Sufi Ruhaniat International Winter 2008/2009 Vol XXVI Practice

Transcription

1 heart beat Sufi Ruhaniat International Winter 2008/2009 Vol XXVI Practice

2 Sufi Ruhaniat International 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. We aspire to support the awakening of hearts and the relieving of suffering, helping human beings unfold their soul s purpose and live harmoniously. The Sufi Ruhaniat International was founded by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis shortly before he died in We are in the stream of the ages-old wisdom lineage of Sufism brought to the West in 1910 by Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, , under the title The Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty, and his disciple Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti). This work was continued by Hazrat Pir Moineddin Jablonski, the spiritual successor of Murshid Samuel Lewis, who guided the Ruhaniat from 1971 until his death in It continues today under the guidance of Pir Shabda Kahn, the successor of Pir Moineddin. The Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan states: 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 accord with this invocation, we affirm our desire for unity of heart with all spiritual seekers on all paths toward God. Celebrating diversity within unity, we affirm our unique heritage and universal spiritual transmission through the life and work of Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti. This connects us principally to the Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan, but also many other Illuminated Souls, known and unknown to the world. This transmission includes blessing streams from Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti s many teachers, only some of whom are named here: Swami Papa Ramdas, Mother Krishnabai, Nyogen Senzaki, Sokei-an Sasaki, Sufi Barkat Ali, and Mata-ji Ruth St. Denis. The Ruhaniat family is composed of sincere mureeds (formally initiated students) who tread the path of initiation and discipleship, seeking the truth of the inner life through personal practice and direct experience just as the disciples of Christ, Buddha, the Divine Mother, Mohammed, and other illuminated souls, known and unknown, have done through the ages. Because Sufism is based on experiences and not on premises, we affirm the preciousness of an initiatic relationship of spiritual transmission between initiator and mureed. It is a fundamental principle of the Sufi Ruhaniat International that each mureed have an initiator to serve as friend, guide and reality check. This primary initiatic relationship provides a living matrix within which student as well as teacher may develop in character and spiritual experience. Further activities of the Ruhaniat include an Esoteric Studies program, the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace, the Dervish Healing Order, the Service of Universal Peace and ministerial training, Spiritual Psychology and Soulwork, Ziraat, and many other inspired teachings of the leaders and lineage holders of the Ruhaniat. Many contemporary tools are available to help us in our personal and spiritual growth. At the same time, we represent a tradition that has its roots in prehistory. The sacred practices and teachings that have arisen from diverse climes and cultures have been carefully cultivated and prepared for us to be planted in the soil of today s heart. We aspire to serve humanity in experiencing love, harmony, and beauty, by embodying the unity of religious ideals, and by working for the awakening of humankind to the divine light and power that is the essence of every human being. From Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan Objects of the movement: 1. To establish a human unity with no consideration of caste, creed, race, nation, or religion. Differences produce inharmony and cause all miseries in the world. 2. To spread the wisdom of Sufis which has been until now a hidden treasure, it being the property of humankind which does not belong to a certain race or religion. 3. To attain that perfection where mysticism remains no more a mystery, which relieves the disbeliever from ignorance and the believer from falling victim to hypocrisy. From Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti (Murshid Samuel L. Lewis) Our work is to spread the knowledge and love and light of God. By stressing the positive, the affirmative, the true, we help ourselves and all humanity. From Hazrat Pir Moineddin Jablonski Aspirations for those on the path: Deepen your compassion. Love the wounded places in you that need healing. Open yourself to the grace of illumination. Give freely of your joy. Share your neighbor s burden. Through all these avenues, discover your Soul. May all beings be well! May all beings be happy! Peace, Peace, Peace. 2 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

3 Contents Letter from our Pir...4 Quotes from the Gathekas on Practice by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan...5 Practice by Murshid Khabir Kitz...8 The Elements With a poem by Jemila Spain...10 Making Friends with a Sitting Practice by Bodhi Be Ruhaniat Jamiat Ahm Invitation...14 The Value of Practices by Aatoon Nina Massey...15 Who Practices? by Munir Reynolds...17 Dying as Spiritual Practice by Noor-un-Nisa Walsh...21 If on Earth there be a Paradise of Bliss, This is It! by Quan Yin Lynne Williams...24 The Practice and Culture of Friendship by Rabia Cronin...32 Sufi Ruhaniat International Board of Trustees Emergency Meeting...34 Update Your Albertson s Card to Continue Donating!...36 Theme for Summer 2009 Issue...36 Available Ruhaniat Publications...37 OFFER: Make a Donation, Support the Ruhaniat, Receive an Original Painting of HIK...38 A Calendar of Some Events Cover: drawing by Murshid Khabir Don Kitz visit to see more of his art and Internet Addresses Sufi Ruhaniat International website Webmaster: Muiz Brinkerhoff muiz@sonic.net Sufi Ruhaniat International secretary: Amrita Skye Blaine Ruhaniat@mail.com Dances of Universal Peace website Dervish Healing Order Website International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace INoffice@dancesofuniversalpeace.org Living Stream Preservation Project: Boudewijn Boom Ruhaniat@mail.com Ruhaniat Publication orders: SufiRuhaniat@gmail.com Service of Universal Peace sup@zianet.com Spiritual Psychology info@sufisoulwork.org Ziraat: Vakil Forest Shomer ziraat@olympus.net, OurSohbet listserve subscriptions (Ruhaniat & DHO members) please Malik Roggendorf MLKRoggen@aol.com About this publication HeartBeat is now distributed as a PDF file only. There is no print version. Bismillah, er-rahman er-rahim We begin in the name of Allah, Who is Mercy and Compassion Published twice a year, we present diverse views from our community and include inspiring thoughts from our heritage. The strength of the newsletter depends on contributions from the community. Please make submissions for articles in electronic form (preferably via ), and contact us for best method of submitting ads and graphics. Copyright by individual contributors, all rights reserved. Editor: Amrita Skye Blaine PO Box 51118, Eugene, OR ruhaniat@mail.com Editorial Assistance: Boudewijn Boom 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. Sufi Ruhaniat International 3

4 Letter from our Pir Dec 18, 2008 My dear Family, Greetings of the Heart! Many of you have heard the news of the collapse of Bernard L. Madoff investment firm having lost $50 billion of investors money. I am very sad to tell you that as a result of this colossal fraud, almost all of the Ruhaniat s endowment/savings are also lost. We realize that choices we made as a Board, which we thought were beneficial, led to this moment, and deeply regret the consequences. We had an emergency Board of Trustees meeting yesterday morning and froze all spending except the bare minimum, support for those most central to our activities. Our hearts reach out in sympathy for the many individuals in our extended families who lost all or large parts of their life savings. Tamam and I fall into this category. Further our deep feelings of support and prayer go to our family in the Oneness Project and in the Sufi Order. My experience informs me that this Path is forever. Winter follows fall, followed by spring and summer. That as a community we can draw together, support each other and continue to nurture and practice this precious lineage. Naturally, like after any catastrophe, we need to meet what is arising with as much equanimity and compassion as we can muster and begin to pick up the pieces and rebuild. On a practical level, we need your financial support now more than ever. Even at the barest of budgets, without your support it will be difficult to proceed as an organization. I am asking every one of you who is capable of doing so, to practice as much generosity as possible at this time. If every mureed could donate at least $100 (or more) it will give us some ground to stand on as we meet this crisis. Yes, no matter what, we will continue our work with the Message. With all my love, To donate you can use credit card, PayPal, or check. Contact Boudewijn (formerly Attar) at Boudewijn@comcast.net or send checks to: SRI PO Box Eugene OR HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

5 Quotes from the Gathekas on Practice by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan The practices of Sufism first develop the heart qualities which are often overlooked by other mystics. It is the purification of the heart which makes it fitted for the illumination from the soul. The Prophet Mohammed prophesied, There will be seventy-two diverse In the East the Murshid gives the lesson and the pupil practices it for a month or a year. We cannot have a different practice every week. My grandfather practiced one meditation forty years: then a miracle happened to him. We must not be ambitious for other exercises before having had Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan classes of people among those who will walk in my light, but among them there will be only one kind who will surely find their way aright. This is applied to the Sufis because it is they who read the Koran from every experience in life, and see and recognize Mohammed s face in each atom of the manifestation. Gatheka 2 a result from the first one. And we must promise not to reveal these practices. Gatheka 13 When the lips are closed, then the heart begins to speak; when the heart is silent, then the soul blazes up, raising its flame, which illuminates the whole life. This idea shows the mystic the great importance of silence, which is gained by repose.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 5

6 It is so little known what repose means, because every person who experiences repose feels that they need it after being tired. Other than this, one never sees the necessity of repose. Repose has many aspects. There is repose when a person retires from the action of everyday life and finds oneself alone in one s room. The person breathes a breath of thankfulness, after all the interesting or uninteresting experiences, I am just now alone by myself. It is not an ordinary feeling; there is a far deeper feeling behind it. The meaning is in the certainty that there is nothing to attract one s mind and nothing which demands one s action. At that moment one s soul has a glimpse of relief, the pleasure of which is inexpressible. But the intoxication of life from which everyone suffers is such that one cannot very well appreciate that moment of relief, because every person expects it in the time of retirement from the actions of daily life, rich or poor, tired or not. Does this not teach us that there is a great mystery in repose, a mystery of which a person is very often ignorant? Besides this, we always find a thoughtful person reposeful by nature, and a reposeful one thoughtful by nature. It is repose which makes one more thoughtful, and it is continual action which takes away thoughtfulness even from a sensible person. People working in the telephone, telegraph, or post office, upon whose mind there is a continual demand, in time develop impertinence, insolence, and lack of patience. They do not become less sensible; lack of repose, which weakens their sense of control, makes them give in to such things. Thus, repose is not only necessary for a person who walks the spiritual path, but for every soul living on earth, whatever one s grade of evolution and one s standard in life. This is the one thing which must be developed in human nature, not only in grown-up people, but also taught from childhood. Education nowadays thinks so much about the different intellectual things the child will want in life and so little about the repose which is the greatest necessity for the child. Sometimes cats and dogs prove more intuitive than humankind. Are animals capable of more things than people? No, people are more capable. But people do not give themselves time to become more intuitive; they do not give themselves enough time to repose. It often amused me to see that in New York, where one easily becomes exhausted by the noises of trains, streetcars, elevators, and factories, when a person has a little time to sit in the train or subway, he or she looks at the newspapers; all that action is not enough. If not in the body, then there must be action in the brain. What is it? It is nervousness, a common disease which has almost become normal health. If everyone suffers from the same disease then this disease may be called normal. What is called self-control and self-discipline only comes from the practice of repose, which is helpful not only in the spiritual path, but also in one s practical life, in being helpful and considerate. The mystics, therefore, take this method of repose and try to prepare themselves to tread the spiritual path. The spiritual path is not an outward path; it is an inward path one has to tread. Therefore, the laws and journey through the spiritual path are quite contrary to the laws and journey through the outer path. To explain plain words what the spiritual path is I should say, It begins by living in communication with oneself. It is in the innermost self of one which is found the life of God. This does not mean that the voice of the inner self does not come to everyone. It always comes, but every person does not hear it. Therefore, to begin one s effort in this path, the Sufi begins to communicate with and to address oneself within. When once one has addressed the soul, then from the soul comes a kind of reproduction, the way the singer could hear his or her song on a disc produced from his or her voice. Having taken a first step in the direction within, one listens to what this process reproduces: the wakening of an echo in one s being, either peace 6 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

7 or happiness, light or form, or whatever one has wished to produce. It is produced as soon as one has begun to communicate with oneself. Now you can compare the person who says, I cannot help being active, being sad, or being worried, as it is the condition of my mind and soul, with the worker who communes with him or herself. The Sufis have taught this for thousands of years. The path of the Sufi is not to commune with fairies and God, but to commune with one s deepest, innermost self, as if one blew one s inner spark to a divine fire. Sufis do not stop there, they go still further. They remain a state of repose, brought about by a certain way of sitting and breathing and by a certain attitude of mind. Then one begins to become conscious of some part of one s being which is not the physical body but which is above it. The more one becomes conscious of this, the more one begins to realize the truth, which is a sure truth, of the life hereafter. Then there is no longer imagination nor belief, but actual realization of that experience which is independent of physical life. In this state, one is capable of experiencing the phenomena of life. The Sufi therefore does not dabble with different wonder-workings and phenomena. Once the Sufi realizes the life beyond the physical, then the whole of life is a phenomenon. Every moment and every experience brings to the Sufis a realization of that life which they have found in their meditations. Gatheka 18 Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan Sufi Ruhaniat International 7

8 Practice by Murshid Khabir Kitz Doing a practice daily is a challenge for some. I find it is best to do my prayers and meditation in the morning at the same place in my home. If traveling I still will take the time to sit in silence There are many different spiritual practices that I do, some for a moment and others I do on a daily basis for years. One practice I have been doing since the early 1970s is the wazifa, Estafer Allah. Murshid Khabir Kitz and do my practices. A rhythm is very important and over time you will find that you can start each day clear, calm and not burdened by the problems of the past nor concerned for the future. Al-Ghazzali says, Let your heart be in such a state that the existence or nonexistence of anything is the same. Then sit alone in a quiet place, free of any preoccupation, even the reciting of the Koran or thinking about its meaning. Let nothing besides God enter you. Once you are seated in this manner, say Allah, Allah, keeping your thought on these words. It has several English translations such as taking refuge in Allah s Unity, God is forgiveness or as I like to say, Let me get out of the way, only Allah. Another practice, Sifat-I Allah (Qualities of Allah), combines feeling, movement, and recitations of sacred phrases or wazifas. This may be done while walking; feel the manifestation of each quality in your being. The phrases are recited in Arabic but it is important to know the English meaning of each name. I like to do this while hiking in the forest in the Ozarks where I live. Walking with wazifas such as ya Wahabbo or ya Hayyo ya Qayyoom, and if climbing a hill, ya Hayy ya 8 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

9 Hakk, will give you energy and make the hike a delight to the soul with each breath and step of the journey. For many years I have used what I refer as the Lost Zikr. It is a practice to retrieve lost items such as car keys, papers or even tools. To do the practice you should clear your breath and as a silent Fikr, concentrate on La ilaha with each inhalation and El il Allah with each exhalation. Do this five times for a minor problem and eleven times for a serious one. You should, in a short time, have insight and be led to the lost item. Murshid Sam gives us a longer version in the book In The Garden. In 1992, while teaching art in a college, I was fortunate to receive a grant to study in Japan for three weeks. My last weekend in a town called Hanamaki, I was given training by a Zen priest in Soto sitting. It has become part of my practice to sit with open eyes looking outward and slightly downward and focused on a clear area of a wall or floor. Breathing, listening, and watching thoughts. Thoughts of the past or future distract, only present thoughts are the ones to concentrate. Being in the present moment is all. This happened to be the same Soto Zen that Murshid Sam studied. Darood is a practice used by many Sufis in various forms which consists of holding a sacred phrase, like the Invocation given to us by Hazrat Inayat Khan; in the mind in such a manner that the breath becomes rhythmic, and through this rhythm one can find the way to success. Darood is the bridge that connects hours of devotion and meditation; it is the cord that holds the heart and mind to heaven; it is the fulfillment of prayer when it is impossible or inexpedient to pray; it holds the soul to God and keeps God in the memory. It brings one to self-realization and so fulfills the purpose of your life. The Sufi invocation given to the world by Hazrat Inayat Khan is a very powerful practice when done with full concentration on each word. If one is leading a group activity such as dance or a class, it works best if you center your breath and also listen to the breath of the group and you will know the right time to begin. At times I might mention to the group to include yourself as one of the illuminated souls. Even though you might not feel you are a being of light, you really are. Inayat Khan mentioned that in India musicians used to say prayers to bless their instruments before a concert. As a painter I do the Invocation or Fatiha in my studio, blessing my brushes, paint, and canvas before starting a creative day. Practices can be good habits and can change your life in a way where you can live and have your being in God. May you enjoy and be blessed by your practice. Love and light, Khabir» Sufi Ruhaniat International 9

10 The Elements Within by Jemila Spain Jemila Spain I am. I am the nurturing soil, enveloping the root-lace of tender flowers, and I am the frozen mountain, weathered with time, who mourns alone. I am the rich mud the child plays in, joy-filled, and I am the moss-draped boulder, unshakable I am. I am the coolness that pours from the cracked open sky drenching the parched, dessicated fields, and I am the steaming water that steeps the monk s bitter tea when he rises with the pale dawn. I am the crushing salt surf, concealing limitless depth, unfathomable darkness, and 10 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

11 I am the little lakes bright rubber boots are splashed in. I am. I am the fragile flame that warms the refugee s weary body, and I am the rampant wild fire, the consumer, leaving a blackened trail in its wake. I am the blistering orb that soaks life-giving heat into a blue-green marble, and I am the spark that lights the praying candles. I am. I am the fluttering breeze that kisses the girl s freckled cheek, toying with her hair, and I am the churning hurricane wind that tears and ravages senselessly. I am the gust that carries the proud eagle, reveling in his freedom, and I am the lungful snatched by the drowning man. All this I am, so do not underestimate the power I hold, the power of my rooted winds and searing tides. Do not underestimate me, for all this I am. Sufi Ruhaniat International 11

12 Making Friends with a Sitting Practice by Bodhi Be Quieting down, relaxing the body and the mind, coming into stillness, stepping into awareness and spaciousness, we start to loosen our clinging and identification with our thoughts, our self-judgments and criticisms, our grip on our self image. We make contact with the greater I AM, the HU, that which permeates inner and outer space, that which unites us all in ONE. Meditation is now utilized in clinical settings, both psychological and medical, mainly as a tool Now what is the difference between contemplation, concentration, and meditation? My understanding and experience tell me this: Contemplation is the practice of turning the mind towards a particular area of consideration, a time to ask for wisdom and inspiration and guidance to speak forth, a time of reflection. Bodhi Be for de-stressing and relaxation, important steps in healing. Meditation, for the mystic, someone learning to live in the world, but not of it, is the practice of dropping in, stepping into, opening to, that which is called Pure Awareness, Holy Presence, the Awakened State, God, Infinite Radiant IS, and many other names, referring to that which was never born and never dies, that which we truly are. In making contact with this presence we break free from our habitual identification with our separate self, our body and our thoughts. La illa ha, the nothingness, which IS, El Allah Hu, all that is, is ONENESS. Concentration is the practice of turning the mind to one-pointedness, building the muscle that keeps bringing the mind back to the object of concentration, be it the breath, a mantra, a wazifa, a word or phrase, a visualization or a sound. The mind may wander into thoughts of past, of future, of how am I doing? We do not struggle and battle the mind. We do not judge ourselves. We simply stop the thoughts and return to the concentration practice. Whether we catch ourselves after the first thought or the 100 th thought, we simply return to the practice. Like a wild elephant we have by the tail, we continue to sit the elephant back on the meditation cushion, training and building a new set of muscles to help us break free of identifying with each thought as who we are. We stop judging 12 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

13 ourselves for thinking those thoughts. How we judge and criticize ourselves for having thoughts we deem to be not spiritual or not fitting our image of who we think we are! A Zen saying goes: Why are we so unhappy and miserable? Because ninety-nine percent of our thoughts are about ourselves and there isn t one. However, in concentration practice there is still someone who is doing something. This idea of you doing concentration. This is a stepping stone to the release of doing and the release of you and the falling into a state of union where there is no you and no doing. We may sense radiant light, feelings of well-being, but these are just contents within the vast spaciousness. Letting go into this spaciousness is the state of meditation. Now, the foundation of a good sitting practice is learning to sit still. I started with an alarm clock set for one minute. I found that sitting on my knees with a bench worked best, though I feel any position that helps you have a straight and upright back will do. I like to take a moment to thank my body for all the ways it has helped and supported me in my life. I am asking for its cooperation, not fighting with it to sit still. When I could sit still for one minute, I added minutes slowly, until I could sit still for one hour. The body is trainable and wants to cooperate. I m not fanatical about it; if something hurts or is uncomfortable, I make minor adjustments. We are teaching our bodies to love being still. When we can still the body we can move on to stilling the mind. As with the body, so too with the mind, we thank it for all the amazing thoughts and inspirations it has brought us, the incredible part it has played in our lives, even helping us choose to practice. We ask for our mind s cooperation in this practice, not struggling and fighting with our mind. It is said the mind makes a great slave, but a terrible master. So we give it something to focus on, a concentration practice. I find the breath to be the most accessible and easiest object for concentration. It is with us wherever we go, and having awareness of the breath leads to deeper, more relaxed breathing, and a softer belly, which have direct effects on our emotions, our thoughts, our sensitivity and our reactivity. Breathing in I say inside, breathing in, I am aware of breathing in. Breathing out I say, breathing out, I am aware of breathing out. That is one example of a concentration practice using the breath and a phrase. Again setting the clock for five minutes, we free ourselves from thinking about how long will this last, and is it almost over? and other similar thoughts. We simply give ourselves to this next five minutes. We may start having thoughts most of us do we simply catch ourselves, stop the thoughts and return to the practice. It is that simple as we begin to build the muscles that stop our thinking and more importantly, our identification with those thoughts. As we start to make friends with the sitting practice and a concentration practice we have attunement with, we may make a commitment to sit at a regular time and place every day. I find this rhythm helps reinforce and strengthen the practice. Having a special place where one sits helps to deepen the practice. The place itself starts to build energy. Of course having a quiet place to sit supports us to not be distracted in our efforts. As we grow into the practice it becomes more effortless to practice in the hustle and bustle of life. In this way, we start to balance our doing which involves self and contents, with our being and identifying with the spaciousness behind the contents. We become that spaciousness. Our inner life then informs and supports our outer life. We are souls that have bodies, not the other way around. We are Hu-man/woman Beings, not Human Doings. Out beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. I ll meet you there. Rumi Bodhi Be is a Sheikh and Cherag in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. He is a Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Native American, Buddhist, All of the Above and Below. Sufi Ruhaniat International 13

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15 The Value of Practices by Aatoon Nina Massey Some say that we are only given the trials in life that we are prepared to handle, to be able to learn and grow from them. I am in the midst of such a test right now. My life has changed in the past year in very dramatic ways. my teacher is something I treasure with all my heart. I think of him and my heart is filled with love, a love that has no expectations, except that I can feel free to love him. Each practice he gives me is a jewel to be performed and treasured each Aatoon Massey My father has not had good health for quite a while. His heart has been suffering with blockages that have come from his lifestyle. He has had to have a pacemaker put in to regulate the beating of his heart. Last spring he had a bad heart attack. He is on Medicare and is unwilling to sell his home to pay for his care. Therefore, I had to leave my teaching job in Juneau, Alaska, to come to Ohio to be with him for a month during the school year. I had to check on him every couple hours to make sure he was breathing and that his heart was still beating, as well as help him by preparing his oxygen, his meds and his meals. And so, I made the life changing decision to retire from my job, leave Alaska, and move to Ohio to be near my father, and care for him as he needs help. My practices and my connection to the Ruhaniat have been my saving grace. My connection to day. With every prayer and wazifa uttered, I feel my connection with my teacher, his teacher, and all those who came before, as well as all others who utter these heartfelt words. These practices bring me back to a place of love and gratitude, away from the fear and frustration in which one can dwell in life s difficult situations. It has been said that life is just a series of moments, one after another, finally culminating in the moment of death. Each moment we make a choice to turn to someone, something and give it our focus and attention. Every second of remembering allows a greater connection to life. Each morning and evening we can tune into our hearts and find our connection to the Divine. Each week we can turn to our Sangha and find our connection to humanity in a sacred circle.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 15

16 When new people come to our Gatha class, I try to encourage them to begin with just a few moments each morning, trying to connect to that deep still inner pool of love and silence, with whatever practice works for them. Then when they are looking back at their lives during one of those intense moments of crisis and change, they have a collection of many moments of practice, which have led to an ability to instantly go into their own inner connection with the Divine. Each morning after cleansing and dressing, I sit down to find that place inside where my heart and soul connect. After the Invocation, I do the elemental breaths to clear away any dross. Then I do a light practice, with elements of practices from teachers who have led light practices at retreats and camps. Using my beads to count 101 repetitions, I invoke the light and love of the Divine with Ya Noor, and place it in front of me, behind me, to the right and left of me, above me and below me, and pouring out from my heart, so that it can continuously pour out throughout the day to all I encounter. I then place it around the dwelling I am in, to leave the light of God intentionally placed for others to dwell in. I also put this light around my father each day. He has made a miraculous recovery. In Gatha class, we have a regular routine, which allow those who come, to know what to expect and to find a certain comfort and security, and a deepening into the practices. Beginning with the Invocation and the prayers, we follow with the Elemental breaths. Over the last fifteen years at many retreats and camps, these breaths have been presented in many different forms with different focuses. Of course, the root, the manner of the in breath and the out breath, is always the same. By presenting the breaths with different attunements, and then staying with them long enough for people to learn the benefit of that particular manner, it is as though a menu of different flavors is presented to allow each participant to find the practice, which helps them more clearly feel their own keynote. Retirement and returning to the place where I spent my childhood and youth, have led to many moments of reflection. I have thought deeply about how I spent the moments of my life. With great gratitude, I recall all the blessings of the many beings, who have helped me along my spiritual path. It has not always been easy, but the final result is a deep peace and happiness in the face of the normal difficulties of life. 16 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

17 Who Practices? Simple Presence in Sufi Practice by Munir Reynolds Munir Reynolds It is according to the extent of our consciousness of prayer that our prayer reaches God. Bowl of Saki for November 25 The average man dependent upon mind even though he be a devotee cannot pierce the mind-mesh. As soon as one views life from the aspect of the relative non-reality of personality, all life and love enter the prayer. Then prayer becomes Ishk and mounts to the throne of God. Murshid Samuel Lewis In Mansur Johnson s memoir Murshid, Murshid Samuel Lewis reminds his students to practice non-dual thinking. Murshid Sam always seems to be speaking to the place in his disciples that is already awake, correcting them when they are thinking or acting from an idea about who they are rather than from their essential nature. Do we bring this teaching into our Sufi practice? In this article, I would like to ask, Who do we believe ourselves to be when we sit down to do practice? Many of us likely begin practice taking for granted who we are. Who we think we are is usually not part of the equation of practice. So, it seems important to explore this question, because the answer we assume could make the difference between a self-improvement program, rather than communion with the Infinite, the Eternal, and the Silent. Let s begin by exploring the name we call ourselves. The bestowal of a Sufi name in bayat is intended to mark a break with the past. Our birth name, as beautiful and strong as it may be, may» Sufi Ruhaniat International 17

18 be associated with all our efforts to be seen, to be successful in the eyes of others, to distinguish ourselves as special or different. It may carry all the travails of the family of origin, our efforts to achieve success in education or vocation. The birth name is almost inextricably linked with the person part of ourselves, which has beliefs and concepts about the world and what it is. The person part, our somebody, is usually the default self, the separate one that we have taken for granted actually exists and acts in the world. But our Sufi name points to something much more ineffable and mysterious our Presence in Unity. This mysterious ground of Being and consciousness contains the person part of us, and much, much more. We may overlook the spaciousness and subtle capacities contained in consciousness as resource for transformation on the spiritual path simply because we take it for granted. The Sufi name points to that emanation of the One that can never be fully known because its origin lies in the depths of reality where it merges with the numinous powers of the Universe. So through this metaphor of names we might begin to understand a central problem. I d like to suggest that when we sit to practice we re sitting as the simple presence that our Sufi name points to. Here we ve left behind all history, all associations, all conditioning that may be associated with the birth name. We re here as Presence, the unique Presence bestowed simply by virtue of being a sentient being of the Universe. Now, don t get me wrong. I m not trying to create a duality here. We each have to make choices every day and act in the world. There is no avoiding the fact that there is someone or something who acts and chooses. But releasing the cover over the soul that keeps that mysterious chooser from seeing and choosing clearly is surely the point of practice, of learning to live a life from Soul rather from our dreaming minds. So what if I just assume that I m suffering from a state of mistaken identity? As long as I believe myself to be this somebody, I am operating within a very limited paradigm indeed. Nothing much new can happen within that paradigm, because it s a world of my own making and I cling to it, even if it s miserable, because it s familiar and I am of course loath to change even the misery I ve created. If my guide gives me a wazifa, and I take it up believing myself to be this somebody, repeating and repeating, hoping that something will change, is there really any hope of change? There might be change by Grace, or by great suffering. But here s the essential point: Whatever we think ourselves to be, we are not. But, who we believe ourselves to be when we sit to do a practice has everything to do with what might or might not happen as a result. If our goal is Self-Realization, this is a central fact that cannot be overlooked. All the spiritual teachings say that our essence as Soul or Authentic Self is always already free. That essence is the gold buried in the potter s field. Our somebody may want to believe this and attain to it, and may even have an intellectual grasp of it, but still be locked down, saying, Why do practice at all, if I m already free? Cynicism, dullness, and mediocrity cling like bugs on our inner windshield found in the denseness of the nafs. This and the mistake of missing the inherent transformational power in Wholeness may cause me to fall away from regular practice or from the Sufi path altogether. But, as Murshid Wali Ali Meyer has said, We have to lie down in front of the door we want to walk through. That s why we would do well to begin every practice session with opening a way to true surrender and devotion. Putting one s forehead on the floor, saying a prayer, asking forgiveness, etc. all can begin to open an inner space in which something else might happen. We begin to cultivate inner spaciousness wherein our larger Being in Wholeness can begin to emerge or show itself. A breath or wazifa practice can begin to move the process into a more etheric realm. Moving to a practice As Sirr where thought and activity has passed away and there is only 18 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

19 the atmosphere left brings more spaciousness still. The thrust of a practice session thus can carry us from a dense condition to a more and more etheric or free condition. The thrust of the life lived on the Sufi path can likewise lead from denseness and confusion to freedom and light. Avoiding the dualism of a somebody in Sufi practice boils down to a single step that is often overlooked: including the thinker and the somebody in what is happening. (I say step hesitatingly, for this assumes there s someone who performs this step. At this point there is simply more and more sensitivity and spaciousness being allowed.) As I move through my practices, I include the somebody who is saying the wazifa or the prayer, or the breath practice. That somebody may be interrupting with thought, with a problem, with wanting something. He or she may be trying to avoid what is arising if it s unpleasant, or grasp toward it if it s pleasurable. But, it s all happening in consciousness, in Presence, in spirit, as that ray of the One which is undefinable. Being That, resting as That in the midst of practice, makes space for the fullness of who we are in that practice to blossom. It allows even the person part with its particular flavor or problem to be included. Here are some examples of pre-practices that can be incorporated into any regular Sufi practice session beginning to bring in what I am speaking about: Cultivating the Wide View Sit comfortably and relax. Let your awareness be very high, wide and deep. Include your physical body in what is showing up in awareness, but don t limit awareness to being aware from the body. Note that sensation, emotion, thought, hearing, taste and sight are all showing up in the total flow that is Presence. Feel the energetic or vibrational connection within consciousness that connects you with every detail in the room. Note how the content of consciousness colors the subtle feeling and impression of it. Now, do your regular practice. Listening from the Body In the Wide View allow your body to be like a tuning fork, resonating and interacting with all sounds and all input in your environment. Let each sound and stimulus be like a pebble dropped in the pond of you, finding greater and greater receptivity and sensitivity. Let the body resonate vibrationally with everything around you, within and without. Sitting as Presence With the Wide View, rest in awareness. Include the thinker along with the rest of the activity in sensation, emotion, thought, hearing, taste, sight that is happening. Allow your somebody to show up along with everything else that is happening. If you stubbed your toe this morning, you d have to include the throbbing of that. Let your somebody, with its particular flavor and vibration be included along with everything else. Watch what arises carefully, following each rise and fall in your inner and outer experience as pure listening. To conclude a practice session, try spending some time every day simply sitting as Presence. This is a time where we leave behind all invocations, activity, or interference with our stream of being and just allow what is arising to rise, bloom and pass away. This is meditation without the meditator. It is also a concentration practice because holding the wide view and including the thinker at the same time require all our sensitive faculties to be operative. A final question for inquiry: When we re sitting as Presence in the Wide View, is there anyone who is doing anything? An unanswerable question, but interesting to contemplate. The Buddhists say no, the Hindus say yes, it s the Self. But let s not worry about it. We re only allowing ourselves (whatever we are) to fall into more and more of what we already are in our essence an exquisitely sensitive consciousness or spirit. As this consciousness opens to contain more and more experience and is increasingly sensitive, widening, inclusive, we may eventually contact all the inner resources» Sufi Ruhaniat International 19

20 that already belong to us in our essential nature. Here we may truly enter the resource of Ya Samad which Murshid Saadi translates no boundary, endless remedy. All that we are and experience arises in Wholeness. The question is whether we approach that experience and our practice as Wholeness or as the person part of us who had a strong hand in creating any limitation that we may feel we have. Ultimately, any practice that we undertake can be magnified 100-fold by beginning with the Wide View and including the thinker. But, don t take my word for it, try it and see. After all, that s the Sufi way. Quan Yin Lynne Williams by ManWoman 20 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

21 Dying as Spiritual Practice Mu id Bob Walsh March 5, 1935 July 29, 2008 by Noor-un-Nisa Walsh Death s blessings become brighter the nearer and nearer we approach them with love and reverence. Old friends reunited after a long separation. My husband Mu id (or MuBob) was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at the end of May, 2008, given approximately three to six months to live. He chose to avoid any invasive treatment, announcing with good humor, We re all dying! It s okay, a statement he often repeated throughout the actual two months of his journey Home. He retained an amazing, enlightened presence, leaving a legacy of rich poetry, photography, palpable love and indelible memories. When you look into your own death you see your future flying towards you on wings of departure One morning I came to check on him as he rested in bed. I found him weeping and rushed to comfort him, thinking he was grieving dying. He said, These are tears of gratitude. Don t worry. This would become a teaching theme with which he gifted me daily; appreciation and absolute trust. Given life, accept given death, accept, both are gifts beyond measure» Sufi Ruhaniat International 21

22 Many loving souls came to visit our refuge in Quan Yin s gracious home which is surrounded by large shade trees. Mu loved to sit outside and observe the play of light and shadows, once calling out loudly, Good work, God! He had lived most of his life nourished by the Book of Nature. He taught me to slow down and notice the subtle dance of color, the beauty, depth and breadth of light. Dawn s slow-motion colors Dawn s slow-motion colors slowly stain the world with all the colors God lets leak out of the sky onto the absorbing earth lying in wait to be beautified by changing light that is much more than light it is miracle manifest, the eyes love made manifest and laughing at its unforced, easygoing miracles of just being itself, unstoppable and real and unrepeatable. Light is love let loose from our own narrow ideas of what is, or not is, or imagined or thought we knew. Light is a dream the blind perceptions we call sight are carrying us through. These miracles that are any and all ways of seeing and sensing that are more than one color of God s creation. Take the blue dive of a new day and wash your consciousness clean. We are immersed in a beauty so stunning we wander around alive and dead in the great dance we can do nothing about but obey. Silence and stillness became paramount as his body continued to fail. He was blessed by being largely unaware of pain. One day as we sat together I asked, Do you experience a sense of God in this silence? 22 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

23 He laughed and said, No, it s just very peaceful. He paused, adding Maybe that is God... peace. How much has been said to me by the eternal silence. MuBob once claimed that he d written a poem every day for thirty years. Many of these were in Haiku form. I would often see him counting syllables on his fingers when we were in the midst of a conversation. Here are some of the final ones: be at ease in your dying, love lives in the least of our final breaths how wonderful to be dying within the arms of lovers of life the last sound of all is the all is well of slow, calm quiet breathing it s time to break up the loving relationship between breath and body wonderful to live, wonderful to die, it was all more than enough Mu id Bob taught by example. He did morning practices faithfully, prayed as he moved through his day, touched the lives of so many people and passed with such grace. His spirit will live with us always. We are all truly blessed. The Scent of Cut Grass The scent of cut grass lies in the nostrils as green gifts given to remind us we will join in the great growing towards completion in death. Do not deny the whole cycle. Your death and decay is more divine than any prayer and is the blessing of completion. Welcome all of it and know we are all truly blessed. Noor-un-nisa Joan Walsh, August, 2008 All poems are by Mu id Bob Walsh from the last two months of his life, June and July Sufi Ruhaniat International 23

24 If on Earth there be a Paradise of Bliss, This is It! The Wonderful Story of Mu id Bob Walsh s Living Through Dying by Quan Yin Lynne Williams Mu id was unusually funny and witty on the drive back from the Jamiat Ahm in Hamilton, Montana in April It was noteworthy as so much of Mu id s humor seemed to only reveal itself during skits at Inland Camp over Memorial Day. Even Noor-un-Nisa, his wife of ten years, was amazed at Mu id s antics at camp, playing in an Assisted Zikr for elders. Mu id kept sliding out of his rocking chair, much to the delight of the all-ages crowd. Noor-un-Nisa and Mu id Under usual circumstances, Mu id was very introverted, very refined, with a photographer s eye and a poet s ear. He took photos every single day and accumulated thousands of printed photos, many of which were shown in small galleries and cafés in Canada and California. He wrote a poem every day for thirty years. Although he was tall and dark (at one time) and very handsome (still), you wouldn t necessarily have guessed at the wonderful artistry he contained because he wasn t one to blabber about it. He just did it. Noor-un-Nisa and he met at Northwest Sufi Camp eleven years ago and took up with each other in the writing class. They were like two teenagers in love, he walking her home and kissing her on the doorstep at the cabin while unbeknownst to them, everyone in the darkened rooms watched with delight. 24 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

25 They got married with ceremonies in their two communities: Humboldt County, where Bob had lived for over thirty years, and at Inland Sufi Camp over Memorial Day weekend in Idaho, near the farm, Willow Springs, in British Columbia where Noor had lived as many years. They continued for the next decade a pattern of wintering in Humboldt, where they were both very loved, and summering at their Canadian farm, where they were both appreciated by the surrounding communities in Spokane, Nelson, BC and Idaho. Humboldt was about culture and movies and concerts. Canada was about organic farming and silence and nature. They loved both. After the Jamiat, Noor became concerned because Bob (fairly dreamy and not-of-this-world in his usual state) was losing his short-term memory and his orientation, not remembering where he had been or where he was going. Initially this seemed an extreme form of what we all have, but then rapidly it became something different: some kind of neurological state. Instead of coming to Memorial Day Camp at Lake Coeur d Alene, Noor and Bob stayed at the farm, and then were urged to come down and get him checked out for any of the usual problems, from electrolyte imbalance to kidney infections. At camp, arrangements were made for him to be seen at a clinic in Spokane where one of our community, Dr. Rahima (AJ) Johnson worked. She saw him as soon as they got to town. He checked out fine except for the marked memory loss and poor orientation. Scans were scheduled for the day after Memorial Day so Mu id and Noor and I went to Inland Camp on Sunday. When we walked into the main hall, Mu id stepped immediately into the dance that was happening, raising his arms in praise. The community was thrilled to see both Mu id and Noor. We stayed through the Talent Show; the camp had become transformed by the Pirate Archetype, brought by two little boys, Raziel and Elijah. The Big Boys created a wild Pirate Zikr, mainly consisting of wearing eye patches and saying Arrrrrrrrrr. Tuesday came. A CT scan was followed by an MRI, which confirmed the presence of a large parietal lobe tumor (a butterfly configuration) consistent with a glioblastoma. Amazingly, Rahima (aka Dr. Johnson) was able to schedule both a neurosurgical and radiation oncology consultation within two days. Surgery was not an option and other treatments offered no cure. Mu id was not interested. He understood he had a brain tumor, that it would take his life, and that he probably would have less than three to six months to live. His response: everybody has to go sometime. You know I m dying. Most of all his conversation became about the great beauty he saw everywhere. Noor and Mu id agreed that getting time at their farm was a priority so they spent the next two weeks up there with Bob happily looking at the beauty all around, being quiet, visiting with friends who began to pour in, and napping under the sky. Noor s daughter, Heather, scheduled the visitors. She was out often, as was Noor s son Ethan and his family from Vancouver Island. When he became more unsteady on his feet, a decision was made that they would come to Spokane, to my home, to do Hospice. I had recently moved into a large home on the South Hill of Spokane, which functioned somewhat as a khankah, headquarters for workshops and full of gifts I sell to raise money for the Hope Project in India. Lickety split, folks began helping. Roger and Saraswati came and pulled all the Hope Project objects out of the main floor parlor so it could become a private space for Mu id and Noor. First it had to get painted, with four coats of no-voc paint covering the exposed plaster walls. Then Nur Azima got beds and bedding in and furniture rearranged.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 25

26 Meanwhile, a rotating cast of devoted friends were helping up at the farm. This included Cordi Latifa, Roger and Saraswati, ManWoman and Astarte, Shakura and Darcy and Malik. And Noor s family. Noor asked for lots of help (Lesson #2: ask for what you need) getting paperwork done between Canada and the US with Roger and Ananda (Hazzard) helping. It was time to come to Spokane for the Mureeds retreat, which had long been scheduled. Noor and I had jointly held our Mureeds Retreat for a number of years, and this year we had folks coming from Mu'id Bob Walsh all over, including California and Oregon and Western Washington, even Chicago! What to do? It seemed the best and most rhythmic decision to continue with the retreat, after advising everyone that this retreat would be somewhat different. So, Mureeds Retreat. With Bob. And his son, Michael there visiting at the same time. Poetry the focus, Mu id continuing to write beautiful poems, about death, about beauty, about life. Our Saturday night Zikr was exquisite, quiet, small (18 of us). Mu id was now having difficulty moving so he sat and sang. What a joy to see his son Michael feel the love that was around his dad. Michael played classical guitar to the tables afterward. The Breaking Bone, that snap, is a ah I am alive to pain as well as realization of the ordinary reality. This Shock shouting out loud I am more than my stand aside thoughts that want me to be protected by the forced ignorance of my fears. This fall into grace is a flight that can be painful because it (thank goodness) upsets. 26 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

27 Sets us in a higher sphere of awareness that sings different music than we have allowed ourselves to hear before. The break between not feeling and feeling is a spark from the fibers of feeling that are always putting their patient arms around each of our vulnerabilities that shout out i am here where I want to be, Not a divinity but a fully feeling human being, the crown of caring lying easy on my knobby head. The sweetest sound is silence finding a continuous vibration it does not have to wander from. Mu id Bob Walsh Now for Lesson #3: Have a Coco in your life. Coco (formerly Zamila) is a longtime Sufi friend from Missoula; she had tended Noor on two previous occasions following knee replacements. Coco was available to come and help out. Coco then became the pole around which the Hospice house here could turn. Coco loves to cook and keep things in order. She doesn t ask, she does what needs to be done. She can find anything and clean anything. And nothing fazes her. And when she was done cooking two meals a day she gardened for hours, creating color and life in my disordered garden! And Coco didn t do anything she didn t want to. Not an edge of martyr. Her cooking was especially popular with Mu id, who had a remarkable appetite. He would dig into Coco s creations. (What is the secret ingredient in her cole slaw? Answer: ice cream!) If there isn t a Coco around, create one, make a composite, ask for people to help you run the house where you will be. You will then have some freedom to deal with all the things to follow (business, personal care, sleep, traffic flow). No one can do it all. Because the house is big it could accommodate visitors. Family came and stayed there so they could see Mu id throughout the day. His brother and sister-in-law from Florida, and his two sons from California were able to come. And lots of folks from community in Humboldt (Kerima, Janine) and Canada (Shafiya) as well as Washington (Nur Ali and Ananda, and Nur Azima) also came, taking night duty. Mu id was often up every hour or two through the night, so the person on night duty really had a lot of responsibility. Progressively Mu id lost his gait and went full-time into a wheelchair. Noor s son-in-law, Guus, made a sturdy wheelchair ramp. Mu id s appetite and his sense of humor and his ear for poetry were, however, undiminished. Most days he spent in the back yard, sitting under the apple tree. He had trees wherever he looked: apple, pear, dogwood, magnolia, maple. The neighbors next door went off to Europe for eight weeks, giving the backyard lots of privacy, only open to Elaine and Floyd, Sufi family two doors down.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 27

28 The day that came closest to Paradise: a Sunday, and a rotating band of company and helpers came. Three men Saladin, Nur Ali and Roger came with tool boxes and flew around the house, opening stuck windows, switching out washing machines, installing screen doors, getting ice makers to work. Clothes were washed (Nur Ali rigged an Ethiopian clothesline involving bricks, a cart and straps from a foot stool), lunch was cooked, Mu id visiting or sleeping or being quiet. Come dinnertime, we had been given $100 for dinner by Mu id s brother. We ordered pizza and the cost was $100! Great joy, laughter and music and pizza and work, all stirred together. Hospice had been involved since right after Mureed s retreat and facilitated supplies hospital bed and wheelchair and bathing. Mu id had a Hospice volunteer, Roger, who even came to Sufi Class, along with the ex-marine Brother, Dave and sister-in-law Georgeane. Lesson #4: Keep doing what you do, whether classes or retreat, or Zikr or dances, for they fill your cup and keep your joy overflowing. Mu id, still poetic, still taking an occasional photo he has taken thousands of photos over the years was still very chipper and cheerful, especially at mealtime, but liked to spend more and more time alone and in silence. He did best with visitors who were comfortable sitting, meditating, being quiet. Lesson #5: Allow silence to be the Friend and be willing to be the one who insists on it. Noor did, keeping an eye on his energy and engagement with visitors. He had no apparent pain, except for occasional discomfort from sitting in the chair. How much has been Said to me By the eternal silence. Death bed confession: I was lazy. I didn t sin enough. Lazy. Where was the effort Needed to be no good? Hard work to be evil. the nearer and nearer we approach them with love and reverence, old friends reunited after a long separation. I am in the place Where creation is finding It hasn t got to go Anyplace but within. Death s blessings become brighter On Sunday, the 27th of July, all was quiet. Everyone had gone up the road to the Dances and Zikr. There we just three of us at dinner: Noor and Mu id and me. Mu id retained his wisecracking self: a comment from me or Noor floated out, and Mu id would already be delivering a witticism or astute observation or play on words. Samia stayed the night, getting up at intervals when he seemed restless. By the next morning, it was clear everything had changed. Mu id was in agony. Oral medications were not helping. Hospice was called and came immediately and saw what was clear: it was time. Lesson #6: All things, whether the best or the worst, have an end. Mu id needed major pain relief. He was transferred mid-day to Hospice House, where he had a PCA pump to relieve his agonizing pain. By evening, it was Mu id and Noor, with me to help hold the fort 28 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

29 and move Mu id from side-to-side in an effort to relieve his pain. We sang to him and let him know Noor was ready for him to leave, wasn t going to hold him back. We sang Blessed Always and Zikr after Zikr softly as he finally got relief and slept. At 10:30 I left, leaving Noor to sleep next to her dear husband. Coco and I each slept with a phone. Noor called us at 5:21 a.m. saying Mu id had taken his last breath. We were there in minutes. As we jumped from the car, Coco exclaimed, Well would you look at that, it s pieces of cloud dissolving in sunlight. Indeed, the sky was filled with pieces of cloud, dissolving as the sun rose in the Eastern sky. We joined Noor at Mu id s bedside, blessed him and prayed together. The hospice folks were soon to come and wrap Mu id s body in a quilt and then take him with family and loved ones to the chapel to pray. Noor suddenly remembered her dog, a golden retriever Willow, and asked where she was. We had tied her outside, forgetting the newly installed sprinklers, which were scheduled to come on and likely terrify Willow. So I was dispatched As pieces of cloud dissolve... to rescue the dog, as it should be. Lesson #7: Life, here, has to be dealt with, no matter the big story that is happening. Willow was fine, not even wet, just wanting a walk; it was only later when she seemed to realize Mu id was gone that she seemed very sad and down, mourning her master.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 29

30 Mu id was now free of his body. His body would be sent to be cremated, his ashes scattered at his farm in Canada and the ocean and other dear places in and near Arcata. We came back home, having decided on the ride that Coco, who had been scheduled to leave the next day, would stay through the weekend and we would have a Memorial Service on Saturday. Folks gathered from Seattle and Idaho and Canada and Oregon (Noor s daughter Eve and her family, including grandchildren Evan and Ariel). Evan was given a choice of Mu id s distinctive tee-shirts to keep. He picked Mu id s moccasins. He picked a good man s footsteps to follow. Friends Randy and Sally, Noor s oldest friend from Canada, came to stay, arriving after Mu id s passing. They asked How can we help? and they were given the holy (wholly holy) task of cleaning Mu id s truck for sale. (See Lesson #2: Ask for what you want; and its corollary, be willing to do what needs to be done). Mu'id Bob Walsh The Memorial was organized around Mu id s poetry, written over the preceding two months. A beautiful altar, with the pictures of Pieces of Cloud, Mu id s camera and pictures of family and poetry. Tales were told, of Mu id s gentle disposition and his poetry and photography and tremendously subtle, and occasionally not-so-subtle, sense of humor. Lesson #8: Celebrate Life, any chance you get. Tell the stories of those you love. And then it became real: Mu id was gone. There was sadness but still much joy, little sense of regret. It was time for Coco to go, off to Wilderness Camp. And Northwest Camp for me and, later, Noor. Clothes to be sorted, business to be dealt with, plans for Noor to make. Relief and joy and sorrow all mixed together. Mourning and grief, tears, still much laughter and many, many stories. What a way to live. Lesson #9: Live the way you want to die and die the way you want to live. Mu id did both. 30 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

31 On Sunday night as Mu id s transition began, I had a dream. In this dream there were a lot of us, all friends, living together in a very very large house. This house had separate homes or suites, some with swimming pools in them, some with mere Jacuzzi s, all with built-in s, very beautiful, with drawers filled with clothing and food, whatever one needs. I awoke in the morning wondering what thivivid dream was about, and the phrase In my Father s house are many mansions. It seemed this was a dram of a very contemporary, Architectural Digest version of Paradise. The idea of Heaven, as an other-place, had never been of much interest to me. But this dream was very joy-filled. And I remembered the song, from Rumi: If on earth there be a paradise of Bliss, this is it! This, indeed, was it! May we be so blessed and may we bless so! So this brings us to the very beginning and the first and most important lesson: Lesson #1: Be the kind of person, like Noor or Mu id, that makes people want to help, want to draw near, want to take you in, want to cook your meals, want to tend you through the night. If you aren t that way, learn to be a bit more that way today and a little bit more tomorrow. So these are the lessons we have learned together as a community, and ones which are in our heart: Be the kind of person that makes people want to help, Ask for what needs to be done; be willing to do what needs to be done. Have a Coco in your life, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Keep doing what you do, and fill your cup! (keep up magnetism). Allow silence to be the Friend and be willing to be the one who insists on it. All things, whether the best or the worst, have an end. Life, here, has to be dealt with, no matter the big story that is happening. Celebrate Life, any chance you get. Tell the stories of those you love. Live the way you want to die and die the way you want to live. This is It! Sufi Ruhaniat International 31

32 The Practice and Culture of Friendship by Rabia Cronin Most Sufis are aware that the ideal of the Friend was held in extremely elevated esteem by Hazrat Inayat Khan. It is easy and convenient to peruse the search engine hits on this topic at there are over 400 in the works of Inayat Khan. How striking that he said that one of the chief purposes of friendship is the opportunity to seek and attain understanding without words. Friendship gives us an arena to hone our subtle eyes and ears, because the masks and walls are lowered. With practice, the veils of gross illusion can be pierced by our subtle senses. We might take it for granted, but any association with spiritual aspirants is a great boon and real friendship is a treasure indeed. I am very grateful for many friendships with people in and around SRI circles for thirty years. Such friendships have been precious they are an avenue of approach to the attitude of being in the world but not of it. These friendships are really a unique intersection of many planes social, mundane and spiritual and they are always a rich feast of opportunity to practice the joyful art of culture critique. To be able to talk freely and deeply about our strange society and our winding paths through it is a great aid to growth and wisdom. Such talk between friends can encompass many levels. It can be a form of high creative exploration or delve into sharing practical lifemanship stuff. It involves praising and encouraging each other and also the occasional critical challenge. All of it is really supportive. Inayat Khan saw friendship as the most desirable and difficult thing in the world, and he said that a thoughtful soul always seeks a friendship that lasts long. (vol. 5, p. 24) He said that the chief obstacle in this is the self, the ego, which the Sufi calls Nafs. (vol. 7, p. 37.) Yes, friendship involves practice, lessons, and tests. All long-lasting friendship requires the friends to adhere to the model of classroom consciousness. Of course we all know that any aspect of life is a deep spiritual opportunity with the right attitude. Friendship becomes such an opportunity when we are willing to curb our egos. We don t want the shallow, consumerism mentality of picking and tossing disposable friends to suit our ego structure. We practice being centered and observant we don t need to judge what we see as imperfect. There is a way of noticing someone s problems without engaging with them. They need not be impediments to learning and practicing! And we don t want the immature behavior of excluding and scapegoating. Everything good flows from the classroom consciousness. Tests are welcomed! If someone gets offended, this contretemps is seen as a test of character, a chance to display the right stuff. A sense of trust is a sine qua non, I admit. A sense that we re playing by the same rules, practicing the same game. The cultural mode of SRI developed in the milieu of the counter-culture fringes in the West Coast of the 1970s. The disciples of the disciples of Murshid SAM were part of this world of sophisticated and idealistic young people. We were all aware of some sociological research that was widely talked about: observation of kids at playgrounds saw that when girls had little conflicts, they withdrew and stayed apart. We firmly resolved to reject this tendency! The hallmark of our culture was a profound willingness to handle social problems with honest, direct, respectful communication. We valued the skill of listening fully and resisting the impulse to shun and feud or gossip irresponsibly. Some people became masters of the art of ultra-civilized confrontation. Why? to prevent or limit grudges or feuds, so harmful to the individual mind and the communal life. 32 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

33 We also tried to practice the habit of discretion. This boils down to using the intelligence to discriminate about what is unwise or unconstructive to repeat or reveal to others, and being careful to protect secrets and honor the explicit requests for silence about something. Recent years should have made us see friendship as a sacred arena of free speech, since socio-political conditions have tended to suppress it. I deeply believe we should try not to censor or silence each other, or demand that the other stay locked in a box of bland, plastic speech. Full disclosure requires me to note that I have shown a draft of this essay to a friend who is a clinical psychologist. She disparaged it as passé: There are so many people damaged by the psychology of addiction, the culture as a whole has sunk to a lowest common denominator, such that there is very little interest in honesty and responsibility any more. Impaired people don t have long-term friendships; they always feel that disagreeing with them or any kind of challenge to their thinking is a cruel betrayal that merits instant enmity. Yes. I know many people are impaired, but that is all the more reason to hold aloft the ideal. We are Sufis because we don't want our lives to be shallow and foolish. We want the higher taste beauty and harmony. We know we have to make it new : ideals have to be handled according to time and circumstances. I believe successful practice of the most desirable and difficult thing in the world requires taking the time for face-to-face communication. Possibly the most constructive thing I can say is to point to awareness of certain technological pitfalls. The telephone and are unfavorable and even dangerous for communications that are sensitive, emotional, or impulsive. They allow and even promote aggression because of their speed and ease. it is too easy to follow an impulse to attack, and end up grievously offending. At least with , a record is there and it is possible to re-read it later. With the telephone, a stressed-out mind can hear or project hostility or rudeness where there was nothing like it, and a faulty memory only reinforces the problem. If visiting someone is impractical, old-fashioned paper letters have advantages. They take time they are not instant. They express a sense of responsibility, a serious intent to go on the record. They are a mark of respect; they say you and our friendship are worth the effort. Sufi Ruhaniat International 33

34 Sufi Ruhaniat International Board of Trustees Meeting 17-Dec 2008 Emergency Meeting, Conference Call TOWARD THE ONE UNITED WITH ALL An emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees was convened via conference call at 12:01 PM ET with saying the Invocation; Jammalluddin Akhbar (JA) facilitating. BOT Members Participating: Pir Shabda Kahn, Jammalluddin Akhbar Ira Zunin, Fazl Terry Peay, Asha Greer, Basira Beardsworth, Diana Lyon, Karim Baer, Abraham Sussman, Yasmin Germaine Haut, Tansen Phillip O Donohoe. Others Attending: Boudewijn Boom, Farrunnissa Lila Rosa, Samia Bloch. Agenda: Address any questions regarding the financial loss due to the collapse of the Madoff Funds. Report on proposed strategies for next 6 months, and decide on course of action. Where We Are: Asha: Exactly how much has been lost? JA: $350K of the Endowment Fund. Also gone are projected incomes of around $ K to the General Fund from pledges and donations from donors who have lost personal money, and the dividends from the Endowment Fund. Prospect of recovering any of this is none, although we may be surprised with some pennies on the dollar at some point. But nothing is certain. When the news broke on 11 Dec, all SRI spending was frozen. Goal is to preserve what we have left in accessible financial instruments for operating expenses. Besides checking and savings accounts we still have $50K in An Abode of Blessing Fund with Michael Gest. Where We Go From Here: JA: Finance Committee has made some recommendations on proposed actions and to liquidate the An Abode of Blessing account. Abraham: Do we know what the time frame is for that? Boudewijn: Michael indicated this could be at least 90 days. The shares can be sold anytime at a 15% discount, otherwise need to wait for someone to invest so that our amount is freed up for release. JA: Recommend liquidating at the market rate, not at the 15% discount. Asha: But the fund could go down, right? JA: An Abode of Blessing has been able to pick and choose investments over last months, and has not suffered as a result, but has made approximately 7% interest this calendar year. Also recommend moving money from the Khankah SAM checking account to SRI central accounts, leaving $5K in Khankah SAM checking account. JA: Next is to renegotiate the Archives project contract. Boudewijn: The contract includes the creation and hosting of a website and indexing the files. We ve already paid half with another half to be paid on completion. It s quite close to being ready. Will contact the vendor to negotiate a monthly payment based on a three year rather than a two year contract.

35 JA: Thus the current assets, including restricted funds, are around $108K on hand. Perspective of finance committee, while there may be an outpouring of funds and support from the mureeds, given the current financial climate and the personal losses of people in our lineage, it may be more difficult to build income streams in the year ahead. Looking at the budget through June 2009, income will primarily come from Mureed Contributions. Expenses: All contributions to restricted funds are out. All expenses for travel reimbursements and lodging for Murshids and Trustees are out, except Shabda s trip to the Federation Meeting in Katwijk. HeartBeat magazine will be produced and distributed on-line and not printed and mailed. Toward the One may not be produced. Expenses for fundraising and updating Ruhaniat website are kept in the budget. Office expenses are cut back. Stipend for the Pir and Eugene employees are maintained; stipend for Wali Ali is reduced while free rent at the Mentorgarten is maintained; health insurance for Pir and Wali Ali is maintained. Note that there is work to be done in the Archives, but no funds in current budget to pay for Boudewijn s time as Chief Archivist. Action: Boudewijn will consider what has to be done, what funds it might take, and report back. This 6-month budget shows a loss of $14K. Fazl: If nothing changed, we could do this budget for 3 years before using up the entire principle. Board approves actions proposed by Finance Committee. Samia: Where is the operating money? Fazl: Unless we use some Restricted Funds, we don t have operating money available until the An Abode of Blessing funds are released. Pir Shabda: We will have Mureed contributions coming in. Fazl: Another source may be an equity line on the Norwich properties, which may take up to 2-3 months, but can be a back-up. Review of Restricted Funds: The Board looked at each category of Restricted Fund and decided as follows: KSAM Reserves Move to General Fund. (This is money already in SRI central accounts.) Youth Scholarship Move into General Fund. (This came originally from the general fund.) Euro Camp This is money donated in previous years and held for the Euro camp. Pir Shabda is to be guest at 2009 camp as part of a larger trip to also include Federation, Estonia, Spain, Germany. But Oneness was funding the Estonia camp and has withdrawn the grant. The budget includes travel money for the Pir to the Federation, but he might want to go to Germany instead. Agreed to keep restricted for now, look at it again in 3 months. Hope Project Asha: Particularly for Hope Fund, this is coming from a deep generosity. Pir Shabda: Agree with Asha. Hope Project was hit very hard as Richard Glantz s funds were hit very hard. We re not the only support; they have a lot of support from Germany, but they will be able to use any funds they re given. Agreed to keep Restricted for now. Republishing In The Garden Boudewijn: This amount is from a grant from Oneness three years ago. The book is almost ready to go to the printers and may cost around $8K. Discussion around presales and/or premium hard copies referred to the Publications Committee. Board agreed to release $5K to the General Fund and let the Publications Committee team decide best ways to proceed with marketing.» Sufi Ruhaniat International 35

36 Langer Fund Pir Shabda: this was raised to feed the poorest of the poor off the porch of Hazrat Inayat Khan s tomb. Agreed to leave as Restricted. Will be taken to India by Zuleikha in January. SAM Maqbara This is money to improve the Maqbara at Lama Foundation. Agreed to put into General Fund for now. Special Fund Combination of several earmarked funds. We need to honor these. Agreed to leave in Restricted. Ziraat Travel Earmarked donations that were to be matched. Remove the matching funds, agreed to leave received donations in Restricted. Moineddin s Dargah Retreat Hut Earmarked donations. Agreed to leave in Restricted. Follow-Up: Action: Pir Shabda will draft and send to mureeds and mailing lists in the next few days on this. This announcement will also be printed in HeartBeat. Next Board Meetings: Pre-Jamiat teleconferences scheduled in April. Yasmin: Between now and out next meeting, we can be looking at our relationship and beliefs about money and how things are. It may not be that it s about business as usual anymore for us, our organization, or our lives. We may be asked to reconsider how business is being conducted in general. The Board meeting closed at 1:23 PM ET with saying the prayer Nayaz. Respectfully submitted, Farrunnissa Lila Rosa Recording Secretary Relink Your Albertson s Card to Continue Donating! In order to continue to use your Albertson s Community Partners card and continue to donate to the Ruhaniat, you need to relink your SRI Community Partner's card with your Albertson's Perferred Savings card at by If you do not have a Preferred Savings Card, go to the customer service desk at your Albertson's store, and they will give you one. It only takes a few minutes. The number on the back of that card needs to be linked to our Sufi Ruhaniat International card, on their website above. Take these three steps: Log on to the site above. Enter your Preferred Savings Card number. Enter the group s Community Partners ID # Thank you! Every contribution however modest helps, and we receive it with gratitude. Theme for Summer 2009 Issue The theme for the Summer 2009 HeartBeat is Love, Inward and Outward. We invite personal, intimate, whole-hearted responses, included at the discretion of the editor. 36 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009

37 Available Ruhaniat Publications Saladin CD set Samuel Lewis s epic poem Saladin takes us back to the historical moment of the Crusaders invasion of the Middle East, and the life of Saladin, a great twelfth century Muslim Sultan. Through his chivalry and spiritual realization, Saladin invites the resolution of religious conflict, and in so doing, reveals the mystical depths of Islam. This poem invokes spiritual guidance as a foundation of human morality. It is most relevant today as a model for tolerance and Peacemaking. Read by Wali Ali Meyer, it is accompanied by contemporary Sufi music. 4CD set $33 plus $2.50 shipping Ziraat Reader A compilation of papers, essays, practices, commentaries, and inspirations on Ziraat, illuminating our experience of Self, of God, through understanding the Essence in the rhythms and manifestations of Nature. Spiral bound. $20 plus $5.00 shipping Living Harmony CD The Ruhaniat & Friends Live in Madison. Recorded during the Jamiat Ahm Wonderful Zikr and Dance music and songs. A portion of the sales of this CD supports the Hope Project. CD $15 plus $2.00 shipping SRI Esoteric Papers CD This is an upgrade CD to the first version from The CD now includes all of Murshid SAM s commentaries on HIK plus around seventy other esoteric papers. The Sufi Order International has given us permission to include The complete works of Hazrat Inayat Khan for which we are deeply grateful. The above (pdf) files are indexed and searchable on the CD. Also included is the Ruhaniat Companion (formerly the Mureed Manual ). Available in three levels: Gatha/Githa (1-6 th ), Sangatha (7-9 th ), Sangitha (10 th ). Please specify your level of initiation when ordering. CD $101 plus $2.00 shipping. Upgrade if previously purchased: CD: $15 plus $2.00 shipping. Your purchase supports the Living Stream Project. Greeting Cards Beautiful greeting card with gold-foil, embossed Ruhaniat heart and wings. Blank inside. Box of six cards and envelopes $12 plus $2.50 shipping Box of twelve cards and envelopes $22 plus $3.50 shipping To order one item from inside the USA, please send check or credit card info with your order to: Sufi Ruhaniat International P.O. Box Eugene OR To order more than one item or from outside the USA, please contact the Ruhaniat for shipping cost first: Ruhaniat@mail.com Sufi Ruhaniat International 37

38 Make a Donation of $1001, Support the Ruhaniat, receive this wonderful painting of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan Murshid Khabir Kitz has made a wonderful offer: if someone makes a donation to the Ruhaniat of $ , they can receive the portrait of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan that Khabir painted. The original painting is egg tempura on a panel, and is 18" by 24" (45 cm by 60 cm). Sorry, this offer does not apply to generous donations already made... Contact the Secretariat at ruhaniat@mail.com, or phone if you are interested. 38 HeartBeat Winter 2008/2009