Special Events
Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato
The Art of Personality | Training the Ego
Spring Retreat 2011 | Lake of the Ozarks | USA
(Please note: the traveling clicking sound are the abundant tree frogs in the forest singing at the retreat!)
DAY 1: The Sense of Beauty and Sincerity
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: "There are two things needed in the development of personality: the sense of beauty and the preservation of sincerity."
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Scruti Box and Intoning Sacred Sound "Hu".
Click to Download Audio File Part 2
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, page 15
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Nr. 45
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
- Reading: Quote from Spiritual Liberty, Reflections on the Message of the Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II The Art of Personality, Nr. 45
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: Sense of Beauty and Sincerity
Click to Download Audio File Part 3
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: Sense of Beauty and Sincerity (continued)
- Practice: Quiet meditative reflection on the reading
- Reading: Twenty Jataka Tales by Noorunnissa Inayat-Khan, “The Patient Buffalo”
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
DAY 2: The Jarring Effect of the Ego on Another
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Those who know the right manner of developing personality know that the first lesson in life is to efface that ego as much as possible.”
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 28
- Practice: Purification Breaths, as taught by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, No. 2 and 21
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
Click to Download Audio File Part 2
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: The Jarring Effect of the Ego of Another
- Reading: The Causal Law in Terms of Happiness, Samyutta Nikāya, Lord Buddha
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: The Jarring Effect of the Ego of Another (continued)
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
DAY 3: What Is the Ego?
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Know thyself and thou wilt know God, said the great Sufi philosopher Ali. To know the self is the most difficult thing in the world....”
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 10, "Inayat Khan's Words"
- Reading: An Introduction to the Message in Our Time, "Not To Be Is To Be".
- Practice: Zikar (in English): Head to the left sweeping toward the right and back again repeatedly. Left to right saying, “There is nothing”. From right to left, “Only God IS!”
- Reading: from Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, No. 11, 12, and 17
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
Click to Download Audio File Part 2
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1.3, Saluk: Moral, “The Development of Personality: What Is the Ego?”
- Practice: Quiet meditative reflection on the reading
- Practice: Triangle Breath, development of mastery over one’s own personality and character
- Reading: Jataka Tales, Noorunnissa Inayat-Khan, “The Tortoise and the Geese”, pg. 41
- Closing Prayer
- Dedication of Merit
DAY 4: What the Ego Needs and Does Not Need?
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: "In order to train the ego it is necessary that one should distinguish what is the right of the ego and what is not its right."
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Meditation, Prayer
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 30, “Inayat Khan’s Words”
- Reading: Universal Sufism, page 22-23
- Practice: Zikar version 1 (in English): Head moving left to right saying, “There is nothing”. Head moving from right to left saying, “Only God IS!"
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Nr. 39
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
Click to Download Audio File Part 2
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1.4, Saluk: Moral, “The Training of the Ego: What the Ego Needs and What It Does Not Need?”
- Reading: Once Upon a Time by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, "Murshid's Majestic Personality”
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
Spring Retreat 2011 | Lake of the Ozarks | USA
(Please note: the traveling clicking sound are the abundant tree frogs in the forest singing at the retreat!)
DAY 1: The Sense of Beauty and Sincerity
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: "There are two things needed in the development of personality: the sense of beauty and the preservation of sincerity."
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Scruti Box and Intoning Sacred Sound "Hu".
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, page 15
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Nr. 45
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
- Reading: Quote from Spiritual Liberty, Reflections on the Message of the Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II The Art of Personality, Nr. 45
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: Sense of Beauty and Sincerity
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: Sense of Beauty and Sincerity (continued)
- Practice: Quiet meditative reflection on the reading
- Reading: Twenty Jataka Tales by Noorunnissa Inayat-Khan, “The Patient Buffalo”
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
DAY 2: The Jarring Effect of the Ego on Another
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Those who know the right manner of developing personality know that the first lesson in life is to efface that ego as much as possible.”
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 28
- Practice: Purification Breaths, as taught by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, No. 2 and 21
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: The Jarring Effect of the Ego of Another
- Reading: The Causal Law in Terms of Happiness, Samyutta Nikāya, Lord Buddha
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1, Saluk: Moral, The Development of Personality: The Jarring Effect of the Ego of Another (continued)
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
DAY 3: What Is the Ego?
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Know thyself and thou wilt know God, said the great Sufi philosopher Ali. To know the self is the most difficult thing in the world....”
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Sufi Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 10, "Inayat Khan's Words"
- Reading: An Introduction to the Message in Our Time, "Not To Be Is To Be".
- Practice: Zikar (in English): Head to the left sweeping toward the right and back again repeatedly. Left to right saying, “There is nothing”. From right to left, “Only God IS!”
- Reading: from Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, No. 11, 12, and 17
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1.3, Saluk: Moral, “The Development of Personality: What Is the Ego?”
- Practice: Quiet meditative reflection on the reading
- Practice: Triangle Breath, development of mastery over one’s own personality and character
- Reading: Jataka Tales, Noorunnissa Inayat-Khan, “The Tortoise and the Geese”, pg. 41
- Closing Prayer
- Dedication of Merit
DAY 4: What the Ego Needs and Does Not Need?
In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan: "In order to train the ego it is necessary that one should distinguish what is the right of the ego and what is not its right."
Click to Download Audio File Part 1
- Opening: Meditation, Prayer
- Invocation: Masters, Saints, and Prophets
- Invocation: Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan, 2nd Edition, page 30, “Inayat Khan’s Words”
- Reading: Universal Sufism, page 22-23
- Practice: Zikar version 1 (in English): Head moving left to right saying, “There is nothing”. Head moving from right to left saying, “Only God IS!"
- Reading: Reflections on the Art of Personality by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Nr. 39
- Meditation: Taking inventory of one’s own personality and character. Reflect what was the intention during this retreat/camp.
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume XIII, The Gathas, Part V, Gatha 1.4, Saluk: Moral, “The Training of the Ego: What the Ego Needs and What It Does Not Need?”
- Reading: Once Upon a Time by Hidayat Inayat-Khan, "Murshid's Majestic Personality”
- Closing Prayer & Dedication of Merit
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Divine Forgiveness
Fall Retreat 2010 - Lake of the Ozarks, USA
This retreat focused on the various attributes of Divine Forgiveness which leads to liberating freedom from all conditions which arise in our inner and outer world that invoke the need for forgiveness.
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 1, Part 1 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 1 (part 1) of a 2-day retreat.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 55:01)
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Purification Breaths as given by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: from Physicians of the Heart, Psychological Perspective
- La El La Ha, El Allah Hu: Practice of Zikar (in English):
Union of “limited (left side/heart) and unlimited (right side/soul)” self.
Head to the left sweeping toward the right and back again repeatedly.
Left to right saying, “There is nothing”.
From right to left, “Only God IS!”
- Reading: from Physicians of the Heart, Psychological Perspective.
Wrestling with contradictions and paradoxes on the Path.
(Practice examples in Part 2)
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 1, Part 2 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 1 (part 2) of a 2-day retreat. This video includes only the first 10 minutes of the second session. Please listen to the audio file to hear the entire session.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 61:55)
- Practices: Continued from Previous Reading
- From the Sufi Invocation of Hazrat Inayat-Khan:
Toward the One, The Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty;
United with all the Illuminated Souls.
- From the Prayer Salat:
Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory,
Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace.
- From the Prayer Khatum:
Open our hearts towards Thy Beauty,
illuminate our souls with Divine Light.
- From the Prayer Khatum:
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls;
that we may know and understand life better.
- From the Prayer Salat:
Pour upon us Thy Love and Thy Light.
- Reading: Al-Ghaffar from Physicians of the Heart
- Practice: Al-Ghaffar - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that relieves us from the suffering of continual remembrance of our faults.
- Reading: Al-Ghafur from Physicians of the Heart
- Practice: Al-Ghafur - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels.
- Closing: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Dedication of Merit
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 1 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents the first hour of Day 2 of a 2-day retreat.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 58:36)
- Opening: Singing of "Let Thy Might Strengthen Me" (Words by
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Melody by Murshida Nuria Sabato)
and Singing of the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Purification Breaths as given by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Review Reading: Al-Ghaffar from Physicians of the Heart
- Review Practice: Al-Ghaffar - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that relieves us from the suffering of continual remembrance of our faults.
- Review Reading: Al-Ghafur from Physicians of the Heart
- Review Practice: Al-Ghafur - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that
keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels.
- Practice: Ya Ghaffar, Ya Ghafur
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 2 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 2, Part 2 of a 2-day retreat.
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 3 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 2, Part 3 of a 2-day retreat. This video includes the first 53 minutes of the second session. Please listen to the audio file to hear the remainder of the session.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 4 (Length 51:06)
- Reading: Injustice in Justice
from An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
- Reading: At-Tawwab from Physicians of the Heart
The Divine Quality of returning to goodness and of being restored from beginningless to endless time and through all circumstances.
- Singing: Return Again
© Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach
Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach Music
- Reading: Al-Afuw from Physicians of the Heart
The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels. "The process of truly invoking Ya Tawwab is deeply healing, because negativity is transformed into its opposite. This is spiritual alchemy." (quote from Physicians of the Heart)
- Practice: Ya Ghaffar (head up);
Ya Ghafur (head down);
Ya Tawwab (head left)
Ya Afuw (head right).
(concentrate on the breath that removes all traces and impressions of the wrong doing or wound).
- Closing: Prayer Khatum
Union of “limited (left side/heart) and unlimited (right side/soul)” self.
Head to the left sweeping toward the right and back again repeatedly.
Left to right saying, “There is nothing”.
From right to left, “Only God IS!”
Wrestling with contradictions and paradoxes on the Path.
(Practice examples in Part 2)
- From the Sufi Invocation of Hazrat Inayat-Khan:
Toward the One, The Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty;
United with all the Illuminated Souls. - From the Prayer Salat:
Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory,
Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace. - From the Prayer Khatum:
Open our hearts towards Thy Beauty,
illuminate our souls with Divine Light. - From the Prayer Khatum:
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls;
that we may know and understand life better. - From the Prayer Salat:
Pour upon us Thy Love and Thy Light.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Melody by Murshida Nuria Sabato)
and Singing of the Sacred Sound "Hu"
keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels.
from An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
The Divine Quality of returning to goodness and of being restored from beginningless to endless time and through all circumstances.
© Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach
Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach Music
The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels. "The process of truly invoking Ya Tawwab is deeply healing, because negativity is transformed into its opposite. This is spiritual alchemy." (quote from Physicians of the Heart)
Ya Ghafur (head down);
Ya Tawwab (head left)
Ya Afuw (head right).
(concentrate on the breath that removes all traces and impressions of the wrong doing or wound).
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Ozark Sufi Camp, Spring 2010
Annual Retreat taking place at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, USA
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 51:55)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Setting the Intention for the Retreat
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Q&A and Discussion
- Practice: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 56:07)
- Practice: The Three Rhythms -Continued
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Discussion: Breath and Rhythm
- Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
- The symbol of the yellow rose in Sufism and Hazrat Inayat Khan’s affinity for the yellow rose.
- Reading: Quote from the 1926 American Radio recording of Hazrat Inayat Khan regarding the Sufi Message.
- Practice: Purification Breaths
- Practice: Nayaz on the Breath
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 58:36)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: from the Flower Garden of Inayat Khan,
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Reading: Gamakas, on the subject of "Silence".
- Review: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 51:06)
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4: Continued
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Q&A and Discussion
- Practice: External Zikar
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Monday, May 31, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 46:14)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
- Chapter: Alchemy of Happiness
- Poem: to the Song called Chanson Exotique
- Biographical Notes: on Pirani Ameena Begum
Monday, May 31, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 56:25)
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2.
- Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan
- Chapter: Concentration
- Practice: Five Stages of Concentration on the Sufi Symbol –
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 47:47)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Review: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 46:41)
- Practice: Five Stages of Concentration on the Sufi Symbol
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
- The symbol of the yellow rose in Sufism and Hazrat Inayat Khan’s affinity for the yellow rose.
- Reading: Quote from the 1926 American Radio recording of Hazrat Inayat Khan regarding the Sufi Message.
Available through Sufimovement.org
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
- Chapter: Alchemy of Happiness
- Poem: to the Song called Chanson Exotique
- Biographical Notes: on Pirani Ameena Begum
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2.
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan
- Chapter: Concentration
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2.
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Visalat Day, February 5th, Kansas City 2010
In Remembrance of the 83rd Urs of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Part 1: Teachings and Introduction to the Practice of Zikar:
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 39:32)
- Opening: The class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayer: Invocation
Reading: From a Lecture of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Things to Remember, unpublished
From the Collective Interviews, September 10, 1926
Reading: From The Complete Works of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Summer School, Surenses July 4, 1923
Subject: Metaphysics III - Centres
Part 2: The Practice of Zikar:
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 43:08)
- Practice: External Zikar
- Practice: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Closing Prayer: Khatum
Reading: From a Lecture of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Things to Remember, unpublished
From the Collective Interviews, September 10, 1926
Reading: From The Complete Works of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Summer School, Surenses July 4, 1923
Subject: Metaphysics III - Centres
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Ozark Sufi Camp, Fall 2009
October 10, 2009
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 1 (Length 1:04:48)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading from the Flower Garden of Inayat Khan,
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Reading from the Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: Path of Initiation
- Reading:
Universal Sufism: Path of Prayer, Initiation and Realization
Available through Blurb.com
- Reflection and Practice: Lines from the Prayer Saum:
- In Breath: Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life,
- Out Breath: Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace.
- Practice: Wazifa
- Ya Batin: The Hidden, The Inner
- Ya Zahir: The Manifest, The Evident
- Prayer: Saum
October 10, 2009
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 2 (Length 50:24)
- Reading: American Radio Broadcast, 1926
Available through Sufimovement.us
- Reading: What is a Sufi?
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us
- Meditation Session: Compassion and Interconnectedness
- Practice: Wazifa
- ar-Rahman: The Most Kind and Gracious
- ar-Rahim: The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate
- Prayer: Salat
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
Available through Sufimovement.org
Universal Sufism: Path of Prayer, Initiation and Realization
Available through Blurb.com
- In Breath: Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life,
- Out Breath: Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace.
- Ya Batin: The Hidden, The Inner
- Ya Zahir: The Manifest, The Evident
Available through Sufimovement.us
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us
- ar-Rahman: The Most Kind and Gracious
- ar-Rahim: The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate
October 11, 2009 Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS Play Audio of Session 1 (Length 1:07:00)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence. - Meditation Session: Interconnectedness
- Meditation Session: Purification Breaths
- Reading:
Universal Sufism: Path of Prayer, Initiation and Realization
Available through Blurb.com - Meditation Session: Elemental Breaths
- Prayer: Khatum
October 11, 2009 Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS Play Audio of Session 2 (Length 1:30:07)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence. - Reading: The Message
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
From Summer School, 2009
Unpublished - Q & A - The Streams of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Practice: Wazifa
- Ya Alim: The All-Knowing, The Omniscient
- Ya Alim: The All-Knowing, The Omniscient
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume XII:
The Divinity of the Soul - Closing Prayer: Benediction
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Summer School, Katwijk, Netherlands 2009
July 27, 2009
LECTURE: Judgement and Understanding
Play Audio of Lecture (Length 44:50)
Download the PDF Document to read the Lecture
Prayer - Invocation
Note: Use the singing bowl to set contemplative atmosphere.
A few weeks ago my husband, Joe, and I ordered Chinese food from a local restaurant in Kansas City. When we finished our meal, I opened my fortune cookie, here is what is said: “You believe in the goodness of mankind.”
I thought this was as much a question as a statement. “You believe in the goodness of mankind?” To me these words formed a kind of paradox or a puzzle for it put me face to face with my own judgments about our world today, and mankind’s contribution towards our world. While there is always evidence of the goodness of mankind, we also witness in our external world much evidence to the contrary.
These thoughts relate directly to this year’s summer school theme of “Judgment and Understanding”.
In the Bowl of Saki we find the words of Our Master, Hazrat Inayat Khan, “True justice cannot be perceived until the veil of selfishness has been removed from the eyes.”
The words “true justice” seemed to hold a resounding echo for me, and so the journey into preparing this lecture began.
Years ago one of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s students asked this question? “Will you please speak about the justice of God's judgment?”
Hazrat Inayat Khan answered. “By giving you a little simile I will show you what a difference there is between man's justice and God's justice. There are children of the same father and they are quarreling over their toys. The children have reasons to quarrel over their toys. One child thinks a certain toy is more attractive: and says, “Why should I not possess it?” The other child says, “That toy was given to me: why should I not hold on to it” Both children have their reasons and both are just, but the father's justice is different from the children’s view of justice. The father has not only given the children the toys to play with, but at the same time he knows what is the character of each child and what the father wishes to bring out of each child, and whether that particular toy will help to bring out what the father wishes to come out. The child does not know this. It happens perhaps that the toy seems poor to the one child and according to that child’s sense of justice he cannot understand why that toy was given to him and not given to the other child. If the child was older he would have accused the father of injustice, but he does not know the justice of his father. The child has to grow to that stage of evolution where his father is in order to understand the meaning behind.” (1)
At times we ourselves are like these little children questioning the actions and justice of God? Murshid himself says, “There is no one who could be accused so often and for so many things as God. The reason is that it is our limited self which judges, though it is quite unable to understand.” (2)
Another student asks Murshid: “Is it not very di icult to avoid judging? For in order to become just one has to come to a certain conclusion.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan responds: “Yes, but what man generally does is not only that he judges anyone in the mind – he is very ready to give his judgment out. He is not patient enough to wait and analyze the matter and think more about it. As a rule a person is not only ready to judge, but also without any restraint on his part he is ready to express his judgment instantly. He will not think, 'Have I the right to judge that person? Have I risen to that state of evolution?' – when Jesus Christ himself refused to judge and said, 'Whoever is faultless – it is that person's place to accuse or to punish'. It teaches a great lesson: even in order to learn justice it is not necessary that we should be ready to judge and instantly to express our judgment, our opinion.” (3)
So we can gleam from this response that Hazrat Inayat Khan is trying to give us indications in discerning between justice, judgment, and our personal opinion.
Let us turn to the instructions given within the Message for our answers. Murshid teaches, “All tragedy of life, all misery and inharmony are caused by one thing and that is lack of understanding. Lack of understanding comes from lack of penetration. The one who does not see from the point of view from which he ought to see becomes disappointed because he cannot understand. It is not for the outer world to help us to understand life better; it is we ourselves who should help ourselves to understand it better”. (4)
Shall I read this passage again?
I think it is very significant in its content, meaning, and its instruction. “All tragedy of life, all misery and inharmony are caused by one thing and that is lack of understanding. Lack of understanding comes from lack of penetration. The one who does not see from the point of view from which he ought to see becomes disappointed because he cannot understand. It is not for the outer world to help us to understand life better; it is we ourselves who should help ourselves to understand it better”. (5)
The key here is, that “all misery in life comes from a lack of understanding” and that “lack of understanding comes from lack of penetration”, and it is our responsibility to train ourselves to understand life better.
If we examine our minds in all circumstances, we can begin to determine if we are merely exercising an opinion, passing judgment, or truly seeking justice. But now the question is, how do we honestly examine our minds in our effort to seek understanding and “true justice”?
Here Murshid is giving us the answer. Through “penetration”!
Now we have to ask, how can we develop the art penetration? Our minds are so often active – even overactive – life has so many demands. Our mind so rarely stilled, we find ourselves constantly navigating choppy waters and in doing so our equilibrium may be lost. This in turn can lead us to feeling lack of patience, which gives rise to misunderstandings that ultimately lead to our feeling isolated, separated, and alienated because of our own judgments. Or the judgments we feel from others upon us.
Here at Summer School we are given the beautiful opportunity to still ourselves, time for introspection, time for opening, time for sharing with others. Such opportunities are essential and useful in developing the art of penetration that can lead to a place of greater understanding.
So how do we cultivate the way of penetration leading to greater understanding? Two qualities are required to develop penetration – just two. The first an open unhindered mind that possesses a childlike natural curiosity. This openness is a freedom from self-imposed restrictions and habitual patterns. The second quality is concentrated effort. Concentrated effort helps us to overcome our habitual patterns. The habitual patterns that keep us caught reliving a stale life of tired repeated scenarios. Concentrated effort opens the way for vividness and freshness in meeting everything we encounter anew.
Murshid teaches in this regard: “When the mind is troubled it is confused. It cannot reflect anything. It is the stillness of mind that makes one capable of receiving impressions and of reflecting them. In Persian the mind is called a mirror. Everything in front of the mirror appears in it; but when [the object] is taken away the mirror is clear. It does not remain. It remains in the mirror as long as the mirror is focused on it, and so it is with the mind.”
“The quality in the mind which makes it still at times and active at other times, which makes it reflect what it sees at one time and makes it avoid every reflection at another so that no outer reflection can touch it, this quality develops by concentration, contemplation, and meditation. The mind is trained by the master-trainer by diving deep, by soaring high, by expanding widely, and by centralizing the mind on one idea. And once the mind is mastered a person becomes a master of life.” (6)
May I read this quote again?
“When the mind is troubled it is confused. It cannot reflect anything. It is the stillness of mind that makes one capable of receiving impressions and of reflecting them. In Persian the mind is called a mirror. Everything in front of the mirror appears in it; but when [the object] is taken away the mirror is clear. It does not remain. It remains in the mirror as long as the mirror is focused on it, and so it is with the mind.”
“The quality in the mind which makes it still at times and active at other times, which makes it reflect what it sees at one time and makes it avoid every reflection at another so that no outer reflection can touch it, this quality develops by concentration, contemplation, and meditation.” (6)
Hazrat Inayat Khan further instructs us, “Then there is a further awakening which is a continuation of what I have called the awakening of the soul. The sign of it is that the awakened person throws a light, the light of his soul, upon every person and every object and sees that object, that condition in this light. It is his own soul, which becomes a torch in his hand, it is his own light that illuminates his path. It is just like throwing a searchlight upon dark corners, which one did not see before, and the corners become clear and illuminated again. It is like throwing light upon problems that one did not understand at first; it is like seeing with x-rays persons who were a riddle before.” (6)
So let us take a little time here to reflect on this teaching in a form of a meditation that can lead us to penetrating more deeply and shining light on some situation or person who we might have a judgment about in our lives.
I invite you to close your eyes and gently turn within. Look deeply into your heart and call forth something in your life, which you wish to gain greater clarity and insight. Use this situation as the “object of concentration”. Remain open and free of all judgments. Observe the body and the breath. Let the body remain subtle and the breath relaxed. Using the breath allow yourself to go deeper beyond the surface and into the heart of the matter. With an open heart, allow yourself to feel relaxed. Remain restful – yet awake. No judgment, no opinion, just open awareness.
Note: allow some time for silence.
Continuing to breathe. Use the breath to open the door to the chamber of the heart and windows of the mind and go deeper and deeper.
Here we can use lines from the Sufi Prayers by Hazrat Inayat Khan on the swing of breath, as a fikr, to support our concentration and to go deeper into this meditation.
Breathing in, silently repeat these words: “Pour Upon us Thy Love and Thy Light.”
While holding the breath, repeat silently: “Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, that we may know and understand life better.”
Breathing out, silently repeat: “Guide us on the Path of Thy Own Goodness.”
See the light of your own soul shining light on the situation or person, bringing all into illuminated awareness. With the radiance of an awakened, illuminated soul, without any judgment, ask these questions and await the response, “What is the great lesson for me in this situation? What is the great blessing emerging out of this situation?” Let your soul’s inner radiance shed light upon the situation. Breathe and listen.
Note: Use singing bowl to come out of meditation.
Were you able to penetrate deeper into this situation just by stilling the mind and using the breath as your guide to a greater understanding? I hope so.
Friday’s Sacred Reading highlighted the value of using the breath in our concentration practices. We heard: “The man who knows how to breathe and how to communicate with his soul begins to realize that the universe is within himself, and it is through realizing the universe in himself that man comes to real spirituality.” (7)
Hazrat Inayat Khan also teaches us that, “The outer life can be illustrated by man’s justice [which] is covered by his limited experience in life, by his favor and disfavor, by his preconceived ideas, by the learning he has which is nothing compared to the knowledge of God.” (8)
“[The] inner life is something which is within oneself. It has been called a chamber of divine light in one's heart. The door remains closed until an effort is made to open it. Everything becomes spiritual once this door of the chamber of the heart is open.” (9)
Let me give you a little example from my own life regarding judgment and understanding, and how moving from the outer appearances of a situation and penetrating deeper into the matter, my heart was opened to a particular situation.
While living in the Himalayan Region of Dharmasala, India in the mid-1990’s I frequently encountered the beggars of the village. As you may know beggars are both very curious and very observant, and this allows them to identify anyone new in their surroundings. Of course, these newcomers are, for the beggars, their prime clientele because newcomers have not yet become desensitized or hardened to the beggars presence and their unyielding requests for money.
On the surface, those of us visiting from the West are just objects of the beggars’ concentration. The beggars artfully observe and position themselves outside restaurants, shops and temples. After all what reasonable or sensitive person can refuse the sorrowful face of a bandaged leper or a rag tattered mother with a child at her breast? Especially after one has just eaten, shopped, or prayed! With much well developed finesse the beggars observations and methods usually produce profitable results!
Of course, we may all have our judgments about their methods and whether or not they are truly as destitute as their appearance indicates, but here is where my story takes a turn towards a personal and inner journey.
As the beggars in Dharamsala were observing me; I in turn began observing them. One day as I was walking up the mountain from Lower Dharamsala to my residence in Upper Dharamsala I could see the beggars far ahead on their descent down the mountain road. What I observed was a very jolly, happy group of people all talking and laughing and sharing together. I said to my companions, “Ah, it must have been a good and profitable day for the beggars! Look, look how happy they all are!”
Armed with my own observations of the beggars, both while they begged in the streets, and now, in their natural interactions with each other, I was able to penetrate, for a glimpse, another view of these beggars. As the beggars approached and they saw us, their entire manner changed. They began to take on the pitiful manner of begging which they played out day after day in the streets of Dharamsala. But in this moment I was not to be fooled! As we walked closer and closer to each other their begging gestures became more and more dramatic. Do you want to know what I did in response to their begging? Shall I tell you? I turned the tables and I began to beg from them using their own techniques! Would you like to know what happened next?
The beggars began to laugh and laugh, and they even began to pull coins from their pockets and give me money! So the whole situation absolutely reversed itself.
In that moment, myself, the beggar, my companions, the mountain, the sky, everything melted into a feeling of union. We were no longer beggars and western visitors. We were people sharing, and laughing, and smiling, and humorously engaged! This single act of observance and penetration opened the doorway that connected our lives and opened hearts to each other. We were no longer separate. It was like finding a bridge in our understanding of each other as human beings. From that moment until now we all call each other brothers and sisters, and we have come to know of each other’s lives and conditions. My leper friends have been very generous in educating me about this disease and have helped me to overcome my judgments about leprosy – my judgments about the disease because of my own lack of understanding.
I have also come to learn more of the family dynamics of the women who are put on the streets to beg; these women live with the threat of physical abuse from their husbands if they come home empty handed. We have since become friends, know each other’s names, write to each other, and share our lives a bit with each other. And when see each other we no longer live separated through our judgments. We have been fortunate to penetrate the barrier of self and other which has allowed us to all learn and grow and benefit from each other.
Another example, even better than my own, in the book “Once upon a time…” (10) Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat recalls one day walking through the gate of Fazal Manzil holding his father’s hand. There in front of their house was a workman digging a deep ditch in the pouring rain. The workman’s hands and clothes were covered with mud. Murshid Hidayat tells us that his Father, Hazrat Inayat Khan walked towards the workman, Our Master took off his hat, and offered his hand to shake the hand of the workman. The workman was completely spellbound by being greeted in such a dignified manner by such a kingly figure.
Murshid Hidayat recalls that as Hazrat Inayat Khan turned and walked a few more steps down the road there were some his mureeds who were waiting and who had witnessed what had happened. Instead of the mureeds showing a feeling of understanding of this beautiful example of sympathy and kindness demonstrated by their Murshid they said, “But Murshid, you can’t do that in the West. Don’t you know that you are not supposed to shake hands with a workman?” To this Murshid responded, “Are we not all children of one and the same Father?” (11)
This beautiful lesson of Hazrat Inayat Khan harkens to the teaching,”For the Sufi who sees in every form the divine form, in every heart the divine shrine, to judge anyone, whatever be his position, his action, his condition, is altogether against his religion...” (12)
In Bowl of Saki we find, “The more elevated the soul, the broader the outlook.” (13)
And last, from the Unity of Religious Ideals we are taught, “Think of the life of the great Master Jesus... one sees that from beginning to end there was nothing but love and forgiveness [in the manner of Jesus]. The best expression of love is that love which is expressed in forgiveness. Those who came with their wrongs, errors, imperfections, all was forgiven; for there was always a stream of love which always purified.” (14)
“The lover of goodness loves every little sign of goodness. He overlooks the faults and fills up the gaps by pouring out love and supplying that which is lacking. This is real nobility of soul. Religion, prayer, and worship, are all intended to ennoble the soul, not to make it narrow, sectarian or bigoted. One cannot arrive at true nobility of spirit if one is not prepared to forgive the imperfections of human nature. For all men, whether worthy or unworthy, require forgiveness, and only in this way can one rise above the lack of harmony and beauty.” (15)
May God bless us all with hearts full of love and forgiveness.
May God grace us with hearts overflowing with such greatness, so much so, that this outpouring of love fills all gaps. May our outlook, inspired and informed with the Message, guide us to an elevated consciousness of greater understanding and the sublime reality of God’s true justice.
©Nuria Stephanie Sabato, 200914
QUOTATION REFERENCES
(1) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part II - The Deeper Side of Life, Chapter XI, Justice and Forgiveness, Questions and Answers, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(2) Sufi Message Volume VIIIa - Sufi Teachings, Judging, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(3) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part II - The Deeper Side of Life, Chapter XI, Justice and Forgiveness, Questions and Answers, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(4) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part I - The Smiling Forehead, Chapter XIX, The Awakening of the Soul, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(5) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part I - The Smiling Forehead, Chapter XIX, The Awakening of the Soul, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(6) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part I - The Smiling Forehead, Chapter XIX, The Awakening of the Soul, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(7) Sufi Message Volume XII - The Divinity of the Human Soul, Part I: The Vision of God and Man and other Lectures, The Universe in Man, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(8) Sufi Message Volume XIV - The Smiling Forehead, Part II - The Deeper Side of Life, Chapter XI, Justice and Forgiveness, Questions and Answers, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(9) Sufi Message Volume VI - The Alchemy of Happiness, The Inner Life, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(10) Once Upon a Time, Early Days Stories About My Beloved Father and Mother, by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
(11) Once Upon a Time, Early Days Stories About My Beloved Father and Mother, by Hidayat Inayat-Khan.
(12) Sufi Message Volume VIIIa - Sufi Teachings, Judging, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(13) Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(14) Volume IX - The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II, The God Ideal, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(15) Volume IX - The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II, The God Ideal, by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Ozark Sufi Camp, Spring 2009
May 23, 2009
DAY 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day I (Length 1:12:47)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Universal Sufism: Path of Breath,
Prayer and Zikr
- From the Gathas
Available through Blurb.com
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews
July 16, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Point of View
Unpublished
May 24, 2009
DAY 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day 2 (Length 30:42)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Question and Answer Session
- Reading: American Radio Broadcast, 1926
Available through Sufimovement.us
- Reading: What is a Sufi?
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us
- Due to technical difficulties, audio is not available for the following Meditation Session:
Meditation Session - The Elemental Breaths
May 25, 2009
DAY 3: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day 3 (Length 1:05:22)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Triangle Breaths
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews
September 3, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Manner of Sympathy
Unpublished
May 26, 2009
DAY 4: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day 4 (Length 56:19)
- The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: Singing Bowl
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews December 2, 1924
Topic: Spirituality is the Natural Nobleness
Unpublished
May 27, 2009
DAY 5: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day 5 (Length 1:01:51)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- Prayer: Nayaz
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews, September 10, 1926
Topic: Things to Remember
Unpublished
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews, July 28, 1926
Topic: Personal Power
Unpublished
- Closing Prayer: Khatum
Available through Sufimovement.org
Prayer and Zikr
Available through Blurb.com
July 16, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Point of View
Unpublished
Available through Sufimovement.us
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us
Meditation Session - The Elemental Breaths
September 3, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Manner of Sympathy
Unpublished
Available through Sufimovement.org
Topic: Spirituality is the Natural Nobleness
Unpublished
Topic: Things to Remember
Unpublished
Topic: Personal Power
Unpublished
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Mysticism of Silence, October 26, 2007
Play Audio of Lecture (Length 1:12:47)
Download PDF of Lecture
Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
The title of this lecture is the Mysticism of Silence.
You may be thinking how is Nuria going to present on the Mysticism of Silence. Are we going to sit in silence for the time of her presentation? I can tell you from personally spending long times in silence that would certainly be a worthy endeavor and time well spent, but alas – no. I do have some “pointing out instructions” (as my Tibetan Buddhist teachers would call it). I have some indications to share of the significance of silence, and the benefit of an attitude in life that embraces the silence and the “gaps” in life.
In the Gamakas, defined as meaning “feelings in the Poet’s heart, keyed to various notes,” Hazrat Inayat Khan said: “People often ask me questions I cannot very well answer in words, and it makes me sad to think they are unable to hear the voice of my silence.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan also teaches us:
Self-realization is where the word is silent. The object of the Sufi is to enter into the silence, to learn to leave the form and the external world with all its attributes, to cease striving for anything but the goal. God is not in time; therefore He is in the silence. Sound is part of the world of time. The sage cannot say more than this, for the subject is so vast; when we come to this conception we find that it is altogether too subtle, too vast, to express.
Before entering fully into the words of the subject of the Mysticism of Silence, let us take a few moments to silence and still ourselves. I have brought here with me a Tibetan singing bowl, sometimes called a medicine bowl. The bowl was made in Tibet and is made of seven metals. Bowls such as this one are used in meditation and in the healing arts of Tibet.
Listen carefully to the sounds of the bowl, the overtones, and as importantly see if you can enter into the “gaps”, the silence between to tones. When the sound begins to dissipate, follow the sound into the silence and rest there for a little while. Allow yourself to enter into the Presence of the Silence. I will meet you soon on the other side of the silence.
Hazrat Inayat Khan teaches us:
“Tuning ourselves to the infinite is achieved by the way of silence, by the way of meditation, by the way of thinking of something which is beyond and above all things of this mortal world. By giving some moments of our life to the thought of getting in tune with that which is the source and goal of all of us, realizing that in that source alone is the secret of our happiness and peace.”
In this way, I personally think of silence as a bridge, and way of connecting us to something as Hazrat Inayat Khan says, “to something which is beyond and above all things of this mortal world”.
Think of it – moments of silence, those significant gaps, dynamic, full, held in equipoise. Let me give you a few examples. Think about those silent moments when a baby has been birthed into the world, and has left the mother’s womb. How many of us can recall those silent moments before the newborn took their first breath. Can you recall that silence? That silence was like an eternal moment in which all hopes, aspirations, prayers were held in equipoise. Can you remember that silence? Those of you who are parents 3 know and those who have had the privilege of witnessing a birth; I am sure you can recall that moment.
The gap, the silence, the space, the moment – Let me give you another example. A friend of mine of the Jewish faith poignantly expressed this idea of the gap to me. She had asked me to recite a particular prayer for her so that she could write it down. When I said the word, God, she wrote it G_d, and then she mused and said, “Old habit”. I said, “What?” and she said, “You know in Judaism we don’t speak the word of God, it is the inexpressible, it is in the silence that we meet God, and so I always write God as G_d, because the inexpressibility of God is the that gap.
One of my mentors and friends along the spiritual path is the late Guruji Pandit Pran Nath. Guruji used to say is a very slow deliberate, metered speech, “Don’t stand on the notes, the music is between the notes.”
That concept can be understood very much in relationship to music, but also applies to life. In our ordinary life a lot of time and energy coalesces around pivotal moments in life. We make our plans and then we wait for them to unfold. We wait in anticipation for that next step, but what about the gap, the silence, the energy in the “in betweens”.
Chogyam Trunpa Rinpoche in his book titled Journey Without Goal: The Tantric Wisdom of the Buddha describes this journey as, “...the in-betweens is the most important part of life, [spiritual] practice, and what ultimately leads us to realization.”
Mother Teresa reminds us: “We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”
We need silence to be able to touch souls – think of it – how profound is that statement.
We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Some of you know that I live in Kansas City, Missouri. About 15 minutes from my home is the worldwide headquarters for the Unity Movement. I have been asked from time to time to lead those in retreat toward their goal of silent meditation. Sometimes individuals have confided in me that they actual fear the silence. When I have asked them “why” they say they don’t know but they are afraid. Gently asking the question again, “Why are you afraid of the silence”? Then the answer comes, “Because I am afraid to be alone with my own thoughts”. Then I say, “You are not alone with your own thoughts, God is with you, and what is more, God is in you and in your thoughts. Take the time to listen deeply.”
Henry David Thoreau is quoted as saying, “Silence is the universal refuge.” This feeling of silence as a refuge is highlighted in a play titled Amin by Hazrat Inayat Khan. In the play the main character Amin goes through the process of developing from a boy to a man. In the final act Amin is wandering alone in the desert, and he is involved in an internal dialogue in his search toward tuning to the Infinite. As you listen to the story, a universal story really, see if your own internal musings are similar to that of Amin’s internal voice, which tells him:
“Home is a world; the life outside home is the underworld, but this wilderness is my Paradise.”
“I feel myself only when I am by myself. It is then that I look at the whole world as an onlooker. There must be some reason why I am attracted to this spot.”
Amin continues, “There are many reasons, but how many can be explained? The heavy responsibility of home life and the continual struggle with the outside world; the smallness of human character; the ever-changing nature of life; the falsehood that exists in the life of the generality; the absence of justice and the lack of wisdom; all these and many other things make life unbearable for me. Besides, the ever-jarring influences coming from all around work upon my sensitive heart and make me feel lost sometimes. It
is only here, away from the continual turmoil of life in the world that I find some rest...” Amin goes on, “And yet I wonder if my heart is really at rest. No, my heart cannot be really rested. If I am here away from the world and my fellow men are in the midst of the turmoil, it cannot give me the peace I want; it keeps my mind uneasy...”
Amin asks himself, “What could I do to make the condition of my people better? Shall I work and be rich, and help them with my riches? But how far will those riches go to provide for their endless needs! Shall I be powerful and control them and rule them? What will that do? It will only turn them from servants into slaves. Shall I teach them goodness? But where does goodness belong? It belongs to God.”
“I must seek God myself first before I speak of goodness to my fellow men. And where shall I find Him? If He is to be found anywhere, it is here in the solitude where my soul feels free. I become attuned to nature. I could sit silent here for days, looking at this wide space with endless horizon, where not even a bird makes a sound by the fluttering of its wings. I need not try to be silent here; silence reigns here, the spheres are silence itself... Oh, Thou, longed-for Beloved, if Thou are anywhere to be found, it is here. I do not speak, I will not speak; I only listen, I will listen. Speak to me!”
Amin sits silent. A VOICE comes to him, and says. “Cry on the Name of thy Lord! Cry on
the Name of thy Lord! Cry on the Name of thy Lord.”
Amin invokes the sacred Name of God, and again he sits silent.
After this silence, Amin reflects inwardly, “Through the whispering of the breeze, through the cooing of the wind, through the rippling of the water, through the cracking of the thunder, through the fluttering of the leaves, I hear Thy gentle whisper in answer to my heart’s cry.”
Like Amin we sometimes experience dissatisfaction with life and in life, and like Amin we too realize that our hearts cannot be really rested if we are away from the world. So there is this question. How can we be in the world and not consumed by the world, overcome and overrun by the world? For me the answer is clear and obvious, through an inner silence.
So there are lessons here for all of us. And each one of us will interpret this little story of Amin in our own unique way. Yet burning questions arise, at least for me is, Do we take time to listen within – in the stillness, in the silence? Do we take the time to listen to the whisper of the breeze, the cooing of the wind, the rippling of the water, the fluttering of leaves, in which lies the constant and gentle whisper in answer to our heart’s cry?”
The Tibetan Buddhist Master, Sogyal Rinpoche, writes, “How many of us are swept away by what [can be] to call “active laziness”? “...laziness...consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity so there is not time left to confront the real issues. If we look into our lives, we will see clearly how many unimportant tasks, so-called “responsibilities” accumulate to fill them up. We tell ourselves we want to spend time on the important things of life, but there never is any time. Helpless, we watch our days fill up with telephone calls and petty projects, with so many responsibilities --- or should we call them “irresponsibilities”?”
So I wonder what shape our lives would take if we took as our primary responsibility to find some time everyday to be silent and still and receptive, listening for the gentle whispering in answer to our hearts’ cry. Like a musician tuning a fine instrument we can tune ourselves to our perfect pitch!
This past spring I was on sabbatical leave from my professorial post, and I spent two months in India performing part of my research. It was during that time that I met a man who had come from Germany to study the Indian style of raga called Drupad. Because I knew this was the musical style in the tradition of Hazrat Inayat Khan I asked my friend if I might sit in on one of his music lessons. He said, “I don’t know if my Guruji will 7 accept you being there, but come, and we shall ask”. The music master gentle accepted my presence, and what is more invited me back again and again. What I witnessed during these visits was a very dynamic teaching style that did not rely on words but the sharing of breath, space, and refined vocal expressions.
One afternoon, this musical Guruji repetitively sang the beginning of a raga. He repeated this cycle again and again. My friend dutifully repeated the same musical phraseology, but that was not what the teacher was asking him to do. Finally the teacher broke the space of music with words, and this is what he told his student.
“What I am asking you to do is complete the phrase, to pick the next note, but you must be very awake, very aware, very concentrated, very still. You must hear the next note. And that note will change based on the causes and conditions of the moment. You will know the note if you are present to the silence and to the space.
In that moment of silence you must feel the dynamic space between you and your audience. In the moment of silence you have the captivated attention of your audience, and they are waiting poised in the silence waiting for the next note. It is a very important moment in a concert. Because if you feel the dynamic energy present in the silence and you pick the perfect note in time and space, then the audience will think you are a genius and you will give new meaning to the raga. If you are unable to listen and feel the meaning of the silent moment, and if you go along with the safe and predictable next note of the raga, the audience will think of you as quite mediocre. This great Indian music master’s name is, Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, and he gave a great life lesson there in that single music lesson, and pointed that out the most profound and meaningful choices are born out of silence.
So the question is, do we listen into the silence from which arises our next note, our next step, our sacred task?
Hazrat Inayat Khan teaches, “It is by going into that silence where one can forget the limitations of the self, that one can get in touch with that part of one’s being which is called perfection....”
And I saw the wisdom of these words being instructed during that music lesson. Because what the teacher was asking of his student was for the student to forget the raga, forget himself, and get in touch with the perfection of the note echoing out of the silence.
This was the most tender, patient, and profound exchange that I could have witnessed.
The teacher was giving the student an opportunity again and again to grasp the lesson. With each note I could see in the teachers eyes the expression of love pouring forth, a kind of encouragement for the student to take the next step, a calling forth for something that the student himself did not know was deep within him. I believe God is constantly calling forth from within us. Do we take the time to listen?
I can say that during that music lesson I experienced the living expression of this statement by Hazrat Inayat Khan, “The earnest feelings of one heart can pierce the heart of another; they speak in the silence, spreading out into the sphere, so that the very atmosphere of a person’s presence proclaims his thoughts and emotions. The vibrations of the soul are the most powerful and far-reaching, they run like an electric current from soul to soul.”
When Hazrat Inayat Khan spoke those words, the vibrations of the soul are the most powerful and far-reaching, I wonder if He was catching a glimpse into the future of scientific investigations into deep space. Let me explain, The Hubble Deep Field Theory has been revolutionary. It has been discovered that by pointing the Hubble telescope into deep space, into the gaps between the celestial bodies in our universe and the universes beyond what exist there in those gaps are before unseen, unimagined, and extraordinarily beautiful dynamic, living, vast collections of celestial bodies in space. And all these discoveries are emerging through observation into the deep, vast, silent gaps in space.
While it is wondrous to look out into deep space think of the wonder that may occur by inverting our view and looking at the deep space within our very being. In this very moment, in every moment, we have the potentiality to converge in a single unique moment of the present. And this present moment is the very moment that can lead us to the gift of the Divine Presence within our very being.
Sogyal Rinpoche says it in this way: “In the stillness and silence of meditation, we glimpse and return to that deep inner nature that we so long ago lost sight of amid the busyness and distraction of our minds.”
Mahatma Gandhi teaches, “In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.”
The Tao teaches us: “If waters are placid, the moon will be mirrored perfectly. If we still ourselves, we can mirror the divine perfectly.”
“True stillness comes naturally from moments of solitude where we allow our minds to settle. Just as water seeks its own level, the mind will gravitate toward the holy. Muddy water will become clear if allowed to stand undisturbed, and so too will the mind become clear if it is allowed to be still.”
Allow me to close this offering on the Mysticism of Silence with Hazrat Inayat Khan’s own words:
“The object of the Sufi is to enter into the silence, to learn to leave the form and the external world with all its attributes, to cease striving for anything but the goal. God is not in time; therefore He is in the silence.”
“What all the prophets and masters have done in all ages is to express that mystery in words, in deeds, in thoughts, in feelings; but most of the mystery is expressed by them in silence. For then the mystery is in its place. To bring the mystery down to earth is like 10 pulling down a king on to the ground from his throne; but allowing the mystery to remain in its own place, in the silent spheres, is like giving homage to the King to whom all homage is due.”
“It by going into that silence where one can forget the limitations of the self, that one can get in touch with that part of one’s being which is called perfection; and this can best be attained by those who have realized the meaning of life.”
And finally let us remember again these words, “The earnest feelings of one heart can pierce the heart of another; they speak in the silence, spreading out into the sphere, so that the very atmosphere of a person’s presence proclaims his thoughts and emotions. The vibrations of the soul are the most powerful and far-reaching, they run like an electric current from soul to soul.” [Hazrat Inayat Khan]
Let us close our time here together in the silence. In the Mysticism of Silence, where our souls can meet, and where truth can be exchanged!
Archives | Special Retreats by Murshida Nuria
Divine Forgiveness
Fall Retreat 2010 - Lake of the Ozarks, USA
This retreat focused on the various attributes of Divine Forgiveness which leads to liberating freedom from all conditions which arise in our inner and outer world that invoke the need for forgiveness.
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 1, Part 1 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 1 (part 1) of a 2-day retreat.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 55:01)
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Purification Breaths as given by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: from Physicians of the Heart, Psychological Perspective
- La El La Ha, El Allah Hu: Practice of Zikar (in English):
Union of “limited (left side/heart) and unlimited (right side/soul)” self. Head to the left sweeping toward the right and back again repeatedly. Left to right saying, “There is nothing”.
From right to left, “Only God IS!” - Reading from Physicians of the Heart, Psychological Perspective. Wrestling with contradictions and paradoxes on the Path. (Practice examples in Part 2)
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 1, Part 2 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 1 (part 2) of a 2-day retreat. This video includes only the first 10 minutes of the second session. Please listen to the audio file to hear the entire session.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 61:55)
- Practices: Continued from Previous Reading
- From the Sufi Invocation of Hazrat Inayat-Khan:
Toward the One, The Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty; United with all the Illuminated Souls.
- From the Prayer Salat:
Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory,
Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace.
- From the Prayer Khatum:
Open our hearts towards Thy,
illuminate our souls with Divine Light. - From the Prayer Khatum:
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls;
that we may know and understand life better. - From the Prayer Salat:
Pour upon us Thy Love and Thy Light.
- From the Sufi Invocation of Hazrat Inayat-Khan:
- Reading: Al-Ghaffar from Physicians of the Heart
- Practice: Al-Ghaffar - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that relieves us from the suffering of continual remembrance of our faults.
- Reading: Al-Ghafur from Physicians of the Heart
- Practice: Al-Ghafur - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels.
- Closing: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Dedication of Merit
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 1 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents the first hour of Day 2 of a 2-day retreat.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 58:36)
- Opening: Singing of "Let Thy Might Strengthen Me" (Words by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Melody by Murshida Nuria Sabato)
and Singing of the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Purification Breaths as given by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Review Reading: Al-Ghaffar from Physicians of the Heart
- Review Practice: Al-Ghaffar - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that relieves us from the suffering of continual remembrance of our faults.
- Review Reading: Al-Ghafur from Physicians of the Heart
- Review Practice: Al-Ghafur - The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels.
- Practice: Ya Ghaffar, Ya Ghafur
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 2 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 2, Part 2 of a 2-day retreat.
Divine Forgiveness Retreat, Day 2, Part 3 from International Sufi Movement.
This video represents Day 2, Part 3 of a 2-day retreat. This video includes the first 53 minutes of the second session. Please listen to the audio file to hear the remainder of the session.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 4 (Length 51:06)
- Reading: Injustice in Justice
from An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan. - Reading: At-Tawwab from Physicians of the Heart
The Divine Quality of returning to goodness and of being restored from beginningless to endless time and through all circumstances. - Singing: Return Again
© Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach
Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach Music
- Reading: Al-Afuw from Physicians of the Heart
The Divine Quality of Forgiveness that keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels. "The process of truly invoking Ya Tawwab is deeply healing, because negativity is transformed into its opposite. This is spiritual alchemy." (quote from Physicians of the Heart)
- Practice: Ya Ghaffar (head up);
Ya Ghafur (head down);
Ya Tawwab (head left);
Ya Afuw (head right).
(concentrate on the breath that removes all traces and impressions of the wrong doing or wound).
- Closing: Prayer Khatum
Ozark Sufi Camp, Spring 2010
Annual Retreat taking place at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, USA
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 51:55)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Setting the Intention for the Retreat
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Q&A and Discussion
- Practice: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 56:07)
- Practice: The Three Rhythms -Continued
- Reading: Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Discussion: Breath and Rhythm
- Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan. - The symbol of the yellow rose in Sufism and Hazrat Inayat Khan’s affinity for the yellow rose.
- Reading: Quote from the 1926 American Radio recording of Hazrat Inayat Khan regarding the Sufi Message.
- Practice: Purification Breaths
- Practice: Nayaz on the Breath
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 58:36)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: from the Flower Garden of Inayat Khan,
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Reading: Gamakas, on the subject of "Silence".
- Review: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 51:06)
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4: Continued
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 1.
- Q&A and Discussion
- Practice: External Zikar
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Monday, May 31, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 46:14)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan. - Chapter: Alchemy of Happiness
- Poem: to the Song called Chanson Exotique
- Biographical Notes: on Pirani Ameena Begum
Monday, May 31, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 56:25)
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2. - Reading: An Introduction to a Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan. - Chapter: Concentration
- Practice: Five Stages of Concentration on the Sufi Symbol –
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 47:47)
- Opening: Singing of the Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sacred Sound "Hu"
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Review: The Three Rhythms
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- The Active Rhythm: the source of success and accomplishment, of progress and advancement, the source of joy and fulfillment.
- The Chaotic Rhythm: the source of failure, of death, of disease and destruction, the source of all pain and sorrow.
- The Mobile Rhythm: creative, productive, constructive, and through that rhythm all power and inspiration are gained, and peace is experienced.
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume 4,
Mental Purification Number 11, Mystic Relaxation 2.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Part 3 (Length 46:41)
- Practice: Five Stages of Concentration on the Sufi Symbol
The Heart and Wings
- Observation
- Visualization
- Creative Concentration
- Projective Concentration
- De-concentration
- Practice: Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Visalat Day, February 5th, Kansas City 2010
In Remembrance of the 83rd Urs of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Part 1: Teachings and Introduction to the Practice of Zikar:
Play Audio of Part 1 (Length 39:32)
- Opening: The class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayer: Invocation
-
Reading: From a Lecture of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Things to Remember, unpublished
From the Collective Interviews, September 10, 1926 -
Reading: From The Complete Works of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Summer School, Surenses July 4, 1923
Subject: Metaphysics III - Centres
Part 2: The Practice of Zikar:
Play Audio of Part 2 (Length 43:08)
- Practice: External Zikar
- Practice: Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Closing Prayer: Khatum
Ozark Sufi Camp, Fall 2009
October 10, 2009
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 1 (Length 1:04:48)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
- Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading from the Flower Garden of Inayat Khan,
Available through Sufimovement.org
- Reading from the Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Reading: Path of Initiation
- Reading:
Universal Sufism: Path of Prayer, Initiation and Realization
Available through Blurb.com - Reflection and Practice: Lines from the Prayer Saum:
- In Breath: Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life,
- Out Breath: Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace.
- Practice: Wazifa
- Ya Batin: The Hidden, The Inner
- Ya Zahir: The Manifest, The Evident
- Prayer: Saum
October 10, 2009
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 2 (Length 50:24)
- Reading: American Radio Broadcast, 1926
Available through Sufimovement.us
- Reading: What is a Sufi?
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us - Meditation Session: Compassion and Interconnectedness
- Practice: Wazifa
- ar-Rahman: The Most Kind and Gracious
- ar-Rahim: The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate
- Prayer: Salat
October 11, 2009
Session 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 1 (Length 1:07:00)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
- Meditation Session: Interconnectedness
- Meditation Session: Purification Breaths
- Reading:
Universal Sufism: Path of Prayer, Initiation and Realization
Available through Blurb.com - Meditation Session: Elemental Breaths
- Prayer: Khatum
October 11, 2009
Session 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Session 2 (Length 1:30:07)
- Introduction
The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
- Reading: The Message
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
From Summer School, 2009
Unpublished
- Q & A - The Streams of Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Practice: Wazifa
- Ya Alim: The All-Knowing, The Omniscient
- Reading from the Sufi Message Volume XII:
The Divinity of the Soul
- Closing Prayer: Benediction
Summer School, Katwijk, Netherlands 2009
- Donate
July 27, 2009
LECTURE: Judgement and Understanding -
Play Audio of Lecture (Length 44:50)
>> Download the PDF Document to read the Lecture
Prayer - Invocation
The Lecture begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl,
followed by silence.
Ozark Sufi Camp, Spring 2009- Donate
May 23, 2009
DAY 1: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS -
Play Audio of Day I (Length 1:12:47)
- Introduction - The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.org - Universal Sufism: Path of Breath,
Prayer and Zikr - From the Gathas
Available through Blurb.com - Reading: From the Collective Interviews
July 16, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Point of View
Unpublished
May 24, 2009
DAY 2: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Play Audio of Day 2 (Length 30:42)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Question and Answer Session
- Reading: American Radio Broadcast, 1926
- Available through Sufimovement.us
- Reading: What is a Sufi?
By Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.us - Due to technical difficulties, audio is not available for the following Meditation Session:
Meditation Session - The Elemental Breaths
May 25, 2009
DAY 3: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS -
Play Audio of Day 3 (Length 1:05:22)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Triangle Breaths
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews
September 3, 1926, Friday
Topic: Sufi Manner of Sympathy
Unpublished
May 26, 2009
DAY 4: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS -
Play Audio of Day 4 (Length 56:19)
- The Flower Garden of Inayat Khan
Available through Sufimovement.org - Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: Singing Bowl
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews December 2, 1924
Topic: Spirituality is the Natural Nobleness
Unpublished
May 27, 2009
DAY 5: PRACTICES AND INSTRUCTIONS -
Play Audio of Day 5 (Length 1:01:51)
- Introduction: The Class begins with the playing of the Singing Bowl, followed by silence.
- Prayers: Invocation, Salat
- Meditation Session: The Purification Breaths
- Prayer: Nayaz
- Reading: From the Collective Interviews, September 10, 1926
Topic: Things to Remember
Unpublished - Reading: From the Collective Interviews, July 28, 1926
Topic: Personal Power
Unpublished - Closing Prayer: Khatum
Mysticism of Silence, October 2007- Donate
October 26, 2007
Play Audio of Lecture (Length 1:12:47)
Retreats & Special Events
- July 2007 | Katwijk, Netherlands | Universal Worship
- August 2007 | Retreat in Columbia, MO
- September 2007 | Retreat in Minneapolis, MN - Coming Soon!
- October 2007 | Ozark Fall Camp, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
If you are interested in attending the next Meditation on the Message Class, please visit Our Events page for details, or email inquiries@sufimovement.us for more information.
