Man's search for meaning and the spiritual training phases of sufizm

The existence of the 'sense of meaninglessness' that affects people in our era is an indisputable fact. This feeling is also expressed as 'emptiness' by some existentialist philosophers. Existential philosophy focuses on two fundamental distinctions when defining the sense of meaning. The first distinction between theistic and atheistic approaches forms the basis of the distinction related to phenomenological approaches. Phenomenology explains the sense of meaning by focusing on individual experiences, consciousness, and existential reality; it works on how humans perceive, experience, and make sense of the world. Existentialist philosophers emphasize that the search for meaning arises from the existential nature of human beings. This study aims to identify the thoughts presented by existentialist philosopher Viktor Emil Frankl, based on his work 'Man's Search for Meaning,' starting from the crisis period he experienced, and to examine the possible connections between such similar quests, considering that the past of these searches is also relevant in every period and cultural environment of human beings, by examining the possible connections between the seyr u sülûk process in the Sufi tradition. In line with this purpose, our thesis consists of two sections and a conclusion. The first section presents the fundamental ideas about existential philosophy and Frankl. The second section explains the spiritual journey expressed as seyr u sülûk and its elements in the field of Sufism, and highlights the parallels between Frankl's approaches to the search for meaning. As a result of this study, it is understood that Existential philosophy and Sufism are approaches that focus on understanding and interpreting oneself, existential experiences, the quest for meaning, and inner development. Both disciplines address the search for meaning, the process of self-discovery, and the importance of spiritual growth while emphasizing existential issues, internal voids, and the significance of understanding, catering to the nature of human beings.