TOWARD THE ONE, THE PERFECTION OF LOVE, HARMONY AND BEAUTY, THE ONLY BEING, UNITED WITH ALL THE ILLUMINATED SOULS, WHO FORM THE EMBODIMENT OF THE MASTER, THE SPIRIT OF GUIDANCE. | | |
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ISSUE 25 ~ MAY 2024
What is Sufism?; Bodhisattva Alert; Murshid Wali Ali's Tasbih; Om Namah Shivaya, A Love Affair; About the Youth Council; Reflections on the Jamiat Aam; Treasurer's Report; Inayat Through the Eyes of his Students; Sunrise in the West; Connections, calendar, and links
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Calligraphy by Muraqabba Mike Monahan | |
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Pir Shabda Kahn answers the question, "What is Sufism?" in this short video excerpt (1:40 minutes) from the film, Living from the Heart: Universalist Sufism in America produced by the Inayati-Maimuni Order.
Watch here
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Dear Family in Service,
As we age and have health issues, it becomes important to acknowledge that our aging community is passing into the Light. Requests for personal healing abound on the internet. So different from 50 years ago when we were all so young.
Ya Shakur! Our Sangha has been given the spiritual tools to assist, heal, and even cure those who are affected. May it continue.
The Absent Healing Ritual of Hazrat Inayat Khan was created so that local communities would have the ability to effect physical and mental change amongst their mureeds who are suffering. This is a call to action!
If your community does not have a healing circle, please allow us to assist you in creating one. Our transmission and training are without costs, and are readily available at our yearly DHO retreats (June 30-July 5, 2024 near Portland, Oregon), online via Zoom and through our expanded DHO classes website. Contact Murad for more information.
Please assist us as we expand our inner circle of the Shafia. Personal practice is more difficult when in emotional, mental or physical pain. Our work is not for our personal benefits nor advancement, but rather, for the alleviation of all suffering.
Bodhisattva Alert.
All blessings,
Hakim Saul-uddin
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Guanyin of the Southern Sea, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO | |
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Murshid Wali Ali's Tasbih
by Fateah Alice Saunders
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Dear Ones,
It was a long time ago we met - somewhere in the US, at a Sufi event - but seeing Amina Meyer again recently (on Zoom and in event advertisements) I’m reminded of Murshid Wali Ali’s tasbih.
Years ago, Wali Ali used to wear a tasbih around his neck. A striking tasbih, very long with large beads and other ornamentation, strung together in an unusual way. On one of Wali Ali’s early visits to PTA - the annual Peace Through the Arts DUP camp held in southern England - he offered up this tasbih for the auction that was held yearly to raise funds to support the camp. I happened to hear Wali Ali say that the tasbih had been made by his daughter, Amina, when she was a child.
This had a deep effect on me. Wali Ali was showing willingness to let go of a tasbih he not only wore and used, but a tasbih made by his own daughter. A tasbih clearly made with much youthful creativity and enjoyment. The implied relationship between father and daughter, absent in my own family, moved me greatly and I felt a huge respect for Wali Ali's act of generosity. I decided to bid for the tasbih in the auction...
Read the full article
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Drawing by Murshid Khabir Kitz | |
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Om Namah Shivaya, A Love Affair
by Sheikh Raphael Rod Birney
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An excerpt ~
The chant Om Namah Shivaya is a love song, to ourselves. A love song we sing to our own deepest inner nature. In this song we recognize that we are the source, like a hologram, a piece of God that also represents the whole. In the Siddha yoga lineage (from which this chant comes) it is considered to be the king of all mantras. The intelligent field of conscious energy of which the universe is made, and concentrates into the dense form we know of as matter, is represented by the god Shiva. Shiva is the totality.
Since the ancient Siddhas did not have the language and metaphors of modern physics, they represented the unified field of energy of the cosmos through the metaphors they could grasp, metaphors which allowed them to experience this vast field of conscious energy of which we are an interconnected part of. Their metaphor was the god Shiva. Through deep meditation they experienced the universe as Shiva, and themselves as Shiva. Shiva was said to dwell in the heart and be the size of a thumb and be the whole universe! When we chant this mantra, we are allowing the sound vibration tune into our true self, which is a manifestation of the universal energy field condensed into the unique and precious mystery of ourselves. The sound vibration of the mantra is said to be a very pure expression of our deepest nature.
Read the full article
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Lord Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha, with bull Nandi, old Hindu lithograph print | |
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About the Youth Council
by Aliye Gallagher, Youth Council Representative on the Board of Trustees
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The SRI Youth Council is a group of 12 Ruhaniat mureeds from around the globe. We are represented by 8 countries, the farthest reach being from Chile to Russia! When we meet on Zoom, it’s an 11-hour time difference between our “earliest” and “latest” beloveds.
The Youth Council is comprised of a few committees and groups that serve our different purposes. The Scholarship Committee does the core work of our SRI Youth Scholarship Fund, which assists young seekers traveling to camps and retreats. This team fields applications and facilitates the disbursement of funds. Our Curiosity Committee is exploring council documentation to see what previous iterations of the council have done that we could implement again, or perhaps ideas that didn’t come together that inspire us. Last but not least, our Events & Gatherings Group envisions and creates events for next gen sufis. Last year, for example, we hosted a virtual movie night via zoom where we watched “A Call to Spy” together, a film about SOE (Special Operations Executive) agents which features the story of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan.
Our Council meets monthly, and we always have a sweet time to connecting and planning together! Alhamdulillah for the technology that allows us to reach across the world.
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Reflections on the Jamiat Aam
by Rashida Diane Cullumber, member of the Board of Trustees
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"Thy presence lifteth me from earth to heaven."
- Hazrat Inayat Khan
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This was the first gathering of the Jamiat Aam in the USA since before the pandemic which was held April 25-28th in Madison, Wisconsin. It was also my first time attending. It was differently profound in comparison to other such gatherings I have been at. Perhaps because the blessing of gathering in this container after so long was deeply felt. The week prior, I had experienced a painful rupture in a close relationship but being together brought me to a new and deeper place of loving centeredness in my own being as more of the vastness of God’s love was revealed through the hearts of my Sufi family members. What a gift to take back home and into the world.
I asked other people who attended to share something of their experience.
“Saturday of the gathering was the anniversary of my sister's death from cancer at the age of 33. Usually this anniversary is sad and difficult, but this year I am so glad that I was able to be in community with so many people I love and admire - in such a beautiful venue, dancing and singing in remembrance of the Oneness that brings us together. It gives me hope and renews my sense of purpose - to be a light in a dark world and to remind others of their light. After all, we shine brighter together.” - Halima F.
“Jamiat means to come together, and that is the feeling I get at our annual gatherings. It is as if some separate parts of myself that have been scattered around find a way back to me. Seeing old friends and meeting new friends of the heart, I treasure these times and feel more whole at the end of our time together. Enriched and supported by our practices and our community; I return to ordinary reality and the everyday challenges of my life more able to be the person I want to be.” - Zaynab W.
“The Jamiat Aam was a gathering of friends and family far and wide—Coming home to our heart. It was a blessed event to be with Shabda, Amina, Rahmat and Allaudin. The mysticism of practices, sound, music continues to weave in my daily life. Alhamdullilah!” - Tajali T.
In this world where there’s so much suffering, I am realizing how much we collectively need the rippling of love, harmony and beauty that being together offers. We are fortunate for these opportunities to gather in this remembrance. I am grateful to the Ruhaniat, its teachers and wisdom holders, and all my fellow Friends on this path for this coming together and also for this rippling in our lives as we all spread back out afterwards–like a scattering of seeds of blessings across the earth. Ya Shakur!
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Pir Shabda and Dancers at the Jamiat Aam, photo by Chandra Devi Melanie Stars | |
Photo taken at the recent DHO gathering held at Haus Schnede in Salzahusen, Germany for the 40th year, courtesy of Subhan Michael Spencer. Back row left to right: Murshid Saul-uddin Barodofsky, Murshid Jelaluddin Hauke Sturm. Front row left to right: Murshida Sophia Gita Onnen, Murshida Rahmana Dziubany, Murshida Baraka von Kügelgen. | |
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Treasurer's Report with Pie Charts
by Waduda Welsh
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Dearest Ruhaniat Friends and Family,
As individuals, we are free as birds. Able to seek teachings and guidance as it comes. Able to alight on the closest branch for rest or song. But we still need a nest. A place to hold the concentration for this generation and the next. I see our nest, for nurturing and support, as the Ruhaniat.
Organizationally, our nest is a USA based, nonprofit church, able to offer events and courses for unfoldment, while also being able to accept donations to keep our offerings inexpensive and accessible throughout the world. We are able to give financial support to our young adults, Youth Council, to assist their peers in finding the depth of this path. We are able to help our leaders and Murshids connect and meet together, nourishing the center. We are able to help the hungry and poor who gather near Hazrat Inayat Khan’s Dargah. We continue to expand our offerings of Sufi teachings through book and translation projects. All to encourage this freedom of the individual unfoldment and soaring flight.
Our financial statements and pie charts reflect this activity. The 81% of our expenses allocated to our activities indicates the passion and commitment to this work. The Mentorgarten. Khankah SAM. Garden of Allah; our local centers that we can touch into. The God is Breath and River of Guidance courses that are sustaining and nourishing so many of us. And our in-person gatherings; Jamiat Aam, Jamiat Khas, and Sufi Sesshin that polish our hearts as we come together. All the costs of labor, travel, computer software, teacher fees, venue rentals, property insurance and taxes are evident in this 81% of our total expenses.
Read the full report
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Donate to Sufi Ruhaniat International | |
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Your donations help us to answer the continuing call of our mission. We are grateful to our donors, volunteers, teachers, the Murshids' Circle and the Board of Trustees, who help us in our work and service. Thank You!
Legacy Giving
The Ruhaniat is a container for a living transmission that is anchored in the lineage practices and teachings that have been handed down to us through centuries. Please support the future of our organization by including Sufi Ruhaniat International in your will or trust. Help us pass on a thriving and vital organization.
To include SRI in your will or trust, click here for information
Deepest thanks to those who have already arranged for a legacy gift to the Ruhaniat!
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Inayat through the Eyes of his Students
A new book by Wali van der Zwan
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With an overview of how his mureeds remembered their teacher, Hazrat Inayat Khan, recollecting his humor, his way of teachings, his impressive use of silence, his way with children, the tasks he gave them, his faith and trust, his visions, this book by Ruhaniat Khalif Wali van der Zwan offers an indispensable addition to the existing biographies. With many hitherto unknown stories and details, readers can see Hazrat Inayat Khan through the eyes of his students who walked, laughed, dined and conversed with him.
Order here
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As proofreader Elyn Mitchell wrote:
"I love the book. It gives, I think, the best picture of Hazrat Inayat Khan that I have known, and it makes him, somehow, more within reach - not just a distant, mysterious figure."
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Sunrise in the West
The Life of American Mystic Samuel L. Lewis
by Murshid Wali Ali Meyer
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We are thrilled to announce the release of a special hardcover edition of this long-awaited book on the life and teachings of Murshid SAM.
We are offering this special edition at a premium price of $101 + $15 shipping (USA shipping only) to help cover the many costs incurred to write the book. Thank you for your support!
Order here
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With a profound inner life, Samuel Lewis became known as both Sufi and Zen master. He also came to embody the deep teachings of living Hindu saints, the Kabbalah and the Christian mysteries. His horticultural endeavors and engagement in political and social causes throughout the world earned him international respect, and his spiritual realization generated a devoted following of spiritual seekers that is flourishing today.
- Pir Shabda Kahn
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Connections
major camps, recordings and online communities
~ click the calendar link for more listings ~
Calendar of Events
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Lama Foundation Sufi SesshinLama Foundation, New Mexico, Jun 26-30
Mendocino Sufi Camp - 50th Anniversary
Mendocino, California, July 14-21
Eat, Dance & Pray Together - Northeast Sufis
North Central Massachusetts, July 25-28
Santa Cruz Sufi Camp
Aptos, California, August 2-3
Northwest Sufi Camp
near Vernonia, Oregon, August 4-9
Southwest Sufi Camp
Silver City, New Mexico, September 17-22
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Ruhaniat Family Zoom Gatherings
Recordings: Video and Audio
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