Contents Editorial
3
Message from the National Representative
4
Azad’s appointment
6
COVID-19 by Nuria
7
COVID-19 by Sue
9
You are what you eat and perhaps how you cook it! by Zubin
11
Hazrat Inayat Khan: Spreading germs of goodwill (reposted from Nawab's blog)
13
Excerpt from a letter to members of the Spiritual Healing Activity by Shakti
15
O stillness (reposted from Nawab's blog)
17
Lockdown poem by Fr Richard Hendrick
19
The RNA of the Earth by Kalyani
21
A scattering of bones by Karim
23
Pain as the key to Nirvana? by Karim
26
Looking for the ultimate by Hamida Verlinden
28
The Country of Our Dreams by Nauroz
38
International Sufi Movement in Australia 2021 Retreat poster
39
Contacts
40
Royalty-free photos from unsplash.com Cover: Photo by CDC on Unsplash Photo of a tree, looking up towards the light: Photo by Lucas Lenzi on Unsplash Empty street in Alfama, Portugal. Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash Empty street in France. Photo by Blanche Peulot on Unsplash Man walking in a street in Recoleta, Argentina. Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash Visualisation of the COVID-19 virus. Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash Plant growing out of the Earth held in two hands. Photo by Fateme Alaie on Unsplash Bones, Panliayuan Market, Beijing. Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash Woman meditating. Photo by Max Rovensky on Unsplash Fruit in a bowl. Photo by Tatiana Rodriguez on Unsplash Girl with mask and spray bottle. Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash Ice cream cone. Photo by Grace Mak on Unsplash Fern frond. Photo by Drew Farwell on Unsplash
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Editorial As I write this editorial at the end of May 2020 the world has been turned upside down and is fully in the grip of COVID-19. The virus has not yet peaked in some countries and continues to spread, and the future seems very uncertain. As the pandemic encompasses the world there is tragedy and suffering everywhere, and people are facing many challenges dealing with everyday life and the prospect of a global economic depression. Despite the fact that epidemiologists have for many years predicted the emergence of a pandemic that would cripple the world, the emergence of COVID-19 has come as a huge shock to most of us. We have had to adjust to the restrictions, and the seriousness and immediacy of the threat. It makes us question our existence and contemplate the ageless themes of sickness and death. Siddhartha Gautama faced these issues when he left his palace and ventured into the forest to seek an answer to the suffering of life and a release from it through enlightenment. Essentially the Buddha settled on balance, a middle way, and it is the importance of balance that Hazrat Inayat Khan talks about when he discusses sickness and death in Volume V - Spiritual Liberty - Pearls from the Ocean Unseen: In balance lies the whole secret of life, and the lack of it explains death. All that is constructive comes from balance, and all destruction comes from lack of balance. It is when balance goes that sickness and death come. Contemplating this feeling of balance after doing my morning practices, I realised that the feeling of hope and energy that arises out of equanimity, gives purpose to life. It is this feeling, and it is this sense of hope for the future of humanity that emerges after our time of social distancing and enforced isolation. It also makes us realise the fragility and beauty of life. In this issue we have, first of all, a heartwarming announcement. Azad has been appointed an Executive Supervisor of the International Sufi Movement and we feel blessed in Australia to have him as our Sufi brother, and we offer him our heartfelt congratulations. We are truly grateful for everything that he has done for the Message. See page 6 for further details. We have some wonderful contributions from Nuria, Karim, Shakti, Zubin, Sue and Kalyani, along with an inspiring article written by Hamida Verlinden in which she talks about her Sufi path, her search for the Ultimate, and her relationship with her teacher, Murshida Shahzadi Khan-de Koningh. We are blessed to receive such a heartfelt article from our Sufi sister Hamida in the Netherlands and welcome contributions from anyone who is treading the Sufi path, wherever you are in the world. Wishing you all health, happiness, peace and safety. Yaqin Page 3 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
Beloved sisters and brothers Winter 2020 How life can change - completely, and quickly – from the last Spirit Matters in March (Autumn) to June (Winter). Our world has changed. We are an adaptable species – that is how we have survived for so long, but how we cope with these changes is interesting and we each do it differently. Idris Shah in his book the Sufis says that Sufi groups spring up where and when they are needed, then they die out and pop up somewhere else in time and place, to bring the universal Sufi message. I remember wishing that they would pop up in Australia and indeed it did. Things happen when they need to happen. I am lucky in so many ways; I have a partner to share everything with (even the irritability!), a Sufi community to be part of, a pension and superannuation to live off and a comfortable, and I think, beautiful home. For those who must work or want to work and cannot, this is a different story. Even working from home can be difficult when there are spouses, children and time to ‘manage’, or just being alone can be confronting. My heart goes out to all. How do we manage such difficulties? We each have our own ways depending on our personalities – I think introverts manage better than extroverts, and the elderly manage better than the young it seems, but this is a bit glib. Even the elderly introverts like me have their moments and meltdowns. I have enjoyed Facebook and using Bhakti’s Facebook group Blossoms of Love. I love finding relevant Nature Meditations, or Hidayat’s Reflections to go with the pictures, or pictures to go with a favourite reflection or meditation. It is fun to go through all those old pictures from all over the world, which I had one day planned to publish with Nature Meditations and match them up. This works much better. If you are on Facebook please join our group. For me it lifts me out of the day to day and takes me to places I have been and would like to visit again. I am enjoying the quirky ones too! I think that reaching out helps. Asking for help, helps, but what if you are supposed to be the helper and need help? Sometimes it is just having a chat with a friend, listening, being listened to, not offering advice, laughing together. The humour that is coming out of this crisis is amazing. We learn from the shock and surprise of comedy and laughter – it is another way of seeing something, which makes us laugh and learn. As Sufis we have responded as best, we can. Here in Melbourne we tried to have our weekly Sufi group via Skype, but this did not seem to work very well. Skype groups are not so easy to manage, so we tried Zoom which is more intuitive. It has been a learning process but SMIA now has a Zoom account and it is working well. We are more relaxed with the technology. The positive is that people who could only rarely get to group can now attend regularly from home and we are getting bigger groups. In truth any of you Page 4 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
are welcome to join us from wherever you are – let me know and I will send you the link and add you to my list so you will get updates. The meetings are on alternate Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm, so the next one will be on the 4th of June. Following the highly successful Easter Zoom retreat with Nawab, he has now opened it up as a worldwide meeting. We had our first worldwide Serai on Saturday 16th May at 10pm AEST and will be run fortnightly at that time. It is rather late for some, but Nawab is trying to include South American, North American, European, and Australian time zones into one meeting, so this makes it very early for the South Americans and late for us! There were also some technical issues which are being sorted out with an upgrade of Zoom. The Serai really got us working. The topic was Unlearning, and we broke up into small groups (break out groups) to discuss ‘What would you like to unlearn?’ That was a good discussion, and it was lovely to ‘meet’ people from other countries. In my group we had one from the Netherlands, and three from South America as well as us Aussies. I think this is a good format and will work well in the future. Prior to this, over Easter we had the Easter Zoom retreat with Nawab, over Good Friday and Easter Sunday. For me this was profound inner work, which has led me to new insights. I know that I was not alone in being deeply affected by that retreat. So now we have a new way of working together and reaching more people. The Australian retreat had 45 people registered, and the Serai registered 123 people. Only about 80 attended for various reasons. Zoom on the current plan, can only take 100 participants so it will be first come first in next time. So the truth is that I am feeling optimistic and hopeful of spreading the message far and wide, and that we are becoming a truly international movement. With love to you all, Nuria
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COVID-19 by Nuria
The COVID-19 pandemic has really changed the world we live in, in so many ways. Many years ago I remember a Star Trek episode where the ‘world’ that the crew landed on was a sentient being (of course), but that all people were considered parasitic and had to be got rid of by many means – earthquakes, diseases etc. I imagine that this COVID-19 virus could be similar - the result of the Earth defending itself against us humans and our treatment and exploitation of Her and what we have done to Her. We are part of Earth and the Elements – She is our Mother, as the Aboriginals believe and know. They care for and manage all aspects of earth, from the soil, insects, animals, birds, and their interrelationships. It is extraordinarily complex. This comes from a different mindset – a way of seeing the world as One but more than One – it is the interrelationships between everything that makes it conscious, intelligent, and loving. We look at a plant and wonder what its uses are. Can we extract from it a medicine or a chemical of some sort? We do not see its relationship with other plants and insects for instance. We ignore the great cycles of change – in climate and the movements of the Earth in space, in relationship with the constellations. We grow crops depleting the Earth of its nutrients, then add chemicals to make them grow ‘better’ ‘quicker’ and we lose the nutrients we need. We grow more than we need and much gets wasted. Our immune Page 7 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
systems get weaker. And yes, I am painting a terrible picture. Civilisations have come and gone, often they disappear after they have become unsustainable. Mostly it is because of drought, often from deforestation and land clearing to grow crops. Following this comes famine and plague. We have suffered drought and fire, and now we have ‘plague’. What are we doing about it? It is very heartening that in the short space of time, while we are at home, not using our cars, not polluting the air and the oceans, the Earth has been healing. The oceans are cleaner, the fish seem to be multiplying, the air is cleaner – the Himalayas can be seen from the villages which have not seen the mountains for many years. The truth is that we cannot return to the way we are, but there are the greedy, the narcissists, who do not care about the future and do not care about climate change or the Earth. Our magnetic North Pole is moving towards Siberia at a mysteriously fast pace – 55 kilometres a year! This is due to fluctuations in the flow of molten iron within the core of our planet, which effects how Earth’s magnetic field behaves. We know how but not why. Perhaps this is irrelevant but we don’t know. We individually react by going back to basics instinctively. We have started growing vegetables – trying to become self sufficient partly in case supermarkets and shops run out of stock. But it is more than that – there is such satisfaction in watching things grow. I have been ‘recycling’ vegetables and now have celery, leeks, carrots and potatoes growing at various stages in house and garden. It is magic. Many of us are cooking and baking – I have been baking Irish soda bread made with homemade kefir instead of buttermilk. It is lovely and very healthy. There is a satisfaction in doing homely things. Newspapers are putting out recipes, so it is not just me! My son and his partner have bought more chickens but they have been selling out rapidly and are hard to get. It is fun shopping at the small local shops, where we know the shop keepers and they even help carry the shopping. We are relating on a more human ‘village’ type basis. My father had a small shop – a general store, in Ireland. The life of our community revolved around the shop. People congregated outside, sometimes getting a bit rowdy, especially on a Saturday night and young men bought Roses chocolates for their sweethearts. My father knew them all by name. It was a community. We are getting back to that and it feels good. People seem to be friendlier, even at a distance, on walks around the block. In many ways I feel happier and more settled – I have a great excuse not to do the things that I feel I should. Indeed after the Easter Zoom retreat, I have managed to let go of a lot of ‘shoulds’ in my life. It is a real freedom. So, I hope and pray that when restrictions ease, we continue to hold onto the ‘good’ and not return to our bad old ways. It is up to us!
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COVID-19 by Sue
The warnings about COVID -19 came loud and clear from my elder son who was very concerned that we realise the implications for we ‘aged’ folk, including a history of chronic asthma that has led to several hospitalisations. As usual I tended to dismiss his concerns with “When our number is up, then our number is up” – far less concerned about COVID than he was. After two or three phone calls with him, I acknowledged that I was vulnerable. OK, I would stop working. Now it started to register. I finished work 10 days before schools closed. All the teachers and parents of my clients understood. My asthma specialist said that I should contact my GP to organize a MedicAlert (a bracelet with medical instructions inscribed). This was dutifully done. That same week there was an opportunity to attend a meeting with an ‘authentic’ Yoga teacher who had a couple of weeks earlier organised to be in Melbourne to see students. How timely. He was here for only 3 days before driving back to Queensland. (Interestingly, in the past he had flown, but chose to drive this time – this was before any alerts were raised about air travel being risky; he returned to Qld just as borders were due to close). Babaji’s first words in his lecture were: “Are you worried?” A few students responded that they were concerned about COVID -19. He shared his experience that “worry has no benefit to us” producing tension, reducing autoimmunity etc. Personally, for many years I have had no fear of death, and listened as he talked about this virus affecting the respiratory system. He spoke about the importance of good hygiene – hand washing, increasing hygiene of mouth, nose and lungs. Page 9 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
He also spoke of limiting foods that can produce mucus eg yogurt, and avoiding cold drinks – recommending warm herbal teas. In particular he stressed the importance of the pranayama / breathing practices above all. “Our life is dependent on that one thing – breath. We cannot survive without breath, so it is important to give breathing the upmost attention”. Then he made a comment that went straight to my heart. Paraphrased he said: “Some of you may not be ready to let go when faced with death, worrying how family members will manage without you”. For the next few days this worked on my subconscious. In my usual style I contemplated the extreme. I allowed myself to think that I may not live through this challenging time. Through experience I acknowledge that the environment is so much more powerful than me, and it has triggered asthma before (even when I have felt most happy and healthy) So I came to experience a readiness of “death before death”. I even wrote my own eulogy. I wrote with honesty, love and humour, acknowledging an understanding of just “shedding my coat like a cicada” for grandchildren to hear. It was a positive experience. A couple of days later, the subconscious had done its most important work of all. I was ready to sit down and talk to my husband and one son who lives here (he was going out into the community in the workforce at the time). It was time to say “If anything happens and I develop COVID, you should in no way feel responsible should I die”. I did not want anyone to carry guilt for perhaps spreading the virus to me, especially should I be unable to survive. That burden no-one should carry. I cried as they listened; and it brought home the reality of COVID. It felt like this was my own ‘crucifixion’. The experience helped me to surrender totally to the Divine and put trust in Him that He would look after my son. I no longer carried the burden of having to care for him – with his long history of problems. It was indeed enlightening for me, in the best possible way. And that was only March! Since then, like everyone, I have had to wrestle with what is going to be best for my mother (should she remain in the nursing home or come and stay with us?) There have been decisions of whether to work online, have a temporary break from work or should I retire?” Innumerable IT challenges have occurred that have shaken my sense of capability etc. All such experiences will be common to other people. Now at the end of May, a little work will resume soon, seeing clients just at home (perhaps until there is a COVID-19 vaccine?) My mother with her failing memory is fine in her nursing home, supported by daily phone calls. How lucky to live as simply as we do; our life style has not meant a major life style change in reality. We have been blessed with unexpected teachings during this time from both Murshid Nawab as well as Zoom meetings with Nuria. Yes, there are reduced earnings, but we could not go out anyway. The government has supported us. Other people sadly have experienced extreme difficulties & loss. Yes, and our grandchildren had been often asking to come and stay; we were lucky enough to have them have a sleep over here this week. It can’t get much better than that. And it was a gift for their parents too! Page 10 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
You are what you eat and perhaps how you cook it! by Zubin
The weekly choir I attend was one of the first gatherings to cease under COVID-19 restrictions. The conductor manages to make her living through four choirs that meet under the banner Raise the Roof Gospel Choir. With income reduced to zero overnight she thought ‘What else do I love that will pay me?’ and eating healthy organic food was the answer. She enquired of her choir members ‘Who wants a small or large organic veggie box delivered once a week?’, and of course many choir members did. Especially when it arrived heralded with a yodel and looking very vibrant. Doing what she loved opened the door to support for the choir conductor and her family. With organic veggies arriving and more time at home, it is both a novelty and a pleasure to cook frequently for our family of five; my daughter, her partner, and children thirteen and ten, who were homeschooling since mid March. Sometimes we would gather for scones and tea which were regarded as a revisit to the 1960s morning tea tradition. Apparently 38% of Australians said they cook more during COVID-19 isolation at home. I found thinking about what to cook, and spending two hours preparing an evening meal was a new and nourishing in itself.
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In Volume II, Hazrat Inayat Khan said: In preparing a thing, one not only puts one's magnetism into it, but also the voice of one's soul is produced in the thing one prepares. For instance, it is not difficult for an intuitive person to feel in the food that comes before him the thoughts of the cook. It is not only the grade of evolution of the cook that is produced in it, but also what the cook was thinking at that particular time. If the cook is irritated while cooking, if he or she is grumbling or sighing, …. – then all that is prepared in the food, that comes before you…. He goes on to make the point: In ancient times when human psychology was keenly observed in all one did, ….a great mark of appreciation and affection was shown by people who invited some relations or friends to their house, by placing before them dishes that they themselves had prepared. It was not the dish, it was the thought that was put into it. Recently an Australian Indigenous film-maker talked of a six week period during which he directed and produced a film. He included that he also cooked the food for the crew and emphasised the healing value of food cooked with love and appreciation. He mentioned with sorrow that these aspects of culture are not reflected in the competitive cooking shows on Australian television. To support my new availability to cooking, I reorganised the pantry and nutritious and flavoursome ingredients were carefully stored and labelled. The thirteen year old organised a special shelf to access things she could choose to cook. Purchasing, storing, and cooking all flowed to meals on the table. Six weeks into the experience, in the garden the winter beds were prepared and the ten year old planted root vegetables. Attention to detail seemed to create a momentum of its own. One of my favourite foods has been the comforting ancient Ayurvedic recipe, Kitcharee, which is lentils with a balance of cumin, coriander, fennel, feneugreek, turmeric and ginger to strengthen the digestive and immune systems, and restore balance and wellbeing. There are many recipes. I started with: https://ascensionkitchen.com/how-to-make-kitchari-an-ayurvedic-healing-meal I consulted for this article. I asked the ten year old, ‘What was the best thing about food during COVID-19?’ He said ‘Ice cream.’ Hopefully I asked ‘What was the second best thing?’ ‘Ice cream.’ he said. Thus it goes. A balance of inner and outer time and attention to cooking and eating has enriched our experience during COVID-19.
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Hazrat Inayat Khan: Spreading germs of goodwill
Posted on 20th March 2020 by Nawab Pasnak on The Inner Call https://innercall.towardthe1.com
As the world faces the crisis of contagion, one friend reminded The Inner Call of the following passage in which Hazrat Inayat Khan points out that ‘infection’ is not always negative – we can pass on goodness as well. Is it not a great pity that we see today, among the most civilized nations, one nation working against the other, lack of trust between nations, and this fear of war? It is dreadful to think that humanity, which appears to be progressing so much, is at the same time going backward to such an extent that never in the history of the world such bloodshed has been caused as during the last war [WWI]. Are we evolving or going backward? What is missing is not intellectuality, for people are capable of inventing things and imagining governments every day, better and better. Then what is missing? It is the heart quality. It seems it is being buried more and more today. Therefore the real man is being destroyed and the false part of his being is continuing. A better condition can be brought about by the individual who will realize that the development of the heart, and nothing else, brings about better conditions. The other day I lectured in Paris, and after my lecture a very able man came to me and said, ‘Have you got a scheme?’ I said, ‘What scheme?’ ‘Of bettering conditions.’ I replied that I had not made such a scheme, and he said, ‘I have a scheme, I will show it to you’. He opened his box and brought out a very large paper with mathematics on it and showed it to me, saying, ‘This is the economic Page 13 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
scheme that will make the condition of the world better. Everyone will have the same share’. I said, ‘We should practice that economic scheme first on tuning our piano. Instead of saying D, E, F, we should tune them all to one note, and play that music, and see how interesting that would be – all sounding the same, no individuality, no distinction, nothing.’ And I added, ‘Economy is not a plan for construction, but it is a plan for destruction. It is economics which have brought us to destruction. It is the heart quality, it is the spiritual outlook which will change the world’.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Very often people coming to hear me say afterwards, ‘Yes, all you say is very interesting, very beautiful, and I wish too that the world was changed. But how many think like you? How can you do it? How can it be done?’ They come with that pessimistic remark, and I tell them, ‘One person comes into a country with a little cold or influenza, and it spreads. If such a bad thing can spread, can not an elevated thought of love, kindness and goodwill towards all men spread? See then that there are finer germs, germs of goodwill, of love, kindness, and feeling, germs of brotherhood, of the desire for spiritual evolution, which can have greater results than the other ones. If we all have that optimistic view, if we all work in our little way, we can accomplish a great deal.’
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Excerpt from a letter to members of the Spiritual Healing Activity in May by Shakti
While restrictions on our activities are in some places reducing, difficult and uncertain times continue around our whole world due to the effects of the ongoing pandemic and the underlying problems in our relationship with nature. Murshid Inayat Khan observed a century ago that many busy lives in the West have little rhythm. He noted how “The excess of man’s artificial remedies has had the effect of increasing disease. This is also mainly due to the modern artificial ways of life, so different from the natural living of the ancients which is ridiculed today by so-called civilisation. Today the luxuries and needs of life are obtained at the sacrifice of true health and comfort.” (Vol. IV, p. 88) This letter looks at what “nature” encompasses from the mystical point of view and offers some contemplations to inspire, strengthen and comfort us in these times, and as we begin to imagine and find our way towards a world in which we might live more naturally. Murshid explains that to the mystic nature is everything. Every soul is drawn to nature for its calming effect and peaceful atmosphere while souls of mystical tendency find there also the nourishment, inspiration, upliftment and solitude for which they continually long. He explains that, from the mystical point of view, nature has four aspects:It is seen in the forest, hills and dales, mountains and rivers, sunrise and sunset, the moonlit night and the shining stars and it is heard in the fluttering of the leaves, the Page 15 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
murmer of the wind, the crashing of the thunder: all these are like letters or characters made by the Creator for us to read. Nature manifests also in the silent little creatures crawling on the earth, the birds singing in the trees, the lion with its wrath, the elephant with its grandeur, the horse with its grace, the modesty of the deer: all these tell the mystic something. The next aspect is human nature which we can see, read and watch in the midst of the world: and observing this and its changes gives to the mystic great interest, strength and patience in life. And the fourth aspect is the divine nature: seeing the works of God in life, and realising the meaning of the saying that man proposes and God disposes. This aspect offers the greatest interest in life for when one is able to see the works of God in life, another world is opened before one. These four aspects of life are called “nature” by the mystics and form the holy scripture of a Sufi.(I) On this theme, we offer below the following sayings from Hazrat Inayat Khan for contemplation at this time. My soul is still pointing at Thee though my life is going through a storm. (I) Thou art present all through space. (I) My respondent heart be still – be still and listen to the consoling voice of God. (II) A new hope is born in my heart by breathing Thy peaceful atmosphere.(III) Fill my heart with Thy light so fully as the full moon. (I) In the touch of the air I feel Thy sympathetic caress. (I) Heal me, God, by the waves of the air. (I)
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Nature Meditations, 1991. (II) Vol XIV, The Heart–Aphorisms, p.18 (III) From the prayer, Pir. (I)
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O stillness
Posted on 6 April 2020 by Nawab Pasnak on The Inner Call https://innercall.towardthe1.com
There is a saying in Vadan, Alankaras that speaks directly to the situation many around the world are facing just now : Though the ever-moving life is my nature, thou art my very being, O stillness. We are, by our nature, very active, on all levels – physically, mentally and emotionally. Page 17 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
Our intense, densely packed urban environments are a picture of this; cities never sleep, their electric nerves are firing all the time. What is more, it is the nature of activity to accelerate until something stops it, as any parent will know from watching children play together. But when the children reach a certain level of intensity, their interaction becomes chaotic, and there are often shrieks and tears. Then the wise parent looks for a way to impose some silence, some quiet on the children, in order to find harmony again. Because of the present epidemic, a large portion of the world has been forced to drop the usual activities and stay home. There are hardships in this (especially for families with small children, and for those with little income), and there is an overlying cloud of anxiety not only about the possibility of falling ill, but also about the uncertainty as to how long this must go on, and what life will be ‘afterward.’ And yet, there is also the blessing of stillness. Many have found in their loss of liberty the opening, or re-opening of a door to their spiritual life. The spiritual path is nothing other than a search to know our own being, but activity constantly blinds us, so that we cannot see ourselves–we only see what is before us, and our attention is on what we are doing and sensing. Now, we are compelled to hold ourselves in check, and many find nourishment in this stillness. As a consequence, on-line meetings seem very popular for spiritual groups now. And when we observe the silent city streets, from a balcony perhaps, we hear the blessing of bird song that was absent before. In the stillness, we find nature, and we re-discover our own being. It is easy to see this period of our history as a ‘time-out’ imposed from Above on the children of humanity. It is painful, certainly, for many have lost loved ones, but if we allow ourselves to learn from the stillness, perhaps we shall be wise enough to avoid such an experience in the future. In other words, we have a precious opportunity in this difficulty; each one must make of it what they can.
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The RNA of the Earth by Kalyani
Don’t despair now Feel the first wind Let time heal the wound in your confusion Let your heart beat to the rhythm of time Let the corona virus soar past on the wings of fate And let destiny take hold of your soul May each cell in your body heal As only God knows best So, drink the wine And break the bread Raise that glass in faith And at some time, Faith must return And love heal all wounds and all destruction It is a fine line in troubled times When the world reaches out for healing When people must move through time Ways must change Page 21 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
And like the bodythe animals, rivers, mountains and sky must return to harmony, healing and balance. Maybe it is not a conspiracy Maybe it is a statement of logic Where each soul is asked Are you ready yet? Are you done? Not because you are old Just because you are a spirit ready to go No fear here No crying for the departed I walk towards the light Let there be no prejudice of faith No discrimination in colour Some dis-ease takes the young Some the old and some - do not discriminate People of all healing paths Try to seek solutions Maybe we all need absolution For the world’s destruction and neglect But let’s take a breath Breathe through the corona Heal the RNA in our souls, then our cells Then re-establish the balance One cell at a time Walk to the light now those who are called I will meet you later In the equilibrium of balance In the light of oneness In the healing grace of God So, shall it be Please be at peace now Special ones be free Breathe now As we mourn the dead Heal the heavy hearts And re-group To the pounding of time Let the healing redemption of the earth begin
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A scattering of bones by Karim
Why do we hang on to life? Why, in these currently troubling times where even normal intercourse between self and other is curtailed, do we cling to this idea of form that keeps us in servitude to forces beyond our control? Recently I wrote a piece entitled ‘The Ram, the Lamb, and the Kangaroo’ (see my blog: https://tracksinapathlessland.home.blog) which was a very weak effort on my part to attempt to memorialise the deaths of all three of these beautiful creatures in circumstances that were not entirely of their own making. Yet something in me could not let go of what I had witnessed, such that I felt compelled to write their story, such as I knew it. As the days since these events have passed, and spring moved into summer, summer into autumn, and now the spectre of winter begins to reveal a little of itself in the colder days and nights, much of the import of these deaths also begins to fade. No more do I slow down as I pass the places of these ‘events’ that so moved me, then. Now, only a scattering of bones mixed with the dust and weeds at the roads edge reminds that something happened here, that life passed into death as the traffic raced on its merry way, and few, if any, would have guessed that here momentous things happened – life passed into death – and still the world turned.
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What are we, that such things should trouble us? So cleaver, so aware, and yet blinded by this very turning until it is our turn to face life moving forward into death! And the world keeps turning! Is that it? Is this what disturbs us? That we should be so soon forgotten? Well may we harken to the ministering at graves edge, “Ashes to ashes! Dust to dust!” for this is our fate also. Yet who among us wants to hear of this message? As I write, the daily total of collective suffering of humanity in its battle with Covid 19 – a virus born of the suffering of animals, one asks…why do we need to continue like this? Many of us have turned our collective backs on the ‘lungs of the planet’ via action not taken to curb the effects of ‘Global Warming’ because it all sounded like someone else’s problem, and – anyway – it was all in the future and, well…maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all… just a few degrees of warming? Why, indeed, should we have to change our way of life to engage in a reversal of the kinds of life that we have all enjoyed so much, but which – collectively – might have helped to create this mess? Is it just me, or is there some deep, deep, irony in the way this virus attacks our lungs and replicates itself through all the same avenues that we so much enjoy, all our social vanities? Is there not just a little irony likewise in the remedy that we must employ, our now imposed ‘at home, aloneness,’ with our ‘smart-phones,’ our ‘lap tops,’ our ‘set-top boxes’ (and little else)…interacting through the very things that were supposed to bring us all together , in our ‘global village,’ yet now find seem only to heighten this isolation? Previously I wrote about my own sense of a ‘Winter of Discontent’ closing in on me. Now many of us are beginning to feel the sense of what this actually means, whilst all around us, the rest of ‘those others’ those other specias who may have shared this planet with us and helped us to survive and prosper on it can only now begin to know a little of the burden of their own existences ease just a little. Whilst for many, it seems inconceivable that we should all have to suffer the consequences of our collective folly, isn’t there at least some kind of justice that the very things we have indulged ourselves in, should culminate in this! Collectively, too, we have found the ability to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to these other species whose fate was – in many ways – to find themselves, for no fault of their own, in lockdown through the very industrialised farming methods employed, designed, to enable us, the consumer in this whole process, to ‘enjoy’ ‘ocean-fresh’ fish whenever we wished, readily available on the refrigerated shelves of our well-stocked supermarkets, blind to the underlying reality that these same ocean creatures have never been able to swim except in tense circles with tens of thousands of their kind; likewise the chickens and the poultry farming methods where animal movement, such as it is, might be measured by their own body-length, the cattle,the pigs, locked into their ‘factory farm’ ‘homes,’ or the millions of sheep crammed into ever smaller paddocks to be fattened and slaughtered to satisfy our culinary interests? * Page 24 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
Remember: “It’s all about the economy, stupid!” And we poured into the voting booths, buying the lies, the half-truths, and the ignorance of those whose main desire was to climb to the top of the pole to exercise their egos for our benefit. What then of our present government, who find themselves, after years and years of baiting of that ‘other mob’ - the ones who warded off the worst effects of the ‘Global Financial Crisis’ by opening the ‘Public Purse’ – so recently still so pleased with themselves in their collective determination to ‘stay on message’ (‘jobs and the economy’)? How ironic then that it is they, they, who now find themselves struggling to deal with the ever worsening effects of this global pandemic and – to do so - must open up these same monetary purse strings to pour the balm of our collective wealth out onto all the populace in order to put some kind of break on the potential collapse of our entire economic system and to halt the spread of this ruthless virus that is threatening not just ourselves but the entire planet! What are we to learn, if anything, from all of this? I have been astonished by the vociferousness of the cries to quickly fix this ‘problem’ (read, find a cure) so that everything (read, all of us) can return to ‘normal’ (whatever that is) as quickly as possible! Somehow people seem to think all will be honky dory if we can only vaccinate ourselves to stop the spread of this virus, and then…what…move on? Should we not first take this opportunity, this enforced collective pausing, to recollect where we have been? To glance over our collective shoulders at what it was on the road back there that led us to this? For surely it was something! And what then? What, in the midst of this collective recollection, will we make of it all, and just how will we proceed from here? Can we, should we, just allow ourselves to simply press the pause button again? Get this whole roadshow moving once more? We’ve made our coffee, eaten our snacks, now it’s time for the movie to be restarted from where we left off? Mustn’t something different emerge from the immensity of the suffering that has already enveloped the world? I would urge us to turn, to look where we have been, and to think again! Let us remind ourselves in these at this momentous point in our collective histories of the speech that Oliver Cromwell’s made to his fellow Parliamentarians baying for the blood of Charles 1st: “Think ye, gentlemen, in the bowels of Christ, that ye may be wrong…”! Now is the time to exercise Cromwell’s caution in the face of the loss of potentially millions of our fellow human beings, and the possibility of global financial collapse: to think again before we chose to pick-up where we left off, if we still have that possibility open to us, when once this is all over, as it most certainly will be, someday, albeit not soon enough for some.
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Pain as the key to Nirvana? by Karim
Many years ago now a certain Buddhist meditation Master in the Theravada tradition, pointed out to my wife, at ‘interview’ during the retreat, the gem contained in his ‘little book’ on the importance of the place of pain during sitting and walking meditation. ‘Pain’ it said, ‘was the key to Nibbana’ (Nirvana). Like some of the Zen masters whose use of the stick across the shoulders of slackers and sleepies during sitting, pain it is supposed becomes thereby the key to unlock the door of mindfulness, and indeed, anyone who has sat for hours passively watching the mind (and body) as it seeks to find relief from this self-imposed suffering will know (short of getting up and walking away) it is indeed a great ‘tonic’ to boredom. It is hard to avoid the fire of pain as it licks through one’s joints, back and neck, burning and increasing in its intensity as one tries to ignore it (or just ‘be with it’). Finally, oh so blessedly finally, the pain may just vanish leaving clarity in its wake. In writing this I recall the recent words of Donald Trump in relation to the coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the world (and America). “One day” he said on one of the more memorable rambles through the garbage in his mind, “it will just be gone! Poof! Just like that!” With 85,000 American dead to its credit (and counting) I guess that day is not quite yet?
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To be fair to the devotees of this approach to the Buddhist (Vipassana) way and those who teach it thus, indeed pain is not always avoidable and for some at least it is a quick way to gain some measure of peace and security beyond suffering. Also many, many, years ago now, I met a woman whose whole life was a sea of pain. She appeared to all intents and purposes to be at peace in herself and with the world. She was bent and crooked in her body, joints all knotted up, and she walked with great difficulty. Although not old, she was not young either. Suffering, as it is held, had aged her prematurely. She had a lovely smile and seemingly a happy disposition, whether from having to face pain every day of her life or otherwise. I have never forgotten her (or her bravery in the face of such seemingly insurmountable difficulties – she worked in an office full-time) - such was the impression she made on my still unformed mind, in those days, just a beginner on the path. Pain is unavoidable, but taking it head-on, so-to-speak, is not. The Buddha may well have been right when he described life – all life – as ‘suffering,’ however the cause of such suffering was not pain per se, but clinging and the antidote to that was not to do it. Pain was a secondary feature of such a prescription! Having also attended this same retreat with the same Vipassana master, I too experienced the fire of this self-induced pain. Whilst this tonic certainly helped in the process of ‘attention/concentration,’ to find that – having ‘achieved’ this ability – one then had to let go, or relax into it, such that it became ‘effortless,’ was interesting indeed. ‘Passive,’ as opposed, I guess, to ‘active’ attention is necessary if one is ever to move beyond the confines of (to quote Krishnamurti) ‘the known.’ What then of this self-imposed torture of the body/mind? Is it ever necessary, desirable even, to take such a path? For some, it seems, yes. For others, I’m not so sure. After all pain (or the self-inflicted kind) has been with us for millennia (think of the Desert Fathers, the so called ‘Stylites’ and their posts and pillars, or the Hindu fakirs holding up an arm until it withers, and so on). Pain, as the Buddha also said is always with us as the shadow side of happiness. We don’t need to go in search of it, it will find us in our everyday lives. From the perspective of one closer to the end of life rather than the beginning, I have felt myself blessed that such suffering as there has been in my life pales into insignificance to that experienced by so many others. Old age though is beginning to teach me a little more about it! My own concerns have turned more and more of late away from ‘self ’ concerns and more towards that portion of suffering I have caused others to experience through my foolishness, not least in this regard in relationship to all those creatures that I have shared this planet with. Nowadays, it seems to me that pain, in all its various garbs - be it physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual - is simply a part of living and is as welcome or otherwise as any other of the passing phenomenon that life is heir to. Surely, if the coronavirus has shown us anything, what matters now is not the avoidance of pain for the self alone, but most importantly to avoid the passing of it on to other than self, and – wherever possible – seeking in whatever small ways one can, to actively engage oneself in attempting to ease that suffering in others. Now that is a worthwhile – if self-imposed – task to set ourselves. Page 27 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
Looking for the ultimate by Hamida Verlinden (edited by Azad)
to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. To see a world in a grain of sand…… this poem is about the search for and the discovery of the ultimate. Can we find this world in Sufism: heaven, infinity and eternity that can disappear and come forth again in an instant? This article is a series of thoughts, ideas and anecdotes randomly looking for this world of heaven, infinity and eternity.
Love Harmony and Beauty Hazrat Inayat Khan gave to us this trinity of love, harmony and beauty, but if we neglect or pay little attention to the values attached to these words, we risk that their intrinsic value and meaning can become nothing more than a logo with little or no significance. The meaning, or interpretation, of words can mean different things to different peoples, even this simple phrase - incredible as it may seem! So, these three words, Love, Harmony, Beauty, need to be implanted in oneself, like a seed where they can develop and flourish and where their meaning and value can grow in significance.
Example Murshid did not leave us recipes as in a cookbook; he spoke of inspiration, and reading his words needs attunement and time. Love-Harmony-Beauty was very much apparent in my teacher, Shahzadi Khan-de Koningh. This was crystal clear to me when I first met her. I found it very strange that others were not able to see it as I did. My real introduction to Sufism began when I attended a Summer School which lasted three weeks in Murad Hassil. By the time it ended, I was in seventh heaven. However, I fell back to earth quite quickly when someone criticized my teacher Shahzadi. I just couldn’t understand how, or why, they could say such a thing! At my third Summer School this person again has done the same thing but by that time I knew the story of Leila and Majnun, so I said: ‘What a pity that you do not see through my eyes, for then you could see how fantastic she really is’. This person immediately stepped backwards and said, ‘Oh yes, she is your initiator’. ‘Yes, I said, and I am very happy with her’. Having said these words, I suddenly understood the ‘why’ of her criticism and I felt no longer bothered.
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To see oneself in the other In the seventies there were some problems in the Movement and Shahzadi went to Iran, visiting a Pakistani student in psychology in Iran who had invited her to his home. She waited the whole day at the airport and he also had waited the whole day. What was the reason for this? They had been engaged in a lively correspondence by letter with each other, and he mistakenly believed her to be a Muslim, so he assumed that her face would be veiled. The consequence of this was that it was almost dinner time when he found her and then they had dinner at the airport. This trip inspired her in many ways, particularly some of the beautiful cemeteries – Iran has many beautiful cemeteries - and what made the deepest impression on her was an unkempt garden with seven graves and hundreds of birds singing, while all around there was desert. Who were the people buried in these seven graves? Nobody knows. Up on the wall were three images, representing Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and under them a Farsi text, saying: Here you smell the smell of purity. This is the place where King and Beggar come. My dear, come here It is not a fool’s place. Everyone who is pure: Encouraged by her visit to Iran, she created the foundation Tariqa Musharaff Khan in 1980, and gathered the Mureeds, who had been initiated by her, in this Tariqa. She was hoping that all members would see each other as family and that we might possibly come to see ourselves in the other. This set the stage and we happily immersed ourselves in the Teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Why was the foundation called Tariqa Musharaff Khan? Inayat Khan had gone to the West with his brothers Maheboob and Ali; and Musharaff, the youngest, joined half a year later. Each of the three brothers of Murshid had led the Sufi Movement, and Musharaff was the last surviving brother of the family until 1967. Shahzadi had been married to him for 19 years and at the end of her earthly life, 28 years later, she told me that she had never been able to cry over him because she thought that she had to be strong. We knew she was grieving inwardly, and some even dreamt of Musharaff Khan, although they had never met him. It was her atmosphere that made us see him. She made the trip to Iran and came back with this luminous idea: The tariqa with the name of her late husband who consequently had honored the line of Inayat Khan.
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Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Khan
After my initiation as mureed I began reading and studying texts, starting with character building and that is not easy, as presented on the first page: “Life is a continual battle. (My question: Also, with love, harmony and beauty? Yes, this is not work for children.) One struggles with things that are outside oneself, and so one gives a chance to the foes who exist in one’s own being. Therefore, the first thing necessary in life is to make peace for the time being with the outside world, in order to prepare for the war which is to be fought within oneself. Once peace is made within, one will gain by that sufficient strength and power to be used through the struggle of life within and without.”
Life is a continual battle indeed! The recognition in oneself, of that, which one does not like in the other, is a difficult task! But don’t we regularly say: “Toward the One”? When we are tuning in to the One, who then are we? for there is only the One who created us and what are we without the One? There are three stages of action for the sincere mureed: receiving the message, assimilating it, and representing the message. Receiving: In the learning process one forms within oneself an idea of the ideal, a feeling of it; being so much concentrated on this ideal one could easily be tempted to criticize the one who is not doing ‘how something ought to be done’. Assimilating: It takes some time to learn that in general my task is not to decide what is good for the other to do; I do not have the responsibility to direct your life. Representing: My responsibility is in living my own life as well as possible, and to integrate the trinity of Love, Harmony and Beauty and all that this trinity entails, being careful of what one says, for instance, or how one says something, and quietly accepting that the others have their own responsibility for their own life and not I. Page 30 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
Insight comes as a flash of light! In the story of Ayaz, he was brought before a king with nine others, and the king had to select one to be his personal attendant. The wise king gave into the hands of each of the ten a wineglass and commanded him to throw it down. Each one obeyed the command. Then the king asked each one of them, 'Why did you do such a thing?' The first nine answered 'Because your Majesty gave me the order'; the plain truth cut and dried. And then came the tenth slave, Ayaz. He said, ‘Pardon, sire, I am sorry’, for he realized that the king already knew it was his command; by replying, 'Because you told me,' nothing new would have been said to the king. This beauty of expression enchanted the king so much that he selected him to be his attendant.”
Shahzadi in 1948
Musharaff & Shahzadi
Murshida Shahzadi
Shahzadi and I had a special relationship in her last years when her heart-valves created problems. I was a nurse and could help her, but she was a very independent lady and I had the feeling that she did not like to ask for help. I suggested a deal with her: I would not offer my help to her, and she could ask me for anything – if she wanted me to help out rather than someone else – and I added: you can ask me any time as long as I have the freedom to say ‘no’, because this ‘no’ will make me feel free and probably I would never use it. This was a deal. Some ten years after having heard the story of Ayaz, I visited Shahzadi in Maison de Gaspard, her last home. She was very angry at a mureed who had bought her a French bible; ‘What would the minister (of the Wallonian church, attached to this house) think of her?’ I said: “Murshida, then you must be angry with me, for I am the one who asked her to buy the book, as I knew that you wanted a French bible and I had no time to go to a shop.” She was really angry and I apologized, saying “I am sorry”, but she just continued to be angry. I knew her so well and knew why she was angry; I had infringed on her independence. How did I know? I knew just like that. Page 31 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
So I then said: “Please forgive”. In silence I prepared the meal, and we started to eat. She then laid down her fork and said with intensity: “but you agree with me”. “No, Murshida, I do not! The Minister will be happy to see that you have friends to help you”. Hmmm. We continued in silence. I washed up and made coffee; it was clear that she was ruminating, and then she smiled. I said, “May I ask why you are smiling?” She replied, “Actually, you have a sweet face”.
Honour the Elders Last year I was in Schnede, Germany, with the DHO, Dervish Healing Order of the Ruhaniat, and had a wonderful time with them, seeing how tiny youngsters without any shyness were just joining in the dancing circle, reaching high up to the adults next to them. Hidayat and Aziza had been their Godparents, and there were quite a number of other elderly people there that the DHO was honoring by telling stories about them. The fact that the DHO was telling stories, rather than writing them down, made me wonder why we don’t do this in my country? Maybe this is done in Australia or Canada, but not usually here in The Netherlands. I remember one time, about five years ago, a mureed from Italy praised and thanked Hidayat from the bottom of his heart. It was very sweet and in turn I thanked him for doing this. He then told me that in all those years that he had come to summer school, he didn’t dare say one word to Hidayat who had always welcomed him. Despite what had just happened prior to his talk, Murshid Hidayat was the personification of sincerity and humility that morning, so much so that this mureed felt compelled to offer his sincere thanks. Hidayat had given a very meaningful talk on humility and harmony and had talked of sublimating the ego in the interests of Love, Harmony and Beauty. He had used this beautiful phrase that “Humility is not necessarily weakness. Confession is not necessarily weakness. It is a feeling that arises from the living heart, which is secretly conscious of its inner beauty”. This is the reason I began this article with this ‘sacred’ trinity; it is so good to see people all over the world putting their hearts and souls into the work that they accept as their responsibility, in harmony and beauty.
Mysticism What is mysticism? Can anyone explain mysticism? Mere words are not sufficient. You can find many examples of this in Volume XI: Philosophy, Psychology and Mysticism, the three steps that lead towards divine knowledge, completing one’s life’s study. Starting at mysticism means, leaving some knowledge behind that could have helped one to Page 32 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
understand life better and to impart this knowledge to others. “Philosophy is learnt by analysis and synthesis of all that we can perceive through the five senses, learnt by the study of things. It is the knowledge perceived through the intelligence or intuition. Psychology is learnt by the analysis and synthesis of all that we can feel in human nature and in our character, learnt by thinking. It is the knowledge of the human character and of human nature. Mysticism is learnt by the analysis and synthesis of the whole of life, seen and unseen. It is learnt by meditation. Mysticism is the knowledge of being”. The Bowl of Saki on March 28th: “Until the heart is empty, one cannot receive the knowledge of God.” Never ever can we see the end of our study. How wonderful!
Spirituality What is spirituality? I remember the day I started with a three day rose garden learning process in Murad Hassil. All participants were asked to give an answer to the question ‘What is spirituality’. Everyone had an answer, each one more beautiful than the other, but what to say? Hidayat had once said: “Spirituality is being natural”. I said that I didn’t know, but maybe it was just being natural. This answer appeared not to be appreciated in the group. So what then is spirituality? This is my personal search, of course. One can find anything in the books of Inayat Khan, and the way it goes is that one finds what one is looking for. As no one is, or thinks exactly like the other, each one will find something different, as there are many paths to understanding. With regards to myself the searching is endless, and sometimes my brain gets in a muddle as Murshid was a creative speaker, explaining something sometimes in this way or in another. Here are some of my thoughts on spirituality, and of course, there is much more to be found! Spirituality is consciousness of the spirit, and materialism is consciousness of matter. Religion, orthodoxy, outer forms or a certain way of life: that’s not spiritual life. It is the consciousness of the spirit that makes one spiritual. What does this mean? Page 33 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
In the opening lines of Gatheka 49, The Expansion of Consciousness, it reads: “The consciousness is the intelligence; the intelligence is the soul; the soul is the spirit; and the spirit is God. Therefore, consciousness is the divine element, the consciousness is the God part in us. And it is through consciousness that we become small or great, and through consciousness either we rise or fall, and through consciousness we become narrow or we expand”. The Spirit of Guidance brings the Light. And then people believe in the Light that the bringer of the Message brings and they believe in him, but when he has left this earth, they still believe in the Messenger but don’t see the Light any more, for they pursue spirituality with their brain. Spirituality is attained through the heart. I ask again: what does this mean? The definition of the heart that Murshid gives is, that it is the depth of the mind, the mind being the surface of the heart. That which feels in us is the heart, and that which thinks is the mind. The direction is different: feeling comes from the depth and thought from the surface. The mind is a receptacle of all that it is exposed to. It is like a photographic plate and once the plate is developed the impression becomes clear and imprinted on it. However, the photographic plate is not creative, unlike the heart which is creative. Therefore, a thought without feeling is like a plant without a deep root, and every impression which reaches the heart becomes like a seed in a fertile ground. Spirituality is the tuning of the heart. The question again arises: “What does this mean?” “The heart is a window between mind and soul for the soul to send its light to the mind and for the knowledge of the mind to be reflected on the soul. Therefore, when the heart is closed the communication between mind and soul is closed also”. I remember now that I read once: “God is peeping through the heart of a human being”, and in the first Raga of the Gayan it says: “Thine own eyes are the light of my soul”.
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The light of the soul is sent through the heart to the surface, the mind; and the mind may think about it, its knowledge being reflected to the soul. As long as the heart is open! When closed neither the soul can send, nor the mind reflect, it all goes through the heart that is the window between the two. A thought arises: We don’t hear the voice of God when our heart is closed, closed to God. The above is already a bit a clarification of the mind; with the soul added to it, it has grown into a triad. It is the same thing which thinks and feels, but the direction is different: feeling comes from the depth, thought from the surface. Like a photographic plate the mind is not creative, but the heart responds to all it has received.
Does the heart always (wish to) receive? When the heart is open to everything, then everything comes in. Is it wise to let everything come in? I don’t know, probably this is a question for a wise person to answer. I imagine that the wise one has the heart filled with divine beauty and anything coming in will be transmuted into beauty. You may think that this is mere fantasy and I agree, but I don’t think that this is easy. In 1966 Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Khan and Shahzadi went to the USA where he met Fazal Inayat-Khan, the grandson of Murshid. They had a very deep contact with each other and it is there and then that Musharaff decided to nominate Fazal as the Pir-oMurshid after him. But they saw many Sufis in the USA and a year later Musharaff travelled to the world of light. A commemoration paper on Musharaff came shortly after and I remember 2 lines: “A mureed asked Musharaff: ‘are you not sad’? ‘Sad? Musharaff said, no, this is a wonderful world, this is God’s school, and all Sufis are in this school’”. I was delighted with this answer, as it is so much in line with the stories I heard about him. A Dutch mureed once told me: “When Md Musharaff came in the house, then the Sun came in” and another mureed told me how tired she was from taking care of the children, when she went to him. Opening the door for her, he said radiantly ‘oh, how beautiful you look”. She told me that all her tiredness just evaporated. However, we do have a handwritten note from Musharaff in the Sufi Museum, saying that he (Musharaff) thanked God for all the troubles that life had given him. His breath was with God, whatever happened, and more cannot be said. Learn to keep our breath with God.
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The room in Musharaff & Shahzadi’s house which later became the Sufi Museum
History In the Biography of Hazrat Inayat Khan we can read: “Nothing in the world would discourage me. If there were not one single coin towards carrying on the work …. I would still work to my last breath. For my entire strength comes from that source, whose Message it is, which I am destined to give. My only satisfaction, therefore, is in having done my best, and it does not matter under what circumstances.” This shows Murshid’s steadfastness and keeping true to the task that he heard coming from within: “Thou art sent on our service, and it is we who will make thy way clear.” Shamcher Beorse, who was a mureed of Inayat Khan, once said: “History is the story of what did not happen, written down by people who were not present”. It made me think and the other day I read in some paper that all the things we remember are the cause of forgetting all the other things that happened. So, what am I doing in musing about these memories; why am I describing my views born out of all these experiences when I was present or not present? I must say that I like to share what has touched my heart, and gave me insight. Who knows, it might touch your heart. Page 36 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020
I also wanted to share with you my admiration for Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan who felt it was his mission – even his duty to bring East and West together. He arrived in a totally different world, strange and alien to him. He accepted with great tolerance and grace all the problems and ingratitude of the West. Murshid gave us his love, his ideas, his teachings. He felt it was his mission to heal the Western world. He travelled an unbelievable number of kilometers often in dirty trains, something that we have never experienced. Frequently at the end of some of these journeys he would be covered with soot from the steam engines that pulled the trains. It’s hard for us now to visualize scenes like this. In his teachings, he gave us guidance and directions, just like lines in a city map showing us how you may go to some place, but that you have to walk or drive yourself to discover what is actually there: “In short, as pupil one must be taught how to benefit oneself by the teaching in one’s everyday life, and how to see for oneself the beauty and complexity that one will find in the paths of life by walking those lines that are as roads leading to the desired goal”. Is the following not a fitting description of Hazrat Inayat Khan?: “When love is reaching the Sovereign of love it is like the water of the sea that has arisen as vapor and has formed the clouds over the earth and then pours down as rainfall. The continual outpouring of such a heart is unimaginable; not only human beings but even birds and beasts must feel its influence, its effect. It is a love that cannot be put into words, a love that radiates, proving its warmth by the atmosphere it creates. The resigned soul of the Mahatma may appear weak to someone who does not understand him, for he takes praise and blame in the same way, and he accepts all that is given to him, favor or disfavor, pleasure or pain. All that comes he accepts with resignation.” …… and the Light has been put into our hands See the text in Rumi’s Mathnawi : Plant the love of the holy ones within your spirit; do not give your heart to aught, save to the love of them whose hearts are glad. William Blake, the first lines of: Auguries of Innocence, (from Internet)) Shahzadi Khan-de Koningh: Pages in the life with a Sufi, p.87 III The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, volume III: Character-building IV Volume III, p.197. Made gender-neutral VI The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, volume III, Moral Culture, p.216-217 VII Sangita VIII Musharaff Khan was the youngest of the four brothers, and this youngest had to carry the burden of the Sufi Movement from 1958 to 1967, without his Brothers to sustain him. IX Biography of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, Organization, p.240 X Biography of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, p. 121 XI Sangita I The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, volume VIII-3 The different stages of spiritual development. I
II
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In 19th century Ireland - just one generation after the Great Famine had left a million dead and scattered the Irish across the globe - a new crop failure threatened the land and its people. This time round, a radical idea began to take hold: that famine was neither divine nor natural in origin but a political event, based on unequal power relations. From this, the globally based Irish Land League was born, led by the visionary Michael Davitt. Fanny and Anna Parnell's Ladies Land League would soon follow. Ireland, and the world, would never be the same again. In 21st century Sydney, preparations are under way for Loyola Ryan's 50th birthday. Protective older brother of Vianney, Xavier and their sister Siena, Loyola wants his family around him on the big day even their difficult mother Kate. But Xavier has gone missing. Given his history of addiction, the family are worried. Vianney's partner Hilary fears yet another Ryan family drama. Only Vianney is unconcerned. He says Xavier is busy working on his novel about their glorious ancestor, Michael Davitt. But he won't tell them anything more. (This novel by Nauroz can be ordered through local bookstores or on Booktopia or Amazon.)
Page 38 Spirit Matters Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2020