Spirit Matters September 2022

3 Editorial

4 Message from the National Representative

7Kindness - Love in Action by Nuria

10What is Kindness? by Karim

14Quotes from the Qur’an

15Buddhist quotes

16Poem by Saqiya

17Loving Kindness by Azad

24 A story about Mother Teresa

25Our Dealings With Our Friends by Hazrat Inayat Khan

26Indifference by Haniyya and Farhan

31The Universe in Man contributed by Zubin

34Hejirat Day, Hazrat Inayat Khan

35Viladat Day, Hidayat Inayat-Khan

36Visalat Day, Hidayat Inayat-Khan

37Hejirat Day, Australia

38National Activities

39Contacts

Photo Credits:

Cover: Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash. Photo of coal by Amcyrus2012 licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Old map. Photo by Jakob Braun on Unsplash Royal Navy torpedo boats on naval manoeuvres. Painting by Charles Edward Dixon, in the public domain.

Sunlight and distant hills. Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

Pink rose without thorns. Photo by Oscar Helgstrand on Unsplash Hands holding a Qur'an. Photo by Wizdan Zacky Fauzan on Unsplash

A bird flying in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. Photo by Ameen Fahmy on Unsplash

Lobed Isnik tile. Turkey, 1565. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Buddha. Photo by Amit Kumar on Unsplash

Photo of Pablo Neruda. Public domain.

Heart on a string. Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Editorial

The theme of this newsletter, kindness, is universal and timeless. It connects us as humans and defines what we consider to be humane. Humanity has preserved the idea of kindness for thousands of years, and it is fundamental to the concept of civilisation. Kindness is part of a continuum extending throughout human history. It is a language everyone understands, reflecting what is genuine and honest.

People may have a religious outlook, but are they truly kind? Kindness is true spirituality, true religion, not the rhetoric of intolerance. The way that people treat animals is also a reflection of their true kindness.

The prayer of Salat speaks of the importance of kindness:

Thy light is in all forms, Thy love in all beings, as a loving mother, as a kind father … as a helpful friend

Here’s a line from Danielle Doby’s poem on the power of small acts of kindness:

When you create a difference in someone's life, you not only impact their life, you impact everyone influenced by them throughout their entire lifetime.

As Hazrat Inayat Khan says: Everyone gets, sooner or later, what he gives, for the heart knows the condition of the heart.

This issue is a way of honouring the importance of kindness in our lives. I hope that it inspires further acts of kindness in the world!

Yaqin

Beloved Sisters & Brothers Spring 2022

This last quarter has been one of incredible highs and lows for me. The high was the realisation that my book 'Eochair – A Riddle Decoded' would finally be published.

It seems to me that I have been writing for so many years, and now suddenly, there is nothing left for me to write now.

My writing has taken me into other realms – I felt that I was guided and inspired, that it was my destiny. Now I am not going into those magical places anymore. It is like I must find a new way of living and being. A new beginning! I know that when the book comes out, there will be much to do, but in the meantime, I find myself restless – unable to settle. My dreams at night are all about new beginnings – a new way of life that I do not yet understand.

Meanwhile, Azad travelled to Ireland at the end of June – this would also be a time of highs and lows for him. Almost as soon as he arrived, Azad came down with the RSV rhinovirus and was really ill for two weeks. We thought it was Covid, but he never tested positive. However, everything worked out well, and Azad achieved everything he had hoped, and he had time to be with friends and family and make the most of his stay.

While Azad was away, I had planned to go on holiday with a friend to Adelaide with charter plane trips to the outback – Coober Pedy, Lake Eyre, Kangaroo Island etc. However, this trip was cancelled because there were not enough pilots due to Covid, so we were very disappointed.

To make up for this, we decided to go to Bendigo, visit the Elvis Exhibition, and stay over to explore the town. There is a wonderful Viennese café in Castlemaine that we just needed to check out too. It was on the way.

Our hotel was supposed to be a fifteen minute walk to the town centre and exhibition. It was not! That day we walked 15,000 steps, and I was sore and tired. I have severe arthritis in my right knee and have been working on that leg for three years because of sciatic nerve damage. So my walking was putting pressure on my other knee.

The next day we went down into the old gold mine, walking through uneven and rough passages. I love things like that; however, my supposed good knee did not. A few days later, it seized up, and I could not move. The pain was excruciating. A good friend was coming over later to take me to the physio, but I could not move to open the door and gate – I forced myself to get to the phone and call the neighbour who had a key. My friend was working from home but left a Zoom meeting to come and rescue me. Together my neighbour and friend were able to lift me onto a walker and carry me to her car to take me to the physio.

I was in shock – so not functioning rationally. Usually, the arthritis pain crept up on me slowly so that I was ready to do what needed to be done when the time came. This was different – sudden and shocking. Now I understand how people feel when there is sudden trauma. The physio looked at my knee and told me I needed to be in hospital as they could not do anything until the pain and swelling had gone down. But she must have recognised the state I was in because she leaned into me and said that they had dealt with this before and that I would be fine again in time. This is what I remember – a hope that all will be well. I hung onto that thought – it was another great kindness. I could decide to go to the emergency hospital. I admit to being completely out of control and in terrible pain for the first time. I had a torn meniscus. I was also very afraid. I do not know what I would have done without my friend’s and neighbour's kindness. They took over and took care of me. I became like a child and allowed myself to be taken care of. I was in the hospital for four days and then to home rehab.

Even my myotherapist took time off to visit me in hospital and explain what had happened to my knees, but he also gave me hope. He told me that it would have been far worse if I had not been doing the physical work and that I was recovering much faster than he would have expected. This was a great kindness as he would have had to make time from his busy schedule for me.

It was difficult – Azad was not there - I was alone. A carer came twice a week to help me shower and do some housework. A physio visited me once a week to give me exercises for my knees, and I learned to use crutches. The kindness of strangers –they did more for me than was required and always ensured that I was settled and comfortable.

From the first day home, my Sufi sister was there with food for me and more for later in the freezer. Over the days, my Sufi sisters came to visit with wonderful food – they knew what I liked and also what I needed. This was great kindness!

I have come to realise that kindness is love in action. I so much enjoyed the visits and the goodies they brought – like special gatherings sometimes with wine and sharing. This loving-kindness fed my soul and helped my healing.

I am deeply grateful. But I have also learned a lot about myself. I am not good at receiving and have had to reflect on my childhood to discover why. My mother could not receive gifts, so I knew how hurtful it was to have gifts rejected and regifted when they were given with love. Once when I was older, I asked my mother what she really wanted and needed as I wanted to give her something she would keep. She asked for poultry scissors. With some difficulty, I found what I thought she wanted. I still do not understand the expression on her face when I gave them to her, but I never saw her use them. Many years later, when she brought her belongings to Australia, planning to live here, she gave me back the scissors still in the box. I still have them unused! I now believe that she thought they were 'too good' to use.

So sad.

I enjoy and appreciate gifts, but it is getting help that I have trouble with. It seems to me that I am beholden if someone gives me help. I realised long ago that sometimes people give gifts because they want something in return – perhaps love, attention, or time. Zorba the Greek (in the movie) defined this as a transaction like being in the grocery store. This attitude comes from my childhood – I think children are so often bribed to do something or be something. It seems to work but it leaves a suspicion in the child of any gifts that are given – or at least it did for me, especially when a 'gift' was taken back because I was naughty.

It always reminds me of when I was given a lump of coal in a Christmas cracker on Saint Nicholas Day (the 6th of December) because I had been naughty. I had been so looking forward to being given something good by the saint! I do not remember what I had done to upset him, but I remember the coal! My sons still tell their friends this story in horror. Azad reckons I must have been a very naughty and wilful child!

My great insight into kindness is that it comes from the heart, from love and is really love in action. I am so grateful to all those who have shown me kindness, especially in the last couple of months. I have learned so much and I needed this lesson!

Nuria

Kindness – Love in Action

by Nuria

One day, my cousin’s daughter asked her father why he ‘liked’ me. His answer was ‘Because she is kind’. She told me this herself!

It has always seemed a strange question and one I would like to explore. I felt close to my cousin Reinhold, but his daughter seemed to resent me and could not understand our relationship.

Our family came from Vienna, Austria and has since been scattered. Reinhold was the son of my mother’s eldest sister, and I only met him when I came to Australia in 1977. He was twenty years older than me and very kind. He showed me around Melbourne, signed me up to Medicare and gave me my first Melways (a map book of Melbourne/Victoria’s roads). This seems a symbolic gift – so I could always find my way when lost.

Reinhold’s mother had divorced her husband – he remembers going to his father at the weekend to collect money for food. They were very poor. He told me that his mother often took them (Reinhold, his sister and brother) to visit my parents in Vienna. It was a long walk, and my mother always gave them the tram fare home. But they walked and used the tram fare to buy food. They were a close and loving family.

In January 1939, my parents escaped Vienna on one of the last trains and made a new life in Derry, Northern Ireland. Reinhold and his family could only leave much later when another sister gave them the money for the fares. They managed to get to Derry just before the war was declared in September 1939. He was with my father in the kitchen, listening to the radio when war was declared in September 1939. He was only a teenager then and got a job with the local milkman delivering milk.

The Dunera Boys

In the next year (1940), Winston Churchill’s government detained thousands of ‘enemy or dangerous aliens’ previously determined not to be a risk; this included Reinhold, who was only seventeen at the time. In July 1940, 2546 of these men, ranging in age from 16 to 66, were herded aboard the hired military transport ship Dunera at Liverpool and transported under abject conditions to Australia.

Churchill later described the arrest and internment of these men, now commonly known as the ‘Dunera boys’, as ‘a deplorable mistake’.

The Dunera left Liverpool at midnight with one destroyer as an escort. Less than twenty four hours out of Liverpool, the Dunera was attacked by a German U-56 submarine, a torpedo hit the Dunera with a loud bang but did not explode. A second torpedo was fired, and because the waves were heavy, the ship went up just as the torpedo passed underneath.

The 57 days of the voyage were in appalling conditions, and the British guards robbed them of their luggage and took Reinhold’s watch. (1)

Reinhold tells us that this happened when he boarded the ship.

Reinhold was held with the other men in rural camps based in Hay and Tatura. Communities were created there, and the men made the best of their conditions as they could and encouraged education and culture in the camps. Friendships made remained and there were many reunions.

Most internees were released in early 1942 – Reinhold volunteered for the army, married and settled down; He studied and became an architect.

I tell this story to show how close and fiercely loving our family was. We cousins understood how fortunate our parents were to have survived – they had helped and protected one another. Reinhold told me how happy he was when he heard that his beloved aunty and uncle (my parents) had a baby daughter (me) in 1943.

We were family and familiar with one another - we knew who we were. There was no question of why.

This made me think – firstly, why do we need a reason to love someone? Love is not a transaction – it comes from the heart. We love ‘in spite of’, not ‘because of’.

Did Reinhold’s daughter not know love? Did she not have empathy? Or was there envy that we had something that she did not? She once told me that Reinhold was not my family. Of course, he was!

I now realise that this feeling is a recognition of something known and understood in another person. It does not have to be a relative but usually recognition of ‘sameness’ of someone like us. I remember being told once that when we meet our teacher we immediately feel a likeness – there is no difference.

When I first met Pir-O-Murshid Hidayat I felt this immediately. I saw so much of myself reflected in him or was it him in me? There was no difference. This is love!

Then came Reinhold’s answer - the thought that I was kind? I pondered the matter. Reinhold was kind – did he see that in me? Was this his way of saying that we were ‘kin’ and that this kindness he spoke about was really love?

Only recently I have come to understand what real kindness is. It is love in action and my beloved cousin knew this and understood.

I remember him with such love – he was a kind man!

What is Kindness?

by Karim

What is “kindness”? A simple enough question one would think, but one that opens us up to the deepest mysteries of God, if pursued. “Kindness” according to the “Names” is that divine quality which the authors of the wonderful book, ‘The Physicians of the Heart’ tell us is the essence of Allah/God/The One. In particular they invoke one of the Names – Ya Rahman (Compassion/Mercy) and tell us that it is this Name that is ‘Inscribed on the Heart of God/Allah …an infinite container that is incredibly compassionate, kind, and tender. The sun of loving compassion that is endlessly shining. And it includes all the other divine Names’….

According to Rasina Fawzia al-Rawi (author of ‘Divine Names: The 99 Healing Names of the One Love) … “To be truly pregnant means to carry kindness and mercy in your heart and to let all creatures become your children.” Returning to the Physicians of the Heart, the authors tell us that the root meaning (in Arabic) of ArRahman (endless love), is rahm which means “womb.” ‘Allah’ they say, ‘provided human beings a womb to be born into and through which to have a realisation of the love that is at the very foundation of all that exists…’

This is all wonderful stuff, but – turning to the word in English – we find it has a different history and one which is worth exploring a little if one has some time to spare! The root of the word for us harks back to the Old English (circa 459-1150) term ‘Kyndnes’ which meant then “Kin” or “Nation” in other words…people of our own ‘kind.’ It was only later, so the etymologists tell us, that the word evolved to something closer to our modern understanding, referring to ‘courtesy or noble deeds’.

Thus may we come to understand that others could have all kinds of ideas and/or emotional responses when asked to say what they think ‘Kindness’ is. However, as we have seen – Sufis, and perhaps Muslims more generally (for after all they pray five times daily asking Allah the most Compassionate, the most Merciful, to lead them, through His Divine Kindness to the straight path and to help them avoid the crooked one) – have very definite explanations for its origins and what it means for them. Are there then two different understandings to be had when one considers such a question as we have at the start of this piece, or do these differing views as expressed here through the ‘roots’ of this word in some ways converge so as to become inconsequential where one is discussing these matters? Or, indeed, do any of us (putting Arabic aside for a moment) still hold to the belief that “Kindness” refers too, or indeed should be restricted to, one’s own kind (Kinfolk)? One’s own Nation? If one’s answer to this is no, all well and good. If however one starts to balk at this gradual expansion of the limits (or otherwise) of this term to include members of another faith, of different social orders, and so on, then how does such balking fit-in with the form given to it by Islam and the concept of the Name ‘written on the heart of Allah’?

As always, caution is required where one is confronted by words with which one is so familiar that we think they hold no surprises, so barely spare them another thought.

If, then, we now return to this word ‘Kind/ness” with this added dimension of a more nuanced understanding of its derivation in both languages, there emerges a potential connection point between the English word “Kin” and the Arabic word for “womb” (rahm) that allows us to see that, regardless of such differences lexically and semantically we are all connected through this ‘being held/written on the Heart of All, which means in effect and practically speaking related each other in the deepest sense.

A Personal Perspective

Recently I re-read a piece written by Ibn al ’Arabi concerning his own experience of this “Name” that is written on the heart of Allah (Meccan Revelations, vol. 1, p58) appears in a long Chapter on the “Oneness of Being” or Wahdat al-Wujud, in the introduction he explains that “… everything that may be said to exist in whatever mode is denoted by the Name “Allah” … [and] all things in the Universe come under the sway of this all-comprehensive Name’.

Perhaps for the first time I found a connection to my own experiences that I have previously written about in my blog, Tracks in a Pathless Land https://tracksinapathlessland.home.blog

(see The Dream that changed my Life; & - within it - The Coorong Dream).

In the first ‘dream/experience’ I left my physical form in a ‘body of light’ during which time “I” was given to know and experience the connection of everything in creation (nothing left out), and the ‘Word’ that not only described this connection perfectly but was at the same time this connection! In the second dream/experience “I” was – amongst other things – shown this Word, both in its physical manifestation on oval stone tablets, and then asked to observe whilst a young woman in green silk robes demonstrated for me how it was written on her heart (by causing it to be raised on the breast over her heart)!

Thus, we arrive at the real place of comprehension/action in relation to ‘Kindness’ for it resides nowhere else than within us, within our own hearts, awaiting only to be enacted in this world. Only when we are truly able to comprehend through this opening can the giving (or passing on to another) be not merely a giving preference to kin/folk, but an awakening to need in other than self. We must needs discover who our “Kin” is to be able to let go of all these “Distinctions and differences that divide us” when one really encounters life (as Inayat’s prayer asks us to do) through this ‘raising up’!

A word of caution here. Once done there is no turning back, and the road we encounter as we live this experience into being can be extremely painful particularly when we encounter the pain and suffering of our fellow creatures’.

As Inayat says:

‘It is not surprising if an ego that has become a flower does not wish to live among thorns, but that is its destiny, and in spite of all suffering it is preferable to be a rose than a thorn.’

[Saluk (Morals), Gatha 3, p174, in The Sufi Message, Vol. XIII]

On the Path of Return there is much to learn, but we are not alone. Whilst it takes time, effort, and consideration on the part of the devotee, this ‘awakening’ spoken of is also facilitated by the conspiration of life itself. Events begin to unfold both within and around us such that one may witness the gradual unfoldment of this sensitivity to recognise this connectedness of all things. Thus, in a somewhat ironic fashion, the action of moving towards other to help alleviate their suffering is actually helping us to ease our own, for, along with this realisation of our entwined interests comes a physical, psychological, and a spiritual “tenderising” such that these words of Inayat take on a very special significance.

This world is full of “thorns” not all of which aspire to become roses. As Inayat warns us… “the more sensitive you become the more you will have to suffer [because] The thorn cannot hurt another thorn, but the slightest thing can hurt a rose.” (Ibid, p174).

This was the first lesson given to us on the Sufi Path after our initiation by Hidayat, as Murshida Aziza slowly and carefully removed the thorns from the stems of the roses we had brought as a gift for them both on that day so many years ago now.

May God/Allah bless all our efforts!

You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness.

- Prophet Muhammad -

Abu Ad-Darda reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever is given his portion of kindness has been given his portion of goodness, and whoever is deprived of his portion of kindness has been deprived of his portion of goodness.

Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2013

“The characteristic of loving-kindness is to promote wellbeing. Its function is to prefer wellbeing. Its manifestation is the removal of annoyance. Its proximate cause is seeing the loveliness of beings. It succeeds when it makes ill will subside, and it fails when it produces selfish affection.”

-Buddhaghosa (Visuddhimagga)

“And how does one abide with one’s heart imbued with loving-kindness extending outward in one direction? Just as one would feel friendliness on seeing a dearly beloved friend, so does one extend loving-kindness to all creatures.”

-The Buddha (Appamannavibhanga)

“A monastic dwelling in loving-kindness And pleased with the Buddha’s teachings Attains happiness, the stilling of formations, The state of peace.”

-The Buddha (Dhammapada)

A poem by Saqiya

Kindness hovers

To think on to breathe life into thoughts to untangle the suffocated to choose words carefully when so lost directionless alone soundless notes faded shadows muted voices reign

resuscitation goodness friendship come share a meal take my hand no miasma truth-telling from the Heart

Loving Kindness

by Azad

Nuria proposed to Yaqin that we could have this edition of Spirit Matters look at love and kindness as the theme or topic for this issue. This followed a Zoom group meeting on the subject of love and kindness.

Having had a few health set-backs, shortly after I went to Ireland, Nuria found that help i.e. love and kindness in practical ways were given to her willingly, especially by mureeds in Melbourne. This happened as well on a spiritual – in the literal sense - in that her spirit was uplifted as well - as in the practical or pragmatic sense her material needs; shopping etc. were also attended to. Social services also played their part, by providing a home help, physiotherapists, a home safety alert system as well as checking by phone, occasionally, if everything was satisfactory.

Now a cynic, would say, “So what? – this is how it should be!”

The reality is that life isn’t truly like that.

So this got me thinking on what is love and what is kindness? – are they compatible? Is there any way we can differentiate between them? Is it possible to distinguish one from the other when it comes to feelings or emotions, rather than the physicality of both?

Audre Lorde has told us ‘that poetry names the nameless so (that) it can be thought’

And ‘poetry speaks to the way we could be’. So what is kindness? Is it love personified? Or what?

Here is a definition of Love from a book entitled ‘101 Quotations to make you think!’: ‘Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance, and you find that you still care for that person.’

Here are two poems about love – two, from hundreds of thousands – written about love.

The first is by Pablo Neruda and the second is by William Butler Yeats.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one, I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer. My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees. We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her. My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses. Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

Pablo Neruda

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

William Butler Yeats

Both these poems at first sight appear to be just that love poems, but I know a little about Yeats and about this poem.

Yeats meets Maud Gonne

Yeats was infatuated by an English lady – a heiress - called Maude Gonne, who despite being born in England became a fierce, and ardent Irish nationalist. Her love of Ireland, of country, was intense while Yeats was more dispassionate or even disinterested. Nuria sees Maude Gonne as representing his soul so that in effect she was his soul as this reflects his great love and passion for her. He totally loved and idolised her as expressed in the sentence; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you. But for her as the embodiment, of the soul, her love, first and foremost, was for the land and country which she held sacred above all else. According to Yeats’ biographer R. F. Foster, Maud Gonne appeared to Yeats as a;

"majestic, unearthly… immensely tall, bronze-haired, with a strong profile and beautiful skin, she was a fin-de-siecle beauty in Valkyrie mode". It was the start of a mutually obsessive relationship that would last half a century. (Times of India)

Soon after he met her, Yeats had experienced an obsessive love and desire for her, which had a significant and lasting effect on his poetry throughout his life. He proposed to her no less than four times, in 1899, 1900, 1902 and finally in 1916. She rejected him on each, and every occasion. The last two lines of this poem are very well known throughout the world.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Despite his persistence and her resistance she finally did marry but it was to Major John McBride in 1903, roughly one year after Yeats’ third proposal had occurred; and that is where the two lines of his poem (When You Are Old) are significant:

And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you

I think the reference of false love is a reference to John MacBride as the marriage to Maude only lasted up to 1905, and the one man who loved the pilgrim soul is referenced to himself.

It is also clear that he is writing about John MacBride in the very well-known poem ‘Easter 1916’, Yeats refers to the Easter Rising, as ‘the casual comedy’ towards the armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916, of which MacBride was a part of. He writes of MacBride as;

This other man I had dreamed A drunken, vainglorious lout. He had done most bitter wrong To some who are near my heart, Yet I number him in the song;

He, too, has resigned his part In the casual comedy; He, too, has been changed in his turn, Transformed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. MacBride was executed along with 15 others for taking part in this rebellion against British rule in Ireland. The last three lines reflect Yeats’ change of attitude.

He, too, has been changed in his turn, Transformed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. So what to make of this turbulent romance? This unrequited love? Does ‘love’ have any relevance to ‘kindness’ at all?

Gonne had rejected Yeats on four separate proposals of marriage because, in her opinion he had a much more detached view of Irish nationalism; Gonne was very active in many issues - she was a suffragette and very active on many fronts and on many committees. She had also converted to Catholicism, and Yeats had refused to do so. But Maude Gonne was of the opinion that her refusals had been the catalyst for some of his finest poems. She thought that the world would be grateful for her rejection of him.

She refused many marriage proposals from Yeats, not only because he was unwilling to convert to Catholicism and not because she viewed him as insufficiently radical in his nationalism, but also because she believed his unrequited love for her had been a boon for his poetry and that the world would thank her for never having accepted his proposals.

When Yeats told her he could not be happy without her, she replied: “Oh yes, you are, because you make beautiful poetry out of what you call your unhappiness and are happy in that. Marriage would be such a dull affair. Poets should never marry. The world should thank me for not marrying you.”

In complete contrast we have a fiery passionate revolutionary Latin American poet Pablo Neruda, who unabashedly supports revolution, sensuous sexuality and says what he feels, rather than writing or talking in metaphors.

Pablo Neruda was a fascinating character and a great writer of love poems. He was a poet, a diplomat and a senator who also won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

I have included a Wikipedia link should you be inclined to know more about his life and his death and that – his death – is an intriguing story in itself. He, unlike Yeats, was a revolutionary and was quite vociferous in support of many causes especially those in South America. He began writing poetry when he was 13 years of age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda

Veinte Poemas also brought the author notoriety due to its explicit celebration of sexuality, and, as Robert Clemens remarked in the Saturday Review, “established him at the outset as a frank, sensuous spokesman for love.” While other Latin American poets of the time used sexually explicit imagery, Neruda was the first to win popular acceptance for his presentation. Mixing memories of his love affairs with memories of the wilderness of southern Chile, he creates a poetic sequence that not only describes a physical liaison, but also evokes the sense of displacement that Neruda felt in leaving the wilderness for the city.”

This is quite the opposite of Yeats and you are left in little doubt about the male’s feelings, or are we confused with the mixed messages?

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is starry and she is not with me. I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.

And at this point I began to question what was the point of this article? What was I trying to say? What did these poems reflect? I had started out with idea that there was little difference between love and kindness and then thought, No! There is quite a distinction! I blame Neruda for this as he – at least to me – swings back and forth as can be seen from the few lines above.

And then belatedly it struck me, the connection is the heart. So obvious! It is at the centre of our Murshid’s teachings. We label these emotions as love or kindness but these feelings cannot be restrained by a label. They are a part, an integral part, of being human. We are sentient beings. Thanks to God. We cannot corral these into a label, phrase or even a poem as they are beyond all boundaries.

In the Sufi Message Murshid writes:

“When man analyses the objective world and realises the inner being, what he learns first and last is that this whole vision of life is created by love; love itself being life, all will in time be absorbed in it.

It is the lover of God whose heart is filled with devotion, who can commune with God; not the one who makes the effort with his intellect to analyse God. In other words, it is the lover of God who can commune with Him, not the student of His nature. It is the ‘I’ and ‘you’ which divide, and yet it is ‘I’ and ‘you’ which are the necessary conditions of love. Although ‘I’ and ‘you’ divide the one life in two , it is love that connects them by the current which is established between them; and it is this current which is called communion, which runs between man and God.”

A story about Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa had received a gift from an American (they never met); he had heard about her work and wanted to express his solidarity with what she and her Sisters were doing. She wrote a letter thanking him for his kindness and generosity but never got around to sending it. Ten years later, after Mother Teresa had passed away, the sisters were tidying up her papers; they forwarded her letter on belatedly, as it was written in Mother Teresa's own hand and they thought he would appreciate receiving it. The letter arrived the very day he most needed it; he had been told he had a terminal illness, that he should tidy up his affairs and spend what time remained with his family. He was devastated, indeed, he wanted to end this life. The letter was brought to his attention. Mother Teresa had written, among other words, that "suffering was the kiss of Jesus." He said her letter changed his life and he was still alive to tell the story.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Luke 6:31. King James Version.

From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive. Kind words are like honey — sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

Proverbs 16:23-24

Our Dealings With Our Friends

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

from Volume III, The Art of Personality

Friendship as the average person understands it is perhaps little more than acquaintance; but in reality it is more sacred than any other connection in the world. To a sincere person, entering into friendship is like entering the gates of heaven; and a visit to his friend is a pilgrimage to a true loving friend. When, in friendship, a thought arises, 'I will love you as you love me,' or, 'I will do to you as you do to me,' this takes away all the virtue of the friendship, because it is a commercial attitude, prevalent everywhere in the commercial world: everything is done for a return, and measure is given for measure. Friendship should be the contrary pole to the practical side of life; for when a person is tired by the selfish surroundings of the world he feels inclined to take refuge in the love and kindness of a sympathetic friend. But if there is a question of selfishness in friendship, where can a soul go who is tired and annoyed with the selfish surroundings of the world?

Friendship is just like recreation after the toil of the day. One can speak or be with someone who is different from all others in life. But difficulty arises because everyone thinks that his friend ought to prove worthy of his ideal, and this in the end disappoints him. For the law of beneficence teaches this: that goodness is worthwhile which can withstand even badness; that kindness is valuable which can withstand tyranny. Every soul is not ready to follow this ideal, and it depends to what extent one is strong enough to withstand. By having an ideal and keeping it before him, a person develops sooner or later into that ideal.

A friendship used to carry out one's aims and objects in life through the love and kindness of a friend is only business. The unselfish friend is the pure one, and it is such a friendship that will last; but a selfish friendship will vanish. For the selfish friend will create selfishness in the heart of his friend, and the unselfish friend will create unselfishness in the heart of his friend.

Everyone gets, sooner or later, what he gives, for the heart knows the condition of the heart. Therefore, there is no better principle than wishing good to the friend, speaking good of the friend, doing good to the friend, with all kindness and love; having no thought for one moment of the friend's deserving our goodness, kindness, or love.

Indifference

a Universal Worship sermon given by Haniyya and Farhan

Beloved Ones of God,

Today we heard various scriptures from the World which identified and gave us insights into the concept of indifference.

The nature of the human condition and the consequence of living in the World is that we will face storms on the sea of life that we can either sail through with skill or face a less positive outcome. Often either outcome is of our making. Many of the storms we face are made worse by our condition at the time and perhaps the secret to dealing with them may be what Murshid calls: indifference through understanding.

In order to develop our humanity, however, one has to develop sensitivity, and, the more sensitive we become, the more thorns we will find on our way. Every move we make, at every step, there is something that could hurt us, or indeed, us harm another!

As the Gayan tells us: “My bare feet! Step gently on life’s path, lest the thorns lying on the way should murmur at being trampled upon by you”. We may hurt others but also the thorns may hurt us. How do we become sensitive for the trampled thorns but at the same time insensitive to the pain they cause should we tread on them?

This poses the paradox of being indifferent without being insensitive!

Murshid tells us:

“Very often conditions in life give the effect of captivity; sometimes it seems as if one has to walk between a river and a precipice …indifference is against one's nature of love and sympathy; it is as if one has to cut one's heart in two before one can practice indifference throughout life… But the one whom nothing can touch is in the world and yet above the world. He is the one who walks on the water; life is under his feet, both its joy and sorrow…”.

In the Gayan Alankaras we heard ‘Indifference! My most intimate friend, I am sorry I always have to act against thee as thy opponent’. There can be no doubt that indifference is indeed our most intimate and essential friend but the more sensitive we become the more difficult it is to achieve and therefore we act against.

The questions we may ask, therefore, are:

• How do we gain the ability to be indifferent to life’s challenges?

• How do we maintain our sensitivity and compassion for others whilst being indifferent? and

• How does understanding answer the above questions?

These points will be discussed, however, those who walk the path of indifference every day have the real answers. A few remarkable exemplars are included in the concluding comments to this talk, although, they would not see themselves as such. The real substance of indifference is seen in the reality of those that really walk this path.

Perhaps an insight into these questions, particularly the last concerning understanding, which is the keystone to answering the earlier two, is provided in the Hindu Scripture where we heard: ‘When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard’; and also the Buddhist Scripture explains: “The world is afflicted by death and decay. But the wise do not grieve, having realized the nature of the world.”

The Buddhist scripture points us towards the realisation of the ‘nature of the world’, which for the Sufi may point towards the elements, which assist our understanding of ALL types of nature as identified by Murshid: particularly, those set out in his Nature Meditations, which are:

• The trees and mountains and the physical aspects of the Universe;

• The creatures that inhabit the World;

• Human Nature; and

• Divine Nature.

For this discussion focus will be upon four elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. These elements represent many qualities and attributes that perhaps will form discussion at another time, however, today we will examine them in terms of the following qualities:-

• Earth encourages us to understand humility: the Earth provides us with everything but asks for nothing and allows us to walk upon it and is humble before all in spite of its greatness. If we can be humble then our false ego may be lessened in effect; and therefore, we may not be susceptible to our egos being falsely ‘injured’ by intentional or unintentional events.

• Water informs us of willingness to accept what is or has happened to us, whatever the consequences to us or our loved ones.

• Fire informs us that we should be wholehearted in what we do: if we are to be indifferent we must be fully committed and not just in part.

• Air reminds us of our gratitude for what we receive and perhaps we may not understand God’s purpose in what is dealt us at that time - as it says in the Gayan Boulas: “All things are good; but all things are not good for every person, nor right at all times”.

When faced with the storms of life we will need these understandings demonstrated in the elements. These lessons from the elements (and indeed many more that they represent) we should embrace in our study as a method for gaining indifference. We are these elements and use these elements, therefore, they are the keystone to our understanding and eventually indifference.

When posed with the questions of what is indifference and how it may be achieved, a murshid pointed some mureeds towards the quote from Jesus (Luke 6:29): “To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also…”. The murshid offered an explanation of this gospel quote by use of a Western boxing concept: to ‘roll with the punches’. He explained that an expert boxer cannot always stop the punch coming but can, if trained, see it coming (or anticipate it) and become sensitive to the initial contact and then gently turn the body to one side to avoid the damage of the full blow. In this manoeuvre, of course, the other side of the body (or face) moves also as in the quote from Jesus to potentially be offered. This ‘other’ cheek now offered of course, as in life, gives new opportunities for actions, events and the further practice of indifference or ‘rolling with the punches’ if so required.

The boxer, therefore, becomes aware and sensitive and uses this ‘understanding’ to avoid pain and not encourage it for all parties involved. Chinese arts such as Tai Chi have codified this to make the process more accessible to understand.

The terms used are:

• Listening Power to be sensitive to what is happening;

• Understanding Power to interpret what we are feeling, seeing and hearing and make sense of the cause and potential effect; and

• Following Power - once interpreted take action to enable the force not to harm.

If we understand what is happening we avoid injury and therefore become indifferent to the consequence of the ‘attack’. This example helps us to see that indifference is not easily achieved but by developing our sensitivity and therefore understanding of others and indeed nature in its widest context we can, with much effort, become or achieve indifference by turning the other cheek. As it says in the prayer Khatum: “..open our hearts…that we may know and understand life better…raise us above the distinctions and differences that divide…”

In the boxing environment the pugilist will often use this momentum of ‘rolling with the punch’ to deliver a further blow, to the person who initiated the original punch that had been avoided. Perhaps we should see this counter attack as being our positive reaction to a blow made to us: give something good in return - Like the beauty and fragrance of the lotus flower which is given to us from the depths of the most decayed and noxious swamps: It takes the bad and gives goodness. It does not care about where it comes from or what it has encountered it just gives love harmony and beauty to the swamp. As we see in the Gospel of Luke (6:27-31): “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them”.

In Conclusion, as mentioned in the introduction to this talk, we recount parts of two conversations on the subject of Indifference and understanding with friends who not only explain the real meaning of indifference but live it: a nursery nurse and a hospice palliative care nurse.

The nursery nurse described how she had been hit and shouted at by one of the children at the nursery where she worked. We asked how she felt about this. Her reply was: “Oh I don’t care, he was only 4 years old and tired and waiting for his mum to come and fetch him. How can you get annoyed at a lovely little kid when they just want to go home? Bless him: love them all to bits!!! In this job you have to love kids and understand what’s going on with them: they don’t mean it”.

And

The hospice palliative care nursing sister when asked how she coped with dealing every day with patients who were at the end of their life: how did she give love and care without being hurt every time a patient died?

Her response was: “…well that is why they are here (the patients). My job is to give them the best care we can while they’re here. I know how it will end and we all know what we have to do. We love our jobs and our patients and we give them everything we can, while we can, and their relatives too…Do I get hurt: yes!!!! But I understand how it always has to end and take comfort in the fact that we are blessed to be able to help in our small way. We do this every day and I would work nowhere else. With this job you have to be completely in or not at all! Once you accept what is happening and understand the needs and what will happen… you just have to understand the job. If we ever get upset there is always another nurse here for help and support and make you understand again…”.

Often, in spite of our best efforts we may not be sensitive or agile enough to turn the other side of the face to cope with the onslaught of life and we may be damaged. In such cases we can do nothing but be humble, accepting and whole heartedly grateful (the lessons from the elements) for the ‘training’ provided in indifference and understanding. As we see in the Gayan Boulas: “All things are good; but all things are not good for every person, nor right at all times”.

May our love, compassion and understanding lead to indifference and therefore the growth of goodness and the Message of God.

And our sincere thanks to those amongst us who show by example every day this lesson of indifference.

The Universe in Man

contributed by Zubin

This year in July, the Summer School of the International Sufi Movement was once again held in the Netherlands. There was the joy of anticipation as people who had not been able to meet for several years came together. The team preparing Murad Hassil in Katwijk created a beautiful atmosphere in the temple, and all the behind the scenes work was completed seamlessly and with a smile. Participants were welcomed to the program, the Ocean of Truth, and given every opportunity to deepen in their understanding of the Sufi Message. There were ordinations of six Siraj/as and three Cherag/as, and there was a feeling of freshness. The following, from a lecture by Pir O Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, was given at the Summer School.

The Universe in Man

If one asks what is the cause of all misery in life, the answer will be: the limitation of life. Misery, pain, or sorrow of any kind come from limitation. It may be poverty or illness or disappointment, but it is all limitation; and this has been found out by all the prophets and teachers of humanity. When Buddha was young he saw that there was great pain in the world, and his first thought was to find out what was behind it; and so it has been with all the great teachers. They all wanted to solve this one question, to find out where is the cause of all misery.

The answer is this: if a person who lives in poverty is given all the money they want, are they then quite happy? Or the one who is ill, perhaps they have become well again, but is it enough for them to be well again or do they want more? People are always searching for something; they do not know what. And they think that it is that which they lack in life. But if that which was lacking is given to them, then they want something else. Well, this shows a great mystery in the soul, and that mystery is that the soul has all that it needs, and yet it has lost it. The story of Adam’s exile tells us that it is what one lacks in life that is meant by the exile of man.

What remedy did the teachers of humanity find at last? They discovered that in the depths of man was the universe itself, that people were a miniature universe in themselves. When we throw a spiritual light upon this question we find that the entire kingdom, rock, stone, diamond, or ruby, is all to be found in humans. There is one who is just like a rock. There is the heart of another which is like a diamond, and there is the heart which is just like a ruby. The more you study this the more you will realize that everything that is to be found in the mineral kingdom, can also be found in the mind of a human being. You will find the fire of sulphur in one’s mentality, and you will find the resonance of the metal of the gong or bell in the heart of another. You will find the quality of sandalwood in the human character, and you

will find the value of the pearl in human intelligence. The fruit and flower, whatever there is in the world, all is to be found in human character. And chemically speaking you will even find that in the human body the essence of all things is to be found.

Also, when we think of the sun and the moon, and of the stars and planets, we find that even the essence of these is to be found in humans. It is this science which was known to the ancient people as alchemy, of which the word chemistry has derived. But the science of the ancient people was concerned with the understanding or the study of humans, of the human body and mind. All other science came from the science called alchemy. They discovered that all that one searches for outwardly they can find inwardly through the knowledge of this science.

Of course, a person might ask if we then find all objects or things that we can get in the world in ourselves. I will say yes; even this is possible, if one has come in touch with one’s self…

Human nature is very much inclined towards what is called intoxication. The reason is that this intoxication gives one a certain relaxation and momentary comfort. But to have this comfort and relaxation one depends upon something from outside, and by doing so becomes a slave to something which is outside of themself. I have seen many mystical or spiritual people, who practise this experience, and they call it ecstasy; it is however not a real ecstasy or intoxication although it may seem to have the same effect, for a real intoxication does not take away one’s vitality and it never causes illness. On the contrary it gives greater, the health and greater strength of a mystic who knows and practises this science are in perfect order.

The aim of this science is to come to the understanding that the whole universe is to be found in one. It is a science intended to make a person selfsufficient. For whatever one possesses, they may be called rich or considered comfortable, but it is only their possessions; it is not themself. It is the enriching of the self which is the real riches; and it is to develop this power in oneself which is the real, dependable, power. Besides, that which today is called intellectuality is mostly book-learning. One goes on reading for many years, and when their head has become tired they know only what has been written in the books they have read. It is not books that can teach us; it is life that is the greatest teacher; but when the mind is engaged with books then one is not open to read life…. what we need today is learning from life, for if one wants to gain a thorough education it can only be gained by a keen observation of life.

The subject which is the most important to study in this whole life is ourselves. What we generally do is to criticize others, speak ill of them, or dislike them; but we always excuse ourselves. The idea is to watch one’s own attitude, one’s own thought and speech and action, and to examine ourselves to see how we react upon all things in our favour and in our disfavour, to see whether we show wisdom and control in our reactions or whether we are without control and thought. Then we

should also study our body, for then we shall learn that the body is not only a means of experiencing life by eating and drinking and making ourselves comfortable, but that it is the sacred temple of God.

Besides, this breath which we breathe from morning till evening, we hardly consider what mystery is behind it. This one object is of such great importance that if one really studied this science one could understand the whole being. But this is the very thing of which everyone seems to be ignorant. People never think about it; they think we breathe and that is all, and they do not know how and why. In point of fact there is something in the breath which connects the body with the soul, and the day when the breath leaves the body this connection is broken. The body remains on the earth, and the soul goes on; and therefore that which links the soul and body together must be of the greatest importance. The one who knows how to breathe and how to communicate with their soul begins to realize that the universe is within themself, and it is through realizing the universe in themself that one comes to real spirituality. Even in the Bible there is a hint about this science, though it is generally not interpreted in this way. I mean where it is said, “Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect”. If there is a possibility for the soul to attain perfection that perfection lies in realizing the universe within one.

The secret of this is that you are as small and as narrow as the horizon of your consciousness. And if your consciousness rises above these barriers which make you small you naturally become wide, and you naturally become great. Therefore spiritual perfection is attained by concentration and meditation…. If one only believed in its benefit one would certainly do their best to spare some time for this most valuable thing. No doubt it is not our wish at all to awaken those who are asleep…. But to those who are tossing in their beds, who are trying to get up, we offer our hand, and help them to rise. It is this which we call initiation in the esoteric school of Sufism. Sufism is not something secret; only as not everybody can understand it we do not wish to give it to everybody to ridicule it. It is only entrusted to some serious people who will steadily go on the path of divine wisdom.

The Sufi Movement is a society of members from all nations of the world, and the task they have is to serve in the cause of bringing people together, making them meet in wisdom. If we come together it is not because of business of politics or industry, for that is a momentary, not a stable unity. The stable unity lies in the understanding of the truth of life, in which we all can become friends. Two people who understand life well become closer than family, they become greater friends than any other friendship can give. There is nothing that divides them, neither nationality nor race nor any other division. But this task is only intended for those who are seriously inclined towards the understanding of the deeper side of life.

Hejirat Day

Every year on the 13th of September, mureeds around the world celebrate the day that Hazrat Inayat Khan left India in 1910 and travelled to America, bringing Sufism to the West.

“I was transported by destiny from the world of lyric and poetry to the world of industry and commerce on the 13th of September 1910. I bade farewell to my motherland, the soil of India, the land of the sun, for America the land of my future, wondering: “perhaps I shall return some day,” and yet I did not know how long it would be before I should return. The ocean that I had to cross seemed to me a gulf between the life that was passed and the life which was to begin. I spent my moments on the ship looking at the rising and falling of the waves and realizing in this rise and fall the picture of life reflected, the life of individuals, of nations, of races, and of the world. I tried to think where I was going, why I was going, what I was going to do, what was in store for me.”

Biography of Hazrat Inayat Khan

Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, was constructed by the Gaekwad family, a prominent Maratha family in Baroda State in 1890. It is reputed to have been the largest private dwelling built until that time, and four times the size of Buckingham Palace.

Hazrat Inayat Khan playing the jal tarang in 1901. Many thanks to Hamida Verlinden for supplying these wonderful photographs.

Viladat Day, Hidayat Inayat-Khan

Photos and text supplied by Hamida

Verlinden

Murshidzade Hidayat Inayat-Khan, who was intensely attuned to the message of his father Hazrat Inayat Khan, led the Sufi Movement for sixteen years as Pir-o-Murshid, and then for the next seven years as co-Representative General, with Karimbakhsh Witteveen.

His birthday was commemorated last month with attunement and gratitude. He was born in London on the 6th of August, 1917.

Hidayat as a boy.

On the staircase of Fazal Manzil, Suresnes. Murshida Fazal Mai Egeling with Claire and Hidayat, and behind them are Vilayat and Noor.

Visalat Day, Hidayat Inayat-Khan

Photos and text supplied by Hamida

Verlinden

Hidayat Inayat-Khan, born in London on the 6th of August 1917, died in Munich on the 12th of September 2016. Pir-o-Murshid from 1992-2009. Co-Representative General of the Sufi Movement, with Karimbakhsh Witteveen.

Hazrat Inayat Khan told his children that they should decide for themselves which scripture they would like to study. Hidayat thoroughly investigated Sufism and Patthana, the law of cause and effect. After a successful career as a professional musician and composer, Hidayat took on the leadership of the Sufi Movement at the age of 74, bringing peace, and overturning the injustice done to the creator of the Ruhaniat.

We remember him with gratitude for his commitment to the Sufi Message and the support that he and Aziza gave to the Sufi Movement.

Oh Seeker, did you know responding to the call for the Unity of Religious Ideals is like sailing on the great waters of wisdom; attuned to the Ideals of Love, Harmony and Beauty; and driven by the compass of the Message in our time, and driven by the energy of Spiritual Liberty; while heading onwards towards the Goal assigned by Destiny and finally realising that the sailor is a ray of the all-pervading Divine presence sailing in the Past, Present and Future, on the infinite waves of illusions.

National Activities

On the first Sunday of each month Zubin hosts a Cherag Circle via Zoom.

All are welcome. Enquiries: zubin.shore@sufimovement.org

Cherag - Farsi chirāgh, charāgh: lamp, light; guide, director. The term cherag is also used to refer to one who is ordained in the work of the Universal Worship of the Sufi Movement.

The Sufi Movement in Australia holds a Zoom Spiritual Healing Circle every week on Wednesday evening from 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. AEST and a monthly Zoom Healing Study Group on the 3rd Monday of each month, also at 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. AEST. If you would like to learn more about the Healing Activity or would like to join the Healing Circle or Study Group please contact Shakti: shakti.genn@sufimovement.org

Nuria’s Melbourne Group meets online every Thursday at 8 p.m. via Zoom. If you would like to join our weekly gatherings please contact Nuria for further information: irenenuriadaly@hotmail.com