SUFI MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA Newsletter 128 June 2012 ____________________________________
*** INVITATION *** TO ALL MUREEDS OF HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN TO THE 25TH BI-ANNUAL SOUTH AFRICAN SUMMER SCHOOL From Saturday 20 to Sunday 28 April 2013 Where: The Good Shepherd Retreat Centre, Hartebeespoort Dam, near Pretoria and Johannesburg. It is in easy reach of the Johannesburg International Airport, and is beautifully located, overlooking the scenic Hartebeespoort dam. How much will it cost? There is no charge for attending the Summer School. The Centre offers simple rooms mostly with private bathrooms and all meals, at an approximate cost of R400 (+- 40 Euro) per person per day. The programme will include mureeds’ classes, sacred readings, silences, Zikr, Universal Worship, healing and confraternity services, poetry, music, cultural and more. It will allow sufficient free time to assimilate the teachings and the atmosphere of the Message, as well as for fun and relaxation. Who will be there? The South African summer school was instituted in the 1960ies to provide an opportunity for mureeds from the different centres to spend a week together in the atmosphere of the Message. Traditionally, each centre is represented at the summer school, though most participants are from the centre hosting the school. In addition we have been fortunate for many years now to welcome a number of overseas visitors, which adds a more international flavour to the gathering.
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If you need any further information to encourage you to attend, please contact Ashraf (elsje@wirelessza.co.za) or Waldo (essen@bucknet.co.za) or Magda (itsmagda@iafrica.com). For planning purposes Ashraf rather urgently needs to know how many people will be attending on a residential basis. So please email her if you hope to come, or even if you are just thinking about it. -oOoWORDS OF HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN If anybody asks you: “What is Sufism? What religion is it?”, you may answer: “Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which one thing is most important, and that is to seek God in the heart of mankind.” … The Sufi message is the message of the day. It does not bring theories or doctrines to add to those existing already, which puzzle the human mind. What the world needs to-day is the message of love, harmony and beauty, the absence of which is the only tragedy of life. The Sufi message does not give a new law; it wakens in humanity the spirit of brotherhood, with tolerance on the part of each for the religion of the other, with forgiveness from each other for the fault of the other; it teaches thoughtfulness and consideration, so as to create and maintain harmony in life; it teaches service and usefulness, which alone can make life in the world fruitful, in which lies the satisfaction of every soul. When directed by the new spiritual inspiration, law, morals, education, and all departments of life come to a new life; but if the spiritual current is lacking, then there is no further progress in the forms of life. People mostly think that the spiritual message must be something concrete and definite in the way of doctrines or principles, but that is a human tendency and does not belong to the divine nature, which is unlimited and life itself. The divine message is the answer to the cry of souls, individually and collectively; the divine message is life, and it is light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the ground nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plant to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit. The Sufi message, in its utter infancy, strikes the note of the day, and promises the fulfilment of that purpose for which, now and then, the blessing from above descends, for spreading love and peace on earth and among men. from Religious Gathekas 1 and 3
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SOME THOUGHTS ON “MODERNISING” THE SUFI MESSAGE Many loving souls who have been inspired and guided by the Divine Sufi Message of God for this epoch, out of an earnest and sincere desire to further this cause of all causes, feel that the Message should be adapted to fit better into today’s world, as the world of the 1920ies, when the Message was given, was after all very different. However, the Message is largely a Divine spiritual current starting in the inner spheres and coming directly from God, the source and goal of all that exists. It is in human terms a very long-term project, as Murshid has said that it will need some 300 years to grow, 300 years to flourish and will be in decline for a further 300 years. As it is not possible for us to change this or any other Divine current, it is the form in which it is given that is under discussion. To try to throw some light on this let us briefly look at the so-called modern world. There is no doubt that the material tsunami which has had the world in its grip ever since the start of the industrial revolution, has resulted in many improvements to the way of life of millions and millions of people and is continuing to do so as this wave of materialism spreads to every conceivable corner of the beautiful globe, which we love so much and which is our physical home. In many places grinding poverty and many other physical hardships have been largely eliminated. For example, in Holland in the early 1930ies there will still people squatting in sand huts in abject poverty and misery. On the other hand, it is interesting to ask what has happened to spiritual wealth during this period. On the one hand the Message is filtering through humankind at its own speed. One so often nowadays meets people who are gradually espousing many Sufi philosophies, simply through their own life’s experiences. There is also a great proliferation of all kinds of mystical schools and teachers who are helping to feed the growing hunger for spiritual fulfilment. Where is this hunger coming from? It seems that the answer could well be a sort of growing spiritual poverty as material wealth increases. In the words of the Sufi prayer Pir, people are searching for “a torch in the darkness”. While the dawn of the Sufi Message is clearly with us, there is still an immense amount of spiritual darkness and confusion in the modern world at large. Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan was the bringer of the Message of God for the current epoch. He was an absolutely clear channel between God and humankind, with no personal ambitions or even needs left. He was as an optic fibre bringing the ageless Message adapted in the form for today and in English. He practised fully what he preached, making all sacrifices necessary in the completion of the sacred task. And he himself said, “Do not change my words”. An alternative to adapting this divinely inspired form of the Message into the relative spiritual poverty of this age, is simply to live these most wonderful teachings. This could mean dong the practices regularly and in so doing becoming a guiding light to
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those around you. It can mean being a friend and a sibling to all whom you happen to meet on your life’s path. It is also to be realised in the very real help in all aspects of life such as the various special ceremonies associated with the Universal Worship; weddings, funerals, reception, house blessings, purifying houses from evil influences, ordinations, etc. It can be doing the healing regularly or the very meaningful healing services for a gravely ill person, or to ease one who is in the passing stage of life. And there are so many other ways, a smile here, a kind word there, a pat on the shoulder, and just radiating a loving vibe. In fact, there is nothing more modern than this Sufi Message which we are all so privileged to experience, each in our own way. We can render no greater service to God and humankind than to preserve all its aspects for the future generations of numberless souls who will seek it out and help to fulfil its Divine purpose. The work of the Message in the world has not really properly begun. It would be sad if, because of well-meant changes, the original form in which the Message was given, were to be lost to these coming generations. There are deep mystical reasons why the Message was given as it was. It would be of great service to the Message if the importance of its original form could be explained wherever possible. If because of local circumstances it is ever found necessary, in the day-to-day expression of the Message, to make a small change to a word or a ceremony, this should be seen as a temporary deviation from the original practice. The Englishspeaking world has the advantage of being able to absorb the Message through Murshid’s original words. These speak of a transcendent reality to which Murshid’s language is perfectly suited. The most wonderful thing about the Message is the perfect wisdom behind it. The Message which is for all mankind was first brought to the West, where the economic kingdom has reached great heights, and it was brought for this way of thinking. When the East will also have reached a far greater material well-being, it will have become much more westernised and so the form of the Message, which might not be ideal there at present, should fit in perfectly at that time. While material and spiritual reform always brings upheaval, Murshid made it very clear that religion has not yet fulfilled the purpose of its existence, and that the Sufi Message has come to restore the essence of all religions and, in so doing, bring humankind closer to the fulfilment of its purpose. Waldo van Essen
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The annual International Sufi Summer School is to take place in the Netherlands in July. This event, run by the International Sufi Movement, is open to all mureeds. The first part of the school is from Mon 9 to Thurs 12 July, and the second from Sat 14 to Wed 18 July. It is to be held at Murad Hassil, the Universel in the dunes at Katwijk. For further information please contact Waldo (essen@bucknet.co.za) or Magda (itsmagda@iafrica.com).
Cape Town’s Gigi Khan Kerschbaumer hugs her sister Amina after her marriage to Harun (Ronnie) Kasrils, with Gigi’s husband Reza (Hans) Kerschbaumer looking on. Gigi is one of the “oldest” mureeds in Cape Town, Reza is a regular at Universal Worship and other events, and Amina attends whenever she is in Cape Town.
The various Universal Worship ceremonies for special occasions are much appreciated in South Africa. Recently there has been a Sufi wedding in Tulbagh (near Cape Town) and one in Johannesburg, also a house blessing in Cape Town and in Pringle Bay. In addition to a child blessing on Betty’s Bay beach, in April two young children were received into the Universal Worship before a large family attendance as well as the usual gathering for the Sunday service in the Sufi Temple. And of course funeral and memorial services give great comfort whenever they are held. The Pringle Bay group is very family-oriented. At one of their recent meetings, a few minutes into a silence a two-year old clearly verbalised her understanding of what was happening: “all bodies sleeping”. Needless to say, this woke all the bodies up! The Temple in Cape Town continues to host, in addition to the core Sufi meetings, various cultural meetings, the last of which was a well-attended and most beautiful and meditative live sitar recital in early June. -oOo-
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Goodbye’s We sadly record the following: On 3 September 2011 Zohra van Essen-van Houten passed away at the age of 97. She was initiated at the age of 12 by Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh Maheboob Khan, and had some early memories of Hazrat Inayat Khan, which she was able to share for the last time with those present at the 2011 South African summer school. All her adult life Zohra was a devoted worker for the Message, often behind the scenes. She passed away as she lived, quietly, happily and naturally. For her family and close friends, being at her bedside and participating in the beautiful Sufi bedside services before and after her passing was a privilege. Zohra is much missed by many, but is very present in the Sufi Temple and the activities there, and her blessing is strongly felt by all those who were near and dear to her. On 29 October 2012 Dawn Brink passed away after a long illness. She had a long and constructive life and leaves a wonderful daughter Serena, who heads up the Durban Sufi group. Again, warm condolences go to Serena and others who were close to Dawn. On 27 November Munawir Almeida passed away, also after a long illness. He was originally part of the Gauteng Sufi group, and since his move to Portugal, he was instrumental in starting a small Sufi group in Lisbon. We extend sincere condolences to his nearest and dearest. During a visit to friends in the UK, Cape Town stalwart Joanna Marx passed away peacefully but very unexpectedly in late May. A memorial Universal Worship for her on 9 June at the Temple in Cape Town will give her many friends and her family the occasion to say goodbye and to send her their blessings. She will be much missed. -oOoSufi week in France. For many years the Sufi group led by Michel and Elise Guillaume in Paris, has held a week-long Sufi retreat in the South of France. This year I was fortunate to be able to attend this, to bask for a week in the atmosphere of the teachings and of the Message, and to be surrounded by Sufi friends old and new. First of the old friends was Richard Dillaerts, who migrated from the Cape Town group to this one and who sends loving greetings to all his Sufi friends in South Africa, where he left a part of his heart. Before travelling south we were wonderfully hosted in Paris by Sylvie and Jacques who participated in the South African summer school last year. From their home we were able to visit Michel Guillaume to offer condolences on the passing on of his wife Elise last December. Very sadly, two days before our visit their 28-year old grand-daughter had passed away after an illness. It was an inspiration to see how Michel was able to handle this family tragedy. The venue for the seminar in the south was called Terra Nova, situated at the foot of the Pyrenees, near Andorra. It is a dedicated purpose-built retreat centre in the midst
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of green meadows and hills and grazing horses. Even with the cold rainy weather we experienced, the views were always there, except that the snow-capped Pyrenees were mostly hidden in cloud and mist. The delicious ayurvedic meals were prepared with dedication and love and were appreciated by all, which, considering the participants were mostly French, was a huge complement to the very humble and hard-working chef. It was good to see this group make its way under new leadership, with Luc, the new leader, in close touch and much guided by Michel who is no longer able to travel out of Paris. Magda -oOo-
Ode to the Message It comes to all of us one day this question, which then tends to stay: “What am I doing here”, we say, “what is our role in this great world, where we start tiny and happily curled, until by birth onto earth we are hurled?” When we finally come to this great question and this point deserves special attention our answer leans on our own life up till then our own experience, in truth our safe den. A mafia member the mob will put first. To quench an all-consuming thirst for power and might he’s ready to the fight, though deep down he must know it’s not right. A philanthropist donates material wealth, be it with fanfare or in stealth.
A teacher gives learners from his core facts and manners and morals and more. In business it is about make, give and take, and sometimes to eat and to keep the cake. Yet comes a time when all these deeds no longer satisfy our needs, when even with faith in life to come we still yearn for a brighter sun. Here we Sufis are a lucky lot: in old age or in a virtual cot, the Message gives that for which we yearn, and there is always more to learn. At times the Message to us speaks. We do not have to search for weeks: by chance we find just how to breathe and how another’s pain to ease. We learn to see each other as close. We learn to put up with the morose. We study the deeper side of life. We learn to cope with some of its strife.
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We know that our life is one great journey, that for our misdeeds we need no attorney, that life on earth is just only a part: we don’t know its end, we don’t know the start.
There’s never the need to sink too low: we can pick ourselves up and on we go, leading lives which are full of meaning, be friends with all, and still have time for dreaming …
Yet the end and the start are both an ideal towards which we strive in this life so real. We learn to know that when there’s too much din then it’s high time to turn within.
All this is thanks to the Message so dear which warms our hearts and keeps us near to our neighbours, our origins, our eventual goal all this can make us truly whole … Magda
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www.sufimovement.co.za Editor: Doreen Gough: doreen.gough39@gmail.com or Acting editor: magda@iafrica.com