Cemalnur Sargut

Cemalnur Sargut

Biography

Cemalnur Sargut is one of Turkey’s deepest and most inspiring spiritual teachers.¹ Her name means beauty of light.² She was born in Istanbul where she and her sister Asuman underwent spiritual training with her mother, Meskure Sargut. Their father, Omer Faruk Sargut also provided Cemalnur and her sister knowledge in various disciplines. While she was in primary school, one of her spiritual teachers, Mother Nazli, told her that she would be a teacher one day. After graduating from Kadikoy High School for Girls, Cemalnur studied Chemical Engineering at the National Academy of Architecture and Engineering in Istanbul. Following Mother Nazli’s words, she worked as a chemistry teacher at Gunes Private High School for two years and then at the Cumhuriyet High School for 18 years until her retirement. Thoughout her teaching career, she trained numerous students in the light of the education she had received. She provided them with both spiritual and scientific knowledge in attempt to teach them how scientific inquiry can lead one to hakikat (divine truth). During the course of her ongoing spiritual education she became a scholar of Ken’an Rifai who famously said, “There is a piece of ‘hakikat’ in all of these philosophers in the past, and thus we cannot neglect any of them.”³ Cemalnur went on to study Muhyiddin Ibn-i Arabi, Mısri Niyazi, Şibli, Konevi and Cili for more than 25 years. She has also studied and researched the works of Ahmed-er Rifai, Ken’an Rifai, and Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. Currently, Cemalnur is working as the Head of the Istanbul Branch of the Turkish Women’s Cultural Association. She is also an active participant in radio and television programs and gives seminars and panel discussions in Turkey and abroad.⁴   [1] Baraka Institute: Transformation through spiritual experience. [2] Baraka Institute: Podcast with Cemalnur. [3] Cemalnur Sargut. [4] ibid.

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