the "language of actions", since the language of actions is considered in tasavvuf more eloquent than the language of words. Similarly, a Sufi "binds his heart to a mentor" and hopes for God: he asks God to create knowledge, love, and light in his heart, similar to those that mentors have.

In the picture of the Sufi world, dead people are able to hear, as well as the living. The dead live a different life, but their life is also described by perception, consciousness, feeling, as well as the life of the Sufi himself, which is confirmed by a number of sayings of the prophet and verses of the Koran. Life in the grave is called Barzakh, and, remembering its features, a person can build a connection with those who are there, beyond death. Grave graves can be treated as living: you can greet them, as the hadith from Tirmizi says, where the Prophet teaches the etiquette of visiting cemeteries: "approaching the graves, you should say: "Assalamu alaikum, O inhabitants of the graves," and the inhabitants of the graves will hear it and answer." It is allowed to ask them for prayer in favor of the living, to tell them what I could tell the living, as follows from the hadith from Qab ibn Malik. Such a request for support, care and help is called Istigasa, as described by the Prophet Muhammad in a hadith transmitted by Bukhari to istigasa on the Day of Judgment through the prophet Adam ^[6].

An example of istigasa in the diary can be seen here:

"O Prophet, do du1a so that I can find myself, become a useful doctor. I do so little, I am very ashamed, but I do not lose hope" [fr. 8].

And also here:

"Oh, my mother Maryam, there seems to be an abyss between me and you. Where am I and where are you. Protective alienation. Why do you need me? Oh, Mama Maria, You are so pure, gentle, truthful, you gave birth to Isa. You wouldn't have sent me away. You are my dear, beloved. You wouldn't have pushed me away. After all, I am looking for Contentment Alla h a".

"O Holy Maryam, you were a good mom for Isa. Read du'a for my son, so that he will be happy. So that E. became pious from childhood" [FR. 12].

We can also find an example of istigasa and istiana (requests for help) in the poem dedicated to the birth of Muhammad, known among the Turkic peoples as Mevlud-i sherif ^[46]. Muhammad himself is called "Muin", the one who helps, the one to whom requests for help are addressed. A common istiana formula is a call by name, for example: "O Holy Maryam (Mary)!", "O Muhammad!", as it is given in the hadith about the son of the Caliph Umar ^[6].

The mawlid ritual, known to Sufi traditions all over the world, is based on the appeal to the prophet. In particular, the Turkic-language versions of the mawlid say: "Merhaba ya jani janan, merhaba ..." ^[19]

 The Prophet is also welcomed in every obligatory prayer, the words are addressed to him: "Assalamu aleika ayuhannabiyu" and it is stated that the prophet hears these greetings and responds to them.

When a Sufi addresses a spiritual mentor through oral or written speech, the mentor becomes the addressee of his communicative action, the Sufi tries to hear and be heard, see and be seen in the utmost openness, this action will be considered for him a ritual "tawassul" - the search for means of approaching God through the heart of the righteous. The stronger the connection between the Sufi's heart and the mentors' hearts, the more he will adopt the spiritual experience of the mentor.

When writing a diary in the form of letters, elements of the "rabita" ritual are also used, when the murid, the student, presents the image of the mentor, visualizes his external features and represents the connection between them:

"When emotions cover me, when resentment arises in me, I close my eyes and imagine that You, my Messenger of Allah, are looking at me at this moment, and then I find peace" [FR. 14].

The more detailed the mentor is, the better the ritual is performed.

Interestingly, "rabata" is not only to connect, but also to strengthen. Ribats in the Middle Ages were called North African fortifications, whose inhabitants became invulnerable to the enemy. A verse in the Qur'an (18:14): where God says meaning: "We have strengthened [rabatna] their hearts."

 The verse mentions "a strengthened heart that is not vulnerable to the attacks of Satan", it gets its strength precisely through faith – a connection with God, a relationship with God, an appeal of the heart to God and a supra-rational response of God, presumed by the believer in the context of communicative rationality. In the Sufi paradigm, one of the most important names of God is al–Mujib, "answering prayer." In the verse of the Qur'an (40:60) says: , God says: "please contact Me and I will answer you." The speech of God, the answer of God, for a Sufi is not comprehended by imagination or reason, it is not a voice, not sounds, not any language. The answer in this case means the grace of God, his love, gifts. The focus of a Sufi's attention in a communicative action is on communication and on response, not on gifts. On trust and openness, and not on the objects received as a gift and your pleasure.

From all that has been said, we can conclude that Rabita in the Sufi paradigm is a connection that gives strength. The Sufi's appeal to the mentor activates his intelligent center – the heart. Based on the Quranic verses (7:179, 22:46, etc.), Sufis claim that a person's mind is in the heart. The brain acts as a collector and analyzer of information, the heart makes a choice based on this information, distinguishes between good and evil, truth and lies, makes decisions and takes steps. It is the heart that takes a step towards recognizing the existence of God, to "You, O my Lord." Thus, the intelligent heart is a communication tool. Communicative rationality is connected not only with information and its interpretation, but also with intention, intention. Without the intention directed to You, it is impossible to establish a connection. Intention in the Sufi understanding is a function of the heart.

In this regard, the book "Myth of normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture", published in 2022 by the Canadian doctor, psychologist and philosopher Gabor Mate, co-authored with his son Daniel Mate, is interesting ^[17], in which the authors present their vision of the mental norm. Gabor and Daniel Mate argue on the pages of the book that a "toxic, abnormal society" drives a person into the framework of "artificial normality". In the book, in a relativistic postmodern way, the criteria for the normality of the psyche look blurred, responsibility for "abnormality" is shifted to a toxic culture.

In communicative ontology in general and in Sufi communicative studies, in particular, normality is the ability to build a connection with Another without losing the Self. Norm is revealed through communicative rationality, when I am responsible for the quality, depth, environmental friendliness of communication with You, for understanding and closeness. The destruction of communication at different levels gives different "diseases" depending on the level of development and age of the Ego: the absence of a physical umbilical cord for the embryo means death; the lack of an accessible responsive adult in early preschool age leads to a separation complex with a further delay in mental maturation; the inability to build a deep reliable contact in adulthood often causes depression and suicide. Therefore, we would reduce the mental norm to the ability to build a connection with You, to be in this connection and the ability to withstand a Meeting in the understanding of Otto von Bolnov.

Returning to the concept of Rabita as a connection that strengthens the "intelligent center" of a person, his heart-kalb, we can conclude that in the Sufi paradigm, the skill of building a connection is the main one. A strong center connected to You further helps to gain the integrity of the whole personality: it connects the dissociated personality into a holistic and resilient figure.

Another communicative concept in Sufism is tabarruk, blessing through the figures of righteous slaves. God is called in the Qur'an "Tabarakya wa Ta'ala", "the giver of grace, the Most High." Grace is bestowed by God, and the main "vessels of grace" in the manifested world are the hearts of mentors: prophets, saints ^[2]. Their bodies, their names, their deeds contain grace. Rituals of connection with them allow a person to receive this grace.

Rabita in some Sufi schools is explained through the metaphor of transmitting light through a channel from heart to heart, when the mentor's heart is presented as a spring of light, and the student's heart receives this light through the Rabita channel.

The ability to "hear" God's commands and fulfill them is the minimum requirement for a Sufi to form a channel of grace. Then this channel is filled with love for the teacher. Speaking in the language of field psychology, rabita is a work with the mental field of a Sufi, when the figure with which the connection is postulated as the main one is purposefully cultivated in the field of the psyche. When the Other is chosen as the one who constructs my Self, I am open to the Other, and the Other is open with his concern for the Self. I need connections, but I am responsible for building connections, for a step to Another, a step to You. And no one but myself is able to take a step towards You. This is the Sufi's sole responsibility. None of the created has power over his heart, his intention, his choice.

Baraka, grace is one of the central terms of Sufism. The life of a Sufi is dedicated to the search for God's grace. Therefore, mentors, as the focus of the barracks, are the main "You" in the life of a Sufi.

Describing the birth of Jesus, the Qur'an depicts him as a talking baby who, for the protection of his holy mother, says that the Lord made him, Jesus, a source of grace ( [mubarak]), wherever he is [19:30-31]. The newborn Jesus talks about his prophecy, about the Book He will receive, about the peace and good that will come from him. 

Writing letters to mentors as a separate Sufi ritual is not found anywhere in Sufi sources. However, in numerous books about the rules of using language, about the sins and benefits of language, theologians ^[3] mention the rule: "The pen as a second language to humans" ( ), based on the legend Muhammad : "Who will ask the blessing for me for the email for the Angels ask for the blessing as long as my name on this sheet" (at-Tabarani of the other from Abuhuraira).

In general, written or oral verbal communication in Sufi beliefs have the same consequences for his heart. Muhammad, the central figure in the field of the Sufi psyche, could not write and read, but his clerks wrote down verses of scripture for him and wrote letters on his behalf to the rulers – the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Negus of Ethiopia Askhama, etc.

The diary in the form of a letter to mentors is a combination in writing of numerous widely known Sufi practices of communication with the departed righteous. Among the main such communicative Sufi concepts are istiana and istigasa (asking for help), rabita (visualizing one's own presence near the mentor, his external image or connection with him), tawassul (addressing God through the mentor), tabarruk (seeking grace through the personality or name of the righteous and connection with him).

Summing up, let's say that many modern Sufis, to a greater or lesser extent, are included in the postmodern and communicative rhetoric of modernity, the fashion for diaries, fear of the Other, protective alienation from the Other, but at the same time, an acute search for the Other, the need for intimacy, loneliness. These tendencies led to the fact that Sufis intuitively introduced into their daily routines the writing of a diary in the form of letters to mentors: Adam, Eve, Noah, Mary, Jesus, Muhammad, Fatima and other righteous and prophets. And through these letters, Sufis manage to combine the rituals of Sufi communication studies on paper

4. Diary in the form of a letter to a mentor in communicative ontology

According to the psychologist-developer Gordon Newfeld, the basis of a person's mental health is not only self-knowledge, but also deep reliable attachments, a state of "openness, cognition and recognition" on the part of Another ^{[12, p. 18]}, dialogical and discursive living of life.

This is also confirmed by numerous longitudinal studies in psychology. Attachment in the understanding of Neufeld is always hierarchical, it presupposes the giver of care, the source of guardianship, and the recipient of it. In the relationship of attachment between adults, there is a change of roles between the participants of the relationship: the parties of the relationship alternately, dialogically give and take care, switching from the giver to the receiver and vice versa.

Based on the theory of attachment, we have made the assumption that a diary in the form of a letter to a person who, according to the author, performs the protective function of a spiritual mentor, will have a therapeutic effect on the psyche of the author of the diary. This is how diaries in the form of letters to mentors were studied within the framework of Sufi communication studies.

Such letters are structurally different from a free-form diary, Pennebaker's expressive writing, free writing using the Van Wijk method, the methods of Ira Progoff or Kathleen Adams, since the semantics of the text of such a diary, its syntactic structure, and the author's communicative strategies are set by the Sufi picture of the author's world. A letter to a mentor may include greetings, an expression of one's feelings, a request to pray for the author:

"O Muhammad, my heart is so fragile and weak, how I need your support. I pray to God that he will strengthen me on the truth. So that my heart is open to... knowledge, so that my heart is soft and worthy. I ask God to grant me a strong heart. A good disposition. my heart wants so much to be like you, as I miss your wisdom, your big heart. I ask Allah to grant me a noble, grateful heart. Your heart is sensitive and tender..." [FR. 5].

The author uses imagination, feelings and reflection, such a letter can have the features of expressive or reflexive writing:

"Oh, my mother Khadija, I want to feel your maternal warmth, kindness, affection and pity. I want to be reborn next to you. My son doesn't say "dad", he doesn't have a dad. If I could ask you how I can satisfy myself and the child..." [fr. 12].

The letter may contain a description of past events, impressions, or a story about future plans:

"O Polsnnik Alla h a! Did I really see You in a dream?.. Ya Habibi ya Muhammad [O Beloved, O Muhammad], how much I think about You, if You were next to me, there would be no one happier than me" [FR 1].

 In any case, the purpose of the letter is to create a communicative space between the addressee and the addressee. The main purpose of writing is communication itself, writing is a communicative, not a strategic action in Habermas' theory. Therefore, the content of the letter is secondary. At the same time, such a letter cannot contain provisions indicating the deification of a mentor or saint, cannot contain a request to create something, cannot be a description of supreme love, supreme humility or submission to a mentor, because this denies the main formula of monotheism: "There is no deity [giving existence after non-existence, worthy of worship, of the highest love and awe], except for the one God." At the same time, such a Sufi letter cannot go beyond the etiquette of communication between a Sufi and a mentor. Writing letters repeats the well-known for a long time communicative rituals of Sufism: tavassul, istigasa, istiana, rabita, tabarruk, reading Maulids, etc. – in writing.

Letters introduce the Sufi into the context of communicative rationality, help to overcome the subject-object model of interaction with the world, the boundaries of the Cartesian picture of the world and build intersubjective relationships. Sufi communicative studies, which explores Sufism through communicative ontology, considers a person as a subject of effort-to-God, a subject of will and choice, a subject of relations with Another, the author of a communicative action. A diary in the form of letters in this context helps to build a model of mental and spiritual maturation, within which a person does not escape from the reality of Another, from the hurting world, from pain, but, on the contrary, delving into it, finds his vulnerability, existential dependence and need for You. And man is postulated to be responsible for satisfying this need without destroying the personality. A person is considered competent enough to satisfy his existential need for You, Proven at the level of neurobiology of the brain and biochemistry of emotions, the need for You ^[13] finds one of the forms of its expression in letters to mentors and mentors.

Sufi rituals of connection – such as tawassul, istigasa, istiana, rabita – help a person to withstand the reality of Another, his otherness, his freedom, to find impotence before his choice, to live pain, emptiness, despair when faced with separation, rejection, death; to delve into them without fear, but to find in all this a new, the whole and deep Self. Postulating and respecting the freedom and beauty of You, a person touches the freedom and beauty of the Self:

"O dear Khadija, you are the grace of All aha for our Messenger. You took care of him and by taking care of him, you took care of us. You loved him and so you loved all of us. You're a role model. You are forever the queen of the hearts of believers. Alla h gave me takes care of children, husband, parents and friends. I take care of my daughter S., son Y. and the son of S. I love them very much and am happy to be a mom" [fr. 3].

 Through the connection with You, a person does not collapse from pain, but retains integrity, feels his center of personality and his freedom, respects the center of the Other, lives the beauty and value of the Other and lives in a state of openness to dialogue. Dialogue is the only possible form of human existence, discursivity is revealed as a mental attribute.

Communication with a mentor helps to withstand the pressure of the environment and creatively adapt to it, in the context of communication with a reliable You: through writing, tavassul, istigasa, istiana, rabita.

If we define the meaning of the Sufi path as the ultimate realization of spiritual potential, then a mentor, teacher, prophet for a Sufi is a necessary condition for such realization. The need for a mentor is not a child's dependence on the parent figure, where the child takes a reactive, expectant, passive position. Step-to-Step for a Sufi is the responsibility of the Sufi himself. He does not wait or hope for any of the created ones, he himself makes efforts to approach You. He needs connections, but no one can connect his heart with the heart of Another, except himself.

The responsibility for the connection lies with the Sufi himself. The Sufi, Murid, is described by the property "irada" – will, "niyat" – intention, "taklif" – responsibility. This distinguishes a murid from a person living in an infantile position. The Sufi recognizes his need for You, his existential incompleteness, uncertainty, weakness, dependence on You. But he takes responsibility for meeting this need on himself. And so retains its authorship and subjectivity. Traditional verbal rituals, prayer practices expressed in a diary in the form of a letter – this is the living of the need for a mentor, which expresses dependence (fakr) on God. The main thesis of Sufi communication studies is that a person is in the highest dependence on God, which is expressed through the humility of a Sufi in his openness to God's mercy and grace. Dependence on God does not destroy a person's personality, because it is a conscious dependence in which a person retains his subjectivity and with the help of which he fully accepts the will of God, fate, lives trust and peace.

 Dependence on God in the Sufi paradigm gives a person non-alien in worldly comfort, asceticism, and therefore freedom from behavioral and chemical addictions. When realizing his dependence on God at the level of intentions, will, cognition, a person, on the contrary, strengthens his mental resources and becomes adaptive, capable of integration and stability in the face of deficits and challenges of reality.

Through speech acts of communication, the Sufi comes into contact with a hurtful, unpredictable, disturbing reality, without dissociation and fragmentation ^[8]. Through the communicative context with a loved one, You are a Sufi goes into extreme realism:

"Oh, my mother Maryam, there seems to be an abyss between me and you. Where am I and where are you. Protective alienation. Why do you need me? Oh, Mama Maria, You are so pure, gentle, truthful, you gave birth to Isa. You wouldn't have sent me away. You are my dear, beloved. You wouldn't have pushed me away. After all, I am looking for Contentment Alla h a" [FR 12].

The aspiration to You is strengthened, the motive to live, to be, while maintaining a soft heart, sensitive to oneself and Others, open to living one's own and someone else's suffering.:

"Maybe it's hard for me to live in this Dunya, because I'm not at home, not in Paradise? I would like to meet you there, O my Muhammad" [fr. 14].

Seeing the patronizing figure of the mentor and taking a step towards her, building a connection with the effort of the heart, the Sufi deepens in his dependence on God. And so he returns to the reality of himself, his vulnerability, finiteness, incompleteness. At the same time, he sees all this in another. In this way, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness are strengthened in him. Through truthfulness to oneself, tolerance for the shortcomings and mistakes of another is born.

Turning to God through mentors, the preservation of the state of turning to the being of the One who created man, brings man back to himself again, with a truthful and open look.

When a person is drowning in an abundance of information and incentives, breaking ties with Others and losing himself, a letter to a mentor, on the contrary, returns him to his intentions, decisions and true needs. While modern humanistic psychology pays special attention to emotions and feelings, writing helps to build intention over feelings. It is "good intentions", as Newfeld says about it, that becomes "the charioteer of wild horses of emotions" ^[12].

Intention in Sufi communication studies is aspiration, always striving towards You ^[10], the focus of the heart on You. The discourse with the Prophet is an attempt to look into the mirror of the "Eternal You".

Today, two polar positions can be observed in society in relation to the Other: dehumanization and devaluation of the Self, reducing a person to a hackable animal, as N. Yuval Harari says, on the one hand. And the elevation of another person to the rank of the highest value, the limit of intention, the source of law and boundaries, on the other hand. Sufi communication studies outlines the third way, when another person is valuable, but the limit of intention is directed at the Creator of man. This is how a person returns to the truth about himself.

Seeing the mentor as a vessel with grace "barakat", imagining a connection with him through the ritual of "rabita", creating a space of trust and aspiration, the Sufi feels his integrity. Turning to You activates his heart-center, and all the fragments of his personality gather around the heart. The heart makes a decision to love and thus becomes stronger. Through You, the motive to live is strengthened, the power to live, the power to give, to care, to love. All this is impossible within the framework of autocommunication. The diary as a physical medium in this case will act as a technical means of supra-rational communication.

Since the mind in Sufism is not identical to the brain and the intellect, but is concentrated in the heart, it can be argued that the mind is a means of communication. That which binds the heart of I to the heart of You. The rules of speech, norms, discipline of the spirit, etiquette, asceticism are necessary for the meeting between Me and You to take place. But the goal is not the norm, the goal is a meeting. Through the effort to build a connection, a person is spiritually born, manifests, is not afraid to leave the comfortable familiar world into a new big world of spiritual discoveries, because he is born "into loving hands", so the energy of becoming and daring is manifested in him ^[12]. And so he himself gradually becomes those loving hands into which others want to be "born". In Sufi communication studies, everything that does not build a connection is meaningless. 

Conclusions

The article considered diaries in the form of letters to Sufi mentors as a subject of research in psychology, theology and interdisciplinary areas: psycholinguistics, Sufi communication studies, psychotheology.

With the development of neurolinguistics, narrative psychology, and gestalt therapy, the psychotherapeutic effect of the diary was discovered and proved. The diary began to be studied not only as a text or discourse, but also as an instrument of influence on the psyche of the author of the diary, as a therapeutic method.

This method was offered as a homework assignment to clients during psychological counseling. The article presents and analyzes fragments of such diaries, as well as the influence of such a diary on the psyche of the author.

Based on the conducted research, it can be concluded that a diary in the form of a letter to significant figures can have a significant psychocorrective effect on the personality of the author of the diary. Such a diary can be used by people living in different worldviews and value systems.

Within the Sufi picture of the world, the practice of the diary combines the techniques and rituals of imaginary connection with spiritual mentors established in Sufism, when a Sufi uses verbal formulas for addressing significant figures, draws their external image in imagination, focuses on them and correlates himself with them.

A diary in the form of a letter to a mentor puts the author in a communicative context and helps to clarify his mental experiences, verbalize them, reflexive and transform them based on his life tasks.

The conscious choice of a significant figure, a reference point, which in Sufism will be a prophet or a saint, or any person endowed by the author of the diary with some significant features and to which the author is emotionally attached, helps the author through self-regulation and correlation with the addressee to better control his internal mental processes and influence them.

The form of written communication to the mentor can create a special atmosphere of deep communication between the author and the addressee of the letter. A diary in the form of letters to a mentor allows you to express thoughts and feelings more clearly and deliberately, which can contribute to a deeper understanding of yourself and better interaction in everyday life.

The described narrative practice allows the author to realize his peculiarities, overcome obstacles, see the resource sides and grow as a person, facilitates the course of mental disorders associated with anxiety, addictive states, problems in relationships. Letters can be a tool of self-knowledge, self-reflection and self-development in the framework of work with psychologists or in the order of self-help and self-therapy.