Jun
15
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
Greetings of peace to you in these last days of spring, and last days of Ramadan, the month of “hot stones and cleansing rains.”
In May the Astana hosted the first of a series of gatherings for new leaders in the Esoteric School. Many were graduates of the Suluk Academy, so the occasion had the feeling of a Suluk reunion (a full reunion is planned next year). We delved into Murshid’s instructions on guidance and began an exploration of the problems and prospects of our present-day “third cycle” of the Sufi Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.
Tomorrow my family and I are due to leave on summer travels. God willing, I will celebrate my father’s ‘Urs at his Dargah in Delhi, trek to the Himalayan source of the Ganges, visit Maulabakhsh House, meet with ashiqs and murids in Konya, convene a week of chivalry and another week of silent retreat in the Alps, visit Fazal Manzil, teach at the Suluk Academy in Épernon, and conduct retreats at Murad Hasil and the Abode of the Message.
I wish you a fruitful summer and hope to see you in India, Turkey, Europe, or the U.S. If we cannot meet in person, may this monthly Zephyr be a link between us, and more importantly, may the spiritual zephyr that wafts from soul to soul connect our lives in the invisible and unite us with the Infinite.
When the trees are green and swaying
And the meadows sweet with flowers
Let there be no more delaying
Let us meet in mystic bowers
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan’s
14th Urs Celebration 2018
“Light arises in your soul as consequence of the striking of your heart.” ? Pir Vilayat
You are cordially invited to the
14th ‘Urs celebration of
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
Sajjada-Nishin of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Founder of The Hope Project
Sunday, 17th June 2018
LOCATION
The Dargah Sharif of Hazrat Inayat Khan &
The Dargah Sharif of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
129 Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin
New Delhi 110013
PROGRAM
8.00 am Onwards
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan’s Dargah is open for morning meditation.
9.30 am
Fateha and blessing of the Chader at the Dargah Sharif of Hazrat Inayat Khan; procession to the Dargah Sharif of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan; prayers and offerings; community reception with refreshments at the Noor Inayat Khan Library, The Hope Project.
11.00 am
Distribution of Langar at the Dargah Sharif of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.
ORGANIZERS
The Inayati Order and its President
Pir Zia Inayat Khan ‘urf Sarafil Bawa
Sajjada-Nishin of the Dargah Sharif of Hazrat Inayat Khan
and the Dargah Sharif of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
The Hope Project Charitable Trust
With the assistance of Hajji Aslam Hussain
For further information please contact carmen.hussain@gmail.com.
A new class of Suluk Academy begins this September at the Astana in Richmond, Virginia. Suluk is a two-year course of intensive Sufi Study with Pir Zia Inayat Khan as the lead teacher.
There are a few spots left! This current class is almost full with 31 confirmed students. If you are interested in additional details and possibly applying, please email suluk@inayatiorder.org as soon as possible. (A new class will launch in France in 2019 or 2020.)
www.inayatiorder.org/programs/suluk-academy/
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“I regard every failure as a stepping-stone toward a success.”
The journey of life is one of trial and error. One learns by doing. Whatever the result of one’s endeavors, no experience is wasted if one learns from it and moves on, determined to go further.
Seen from the surface, success is rewarding and failure is disappointing. From the deeper perspective of the unfurling of the mind and heart, however, the knowledge gained in success and the knowledge gained in failure are equally enriching.
Every traveler on life’s path will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. The difference between those who travel well and those who do not lie in their attitude. In the pessimist’s eyes, a failure is a precursor to ever-deepening disappointment. For the optimist, it’s no more than a stepping-stone on the path to success.
Failure generally leads to failure, unless hope intervenes. Hope is the usher at the door of success.
And what is success? Obtaining one’s desire is one kind of success. But as soon as a desire is fulfilled, another springs up. Real success is the ever-expanding awakening of wisdom and love in the onward movement of life’s journey.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
Inayati Spring Scholarship Appeal
This spring, please help us raise $20,000 for our Scholarship Funds. Over the past three years we have granted $30,000+ in scholarships, for all ages and for all programs. We need to replenish these accounts for future students.
If you feel so called, please donate through the link below, choosing the scholarship fund you would like to support under “Gift Choice.”
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
NORTH AMERICA
The Alchemy of Happiness w/ Pir Zia
The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York
31 August – 2 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Berkeley, California
29-30 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1-2 December 2018
EUROPE
The Spiritual Message of Mawlana Rumi
Middle Eastern & South Asian Inayati Community Gathering
Konya, Turkey
13-19 July 2018
Zenith Institute
Olivone, Switzerland
23 July – 18 August 2018
Growing Wings w/ Pir Zia
Katwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands
24-26 August 2018
Angelic Lights w/ Pir Zia
London, England
17-18 November 2018
Please see our Inayati Order Programs Calendar for more event listings.
May
24
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
I hope this finds you well. All is well here in Richmond, where we are still soaking up the numinous vibrations of the Wisdom of the Prophets gathering that took place here a few days ago. It was a marvelous culmination to the series of symposia we hosted over the course of the last three years dedicated to the mystical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Our aim in these meetings was to explore the deep historical and philosophical connections between Sufism and the world’s great revealed traditions. Much was intellectually confirmed in our gatherings, and still more was spiritually tasted. My book Mingled Waters chronicles in two dimensions what our gatherings lived out in three.
A sparkling sketch of last weekend’s gathering, from the magic pen of Misbah Noor, is here.
Earlier, in April, the Astana hosted the Board of The Inayati Order, North America, a wise and dedicated group of workers for the Sufi Message whose organizational stewardship is a boon to us all. Still earlier in April we held an open house in which our special guests were Dr. Carl W. Ernst, one of my scholarly mentors, and his wife Judith. Dr. Ernst read enchanting poems from his forthcoming book on Hallaj. Judith is the author and illustrator of a retelling of a Jataka tale that she dedicated to Pirzadi-Shahida Noor.
Speaking of Noor: to my great happiness, Noor’s mystical drama Aède of the Ocean and Land is now in print! I cannot recommend it enough. Noor was, as you know, a great saint and mystic, and keen readers will discover her inner teachings encoded within the adventurous narrative of the play. I regardAède as a kind of terma, a “treasure text” that is not revealed until its time has come. It is an auspicious sign that it has appeared at this juncture—a sign that Noor is watching over us.
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
The Aède of Ocean & Land
New from Suluk Press, May 2018
In dramatic form, Aède shines a revealing light on Noor’s life and thought, reflecting her unique assimilation of the spiritual teachings of her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan. In Aède, Noor combines elements of Greek myth, Sufi esotericism, and personal experience to produce a gripping and surprising retelling of the Odyssey of Homer. The protagonist wrestles with monsters, colloquizes with nymphs, and sails the Mediterranean in search of home. Will Ulys reattain domestic bliss in Ithaca—or does another destiny await him?
The Astana full of Sufi friends for Wisdom of the Prophets: Sufism & Islam, May 3-6, 2018. Perhaps our happiest gathering to date!
See here for the full photo album.
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“There is nothing else in life which pleases me more than pleasing others, but it is difficult to please everybody.”
There are three reasons a person may have for trying to please another. The first is strategic: one wishes to win, or keep, a friend, and avoid making an enemy. Keeping the people around one happy, as far possible, generally has the effect of smoothing one’s life path.
The second reason a person may have for to trying please another is to be thought well of. Very often, one’s self image is bound up in other people’s opinions. One thrives on positive attention and withers under censorious glances.
The third reason is honest altruism. This motivation transcends the dark insecurities that overshadow the mind. One wishes to please others because one realizes, deep down in one’s heart, that every other is another oneself.
But even if one’s motivation is the purest, pleasing others is not always easy. As Hafiz says, “Love seemed at first an easy thing—but ah! the hard awakening.”
Sometimes by pleasing one person one displeases another; there are cases when one cannot please both at once. The attempt to please everyone is a noble one, but in the end one must follow one’s conscience and do as one believes best.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
Astana Open House Weekend
We hosted our first Astana Open House Weekend, April 14 & 15, with special guest Dr. Carl Ernst of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Click here to see the full photo album.
Inayati Spring Scholarship Appeal
Please help support scholarships for our upcoming programs!
Over the past months, we have actively been accepting candidates into two programs, Inayati Emergent Leaders to launch in two weeks (first session May 26-30 with 37 students) and our newSuluk Academy Class to launch in the fall (first session Sept 11-16 with 30 people already accepted into the class!). We have also been closely collaborating with our new Inayati Young Adult Council about how to support “young adult” involvement in all of our activities.
This spring, please help us raise $20,000 for our Scholarship Funds. Over the past three years we have granted $30,000+ in scholarships, for all ages and for all programs. We need to replenish these accounts for future students.
If you feel so called, please donate through the link below, choosing the scholarship fund you would like to support under “Gift Choices.”
https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E117941&id=1
There are four scholarship related options: Suluk Scholarship Fund, Emergent Leaders Scholarship Fund, Young Adult Scholarship Fund, and Inayati General Scholarship Fund for all other programs. Please contact us if there are any questions. Thank you for your generous, kind support!
Inayati News of Note
Between the dates of July 1st and 10th, a special Summer School will be held in the Khankah of Fazal Manzil in Suresnes, France. The program will include lectures, meditations, silences, readings, music, and zikr. Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood Khan will be present from the 3rd onward. Details may be found here.
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
NORTH AMERICA
The Mysticism of Sound & Music Online
With Pir Zia Inayat-Khan & Special Guests
Richmond, Virginia & Online Anytime
Wednesdays, 2-23 May 2018
The Alchemy of Happiness w/ Pir Zia
The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York
31 August – 2 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Berkeley, California
29-30 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1-2 December 2018
EUROPE
The Spiritual Message of Mawlana Rumi
Middle Eastern & South Asian Inayati Community Gathering
Konya, Turkey
13-19 July 2018
Zenith Institute
Olivone, Switzerland
23 July – 18 August 2018
Growing Wings w/ Pir Zia
Katwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands
24-26 August 2018
Angelic Lights w/ Pir Zia
London, England
17-18 November 2018
Please see our Inayati Order Programs Calendar for more event listings. New dates and online courses will be announced in March.
Apr
09
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
Greetings! I’ve just returned from the Easter Retreat in the Rhön Mountains in Germany, where in the Name of the One we commemorated the feast of the archangel Eostre, story of the Exodus, and the fana and baqa of Jesus.
This year our gathering had a bittersweet aspect as we lovingly remembered the spirit of Munir Voss, a long-time Inayati Order leader in Europe who suddenly passed from the world in March. I have been coming to Germany at Easter every year since my father’s passing in 2004, and each year until now Munir has been there, leading the early morning meditations. Munir’s presence was sorely missed this year, as he will be missed in the Alps, in Heidelberg, and in many other places. Nonetheless, Munir’s legacy of service to the Sufi Message lives on among those whom he inspired and trained, and his spirit lives on, and shines, in the inner spheres. May God enfold his soul in love and light.
Our caravan is moving through the world, and from this world into the next. One never knows when the sight of a friend might be one’s last—one’s last, at least, here on Earth. Sometimes one is given the chance to say goodbye, but often one is not. Friends suddenly vanish, and we are left with the inner relation of our soul to theirs. One by one, each of us will disappear. But if we are truly linked, our companionship will continue on the other side.
Murshid said, “Initiation among the Sufis has, for one of its many objects, to find a caravan in the hereafter that journeys to the desired goal. Therefore, by initiation it is meant that a Sufi prepares himself here on earth to be capable of appreciating the spiritual souls, and unites with them in the brotherhood of initiation on the Path, which may keep him connected with the caravan which is continually journeying toward the goal.”
May we be such companions to one another, here and in the hereafter.
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
P.S. If you have friends who would like to receive The Zephyr, please share this link for them to sign up.
Making One’s Own Nature with Pir Zia Inayat Khan
New East & West US Events, Fall 2018
As human beings we have the privilege and responsibility of fashioning not only our lives, but our very selves, in accord with our highest vision of meaning and beauty. The nature that we create in our mind and heart accompanies our soul through life and leaves its signature on the world. Over the course of two days, through the practice of meditation, prayer, spiritual reflection, and sacred sound, we will participate directly in making our own nature.
Berkeley, California, 29-30 September 2018
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1-2 December 2018
The Prayers of the Inayatiyya
New from the
Inayati Order, April 2018
This small booklet is designed for all those interested in learning and practicing Hazrat Inayat Khan’s series of prayers.
Includes an introduction to the “Prayers and Praying” by Hazrat Inayat Khan, “The Five Dimensions of Prayers” by Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, “Murshid’s Notes on the Prayer Movements,” and illustrations by Netanel Miles-Yépez, based on the original drawings by Saida van Tuyll.
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“I feel myself when I am by myself.”
There are two selves, the self and the I.
Physical and social characteristics define the self. It was born on a certain day and will die one day. Meanwhile, it has eyes with which to see.
The I, by contrast, has no name or form. Birth did not create it nor will death destroy it. It is not so much the seer as seeing itself.
As others regard the self, so it regards itself. The I, on the other hand, gains nothing from others’ good opinion and is untouched by their scorn.
In the marketplace of the world, the self rises to the fore. In every encounter, it renegotiates its standing. Meanwhile, the I is dormant.
Only in the silence of solitude does the I emerge. There is, then, no more self or other, only the witnessing of what appears. At last one feels oneself.
The feeling of being oneself at first comes most naturally when one is alone. But the mystic learns in time to be alone in the crowd: to be, not merely a self among selves, but an I among I’s.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
German Easter Seminar 2018
Discourse, Meditation, Music & Interfaith Worship
The week of 18-25 March the Astana hosted a series of leadership gatherings, beginning with the World Wide Message Council, followed by the North American Jamiat Khas and Inayati Leadership Spring Training.
Click here to see the full photo album.
The afternoon of Sunday, 25 March, the Astana hosted a special visitor, Cheikh Sufi of the Mouridiyya Order. See the full photo album here. Cheikh Sufi will now be a special guest at Wisdom of the Prophets: Sufism & Islam.
Wisdom of the Prophets – Part VI: Sufism & Islam
Richmond, Virginia or
Online Anytime from Anywhere
May 3-6, 2018
Please join, us in-person or online, for a weekend of zikr and suhbat with Pir Zia, Sheikha Fariha, Sheikh Ghassan, and special guests Cheikh Sufi and Dr. Omid Safi. We hope you join us!
See here for registration details.
Inayati News of Note
Inayati Order Representative, Shaykha Amat-un-Nur of Pakistan, has a new book out, The Doors of Peace, Sufi Pearls of Wisdom.
The 19th Annual Gathering of the Federation of the Sufi Message will be held at Fazal Manzil in Suresnes, France, 30 May to 3 June, 2018. Open to leaders and teachers of the Federation family with advance registration.
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
NORTH AMERICA
Astana Open House
Richmond, Virginia
14-15 April 2018
Contact astana@inayatiorder.org.
Wisdom of the Prophets: Sufism & Islam
w/ Sheikha Fariha, Sheikh Ghassan Manasra & Pir Zia
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
3-6 May 2018 and Online
The Alchemy of Happiness w/ Pir Zia
The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York
31 August – 2 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Berkeley, California
29-30 September 2018
Making One’s Own Nature w/ Pir Zia
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1-2 December 2018
EUROPE
The Spiritual Message of Mawlana Rumi
Middle Eastern & South Asian Inayati Community Gathering
Konya, Turkey
13-19 July 2018
Zenith Institute
Olivone, Switzerland
23 July – 18 August 2018
Growing Wings w/ Pir Zia
Katwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands
24-26 August 2018
Angelic Lights w/ Pir Zia
London, England
17-18 November 2018
INDIA
India Pilgrimage w/ Pir Zia
For details please contact gulrukh@inayatiorder.org.
Delhi to Gangotri
15-25 June, 2018
Please see our Inayati Order Programs Calendar for more event listings. New dates and online courses will be announced in March.
Mar
06
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
Greetings from Richmond, where, as I write, the dogwood trees are trumpeting the arrival of spring!
I last wrote from Fazal Manzil on the occasion of the Urs, when I issued the Declaration announcing Pirzadi-Shahida Noor-un-nisa’s place in the Silsila. I am thankful for all of the supportive messages I have since received. It is clear that there is great love and respect in our community for Pirzadi-Shahida Noor.
The meetings at Fazal Manzil were international in character, with friends gathering from Norway in the North to Morocco in the South, and from the U.S. in the West to Pakistan in the East—and Australia in the Antipodes. Murshid intended his Order to be a nucleus of the worldwide human family, and more and more it is becoming so. This year, the presence of special guests from the Sufi Movement lent the gathering an additional felicity. We were, moreover, honored by the presence and words of Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood Khan, Murshid Karimbakhsh, and Shaykha Fawzia Al-Rawi of the Rifa’i Order.
After the Urs I went to the priory in Epernon where the European Suluk class meets. Snow had begun to fall during the Urs, and by the time we set out for Epernon the roads were blanketed. A few times we had to get out of the car and push it. I was reminded of the Katha Upanishad: “Know the Self as the lord of the chariot and the body as the chariot.” Sometimes the soul is easily carried along by the body’s habitual running, other times it has to take matters in hand and move the body with its own force.
Soul power is certainly needed in the U.S. right now as the nation mourns the victims of another senseless tragedy. Times of collective reckoning such as this can be significant turning points. Clearly, the students sense this. Change is possible. And by this I mean something still more fundamental than the reform of laws and policies: I mean the elevation of the human spirit and the expansion of the human heart. This is where, as an Order, our essential work lies. And as we know, it begins with each one of us ourselves.
In closing, a piece of good news. Two important collections of Murshid’s teachings are now in print:Complete Works of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan: 1925 II and The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan: Centennial Edition, Vol. 2, The Mysticism of Sound. My sincere appreciation goes out to Qahira Wirgman and Yasodhara Lillydahl, respectively, for their dedicated work in preparing these volumes. I look forward to offering webcast commentaries on The Mysticism of Sound in May. Meanwhile, I encourage everyone to read Murshid’s words.
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
P.S. If you have friends who would like to receive The Zephyr, please share this link for them to sign up.
The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume II: The Mysticism of Sound by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Now available from Suluk Press for students of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings and musicians worldwide.
Updated and revised to include four series of lectures: “Mysticism of Sound,” “Music,” “The Power of the Word,” and “Cosmic Language.”
www.sulukpress.org.
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“I work simply, not troubling about results. My satisfaction is in accomplishing the work which is given to me to my best ability, and I leave the effect to the Cause.”
Lord Krishna said, “Be intent on action, not on the fruits of action.” Do what is to be done, without attachment to the outcome.
It is easy to be waylaid by fear. “What if I fail?” “What if all of my efforts are in vain?” Such speculations serve no useful purpose. Work that is given must be undertaken, succeed or fail. The effort itself is what matters.
“Given” work is the labor one knows in one’s heart of hearts to be one’s own. To take up this work is to find one’s place in the harmony of the universe. Working to the best of one’s ability means uniting body, heart, and soul in the effort, and never giving up.
The peace to be found where work attains its good end is always far away. But the peace that is found in good work is there every step of the way.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
The Gayan says, “The only condition of life is making one’s own nature.”
As human beings we have the privilege and responsibility of not only fashioning our lives, but fashioning our very selves. The nature that we create out of our very minds and hearts leaves its signature on the world and accompanies our souls into the hereafter. — Pir Zia Inayat-Khan.
Please join us this Easter as we explore how we make our own nature. Gersfeld, Germany. See here for
the full brochure.
Wisdom of the Prophets – Part VI: Sufism & Islam
Richmond, Virginia or
Online Anytime from Anywhere
May 3-6, 2018
Please join, us in-person or online, for a weekend of zikr andsuhbat with Pir Zia, Sheikha Fariha, Sheikh Ghassan, and special guest Dr. Omid Safi. We hope you join us!
See here for registration details.
Inayati News of Note
Every Sunday afternoon, Pir Zia gives a sermon during Universal Worship at the Astana in Richmond, Virginia. See here for his sermon from Sunday, 18 February, in response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The 19th Annual Gathering of the Federation of the Sufi Message will be held at Fazal Manzil in Suresnes, France, 30 May to 3 June, 2018. Open to leaders and teachers of the Federation family with advance registration.
Over 10,000 religious leaders and friends will meet for The Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, Ontario, 1-7 November 2018. Many members of the Inayati community plan to attend. Early bird discount through March 31.
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
NORTH AMERICA
Jamiat-Khas Annual Retreat
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
20-22 March 2018
Inayati Leadership Spring Training
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
22-25 March 2018
Astana Open House
Richmond, Virginia
14-15 April 2018
Contact astana@inayatiorder.org.
Additional details forthcoming.
Wisdom of the Prophets: Sufism & Islam
w/ Sheikha Fariha, Sheikh Ghassan Manrasa & Pir Zia
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
3-6 May 2018 and Online
The Alchemy of Happiness w/ Pir Zia
The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York
31 August – 2 September 2018
Details for programs in Berkeley, California, September 28-30 and Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 30-December 2, soon to be announced.
EUROPE
German Easter Retreat w/ Pir Zia
Gersfeld, Germany
30 March – 2 April 2018
The Spiritual Message of Mawlana Rumi
Middle Eastern & South Asian Inayati Community Gathering
Konya, Turkey
13-19 July 2018
Zenith Institute
Olivone, Switzerland
23 July – 18 August 2018
Growing Wings w/ Pir Zia
Katwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands
24-26 August 2018
London Seminar w/ Pir Zia
London, England
17-18 November 2018
INDIA
India Pilgrimage w/ Pir Zia
For details please contact gulrukh@inayatiorder.org.
Delhi to Gangotri
15-25 June, 2018
Please see our Inayati Order Programs Calendar for more event listings. New dates and online courses will be announced in March.
Feb
09
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
I wish you a blessed Visalat Day! May the peace, blessings, and love of God be with you on this special day as we celebrate the earthly and heavenly life of our guiding spirit, Hazrat Inayat Khan.
Today, in the presence of many companions here at Fazal Manzil, and joined in thought and spirit with all of you throughout the world, I am issuing a Declaration announcing that Pirzadi-Shahida Noor-un-Nisa will henceforth be included in the Silsila of the Inayati Order. Please see the Declaration in French, German, andEnglish.
Stimulated by the discovery of a play by Pirzadi-Shahida Noor in the Astana Archive, over the last several months I have been deeply reflecting on her life and legacy. It has become clearer to me than ever before that the time has come for our Order to truly claim her as an essential tradition-bearer of the Sufi Message. Tremendous inspiration can be drawn from her writings, and even more from her life, which was a real-life Jataka tale.
God willing, Pirzadi-Shahida Noor’s play, Aede of the Ocean and Land, will be published this year. It is a fascinating spiritual retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. At Zenith Camp in Switzerland this summer a week will be dedicated to Pirzadi-Shahida Noor, chivalry, and Aede. Please do come if you can. And this, we hope, will just be the beginning.
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
Zenith Summer Camp, 23 July-18 August 2018
Consider traveling to the Swiss Alps this summer, for the Zenith Institute‘s annual camp!Every year there are four weeks of programs, this year including a week focused on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, the Alchemy of Happiness, a five-day silent retreat with Pir Zia, and many other offerings with teachers including Atum & Emmanuel O’Kane, Maarten Ophiel & Madhu Sangita Van Leer, Majida Heiss, Munir Voss & Malik Hirschberg, Fatimabi Monika Grieger, Mehmet & Ali Ungan, Saki Lee & Latif Peter Brinck, Nigel Hamilton & Himayat Inayati, Deepa Gulrukh Patel & Jacob Eilenberg, and Zuleikha.
Ziraat Leadership Transition in Europe
I would like to announce that following three and a half years of dedicated service as European Vice President of Ziraat, Maumud Zak Waterman is stepping down. Maumud served conscientiously and planted seeds that are now actively growing. I thank him for his service, and am heartened to know that he intends to continue serving Ziraat in his capacity as a Farmer. At the same time, I warmly welcome the new European Vice President of Ziraat, Firos Holterman. Firos brings long experience in Ziraat, and also in sustainable farming. Please join me in thanking Maumud, and welcoming Firos. — Sarafil Bawa
Message from Maumud
Message from Firos
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“As long as I act upon my own intuition, I succeed, but whenever I follow the advice of others I go astray.”
An eel would not do well to ask directions to the Sargasso Sea from a pike or a trout. Deep down in its viscera, it already knows the way. Its best course is to trust its instincts. The same is true of human beings.
A philosophizer asked a dervish what truth was. She pointed to his eyes. He asked what was falsehood. She tweaked his ear. Her point being: seeing is believing, and be wary of what you are told.
Whatever the question, the answer is already present. Only, it’s buried under a mass of fears and fancies. One needs to clear one’s mind to know what one knows.
Is counsel worthless then? Not necessarily. The Prophet Muhammad said, “The believer is a mirror of the believer.” A word or glance that confirms what one knows in one’s innermost core is a kind oflight upon light.
For this reason, Guides in the Esoteric School do not give advice. They work instead to empower the murid’s intuition.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
Astana Open House
Saturday, 24 February 2018Our first Astana Open House will be held Saturday, February 24, from 12-5 pm, in Richmond, Virginia. The afternoon will feature tours, an Indian luncheon, presentations, suhbat (spiritual conversation), tea and sweets with special guests Bruce Lawrence and miriam cooke. Pir Zia, Pirani Sartaj, Alia, Muhasaba, and Khawar will be your hosts.Details about the Astana Open House can be found here. Please contact Khawar atastana@inayatiorder.org with any questions. We look forward to hosting you!Additional information about the Astana, including a Calendar and Elist Sign-up, can be found at www.inayatiorder.org/astana.
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
NORTH AMERICA
Astana Open House
Richmond, Virginia
24 February 2018
Jamiat-Khas Annual Retreat
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
20-22 March 2018
Inayati Leadership Spring Training
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
22-25 March 2018
Wisdom of the Prophets: Sufism & Islam
w/ Sheikha Fariha, Sheikh Ghassan Manrasa & Pir Zia
The Astana, Richmond, Virginia
3-6 May 2018 and Online
The Alchemy of Happiness w/ Pir Zia
The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York
31 August – 2 September 2018
EUROPE
German Easter Retreat w/ Pir Zia
Gersfeld, Germany
30 March – 2 April 2018
Turkey Retreat w/ Pir Zia
Middle Eastern & South Asian Inayati Community Gathering
Konya, Turkey
12-18 July 2018
Zenith Institute
Olivone, Switzerland
23 July – 18 August 2018
Growing Wings w/ Pir Zia
Katwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands
24-26 August 2018
London Seminar w/ Pir Zia
London, England
17-18 November 2018
INDIA
India Pilgrimage w/ Pir Zia
For details please contact gulrukh@inayatiorder.org.
Delhi to Gangotri
15-25 June, 2018
Please see our Inayati Order Programs Calendar for more event listings. New dates and online courses will be announced in March.
Feb
09
2018
Dear Companions on the Path,
New Year’s greetings! As we ring in the year 2018 and bid farewell to 2017, it’s a time to count our blessings and look toward the future with optimism.
For my family and the Inayati Order headquarters, the last year brought us a big transition. We moved from the quiet woodlands of the Northeast to the bustling Mid-Atlantic city of Richmond. It’s just as the Gayan says: In the country, we saw God’s glory, and now, in the city, we glorify God’s Name.
Looking back over the past year, I recall sparkling gatherings with many of you in various places in North America and Europe. The year’s highlights, for me, included the graduation of the Suluk Jabalqa class, Wisdom of the Prophets dialogues on Judaism and Christianity, Season of the Rose and Zenith Camp, and the retreats we had in Gersfeld, Istanbul, Suresnes, Rochester, and Tucson.
I look forward to the continuation of the caravan’s journey in the coming year, God willing. The second volume of the Centennial Edition of The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan is with the printers as I write, and I plan to offer live-streamed commentaries on these teachings in the spring and fall. Leadership gatherings will take place in Suresnes and Richmond, and a new leaders’ training course will commence in June. A new Suluk course will begin in September. I am scheduled to offer retreats in Germany and Holland, and at the Abode over Labor Day weekend. In June we will celebrate Pir Vilayat’s ‘Urs at his Dargah in Delhi, followed by a Himalayan retreat. In July, there will be a retreat in Konya specifically for the Middle Eastern and South Asian Inayati community.
Meanwhile, the Astana continues to unfold, and I encourage you to visit when you can. You will find the calendar here: www.inayatiorder.org/astana. We hope, before long, to be able to livestream the Universal Worship and Gatha class on Sundays.
With deep thankfulness to the One for the grace of our companionship, I close with a New Year prayer from blessed Noor-un-Nisa:
A deeper wish, a wish more true
Than that I have in store for you
Indeed upon this earth is none
And ne’er can be a sweeter one
Little rays of dreams come true
Sunny skies forever blue
Happy hours of endless cheer
Maybe yours this coming year
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
India Pilgrimage & Summer 2018
Sarafil Bawa and his family will travel to India this June for the 13th Urs of his father, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. You are invited to join in this special pilgrimage. The dates are June 15 to 25, including a retreat and trek in Gangotri. Please contactgulrukh@inayatiorder.org for details, which should be finalized this month.
Following India, Bawa will travel to Konya, the Swiss Alps, and the Netherlands. We will post additional details about related seminars and retreats in February. Please note that with Bawa traveling all summer, there will be no Season of the Rose in North America in 2018. We do plan to return to the United State’s West Coast in 2019, for this annual summer gathering.
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“Every soul stands before me as a world, and the light of my spirit falling upon it brings clearly to my view all it contains.”
Would there be a world if there were no witnesses? It is the perceiving of the world that makes it a world. And as there are many perceivers, there are, accordingly, many worlds.
Imagine a hermit’s dark cell. Light flashes in through two chinks in the roof. One beam has illumined a curl of smoke. The other transfixes a moth in flight.
Spirit is light. The soul is a portion of divided light. The mind is what is revealed in the beam of that portion.
Two minds may know one another, in some measure, by comparing their perceptions through conversation. But a soul knows another soul silently—by rising up to spirit and then, descending, alighting on it.
When the light of one soul irradiates another, it witnesses what the other’s mind contains. When love unites two souls in spirit, their lights converge in a double flame and two worlds become one.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
Suluk Academy Mentors
This coming September, we will launch a new Suluk class. While Bawa will be the sole teacher, he will be joined by three outstanding and experienced mentors, Nizam un Nisa, Raqib and Nirtana. You can learn more about each of them below, and we encourage you to consider applying for this upcoming class. Applications are due by February 1, 2018. See www.inayatiorder.org/suluk for details.
Ayeda Nizam un Nisa Husain is a Shaykha, Guide and Representative in the Inayati Order where she uses the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan to explain the poetry of Rumi, focusing on Sufism as a means of healing and evolving. A student of classical Chishti Sufism since 1988 and a devoted follower of the Inayati Order since 2004, she has led Inayati Order centers in Lahore, in Dubai and now in Oakville, Ontario where she lives. A graduate of the first European Suluk class and a Knight of Purity, Nizam-un-Nisa has led Sufi retreats, taught Sufi meditation to Buddhist monks in Tokyo and been invited to the UN as part of an international delegation of spiritual leaders. A journalist by profession, she is currently working on setting the Urdu poetry of Hazrat Inayat Khan to music.
Raqib Jonah Yakel was initiated into the Inayati Order by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan in 2000. Raqib was an active member of the Baraka Center in Washington, DC, for several years and is a graduate of both the Suluk Academy (Gulzar ‘15) and the Raphaelite Program with Himayat Inayati. Currently residing in the Kansas City metro area with his wife and two children, Raqib leads a Sufi Center and holds an active role in the growth and unfoldment of the Inayati Order’s Kinship Activity. Professionally, Raqib is a chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner. He owns and operates Lifegate Health Center where he specializes in brain health and addiction empowering people to reclaim their health and wholeness allowing for the realization of greatness, the fulfillment of purpose, and the embodiment of peace, love, and joy in their lives.
Nirtana Gloria Deckro has been a traveler on the Sufi path for 35 years. She graduated Suluk in 2007 and then served as a mentor for the Alif and Andalib classes. Nirtana trained as a physician in England. After moving to Boston in 1982, marrying and starting a family, she spent eight years as Director of Training and Research for the Education Initiative of the Mind/Body Medical Institute. There she focused on training educators and health professionals in bringing meditation into work settings. Nirtana then built her own healing practice, offering meditation training and spiritual counseling for individuals and groups. Nirtana served on the Board of the Inayati Order from 2007 to 2011 and as Executive Director of the Order from 2011 to 2014. She currently lives with her husband in Sharon MA. They have two adult children.
Astana Upcoming Events
Please join us at the Astana in Richmond, Virginia, for an upcoming event! Bawa resumes his weekly Gatha Class + Suhbat today, January 7th, and Healing Service + Zikr on Wednesdays, beginning again the evening of January 10th.
Also, we are making plans for an Astana Open House on Saturday, February 24th. The scholars Bruce Lawrence and miriam cooke will be our special guests. We hope to offer a luncheon at 1 pm, followed by a talk at 2pm, suhbat, tea and sweets.
If you would like to come for the Open House, a class or a visit, please contact Khawar atastana@inayatiorder.org. We look forward to hosting you!
Additional information about the Astana, including a Calendar and Elist Sign-up, can be found at www.inayatiorder.org/astana.
Inayati Order Fall Appeal 2017
Over $130,000 was raised during our most recent appeal. This is an incredibly generous outpouring, which greatly helps us enhance our support to Inayati Order murids, leaders and new friends drawn to the teachings of Sufism. Now that things are settled in Richmond, we are making plans through 2020. What would you like to see us do? Please feel free to email Jennifer Alia Wittman, our Executive Director in North America, with ideas, and let’s see what we can unfold for Murshid’s legacy, together.
Feb
09
2018
December 10, 2017
Dear Companions on the Path,
I hope this finds you well. Here at the Astana in Richmond, things are unfolding wonderfully. We now have two weekly gatherings, a Sunday afternoon Universal Worship Service and Gatha Class, and a Wednesday evening Healing Service and Zikr. Do come and join us; the calendar is here.
Last weekend the Inayati Order’s new Young Adults Council visited. We spent our time exploring the Six Activities of the Order and the inspirations and concerns of young people today. It was a generative discussion and one that we all look forward to continuing. (See photos below.)
During the weekend I offered a Universal Worship Service that was live-streamed as part of a 24-hour global vigil called One World Bearing Witness. It is always an honor to take part in endeavors that highlight the unity of the human spirit.
A few weeks ago, I visited Tucson. I spoke about Sufism and Judaism at Temple Emanu-El, after which we had a retreat among the sujuaros. What a pleasure it was to see friends from all over the Southwest. I was especially moved by the community’s initiative to support the care of the little-known tomb of Murshid’s beloved teacher, Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani, in Hyderabad.
In closing, I would like to wish you a luminous Hanukah, Christmas, and Winter Solstice. May glowing hearths and glowing hearts warm your cold December!
Yours ever,
Sarafil Bawa
Gayan Commentary
“I have learned more by my faults than by my merits. If I acted always aright, I could not be human.”
We might have been created as flawless beings in a flawlessworld. But we were not, and for a reason. In a placidly perfect world, there would be no discovery. There is a unique perfection to be found in the unveiling of the Perfect within the imperfect.
Life is a school for the education of the heart. Every day there is a new lesson. Lessons not learned are repeated until understanding comes. Successes teach something, but missteps often teach more.
Of course, it is not faults themselves that are instructive. Awareness is what guides. When vigilance illuminates a dark passage through life, the path comes into view.
Coming to terms with one’s shortcomings brings humility and compassion. Observing that one does not always perceive situations in their entirety, one learns to think twice before making brash pronouncements. Recognizing one’s own capacity for error, one is moved to forbear with others in their fumblings.
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
The evening of November 29th, Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Samaneh Oladi Ghadikolaei brought her Introduction to Sufism class to meet Pir Zia. VCU’s campus is two blocks away from the Astana and we were very happy to see that the university has a lively religious study and mysticism program!
Inayati Order Fall Appeal 2017
Thank you to all of you who regularly and generously give toward our work. As we organizationally move into a phase of greater refinement and expansion, we hope that you will give toward our Inayati Order Fall Appeal 2017. We are deeply appreciative of your support!
Nov
13
2017
November 5, 2017
Dear Companions on the Path,
Autumn Greetings. I hope this finds you well. Over the last month, I had the chance to visit Suresnes, France, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Rochester, New York.
In Suresnes, Fazal Manzil is undergoing a significant revival as a Sufi center and place of pilgrimage. Across the street, at the home of my esteemed aunt and uncle, I enjoyed a scintillating dinner conversation with the philosopher Abdennour Bidar and his wife, and co-founder of Centre Sésame, Inès Weber.
In Chapel Hill, I attended the first day of a conference in honor of one of my academic mentors,Dr. Carl W. Ernst. It was a fitting tribute to a great scholar of Sufism, and a chance to see dear old friends.
In Rochester, the local center hosted me warmly and introduced me to Arun Gandhi, peacemaker and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Muhammad Shafiq of the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue. At the Hickey Center I had the pleasure of giving a talk on my bookMingled Waters.
Meanwhile, though I no longer live at the Abode, I was delighted to connect with a retreat at the Abode via live stream. The retreat was organized by, and for, the African-American healer community. It featured the eminent jazz pianist Randy Weston, who related how The Mysticism of Music and Soundgalvanized his musical career.
Activities are commencing in Richmond. Last week, the Healing concentration convened a lovely two-day program. This weekend we host our first public gathering at the Astana: Sufism and Christianity. My partners in dialogue are Tessa Bielecki and Rev. LuTimothy May, two powerful witnesses to God’s Glory.
Yesterday the Astana was ritually dedicated. May it be a place of blessings for years to come. My thanks go out to all who helped to make this new headquarters possible, including many of you reading these lines. I hope you will come and visit. For this new beginning, for every new beginning, and for every breath: all thanks and praise to the One!
Yours ever,
Pir Zia
Gayan Commentary
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Gayan
“A fall does not break or discourage me, it only raises me to a new life.”
See the full commentary on the Inayati Order website, and please check back for updates.
New Astana Staff
Khawar Alidost joined our staff as Administrative Assistant. She comes to us with a background in office management and customer service. Previously, she served as Administrative Assistant at Stratford University where she is finishing up a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration. Khawar has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University and speaks a variety of languages, including Persian-Dari, and recently, Urdu and Hindi. She and her family are refugees from Afghanistan, relocated by the United Nations to Richmond fifteen years ago. In her new role, Khawar will staff the Astana’s reception area, handling all incoming phone calls, emails, guests, book and product sales, and event registration. Please warmly welcome her at astana@inayatiorder.org.
Young Adults
Young dults are invited to take part in a special East Coast Sufi Caravan taking part later this month. Our new Inayati Order Young Adult Council, led by Akbar Miller, Ariella-Sophie Steinberg, and Avraham Maistri, will host a two-part event beginning with a Thanksgiving Youth Jam in Sarasota, November 24-26, followed by Opening the Door, an informal gathering with Pir Zia at the Astana in Richmond, December 1-3. Please contact Akbar or Ariella for details.
Inayati Order Upcoming Events
As we wrap up the year, here is a glimpse of our schedule for 2018. There are two online calendars, one for the Astana and Pir Zia’s events, and second one that is more comprehensive, including all Inayati Order Representatives from our Six Activities: Esoteric School, Universal Worship, Knighthood of Purity, Sufi Healing Order, Ziraat and Kinship. We hope to see you, in-person or online, next year!
Inayati Order Programs Calendar
Inayati Order Astana Calendar
Inayati Order Fall Appeal 2017
Thank you to all of you who regularly and generously give toward our work. As we organizationally move into a phase of greater refinement and expansion, we hope that you will give Inayati Order Fall Appeal 2017. As we enter the month of November, we enter into the season of outward this year’s appeal. An email with details was sent out last week (also on our website), and if you are in the United States, you should receive a letter in the mail over the next few days. Alhamdulillah!
Nov
13
2017
November 1, 2017
Dear Friends,
We want you to be part of this critical and exciting moment in the history of our order. The Inayati Order is at a threshold in its purpose to spread the unity of religious ideals and to awaken humanity to the divinity within, as expressed by Hazrat Inayat Khan.
Sufis have created gathering spaces all over the world, filled with baraka, where seekers receive teachings, converse with beloved friends over a glass of tea, write poems, play music, share in zikr practices, or whirl in ecstasy. In 1922, Hazrat Inayat Khan created such a space, which still exists almost one hundred years later, and named it Fazal Manzil, or “blessed house.” In 1975, Pir Vilayat created such a space at the Abode of the Message, where seekers, nestled in the woods, can still immerse in “the holy book of nature”.
At this time, to increase our ability to spread Murshid’s message of love, harmony and beauty, we are delighted and filled with gratitude to create such a space, which will soon be gathering its own baraka, in a beautiful, historic, building in Richmond, Virginia. Pir Zia has named it the Astana, meaning “threshold.”
There are two meanings to the word threshold. The first is an entrance. The Astana is the place we will enter, physically and spiritually; a threshold to our hearts. It will be our new home, housing our archive and providing a grounding center for our newly-staffed administrative offices from which we can better serve the needs of murids, leaders, and regions in North America, in addition to providing support for our order globally.
Threshold also means the magnitude or intensity that must be exceeded for something to occur or be manifested. At this time, more than ever, we need your help to garner our collective intention, agency and resources in sufficient magnitude and intensity to manifest our shared commitment to spreading Murshid’s timeless and relevant teachings.
Our order has never been so well-positioned in terms of space, staffing and institutional cohesion to make our intentions a reality. We are tremendously grateful for previous gifts and even more so this year. Please make a donation and be part of this auspicious and expectant time.
In love and service,
Tajalli Roselli
Board Secretary
Suluk Gulzar Class of 2015
P.S. Please see our Inayati Order Keynotes 2017 for details on our accomplishments, our future plans, and the various ways in which you can give. The Astana’s birth as our magnetic center and the Inayati Order’s expanding presence in the world depends on your generosity. Ya Fattah!