Spirit Matters
the newsletter for the Sufi Movement in Australia
Pour upon them thy limitless love, thy ever-shining light, thy everlasting life, thy heavenly joy and thy perfect peace. Hazrat Inayat Khan
Volume 19, Issue 1. April 2015.
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What’s in the April issue? Contents 3 4-5 5 6-8 8 9 10-13 14 15 16-18 19 20-21 22 23 24
Letter from Nuria, your National Representative Sacred Reading: Pairs of Opposites – Hazrat Inayat Khan ‘Mass upon the altar of the world’ –Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Universal Worship on the topic of ‘The Only Being’ A poem by Bibi Hayati ‘Undressing the Ego’ – Elif Sezen Sufi Lessons, part 2 of 5 – Nur Al-Alam ‘Beginning’ – Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss Dargah Retreat – ‘The Spirit of Guidance’ – Oct/Nov 2015 Spreading the Sufi message in Australia – Zubin Leonie Shore ‘The Garden’ – poem by Rumi; artwork by Chamanafroz Universal Worship – Z.J. Van Ingen-Jalgersma Notes from a Retreat: Sydney – Nauroz Mary O’Connell Hejirat Retreat – ‘The Spirit of Guidance’ – Sydney – Sept 2015 Contacts
MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS Membership to the Sufi Movement in Australia is open to all. If you find yourself drawn to the ideals of universal spiritual brother-and-sisterhood, you may be interested in becoming a member. The Sufi Movement in Australia offers an annual Sufi summer retreat, classes in centres around Australia, and a newsletter three times a year. In addition, members are affiliated with the International Sufi Movement, its teachers and activities. Annual Membership Fees Single-$75 Family-$100 Please contact the treasurer for more details (see the back page for contact details)
Dear friends, Welcome to the first issue of Spirit Matters for 2015. We have begun it well with soul-nourishing retreats in Melbourne and Sydney with Murshid Nawab. Nuria and Nauroz give us a little taste of them in their articles. We also have a few beautiful poems to enjoy, as well as thoughtful articles on ‘Sufism in action’ in the contemporary world. Thank you to all contributors. I personally began the year with a beautiful project – a community garden at work. The sunflowers on this page are an example. It has given us much enjoyment as we tender the buds and watch our flowers, herbs and veggies grow. Alas, the recent storms in Sydney have made a dint in their progress, but we are all determined to restore the garden to health. May you all have a healthy and happy year as well, nurturing the gardens of your own lives.
Love, Sakina
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Letter from Nuria, your national representative Beloved Sisters and Brothers So much has happened in this inner realm since I last wrote that I cannot quite remember where I was back then. It seems so long ago. We have just experienced our ‘summer retreat’ with Murshid Nawab here at Amberley in Melbourne and this always puts me into a different space. Many of us so needed that retreat – both as a spiritual process and as spiritual healing. I felt it as such. The last time Murshid Nawab was here (in 2013) our ‘day of power’ came unexpectedly towards the end of the retreat, but this time I think many of us already experienced this inner powerful space on the second day. It was like we were ourselves a desert and suddenly there was the fresh spring water of life to nourish us. There was an energy about this retreat right from the beginning – people registered almost as soon as I first put out the flyer. We had four new people participate and three whom we had not seen for a long time. One person had last been with us in 2002! It was wonderful how all became one very quickly and we were able to experience the beautiful atmosphere of harmony and beauty together. When I told a non-Sufi friend of mine about the retreat she asked ‘Well what did he say?’ meaning Nawab. I said that it wasn’t what he said or even what he did, but how he created a beautiful atmosphere and space where we could
all have the experiences that we needed. We could unfold and be our real Self and drink from the water of life. If any of you would like a soft copy of the retreat texts on ‘Goodness’, please let me know as I am happy to send them out as an attachment. The texts / sacred readings were great and it was good to work with them in small groups after the readings had been done during the retreat. Certainly our group here in Melbourne is eager to practice some of the exercises that Murshid Nawab led us in. Azad has also recorded most of the sessions of the retreat including the practices and these will be available soon I hope. We do not yet know how many CDs there will be, so we will let you know the cost when they are finalised and ready. Listening to them as Azad plays them back takes me to that time and space and somehow the teachings seem new again. I think we can all listen again and again to such insights. Azad and I are going to be away earlier than usual this year but will be back at the beginning of August. With Love and Blessings,
Nuria
Participants at Amberley Retreat Photo from Azad Daly
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Sacred Reading: Pairs of Opposites
from v. XIV, The Smiling Forehead, pt. II, chap. 12 by Hazrat Inayat Khan Pairs of Opposites used in Religious Terms In religious terms one makes use of pairs of opposites such as God and devil, heaven and hell, sin and virtue. Man, who begins to acquire knowledge by learning through pairs of opposites, cannot at once rise to that pitch where he comprehends life without them. In one way it is not correct, it is not right to conceive God who is all-powerful together with the conception of another personality, an opposite power, calling it devil. On the other hand it would puzzle a believer in God, who considers God all good and all beautiful, when he knew that also all that is bad or evil is contained in God. Besides, a devotee, a worshipper of God, whose object is to raise by devotion and worship his ideal of God as high as he can, is hindered in his effort by being made to see that all that he considers wicked and ugly also belongs to God’s part. On the other hand one has diminished God, making Him limited, producing before Him a power that—if not equal—exists as a power opposite to God. No doubt whichever method the wise of the world have taken to guide humanity, whether with the limited idea of God opposed by another power, Satan, or with the other idea that God is all-powerful, the only Being, it has always been wisdom’s work to bring man to that pitch where he can understand life more perfectly. No doubt when we give a place to a power for wrong, for evil, when we picture it as a personality and call it a devil, we certainly limit the power of the One whom we always call almighty. Nevertheless, it is picturesque, it is more comprehensible and tangible to believe in the God of good and in the Lord of evil. As to the idea of what is called heaven and hell — for our comprehension these are two places: one where a person is punished, the other where he is exalted, where he is happy, where he is rewarded. This idea is clear, but where do we experience all unhappiness and sorrow and discomfort, and where do we experience all pleasure and happiness and joy? Is it not on the same earth? It is under the same sun. This explains to us that those two places were shown to us as different because we are capable only of seeing them as two different places. The wise of the world, at any time of the world’s civilization, could not do better than to make the subtle ideas of life as simple and comprehensible to man as possible. For instance, if I were to say that the world of thought and the world of action are different, it would be true. Yet it is the same world in which we live — call it the world of
ALL IMAGES OF MURSHID: from stock images
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thought — and the very world in which we live is the world of action. It is not only how it is said, but it is also how we look at it. What is said is not wrong but, if we look wrongly at it, it can be wrong. It is not disbelieving in things that is wrong, but believing wrongly is even worse than disbelief. It is the understanding of all things from every point of view which enlightens, not refusing to believe them or to believe them simply. Cannot one’s own mind be turned from hell to heaven and from heaven to hell? Cannot one’s own life’s situation be turned from hell to heaven and from heaven to hell? It is here where one sees the difference and at the same time the oneness of the two. Now we come to what people call sin and virtue. In all ages they have pointed out, ‘This particular thing is sin, that particular thing is virtue.’ Whenever the wise have done it they have done it rightly, and yet they differ from one another. If a greater light is thrown upon this subject it is possible to view sin in the light of sin and also to view sin in the light of virtue. Very often one can also see that under the cover of virtue there was a sin, and under the cover of sin there was a virtue.
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Sacred Reading: Pairs of Opposites
from v. XIV, The Smiling Forehead, pt. II, chap. 12 When people came to Christ accusing a person of wrongdoing, the Master did not think of anything else but forgiveness, for he did not see in that person what the others saw. Looking at right and wrong is not the work of an ordinary mind, and it is amusing that the more ignorant a person, the more ready he is to distinguish between right and wrong. Very often it is the angle from which we view a thing that makes it right or wrong, and therefore the very thing that we would call wrong, if we were able to see it from different angles, we would call right at the same time. When people say that they distinguish between right and wrong by their results, even then they cannot be sure if in the punishment there was not a reward, or in the reward a punishment. What does this show us? It shows us that life is a puzzle of duality. The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, ‘This is this, and that is that.’ At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought.
Seeing the nature and character of life the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings. You may believe that the world has evolved, that humanity has always evolved, or you may believe that it has gone up and then down, going round and round in circles, or whatever may be your belief. But in whatever age the wise were born, they have always believed the same: that behind all is oneness, and in the understanding of that oneness is wisdom. A person who awakens to the spirit of unity, a person who sees the oneness behind all things, his point of view becomes different and his attitude therefore changes. He no longer says to his friend, ‘I love you because you are my friend’; he says, ‘I love you because you are myself.’ He says, as a mystic would say, ‘Whether you have done wrong or whether I have done wrong, it does not matter. What is wanted is to right the wrong.’
Mass upon the altar of the world Christ of glory, hidden power stirring in the heart of matter, glowing centre in which the unnumbered strands of the manifold are knit together; strength inexorable as the world and warm as life; you whose brow is of snow, whose eyes are of fire, whose feet are more dazzling than gold poured from the furnace; you whose hands hold captive the stars; you, the first and the last, the living, the dead, the re-born; you, who gather up in your superabundant oneness every delight, every taste, every energy, every phase of existence, to you my being cries out with a longing as vast as the universe: for you indeed are my Lord and my God. Taken from Le Milieu Divin, London: Fount. 1980, p. 26.
ALL IMAGES ON THIS PAGE: from Google images
a poem by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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Universal Worship on the topic of ‘the Only Being’ Readings from Hamida Janice We read from the Hindu scriptures, the Bhagavad Ghita Thirteenth discourse – Matter and Spirit v. 17 The light even of lights, that is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge, the Knowable, the Goal of Knowledge. It is implanted in the heart of everyone.
We read from the Buddhist scriptures, the Dhammapada Antithesis Just as firefilies appear until the sun begins to shine, And when the sun is shining, turn dowdy and do not appear, so too philosophers appear Until the Ones gone thus start to shine, and when the Universal Buddha shines, Those philosophers with their listeners do not show up.
We read from the Christian scriptures, the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, Ch 1 v. 3-5 Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of forty days and taught them about the kingdom of God. He told them, ‘John, as you know, baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit, and within the next few days’.
We read from the scriptures of Islam, the Holy Qur’an Ever this eternal light of Unity, this mystic light of God’s own Will, shines with undiminished spendour. The message was delivered according to the needs of the times and the understanding of the people; but all nations witnessed to the one Truth of God’s unity, might, grace and love.
We read from the Gayan Prayer for Peace O Thou, the almight sun,
We read from the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Gospel of Zarathustra
whose light cleareth away all clouds,
we take refuge in thee,
Catechism
King of all people,
What is Ahunavairya?This is the Divine Word,
God of all dieties,
The perfect expression of God’s will, which is that Law of perfect Righteousness
Lord of all angels.
Uttered by God before creation as the basis of all manifested being.
We pray thee dispel the mists of illusion
From the hearts of all nations
And lift their lives by thy all sufficient power.
We read from the Hebrew scriptures, the Tanakh
Pour upon them
The Song of Songs v 1-3
Thy limitless love,
Oh, give me the kisses of your mouth, For your love is more delightful than wine,
Thy ever-shining light,
Thy everlasting life,
Thy heavenly joy and
Thy perfect peace.
Your ointments yield a sweet fragrance, your name is like the finest oil.
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Universal Worship on the topic of ‘the Only Being’ Homily by Hamida Janice Commemorating Murshid Sharif Jansen For Urs 9 December 1999 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.
Beloved Ones of God, ‘Light’, ‘heart’, ‘God’s will’, ‘righteousness’, ‘love’, ‘grace’, ‘Holy Spirit’, ‘perfect peace’, ‘The one truth of God’s unity’, ‘The Only Being’. These are some of the key words of [the] readings: words with deep meaning that fit perfection with the purpose of [this] Universal Worship. The purpose of this special service is to commemorate the 9th Urs of Murshid Sharif. When I think of Murshid Sharif, I think of God. The Religious Gatheka I’m about to read is titled ‘Prayer’ and saying our prayers and praising God brings us bliss, because prayer brings us closer to God. To use some of Murshid Sharif’s words: ‘prayers create the pearls of life’; ‘whatever brings us closer to God is good’; and ‘God knows best’. Religious Gatheka – Prayer Often mankind thinks: Since God is the knower of the heart of every man, what does it matter if prayer is recited and gestures or action made? Would it not be sufficient if one sat in silence and thought of God? And the answer is that it is according to the extent of your consciousness of prayer that your prayer reaches God. If your body is silent and only your mind working, part of your being is praying and part is not, for you are constituted of both mind and body. Therefore, when the mind is praying, the body must pray too, to make it complete. In reality, God is within you, and as he is within you, you are the instrument of God and through you, God experiences the external world and you are the best instrument of conveying yourself to God. Therefore, your thought, action and word makes prayer complete. Then there is another idea. The next question is: when God already knows what we want, what is good for us, what we need, why should we ask Him for it? He knows it. For this, in the first place, I would quote Christ’s words: ‘Knock and it shall be opened unto you; ask and ye shall receive.’ In
other words, Christ knows your need, He knows what you want, but your want becomes clear when it is expressed not by the mind, or the body only, but by your own being. That is the secret. The[re is a] question: ‘Why does God need praise from us? Who are we that we should praise God?’ [These questions are] answered thus: We can never praise Him enough, our praise can never be sufficient. But, at the same time, our soul is blessed with the impression of the Glory of God whenever we praise Him. The soul could praise God every moment and yet be wanting to praise Him more. It is constantly hungering and thirsting to find the perfection of beauty. When to our utmost we praise the beauty of God, our soul is filled with bliss. Even to utter the name of God is a bliss which fills the soul with light and joy and happiness as nothing else can.
Murshid Sharif was a Sufi day and night. His contact with mureeds was soul-to-soul. He wanted nothing from them other than for their love of God to widen and expand their hearts. He was a caring and loving Sufi Murshid to his mureeds; a Murshid who only wanted his mureeds to grow towards God, and prayer was stressed for each and every person. His whole heart was in it. This was his gift. He was a very understanding person. Soon after migrating to Australia in 1951, he held regular Universal Worships long before his first mureed came. Then one person came, then a few, then many more. It was important for Murshid Sharif to share the wisdom that had always guided his life during many, many hardships. Being a prisoner of war was one of those hardships. The gift, the wisdom of Sufism, was the guidance in his life from when he was a very young man. The living Sufi Masters, and also the ones who had passed on, helped Murshid throughout his life. He always felt something in his life that helped and guided him. Before he left this plane, Murshid passed it on by the way of his ‘Little Stars’. Murshid was very musical and artistic. He gave a gift; he gave untold gifts. At the end of his life, he gave a gifts to his mureeds: folders with the ‘Little Stars’ printed within. Murshid’s gospel truth is given in ‘Little Stars’. I’d planned to read one of the ‘Little Stars’ from the folders to you and, when I arrived tonight, I found I had left the folder at home. I could only say ‘God knows’.
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Murshid constantly reminded us that God knows and repeatedly said: ‘Always do your best and leave the rest to God. God knows.’ I was late for a client today because my watch had stopped. I began to worry and then said to myself, ‘God knows’. When I rang the client, she told me the handyman was there. God was in control and God knows best. As I said before, Murshid Sharif’s whole heart was in his Sufi life, and his connection with his mureeds was soul-to-soul. He changed my heart and my life. He touched the lives and hearts of all his mureeds, some in different ways to others. We place his photo behind the altar because he was behind the Universal Worship in Australia. He brought us to God. My love and appreciation will always be with him. Thank you, Murshid Sharif. Thank you. This homily was given by Hamida Janice on Monday 6 December 1999 for the occasion of the 9th anniversary (Urs) of Murshid Sharif Jansen (9 December 1999) at the Unitarian Church, Francis Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney.
a poem by Bibi Hayati Bibi Hayati was born in a province of Persia in what is now Iraq. She was brought up in a Sufi community and became a disciple and then wife of the Sufi Master Nur’ Ali Shah. Her poetry reflects the Sufi belief of the universal transcendence of the Divine. She alludes to how the the Beloved shines in and through the many things of the world. Before there was a trace of this world of men, I carried the memory of a lock of your hair, A stray end gathered within me, though unknown. Inside that invisible realm, Your face like the sun longed to be seen, Until each separate object was finally flung into light. From the moment of Time’s first-drawn breath, Love resides in us, A treasure locked into the heart’s hidden vault; Before the first seed broke open the rose bed of Being, An inner lark soared through your meadows, Heading toward Home. What can I do but thank you, one hundred times? Your face illumines the shrine of Hayati’s eyes, Constantly present and lovely. Poem retrieved from http://www.poetseers.org/index.html and contributed by Ananda Bernadette Hogan
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FLOWER IMAGE: from Azad Daly
Universal Worship on the topic of ‘the Only Being’
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Undressing the Ego a poem by Elif Sezen Craving for what? Pain of joyful parties? —No thanks! Laughter of a gypsy from another lifetime? —Put it aside, will recall it if I need it
Just like this, you are opening and closing the gates of existence. On the most dismissed territory of the cosmos a door is trembling, yes! You like the way it is not owned by anyone else. It is your toy-like metronome, balancing out the extremities of parallel worlds, threading two amnesiac minds with a promise… It is your newly set alarm clock, delighted to undress the ego and retune the intellect
Blissed out? It is time now. You will be sent back to be forgiven as equal as rocks, cactuses, as neglecting parents You will hear that sound blowing through your bone marrows: the sweet whoosh of nothingness,
it will remind you of your own whistle.
Note: ‘Undressing the ego’ appeared in Buddhist Poetry Review, Issue Eleven, 2013
METRONOME IMAGE from Google images
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Sufi Lessons (part 2 of 5) by Nur Al-Alam Sufi lessons1 that we can learn from the story of Prophet Joseph (pbuh2) in the Qur’an and Bible
2nd Lesson – Trust in dreams and inspirations (ilham) from God
This article is continued from part 1 in the previous issue (Volume 18, issue 3).
‘Dreams and inspirations are open proofs of the higher world... Inspiration (ilham) is the inner light which reflects itself upon the heart of man; the purer the heart is from rust, like a clean mirror, the more clearly inspiration can be reflected in it’.3 – Hazrat Inayat Khan
‘God deposited within man knowledge of all things, then prevented him from perceiving what He had deposited within him … No one knows what is within himself until it is unveiled to him instant by instant…If, descent is an in-blowing, then this is inspiration (ilham )… if he is shown the tenuity as an imaginal man or the form of an animal that addresses him with what it has brought for him, then if he is a Friend of God, he places it next to the Book and Sunnah. If it conforms to them, he sees it as an address (unveiling) which is true and a bestowal of honour, nothing else.’ 4 – Ibn Arabi In these quotations, Hazrat Inayat Khan and Hazrat Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi spoke about the spiritual dreams and inspirations (ilham) which unveils the encoded messages needed by the spiritual traveller in the wilderness of unknowing through which the seeker travels. This is the topic discussed in Part 2 of this series of articles. In addition, the virtue of patience will also be discussed in reference to the Prophet Joseph stories. In part 1 of the Sufi lessons1 from the ‘Wisdom of the Prophets’, I focused on the Prophets Jacob and Joseph (peace be upon them) and I covered the lesson on human ego (nafs). I illustrated through these prophetic stories how our animal self (nafs-al-ammārah) incites us to do evil deeds, how jealousy/envy corrupts a human soul, and how arrogance/egotism blinds our soul from seeing the glory of God everywhere.
[Please note - I am not trying to teach anyone or give lesson to anyone but myself. In reply to a question on publishing an article or poetry I wrote before, my beloved Murshid told me, we write for none but ourselves. So it doesn’t matter whether it is published or not published or read by anyone etc. As mentioned in part 1 of my article in this series, I was inspired to write this series after watching the TV Series5 on the Prophet Joseph.]
IMAGES on these pages from Google Images
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2a. How God communicates to every soul via dreams to convey messages useful to him/her or useful to the community he/she lives in. In the story of Prophet Joseph (pbuh) and Prophet Jacob (pbuh), the following dream stories were mentioned: Prophet Joseph’s dream – He saw eleven stars and the Sun and Moon prostrating before him. Prophet Jacob interpreted the dream and advised his son (Joseph –pbuh) that God had selected him as the next prophet and that God would raise him (Prophet Joseph) to a high rank with an honourable position in this earthly life one day. At this time, his eleven brothers (symbolised as stars) and his parents (symbolised as the Sun and Moon) will prostrate before him to express the Glory of God, the most High. Prophet Jacob’s dream – He saw wolves chasing a young boy whose build resembled the young Joseph. The wolves were pushed to the edge of a cliff and later fell over it. In his interpretation, Prophet Jacob told his wife that a calamity was going to befall his family soon. He said, ‘God doesn’t want anything bad for his servants, but his servants collude with Satan and deceive each other.’ Prison inmates’ dreams – Two young men happened to go to prison at the same time as Prophet Joseph. One of them said: ‘Behold, I saw myself [in a dream] pressing wine.’ And the other said: ‘Behold, I saw myself [in a dream] carrying bread on my head, and birds were eating thereof.’ [Qur’an 12:36]. They approached Prophet Joseph and asked him what interpretations were there in the encoded messages they received in their dreams. Prophet Joseph said, ‘O my companions in imprisonment, [I shall tell you the meaning of your dreams:] as for one of you two, he will [again] give his lord [the King] wine to drink; but as for the other, he will be crucified, and birds will eat off his head.
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Sufi Lessons (part 2 of 5) [But whatever be your future,] the matter on which you have asked me to enlighten you has already been decided [by God] [Qur’an 12:41].’ King Pharaoh’s dream – He saw ‘seven fat cows being devoured by seven emaciated ones, and seven green ears [of wheat] next to [seven] others that were withered’. No one in the King’s court could interpret this dream, so he sent for Prophet Joseph who advised that the country would face seven years of prosperity and seven years of famine. He added: ‘You shall sow for seven years as usual; but let all [the grain] that you harvest remain [untouched] in its ear, excepting only a little, where of you may eat: for, after that [period of seven good years] there will come seven hard [years] which will devour all that you shall have laid up for them, excepting only a little of that which you shall have kept in store. [Qur’an 12:47-48]’. Thus he saved the entire population of the region from the catastrophe of famine.
The interesting part for me was that I was awakened to find a new truth about my own psyche when I watched this TV series5 on Prophet Joseph. Like any other westernminded science-educated person, I was conditioned to ignore all dreams since my younger years. Although I was born in a Muslim family and my parents did have a deep belief in their dreams, I rejected their notion of trusting in dreams. As a result, I ignored and slowly lost any capability to remember my dreams, let alone looking for any meaning from them. I was influenced by school teachers and other modern-minded writers and TV shows etc., believing that dreams are just fantasies of the human mind and a total reflection of what we do during our day time. There is [no point] to remember or to look for any inner meanings from dreams. From the examples given above, you will see that you do not have to be a prophet or saint to have a meaningful dream. You can be anyone who is totally drowned in earthly and material life, or can be a criminal like those prisoners, or even a king who is not very spiritual. You just need to be a human being and willing to listen or
allow your soul to manifest the inner light (in the form of a dream) so that it can be guided towards the Truth. According to Naqshbandi Sufi Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, ‘Dreams are stories of our inner life … amidst the seeming distortions, in the myriad of reflections, they offer us a single thread of our own story’, which he calls ‘a Golden Thread’, ‘when we sleep, the outer world disappears. We are free to forget its illusions. We are free to hear the voice of our own longing, as it speaks to us in our dreams, telling us the stories of our innermost self, a self we have often forgotten and disowned’.6 So the lesson is to trust and remember your dreams and explore the message God is conveying to you. 2b. How the divine voice comes from within and guides each and every human soul This lesson is about trusting the inner voice and understanding how God communicates through our intuition faculty. In the case of Prophet Joseph, he lived a life of surrender and trusted his intuition, and sought help from God whenever he fell into troubles, inflictions or tribulations. For example, when his brothers threw him into the darkness of the deep well, he stayed there, [remaining] calm and keeping his spirits high. [He] trusted that God’s help would come at a suitable time. He did not curse his brothers or allow his mind and soul to be corrupted with hatred for them, but prayed to God, seeking help. So he was blessed with a vision with the inner knowing that God will one day give him an opportunity to remind his brothers about the bad deeds they were doing. God said in the Qur’an: ‘And We revealed [this] unto him: Thou wilt yet remind them of their deed at a time when they shall not perceive [who thou art]’. [12:15] You will find many more examples of such inspirations (ilham) in life events of both prophets. Another example could be when Prophet Joseph was inspired to make his brother Benjamin a fake thief so that he could help himself and his father simultaneously. Prophet Joseph explained his action to Benjamin and clarified that God had inspired him to do such trickery with his brothers so that Prophet Jacob could be tested by God with a sacrifice and [hence show] full detachment from his affection toward his younger sons. This is an interesting twist in the Prophet Joseph story, which is, in my opinion, a kind of paradox similar to that of actions by Khidir in front of Moses. If you have watched the series, you will know that Prophet Joseph felt [uncomfortable] when he received this inspiration, but when he compared this trickery with a previous incident that happened with his father, the Prophet Jacob, where he himself pretended to be a thief, he felt good and tranquil about accepting this inspiration to trick his brother.
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Sufi Lessons (part 2 of 5) Hazrat Inayat Khan provided extensive details on dreams and inspirations that come from God [as guidance]. According to him, ‘Inspirations are more easily reflected upon spiritual persons than upon material ones. Inspiration is the inner light which reflects itself upon the heart of man. … Some are born with an inspirational gift, and to some it appears after their development. The higher the development in spirituality, the greater the capacity for inspiration, yet the gift of inspiration is not constant; as the saying of Muhammad declares, “Inspirations are enclosed as well as disclosed at times; they appear according to the will of Allah, the only Knower of the unknown”.’7 HIK teaching of ‘The higher the development in spirituality, the greater the capacity for inspiration’ is [echoed] in the following Qur’anic verse: ‘Consider the human soul, how it is formed with perfect proportion. How inspiration (ilham) is provided with moral failings and God consciousness’ ( Qur’an 91:7-8). This verse illustrates the inspiration that ‘moral failings i.e. bad deeds’ can come from the ego-self (lower self – nafs al-ammarah), but as HIK said, if the nafs is developed to a higher level of spirituality, then it will receive true inspiration. There are many Qur’anic verses and Hadiths confirming that inspiration (ilham) is bestowed as a gift upon believers and saints. About this invaluable gift, [it is] said that the Prophet Joseph himself prayed: ‘O my Sustainer! Thou hast indeed bestowed upon me something of power, and hast imparted unto me some knowledge of the inner meaning of happenings.’ [Qur’an, 12:101]. In another verse Allah said, ‘He gives wisdom to whomever He will and whoever receives wisdom receives immense good.’ (Qur’an, 2:269). Also Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, ‘Take heed to the inner vision (firasa) of the believer, for he sees with the light of Allah [Tirmidhi]’ Regarding inspirations (ilham) for a true seeker, according to Ibn Arabi, there can be a trial with false inspiration. This is why he said, ‘if he is shown the tenuity as an imaginal man or the form of an animal that addresses him with what it has brought for him, then if he is a Friend of God, he places it next to the Book and Sunnah (revealed scripture). If it conforms to them, he sees it as an address (unveiling) which is true and a bestowal of honour, nothing else … if it does not conform to the Book and the Sunnah, he sees it as addressing him with the truth, and a trial for him, without doubt.’4 So the lesson is to practice the message from Hazrat Inayat Khan’s sayings: ‘the purer the heart is from rust, like a clean mirror, the more clearly inspiration can be reflected in it’3; i.e. work with practices of Shukr, Zikr and Fikr8 so that the heart can be made purer from rust, like a clean mirror.
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3rd Lesson - Virtue of Patience (Sabr)
3a. How the virtue of patience was taught to (or practised by) the Prophet Israel (pbuh) In the story of the Prophet Israel, it is found that patience was the greatest prophetic virtue he practised throughout his life, leaving a great legacy of lessons for us, the followers of the prophetic path. He had to wait with great patience for 40 years before he could find and hug his beloved son Joseph. The Prophet Jacob (Israel) showed his greatest virtue when his sons presented to him the shirt of his beloved son Joseph with the stain of fake blood. This is what the Qur’an says, ‘And they produced his tunic with false blood upon it. [But Jacob] exclaimed: “Nay, but it is your [own] minds that have made [so terrible] a happening seem a matter of little account to you! But [as for myself,] patience in adversity is most goodly [in the sight of God]; and it is to God [alone] that I pray to give me strength to bear the misfortune which you have described to me.”’ [Qur’an, 12:18] The great message he conveyed to us, the Seekers of Truth, is that ‘patience in adversity is most goodly [in the sight of God]’. We saw that for 40 years, although his children never confessed their wrong-doings nor sought forgiveness from him or from God, he secluded himself in a hut, withdrawn from worldly life, and patiently waited with hope that one day he would meet his son. Patience is the highest station of a Sufi, the spiritual traveller on the path of Truth. That’s why Hazrat Inayat Khan emphasised this virtue in at least 340 pages of his writings, and in some pages he used this word ‘patience’ more than 21 times. Here is what Hazrat Inayat Khan said about ‘Patience’ in one of his Gatha lectures in Volume VIII: ‘The third thing that prevents our attaining our wish is lack of patience.
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Sufi Lessons (part 2 of 5) Very many surahs of the Quran begin, “O men of patience”. By this we see what importance patience has. Patience strengthens the will, it makes all attainment possible. The lack of patience makes people commit suicide, it makes them call for death to come, it makes them become lunatic. Patience is needed in all relations of life, in all things, patience with the servant, with your inferior, with your wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, thinking that he or she may improve and may become your ideal, patience with your friend. And patience is fed on hope. It stands on the feet of hope. As long as there is hope, there is patience, and when hope is gone, then there is no more patience; we say, “I have no more patience, it is finished”.’9 Here in this quote, Hazrat Inayat Khan linked ‘Patience’ with ‘Hope’, which is [also found] in the teaching of the Prophet Israel. Here is the verse in the Qur’an where he said ‘[Hence,] O my sons, go forth and try to obtain some tidings of Joseph and his brother; and do not lose hope of God’s life-giving mercy: verily, none but people who deny the truth can ever lose hope of God’s life-giving mercy.’[Qur’an, 12:87] As such, the lesson for a Sufi is to cultivate the virtue of Patience and Hope in every sphere of life. 3b. How the virtue of patience was taught to (or practised by) the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) In the story of the Prophet Joseph, it is found that practicing ‘patience’ is a very bitter virtue, but he showed through living it that if you could sustain [a high] level of patience then the Most Supreme Almighty will definitely reward you with fruits sweeter than anything in the world. The Qur’an says, ‘O YOU who have attained to faith! Seek help with steadfast patience and prayer; for Allah is with those who patiently persevere’. [Qur’an 2:153] The Prophet Joseph was a living example of how to internalise the teachings in this verse [2:153]. When he was thrown into the deep darkness of the well, although young and tender at that time of his life, he became very brave and constantly prayed to God with whatever he had learnt from his beloved father and the prophet of his time, Prophet Jacob. He patiently awaited for many hours and days for ‘God’s help’ to come. When finally he was lifted by the Caravan people from Egypt, and sold as a slave by his own brothers, he patiently absorbed the pain of suffering from the betrayal by his brothers and willingly accepted the path of slavehood by giving ‘willing surrender’ to God. Rumi says, ‘As Joseph at the bottom of the well listened to the end of his story, so such listeners understand success and failure as one thing.’10
In this line, Rumi highlights how Joseph inspired Ayaz, the King’s Servant who crushed the pearls at the order of the King, by valuing the word of the King over the value of the pearls. Rumi cites Joseph’s story by describing Joseph as such an inspiring soul that he listened to his inner heart, surrendering to God the moment he was thrown into the well. He understood that you have to accept ‘success and failure as one thing’ once you ARE thrown into calamity and you have to surrender willingly at the Hand of God. There are many other anecdotes where the Prophet Joseph showed his highest station of ‘Patience and Perseverance’. For example, when he was thrown into jail and he had to spend 30 years of his life there; he accepted it as the WILL of God and patiently waited for his dream to come true. As such, the lesson for a Sufi is to cultivate the virtue of Patience and Hope in such a way that we can aim to achieve the highest level of faith such as the Prophet Joseph achieved: the ‘ilmul yaqin (the knowledge of certainty) and ‘ainul yaqin (the eye of certainty). To be continued in the next issue
Endnotes 1
The reason I named this article ‘Sufi lessons’ is that true Sufis find the taste (Dhawk) in everything in life; they feel the sweetness (Halua) of life wherever they are and whatever they do. So when they watch or read about the lives of Prophets or Saints, they obtain that Halua (sweetness) in their characters, in their actions; [it becomes a] perfume in their hearts. The lessons mentioned here, therefore, are relevant more for Sufis than others.
2
pbuh – peace be upon him – this is as per the Muslim practice of saying ‘Alaihi as-Salam’ in Arabic, to show respect and also, to earn blessings for ourselves, by sending peace and greetings to prophets, as per the Qur’an (verse 33:56)
3 A Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty - London 1914, Part1, Volume V, Hazrat Inayat Khan. http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_1.htm 4
Ibn al-Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination, THE SUFI PATH of KNOWLEDGE, William C. Chittick, Page-154 and Page-262, SUNY Press, 1989
5 Prophet Joseph – TV Series Episode 01, (English Dubbing); https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=KN3sVaq7t3s, Le Prophète Youssef (Joseph) (French dubbing) : Episode 1; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZer7t7YxE 6
In Companion of Friends: Dreamwork within a Sufi Group, Golden Sufi Centre 1994, Llwellyn Vaughn-Lee, P-1
7 A Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty - London 1914, Part1, Volume V, Hazrat Inayat Khan. http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_1.htm 8 For Thankfulness/Shukr practices, please refer to the article “Zikr, Shukr, Fikr : Efficacy of these very powerful Sufi practices (Part 2 of 3)”, by Nur Al-Alam, published in http://issuu.com/euandros/docs/spirit_matters_spring_summer_2013 9 Sufi Teachings, Volume XIII - The Gathas, Part VII, Tasawwuf: Metaphysics, GATHA I, published by Motilal Banarsidass, 2007, http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/ XIII_19.htm 10
Rumi: The Book of Love, Coleman Barks, Harper Collins, eBook, Page-154
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Beginning a poem by Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss
When we begin when we create at first we are empty and open – we enter the great void of the cosmic Mother’s womb that place of deep deep darkness the place of great emptiness that place where nothing can exist for only out of emptiness can we connect to spirit for only in the emptiness can we feel our full potential for only then can spirit flow through us and the creative spark be kindled into flame so we burn with passion with love
with life and from that fire beauty is born for fire is the dance of creation like Shiva and Shakti dancing their love making dance in the circle of flames when we begin we create in emptiness
July 2014. Taken from Arjuna’s blog: http://www.socialecologysydney.net.au/?page_id=241 SHIVA & SHAKTI IMAGE: Google Images
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Upcoming Retreat at the Dargah: The Spirit of Guidance
The Spirit of Guidance is like the yeast, which is used to make bread, preparing humanity for the purpose for which it was created. The Spirit of Guidance is a plant that grows and blossoms when it meets with response and care; and when it is watered by the rainfall of divine inspiration it blooms in the light of the divine sun. In the Spirit of Guidance one finds a living God active in the heart of every person.
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Spreading the Sufi Message in Australia by Zubin Leonie Shore In the spring of 1992, Australian mureeds celebrated when Pir O Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan and Murshida Aziza visited Sydney, Australia. The visitors indicated that they would continue on to Adelaide to visit Professor Junius, whom they had heard play sitar at a concert in Germany the previous year. At that time, Professor Acharya Manfred Junius and Dr Krishna Kumar were well known in Adelaide. A public meeting was arranged at the Theosophical Society and after a brief introduction, Manfred and Krishna (on sitar and tabla respectively) captivated all present with Todi Desh (the raga to Springtime). Murshid Hidayat praised the performance and said that he was greatly reminded of his great grandfather Maula Bhakhsh, grandfather of Hazrat Inayat Khan, who was also a genius of Indian music. Murshid Hidayat then gave an inspiring talk on the religion of the heart, and many such talks, media interviews, Universal Worship and initiations followed that week. On the eve of his departure, Murshid Hidayat announced that he had initiated Professor Junius with the name of his great grandfather. For more than ten years thereafter, Maula Bakhsh Junius led the Zikr of Hazrat Inayat Khan to a very appreciative Sufi group, until his passing in early 2004. The following extracts are from the Australasian Association of Ayurveda Newsletter special edition tribute published by Dr Krishna Kumar in July-August 2004.
Manfred Heinrich Junius, also known to many in India and around the world as Professor Michael Junius, passed away on the 8th March 2004. The news of his death brought a shock wave around the world, as he had colleagues and students all over the world in music, ayurvedic medicine, alchemy and astrology. Professor Junius was a multi-talented person; he was truly, as could be described in the Italian Renaissance terminology, “Uomo Universale”, a Universal Man. He was an excellent musician, a dancer, a film actor, an ayurvedic physician, an alchemist, a philosopher, a linguist (Prof. Junius knew 14 languages including classical Latin, Greek and Sanskrit), a spiritual leader, a chemist, an astrologer, a painter, and an author. Whatever he did, he excelled in it; he was a pioneer and established a high standard. As he was conversant in both the Eastern and the Western forms of art and culture he made his life’s mission to bring these two cultures together in harmony, particularly through his contributions in Ayurveda, Music and Alchemy In ayurvedic medicine, he was a pioneer in Australia, setting up a high standard of education together with Vaidya Bhagwan Dash and Dr. Krishna Kumar. As a result Australia is the only country in the Western world where ayurvedic medicine is recognised on the national level as a bona-fide system of health care. In 1979 when he migrated to Australia together with Dr. Krishna Kumar and his family, they established a herbal manufacturing venture to produce natural herbal products according to the ancient Spagyric tradition of which Prof. Junius was a master; his book “The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy” has become a text and a reference book for the modern alchemists; the original was written in Italian in Italy titled the “AlchemiaVerde, Spagyrica Vegetale”. Since then it has been re-edited and been translated in many languages. As a musician Prof. Junius was the first non-Indian to achieve one of the highest Indian titles in classical Indian music, the “Sangeetacharya” from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad, India, and played classical Indian music alongside Pandit Ravi Shankar, Chaturlal, Alla Rakha Khan, Gudai Maharaj, Kanthe Maharaj, Bhimsen Joshi, Hidayat Khan, and others. His interest in Indian dance and music was aroused when he went to Spain as a young man where he joined the Spanish National Ballet Company as a dancer and saw the oriental influence in the Spanish dances.
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Spreading the Sufi Message in Australia After 3 years in Spain he went back to England where he came in contact with North Indian Kathak dance. He was fascinated by the grace and expression of the Kathak dance form, he studied Kathak for a short period in London but then he felt an urge to go to the source. His teacher directed him to go to Shantiniketan, the University established by the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, dedicated to the Indian arts and sciences. However, when he enquired about joining the Kathak dance course, he was told that at the time there was no enrolment in Kathak as there was no teacher in the subject available. He was greatly disappointed; nevertheless he was offered a place in the course of Sitar playing. He enrolled himself to study Sitar with his beloved teacher Sushil Bhanja, whom he affectionately called Sushil Da. He felt he had found an ideal means of musical expression. Very soon he mastered the instrument through hard work, often practicing 8-10 hours a day, which led him to study the Surbahar, the bigger brother of Sitar. Life in Shantiniketan was very simple, classes were held outdoors in nature, very often under a mango or a banyan tree; the pursuit of knowledge was the main source of entertainment besides attending some students’ activities. He learned Bengali language and became fluent in it as if he were a native and read Bengali literature in its original form. As he was very popular in Shantiniketan his friends had difficulties in pronouncing his name ‘Manfred’, so he was given the name ‘Michael’, and since then he became known as Michael Junius. Being an artist he came in contact with the Indian aesthetics that led him to Indian philosophy. He was fascinated by it and felt, ‘he was in an ocean and his insatiable thirst for knowledge was such that as he drank more he became more thirsty.’ In 1958 he was offered a teaching position at the University of Allahabad in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature teaching German where later he became an Assistant Professor. By that time he was invited to play public concerts as a Surbaharist. Pandit Ravi Shankar recognised his talent and invited him to his home in Bombay during the University breaks and gave him private lessons in the real Guru-Shishya tradition. During this time Manfred (Michael) also had the opportunity to learn Surbahar from Mrs. Annapurna Shankar, then the wife of Ravi Shankar who was herself an expert of Surbahar.
Michael became well known as a Surbaharist all over the country and was invited to play in prestigious concert events such as the Rampur Music Festival, Prayag Sangeet Sammelan etc with enthusiastic reviews in the Newspapers at times describing him as the ‘Bharatiya Sangeet Ka Videshi Jadugar’ meaning, the Foreign Magician of Indian Music. In 1965 he graduated with the Degree of Sangeet Praveen ‘Master of Indian Music’ and in 1972 completed this PhD thesis on Tala and Talya for his doctorate as ‘Sangeetacharya’. At the same time, never leaving his Western Music tradition, he gave public concerts playing the flute and the cello. He strongly felt that he was ideally placed to bridge the two cultures. In 1964 he was invited to read a paper and play a concert in the 1st East and West Music Congress held in New Delhi along with the renowned musicians and musicologists such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Yahudi Menuhin, Alain Danielou, Narayana Menon and others. In 1969 he went back to his home, West Berlin, gave lectures and played numerous concerts with very appreciative reviews. IMAGES ON THESE PAGES: Supplied by Zubin Shore
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Spreading the Sufi Message in Australia In 1971 the International Institute of Comparative Music Studies and Documentation, a branch of the International Music Council of the UNESCO, called him, to compile and make records of Non-European music. During this period he also wrote an excellent book on the instrument, Sitar, of which he was an accomplished exponent. In 1973 Prof. Junius moved to Calabria, Southern Italy, with Dr. Krishna Kumar and his family, where he wrote a series of articles on music, and wrote a book in two volumes on Tala, the Indian rhythmic patterns, commissioned by the German Research Council Prior to migrating to Australia in 1979 he played numerous concerts in the Continent from Stockholm to Sicily accompanied by Dr. Krishna Kumar and Mr. Shankar Chatterjee on the Tabla and the Pakhawaj. After migrating to Australia he gave concerts in Sydney Opera house and gave public concerts in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
Since attending Maula Bakhsh’ 10th anniversary memorial service in March 2014, I often recall the experience of visiting Maula Bakhsh Junius: ring the door bell, be greeted warmly, and after some discussion and Sufi practice, leave, grateful for the blessing of the meeting. What was the key to the feeling of being blessed with each visit? When Krishna said at the memorial service, ‘Michael’s very presence was healing’, everyone present nodded agreement. Murshid Hidayat offered an insight into alchemy and the Sufi Message in his welcome to friends at the Federation retreat in Netherlands this year. He said ‘the “Alchemy of Happiness” has always been known in fairytales, where a magic formula is used to turn base metal into gold, symbolising so beautifully the principle whereby deep consideration is given to the importance of transforming one’s own ego into a humble attitude.’ Perhaps this is why Professor Maula Bakhsh Junius’s very presence was healing; because with all his great achievements he had such a humble attitude.
He was also an inspiration behind the formation of the Indo-fusion Jazz group called the Indian Pacific Quintet, combining the Indian classical music and Jazz. As an alchemist Prof. Junius is considered to have been one of the greatest alchemists of his time, certain things, which he accomplished in alchemy, had not been done since many hundred years. According to Mr. Guy Ogilvy, a prominent English alchemist, ‘His successful completion of the Circulatum Minus was the single greatest breakthrough in classical Western alchemy for decades; in fact no one is known to have completed this notoriously difficult work since Urbigenus in the 1690s.’
Upcoming Event - Summer School - Holland Details about the International Sufi Movement Summer School are now available. Summer School will be held at the Universal Murad Hassil, Katwijk, The Netherlands July 10-26, 2015 The topic is ‘Unity in Diversity’ ‘There is One Individual hidden behind many individuals; There is One Person shining through all personalities.’ Information can be obtained from www.soefi.nl/zomerschool Registration should be made before 1 June 2015.
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The Garden a poem by Rumi Artwork by Chamanafroz
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Universal Worship by Z. J. Van Ingen-Jalgersma Excerpts from the full article have been taken, with permission, from the Sufi Quarterly Autumn 1950 Special International Issue. Contribution from Zubin Leonie Shore.
When in the present time in the midst of chaos and decay, we look back to the time when Inayat Khan offered his teachings to the West, we are bound to admit that at that time, Inayat Khan has with profound insight understood and laid bare the spiritual condition of the world and that his teachings contain the remedy for the spiritual illness of his day. The Sufi message is a message of Unity which tries to unite East and West, even the whole of humanity, in the fatherhood of God. Sufism, which in the east existed for centuries as an esoteric school, and which strives to attain the awakening to consciousness of man’s innermost being, was brought to the West by Inayat Khan and adapted to the wants and needs of the western world. Inayat Khan’s years of preaching were the years after the former world war and we might say that his voice was the voice of one calling in the wilderness. He has warned us of the approaching catastrophe, towards which humanity will inevitably be swept should we continue to move in the direction we have chosen. He has warned us against the extreme individualism that has led to the growth of egoism, which in its turn has brought an increase in materialism and commercialism. He has warned us against the spirit of intolerance which makes one man rise against another, causing the development of class warfare which culminates in the struggle between nations. He has warned us against the one sided intellectual and technical development, that keeps the deeper capacities of man from unfolding. Finally he has warned us against the decay of religion. Religion which is meant to penetrate our life in all its aspects, that religion has been forgotten by the vast majority of mankind. Inayat Khan’s teachings tell us that a happy and harmonious human community will only be possible when human life is rooted in religion; and the religion preached by him embraces all the religions that have been given to humanity throughout the different epochs.
It was Inayat Khan … who made this idea of unity the base of his Message. Inayat Khan gave to this universal idea the form adapted to the present time. The first purpose of the Sufi Movement has been defined as follows: ‘To realise and spread the knowledge of Unity, the religion of Love and Wisdom, so that the bias of faiths and beliefs may of itself fall away, the human heart may overflow with love and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences rooted out.’
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An achievement towards the realisation of this first object has been the founding of the Universal Worship, which contains all the living religions of today. We take it that this is sufficiently well known. There is a memory in Inayat Khan’s works, saying ‘Nothing new I say when I speak; I only renew the memory of things which may not be forgotten.’ And what is that which may not be forgotten? That which may not be forgotten is the eternal truth about God, about the soul of man, and about the relationship between the human soul and God and how man can satisfy that very deepest longing, ie the longing for God. According to the Sufi, this universal truth can be rediscovered in every religion. According to the Sufi, every religion leads to the same goal, which is the realisation of God. Sufism is not a new religion – it does not want to add another religion to those that already exist; but it is that wisdom and those teachings by which every religion has been inspired. Sufism, as we might say is the possibility to express the same thing in different ways. Sufism seeks for the essence of religion and it finally admits that the essence of every religion leads to that same eternal wisdom, although the form in which this wisdom manifests itself is adapted to the needs of that particular period. That is why, in Universal Worship, all Holy Scriptures can be found, thus acknowledging that there is one single wisdom, which has inspired all these holy books. The followers of the different religions will find their Holy Book with the Sufi. However this does not mean that the Sufi while acknowledging all the Holy Scriptures, also accepts the dogmas, teachings and confessions of every religion. Not in the least. Sufism is free from differences and distinctions, free from fixed laws and current opinions, so that man himself may decide with a free heart what is right for him and what is wrong, using the God-Ideal, living in his heart as a guiding principle. Therefore the cherag is not the representative of any religion or communion in particular. As Inayat Khan says, he is ‘the missionary of God’: to His Cause, to His Message, to His Love we devote our life and service. Not a community or a sect or a limited circle of humanity’. May the cherag be illuminated by this spirit, then he will answer to his name, because cherag means torch or link, which signifies lighted by God’s Message of Love Harmony and Beauty.
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Universal Worship A Universal Worship proceeding from a universal wisdom that manifests itself in the Holy Scriptures necessarily also accepts the unity of the Messengers, viz it is one and the same light which inspires all the Prophets. Here we meet with a moot point for the Christian believer, who might think we wrong Jesus Christ. But he who draws this conclusion has not understood our idea. We do not give less love and respect to Jesus by also giving our love and respect to other Prophets or Religions. We do not ask anyone to give up his devotion to Jesus Christ. Quite to the contrary we stimulate the Christian in his devotion for the Christian Saviour; we only add to it by saying to him: ‘Understand that the followers of another religion have the same respect and devotion for their Saviour. Do not blind yourself to the fact, but open your heart to it; your own religious ideal cannot but profit by it, like it is said by the Sufi: Allow us to recognise Thee in all Thy holy Names and Forms; as Rama, as Krishna, as Shiva, as Buddha; let us know Thee as Abraham, as Solomon, as Zarathustra, as Moses, as Jesus, as Mohammed, and in many other names and forms, known and unknown to the world.’ We do not lessen Christ, but we make Him wider and fuller by proclaiming the truth that the spirit of Christ has been and is and shall be; that it is the Alpha and Omega and that the Universal Light reveals itself through the founders of all the religions. By acknowledging the divine Light in all the Masters, we do not make them all equal. Inayat Khan says: ‘We human beings cannot judge which Prophet has been the greatest, and if there are any distinctions, four such distinctions are known. Abraham was called Habib Allah, the Friend of God; Moses was distinguished as Kalim Allah, the Word of God; Jesus was called Ruh Allah, the Spirit of God; and Mohammed was called Rassoul Allah, the Prophet of God.’ When people hear about the unity of religion, they will often make the following remark: ‘Whatever makes it possible for you to think that there should exist only one religion and that we should be able to give up the individuality of our own belief that is most appropriate for us?’ Sometimes people also say to me, ‘It seems to me that Sufism is a mixture of the existing thoughts; from everywhere something is taken – why is Christianity not sufficient for you?’ When this remark is made in the above fashion, it proves that people do not understand the activity which Universal Worship represents. Universality does not take some parts from this religion and some parts from that – Universality recognised the same innermost character in every religion and that is a totally different attitude from our making a mixture of the different religions. Neither is it true that we are bound to overlook the particular character of any given religion. There exists a great difference between uniformity and
unity. If we overlooked the particular character of every religion, if we tried to make all religions conform to the same pattern, then one could speak of uniformity. Uniformity is doomed, for there is no pulsating life in it. Life reveals itself in diversity, but it is a diversity that springs from unity. In the sphere of religion too, this is the ideal. It is wrong to say that one belief does not suffice us. Every Faith contains an eternal truth which holds good for all times. But there are periods in the history of the world where there exists a need to proclaim anew the eternal Truth in a form adapted to that specific period. There comes a time in world history when an urgent need is felt of a renewed contact with the Divine, a new descent of the same Spirit of Guidance, a new inspiration by the same Divine Light.
And to the experience of religion Inayat Khan has given a living interpretation. This interpretation is so vast and all embracing, that no one is excluded. The Master says: ‘Religion is something living in the soul, in the mind and in the heart of man, the absence of which keeps man as dead and the presence of which gives him life. And what is it? I call it life itself. When a person is thoughtful, when a person is considerate, when a person feels the obligations he has towards his fellow-men towards his friend, towards his father or mother, or in whatever relation he stands to man, it is something living, it is something like water which gives the sense of a living soul; the soul is not dead. It is this living soul which makes a person alive. And the person who is not conscious of this, the tenderness, the sacredness of life, he lives, but his soul is in the grave.You need not ask that man what his religion is, what his belief is, for he is living it; life itself is his religion and this is the true religion. The man conscious of honour, the man who has the sense of shame, who has the feeling of sincerity, whose sympathy, whose devotion is alive, that man is living, that man is religious.’
Beauty is an essential part of all ritual and ceremony. Without any doubt the attitude of the cherag is the most important thing, for this contributes to determine the inner working. But beautiful surroundings, in which thought has been given to detail, and where the objects in use are things of beauty, will certainly contribute to enhance its beauty. ‘O Thou Who art the Maker, Builder and Moulder of the Universe, Build with Thine own Hands the Universelle, For Thy divine Message of Love Harmony and Beauty.’
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Notes from a Retreat: Sydney ... February 2015 by Nauroz Mary O’Connell I was sitting under one of those gorgeous figs – with the massive lawn spread out below. One of the brothers was tending the garden at the grotto to Our Lady; another one – or maybe the same green-fingered man – has created a flower garden nearer the building. I could see some of my retreat colleagues walk over to examine it. I reflected that I felt safe and at ease here at the Chevalier Resource Centre – the stern old Catholic architecture no longer had the power to rouse heavy sorrows or angry resistances in me. I was glad of the shelter and beauty of the tree, and indeed of the shelter of the Church – a softening Church which tends its gardens, and lets in Sufis for retreats! The thought arose: what actually were my desires. So I got out pen and paper and wrote down three (magic number) wishes: that I turn a hopeless romance into a loving and mature friendship; that my creative work would bear fruit and reach many others; that I stop taking the paid working world and its demands and deadlines so damned seriously. When I looked at these desires – none of them seemed a matter of shock or horror – you are asking God for that?! OMG!!!
O Knower of my heart, fulfil my desires. This was one of the mantras given for us to gently work with on one of the afternoons of the beautiful Sydney weekend retreat.
No crime had been committed. No crime was likely to be committed. It might be possible to begin to trust my desires and my God. Thanks to Nawab for such a gentle and reflective retreat and to the beloveds who made his visit possible.
It seemed slightly shocking to me – desires, wishes, wants – am I really allowed to have any? Certainly such things were not allowed in the passionate but stern religious environment of my childhood. We were taught a spirituality of self-sacrifice, self-denial and self-discipline. Wasn’t everyone? The idea of calling on the Great One to actually assist in fulfilling my desires felt a bit like asking God to also break the holy law (thou shalt not etc…) and even raised doubts as to what sort of God would be so soft and indulgent as to give me what I want. But I persisted in the practice and breathed the words into my heart. Once I got past the nun-induced shock and horror, the prayer felt a sweet presence in the heart. Still cheeky, and impertinent perhaps, but perhaps not quite such a crime against God and humanity. IMAGES OF MURSHID NAWAB & CHEVALIER CENTRE: Supplied by Nauroz Mary O’Connell
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Upcoming Event - Hejirat Retreat - Sydney
THE SUFI MESSAGE OF HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN A celebration of 105 years of the Sufi Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty
The Spirit of Guidance
“The Spirit of Guidance may be called in other words the divine mind; and as the human mind is completed after its coming on earth, so the divine mind is completed after manifestation.”
4pm Fri 11th September to 12 noon Tuesday 15th September, 2015 at The Chevalier Resource Centre 1 Roma Ave, Kensington, Sydney NSW 2033 (Parking onsite). The retreat will be guided by experienced leaders of the Sufi Movement in Australia and include a focus
on the wisdom and exploration of the Spirit of Guidance Cost: $499 includes retreat, meals, accommodation, linen and parking. For further information please contact: Hamida - 02 9387 5263 m 0420 302 739, hamida.janice@yahoo.com Or Zubin – 0478 679 533 zubinshore@gmail.com REGISTRATION To register, please email participant name to jlolicato@gmail.com and you will receive a program and dietary needs form. Please pay deposit $50 by 14thAugust, full payment by Friday 28th August 2015 to Commonwealth Bank, Brandon Park Branch, Sufi Movement in Australia Inc, BSB 063 587 Account number 10251994, Payee Reference: Your name.
We look forward to deepening our practice of the Sufi Message with you.
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Contacts NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE Nuria Daly Phone: 03 9561 4861 Email: irenenuriadaly@hotmail.com VICE-PRESIDENT Celia Genn Phone: 07 5494 0724 Email: cgenn@bigpond.com SECRETARY Zora Floren Phone: 03 5348 7603 Email: briafloren@gmail.com TREASURER Azad Daly Phone: 03 9561 4861 Email: roddydaly@hotmail.com INTERNATIONAL SUFI MOVEMENT CONTACTS GENERAL REPRESENTATIVES 24 Banstraat, 2517 GJ The Hague, Netherlands Phone: +31 70 3657 664 Email: sufihq@xs4all.nl GENERAL SECRETARIAT 78 Anna Pulownastraat, 2518 BJ The Hague, Netherlands Phone: +31 70 346 1594 Email: sufiap@hetnet.nl SUFI MOVEMENT WEB SITES International: www.sufimovement.org Australia: www.smia.com.au
Spirit Matters - April 2015 - Volume 19 - Issue 1
REGIONAL CONTACTS AND REPRESENTATIVES ACT Talibah Josephine Lolicato Phone: 02 6297 5107 Email: loliavec@ozemail.com.au NSW – NEW ENGLAND Karim and Bahkti Parkhurst Phone: 0429 996950 Email: sitaramanzil@bigpond.com NSW – SYDNEY Hamida Janice Phone: 02 9387 5263 Email: hamida.janice@yahoo.com NSW – BRUNSWICK HEADS Zubin Shore Rosegarden Phone: 0478 679 533 Email: zubinshore@gmail.com QLD – GLASSHOUSE MOUNTAINS Celia Genn Phone: 07 5494 0724 Email: cgenn@bigpond.com TASMANIA Habiba Aubert Phone: 03 6223 6085 VICTORIA – MELBOURNE Nuria Daly (details above) EDITOR, Spirit Matters Sakina Kara Jacob Phone: 0448 839641 Email: klsjacob@gmail.com