Sufi Teachings

0neThe Federation of the Sufi Message Spring 2006–Volume Seven

Toward the

A Journal of Unity

including

The Problem of the Day

The Sacred Circle

Living Baraka

Spreading Our Wings…

Imagining Reality

and more

The Message in Our Time

Federation of the Sufi MessageThe Federation of the Sufi Message was originally formed by the International Headquarters of the Sufi

Movement and the Sufi Ruhaniat International out of a shared devotion to Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sufi Message, the Message for our time. Its purpose was and is to realize and express harmony and co-opera-tion among all organizations, leaders and mureeds who trace their origins to the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. We understand that different streams of this transmission may have different ways of interpreting and representing these teachings and different understandings about initiations and ordinations, and we wish to respect each and every stream that has a genuine intention of being a vehicle for sharing the Sufi Message with humanity.

Our purpose therefore is to continue working on a structure that will allow for all such groups to come together in dialogue and to encourage friendships across organizational lines. In this way we can learn from each other and engage in real collaborative work. By doing so we will begin to create a united Brotherhood/Sisterhood activity as envisioned for the world by Hazrat Inayat Khan. By doing spiritual practices together and listening to each other’s stories, we will help to build an atmosphere of mutual respect for each other in the hope of opening possibilities for working together in the other Sufi activities wherever this is desirable and possible. We are confident that our shared devotion for the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan will help us to set aside partisan differences and meet together in harmony.

Guidelines

The Federation will be governed by a Council of equal numbers of at least three representatives of each member organization, including a Chair, a Vice-President and a Delegate. It will be co-chaired by the Chairs from each organization. Except for the Chairs, who are ex officio members of the Council, their terms of office will be three years, after which they can be reelected or reappointed by their respective organizations. In addition to these representatives, each member organization can invite two non-voting participants to any Council meeting. Spouses of voting members may also attend as non-voting participants. The Council will meet at least once a year, in Europe or in North America. Traveling costs for Council members will be borne individually or by the respective organizations, but will not be paid for by the Federation.

1. The Chair can temporarily delegate their seat to their respective Vice-President.

2. In the event of the passing or incapacity of a Chair, the succeeding Chair is selected by the respective organization.

3. A Chair may only give their proxy to a Council member from their respective organization.

4. The Council will aim for consensus in its decisions; if this is not possible, decisions can be taken by a qualified majority of three-fourths of its members. It is hoped that Council decisions will represent the collective will of the member organizations, and that member organizations will feel encouraged and inspired to implement them, but the decisions of the Federation Council will not be binding on the member organizations.

Every effort has been made to secure permission to reproduce the images in this issue. Any additional copyright holders are invited to contact the editor so that proper credit can be given in future issues.

Department:

An Indian Pilgrimage by Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Moulamia Khan .........................57

Heirlooms: offerings from our past

Table of Contents

Editorial .......................................................................................................................5

The Problem of the Day by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan .....................................6

The Message in Our Time by Hidayat Inayat-Khan .....................................................12

The Sacred Circle by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis and Saadi Douglas-Klotz ......................16

Zaynab’s Wedding Meal a poem by Tamam Kahn ........................................................31

Living Baraka a talk by Wali Ali Meyer ........................................................................32

Spreading Our Wings to Spread the Message a letter from Hannah Lagasse and Michaël Schouwenaar .................................35

Imagining Reality by Krishna Ste. Marie Therrien ........................................................37

Impressions of a Visit by Stephanie Nuria Sabato .........................................................46

Making the Message a Reality by Maharani de Caluwé ................................................51

Modern Life and Prayer by Rashid and Jalila Guerra ..................................................54

Report from India by Nawab William Pasnak .............................................................62

From a Christian Service to a Universal Worship by Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss ...............65

White Jasmine by Nawab William Pasnak ..................................................................68

Calendar of Some Events ............................................................................................70

Some of Our Contributors .........................................................................................74

Published by: The Federation of the Sufi Message

Editors: Nawab William Pasnak and Amrita Skye Blaine

Special thanks to the Staff of this issue: Attar Boom and Nirtan Ekaterina Pasnak

Language: With regard to general usage, readers are reminded that Toward the One—a Journal of Unity is an international publication, and therefore both European and North American conventions may be observed. With regard to the specific issue of gender, it should be noted that some of the material which from time to time appears in these pages found expression before there was any effort to remove gender discrimination from common usage. Out of respect for our historical sources, we have left the language as it was originally given, feeling that a careful reading of the texts in question reveals open-hearted inclusion rather than an intent to exclude any group. Nevertheless, we offer our sincere apologies to any who feel alienated by the choice of words herein.

Opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the Federation of the Sufi Message or its member organizations.

We welcome submissions of articles and artwork, but suggest you discuss your submission with us first. If at all possible, articles should be in digital format, and art work in hard copy. Every effort will be made to return art work promptly, but Toward the One cannot be responsible for lost or damaged material.

Mail to: Toward the One, c/o SRI, PO Box 51118, Eugene, OR 97405 USA

Nawab Pasnak: 613-738-7370, Email: [email protected] Skye Blaine: 541-345-5223, Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

5Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

Editorial

—Nawab William Pasnak and Amrita Skye Blaine

It is safe to assume that all of our community–the readers, writers, friends, family, editors and collective publishers of Toward the One–have been deeply touched by the Sufi Message

brought by Hazrat Inayat Khan: not a message of Sufism, but the same divine message which has always been, spoken this time in the tone and manner of the Sufis.

It is, Hazrat Inayat Khan said, the message of our time, the message of the age, and like every message, it will not have reached its fulfillment until it has been received and understood by those to whom it is addressed, which is to say, all of humanity. Considering the state of the world, we can be sure this has not yet happened, and it was with this in mind that we set the challenge of addressing in this issue the problems facing ‘the Message in our time,’ and how to overcome them.

The responses have been wide-ranging and insightful, with a keen awareness of the practical (In ‘Imagining Reality,’ Krishna Ste. Marie Therrien asks, “How…does Hazrat Inayat Khan’s message of Love, Harmony and Beauty play out here on the outskirts of Eden–in the economic reality of transforming nature into a living?”) but without getting bound up in the political or the technical. Rashid and Jalila Guerra propose a greater reliance on prayer; Maharani de Caluwé says we can make the message a reality by serving others; Michaêl Schouwenaar and Hannah Lagasse suggest we spread the wings of our collective hearts to spread the message, and Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss offers a personal reflection on the form and meaning of the Universal Worship, which of course is intended to overcome the distinctions and differences which divide.

Perhaps the musings of this issue will not bring about any dramatic acceleration in the progress of the message, but it is important to keep the subject in mind. If we only come to the teachings of Sufism for our own benefit, we miss, among other things, an important opportunity of service. And yet, paradoxically, if there is anything that unites the various themes and reflections of our writers in this issue, it could be this: if we don’t live it, we can’t give it. If we don’t make the message a reality in our own lives, there is no way it can influence another life. In other words, and not to steal the thunder of our deeply appreciated contributors in the following pages, all we have to offer to the problem of the day is ‘us.’

“Religion,’ coming from the root ‘religio,’ ‘to tie together,’ is meant to unite humanity, but it often seems to be the cause of discord and separation. The theme of our next issue will be, ‘One ideal, many faiths.’ Proposals for unique, profound and beautifully crafted articles and imagery are most heartily welcome, and should reach the editors by October 15th.

� Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

The Problem of the DayExtracts from “Sufi Mysticism”

by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

The hustle and bustle of life leaves a man very little time to think of his general condition. The only news he receives is

from the newspapers, and so he depends upon the papers for his ideas; and the intoxication of life leaves him very little time to think about the real meaning of life. When he looks around him and considers the condition of the nations today, he finds that in spite of all the progress there is an increase in ill-feeling between them. Friendship exists only for self-interest. A nation only thinks about its own interest whether it has to deal with friend or enemy; and if he consid-ers the world as a body, he can say that poison has been put into its heart, owing to the hatred which people feel towards one another.

No period like this can be traced in the history of the world; this age has accomplished a much greater destruction than ever before. It reminds one of a spider, which weaves its web for its own comfort but cannot get out of the web it has made for itself. And if one goes to the root of this subject one sees that all this disorder has been caused by the spirit of materialism. Money seems to be the only gain and the only aim. It is undeniable that when one is continually thinking of such a subject all one’s thoughts and energy will go in that direction, and perhaps in the end man awakens and finds that all his life he has given his thoughts to something which does not last, which does not even exist, and which is only an illusion.

No doubt this pessimism is the bridge from one optimism to another, and it may be said to be disinterestedness, or Vairagya, as it is called in Vedanta terms. It is not the man who leaves the world who is great, but the one who lives in the world, understanding the difficulties and troubles that belong to humanity. It is he who sees not his little self, but the whole. Jesus Christ taught us to think of our fellow-men, to love our fellow-men. And what do we see today? Difficulties arising between masters and workmen; peace conferences where nothing can be decided concerning peace. And all this because the point of view is not there which makes people say, ‘I will do something for you and you will do something for me.’ ‘No,’ says everyone, ‘I will look after myself and you will look after yourself.’ To serve one another, to love one another, to work for one another, should be the aim of life, but man has lost hold of it altogether.

Look at the central theme of the education of today. Only a short time is given to the child to prepare him for the kingliness of life and the freedom of the spirit. And when the child’s intellect grows, every year more and more it sees life before it like an ocean which it has to cross, like something dark awaiting it. And later when the child has become a man, he gives all his time to his work, to his office, and there is no time even for love or friendship; yet at the


Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

continued on next page

end he cannot take all these things with him. After sacrificing all his life to these things, what has he really gained? Through his external life in the world the complications of life have only increased.

In spite of all the progress of modern civilization that has been made in all departments

of life, such as commerce, industry, politics, and economics, the question still remains whether we have really progressed. If one observes the superficiality of the life which man lives today in the so-called civilized parts of the world, one will

certainly find that he is far removed from nature both within and without, and he has become an exile from the ideal state of life. The more laws that are made, the more crimes are committed; the more mechanisms that are prepared, the more work increases, and yet little is being done; the more lawsuits that are brought in court, the

more cases occur; the more physicians, the more diseases. Cupidity has come to the fore so that whether one has an aristocratic or a democratic system, justice seems to be absent.

� Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

Also, in spite of the regard for the rights of women which have been established in this age, woman’s responsibility in life has much increased. She has to fight her battle in the open field, which naturally exhausts her energy and courage, causing her to lose her inherently free nature as she has constantly to rub against the rough edges of life. The prejudice, hatred, and distrust that exist between nations whether friends or foes, every nation being absorbed in its own interest regardless of the people in general, have reflected on the mentality of individuals and have made life difficult for both rich and poor. Everywhere one turns one sees material strife; every ideal, every principle has to be sacrificed for it. And yet no man can be deprived of his human inheritance. There is a treasure in himself which has to be found. Religion should have helped man, but the religious authorities have very often failed to uphold the inner qualities of their religion. The question is not what religion one follows, but how to live one’s religion. When religion has lost its hold on inner life and faith, there is nothing left. Many people, especially among the intellectuals, have lost their religion, and among the younger ones there are a good many who even dread the name of God.

What is needed today is an education that will teach humanity to feel the essence of their religion in everyday life. Man is not put on this earth to be an angel. He need not be praying in church all day long, nor go into the wilderness. He needs only to understand life better. He must learn to set apart a certain time in the day to think about his own life and doings. He must ask himself, ‘Have I done an honest deed today? Have I proved myself worthy in that place, in that capacity?’ In this way he can make his everyday life a prayer. Among politicians, doctors, lawyers, merchants it might be possible to have love as the battery behind every deed, every action, together with a sense of harmony behind all these activities.

We need today the religion of tolerance. In daily life we cannot all meet on the same

ground, being so different, having such different capacities, states of evolution, and tasks. So if we had no tolerance, no desire to forgive, we could never bring harmony into our soul; for to live in the world is not easy and every moment of the day demands a victory. If there is anything to learn it is this tolerance, and by teaching this simple religion of tolerance to one another we are helping the world. It is no use to hold on to the idea that the world is going from bad to worse, that the germs of disease will spread and bring greater calamities. Every man’s being is good; in the depths of his heart there is something definitely good.

There are teachings about healing, but the best way is the way of character healing, healing one’s own character; in this way instead of accomplishing miracles, one’s whole life can become a miracle. The lack of religion today has created strange beliefs about communicating with ghosts or fairies, and things one does not and cannot understand; but all this has very little to do with religion. The Bible is full of simple things and one would be happy if one could accomplish one of them. There has been a great demand for knowledge and for occult powers, but with all his intellectuality what has man achieved beyond the destruction of his brother?

The need of the world today is not learning, but how to become considerate towards one another: to try to find out in what way happiness can be brought about, and in this way to realize that peace which is the longing of every soul; and to impart it to others, thereby attaining our life’s goal, the sublimity of life. […]

The unrest which one finds throughout the world, the difficulties among the nations, the hatred existing among people, the cry of misery which comes more or less from all sides, the commercial catastrophes, the political problems, all these make one wonder what may be done to find a solution for the general cry of humanity. What happens today is that the different institutions try to extinguish the fires

�Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006


burning here and there, but that can never solve the problem of the world.

The first thing that should be remembered is that all activities of life are connected with each other, and if one does not heed this one finds that while one thing is put in order another thing goes wrong. It is just like a person who is ill and who needs sleep and good diet: if he gets sleep without that diet it will not do him good, nor will a good diet without sleep help him. While trying to straighten out commercial difficulties political problems creep in; while considering the social questions moral difficulties appear. The desire to serve humanity in the work of reconstruction is the duty and responsibility of every sensible soul whatever be his rank or position or qualifications in life; and the first question to be studied is what remedy can be found for all the maladies that manifest on the surface of life today.

There is one principal remedy and that is the changing of the attitude of humanity; it is this alone which can help in all aspects of life. This attitude can be changed by moral, spiritual, and religious advancement, and the work that the Sufi message has to accomplish lies in this particular direction; for it is a method which enables man to have another outlook on life.

The chief thing that the Sufi Movement tries to avoid is sectarianism, which has divided man in all ages of the world’s history.

The Sufi message is not opposed to any religion, faith, or belief; it is rather a support to all religions, it is a defense for religions which are attacked by the followers of other religions. At the same time the Sufi Movement provides humanity with that religion which is in reality all religions. The Sufi Movement is not supposed to take the whole of humanity in its arms, yet

in the service of the whole of humanity lies the fulfillment of the Sufi message. The Sufi Movement, therefore, does not stand as a barrier between a member and his own religious faith, but as an open door leading to the heart of that faith. A member of the Movement is a bearer of the divine message to the followers of whatever church or sect he may belong to.

The work of the Sufi Movement is not to collect all the rainwater in its own tanks, but to make a way for the stream of the message to flow and to supply water to all the fields of the world. The work of the Sufi message is sowing; reaping we shall leave to humanity to do, for the fields do not belong to

our particular Movement; all the fields belong to God. We who are employed to work on this farm of the world must do what we have to do and leave the rest to God. Success we do not trouble about; let those who strive for it seek some other direction. Truth alone is our success, for the only lasting success is truth.

World ReconstructionEspecially after a war and the pain that the

world has thereby experienced, people begin to think again about the subject of reconstruction. But no doubt every person looks at it according to his own mentality, and in this way the ideas about the reconstruction of the world differ very much.

If we consider the condition of the world as it is today, we see that its financial condition, which is most essential for order and peace, has become so involved that many people of intellect and understanding are helpless before this most difficult problem. No doubt there are those who will tell us that there is no remedy for the

The Sufi message is not opposed to any religion,

faith, or belief; it is rather a support to all religions, it is a defense for religions which are attacked by the followers

of other religions.

10 Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

betterment of humanity other than the solution of the financial problems; but at the same time it seems that these problems are becoming daily more and more difficult and bringing nations and races and communities towards a greater and greater destruction. Before a solution is reached it will be no wonder if a great deal of damage is done to many nations.

And although, absorbed by their own problems, men do not think enough about these things, nevertheless in the end the world in general will realize the weakness, the feebleness caused by this disorder and by the unbalanced condition of the financial world. Nations and people make profit out of the losses of other nations and people, and even if for the moment they may think that they are benefited, in the end they will realize that we human beings, whether as individuals or as a multitude, all depend upon one another. For instance, if because of one part of one’s body another part suffers, it the end there will prove to be an unbalanced state, a lack of health in the physical body; and just as health means that all the organs of the body are in good condition, so the health of the world means that all nations, all people, are in a good condition.

Leaving this financial question and coming to the problem of education, in spite of all the progress that has been made in this field, any thoughtful person will be struck by the amount of work which a little child is given to do, considering its age and its strength. It seems that in the enthusiasm for making education richer and richer, a load has been heaped upon the minds of the children. And what happens? It is like a dish which was meant to be cooked for half an hour but is being made ready in five minutes. It will perhaps be burnt, or perhaps it is underdone. The child knows too much for its age; it knows what it does not require, what it does not value, what is a load to it, what is forced upon its mind. And how few of us stop to think of this question, that childhood is a kingliness in itself. It is a gift from above that the child is growing and that during the time of

its growth it is unaware of the woes and worries and anxieties of life. These are the only days for experiencing the kingliness of life, the days when the child should play, when it should be near to nature, when it should absorb what nature gradually teaches.

The whole of childhood is devoted to study, study of material knowledge; and as soon as the child has grown into a youth, the burden of life is put on its shoulders, a burden which is becoming heavier and heavier for rich and poor. The result of this is that there is strife between the political parties, that there is disagreement between labor and capital; and this life full of struggle to which the child opens its eyes never leaves it time to be one with nature, to dive deep within itself, or to think beyond this life in the crowd.

When we consider the problem of nations we become still more perplexed. The enmity, hatred, and prejudice which exist between one nation and another, and the antagonism and utter selfishness which are the central theme of the relationships and ties between nations, show that the world is going from bad to worse, and unrest seems to be all-pervading. There seems to be no trust between nations, no sympathy, except for their own interest. And what is the outcome of it? Its impression falls as a reflection, as a shadow upon individuals, turning them also towards egoism and selfishness.

Religion was meant to be the safest, the only refuge in the world; but at the present moment, with ever-growing materialism and overwhelming commercialism, religion seems to be fading away. A silent indifference towards religion seems to be increasing, especially in the countries foremost in civilization; and that being so, where can man find the solution of the problem of the day?

We can also consider this question from a philosophical point of view. What is construction and what is reconstruction? A construction is that which is already made. A newborn child is a construction. But after a disorder in the body or in the mind, there comes a need of


reconstruction. In English there is an expression: to pull oneself together. The reconstruction of the world today means that the world has to pull itself together. Education, the political, social, and financial condition, religion, all these things which made civilization, seem to have been scattered; and in order that they may come together again, the secret of life must be studied. What is the secret of healing power? It is making oneself strong enough to pull oneself together; and that is the secret of the life of the mystic. The world has lost its health, and if one pictures the world as an individual, one can see what it means to lose one’s health. It is just like illness in the life of an individual; and as for every illness there is a remedy, so for every disaster there is a reconstruction.

But people have different ideas. There is a pessimist who says, ‘If the world has got to this state of destruction who can help it, how can it be helped?’ This is like a person who says, ‘Well, I have been so ill, I have suffered so much, I do not care. How can I be well now? It is too late.’ In this way he holds on to his disease and he cherishes it, though he does not like it. And then there is the curious person, who is very anxious to look at the newspaper and see whether his investments have gone up or whether they have gone down, and to see whether there is the probability of war; and he will excite his friends about it. Then there is another person who says, ‘Committees must be formed, there must be societies and leagues; congresses must be held, and many more meetings, many more discussions.’ There seems to be no end to the discussions and disputes in order to find out the ways and means of how to improve conditions!

I do not mean to say that any effort, in whatever form, towards the reconstruction or towards the betterment of conditions is not worthwhile. But what is most needed is for us to understand that religion of religions and that philosophy of philosophies which is self-knowledge. We shall never understand the outer life if we do not understand ourselves. It

is knowledge of the self that gives knowledge of the world. The politician, the statesman, however qualified, will dispute about things for years and years, but he will never come to a satisfactory conclusion unless he understands the psychology of life and of the situation. And so the educationalist will try new schemes but he will never come to a satisfactory conclusion unless he has a psychological knowledge of life, the knowledge which will teach him the psychology of human nature. But I do not mean by psychology what is generally understood by this word; I mean the understanding of the self, the understanding of the nature and character of the mind and of the body.

What is health? Health is order. And what is order? Order is music. Where there is rhythm, regularity, co-operation, there is harmony, there is sympathy. Health of mind and health of the body depend therefore upon the preserving of that harmony, upon keeping intact that sympathy which exists in the mind and body. Life in the world, and especially as we live it amidst the crowd, will test and try our patience every moment of the day, and it will be most difficult to preserve that harmony and peace which is all happiness. For what is the definition of life? Life means struggle with friends and battle with foes. It is continual giving and taking.

And where are we to learn this? All education and learning and knowledge is acquired, but this one art is a divine art, and man has inherited it. Because he is absorbed in the outer learning he has forgotten it, but it is an art which is known to the soul; it is his own being; it is the deepest knowledge that he has in his heart. No progress in any line that man can make will give him the satisfaction which his soul is craving for, except this one which is the art of life, the art of being, the pursuit of his soul.

In order to further the reconstruction of the world the only thing possible and the only thing necessary, before trying to serve humanity, is to learn the art of being, the art of life, for oneself and in order to be an example for others.


As we march courageously onward through the darkness of human ignorance, stead-fastly displaying the banner of spiritual

liberty, we may perhaps discover that truth could be interpreted as an invitation to become as liv-ing altars of all religious beliefs, communicating in each one’s language, while safely holding on to the only secret that there is to inner peace, to happiness, to spiritu-ality: the supremacy of truth, which cannot be defined.

There is only one truth: the nobility of the heart. There is only one true heart: selfless feelings within. The inner self, the all-pervading, is revealed at all levels of mystical understanding when the illusion of the self is transcended. This is the path of the wise, who recognize that all they know is what they imagine knowing. Wisdom is only wisdom when not pretending to others about one’s own wisdom, but when offering a silent example of an awakening to the everlasting riddle: who, what, why, how, which, whence, whither?

Religious ideals, which were originally destined to offer a helping hand towards the realization of truth, tend to be confined within different religious forms and clad in various

garbs by those who do not see that the means to attain an objective cannot be the goal; the goal is further still. The path is the means of reaching the goal, but if one argues over the authenticity of the path, one is detained by differences and can never ever reach the goal, which is certainly to become conscious of that Divine heritage which reveals itself in the awakening to the inner call.

Our Divine heritage can only be revealed along the course of a very thorny path called the ‘art of personality,’ and the journey on this path requires constant effort to forge the character into a living example of love, harmony and beauty. One can be a bringer of happiness when overlooking all that disturbs one when others are not in accord with one’s own thinking, making thereby every effort to work on one’s own shortcomings rather than to judge others.

Even in a fall there is a hidden stepping-stone by which one may rise

above shortcomings, distinctions and differences. In this way one may tune one’s ego to a higher pitch, so as to harmonize with those whom one meets, and in whose company one might discover sparks of hidden guidance. There is no experience in life which is really worthless,

The Message in Our Timeby Hidayat Inayat-Khan

Hidayat Inayat-Khan



and there is not one moment which is really wasted, providing one is wise enough to carefully assemble the elements of past memories and learn from these with the idea of accomplishing one’s life’s purpose, although one’s vision of right and wrong might not always correspond to that of others. Each time that we set aside our own ego, even for a moment, we offer a little bit of our heart to the Divine Presence, and in return the light of the Spirit of Guidance becomes brighter and brighter, so that there remains no shadow to hide the perfection of the All-pervading.

Any role that one performs in the play of life soon becomes intoxicating, and under that spell one cherishes the illusion of one’s identity. As soon as one discovers that nothing is really absolute, however, one realizes that all is but a momentary game, whatever be one’s condition, whether bright or gloomy, and that all values are only comparative, dependent upon the angle from which they are considered, and only true to a certain extent in comparison to unlimited truth, which is beyond all speculation. The self which one clings to, and which is only a phantom of one’s true identity, is, however, the channel through which the soul is ultimately the spectator of all happenings, reflected as images upon a mirror. Yet the images have only reached its surface without causing any permanent alteration, leaving the mirror of the soul immaculately pure.

Every effort towards the fulfillment of one’s life’s purpose, whether it be a material or a spiritual one, brings one step by step to the ultimate goal. This process could be seen as a humble contribution to the fulfillment of the Divine goal, since the entire creation is in a constant state of formation according to a central theme. The purpose of life is not only to rise to the greatest heights but also to dive deep into

the deepest depths, whereby the self is lost, but finds itself again as a result of the widening of the consciousness, just as the seed finds the fulfillment of its purpose when diving into the earth and then rising as a plant to spread out in full bloom under the rays of the sun.

Sufism is neither a religion nor a cult, neither a doctrine nor a dogmatic institution. Perhaps one could say that Sufism has always been, ever since wisdom was wisdom. Esoteric schools can be traced as far back as the time of

Abraham, and even earlier. In Arabia, esoteric schools were known for their metaphysical teaching; in Persia, literature, poetry and music were the sources of inspiration; in India, the esoteric schools were mainly of a meditative character. Although these and others may perhaps

differ slightly in the methods of inner training, yet all are united in their object, because esotericism does not belong to just one esoteric school.

The term Sufi, meaning wisdom, does not refer only to ancient schools, known or unknown, where spiritual concepts blossomed through the ages and subsequently crystallized within various orders; it refers in reality to all efforts made to raise human understanding to a level of spiritual awakening, which is the outcome of the purification of the mind from the limitations of traditional barriers, as well as from one’s own preconceived ideas unconsciously built up day by day. Wisdom cannot be worded, nor can it be identified as being the property of one single transmission because of its universal nature. It is a message of human rights of thought and feeling that has been calling since eternity but is not always heard, which explains why artificial terminologies generally misrepresent true inner realization. Unless there is an awakening to the basic moral principles of honesty in spirituality,

There is only one truth: the nobility of the

heart. There is only one true heart: selfless feelings within.


the religious contingent of mankind remains enslaved by the tyranny of the illusion of Truth.

Another subject found in Sufi teaching is the alchemy of happiness, which, as we know from fairy tales, is the use of a magic formula to turn base metal into gold. This mystical illustration symbolizes so beautifully the basic principle of the inner school of the Sufis, where deep consideration is offered to the transformation of one’s gross ego into a humble attitude of respect, awakening one’s heart to the consciousness of the privilege of being the temple of God, radiating God’s love upon all who come one’s way.

For a Sufi, the diversity of names and forms of the world’s religious doctrines are like veils covering the phenomenon of the Spirit of Guidance constantly manifesting at all levels of evolution. This explains why one of the great ideals of a Sufi is the awakening of the heart qualities, resulting in a broader outlook, reaching far beyond concepts of faith and belief, and a compassionate attitude toward the tragic misunderstandings that divide the earnest followers of religious and philosophical traditions. The Sufi thoughtfully avoids making a display of speculative concepts, using only the language of the heart when communicating with others, respectful of all interpretations of the one and only object of worship.

All down the ages, the world Messengers have come to humanity with the great ideal of liberating the religious impulse from the various dogmas that over and over again through the centuries have built up speculative theories about abstract concepts. The followers of the followers of the followers impose these forms upon innocent believers, perpetuating thereby the spectre of fanaticism even in this age when science has successfully catapulted factual knowledge as far as the surface of the moon, beyond the tragic limitations of what is held as religious knowledge describing heaven in terms which appeal to the ignorant.

The message of all times, which is sounding again in our century, reminds mankind that those religious traditions highly respected within the museum of the past now face the reality of new visions, such as the concept of the unity of religious ideals. Obviously, this concept becomes a normal understanding as soon as one’s inner awareness opens to the light of the ‘pearls of the ocean unseen’ displayed in all religious symbolism. This light, which is hidden beneath so many layers of disguise, pretence, and fanatical thinking, may also be seen within one’s own heart, which, to the mystic, is the living altar.

The Divine Message, which comes in all ages under different names, is now the message of wisdom. This message is not meant only for a certain culture nor is it destined for just one part of the world; it is for the whole of humanity. It is a universal message, expressed in a Universal Worship inspired by teachings from the great religions, known and unknown to the world at large. The religious ideal is focused upon the Spirit of Guidance, the Teacher of all teachers, offering inspiration to the world of science, freedom to the world of art, liberty to the social world, and to the religious world, the spirit of guidance offers the realization of the Divine within all creation.

To the question, ‘What is the Message?’ the answer differs in accordance with the understanding, because each person represents a different point of view, yet all venture to drink from the same water, whether it be called a stream, a river, a lake, a sea, an ocean or the Divine source itself.

Receiving the Divine MessageThere are two ways of receiving the Divine

message: either through the heart or through the mind. The message received through the mind will whirl around in the head until the wind of reason rises and blows it away. The message received through the heart will settle in the depths, awakening virtues, merits and inspiration, but the heart requires preparation


in a process through which one overcomes the false identities of the self. And then, when discovering the real self, one offers the limited ego as a sacrifice to the truth within.

A spiritual ideal is like a ladder that helps one to reach up to the understanding of the purpose for which the Message has always been given. Therefore confidence and trust in the Message offer the strength to stand firm in the service of God and humanity, and one should never let oneself become discouraged by lack of success, which everyone experiences in some way or other in this limited world.

The Message is in the seedling period, and the seed has not yet grown into a plant. The time shall come when this seed shall become a tree, and it shall then be able to support itself with its own strength. Our responsibility, therefore, is to tend this little seedling with much care, to rear it, to water it, to offer it sun and air, and to let it grow and spread, so that some day it shall produce the fruits and flowers that the Message is destined to offer to humanity. The Message may be likened to the rain which is intended for each particular season, with the purpose of helping the plants and trees to grow, and to give to the earth its sustenance, besides also making the rivers run full, and the sea rejoice with the coming of water from the clouds. And as rain is the answer to the need of the earth, so is God’s message the answer to the need of humanity.

The Message should not be regarded as just something to study like a science, or as a book of new ideas and new theories, but as something given in the form of higher ideals. There shall always be difficulties, because of the difficulty in understanding the truth, as well as of distinguishing truth from falsehood, which has always been the cause of misunderstandings. Human efforts are limited, human means are limited, and the human grasp of wisdom may be limited, but truth cannot be limited, and so there is no reason to be discouraged. Truth shall never fail.

Wherever the Message of God was given to the world, and at whatever period, its central theme was human brotherhood and sisterhood. The forms of the religions and the interpretations brought in the scriptures are secondary. When diving deeper into this subject, one shall find that the various teachings do not differ very much. If there is a difference it is either one of terms or in the way in which people have understood them. Therefore, the difference is not in the teaching; if one finds a difference, it is because one wants to find it, just as when one wants to find a fault in the best person, one finds it, and when one wants to find some good in the worst person, one also finds it.

The more one shall widen one’s view of the horizon, the more one shall see beyond the limitations of preconceived ideas, and the more one shall realize that one cannot judge great personalities only from historical legends. Differences arise from the views of each person, according to the individual conception of the teacher. But when one realises the greatness of the bringers of the Message, one discovers the true magic of their divine personalities, which have struck the hearts of millions of people through the ages.

The Sufi Message given to the world today is found in the prayers Saum and Salat. During these prayers, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus can stand shoulder to shoulder in a universal congregation. In this universal worship of God no one shall miss the name of the saviour whom they worship. Some day all shall awaken to the idea that a divine personality has the names of all teachers, saints, sages and prophets, and even more names, known and unknown to the world.

The prayers Saum and Salat are like pillars upon which the entire structure of the Sufi teaching stands. These prayers offer an appeal from the heart, uniting races, nations and faiths, independent of religious principles and various conceptions of truth.

1� Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

“The book of bitterness has closed. A new cycle has definitely begun. It is obvious that there is a huge

integrative movement going on. This may be indicative of the Aquarian Age, for something like this is certainly going on. The group has displaced the individual, but it is a dynamic, organic group, demonstrating ‘I am the vine and ye are the branches thereof.’”

—Samuel L. Lewis, December 1. 1968 (Sufi Vision and Initiation, pg. 324)

1. Formation of the Group Unit in the Presence of a Teacher

VOICE OF SAM: The presence of the Teacher, guru or sheikh facilitates the formation of a group-unit. There are several positions which the teacher can assume. One is to be in the circle of the group—as if at its heart-center—to breathe with his whole love-cosmic-consciousness in and out. In that manner the atmosphere of the room, building or arena is permeated by holy vibrations and becomes replete with blessings and powers (siddhis). In such cases lectures are not necessary and speech may be out of place.

COMMENTARY: This is demonstrated in the Dances of Universal Peace. The Dances are more than a collection of steps, music or even phrases, however sacred. Without the inner realization of a living person to activate the ingredients,

nothing happens. Sometimes the inner realiza-tion of a member of the circle exceeds that of the “teacher.” In that case, all benefit nonetheless. And when the “teacher” is not feeling very mag-netic, if the current is blocked, then it is better to be part of the circle and offer one’s surrender or fana rather than one’s realization or baka. As Mevlana says: “If nothing else, offer your dry, hypocritical, agnostic prayer, because the Only Being, in infinite mercy, accepts bad coin.”

VOICE OF SAM: But the Teacher may also sit before her/his disciples and before the multitude and carry on the same attunement-concentra-tion. If there are only disciples and the Teacher wishes to speak, the best magnetic results come when they sit before him or her in the form of a semicircle. In that case they not only receive the beneficent, holy rays of their Teacher but also, being related one to another, help to establish mutual concord and harmony.

COMMENTARY: This is clearly demonstrated in the Healing Ritual of Hazrat Inayat Khan, where the conductor “conducts” the current channeled from the One through the group healing battery formed. The presence of one sincere student in a crowd of hundreds can activate the transmission of blessing that may come through the Teacher. At the same time, the person sitting in the place of the Teacher must be surrendered inwardly to her/his own highest

The Sacred Circle:The Teacher And The Group In Spiritual Organization

Draft Commentary on Four Chapters of “Introduction to Spiritual Brotherhood” by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti-SAM)

by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Sufi Saadi Shakur Chishti)

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.



purpose and guidance, in the form of their own living teacher, in the seen or unseen. As Kabir says, “when one flower opens, ordinarily dozens open.” It is the primary work of those who sit in the place of the Teacher to create accommoda-tion or living magnetic potential, in order for the unseen teaching, which transcends words, to come through.

VOICE OF SAM: It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the living presence of the Teacher

has a determinative effect in establishing cen-ters of baraka or blessing, so that for centuries thereafter people may benefit by coming to such a sacred abode. On the part of the Teacher, it may be relatively unimportant whether s/he maintains silent meditations and concentra-tions, speaks to the select few or to the larger generality, restricts him/herself to instruction or performs healing and miracles. The Teacher is the one with the vision and foresight, and his/her action is determined by an outlook usually not common to even the chosen disciples.

COMMENTARY: In other words, vision is not a matter of a popularity contest, or trying to be “nice.” As Hazrat Inayat Khan says, “What the world calls success is like a doll’s wedding.” No doubt the ego-mind can attach itself to a vision-ary state and this can lead to the self-delusion that causes abuse. For this reason no one sits or stands in the place of the “Teacher” without having genuinely been—and continuing to be—a student. Murshid Samuel L. Lewis felt that, despite his inner relationship with Hazrat

Inayat Khan, which continued after the latter’s passing, it was always necessary to have a guide in human form to act as a check on his ego.

VOICE OF SAM: The state of the Teacher is known as baka, and the maqam or grade of it may be determined by him or herself. If it is too high or noble it is like spreading many blessings over a large area, so that few are accumulated at a single point. If it is not so high, it is like focusing a light so that all within range can

Saadi Douglas-Klotz Murshid Samuel L. Lewis


obtain the maximum benefit. The state of the pupil is fana—effacement or surrender—and the maqam of the student’s fana determines his grade of evolution and sometimes her/his spiritual status.

COMMENTARY: Baka means realization: in the words of Murshid Samuel Lewis, the Teacher is the positive pole of the battery. Fana means surrender: the student is the receptive pole. When the current flows, both feel a type of ecstasy.

This can happen one-to-one or in a group where the vibration has reached a harmonious pitch. In either case, the way in which Teacher or student learn how to make this experience a regular, reliable reality has to do with maqam—the level of realization that each is able to carry forth in everyday life. This is the challenge that one faces constantly, no matter what hal (state) or maqam (station) one is in. Or as the Buddha said in his words of farewell: “Don’t put any false heads above your own. Work out your salvation with diligence.”

VOICE OF SAM: For untold centuries gurus have given open instructions as well as silent communications to disciples. These commu-nications are usually in the form of breaths or love-powers, but sometimes they take on other forms. When they lead to much phenomena there is usually less blessing in them. Blessings may be accumulated, but when phenomena are manifested the vibrations have completed their usefulness and are transmuted or transposed.

COMMENTARY: What is most outwardly miraculous or awe-inspiring is not most pen-etrating. Spiritual magnetism may be wasted as personal charisma aimed at attracting crowds or popularity. What is needed is the “bestowal of blessing” by each and all, whether acknowledged outwardly as “teacher” or “student.” This type of work has little to do even with acknowledg-ment, but when attuned, those who have the

eyes to see, do see, and recognize each other.” Heart speaks to heart and soul to soul” (Hazrat Inayat Khan).

VOICE OF SAM: Love itself is the great phe-nomenon, and it is needed more than ever today because of the huge, catastrophic, destructive forces unleashed upon earth. However, love without self-sacrifice is very limited in its scope; it may even be useless. Therefore, the God-re-alized person comes to fix the centers for the transmissions of love and blessings, and these sacred centers may be called temples, whether there are buildings there or not.

COMMENTARY: Or as Jesus said, each person is a temple, a center for blessing to accumulate, whether s/he knows it or not. This heart-mag-netism is not what usually passes for love in Western culture, which in a religious, psychic or cultic sense has more to do with sentimental-ity, romantic myth or addiction to control. The sacrifice of the self purifies love, and great love can lead to greater fana, even when the experi-ence also brings pain.

VOICE OF SAM: All the great saints and holy ones are the embodiments of love. Their personalities have been perfected because of their heart’s progress. When the heart touches a certain plane it bursts into flame, so to speak, and that flame touches the many planes of the universe. This flame is really unquenchable. It is that “water” which Christ spoke of, the partak-ing of which ended all thirst. By it and through it one can see into and touch the personalities of all attuned easily and of all attuned less easily.

COMMENTARY: The heart that bursts into flame is beyond analysis, psycho- or otherwise. The experience transcends the emotional-psy-chic plane, and while therapy may be a necessary preparation for it, it can only free one enough from the strings of negative past impressions that this super-therapeutic experience becomes

1�Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006


a reality. This is the meaning of the statement in The Inner Life (Hazrat Inayat Khan) that all wishes of the mureed must be fulfilled, all misgivings about the journey overcome, before one embarks on the spiritual path. The heart as mirror is the realm of karma. The heart as flame is the realm of dharma.

VOICE OF SAM: When two or three are gathered together in the Name of the Perfect Teacher, they form a single embodiment of consciousness. This is an incomplete translation. The Shem of the Hebrews is hardly described by our limited word “name.” It means that renown which has come to one because of that person’s absorption of living-light. It is the living-light determining personality which was called Shem in Hebrew. It is the coming into consciousness of this living-light which makes for spiritual and holy sister-brotherhood. The Perfect Masters bring this light in complete form; other Masters preserve it in complete form or bring it in less complete form.

COMMENTARY: To be “perfect” means to be complete in the mystical sense of the Semitic languages like Hebrew. The heart that encom-passes the willing surrender and cooperation of the complete range of feelings, emotions and diversity present in the nafs becomes a complete channel for Shem. This coming together inside is mirrored outside when “two or three” meet in complete wholeheartedness in order to channel and direct divine light. The Healing Ritual of Hazrat Inayat Khan demonstrates this divine cooperation, and, to the extent of the attun-ement of the participants, also exemplifies the group functioning as both Saint and Master. In the language of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Saint says: “Use us for the purpose that Thy wisdom chooseth.” The Master says: “In unison with the Will of God, we will....”

VOICE OF SAM: The Teacher carries this light and its vibrations. The emanations of it exude

through the eyes, breath, mouth, hands and feet. Therefore the very footsteps which the Master takes become holy, and the ground upon which the Master has walked becomes sanctified. This is not a mere belief or superstition. There is an actual emanation deposited by the feet where they walk, and the vibrations thereof are caught by the ground. If the Master walks upon build-ing floors the vibrations and blessings remain only for a while, but where blessed feet touch the solid earth, the blessings remain indefinitely. Many healings can be ascribed to places where holy personages have dwelt.

COMMENTARY: This subject is discussed at length in The Bestowal of Blessing (by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis.) In reality, every pair of feet becomes blessed feet at the instant when that be-ing becomes a channel for blessing. The Dances of Universal Peace provide the accommodation for this to become a reality, even for the person who may have no previous experience or train-ing in them. As the initiate develops further, the Walks enable her/him to integrate these states of ecstasy as an everyday experience of blessing, with less and less attachment on the part of the ego to “doing” anything.

VOICE OF SAM: Today the Teacher brings living presence into the midst of disciples. The Teacher animates them with spiritual fervor. They are drawn to the Teacher and to one an-other by sacred love. They become a compact unit, which can and should act as a unit in all things. This is the ideal pattern after which other lesser patterns have been made. And it is thus that Hierarchy operates upon the planes above and below, with the seen and unseen beings.

COMMENTARY: Hierarchy is no longer an acceptable word today, even in spiritual circles. Yet all sacred traditions acknowledge the differ-ence of experience and realization between the accomplished and the neophyte, master and


apprentice. If there were no difference in bless-ing-potential, the current of blessing would not flow and there would be no need for the spiritual path. If diversity were not a basic principle of creation, we would all be one undifferenti-ated smudge along with all the plants, animals and galaxies that preceded us. In actuality, the “popular” spiritual or New Age path today often suffers from the antithesis of the real hierarchy described by Murshid. This is simply the tyr-anny of the ego: the leveling of everyone to the same degree of knowing little or nothing except jargon. Only in a circle that develops concen-tration and group attunement through love is the accommodation for spiritual breakthrough enabled, as the nafs of each so-called individual, and the whole group, becomes more pliable and reflective. This type of group-unit begins to function like circles of adepts in the cultures of old, where miracle and the sacred were not metaphors but a reality that interpenetrated everyday life, as the Christian author C.S. Lewis notes in his book on “Miracles.”

VOICE OF SAM: The organization thus formed may be formal or not. If too informal it will pres-ent no ideal to the generality. But if too formal it will lead to the institution of ceremonies and to the establishment of another priesthood, which in its turn will decoy and disrupt humanity, as is the wont of priest craft. So the ideal will be to establish an equilibrium, suited to the needs of the times, so that advantages may be taken of all the progress of science and technology, so that the steps forward inwardly can be taken without losing ground outwardly. Thus humanity may be led toward the light on all planes.

COMMENTARY: The challenge to initiates today is to envision new types of group orga-nization, which do not unconsciously imitate the dominant organizational structures of the surrounding consumer culture, all of which operate from the gratification of the mind, ego and desire-nature. Whether capitalist or

socialist, so-called New Age or fundamentalist, the same issues remain as challenges, the same obstacles to a group genuinely acting as a center of guidance. The Dances of Universal Peace, the Healing Ritual and other collaborative rituals provide “training wheels” that are preparing us, and our children, for more advanced forms of cooperation and wise action. In the meantime, most spiritual organizations continue to suffer from the trap of deeming mission more impor-tant than process, ideals more important than relationships. Process is the real working out of dharma with diligence. Whether in a position of leadership or not, we may each be hearing no more than the faintest echo of the real Mis-sion, which is what Hazrat Inayat Khan called the wordless Message, contained in the sphere of Being itself. As Murshid Moineddin writes in “Job’s Tears:” “I am not Murshid; we are Murshid. I do not have all the answers; we may have the answers. 2. Formation of the Group-Unit in the Absence of a Teacher

VOICE OF SAM: After the Prophet Moham-med was withdrawn from outer functions, his close friend and disciple Abu Bakr Siddiq said, “Those who worshipped the Prophet, let them know that Mohammed is dead, but those that worshipped the Creator of all, know that He is ever-living, eternal.” Thus it may be said that while the Masters may be the harbingers of the light and united with the light while they are on earth, we must learn that actually the light is God Him/Herself, that it is in all people and that all people are in it.

COMMENTARY: In other words, as the Buddha is reported to have said, “All being are already enlightened, they simply don’t know it.” Nevertheless, it is one thing to say, “In God we live and move and have our being,” and another to realize it on the level of spiritual leadership. Egocentric claims either to leadership or equally



egocentric criticisms of leadership by those who have not demonstrated spiritual transmission in practice have plagued all spiritual groups since the establishment in the inner world of the functions of Master, Saint and Prophet. One may roughly date this to a time 10-15,000 years ago when the great Axial Age stories were first told to remind humanity of capabilities, qualities and relationships that were fading from memory as it began to abandon a nomadic life in favor of settled existence. If one looks into the lives of the prophets and saints of both the Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions, of indig-enous wisdoms both East and West, one finds a common struggle with the human tendency to attempt to control and dogmatize the mystical state, which itself dictates no ethical code other than the Golden Rule.

VOICE OF SAM: To preserve this light and to bring about a maximum of benefits therefrom, various Teachers have used the methods most suited to their times. These methods have very much in common. All are based upon the estab-lishment and continued function of some sort of group-unit, of many working as one—in other words, of a brother/sisterhood. In more recent years Sufi Inayat Khan had his disciples and co-workers sit in a circle, especially in the ritual of the service known as the Healing Service. This was formed of a group having a leader who was himself or herself not a Teacher or Master. But by sitting in the circle and carrying on certain meditations and concentrations, they made an accommodation for the light and thus preserved a modicum of the light that their Master had brought.

COMMENTARY: The establishment of a modi-cum of light is more than no light. The establish-ment of a modicum of group co-operation in the bringing through of spiritual transmission is bet-ter than the unbridled posturing and politicking that have pervaded organized and disorganized religion for the past two to three millennia.

Teachers use suitable means to try to establish a form or center that will hold the baraka that they have channeled during their lifetimes. This may include spiritual communities, practices, writings, recordings or, most importantly, the passing on of the inner transmission to at least one student. Paradoxically, it is this transmis-sion to an individual or individuals that makes possible the further progression of the group as a focus for spiritual guidance.

“Leadership” in any larger sense evokes not only psychological reactions (the so-called “authority” issues of others that include both inappropriate aversion and attraction to “the leader”), but also archetypal reactions. In the unseen world, vibrational patterns of the human mind-world over millennia create both shadow and light around any person who feels a “mission” or who steps out of the group-mind. This has probably been so since the individual sense of “I” arose in the era mentioned above. Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series of books explores the story of a man who discovers the limitations of being a “saviour” and then attempts to subvert, invert or otherwise escape the archetypal role to which he becomes subject.

VOICE OF SAM: Please observe that the ritual here was not to be considered as a Mass. It was not completely esoteric. It did not establish light until the Teacher had prepared an accom-modation therefore. But it did preserve the light and blessings in the absence of any developed personalities: By sitting at a roundtable or in a circle, the power of the space could be drawn together and, after being so drawn, directed and dispersed.

COMMENTARY: While the basic elements of the Healing Service and other rituals of at-tunement are not complex, it is the attunement to the spirit of the Teacher as well as heartfelt devotion that empowers them. At the same time, the attachment to the Teacher must not be to


his/her person; otherwise the ritual degenerates into mere ritualism. The heartfelt devotion must be directed, not to the Teacher, but to God (or at least Universal Loving-kindness, in the Buddhist sense), otherwise the ritual likewise degenerates into a personality cult, similar to some interpre-tations of the Eucharist in Christianity.

VOICE OF SAM: It is not so difficult to center and disperse light, but it is harder to do so under direction, to control the healing and blessing vibrations and emanations. Quakers and Qui-etists have held silences, thinking thereby that inspiration comes more easily. And perhaps it does. But does this bring wisdom? No act of human beings can assure the presence of God unless the Grace of God has already been given. So the work of the Master is established by the Master; the work of God is instituted by God’s representatives. After that, whether the Teacher is physically or otherwise absent, the disciples through attunement can carry on his work. It is thus that Dharma is preserved. It is thus that the Teachers can work in many places, through their several disciples and followers.

COMMENTARY: The “absence” of the Teacher mentioned in the title may be of various kinds. In the sense mentioned here, the Teacher is never absent, only in some cases not physically, emotionally or psychically present. On the in-ner plane, various prophets and Rassouls are present to different extents in different bodies, hence the feeling of closeness or absence that a devotee feels in relation to them. Jesus’ saying, “I go to prepare a place for you” as well as other sayings, and the experience of many devotees (Christian and non-Christian alike) show that he is closer in his emotional and psychic body to many people than some other Messengers. Muhammad, who emphasized “I am a man like you,” can primarily be experienced through his light or etheric body, which is merged with the archetype of the primal human being, called Nur-i-Muhammed. Murshid Samuel Lewis

himself said that he would be better known for his transmission through fana-fi-Pir, that is, after leaving his physical body, than through his transmission during his lifetime. At the same time, it is an undeniable grace and blessing to have the physical presence of the Teacher living and breathing in the community. Remembrance and nostalgia do not substitute for actual sur-render to a teacher in the flesh.

VOICE OF SAM: Although the Spirit of God is everywhere, although in the silence one may feel the profundity of it and even draw from the Divine Wisdom, the inspiration is too often sporadic or uncertain. Methods have been used in the Orient whereby a link may be maintained with the Teacher and—what is most important—with God even when no Teacher is present.

COMMENTARY: Muhammad emphasized standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one’s community members in prayer, and during his lifetime this was done, men and women together. All faced a direction (first Jerusalem, later Mecca) associated with Allah, the One Be-ing, rather than a physical altar, symbol or priest. Only after his time were men and women sepa-rated, and legal precedents and their interpreters in Islam began to take on sacerdotal status. The prayer practiced by Muhammad still remains one of the most powerful communal methods of spiritual transmission in the absence of the Teacher. The Sufis also benefit from the practice by breathing, moving and coming into rhythm with the person who initiated this practice (that is, as a form of tassawuri). The darshan of the Dharma traditions, by contrast, is one of the most powerful spiritual transmissions of the presence and glance of the living teacher. The practice degrades markedly when a photograph is substituted, while the Salat seems to get stronger the fewer the trappings of institutional religion present.


VOICE OF SAM: In the ancient mysteries they used to sit in a certain manner such as a semicircle (lunar rite) or full circle (solar rite). This brought forth a full psychic concentration and thereby established a path whereby the finer vibrations could pass down to the outer manifestation. This psychic path was a veritable ladder from profundity to the here-and-now and from the earth plane back to the heavens, reaching that inner plane most attuned to the persons so sitting.

COMMENTARY: On an individual level, this is “Jacob’s ladder,” a bridge from the seen to the unseen world. In the modern era, the prevalence of psychic channels witnesses to the reality of this possibility, although one might ask how many channels work both ways, or what entity a particular person is channeling. As Hazrat Inayat Khan once said to one of his mureeds, “There are as many lying souls on the other side as there are on this side.” On a group level, we can see the Mevlevi Sema as a profound witness to both the lunar and solar rites mentioned. Though an aus-tere and difficult practice physically, the group prays for the community, and in a wider sense, the collected gathering of all beings. While the presence of the sheikh provides a “pole” which centers the ritual, the survival of the form in its power for the better part of 700 years witnesses to its ability to survive degradation through both persecution as well as popular acceptance as a merely cultural entertainment.

VOICE OF SAM: While the ancient mysteries may be said to be lost, the eternal verities are never lost. It is quite possible for people sitting in the proper manner—as prescribed by a Saint or Teacher sufficiently evolved—to continue the work of that Saint or Teacher and maintain the psychic ladder, so to speak. But no group of people establishes a holy pathway by self-will, even with the use of prayers and invocations. If this were true, we should be seeing the answers to those prayers in the world today, and it is most obvious that we do not.

COMMENTARY: In other words, self-will, even if good will is still self-will. Willing peace on earth, happiness or any other universal vir-tue for its own sake will not thereby effect the goal, if the divine will does not subsume the human. Jesus prayed that the divine pleasure or delight (Aramaic, saba) of the universe should come through him to unite heaven and earth. Perhaps if more groups dedicated to peace or understanding through world religion would add ego-surrender plus delight into their agen-das, they would be more effective in actually bringing heaven on earth.

VOICE OF SAM: Yet prayers may be answered, prayers which from their very inception are in harmony with the Divine Will. And if people are really innocent and childlike and their hearts are awakened and sensitive, they themselves are open to spirituality. If two or three are gathered together in the Divine Shem—that is to say, in the cycle or station of receptivity to Divin-ity—God will be in their very midst. This is true, always was true, always shall be true.

COMMENTARY: That is say, as Rumi did, “Bring your dry, hypocritical prayer if that’s all you have, for God in the divine mercy accepts bad coin.” At the same time, it is a mistake to confuse being childlike with being child-ish. God answers prayers that are brought by whole human beings, complete with flaws and complexities. Again, as Rumi says, God asked the soul returning to heaven from its earthly journey, “Where are the bumps and scratches of your trip?”

VOICE OF SAM: And the true sacred brother/sisterhood is established by people who so sit and so act. Besides this there are certain aids, aids that have been found most useful through the ages. One of the most important of these is music: not that music which appeals to the senses or to the intellect or even to thee motions,



but that music which, touching the very depths of the heart, sensitizes and awakens the heart and produces a feeling of expansiveness, livingness, compassion and love. This very atmosphere is a sign of the Divine Shem and these very qualities are derivatives of attunement with God.

COMMENTARY: Some of this music may include mantric or sacred phrases and some not. The addition of a sacred phrase may help in the physical or mental sphere to cleanse the vibra-tions of the devotee, but if chanting degenerates into emotionalism then no real change occurs. The spirit comes and goes like air in a balloon, but the balloon doesn’t change. The atmosphere of Divine Shem may come with or without words, with or without music, with or without dance. In this day and age, when activity and complexity have become the keynote, the use of all suitable means has been blessed by the hierarchy for the continued establishment of the dharma upon the earth. The only sin may be hypocrisy. [skipping to part 4]

4. Meta-psychics in the New Age (Part Two, Chapter 6 of “Introduction to Spiritual Brotherhood”)

VOICE OF SAM: The New Age will not tol-erate the sneer, the snide remark, the a priori rejection, the egocentric appeal to common sense and those subjectivities that have always barred progress. There will of course be two aspects to metapsychic development: the moral and the direct. The moral is simply the extension of objectivity—the same as we find in the purer sciences—and will substantiate this opening remark.

COMMENTARY: In other words, the use of higher faculties to help human beings in actual situations cannot be denied. At the same time, the prevalence of “wonder-working” by certain personalities East and West, which may be no more than psychic “special effects” to attain

celebrity, may have little relevance to everyday life. “Common sense” in the sense used here is not even sense, more an appeal to conventional wisdom, that is, what has been conveyed or indoctrinated either by the unexamined assump-tions of a kind of “scientism,” which is really an-other form of religious dogma, or by the media for purposes of manipulation in order to weaken the individual’s belief in her or him-self.

VOICE OF SAM: The direction will be simply that more and more people with previously re-garded “unusual” faculties will take their place in culture and society. Thus while magnetism was originally associated with the metal iron, it has been found that all the chemical elements have some positive and negative magnetic quali-ties (though often very little). Thus although radioactivity was originally associated with a few elements, a universal law was discovered demonstrating a cosmic harmony as to the radioactive faculties of every form of matter. Indeed these cosmic harmonies can be extended to all properties of all forms of matter.

COMMENTARY: The challenges of the future will involve avoiding inhibiting the inner growth of individuals toward their divine purpose, which always seeks expression, whether formally trained or not. If not given proper outlets, these intuitive impulses can become perverted to vari-ous forms of intoxication and self-mutilation. Another challenge will be to prevent all public institutions of Western culture and society from being set up and maintained in such a way that individuals with such developed facul-ties are prevented from taking part. Again the dominance of unevolved mental types in even organizations that purport to higher benefit has been the bane of spiritual organizations from time immemorial. Some research on Christi-anity in Egypt has proposed that many early Christian groups evolved from esoteric schools to churches simply because the majority of people were not experiencing the visions that the



founders had. In this sense, these groups ended up replicating the mindset of the scribes whom Jesus condemned: those who were not using the keys to the malkuta (king/queendom), the universal realm of vision and power, and who also did not permit others to do so.

VOICE OF SAM: In perhaps a parallel situa-tion it will be discovered that all human beings without exception have certain types of psychic faculties. Some may be dormant, some may be nullified by other factors, some may be useless. On the other hand, many may be well developed though unrecognized. Honesty and objectivity will compel recognition. That is the first stage.

COMMENTARY: Fortunately, it is now being recognized that the type of “objectivity” needed to evaluate individuals with such faculties is dif-ferent from the type that is involved with watch-ing an apple fall from a window. New models of research have evolved in order to deal with what is called the “inter-subjective” nature of psychic and psychological phenomena. In other words, the do-er and the done are part of a field that involves the observer and all participants. This seems to be true both at the quantum and cosmic levels—the very small and the very large. In this sense, we see the Sufi principle of tawhid or unity trying to express itself in the reformula-tion of scientific thought.

VOICE OF SAM: Then it will be found which of these faculties operate in the daily life, which in dreams, which in trance, which in meditation and which in experiences of higher states of conscious-ness. There is far more dishonesty in refusing to examine facts than in the chicanery of pretenders. There is no positive value in negations. What must be made clear is that it will be the activities and later the philosophies of the sensitives which will add to human knowledge.

COMMENTARY: In many realms there is still a long way to go. Reports of actual religious

or spiritual experiences are still not recognized in most academic circles as “research.” Many scholars of mysticism or spirituality accept as “research” the elaborate schema and taxonomies of those who have not had the experiences but who are facile with a certain capacity of mind. Here the writer of this book looks for a more rigorous system of evaluating higher faculties that can both bridge the traditional categories (for instance, of the classical Sufis) with the psychological categories used to help people presently labeled “abnormal” in the Western medical-clinical world. More than this would be the understanding that such advanced faculties are the result of both nature and nurture. Some souls arrive with a head start, but all can partici-pate to one degree or another in the awakening of consciousness.

VOICE OF SAM: We no longer permit, and in some countries we absolutely forbid, non-sci-entists from evaluating the operations of those skilled in laboratory and research techniques. They are mere lookers-on at best. The same atti-tude—indeed, the same policy—will be applied to these and all critics. Indeed, the sensitives will not wish them around.

COMMENTARY: Again, the presence of skep-tics, or really those who already believe that a thing is impossible, can alter the field in which certain phenomena occur. On the other hand, the powers of some individuals can sometimes overwhelm even non-belief, but this is often not the most evolved or compassionate form of development. Wonders for mere wonders’ sake are not the real issue, although they may be the most “news-worthy” for a media addicted to excitement and celebrity.

VOICE OF SAM: All signs point to the awak-ening of powers latent within humanity. All signs point to more and more souls finding more and more avenues of expression for latent


faculties. Many scientists already recognize that they have not studied the operations of mind and consciousness as they have studied the behavior of external matter and of the various instruments and modalities they use. No doubt the mind itself is much more important than all instruments and all modalities. No doubt the mind may have other channels than the traditional senses. And no doubt the sensoriums of people are unequal just as their IQs, their various sense-faculties, their physical prowess, their appetites and all other aspects of outer being are unequal.

COMMENTARY: It is the inequality, that is, the diversity, which should become the hallmark of future research in this area. While general categories may be helpful, the capabilities of the mind and nervous system and entire soma seem to be much stranger and more wonderful than ever anticipated. In this regard, the writings of Dr. Oliver Sacks have done an enormous service in bringing unusual qualities of the mind and soma, especially in those who would otherwise be considered “disabled” in some sense, to the attention of the public.

VOICE OF SAM: There is already one univer-sity doing direct, honest, objective research into reincarnation and former life memories. There are several such universities and institutions on the Asian continent. These people are in a sense much “further out” than the Psychic Research Society of Great Britain. They have opened more doors. But humanity itself will open still more doors, because fortified by numbers the unusual and sensitive people will become much bolder, speak much more freely and thus bring into the objective world their faculties and knowledge.

COMMENTARY: No doubt this is happening more and more. The greatest obstacle to such people being taken seriously is the progressive “dumbing down” of so-called modern Western peoples through the mass media. People are led

blindly (and deafly) to believe whatever they are told, and in many cases a steady diet of the mass media leaves them without enough self-coher-ence or mental energy to be skeptical. Added to this, one finds the general enervation of people being forced to work so hard to make economic ends meet that they generally have not time to consider aspects of life beyond basic survival. Education then begins to reflect purely utilitar-ian motives, void of the humanizing influences of the liberal arts. By contrast, cultures that still maintain some connection to their traditional music, dance and other participatory arts have an advantage in developing their finer faculties. The pursuit and furtherance of what is beautiful for coming generations both opens the heart to the sacred as well as to service and concern for the welfare of others.

VOICE OF SAM: One must be careful here not to lay down restrictions or norms. We have seen how disciples of seers and highly advanced people have tried to establish norms for those who follow when they themselves have not aroused their gifts. No doubt there are rules. No doubt there are laws governing every aspect of existence. But to have the less advanced police the more advanced has always led to turmoil and misunderstanding. The same cannot be avoided by advice. The only possible way is for the less advanced to become really humble and show a willingness to accept the larger vistas and more advanced faculties of forthcoming generations. Besides this, it will be felt (if not found) that response to these enlarged faculties will bring more harmony, more satisfaction, even more peace than what has been the norm of society.

COMMENTARY: As the writer notes, advice does not suffice. This means learning the hard way, by experience. Institutions and organiza-tions fall apart and come back together and fall apart again. As the writer Morris Berman notes in “The Twilight of American Culture,” we may simply be experiencing a very long cycle of


swing between periods of human cultural rise and decay, with those dedicated to wisdom and compassion taking the “monastic option” dur-ing periods of the latter. Facing such a prospect, the mystic may follow and become one with the movement of clouds and sand in unison with the evolving, creative flow of sacred unity.

5. Religion in the New Age (Part II, Chapter 7 of “Introduction to Spiritual Brotherhood”)

VOICE OF SAM: Religion in the New Age will be based more on human experience. In the end it will be based entirely on human experience and on such ritual and methods that stimulate the advancement of human experience.

COMMENTARY: In practice, this means a greater amount of openness to sharing one’s spiritual experiences in community, without envy or greed. In modern Sufism itself, this has not been the norm, but in order for the “group unit” as nexus of spiritual authority to evolve, it must become the norm. Sangha must prog-ress and grow; otherwise Buddha and Dharma have no ground. Holding onto the artifacts of the past—historical or emotional—as the basis of Sangha is the same as a cell holding onto the atoms and electrons it needs to release in order to change and replicate.

In the same way, on the material level, the human relationship and experience of nature must be preserved over against all forms of subtle and overt degradation. Otherwise the ground for the expression and experience of spiritual states is missing. An education that only includes the experience of concrete leads to a consciousness of concrete. Unity means unity with all beings. Compassion means compassion for all beings.

VOICE OF SAM: This will not negate any of the teachings of the founders of religions but will gradually eliminate all the deductions, ceremonies, theologies, credos, formulae and

so forth which obviously arose from the con-sciousness of the less developed. No doubt these were needed in times of intellectual darkness, but during the centuries they have become the ceilings for much of the culture of humankind. Thus while raising humanity up, let us say, one step, they have hindered all progress to higher developments.

COMMENTARY: Each spiritual tradition and community is now, consciously or uncon-sciously, involved in sorting through what is of enduring value and what was only temporarily (or perhaps never) helpful. At the same time a battle—one cannot call it anything else—is underway in each community to answer the question, “Who may call themselves a Chris-tian, or a Buddhist or a Sufi?” What constitutes “membership” and so investment in sorting through the useful and useless historical baggage that a community carries with it? Unfortunately, in many so-called “inter-faith” circles those with the largest bank account or property holdings or best publicity agency exclude other voices that would prove the diversity the so-called “faith traditions.” It might, in fact, be better to formulate such dialogue groups on the basis of “experience traditions.” Such a move is currently underway in the name of “inter-spirituality.” For this to become more than simply another buzzword, such groups need to keep spiritual experiences, and those who actually have them, at their center.

VOICE OF SAM: Indeed, all religions—and we find this particularly in Hinduism—have consciously or unconsciously foisted a status at much lower levels than humanity is capable of. In India smitri (tradition) has usurped the place of the sruti (revelation) despite the fact that all traditions say srutis are much higher than smitris. In the religions of revelation—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—many of the original



scriptures are not used at all and those that are generally are used only in a restricted sense.

COMMENTARY: While the writer of this book gives the particular example of Hinduism, he had occasion to see the devastating effects of tradition honored over revelation and human concern in the aftermath of Indian indepen-dence and in the common life of the people. A similar degradation has occurred in much of the Islamic world where ijma, or customary legal precedent, has dominated the actual words of revelation in Quran, much less the ongoing revelation through the saints of Allah. This has led to the widespread oppression of women and children. The abuses of Christianity in this regard, extending beyond the theological to the religious blood feuds of Northern Ireland and the terrorism of Christian fundamentalists against medical clinics, are too numerous to mention. At the same time, large segments of the Jewish community remain mute in response not only to the co-opting of the name “Jewish” by the state of Israel for many actions not in accord with Mosaic law, but to its continuing religious justification for the political exclusion of many Sephardic and other Israeli Jews, who are defined legally as “not Jews.”

VOICE OF SAM: The founders of every reli-gion without exception have taught that they are not unique, that all humanity could reach their level. The heredity guardians, the prelates, the privileged have in effect abrogated this. They have made humanity feel small whereas the founders tried to show them they were great. The New Age people will not be so small. Even more they will not be barred from associating with each other. They will not accept artificial lines of demarcation; after a while they will not accept any demarcations at all.

COMMENTARY: The so-called New Age movement that we see today is exactly the op-posite. In fact, some groups are worse than the

traditional religions in their predilection for exclusion, celebrity, spiritual materialism and dogma. This means that in the sense used here by the writer, we have yet to really see a group that can be called “New Age,” whether in the name of holism, universalism or any other –ism. At the same time, we are seeing movements of connection across and between various com-munities, out of which movements like Creation Spirituality and Jewish Renewal have formed.

VOICE OF SAM: Brother/sisterhood will arise of itself. It will not come through groups calling themselves “brotherhoods” or “sisterhoods” and separating themselves from the generality. Such actions make them sects in the original and only effective meaning of this word. A sect is a cut or section. If you make a cut or a section you belong to a sect. If you by-pass cuts and sections you belong to a sister/brotherhood. This will become more and more the norm of the future of humanity.

COMMENTARY: The Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan used the term “brotherhood” in order to pro-mote the spread of what he called a “formless” Message. The Message, as he said, was “in the sphere itself.” It was not to be limited to particu-lar writings or formulations. Nevertheless, labels and names make convenient conventions, even when the way they become used works against the intention of the person who first used them. This itself is a habit of human nature, a habit that can be transformed with a teaspoon of what Murshid might call “general semantics”: what do we really mean when we use a word, and does it mean that to all people who use it?

The pursuit of “normal life,” and what it means for either an individual or a group, remains the challenge for Sufism today. As the writer of this book said of Pir Maulana Ghaffour when he met him in East Pakistan: “He was the most perfect ordinary human being I ever met.” How does an individual, much less an organization, become so perfectly ordinary? By tolerance,


humility and by recognizing that such a thing as real spiritual guidance (rather than simply the democracy of the lowest common denominator or celebrity) does exist. We can also check our tendency to project our desires to be rescued from the predicaments of life by our spiritual teachers and leaders. If the spiritual leaders of the future are to act as midwives, as Murshid recommends, then we must all do our individual share of breathing and pushing.

VOICE OF SAM: To formulate the New Age is to restrict the New Age. Of course, as more and more people have the divine experience or any form of super-mental experience, they will be raised above the distinctions and differences that divide humanity. Universal human beings need not abolish religion, but they will choose their form of worship on a higher level—as one chooses food, clothing, amusements, all the functions in life. It is only silent meditation to which all can join, in which all can join.

COMMENTARY: This has been tried, but the silence involved must be one of fullness, not passivity. This means a group could concen-trate on love, joy, peace and other qualities of compassion in order to spread this energy to their communities. In this sense, it fulfills the prescriptions of the Buddha, Jesus and most other historic prophets, while being limited to the precise formulations of none.

In another sense, the writer’s own inspiration through the Dances of Universal Peace must evolve to become still more broad and deep, and perhaps there will also need to be Dances in silence where each chooses and breathes her or his own sacred phrase, or from a choice of sacred phrases. In any case, the evolution of the Dances must continue with vision and fullness, not with passivity or from an imitation of mass culture that substitutes emotional excitement for inspiration.

VOICE OF SAM: Thus the unity will not mean uniformity. The unity need not abolish diversity. There may be a universal religion or there may be a condition wherein when one joins a religion one joins all religions automati-cally. Or there may develop new modes, new rituals and so forth based on a much greater knowledge of occult laws (as some Theosophists once proposed).

COMMENTARY: These new modes may see new combinations of sacred movements, phrases or music or they may see a sacralizing of what was either previously seen as profane or was ignored completely in Western culture. The attempts to create seasonal rituals or rites of passage that are meaningful in modern and post-modern culture show this trend.

VOICE OF SAM: Or it may be something quite new and different in its operations. To formulate the New Age is to restrict the New Age. That is why many now hailed will later be disregarded. Visions that crystallize are incomplete.

COMMENTARY: And so the importance of any spiritual group or organization to build into its “mission statement,” flexibility, even randomness. Without compost and the creation of topsoil by using what is “discarded,” growth is stunted and after a time, becomes impossible altogether. Artificial “fertilizer”— which in ritual sees mechanical recordings, amplification and other electronic effects substituting for the actual raising of human energy—only helps short-term growth. In the long run, these methods take more than they give, from both human beings and from nature.

The impetus to perform practices like the Healing Ritual in places of great historical human suffering also represent the invigoration of the tradition by engaging with a much wider range of vibrations than are present in a semi-closed



group or retreat. A similar impetus has been to take the Dances of Universal Peace into public places where active peace making is needed, out of the comfort zone of circles that can without vigilance become cultic.

VOICE OF SAM: The New Age will be fluidic, but the spirit of devotion need not change: forms yes, spirit no. Therefore, to be too exact in this regard becomes a self-contradiction. You cannot hold a cloud in its place or shape, nor can human beings of a certain period restrict, formulate or make demands of future cultures, future mankind.

COMMENTARY: With this disclaimer, both the writer and the commentator ask for forgive-ness from the One for anything in this work that serves to hold another person back from his or her true purpose in life.

VOICE OF SAM: We can say with assurance that the religion of the future will be a religion of free men and free women, of people with en-larged horizons and extended inner vision, with faculties now latent in much fuller operation. This will not change the relation of humanity to God and of God to humanity, but it will make these horizons, visions and faculties more com-mon occurrences in human experience.

COMMENTARY: When we consider the way that the theory of evolution is quoted today in popular culture, there is often an undercurrent of the idea: everything changes, nothing stays the same. This is, of course, a Buddhist prin-ciple, except that even the Buddhists consider that the human relationship to either buddhi (the nature of enlightenment) or Universal Loving-kindness has not changed over the centuries. In fact, the basic human relationship to both the ground of Reality and nature, and our dependency upon both, has not changed. We have only insulated ourselves from our dependence with all sorts of scientistic or rationalistic theories, or with the luxuries that these theories have created, in detriment to the earth itself.

When the writer speaks of the relationship of humanity to God and God to humanity, he means the actual underlying Reality, not its perception in popular culture. If, in fact, the enlarged horizons and extended inner visions mentioned by the writer do make their presence more known in popular culture, it will be through the evidence of an increasing humility and compassion by leaders in all organizations and governments. We will find more people in all walks of life, saying in one way or another, like Prophet Muhammad, “We have not known You as You really are.”

Ya Sabur—Oh Patience!


from the forthcoming book: Among the First—the unveiling, poems and stories of the Mothers of Islam

Zaynab’s Wedding Meal – a sonnet for Taj, by Tamam Kahn

The groom says, End the meal. He stands

and goes out to underscore his words. She’s

bride on display, Wife of the Prophet, who

sits and gazes at her sleeve, takes in

the pitch of talk, the struggle of a moth

in the water jar. Mutton bones and flies,

a soiled, yellow cloth, and next to her, his

sheepskin with the fresh lanolin smell.

But the rickrack men want to yak and

eye Zaynab by lamp light. Sudden smoke.

They rub their eyes and swear, but when

they go, the olive oil wick burns clear.

The vulgar never comprehend good manners.

Pray for a little burn – adab* inscribed on banners.

*adab – code of considerate behavior, chivalry

This poem is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced.


Wali Ali Meyer

Okay, I’ll stand here in proximity to this chair and this dervish robe. We welcome you to come and share in

this living baraka which is here. Murshid felt his energy was in this chair. I know his energy is in this robe. We’re here thirty-four years after he left his body on this day. We are here because he didn’t die. If he died no-body would be here or all over the world celebrating this life that goes on.

He was asked, it was captured on film right before his passing, “What do you want to do before you die?” He laughed, and he said, “That’s a very funny question to ask a person who has experienced immortality direct.” And then he laughed again. Then he answered in relative terms, “I’d like a few of my disciples to become illuminated.” Then I said, “How would you know that?” He said, “Actual light, actually shining!” {laughter}

He didn’t beat around the bush and he didn’t hold back. He lived in the divine being. So it is very appropriate that when we celebrate his life, we come here and we say the name of God over and over again, in different ways from different traditions, whether we call it Buddha or God or whatever we call it. We live and move and have our being in it.

God is more real than these ideas that we have of ourselves. Our breath is more than this ego idea that we have of ourselves. Shahabuddin Less, who was deeply impressed by Murshid, told

a story a few months ago when we were together. He said, “When Sam stayed with me in at my apartment in New York, one of the things he said to me was “Go through your bible and everywhere it says ‘God’ strike it out and write ‘Breath.’”

We get caught in the world of concepts and the ideas that make God a reality. Be Ye Songs of Glory. What you sing, you are. Everyone is a note in this divine symphony. You have got to strike your own note. It’s not enough to sit here and

say “Oh he was wonderful.” Then you are being in separation.

He said in one of his poems “The watcher is the prayerful devotee but the dancer becomes divine.” We want to be divine dancers. We want to move in that joy of the divine presence, like he did. That way we honor him, not by making him out to be the great saint or master that he was or is. That doesn’t help us.

We are very grateful that he has touched our lives. He has touched our lives and he has touched the lives of so many beings that this is just a wonderful thing. It is more than a human

Living Baraka

by Wali Ali Meyer

This talk was given at the Urs of Murshid SAM in Corte Madera CA, January 15 2005



being can do. It is what God does when God is allowed to be.

When he laughed and said, “That’s a very funny question to ask a person who has an experience of immortality direct,” that’s not so different from what Joe Miller used to say, {singing} “This is the key to eternity, yes, this is the key to eternity, the words and the music and the melody make our hearts one so you can see that you immortal are, and you have but to be!” {clapping and laughter} And that means to be that you really are immortal, that there really is no separation between you and the immortal.

So if we are going to take this baraka, this living transmission that we were so fortunate to be touched by, and which still comes up to people in dreams and visions. He comes in through the dance. Shabda is now in Australia and he is going to New Zealand, and then India. These dances have traveled all over the world. I was in Germany last summer and people were coming from Russia, traveling for forty-eight hours non-stop on a bus from Russia to come to this gathering. I was really moved by this penetration of this blessing. It is because it is a living presence of this divine joy. It’s in the music, it’s in the dance, it’s in the beings. It’s not in worshipping an individual who would be the first one to say he never existed anyway. God is the only existing reality. We live and move and have our being in God.

This is what Sam Lewis brought forward because he wasn’t afraid of it. He didn’t hold back from it. He let his light shine in the darkest of times. Because he knew the light would turn. He knew the generations were coming that would embrace this mystical teaching that God is the only reality. That Soul is nothing but that reality in its depth. It is just covered over by layers and stains and rust and then as people rise to that reality, then the world itself, even the outer world, will be transformed.

We are in a great period of test and trial and transition. Our relationship with Nature is one that we have to look at very deeply because

we made it so artificial. Psyches are so out of balance that the natural world is responding to us in that way, too. Everything is within us. All of the elements are within us. The Earth is within us, the Water, the Fire, the Air and the Ether which brings the peace to all of this if we can bring it in. It’s in our breath; it’s in our mediation. We aren’t living here in some dualistic reality where we are Man and Nature or some such abstraction. There is nothing but this Oneness that we participate in. Yes, it goes through its flux. The light comes forward insofar as we can be the agents of it and the transformers in our own sphere. To stand up for the light, to stand up for this joy within the context of our lives, not to be afraid of it. And if we can gain anything from the light of this incredible being, it is to do just that. Not to be afraid of living in God. Not to be afraid—knowing that the spirit of guidance is close. As Mohammed said, it is closer than the jugular vein.

We live and move and have our being in it. We are going around like the fish saying, “where is the ocean, where’s the ocean?” That’s our relationship to God. We don’t know it because it is so close. We breathe it in, it comes in through our gills, we have no separation from it and yet we make a separation out of our fear.

So what does a great teacher do? He or she brings this piercing glance that cuts through fear and ignorance, brings a consoling to our hearts so we’re not afraid to live from our hearts.

That is what I would like to stand here and remind people of, encourage us to do, because Sam Lewis did it so you can do it. He didn’t make it so that it could be special. As Allaudin said, he would talk to everyone from an inner place of Oneness, accepting them just the way they were, and it didn’t matter if whether it was the head of some spiritual order or a clerk at the dented can store. In his reality it was just the same.

I remember being in this dented can store with him. We went to buy, I don’t know, peas


for his curry, and the guy was very rheumy eyed, very bleary, probably had been drinking for days it was a very dingy atmosphere. Sam came in there and we got to the checkout stand and Sam looked at him and he said, “I’m going to the Conference of Religions in Geneva. You know what I am going to tell them? Not this Love Ye One Another, they are not ready for it. At least you can respect each other. Respect each other!”

And the guy just looked at him, and checked the can out. Sam wasn’t disappointed. The canned food guy, that was the person, that was the energy, that was the God that was in front of him. He gave it, and then and there we very happily walked on back to the Mentorgarden with our dented can.

We don’t need to worry about who it is or are they higher than us or lower than us or are they ignorant or wise. God is hiding behind every face. We can’t stray from that reality. If we live from it then we find that we have all of the universe working with us and through us and consequently what seems impossible, when you think you might accomplish it, might move through you with the divine will and power.

We were there when these dances were born in the basement of the Mentorgarden and he knew they were going to go all around the world. Not because he was great but because he could feel the blessing of God was behind them and they were going to be a force for bringing harmony between people. Because they had no agenda. They weren’t asking you to join something. They weren’t asking you to believe something. They were just saying, “Come, dance

together, take sacred phrases and acknowledge and respect everyone, because God has come to every people in a form that they could recognize. And that is what Mohammed said; everyone has received this message at some form in their culture in their own way. So if you can respect that, people will understand that you respect their culture. It’s not “I’m coming here to save you, I am bringing Allah or Jesus or Buddha to you because you’re poor, you don’t have it.” I mean everybody has it. We’re born and it lives in our breath.

Someone once said to Sam, speaking about a questionable spiritual leader, “Is he spiritual?” And Sam said, “Is he breathing?” {laughter} Everybody is spiritual, the spirit moves in us, moves through us. We are a part of it. Yes, it is possible to act in such a way that we are coarse in our vibration, we let the rust on our heart, we turn the love which is our true nature into hate out of our own pain and disappointed but underneath it if we can see deeply we can see that same beauty which is hidden within every soul.

I am glad to have an opportunity to come here and just to say this much to this group of people because in some way your lives have been touched by this man, Murshid Samuel Lewis, who lived in God and would like nothing better than for YOU to wake up. Not for you to honor him but for you to wake up to your own true reality and live according to the note of your own life. I want to thank you and God bless you and let’s do some more dances. We welcome you to come up here at some point before the evening is over, just accept the blessing to sit in the atmosphere of this robe and this chair.



Dear friends on the path,As we look forward to our international

Federation of the Sufi Message retreat of 2006, we direct our attention toward the theme, ‘The Message in Our Time.’ Meditation upon this idea brings to mind and heart the contempla-tion of our simple and guiding principles: Love, Harmony, Beauty and Unity.

It has been nearly one hundred years since Inayat Khan came from India bearing sacred teachings which he gave in Europe and America, creating books and writings on Sufism. Yet in his Invocation, we can feel the living essence of the Message, as it begins, “Toward the One, the perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty…” The very vibrations of these words, with the entire invocation, spoken together in Sufi circles or classes, joining hand to hand, heart to heart, create a resonance that is sublime and deeply touching. This vibrational Message goes out to touch all creation, as ripples upon water.

Thus again the message of Sufi life eludes definition and is most clear when experienced together in shared heart resonance. One of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s well-known mureeds in the USA, our friend Samuel Lewis, taught us this again and again. Spirituality must be experienced to be real. As we unite in intentions of love, harmony and beauty we become the message and the messengers. We bless one another in our work to let the shining heart of love freely move among all people.

Contemplating our theme, ‘The Message in Our Time’, we sense hidden questions presented for us to share. We live in a time of great transformations, this we all know. Yet the

phrase, ‘in our time,’ poses more questioning, provokes deeper thoughts.

To make an interconnection between our time and the Message means to focus on the clear issues that characterize this special period in which we live and in which point of evolution we have arrived.

The world now is very complex. On one side there is global consciousness growing by the use of nearly unlimited ways of communication. Telephone, e-mail and internet are not only used world-wide for commercial reasons, but also for countless personal messages from heart to heart, reaching from continent to continent.

On the other hand these possibilities bring responsibility as well. We are informed of nearly every victim of human or natural violence in the world. We are standing close to thousands of starving people. A bomb can be thrown any place in the world and we know it within a short time. So we are informed about creation and how we handle it in all places worldwide.

In one of the Sufi prayers (Salat) is the phrase, “May the Message of God reach far and wide.” May the Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty reach far and wide…

Yes. How do we do that in our time? How do we love the other cultures, the other religions, the other people we meet worldwide daily? What harmony do we create among all the distinctions and differences that divide us? What is the beauty spread out in a world of permanent interconnection?

Our teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan emphasizes that we must treat our fellow world brother

Spreading Our Wings to Spread the Message

A letter from Hannah Lagasse and Michaël Schouwenaar


or sister in the same way we like to be treated ourselves. That is an old message found in Hinduism and Buddhism as well. The Jewish, Christian and Islamic scriptures talk about it. How we can pray to God or love God and hate someone of another group, country or religion, is another question posed by Inayat Khan. In the Gayan he writes, “My action toward every man I consider as my action toward God, and the action of every man toward me I take as an action of God.”

We meet God in every being of His creation and to feel judgment or even hate toward any other member of the same creation should mean that we dishonor God.

How many wars have been fought in the name of God? It is an unbelievable contradiction. It is our own limitation projected on an image of God we made. Though God is known by more than a thousand names, seen from our human limitations He stays unnamable and only is revealed in His own creation, nature, including human nature.

Our time is open to worldwide com-munication and connection, to world trade and traffic, but many times our hearts are still closed to the stranger, to the one who has other opinions and values than we have.

In this, our time, it is a tremendous challenge to look upon every world citizen as a potential brother or sister in the Fatherhood of God. Old forms, strange cultures, unknown behavior, different customs are all to be regarded with respect and sympathy. Old religions, traditional rules and dogmas, rigid structures are like big old trees, with mighty trunks, many branches and countless shivering leaves, standing solid in the ground with deep roots.

The Sufi has the winged heart as a symbol expressing spiritual freedom. So how do we move between all these giant, unmoving trees? Like birds! We fly from tree to tree. We stretch our wings to further discernment, to visit every tree with respect. One year we might build our nest in the very old oak and the next year in the

tall fragile birch or the towering sequoia. Yes!! Let us fly over the world with respect for all we meet, honoring the father-mother God in all Her revelations, leaving the trees in their own dreams, and spread our wings to spread love and harmony and beauty.

By traveling around in a world so open and well known, so quickly connected, let us be open ourselves as well, willing to learn from everything we visit, from all that comes on our path, with modesty, with sympathy.

The time of one opinion leading the world, of bringing our mission to other cultures, of convincing others of our truth, that time is no longer, it is not our time. This is a time of openness, of honesty, not ruled by convictions but by exchanges, not by hierarchy but by equality, as brothers and sisters connected by e-mail, by internet, sending messages worldwide.

Again we will meet each other in the Federation Retreat of the Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. The spiritual freedom he taught brought forth many, many birds, spreading their wings, spreading the Message, flying from tree to tree. We all are coming from many places all over the world, from diverse groups, from different cultures and yet can share our mutual sympathy towards one another. We can dedicate our togetherness ‘towards the One.’ That is the real challenge, responsibility and blessing of our time. It is also a practice of spreading the Message, of living the Message. We may show the divine Message in the way we get along with each other. We have the chance and the responsibility as well to consider this meeting, this connection as an example of the brother and sisterhood under the father-motherhood of God.

Let’s spread our wings, open our hearts and follow the voice from within!

Hannah & MichaëlSufi Ruhaniat International/Sufi Contact The Netherlands


“I was transported by destiny from the world of lyric and poetry to the world of industry and commerce, on the 13th of September 1910. I bade farewell to my motherland, the soil of India, the land of the sun, for America the land of my future, wondering: “perhaps I shall return some day”, and yet I did not know how long it would be before I should return. The ocean that I had to cross seemed to me a gulf between the life that was passed and the life which was to begin.” (The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Biography, Autobiog-raphy, Journal and Anecdotes Part II—Autobiography, America, 1910–1912)

When I read these poignant words of Murshid’s recollection of his initial journey to the West I feel a certain sadness; it is easy to imagine the vast ocean that separated the poetic, lyrical

world from the world of industry and commerce. But with his prophetic vision he is able, almost in the same breath, to alter his perception and bring the feeling of separation into harmony with the greater reality:

…I spent my moments on the ship looking at the rising and falling of the waves and realizing in this rise and fall the picture of life reflected, the life of individuals, of nations, of races, and of the world. (ibid)

What are we to do, then, when made aware, almost on a daily basis, of what seems to be an ever-widening gulf between the world of lyric and poetry and the world of industry and commerce, of the dangerous imbalance between human needs and the needs of the rest of earthly creation and—splitting the dichotomy into even smaller, more acute pieces—the widening economic gulf between members of our own human species, inequities that border on supreme neglect if not outright maliciousness?

In choosing this social and ecological focus, I find myself in the company of that hapless embodiment of human bewilderment, Nasruddin. I am almost always bewildered when trying to understand how our species has wandered so far from a truly harmonic relationship with nature. Most of us are familiar with the story where, having lost the key to his abode, Nasruddin is found groping around for it at the base of a street lamp. When a passerby asks him where he lost the key Nasruddin points over to the darkness of the roadside bushes. “Then why are you looking here?” the passerby asks. “Because,” says Nasruddin, “there is more light over here.”

Where are we to look for the key to rebalancing our human needs with the needs of the environment? As spiritual beings we are naturally drawn to the light, especially in times of difficulty. But perhaps the key to social and ecological balance can be found elsewhere: not in the light but in the shadows, the darker more uncomfortable aspect of humankind’s incredible power to create.

Imagining Realityby Krishna Ste. Marie Therrien



Perhaps we should leave Nasruddin searching under the light while we root around in the bushes and darkness of the ditch where we lost the key in the first place.

Momentarily abandoning Nasruddin, under cover of darkness let me confess that there are days when, imagining myself rising above the planet to gaze down on the Earth, I often look past the awesome beauty of this small, fertile and fragile globe floating in the immensity of the cosmos and see instead displays of much pain and distress. There are days when, from the wide angle of my imaginary view, I witness the daily political horrors erupting on the local level—urban poverty, violence, drug addiction, gang warfare—as well as the broader geo-political struggles: the viral strength of the Middle-East conflict; the apocalyptic fantasy that is “the clash of civilizations” manifesting as a “war on terror”; the battle for nationalistic supremacy in large, oil-driven economies. There are days when I simply stare helplessly into the horror-stricken faces of mothers and children slipping away defeated by the African Aids pandemic, leaving a third of its child population orphaned and caring for even younger siblings. I witness also the rapid worldwide depletion of clean water, breathable air, and viable topsoil, to say nothing of the rapid desertification of vast areas of already impoverished landmasses on the one hand, and the melting polar ice caps and flooding, on the other.

But I also must confess that there is a spark of light in this darkness, a small but bright light, the reflection of an eye gleaming in the darkness. It is the light in the eye of my two-year-old

grandson Isaac, sitting in the dark with me. His smile and utter innocence makes the state of the planet’s health personal, direct, and profoundly disturbing.

In spite of the horror, I imagine Isaac’s future, supported by family and community, as abundant and free, his spirit ennobled by and in harmony with nature. How can I accord this idyllic vision with the vision of the eco-futurists who are sounding the alarm—which, my gut tells me, is also true and requires immediate attention? Am I just a naïve romantic, just another love-smitten grandpa?

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.


In our Sufi invocation we can see the mystery of incarnation, the immanent becoming manifest. In our reaching towards the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, we unite with those souls, graced with illumination, which are the embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. That is, through Creation the Divine takes form. Love, Harmony and Beauty, whose perfection we are invoking, involves humanity in a profound and critical way.

On the horizon of human consciousness, in the fertile fields between Love and Beauty we are called to consciously participate in the unfolding of the uni-verse, the one dance, the single turning. Here, human agency is called into play. Love and Beauty converge through Harmony. It is here that our destiny as co-creators, as vice-regents of the Divine, is fulfilled.

What does our participation in this harmonic convergence of Love and Beauty mean to us in our day-to-day lives, and how does it impact on the community outside our immediate social and spiritual communities? How, in other words, does Hazrat Inayat Khan’s message of Love, Harmony and Beauty play out here on the outskirts of Eden—in the economic reality of transforming nature into a living? How might it inform the relationship between civilization and the natural environment?

The ideal of unity, of universal love and harmony, is put to the test when we view the planet in economic terms of human appetite and needs. To acknowledge the real connection between the privileged and the dehumanized, to see those appetites and needs in the context of the biosphere that is their sole resource, challenges the assumption that spirituality is above and beyond the laws of physical survival or that unity belongs exclusively to the realm of the spirit.

It is difficult sometimes for us to remember that the One includes the Many, that the Batin and the Zahir (the Hidden and the Revealed) are two sides of the same coin, or that the visible and the invisible do not necessarily contradict one another. Hazrat Inayat Khan reminds us that

Those who think that God is not outside but only within are as wrong as those who believe that God is not within but only outside. In fact God is both inside and outside, but it is very necessary to begin by believing in that God outside. (The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume IX The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II—A The God-Ideal)

To become attached to the ideal of Unity to the exclusion of His manifestation, preferring the absolute over the relative, is to deepen the conceptual divisions between Creator and creature, between body and soul, between self and other. It is to forget that God acts through the cosmos, through nature and through humanity. “The Sufi’s God”, Murshid reminds us, “is not in heaven alone…. there is no name which is not the name of God and there is no form which is not the form of God.”

According to the hadith, creation came into being when God in His Mercy revealed Himself. “I

was a hidden treasure” said the One, “and I longed to be known, so I created the world that I might know myself.” From love and longing the world is born. This essential creative power was seeded in the heart of Adam so the One could witness, through us, the unfolding of His own becoming. By knowing ourselves, our created selves, we know our Lord. “Man”, according to ibn ‘Arabi, “is to the Real (al Haqq) as the pupil is to the eye through which the act of seeing takes place…. for it is through Man that the Real contemplates His creation and bestows mercy.”



Iblis, the jealous angel, was outraged that Allah bestowed upon Adam the task of naming His creatures; he envied our will and worldly power to name. To name is to give meaning to the world and is the cornerstone of humankind’s creative power. It is an imaginative power and carries with it an awesome responsibility.

The longing of the Lord to unveil His hidden treasure is reflected by the Sufi through a quality called himma, the heart’s desire, spiritual will impressing its vision on the cosmos—the creative power of our Adamic inheritance. But what does this gift bestowed by the Merciful One require of us humans that it doesn’t require of other creatures? Acknowledging our co-creative power, what do we do with it? How do we handle it?

Creativity and imagination carry with them, in today’s dominant culture, conceptual baggage that clouds the essence of what is meant by the Sufi’s creative power. Clearly we are not talking here about a mere mental mechanism, the imagination of dream or reverie, or the capricious mental workings of the schemer—or even the creativity of the artist or the poet. We mean, rather, an active seeing that cuts through the darkness, an imaginal force driven by a desire sown into our hearts by the Originator to empower us to fulfill our destiny as co-creators of the perpetually unfolding cosmos. We can think of it as a particular state of being that exists when we are poised between Love and Beauty, between immanence and manifestation, in that dimension of incarnation —Harmony—which calls the human heart to action.

In this state created by the longing of the heart for the Beloved, the culturally-bound perceptions of “imaginary” and “real” lose their individual identities. It is through this prophetic imagination that the Real (al-Haqq) imagines the world into being, and we are the medium for this unfolding. This is our natural place in the complexity of planetary life and culture, and this creative human imperative contributes, in concert with other species, to life in the relative world of physical manifestation.

The mind of Homo Sapiens imagined a use for fire, imagined the husbandry of sheep and ruminants, the domestication of grain, the storage of nutrients. The mind of Homo Sapiens imagined the blessings of music, the cohesive power of ritual, the revelatory power of the word, the healing beauty of weaving and dyed patterns, and the strength of mud and straw. The mind of Homo Sapiens also imagined the cutting off of supplies, the threat of mounted horsemen, the power of flint, the shortening of distances with wheels, the utility of gears and pulleys for reducing toil, the power of the internal combustion engine, and flight into outer space.

But the mind of Homo Sapiens is only now beginning to imagine the actual connectivity and interdependency between all elements of Nature, and the actual limitation of nonrenewable resources—the irreplaceable material source, in other words, of the continuous, unremitting feeding of our extraordinary god-given capacity for imagining and transforming the imagined into the actual.

Is it possible that the dire ecological straits in which we find ourselves signal nothing less than a failure of imagination? Perhaps the mind of Homo Sapiens must imagine for itself a completely different use of its creative power, and re-establish its proper place in the unfolding universe. Perhaps this re-imaging requires a radical spiritual transformation, a transformation that already seems to be emerging, in ever-growing pockets of ecological-spiritual awakening, but which is


still obscured by the manic imaginings of the materially powerful and the suffering of the socially and physically deprived.

When the Wright brothers dreamed of mechanized flight they did not imagine bombs being dropped from airplanes. When Einstein evolved his theory of relativity, he did not imagine Hiroshima. But all acts of violence committed against humanity find their roots in the human imagination. Throughout history it seems that our genius for creating actuality out of thought has surprised us with its outcomes. “Progress” seems to have a life of its own, but I am suggesting that the life in question is simply the actualization of an unconscious use of collective imagination. It is, in effect, imagination unharnessed from its origin, operating without a conscious recognition of its true nature.

How did we go from the atom to the atom bomb? Doesn’t our demonstrated ability to create holocausts and ecological collapse bring into question the divine nature of human creativity?

Perhaps it is a question of evolution. Perhaps only now are we ready to acknowledge the true creative power of the human imagination and the substantial veracity of the Oneness of Being—not simply as an abstract spiritual concept but as an actuality expressed through the living heart of humankind. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of the interdependent mental activities that bind us as a whole manifesting into what we like to call reality. And in that reality what we see is but a reflection of the only Reality, without which we would be nothing.

I was blessed recently with a job in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown East Side, one of the most

poverty-stricken and drug-ravaged urban ghettoes on the continent, where AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases run rampant. My role was to supervise a landscaping crew made up of men who were on the upside of coming off the street, actively disengaging from substance abuse, working towards re-uniting with their families and, via our program, re-entering the work-force after many years of disenfranchisement. Their mental and financial states were extremely precarious, their living conditions barely a step above the alleys and gulleys and parks they had been sleeping in, in some cases their vermin-infested rooms more disease-prone than living outdoors. Simply to show up for work, for some of these individuals, was a major accomplishment, and to slip back into addictive behaviour or to disappear for weeks at a time, was never taken as other than a temporary stumble.

I had taken to working closely with one particularly sensitive, deeply afflicted soul. We rarely spoke, and when we did, it was always a short, casual, work-related conversation. For weeks he found it impossible to look directly at me. Then one day he looked me in the eye. Though I had been anticipating the moment I knew would eventually come, I was shocked at how difficult it was for me to hold his gaze long enough to connect—a millisecond was enough, but still I noticed my slight recoil, a resistance. I later replayed the moment in my mind’s eye, trying to understand it; I knew it had nothing to do with the words we were exchanging at the time, that something beyond words had been transmitted in that instant. I waited for the next opportunity, and, the ice having been broken, it came soon after. This time I maintained eye contact, allowed myself to go there. I knew immediately that I



had been taken off stride by the first glance because what I had seen in his eyes was utterly unexpected. I had, quite unconsciously, been expecting pain or despair or anger. But what I saw was pure unalloyed need and utter defenselessness. I had come face to face with a kind of submission—a submission to my own good will—and it was disconcerting. I saw in his eyes the human personality stripped down to its most basic expression—and it spontaneously drew my own fundamental dependence on others to the surface.

In a society that has made independence and self-sufficiency its supreme value, deeply embedding the illusion of individual separateness into our psyches, coming face to face with our own need for and dependence on others can be, to say the least, disconcerting.

The longing of the battered heart emanates not only from local street people or from the African epicentre of the AIDS pandemic, nor only from the earthquake victims in Kashmir, the battered citizens of Baghdad or the starving masses in Darfur. It emanates also from those in the privileged classes where the inequity inherent in our industrial economic systems often results in emotional restlessness, in manic, soul-destroying behavior and spiritual hunger. It emanates, too, from the hearts of the hard-working, disappearing middle-classes, from the hearts of the sublimely imprisoned inhabitants of gated communities, from the hearts of corporate executives of transnational energy conglomerates and also from the hearts of politicians and military leaders.

The simple truth, difficult to remember, is that all of us on this struggling planet want the same thing: food, shelter, good health, to live in peace with our fellow beings and in harmony with nature; we want to be free from suffering and strife. Hope lies not in the coincidence of common needs but in the actual living substance of a single need—the heart’s ubiquitous longing, its himma. This is the same force that drives the root of the tree underground, that guides the distant star on its ellipsoidal path, that stirs the human urge to create objects of beauty and to bring joy to one another. As a living organism this One Heart is dependent upon its environment to provide the nutrients it needs to sustain itself. And we are that environment—our thoughts, our words, our beliefs are the nutrients which sustain the human heart as, in collaboration with the Creator, it imagines reality into being.

Murshid continually befriended and immersed himself in the solace of Nature. He witnessed

Nature as worshipful and even put the purity of Nature’s exaltation above humanity’s.“[The animals and birds] all have their religion, and they all worship God in their own way. The birds while singing in the forest feel that exaltation even more than man after he has worshipped God; for not all men who join in prayer are as sincere as the birds in the forest, not one of which utters its prayer without sincerity. If a human soul were awakened to feel what they feel when singing at dawn, he would know that their prayer is even more exalting than his own, for their prayer is more natural. The godly, therefore, worship their God together with nature, and thus they experience perfect exaltation as the result of their prayer.” (The Messasge of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume IX, The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II-B, God The Infinite)

Inayat recognized the manifestation of Nature as the primary sacred book on which all other sacred texts, including the Qur’an were modeled. To the mystic, he said, forest and desert, mountains and rivers, sunrise and the night sky—all aspects


“are one aspect of nature…. they stand like letters, characters, figures made by the Creator to read if one is able to read them. The sura of the Qur’an which contains the first revelation of the Prophet includes the verse, ‘Read in the name of your Lord...’ ….The fluttering of the leaves comes to [the mystic’s] ears as a whisper, the murmur of the wind falls on his ears as music, and the sound of little streams of water run-ning in the forest, making their way through rocks and pebbles is a symphony to the ears of the mystic. No music can be greater and higher and better than this…. And for a mystic they make a picture of life, not a dead picture but a living picture, which at every moment continually reveals a new secret, a new mystery to his heart.” (The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume XI Philosophy, Psychology and Mysticism, Part III: Mysticism, Chapter VII, Nature)

Being able to read the holy book of Nature requires true humility and peacefulness. It is the peaceful one, says Murshid, who is observant, who has

“the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate properly.” (The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume I, The Way of Illumination Section IV—The Purpose of Life, Chapter VI)

The split between Creator and creature, between Self and self, between man and nature—illusory and perceptual—is violence. It is the supreme violence from which all other violence stems because it is to forget the Oneness of God.

When Arjuna was about to go to war against his own people, he had many spiritual reasons to defer from taking action. But his Lord Krishna told him that there is war, that we cannot in our earthly manifestation avoid action, and since in this particular case reality had unfolded in such a way that required him to act as military leader, then he ought to do so in a manner befitting the spirit he embodied—that is, to do so with the clarity and vision that only an enlightened disinterest in the outcome would allow.

From that state of spiritual intention, attuned to the Divine longing of the human heart, poised between action and attachment to outcome, between the Immanent and the Manifest, Arjuna was able to participate, with clarity and faith, in the unfolding of the universe in a way that felt in complete accord with the will of God.

Accepting the unique role of the human imagination, seeing how it inundates our every action, our every thought, and accepting responsibility for co-creating the reality we live in—while daring to imagine the world as an interwoven, beautiful, cosmic revelation of the One Alone—requires no violent action.

Experiencing nature as ever-present in everything we do, whether in the workshop, the kitchen, the office, the garden; watching the world as it unfolds second by second, mystery by mystery, with our active imaginative participation, can only bring peace.

“O Moses, place none other than Me in your place of need and ask Me even for the salt you put in your dough.” (Qur’an)



At such times when I am filled with dread and bewilderment, even hopelessness, at the state of the world, I find the act of submission requested by Moses’ theophany and its comforting undertow of heavenly authority rather seductive.

This passage seems to be primarily about humility, and the humility that the Voice is asking of Moses—and of us—is a profound one. It also sounds like a warning. But what are we being warned against? And where exactly is this place of need? We are being asked to remember that the smallest morsel of sustenance, the simplest nutrient—even a pinch of salt—is not due us—but comes rather as a result of our asking.

If we must ask for something as basic as a pinch of salt, what about all the other things, material and otherwise, that we need for survival? Maybe it’s the asking itself, as an act of humility, that ensures the continued fulfillment of our needs.

Having eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and gained consciousness, we create tools to compensate for our estrangement from paradise. And we especially cling to language, linked to imagination, as a critical tool for survival.

Through language we engage with our environment in a most profound way, creating metaphors to explain the inexplicable. This is how we are. This creative way of being, this need for meaning, this constant longing for the outer reaches of consciousness is the specialized glory of humankind. But every creature has its own price to pay for its own particular glory. In our case, the glory of conscious participation in the irrepressible unfolding of creation is paid for by the threat of self-annihilation. We have this power, this ability to create, and not understanding it fully we run the risk of destroying ourselves with it, because creation necessitates altering the environment in one way or another, and the environment is the only thing that can support our continued material existence.

In the world of eat-and-be-eaten, the realm of awareness and transformation seems to be our lot. Human beings make things up, transform trees and rocks into cities, harness rivers to create light—and we are capable of immense biospheric destruction.So great is your power, the voice seems to be saying to Moses, that you must constantly remem-ber the One who bestowed it upon you. Without Me, without remembering that I am at the centre of everything you do, that I am the life-force at the core of every breath you take—unless you remember My constant Presence, My Ineffability, which you must call forth, you will surely destroy yourselves.

Perhaps when we call forth the Lord of Creation we are simply inoculating ourselves against the hubris and intoxication that can so bewilder us in our gargantuan creative endeavors. Perhaps, since our creative powers are capable of transforming the very biosphere which sustains all organic life into something useless, we need to sober up once in a while and put everything in its proper context.

The voice of Moses’ theophany seems to be warning us against our own abuse of power, the power of the intellect, the power of creativity and imagination, the power of a mind so great, so cosmic, that without some way of giving it form and shape with which to return it to its origins, it becomes capable of absolute apocalyptic destruction. Without the humility (in the sense of bringing back to earth) to contain this creative force that we have wholeheartedly taken to ourselves, creation becomes destruction.

We, through Moses, are being given simple pragmatic advice. Though we have been created in His image, we are being reminded not to mistake ourselves for Him. Always return to the centre, we are being told, the emptiness and the longing at the core of our being—this is our place of need—and from there springs our will and need to create. Everything comes from Me, the Lord


seems to be saying, right down to the invisible particles of oxygen that travel in your blood and feed your very senses, your mind, your limbs and voice—your heart and your glory. . . and I beg you, for your own sake, so that you don’t destroy yourselves, to remember Me there at the centre of your need, and keep Me always in mind and ask Me for every little thing—in which is contained the entire origin and purpose of your being—remember Me even in the pinch of salt you put in your dough.

In this humble act our salvation may lie.

I have a photo of my grandson Isaac on my desk-top. He is on a tricycle, flying past a brick

wall, hair blowing in the wind, eyebrows raised with intense concentration, lips clamped shut on a protruding tongue. A startling forcefulness infuses his body as he leans into the approaching curve. But closer inspection of the photo reveals that his feet are dangling a good six inches from the pedals! The bicycle is stationary—but the beautiful Isaac is traveling at the speed of light. Who is to say where this speed-demon is headed?

Whatever his destination, it will be neither in the full light of the sun nor in the darkness of night. It will be in the shadow-play of light and dark, where Reality dances between Immanence and Manifestation—in the unfolding of the universe that is the perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.

Krishna Ste. Marie Therrien can be reached at [email protected]


In the summer of 2005 Hidayat Inayat-Khan’s symphonic composition La Montonia was se-

lected as the crowning jewel of a special capstone concert at the Suzuki Music Festival, Ottawa, Kansas, USA, under the baton of conductor and musical educator Maestro David Barg. To make the event still more significant, the composer was invited to attend the rehearsals and the concert.

Through a series of fortuitous circumstances, my husband, Joseph (Joe) Gorski and I became the hosts to Hidayat and Aziza Inayat-Khan. What follows is my diary of their ten-day visit and the beauty that unfolded as hearts met hearts in the ocean of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.

Monday, June 13th, 2005Keynote: Ya Fattâh, The Opener, The RevealerHazrat Inayat Khan: He who realizes the relation of friendship between one soul and another–the tenderness, delicacy, and sacredness of this relationship–he is living, and in this way he will one day communicate with God.13:13 arrival Kansas City, Missouri Interna-tional Airport.

Hidayat and Aziza arrived with perfect timing. My husband, Joe and I received them at the airport. We all met with smiles, hugs, and enthusiasm, and also with anticipation of how the next ten days together would unfold.

In the car we chatted about the upcoming schedule of events, their journey here, etc. But one thing that stands out about that journey home was that we all agreed that we would be comfortable living together for ten days only if we spoke honestly and directly amongst ourselves. This immediately opened the door to

the feeling of being with family and establishing intimacy.

That evening we dined on the plaza while we shared the stories of our meetings as couples. It happened to be Joe’s and my 17th month wedding anniversary. We all mused at the auspiciousness of how Hidayat and Aziza arrived at 13:13 on the 13th, and how Joe and I were married on the 13th.

After dinner we came home and settled in for our first night.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005Keynote: Ya Walî, The Protecting Friend, The Nearby GuardianHazrat Inayat Khan: The man who has proved in his life to be the friend of every person he meets, in the end will prove to be the friend of God.

After an early breakfast and a visit, we headed out for a city tour, shopping, and lunch. My Mother, Margaret Anne (Maggie) Sabato joined us for this day on the town. Our first stop was the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art where we lunched. Afterward, we went to the second floor of the Museum where we visited the majestic and spiritually powerful Bodhisattva Guanyin statue. (To see a photo of the statue, please go to http://www.nelson-atkins.org/collections/asian/detail/bodhisat.htm.)

After leaving the Museum we toured about Kansas City by car, stopping here and there to shop for souvenirs, to sip tea and cappuccino, to nibble on a sweet, and last but not least all the while to savour the delicious atmosphere and conversation with Hidayat and Aziza.

Impressions of a Visit

by Stephanie Nuria Sabato


Nuria, Hidayat, Aziza, Joe


Amidst the fun and activity one could not help but note how in the shops and on the streets Hidayat and Aziza touched people. I continually noticed how people would honorifically and reverently bow before Hidayat, and how people seemed compelled to treat Aziza with an unusually high degree of friendliness, helpfulness and respect.

I was personally and deeply moved by the connection my Mother had with Hidayat and Aziza. It was obvious that this was a connection that would unfold in wondrous ways over the coming days into a growing respect and friendship.

That evening we feasted on Indian food at mureed Caryn Kabriya Challman’s, whose home is next door. And we feasted in so many ways throughout the day and evening!

Wednesday, June 15th, 2005Keynote: Ya Hâdî, The Guide, The Leader on the Right PathHazrat Inayat Khan: One thing is true: although the teacher cannot give the knowledge, he can kindle the light if the oil is in the lamp.

We arose quite early, had a quick breakfast, and then departed for Ottawa University. The drive took about one and a quarter hours. The time flew as we visited all the while, getting to know each other better and better.

We arrived at the University Chapel around 8:40AM and when we walked in the 60 piece string orchestra stopped playing, all the musicians

rose to their feet and enthusiastically applauded the arrival of Hidayat. It was touching and inspiring!

Aziza and I sat in the choir loft while Hidayat was invited to sit amongst the musicians of the orchestra. From there he could give musical direction to both the musicians and the conductor, David Barg.

It was a feast for all the inner and outer senses. The music was coming forth with such power and grace, the conductor and musicians responded with both enthusiasm and reverence to Hidayat. Hidayat’s mastery was magnificently expressed as he challenged both conductor and musicians to work toward further and further refinement of the music, La Monotonia. Aziza


and I sat with tears in our eyes as witnesses to the beautiful unfoldment and enfoldment.

After the rehearsal Hidayat, Aziza, and I were invited to sit in on David’s conducting class. Hidayat was invited to speak of his musical training and to share his knowledge with the students. The students were so enthusiastic about meeting Hidayat that many them asked if they could stay after class for further discussion with him. Hidayat graciously accepted their invitation, and the students gathered around him in the most affectionate and respectful manner.

That evening we went out to a local restaurant on the plaza for a “family-style” dinner. It was quite a festive occasion as we shared with all the happenings at Ottawa University. Hidayat also shared Nasruddin stories and Sufi wisdom with all.

Thursday, June 16th, 2005Keynote: Ya ‘Azîm, The Supreme Glory, The Most GrandHazrat Inayat Khan: No love offering can be more precious than a word or act of respect, for the highest expression of love is respect.

The flow of the day went much as it did on Wednesday.

The evening was spent at a gathering with the members of the Shining Heart Sufi Community in honor of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan’s Urs the following day.

Hidayat led the group in a silent meditation in honor of his brother. After the meditation Hidayat (with Aziza’s loving assistance and encouragement) shared stories of Murshid, his childhood memories, and memories of Vilayat.

The evening was concluded with another silent meditation in honor of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.

After the meditation Hidayat lovingly hugged everyone present. It was a special and graced event.

Friday, June 17th, 2005Keynote: Ya Musawwir, The Fashioner, The Bestower of FormsHazrat Inayat Khan: When the soul is attuned to God, every action becomes music.

Throughout the weeks prior to Hidayat’s and Aziza’s visit I had been in contact with their daughter Inayat Bergum Khan. Inayat was planning on coming to Kansas City to attend the concert. She also confided in me that her brother Gayan Inayat-Khan was planning on surprising Hidayat and Aziza by also flying into town to attend the concert. It was hard to “dance” around this secret with Hidayat and Aziza, but it was accomplished.

On Friday just after breakfast, Inayat and Gayan showed up at the house. They ran upstairs to surprise their father, and surprise him they did. It was a wonderfully joyful moment that unfolded into joyful days!

By this time another Sufi mureed Terri Karima-Gita Erickson had come into town to help with cooking, cleaning, etc. That day Kabriya, Karima-Gita, and I made a huge pot of homemade vegetable steak soup.

Late that afternoon we all gathered together to share in this hearty soup, a salad, and some homemade bread. We then all scurried to our respective abodes to get freshened up and to dress for the concert that evening in Ottawa!

We caravanned by car, and arrived early so we could set up a table of Hidayat’s cd’s and books. We also wanted to be available for any last minute details that might need to be attended, and to greet the many Sufi friends who would be traveling there for the concert.

Front row seats were reserved for us, and when it was time for the concert to begin we took our places.

The concert was rich and full, with many musical offerings by many musical directors.

Hidayat’s piece was the second to the last on the program. As you might imagine the anticipation was great!


Before the playing of La Monotonia Op. 13, the conductor, David Barg, turned to the audience and gave a passionate speech about how he met Hidayat, how he first experienced Hidayat’s music, the meaning of the piece being dedicated to Noorunisa Inayat Khan, and his attraction to the Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Words cannot express the spiritually moving quality of how La Monotonia was played that night. Everyone was touched, and showed their appreciation by a standing ovation and tribute to Hidayat, with Aziza proudly at his side.

After the concert Hidayat was again honored with a standing applause as he and Aziza entered the reception organized for him and the musical directors of the evening.

Saturday, June 18th, 2005Keynote: Dhû-l-Jalâli wal-Ikrâm, The Lord of Majesty and GenerosityHazrat Inayat Khan: Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty.

There were two sessions planned with the local Shining Heart Sufi Community for this day. During the afternoon session Hidayat gave a talk on the meaning of being spiritual, and led the group in the element breath practices. The detail and meaning he emphasized for each breath gave new meaning to these practices, even though some of us have been doing them for many years!

That evening the members of the Shining Heart Community gathered at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral (the oldest church in Kansas City). We were blessed by Hidayat guiding us in the practices of Kasab and Shagal, followed by the performance of the singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

The evening was concluded with a reception for Hidayat, Aziza, Inayat, and Gayan. There was a lot of picture taking, good conversation, and sharing in the Presence of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.

Hidayat was presented with a Father’s Day card signed by all!

Sunday, June 19th, 2005 - Father’s Day Keynote: Ya Wadûd, The Loving-Kindness, The Most AffectionateHazrat Inayat Khan: The truly great souls become streams of love.

This day was spent in casual relaxation on the treetop deck of our home. There Hidayat and Aziza visited through the day with Inayat and Gayan. What a wonderful way to spend Father’s Day!

Inayat and Gayan left in the late afternoon. Shortly after their departure my Mom and Sister came by for dinner and a visit. The most magical thing happened. My Mom told Hidayat, “I thought I knew everything, but I have really learned some things from you over the past few days. I would like to ask you for your blessing.”

Parenthetically let me share the following: I was in and out of the kitchen preparing and serving tea, coffee, and snacks. My Mom walked in and asked me, “Should I ask for initiation?” I, of course, said, “Yes!” My Mother left the kitchen and Hidayat came in and asked me, “Am I to understand that your Mother is asking for initiation?” I again said, “Yes!” Shortly thereafter Hidayat rose from the table and asked my Mom to stand. He then “welcomed” her in to the Sufi Movement. This past Saturday, June 25th, Mom telephoned me full of excitement. She had already received an official Certificate of Initiation from the Headquarters of the Sufi Movement thanks to Hamida’s speedy efficiency. Thanks, Hamida! Now Mom wants Hidayat to give her a spiritual name!

Monday, June 20th, 2005Keynote: Ya Wâsi’, The All-Embracing, The All-PervadingHazrat Inayat Khan: Man as a human being is capable of loving one, but his soul as the light of



Hidayat Inayat-Khan working with orchestra

God is capable of loving not only the world, but even a thousand worlds; for the heart of man is larger than the whole universe.

After a leisurely breakfast and visit, Hidayat sat down with the “Complete Works of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, Original Texts: Lectures on Sufism, 1923 II: July-December” for the rest of the day. Aziza and I headed out for some last minute souvenir shopping. We had so much fun together. Like two girlfriends out on the town, shopping, lunching, chatting, laughing, sipping coffee! What memorable, heartfelt moments!

Aziza and I arrived home just in time for a quick bite to eat with Hidayat and Joe. We all then headed off for a Summer Solstice Celebration gathering at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The evening began with the Invocation l ead by Hidayat , and a few Dances of Universal Peace lead by Ruhaniat Shaikh Allaudin Ottinger. Then trumpet player Stanton Kessler and tamboura player Sarmad Bernstein performed the Invocation composed by Hidayat. This was followed by a group performance of Tibetan gongs, bells, and bowls.

Last, but certainly not least, Hidayat gave a brief talk on the Mysticism of Sound and lead a Zoroastrian practice focusing on the elements and their corresponding notes.

The evening was again concluded with a reception with many fond farewell wishes.

After we returned home, I asked Hidayat to receive me into the Sufi Movement with Aziza as witness. Ya Shakur, Hidayat.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2005Keynote: Ya Muqît, The Nourisher, The Sustainer

Hazrat Inayat Khan: True happiness is in the love-stream that springs from one’s soul, and the man who will allow this stream to flow continually, in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness that truly belongs to him.

The day was spent quietly at home. Aziza was busy packing. Hidayat was going page by page through the “Complete Works” volume, very lovingly book-marking pages for me to study more in depth. We would all take little breaks to sit and drink tea and coffee and chat.

The remainder of the day and evening were spent in casual relaxation and conversation amongst Hidayat, Aziza, Joe, and myself.

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005Keynote: Ya Hayy, The Ever-Living, The Alive Hazrat Inayat Khan: Humor is the sign of light from above. When that light touches the mind, it tickles it, and it is the tickling of the mind that produces humor.

That morning we all shared our last breakfast,

at least for this trip. We loaded up the car and headed for the airport. Hidayat, Aziza, Joe, and I sat and chatted at an airport snack bar until it was time for them to go through the security.

During our last hour together we shared more stories, and we laughed, and laughed.

As we all walked to the departure gate we felt full and happy, and yet it was a bittersweet parting. With warm hearts, smiles on our lips, and tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes to each other.

Return soon to us here in the Heartland of Kansas City, Missouri. Your home on Cherry Street awaits you!


As soon as man claims the importance of his community over others, he has lost the very seed of wisdom that was given to him for his spiritual development. If we really recognized the inner voice we would see that the different scriptures all contain words spoken by one and the same voice. Then we would be attuned to that voice settled in the human heart, the home of the soul. In The Unity of Religious Ideals Murshid gives such a wonderful symbolic example. He sees the different religions as the tones of one and the same piece of music. Each tone is a good one but music only arises when they are attuned to each other. And each one plays his own part on his own instrument. So we all are instruments in the orchestra of life, searching for harmony in our life-symphony. That is what is meant by making the message a reality. That is what the Sufi Movement has in view: to find your own keynote in the knowledge that everybody has his original tone, different from others. By attunement to all these beautiful tones we get one Divine composition.

One time a teacher of music gave us an exercise. Everyone was walking around the room singing his own keynote. The task included keeping your own note while listening to the others. That was not easy. It needed concentration to hold that note. The next task was to connect your tone with another one. What then happened, it was wonderful. Finally we were standing together with everyone singing

Making the Message a Realityby Maharani de Caluwé

The human heart is the home of the soul, and upon this home the comfort and the power of the soul depend.

—Gayan, Hazrat Inayat Khan

To make the Message a reality depends on the above-mentioned comfort and power of the

soul. It all depends on attunement and unity.In Volume X of the Sufi Message series, chapter

VII of “The Problem of the Day,” Hazrat Inayat Khan says:

One can see the beginning of the spirit of brotherhood when one looks at flocks of birds flying together in the sky, or at the herds of animals in the field and the swarms of insects all living and moving together. No doubt this tendency of brotherhood is more pronounced in man, for man is not only capable of realizing the spirit of brotherhood, but also of fulfilling the purpose which is hidden in this natural tendency. There is one secret behind all this diversity which we call good or bad, right or wrong, sin or virtue; and it is that all that leads to happiness is right, good, and virtuous, and all that leads to unhappiness is wrong, bad, and evil; and if there is any sin, it is the latter which may be called sin. Brotherhood is not something which man has learned or acquired; it is something which is born in him, and according to his development of this spirit he shows the unfoldment of his soul.

In The Unity of Religious Ideals we can read about the subject of unity and uniformity. Unity is the inner nature of every soul, the only purpose of life, while uniformity is there to help to fulfil that purpose. But is it not strange that through all the ages the different religions which have been given to man for his spiritual development with the single idea of unity, have gradually developed into separate communities?



his base-tone and it sounded fantastic. All the tones sounded like they were interweaving with each other. Not all the tones were pure of course, but when the attunement is all right then all the little unevenesses disappear.

That is what happens so often in our daily life. The first task is to stay in your own keynote, in attunement to your own inner voice. Secondly, we try to attune to the heart of other human beings. In experiencing Unity we can learn that differences are not hindrances on our way but inspiring helps on our path. Only when we uphold our thoughts and feelings as the only right ones we do not attune ourselves to others but to our own limitations. That is what happened with the different religions. Not a single one of the prophets came with the thought of creating an exclusive community. The differences in the religions exist because of the external generality, the general populace. The inner meaning of all religions is one and the same, the attunement to the Divine.

The first lesson on the spiritual path is that there is nothing but God. To whatever object we may attune ourselves, we can meet God: in each form, in pictures, in art, in nature, in the animal world, but most of all in man. Sometimes the behaviour of man doesn’t look like this; it is difficult then to see the divine part in him, but this does not mean that there is no divine part.

A cardiologist in Arnhem, Holland, is doing research on “near death experiences.” He asks in one of his articles: “What is man? Am I a body or do I have a body? Where am I when I sleep, when I dream, when I am dead?” He also uses the example of music. Music does not depend on the instrument. There is always music in the air. Sometimes you can hear that music in your head, but you only can make it a real sound through an instrument that is able to receive this music and send it out. Is that what happens when we tune ourselves to our soul, that we make the connection? Is that what we call intuition? What happens when we tune ourselves to the soul of

other people? Do we then become the instrument to receive their message and send out ours?

Could it be possible that the light that people talk about in the case of ‘near death experiences’ is always around us? Could it be that we have made ourselves unable to perceive that light because of our own limitation?

Is total surrender, like a patient anesthetized for surgery, the answer? Is that the answer to the question ‘how to make the message a reality’?

Speaking in musical terms, Hazrat Inayat Khan gives us three keynotes for spirituality: love, harmony and beauty. When we stick to these three keynotes we are making the message a reality. That is our universal soul connection, our ties to sister- and brotherhood. We cannot live without love. Without a loving heart it is impossible to receive. If we are not open to the signals sent out by others, we cannot understand others. Love is needed to be tolerant, to forgive–not only in regard to others, but it starts with tolerance and forgiveness to ourselves.

Is that not egoism? It would be, if we do not care about others. What happens in our being together is that we give strength to each other. We are interwoven with each other. Every expression, every contact, shows us how we are linked to one another. Think how strong the influence can be of somebody’s acts or glances. Sometimes it seems that we only are the results of causes in the outer world, but it isn’t so.

Being conscious of that influence can help us to realize that people are different without leaving our own peaceful harmony, our keynote. That consciousness can also help us to realize that we, in a subtle way, should notice the feelings of others and have consideration for them. And that consciousness can strengthen us in the knowledge that we ourselves have the possibility to influence each other in a loving way. That is the consciousness of Unity.

This world needs more than ever the idea of sister- and brotherhood. All that people desire in the world is safety, solidarity, security, to be tied with friends and family members.


Maybe the growing interest in spirituality is a counter-movement against this material and superficial world. Is this because we meet so little loving goodness, or because we have difficulties being a loving human being in this world? Hazrat Inayat Khan says: “It is nice to have many friends but it is much nicer to be a friend.” That means to give without expecting something back. One who is able to practise this becomes a source of happiness for everyone he meets, a blessing for others but especially a blessing for himself. It seems paradoxical that we feel rich by giving to others, that we feel happy by serving others, but that is the way it works.

It is much nicer to serve than to be dependent on the service of others. Love, happiness, and cheerfulness are gifts. The ones who are blessed with those qualities are privileged and have other tasks and responsibilities than the ones who are not so happily blessed.

The need to develop peace and harmony applies to all of us but some have to work harder than others in order to come in touch with their inner qualities. For these, no rejection, but loving compassion, which is balsam on the wounds that need to be healed. That is the way in which we can work on a beautiful symphony of Unity. That is how we can make the Message a reality.


In the western world, in what we call the de-veloped countries, we are living in a society

where there has been occurring a big change in individual, family and social values.

We are living in a century where moral relativism and rationalism have become more and more prevalent and the key drivers of a “successful” way of thinking, living and working. A lot of examples of this point of view are available. Because of this mind model, the largest part of our good tradition has been vanishing. Individualism and separation are more and more wide spread in our social life. In these days we are living with the social problems coming from a non-integrated multiethnic society.

In fact, the mass media are more and more powerful and invasive in our everyday life. Moreover, commercial advertising is bombarding our minds, creating new needs and more and more seductive models for a successful life based on materialism.

In many political conferences and congresses, experts of economic and social phenomena call it social progress. The rate of growth of the total wealth of a country or geographic region (the percent growth rate of the GNP) is the gold standard for comparison and competition. Life is becoming more and more competitive in every daily aspect.

What has been happening is that we have been moving from models of society mostly inspired and driven in everyday life by traditional social, moral, ethical and religious values to the development of social groups driven by rationalism and materialistic and economic standards.

Therefore, we are going farther and farther from our natural life. There is less and less space for a natural existence.

This “evolution” has different rates of penetration in Europe and North America, and within their different areas. So, in the big cities and more developed countries it is usually prevalent and diffused through all the layers of society. In small town and less ‘developed’ countries it is more isolated in its impact and less dominant.

This process was already described by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the early days of the 20th century. He analyzed it and its consequences precisely, based on his observations when he visited big modern cities like New York and London.

This growing materialism has been having a big effect at all the different levels of human being, family and society.

If we actively observe everyday life moving around us, the effect of this change is visible on the faces of most of the people we meet in a train station or in the metro of a big city, including in young people, whom one might expect to be more carefree. People frequently look sad and unhappy.

Why?From a material point of view, we have all

kind of comforts in our life, but the expression in people’s eyes is frequently worried. They are unhappy, sad, afraid or angry, as well as being selfish, unsatisfied, closed, competitive or aggressive, and indifferent to the condition of other human beings.

Modern Life and Prayer

by Rashid and Jalila Guerra



Social connections and interactions are reduced to a minimum. There is no time to speak together, no time to create and develop human relationships in our family or community, no time to share experiences with friends or people coming from other cultures, no time to pay attention to others. There is no time to welcome new people.

What is happening?We are becoming more and more mechanical,

like robots, mainly concentrated on doing business.

One could ask, where the engineer present within ourselves is going?

Due to this on-going change our life is frequently unbalanced and not in good health and condition.

We have lost the most part of our good natural habits. There is no time to hear the sounds of the nature around us, no time to hear from our inner Self, no time to hear and to help our friends and other people.

All these unnatural conditions in a person produce suffering on the physical, spiritual and social level. More and more frequently there is a prevalent negative feeling which covers the hearts of people like a shadow. It is a block to the passage of Divine light and to the direct contact with our eternal Source of inspiration. Because of this, people become unhappy, sad, dissatisfied with their life, more and more competitive and selfish, and therefore conflicts with other people grow.

Many people are becoming aware that they have this problem and, consciously or unconsciously, are looking for a cure, usually from outside in the form of medicines or drugs. They go to medical doctors to find some therapy. Consequently, medical doctors prescribe powerful and expensive chemical medicines.

Is that useful? Is that the natural way of managing it? Is that really what they need?

From ancient times, and as Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan has taught us, all human beings have cured these kinds of problems in

a very simple but effective and powerful way: by praying.

Because of rationalism in our “evolved” society, prayer is frequently considered a sort of superstition, an old fashioned way of thinking, an aspect of a primitive life style.

Is that true?If we look at all sacred scriptures of the world,

like those of the Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Zoroastrian religions, we can discover the impressive importance attributed to prayer by all the messengers of every time. Prayers have been used for 8,000 years. Prayer is the first step for faith, to believe. It is the gate through which we can speak and reach God in our heart.

We can read that prayers can cure, protect, and tune us to the One, in every situation of our everyday life. We can find different kind of prayers with different needs for each situation of life. There is a prayer to speak directly to God in our heart; to ask Him for advice or counsel; to thank Him for the gifts of life we receive every day; to ask Him for help when in difficulties; to ask Him for healing when in ill health.

Prayer is a most powerful and personal tool, but it is also a social tool when prayers are made in a group. Thus, prayer presents a truly complete array of natural, tailor-made “medicines.” Still in the present time, the majority of people of the under-developed world and of the human family use prayer as the most powerful tool to cure illness of every kind. They frequently join together in prayer to multiply the power.

However, prayer is not something automatic; it becomes so powerful when we say it in the right way, with the right mental attitude, when we regularly practise it, when we sincerely say it, from the deepest depth of our heart, with all our being, body, mind and soul. In this way we can create a direct connection with the greatest Healer, speaking directly to Him Who is in our heart.

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan teaches us that prayer is mystical because of its power to transform in the same heart a prevailing negative


feeling to a positive one, in order to master our mind and so our life. This is a true miracle of prayer, not only at an individual level, but also at the social, national and world level.

Prayer eliminates toxins, and protects and maintains a clean heart. The daily practise of prayer acts as a form of spiritual and physical hygiene. It is a purification of our heart.

Therefore, let us pray sincerely and regularly in our everyday life to tune ourselves

to the One. Let us pray for the health and the peace of our society and the world. Let us join together to pray, to give our prayers more power. Above all, let us use the incredible richness represented by the updated prayers given to us by our Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan. In this way, sooner or later we can gain real development, the real dividend from the unique investment of this eternal treasure represented by Wisdom.



The following is condensed from articles which appeared in “The Sufi, a quarterly journal of mysticism,” in 1936, and which were subsequently incorporated in the author’s memoir, Pages in the Life of a Sufi.

What is India? The answer comes: India is like a tree bearing an abundance of fruits,

offering to all without expecting any return.The object of our journey to India was to

visit certain holy tombs and shrines. Revisiting my own country after an absence of twenty-five years brought to me many impressions that seem to me inexpressible, not to be recorded in words. I only pray that I may be able to cherish them, beautiful and unfaded, till the end of my days.

There are experiences each individual must surely make for himself, and which cannot be explained or conveyed to others; they must be felt to be known. Such were the experiences which came to me beside those holy shrines and tombs that were the goal of our journey. When I think of the many sensations felt beside the tombs of different sages; when I think of the special atmosphere which pervades the graves of emperors who were also mystics, and of the kings who were not mystics; when I think of what I received through the privilege of meetings with dervishes, mashaiks, mahatmas and madzoubs; when I recall the effect of the deep music of the magical sama upon heart and soul—how shall I find words to speak of these things?

The tomb of Nizamuddin Aulia is situated in New Delhi, about an hour’s drive from Delhi.

On our arrival we went first to pay our respect to the shrine of this famous teacher and saint, whose teachings have reached as far as China and have been carried on through the centuries by an uninterrupted chain of successors and disciples. It is told of him that he lost his father and many relatives in childhood; his mother, being left alone to take care of him, was often so poor that she had nothing in the house to eat, and then she would remind her son, “Today, God is our host.” This training in reliance upon God and an enduring faith gave him his line in life; so his mother was his first guru and murshid. He grew to look forward to hearing her say these words, believing that he was thus strengthened in steadfastness and mystical development, with trust and love towards Providence. His unswerving purpose, learned in childhood, is still the magnet that draws countless numbers to him; and we see that being true to an ideal in life makes man a king of life indeed.

Near to his tomb is the tomb of Amir Khusrou, who was poet and musician and the originator of the sitar and many other musical instruments. We are told that he lived surrounded by musicians, and that almost five hundred minstrels would accompany him, as he moved from place to place on his journeys, in order to learn from him. Musical festivals are still constantly held in his honour; they are called quwalis or sama. We went to one of these at the end of our stay in Delhi—for me perhaps the most outstanding event of our tour.

An Indian Pilgrimage

by Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Moulamia Khan

Heirlooms: offerings from our past


Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Moulamia Khan

On our first visit to these shrines we found a large number of visitors, among whom we noticed a couple of Europeans; and it was while we were looking at the beautifully wrought screen before the shrine of Nizamuddin Aulia, which is covered with presents and tokens and tributes of gratitude, that the guardian asked us if we should like to visit the tomb of Hazrat Inayat Khan. So before we spoke of him, we heard his name for whose sake I had left India, twenty-five years earlier, and to visit whose resting place was the purpose of our journey.

There is a bird in India called the papaya, which repeats all it hears. “O Papaya,” says the poet, “do not repeat the name of my beloved.” And like the poet we felt also that it was almost too much to bear, to hear that name repeated in that place.

The dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan is quite close to that of Nizamuddin Aulia and that of Amir Khusrou, but it is in comparison much smaller, and to European eyes it might seem almost too unpretentious.

A stone building, pinkish in colour, square and domed, it is from outside shaded by two great trees.

“Perhaps you would like to visit the tomb of Hazrat Inayat Khan?” the guardian had said. And he left us to wait before the closed green door, while he went for the key to open it. Already I felt, as I stood there, as if I was about to meet my beloved comforter.

Most of the visitors to the burial ground had by now gone away; but the ground is surrounded by houses; quickly the news had spread and from the roofs and windows we saw people gathering

to watch us, but in no idle curiosity. They guessed who we were, and sharing in our emotion, they were moved with kindness and sympathy toward us. Within the tomb, we saw the raised coffin. We read the inscription, written in English and Urdu: Hazrat Inayat Khan, Founder of the Sufi Movement in the West.

There are moments when consciousness of time and place fades away, and all seems at a

standstill. Thinking and willing cease; hoping and expecting are at an end, because an entire satisfaction pervades and informs the whole being. Above and beyond the sensual existence, in the peace of an utter happiness, from which one may bring back no more than a memory of a most sweet perfume; of a voice of transcending beauty; of music that enraptured; of a touch that blessed and healed, there is a world that all of us enter at times.

There , in tha t supersensual world, one loses all thought or fear

of personal merit or demerit; of gain or of loss; and imagination is stilled in the face of perfection. Seeing, hearing, knowing are caught beyond the wrappings and veils of our daily existence.

Each day of our stay in Delhi, which lasted two months, we went to visit the dargah; not always at the same time, but never a day passed without our seeking the happiness that lay there for us, in the presence which gave us wings to rise.

The beauty of the Indian dawn, the feeling of

that dawn, and the desire for meditation that rises


from it under that clear sky, gave us peace and happiness at the start of each fresh day. Below in the streets were singing dervishes, chanting the words of great poets. “Breath is my friend; breath is my life, my companion. A long bazaar stretches before me, a long journey. I have to go,” sings one. “O friend, what you are seeking is not so lasting,” sings another; “position and possession are an illusion.” They sing their rag jogya, the morning mode or melody. At midnight, we heard an old man singing with a few companions, calling those who rise at midnight to pray. “Mine and thine; thou and I; here this life is a moment’s halting place, all this is a momentary game. Do you not see this?”

“Be not deceived. What is mine? What is thine? Stop, think, what is there besides? The moment you forget, this is mine; this is thine; you begin to think of what is common to us. That moment shows there is no real separation.”

The stars were bright above; the night was still. He sang thus during the night of the fast days, to waken the people to meditation. Incidents such as these continually struck the same devotional note we wished to hold in the rhythm of life.

We gathered many remarkable impressions from these poor homeless people, who ask for nothing and scarcely require coverings or shelter in the heat or in the cold. There was one I saw lying on the ground, so poor and apparently insignificant that I asked myself what his life could be worth to him or to any one else. At once the answer came. A cloud of sweet perfume enveloped me, the incense from that sweet and saintly soul; and I knew that here was a pure and perfect being of great spiritual power. And in my thought I bowed to him, asking pardon that I could have had such an idea of him, even for a moment. We spoke no word, but there was an understanding at once between us, and I felt again that strong uplifting that all beauty and perfection give; an uplifting that fills one with the sense of the value of human life, and with an optimism that assures one that all is yet well, in

spite of the injustice and cruelty in the world.We met also a remarkable man who was

known for the wonders that he did through the help of spirits. He told us that he had set out on the pure spiritual path, but had been filled with curiosity about a certain aspect of supernatural experience. He had then begun to devote himself to communicating with spirits and was now unable to throw off his interest in that line; but he assured us most earnestly that he would not advise anyone to follow his example. He was a sickly individual, with an unhealthy aspect, and though of great power, there was something repellent about him. He too, has many friends and seeks to be of aid to those who come to him, and to use his interest and knowledge for their benefit.

It is interesting, perhaps, to note that the evolved perceive a most disagreeable odour surrounding such a person; this smell is often noticed by people who come in their presence, and become faint and feel ill, without knowing the reason, not having any knowledge or idea of such things. Others who may not even be physically conscious of an unpleasant odour may be similarly affected.

Often on our daily visits to the dargah we

met the pir in charge of the burial ground. His special function is to edit and publish all that is written about the teachings of Nizamuddin Aulia by his disciples and followers, and to keep all these histories and records together and exact. His days are occupied in such work and in lecturing, his nights in prayer. Many young men come to sit at his feet and to learn from him; and when he asked us to his house, we found him surrounded by people who were listening to him. He spoke of the work of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and said that in those European disciples whom he had met, he had found an unusual understanding of things mystical, and this seemed to him an


�0 Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

unique and miraculous thing. He spoke of the magic current of love that came from Hazrat Inayat Khan to his European mureeds; and the men and women around him listened attentively to his words, as he sat on a carpet in their midst. We felt ourselves much moved and impressed by him and his words.

Walking with him in the burial ground one day, he told us also how Hazrat Inayat Khan had pointed to the spot where his body now lies, saying: “I should like to live close by.”

After we had been in Delhi some weeks, the pir asked us to be present at a quwali held in honour of Amir Khusrou, close to his shrine, and to give an address on the work of Hazrat Inayat Khan. A festival of this kind lasts throughout the day and night, for several days. The singers and musicians who gather there each sing and play in turn. Numbers of people come to these sacred meetings; several thousands were present at the one to which we were bidden. On these occasions the railway station called Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia receives great numbers of devotees.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia had learned to endure poverty in his childhood; and when later he became rich, receiving many gifts from royal visitors who delighted to honour him, he still lived a life of simplicity, spending the wealth he received on the poor and in giving hospitality to travelers. In the same way the pir provides accommodation for those who come at such times. His house is quite close and there he lives a mystical life, in the old traditional way, where his ancestors lived before him. But at the quwali to which we were asked, a special enclosure had been erected for him and for certain guests. This diwan khana held about two hundred people, and through an opening in its walls one could see the shrines and the assembled crowd without.

It was about 10 o’clock in the morning that a young student called for us, to take us to the quwali; and driving along beside him, I felt unable to speak of my brother. “What an irreparable loss for the world, that such an illuminated soul should leave it,” he said to me. I could only bow

my head in answer. Arrived at our destination, the eldest son of the pir met us and brought us to our seats.

There were a number of notabilities present that day: the representative of Mahatma Gandhi, the ex-Sultan of Morocco, many ulemas and shaik-ul-mashaiks and dervishes, some wearing green turbans, some in brown and some in yellow robes. We both spoke in our turn on the work of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and the interest and responsive attitude shown by the assembled company for what we had to say was inexpressibly touching.

There followed a programme of songs and music. There is such power in music to bless; when intellect and will are still, then indeed they may be lifted upwards, carried by the soaring beauty to a realm where all is music, the music of the Eternal. There, drinking of a draught that is magic and potent, something is gained that can never be quite lost; divine intimations, heavenly mysteries heal and bless. Even for weeks after the music surrounded us with its notes. So charged was the atmosphere with the combined influence of the music of saintly men and the spiritual influence of that company of dervishes and adepts, the sweet sympathy and response given to the story of Hazrat Inayat Khan—all created an ecstasy of thought and feeling; a communion of souls conscious of the beauty invisible; a harmony and peace in the comprehension of holy and spiritual aspiration.

The young man who had come to take us to the meeting brought us home again. He too had been caught up in the universal, the cosmic consciousness. “A thousand mureeds of Inayat Khan in the West equal ten hundred thousand in the East,” he said. “Surely these Western mureeds,” he continued to say, “can and will do their part. Surely they will carry on the Message he left them.” And again he spoke of the irreparable loss to the world that such an illuminated being should have left it. He asked me for my blessing, “and I will never ask you or disturb to give me anything more.”

�1Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

Some weeks later I paid my last visit to the dargah of my revered brother, this time alone. We felt this parting would be too much for my companion to watch and endure. Strong and deep was my inner prayer. “This is, you know, my last homage to you, my murshid, here; my only thought is that the message you left may spread far and wide, and that you will always send us illumination and inspire us. If I could bring even one person to an understanding of that Message, I would be quite content.” I felt almost as if I were speaking to him.

I remembered, too, that after his own initiation, he went to the tomb of Moinuddin Chisti. And as he was on his way there, he passed a dervish, who whispered in his ear: “O young man, do not be so restless and eager. Go on, but things will happen themselves and develop.” The whispering of the dervish in his ear seemed to comfort him, before the thought: “How great is my task and how shall I begin it?” Among dervishes there is no idea of haste and despair, of time and place.

I felt as if I were speaking to my brother and saying to him: “You know our difficulties very well; how some take it and misunderstand.” And I had a feeling as if an answer came, steadying me in my resolution and conviction, with a promise of help. And I was lifted into a country of hope.

There is a light hidden behind the clouds, a light that remains even when the eyes are looking at the dark colour of stormy clouds. Behind the confusion of life, a memory of this light, once seen, remains constant; of this light which suffuses that world above, that world of hope. It remains more visible than all in this seen world.

“Patience,” I heard.

And patience, I felt, will help me to dive into the innermost, deepest depths. Those depths touched, the knowledge must remain an unutterable mystery, except in the manner that one may translate it into one’s life, for others to see and to know.

To go to a tomb or a shrine is to be comforted according to the force of our desire and our responsiveness. That the body is resting there has its own significance, and is more than a feeling. But to live for his message is to live with him. In his message, he is living. To live for that keeps one near him.

The shrine brings one to the consciousness of the inner being, and devotion to a shrine kindles the inner light. There is such a happy optimism in this experience; hope awakens, strength is aroused and sends one out renewed. As the poet says: “As my wondering eyes looked at the holy shrine, I heard from within me in that stillness, softly arising, a gentle whispering, a voice saying: ‘Do you not know me? I am the eye of the shrine.’”

One’s own voice is the voice, one’s own eyes are the eyes of the shrine.

To retain balance and the dignity of the human being, to develop every human possibility, but towards perfection that is natural, this is the Sufi way. To attract by strange ways, to hold and fascinate the people by some peculiar idea, is going against nature.

Whatever is natural to develop, that is beautiful. The real success is in durability and is lasting. The mystic, therefore, can be wide awake in the world. Though not a slave to things material, the outer life may be one of balance and human dignity and beauty, and the human reason, made greater by that eternal Light which is the knowledge of the Will of God.


For some years now, the annual celebration of Visalat Day at the Dargah in Delhi has

been preceded by a music festival in Baroda dedicated to the memory of Hazrat Inayat Khan and his illustrious grandfather Maula Bakhsh. This year that festival was also the occasion of an extraordinary event, the inauguration of the

newly renovated room in which Hazrat Inayat was born on July 5th 1882.

In the time of Maula Bakhsh and for many years afterward, the large house not far from the palace was home to the extended family. With the passage of time, however, it was gradually broken up into separate dwellings, and began to fall into decay. Fifteen years ago, Harunisa Mahmood Khanim Begum and Petra Beate Schildbach

joined forces with other mureeds and members of the family to try to reclaim and rehabilitate at least a portion of the house. On January 28th, a small company of family, friends and mureeds from overseas joined in prayers and ceremonies to bless and celebrate the first accomplishments in the project, the opening of an assembly hall

at ground level, and on the floor above, a library and the birth room itself.

Resplendent in fresh paint and polished marble, with a magnificent inlaid floor in the library and a glowing domed skylight in the birth room, the rooms communicate some of the atmosphere of beauty and optimism that must have prevailed in the days when the little grandson of Maula Bakhsh was born there. For

Report from India

by Nawab William Pasnak

Our reverence, our homage and our gratitude: Magda Alberts and Waldo van Essen, both of South Africa, performing an informal Universal Worship service in the assembly hall in Maula Bakhsh House.


those who were witness to the calamitous state of disrepair to which the rooms had fallen, with peeling plaster, collapsing stairs, and the dubious charm of a resident goat, the transformation is that much more striking.

For more information on Maula Bakhsh House and how to visit it, as well as details

about the annual music festival, readers are invited to contact Petra Beate Schildbach [email protected] and Harunisa Begum [email protected].

The architecture of the Dargah of Hazrat

Inayat Khan has won numerous compliments, forming a secluded oasis in the midst of the dust and disorder of the surrounding Basti. However, it is not easily accessible to anyone who has difficulty walking; the long stairs can be a

formidable challenge to someone with sore hips or knees. To someone confined to a wheelchair, the way is virtually closed.

The situation can be remedied by the installation of a vertical lift from the lower courtyard to the upper gallery (see photo). With a few other small modifications, the Dargah

would then be much more welcoming to the handicapped.

The cost of such a lift, though, is substantial, and the Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust, which cares for the Dargah, is unable to undertake the work without support from the community at large. Some donations have already been received, but more are needed before the work can begin.

To learn more about this project, or to make a contribution, readers are invited to contact the Deputy Administrator of the Trust at wepasnak@ ca.inter.net

A formidable challenge: the long stairs at the Dargah can be a real barrier. The proposed location of the vertical lift is marked against the white wall.


phot

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Women at the Hope Project selling crafts


From a Christian Service to a Universal Worship

by Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss

Introduction

In this paper I trace the evolution of my re-lationship to the formal Universal Worship

Service as I’ve experienced it. My initial reaction to it was as a Christian Service, which brought up all my resistances to Christianity in particu-lar, and religion in general.

My StoryGrowing up in Australia in the 1950s was

a challenging experience for me. Like many migrant children I was confronted with one culture at home and another in my local school and neighbourhood. At home, my parents created a very loving and colourful world that had a Jewish eastern European atmosphere. At school, I was confronted with an austere Anglo-Protestant Christian world, which was very different. Emotionally restrained, highly individualistic, rather anti-intellectual and parochial, the Australia of the 50s was not known for its high culture. By contrast, I grew up playing the violin and attending Cheder, a Jewish religious after-school class three times a week. I was encouraged to be successful academically, and was told stories of a different world where intellect and classical culture was praised, while sport had no place. Jewish thinkers like Freud and Einstein were held in high esteem, as were the biblical prophets like Moses and Abraham. The wisdom of King Solomon was regarded as rather more significant than the sporting prowess of the cricketer, Donald Bradman.

I studied biblical Hebrew and Jewish religious practices for my Bar Mitzvah in the local orthodox synagogue. The eastern suburbs of Sydney at

that time had the highest population of Jewish people in Australia, so being Jewish in this part of Sydney felt pretty normal. Only when I went to high school outside my neighbourhood, and then to university did I realise that the rest of Australia was a very different world.

At high school we had to say the Lord’s Prayer at every assembly, even if we were Jewish. We also had to sing the English National Anthem, God Save the Queen, and think of England as the mother country. Being of a Jewish eastern European background was something I learnt to hide; I had to pass for ‘white,’ Christian and Anglo, if I were to be accepted as Australian. Fortunately sun tans were fashionable in those days, so my dark complexion and olive skin was not a total disaster, although it did occasionally evoke a comment about being a dark swarthy type.

Once I had studied chemical engineering, I decided that religion was more trouble than it was worth and that it didn’t have much relevance to the modern world of science and technology that I was being educated for at university. So I didn’t have to deal with the whole issue of being Jewish in a Christian world. By gaining tertiary qualifications and shortening my first name to Ben, rather than the very Jewish Ben-Zion, I found I could be almost accepted as Australian, except that people could never spell my German surname.

When I later began my spiritual search, it was to yoga and zen Buddhism that I was drawn. These forms of meditative practices seemed to


�� Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

have great benefit to my body, mind and spirit, and they seemed culturally neutral in terms of religious forms, as there was no need to deal with the ‘G’ word. Their primary focus was experiential and their teachings were on peace and compassion. These values that they presented were positive for me, so it made sense to pursue them. This I did for a number of years.

But something was missing. In time, the lack of emotional engagement, the lack of intellectual discussion and the unfamiliar Asian cultural forms became limitations for me. So the Universe sent along the Dances of Universal Peace. I responded very strongly to the Middle Eastern music and dances as well as the Hebrew and Arabic languages. During my zen practices we read a poem called The Song of Zazen, by Hakuin Zenji, an 18th century zen Master. In this poem he says: “With mind that is no mind, singing and dancing are the voice of the law.” Miraculously the Universe led me to this voice of the law in the dances.

Universal WorshipGiven my background and my spiritual

journey, my first response to a formal Universal Worship was very mixed. I was interested in its universality, but found the service rather churchy, Christian and stilted. As a person from a Jewish background, I had some resistance to what I regarded as Christian rituals that had echoes of Anglican Christianity. The reason for this, I suspect, lies in the form and the language. The former relates to the sitting in rows, with the Cherags out the front, performing the rituals and prayers. I felt like a spectator rather than a participant.

The use of English as the medium for the prayers was also a challenge for me. Hebrew was the religious language of my childhood, while Sanskrit and Pali were predominantly the language of the yogic and Buddhist chanting that became part of my later spiritual questing. English for me was either a secular language or associated with the Anglican Christianity that

I felt was forced upon me growing up in a so-called secular Australia.

My reaction was partly due to my different cultural orientation, coming from a Romanian Jewish family, and partly due to a feeling of discomfort around Christian anti-Semitism. As an Evangelical Sister of Mary (a member of a German Lutheran order devoted to Jewish-Christian reconciliation started in 1947) once explained to me: the very term ‘New’ Testament implies a replacement theology. This places Judaism into a past scenario of the ‘Old’ Testament, which implies that the contract between the people of Israel and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—as stated in the Torah—has now been replaced by one between God and Yeshua (Jesus) as the ‘New’ Testament. Thus Jesus and Christianity supposedly supersede the teachings of the ancient Jewish prophets.

This explanation made me reflect on how I had once been told by a Catholic work colleague that the God of the ‘Old’ Testament was an angry, vengeful God, while the God of the ‘New’ Testament was a loving God. I tried to explain that in my understanding, there was only one God. I’m conscious of the enormous contribution in the field of art, music and culture that has been the blessing of two thousand years of Christianity and that informs Australian society. What I have difficulty with, is that I have to comply with the hidden Christian agenda of the so-called secular society I live in. For me, at first, the Universal Worship seemed to be an extension of that hidden agenda. Furthermore, the use of English further alienated me, because, as I mention above, for me English in the liturgy was associated with Christianity.

The PresentSince that first contact ten years ago, much

has changed. Firstly, through my practice of the Dances of Universal Peace and my Sufi practices, I’ve come to see my Jewish background very differently. Indeed, after years of being alienated


from Judaism as a formal practice, I have, over the last few years, become part of the Jewish Renewal Movement. Jewish Renewal involves meditation practices drawn from the Kabbalah, the Jewish mysticism, and includes music, chanting, movement, dancing and is made up of people who have explored a variety of other spiritual practices like Buddhism, Yoga, Sufism and Shamanism. It also takes a stand on social justice issues like feminism, ecology, peace, racism, homophobia and various forms of inequality.

Secondly, my Sufi and Dances practice have been instrumental in shifting my relationship to all the major world religions—especially Christianity. The ‘Aramaic Jesus’ work of Saadi has been a major contributor to this process, as I have come to understand and connect with the Middle Eastern origins of Christianity in Judaism and Sufism. According to Hazrat Inayat Khan: “The schools of the Sufis, whose origin is the ancient school of Egypt where Abraham was initiated, still exist and there are words you use, which have that power.” (The Mysticism of Sound and Music, Chapter II)

Thirdly, I’ve now experienced the Universal Worship in a number of forms, with a number of interpretations. Indeed, it was the experience of doing the Universal Worship interpreted in dance that inspired me to read The Unity of Religious Ideals, which led to my participation in Sufi practices as well as the Dances. That led to my taking on a dance mentor and to initiation into the Sufi Movement. Then I experienced the Universal Worship in other contexts, such as a funeral service. This year I experienced a very creative version as a Universal Peace celebration with Murshida Mariam Baker at a retreat, in a beautiful nature reserve, where we

could draw our text from the sacred manuscript of nature!

All these experiences have led to a deepening of my understanding of the Universal Worship and an appreciation of its importance at this time of growing global intolerance. It challenges the absurd idea of the need for a “Clash of Civilizations” (from the title of the book by the American, Samuel Huntington), that for me represents the antithesis of the Universal Worship. By contrast, the Universal Worship provides a model of harmony among civilizations and universal peace. With this developing understanding, which was further nurtured by my experience of Summer School in Holland last year, I have come to a place where I have a very different understanding and appreciation of the Universal Worship, as the following poem portrays.

The lighting of candlesThe chanting of prayersOne by one the texts are read—Words radiate light from All the world’s major religions.

People listen with their heartsAnd feel their connectiontoSacred Unity.

I remember all those Who have held aloft the light of truth,In the darkness of human ignorance.

I feel their blessing and am gratefulIn gratitude.

�� Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

There were once three brothers, sons of a great king, who were sent by their father

to search the world until they had found their heart’s content. “I have all that anyone could need right here,” said the king, “but until you have searched on your own account, you will not be satisfied. So, go, with my blessing, and do not return until you can say you have found what will make you happy.”

The three brothers were very different in their outlook. The oldest believed firmly in the future, and felt that a great destiny awaited him. The second was very interested in the past since all the present had come from there, while the youngest took no notice of the past or the future, but acted just as he felt like at the moment. Naturally, the two oldest brothers thought the youngest was a scatterbrain and would never amount to anything, but the youngest brother didn’t care what they thought.

Sent forth by their father, the three brothers travelled together until they found themselves passing through a vast, carefully tended park. At last, they came in sight of a great castle standing on a hill. The first brother said, “Surely my fate has led us to this fine castle. Let us go forward and inquire who lives here.” The second brother had kept a careful record of their journey, and knew that all they had done so far had led them

to that spot and to none other, and that they must therefore go forward. The youngest brother thought that the castle and the park around it looked very nice, and so he agreed.

Outside the gates of the castle, they met an old woman who told them it was the home of

a noble king who had a very beautiful daughter. “They say,” said the woman, “that whoever wins her for his bride will have his heart’s content.”

“There!” said the eldest brother. “Did I not tell you that my fate has brought us here? We shall go in and meet the lord and his daughter.” The second, considering carefully all that had happened so far that day, was not at all surprised that they now stood where they did, and supposed that soon they would stand somewhere

else—perhaps in the castle that lay before them. The youngest thought that he would like to meet the princess, and so he was quite willing to go and knock on the castle door.

The three brothers were made very welcome. The king gave them rooms that looked upon the wide gardens, where they were allowed to walk if they chose, and each day delicious meals were brought to them by the beautiful princess herself. At the sight of her, the brothers were each deeply struck. The eldest said, “It is destiny that has brought us together, and surely destiny

White Jasmine

by Nawab William Pasnak

Nawab William Pasnak

��Toward The one: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

will win this beautiful maiden for my hand and my heart’s content.” The second brother, considering carefully all the maidens he had met in his life, of whom he knew the exact number, found that none compared with this particular young maiden, and that he would therefore be happy if he could have her for his wife. The third brother only said that he liked her very much, and from the moment he first saw her could think of nothing but her beautiful face.

After some days, the king called the three brothers to him, and said, “I suppose that like all the other princes before you who have come to this castle, you wish to marry my daughter. Very well, I will set you the same test I set for them, although none has yet succeeded. You have seen the wide gardens that surround the castle. They extend for a day’s ride in every direction, and I myself have not seen all their beauties. Last night, my daughter went out alone into the garden, and has chosen a place that pleases her. Whoever is able to find her before the sun has set may have the privilege to ask for her hand. If she accepts, he will have her for his wife.”

The task seemed impossible. The gardens were vast, and thick with woods, walks, winding paths and secluded pools and grottos. How could anyone hope to find the princess in a single day? Nevertheless, the eldest brother said, “By nightfall, she shall certainly be mine. The fate that led me here shall bring me to her. We are destined to be united.” So saying, he strode boldly off into the garden, walking straight before him, looking neither left nor right—and where his destiny led him no one can say for certain, for he was never seen again.

The second brother, knowing that the past always leads nowhere else but to the present, thought carefully for a moment, and then said to himself, “Before the princess came to where she is now, she was somewhere else. As the past makes a trail to the present, so the princess must have made a trail to where she now sits waiting

for my arrival. I have only to follow that trail to find my heart’s content.” And with these words, he began to search carefully around the palace, looking for traces of the princess’s passage. It was not long before he found what he was looking for, and soon he was following a trail of bent grass blades, half-obscured foot-prints and other subtle clues. All day he followed the signs, until, near sunset, he came at last to a clearing in a wood, and there found—not the princess, but a troop of the king’s gardeners, taking their evening meal around a fire.

The youngest brother did not know what his destiny was, nor did he consider which way the princess might have gone. Led only by the tender feelings she had woken in his heart and his longing to see her again, he wandered into the garden, and before midday, he had found her, reading a book, hidden from view under a bower of fragrant white jasmine.

When the youngest brother appeared beneath the bower, the princess dropped her book and sprang to her feet, startled. After a long, searching look, she said, “Well! You have passed the test, young man. You have the right to ask my hand, but before I give my answer, I must know, how did you find me? Was it perhaps by accident? Or maybe some servant spied out my hiding place and told you?”

The young man shook his head. “Each day when you brought us food,” he said, “I saw that you had these flowers in your hair. After you left the room, their fragrance lingered, and I could not forget it. This morning, when I was walking in the garden and smelled their perfume, I came here remembering your beauty.”

The princess smiled. “You have passed a second test,” she advised the young man. “And therefore I will accept you. Let us go and tell my father to prepare the wedding feast.”

And so it was that not long after the youngest brother was able to return home, having successfully fulfilled his father’s commandment to find his heart’s content.


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2006–2007 Calendar of Some EventsApril 21-23, 2006: Dance Leader Training—nr. Silver City, NM, USA with Darvesha and Azima Lila Forest. “Embodied Spirituality” at Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center. Contact: [email protected], 505-534-0431, [email protected] 28-30, 2006: Annual Ruhaniat Jamiat Ahm Gathering, Madison, WI, USA The traditional gathering of the Sufi Ruhaniat International mureeds. We welcome and extend an invi-tation to our Friends, the mureeds of all the Inayati lineages and Dancers of Universal Peace. Contact: Rahmat Moore, 608-255-5626, E-mail: [email protected], or Dan Gallagher, 608-882-3732, [email protected] 7-12, 2006: Advanced Dance Leader Training—nr. Portland, OR, USA Spirit Ripening II: with Wali Ali Meyer, Leilah Be, Darvesha MacDonald and others. Contact: James Warner, 206-783-7929, [email protected] 11-14, 2006: Sufi Sesshin with Pir Shabda—Ithaca, NY, USA Contact: Khadija Radin, 607-272-0694, E-mail: [email protected] May 19-21, 2006: PreWorkshop near Hamburg, Lüneburger Heide, Germany with Shamsuddin. Contact: Purusha Falkenhagen, phone 0049 30 39 31 522, E-mail: [email protected] 19-21, 2006 In the Footsteps of the Teacher—North Central MA, USA A retreat with Murshid Wali Ali Meyer. Walks, dances, meditations, teachings in a rural setting. Contact: Abraham Sussman 617-491-8694, email:[email protected] or [email protected] 19-21, 2006: “Conference of the Birds”—nr. Silver City, NM, USA at Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center with Hayra Nur and LoraKim Joyner. Attar’s poem, plus birding in high migration season. Contact: Basira Nickle, registrar, 505-538-5034, [email protected] 22-28, 2006: 22nd Sufi Camp—Haus Schnede, Lüneburger Heide, Germany with Murshid Sauluddin. Contact: Martin Zahir Küchler, phone 0049 2763-6155, Martin.kuechler@t-onlineMay 26-29, 2006: Inland Northwest Sufi Family Camp—Lake Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA 13th annual camp in North Idaho, with an active Children’s program. Spiritual Director: Noor-un-Nisa Joan Smith. Contact: Karima Jan Weedman, 509-838-4295, [email protected] 26-31, 2006: Ozark Spring Sufi Camp—near Osage Beach, MO, USA “Jewel in the Lotus.” Camp director: Ali Kadr Sousley. Contact: Nur Rahman Locke, phone 816-630-4159, E-mail: [email protected]; website http://shiningheartcommunity.org/index.html.June 1-4, 2006: Italian Spring School (Scuola di Primavera) in Khankah Abadan Abad— Malvaglia, Malvaglia, Ticino, Switzerland Prayer, practice and deepening with Dahnya Bozzini, Ameen Carp and others. Principal language Italian. Contact: [email protected] 6-11, 2006: Living and Dancing in the Heart of the One—nr. Talinn, Estonia Dance, Walking Meditation and Spiritual Voice Retreat with Murshid Saadi Douglas-Klotz, Maris Warrior and Silje Devi Seppik. Contact: Silje Devi, [email protected] 8-11, 2006: Sufi Retreat with Pir Shabda Kahn—England Contact: Tansen O’Donohoe, phone 011 44 1258 818067, [email protected]


June 9-11, 2006: Australian Winter Retreat—Melbourne, Victoria “Singlemindedness.” Contact: Nuria Irene Pollock, [email protected] 12-18, 2006: 3rd Annual Russian Ruhaniat Sufi Camp—nr. St. Petersburg, Russia. Contact: Ilona, 011 7 921 927 7827; E-mail: [email protected] June 23-25, 2006: Ziraat Retreat at SSC—Silver City, NM, USA “Rediscovering our Earth: New Dimensions, New Perspectives” with Asha Lela, Darvesha MacDonald, Contact: Asha Lela, 360-468-2838, E-mail: [email protected] 24-July 1, 2006: Ruhaniat European Summer School—nr. Hamburg, Germany The teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Hazrat Murshid Samuel L. Lewis and Hazrat Murshid Moineddin Jablonski. Special guest teacher: Murshid Wali Ali Meyer, plus European Ruhaniat teachers. Contact: Wali van der Zwan, [email protected], Tel. 31 (0)30/225-0546. Ayat Sabine Brandt, 49-(0)30-47036783, [email protected] 21-27, 2006: DHO benefit for Lama Foundation—San Cristobal, NM, USA with Hakim Saul and senior Ruhaniat teachers in the DHO. Contact: Jennifer Avian, 650-464 0638, [email protected] 5-23, 2006: International Summer School, Murad Hassil—Katwijk, Holland “Integrity in Spirituality”–lectures, concentrations and practices in all five Activities, as well as days of retreat; with Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Karimbakhsh Witteveen, Nawab Pasnak, Aslan Sattler and others. Principal language English. Contact: [email protected] 11-15, 2006: 6th Annual Sufi Youth Retreat, No. California, USA Tuesday through Saturday Contact: Alia, 714-319-9004, E-mail: [email protected] 16-23, 2006: Mendocino Sufi Camp—No. California, USA Contact: Mary Kenney; E-mail: [email protected] 27-30, 2006: Eat, Dance & Pray Together: A Campout Retreat—North Central MA, USA. Camp Directors: Halima & Abraham Sussman. Contact: Abraham Sussman, 617-491-8694 email:[email protected] 3-6, 2006: NC Beach Camp, a residential workshop—Salterpath, NC, USA with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz. Contact: Farrunnissa, 919-361-2383, [email protected] 13-20, 2006: Northwest Sufi Camp—nr. Malolla, OR, USA “Calling in the Bees.” Spiritual director: Nurjamila Elliott. Contact: Jala Hayat: 707-825-9121, [email protected] 13-20, 2006: Workshop for Dance Mentors and Supervisors—San Cristobal, NM, USA at Lama Foundation with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz and Tasnim Hermila Fernandez. Contact: Farrunnissa, 919-361-2383, [email protected] 20-26, 2006: South America Retreat/Escuela Pan-Latina—Bogotá, Colombia with Nawab Pasnak and others. An international collaboration, in Spanish. Children’s camp. Contact: [email protected] 25-29, 2006: The Vast Silence— North Central MA, USA A Retreat with Asha Greer, Halima & Abraham Sussman. Silence by day. Zikr at night. Residential. Contact: Abraham Sussman, 617-491-8694, email:[email protected] 28-October 1, 2006: Retiro—Ciudad de Leon, Mexico Retreat with Nawab Pasnak. Contact: [email protected]


2007January 16-22, 2007: Australian Summer School—nr. Sydney, Australia with Nawab Pasnak, Nuria Pollock and others. Contact: [email protected] 27-28, 2007: Sangeet Ratna Maulabakhsh & Hazrat Inayat Khan Music Festival— Baroda, India Organized in conjunction with the Gayanshala, now called the Faculty of Performing Arts, MSU. Contact: [email protected] 3-7, 2007: Visalat Celebration—New Delhi, India Music festival, traditional prayers, retreat and celebrations marking the passing of Hazrat Inayat Khan at his Dargah in India. Celebrations this year organized by the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Contact: [email protected] 24-27, 2007: The Mysticism of Sound Conference 2007—Vancouver, Canada Exploring the Teachings and Practices of Hazrat Inayat Khan Through Music and Sound. Practices, lectures and live music, including some works of Hidayat Inayat-Khan. Contact: [email protected]

November 20-27, 2006: Dargah Retreat—New Delhi, India A guided retreat on a theme to be announced with Nawab Pasnak at the Dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Contact: [email protected]


Some of our Contributors

Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan was born into a highly musical family in Baroda, India in 1��2. After meeting his Murshid and entering the Sufi path, he travelled to the west in 1�10, and began to spread the Sufi message in America and in Europe. In 1�2� he returned to India, leaving his wife and four children in France, and after a short illness, passed away in Delhi in 1�27.

Hidayat Inayat-Khan is the younger son of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the founder of the International Sufi Movement. A musician and composer of a number of symphonies and shorter works that blend eastern and western musical traditions, Hidayat Inayat-Khan is also the Representative General of the International Sufi Movement and the Pir-o-Murshid of its Inner School.

Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti) was the first American-born Sufi master. The first spiritual teacher to touch his heart was Hazrat Inayat Khan who brought the Sufi Message to the West in 1�10. Murshid SAM worked tirelessly to unite East and West through mysticism and the arts. Murshid Samuel Lewis founded the Sufi Ruhaniat International shortly before his death.

Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz (Saadi Shakur Chishti) is a disciple of Hazrat Pir Moineddin Jablonski. He directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning in Edinburgh, Scotland and is the co-chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion. He is the author of Prayers of the Cosmos, Desert Wisdom, The Hidden Gospel, The Genesis Meditations and the Sufi Book of Life. For more information on his work, see www.abwoon.com.

Tamam Kahn has been on the path of Sufism since 1�75 and is married to Pir Shabda Kahn, head of the Sufi Ruhaniat International. She leads Sufi meditation retreats and is a poet. She has been working on a manuscript about the Mothers of Islam, Wives and Daughters of Prophet Muhammad, inspired by Moroccan Qadiri Sufi Women.

Wali Ali Meyer was born in Starkville, Mississippi in 1�42. He was a disciple and housemate of Murshid Samuel Lewis in San Francisco from 1�� to 1�71, and was initiated as a Sufi teacher by him. He founded Khankah SAM, edited many of Murshid Sam’s manuscripts, and has travelled extensively lecturing on Sufism and transmitting the Walks and Dances of Universal Peace. He is presently the head of the esoteric school of the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

Nawab William Pasnak is the Assistant Executive Supervisor of the International Sufi Movement, the Council Secretary of the Federation of the Sufi Message, and Deputy Administrator of the Dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan. He presently lives in Canada.

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Sufi Teachings

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