Jennifer Wittman

19 January 2022

Dear Companions on the Path,

I was so happy to see so many of you on New Year’s Day. May the coming year be an easeful and illuminating one for all creatures under the Sun. Thank you for your kind messages of congratulation on the birth of my grandson Mir Kara-Suleyman Yüzkhan.

I write to you from amidst an interval of wintery semi-solitude. This week the European Suluk class has its penultimate session, and soon afterward the Worldwide Message Council will convene for two days, followed by three days of International Leadership Training. Otherwise, I am in seclusion, working on my book Immortality, a contemplative commentary on The Soul, Whence and Whither.

Over the last month we’ve said farewell to two treasured friends of our movement: Shaikh Jelaluddin Loras of the Mevlevi Order of America and Murshida Asha Greer of the Sufi Ruhaniat. Both of these great-hearted teachers were guiding beacons for many seekers, and their legacies are sure to endure. Journey well, blessed souls.

There is some news to share from the Inner School. After serving with immense dedication for many years as the European Madar al-Maham (Vice President) of the Inner School, Nigel Huzur Hamilton is stepping down. Many of you know Nigel Huzur as a consummate adept in the alchemical transformation of consciousness. He will remain a strong presence in our movement, even as his work shifts in focus.

Zumurrud Butta will now serve as the European Madar al-Maham. Zumurrud brings to the role decades of experience as a teacher and guide. Known for her refined attunement and gentle heart, she lives and breathes what she teaches.

I hope you will join me in expressing deep appreciation to Nigel Huzur for his long years of service as the European Madar al-Maham, and in warmly welcoming Zumurrud.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

The Music of the Gayan Shala
The 95^th Urs of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
February 5th 2022 | 11am EST, 5pm CET, 9:30pm IST

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. We will soon share our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for Spring 2022. Please stay tuned for details.

21 December 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,
These lines will reach you on the day of the Solstice. In the northern hemisphere, as we know, this is the darkest day of the year. It is also the beginning of light’s ascendancy. Light emerges from darkness and returns to it, just as the visible manifests from the invisible only to eventually return home to the unseen. And the cycle continues.

For some, the last days of the solar year will be a festive time, a time to briefly put aside work and spend some happy moments with friends, neighbors, and family. For others, it’s a time for quietude, inwardness, and communion with the holy mystery that is discovered in silence. For many, the birth of the Christ Child will be a central theme of remembrance.

Here in Richmond, the Astana will be closed for a few days. I look forward to seeing you this afternoon, and again on New Year’s Day.

If you find yourself lonely this holiday season, please remember that you are dearly loved. Let’s all find ways to remind each other of that Divine truth, with words and wordlessly.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Solstice Season of Light
Meditation & Zikr w/ Pir Zia
December 21st, 3pm EST / 9pm CET

New Year’s Day Attunement w/ Pir Zia
January 1st, 12pm EST / 6pm CET

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. Please visit our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar  for  upcoming events
and inayatiyya.org to learn more.

20 October 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

Outside my window, the leaves are yellowing and beginning to tumble serenely from their branches. Autumn’s golden touch is here.

On my screen, the news is of a different kind. BBC News reports, “Facebook has just announced it’s going to hire 10,000 people in Europe to build the ‘metaverse.’” No one seems to know exactly what the metaverse will look like, but the general expectation is of a virtual-reality annex to the internet where we will all interact via avatars in a simulated world landscaped to promote social engagement, entertainment, and commerce.

A metaverse already exists. It’s called the barzakh, the isthmus between matter and spirit. This is where, in Henry Corbin’s memorable phrase, “bodies are spiritualized and spirits are corporealized.” All of us have a presence there, though the time-and-space-bound dimension of our mind is largely unaware of it. When we connect with beings whom we cannot see with our eyes — a djinn, for instance, or a friend on the other side of the world — we do so in the barzakh. When we die we will live on in the barzakh.

Facebook’s metaverse cannot possibly replicate the barzakh, because the barzakh is the naturally-occuring interior life of all beings. Like its precursor the internet, the metaverse will be a shadow of the barzakh rather than the real thing — useful in various ways, no doubt, but not ontologically solid. Whereas the barzakh is direct creation, the metaverse will be the handiwork of for-profit corporations.

Marshall McLuhan said that every extension is an amputation. The barzakh is already mostly forgotten in our rationalist culture. It’s fortunate that certain spiritual traditions still preserve the ancient knowledge that leads seekers into the interworld and beyond. In the Inayatiyya, we treasure this knowledge and seek to consistently actualize it. While we need not take a fixed stance pro or contra virtual reality, our inner experience tells us that the shadow is not the substance.

Last week, William Shatner wept when he looked down at the Earth from space. It turns out technology’s greatest discovery is the resplendence of what is already here.

Outside my window, the leaves are yellowing and beginning to tumble serenely from their branches. Autumn’s golden touch is here.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Love, Human & Divine
An Online-Retreat w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan
November 20th – 21st, 2021

Murshid at Surenes
Portrait on Sale Fall 2021

Last year we commissioned limited-edition, fine art reproduction prints of Murshid at Suresnes: A Portrait by Nan Majida Hill. We are now offering our few remaining prints for 30% off in time for the holiday season. If you have yet to reserve a print, this is the last time they will be made available. We encourage you to order today! Read more…

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. Please visit our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for upcoming events and inayatiyya.org to learn more.

18 August 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

I hope this finds you well. There hasn’t been a Zephyr newsletter for a couple of months while many of us have gone into more internal spaces. The world around us, however, continues to swirl with events from which we cannot truly separate ourselves.

COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, bringing suffering in its wake. Just as it seemed that societies were able to open up again, the Delta variant has made it clear that the pandemic is still in full effect. While there are various contrasting viewpoints about the virus, on this we can all agree: we wish and pray for the good health of our siblings all across the world, and will do our best to support each other’s well-being. Let’s stay connected in a circle of friendship spanning the globe: we are all in this together.

Alas, we have seen continuing signs of a world climate knocked off kilter. The floods in Western Europe and fires in Turkey and Greece have reminded us, if we needed a reminder, of nature’s overwhelming power, and of the need to reestablish harmony with her. As you may know, the International Board of the Inayatiyya has convened a group to look more closely at how we, as a community, can most meaningfully respond to climate change. Meanwhile, we have been responding to these disasters with concerted prayers.

Then, on August 14th, came the news of a massive earthquake in Haiti. Many lost their lives, and many more were injured. Still others lost their homes. Our heart’s prayers are with the bereaved and the homeless.

Three years ago this month, our dear and revered spiritual uncle Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah Chishti Mawdudi, the leader of the Chishti Order in Afghanistan and worldwide, departed to the unseen (may God sanctify his secret).

He was a gracious friend, and never missed the annual celebration of my grandfather’s Urs in Delhi. He lived with his family in Herat, a flourishing haven of mysticism and the arts in Afghanistan.

Now, as we have all seen, changes are afoot in Afghanistan.

This is my ardent prayer: By the grace of the One, may the great nation of Afghanistan ever be the nation that Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah personified: deeply spiritual, enamored of music and poetry, culturally rich, respectful of all faiths, and honoring of women’s freedom and leadership.
Amin.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org

1 June 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

I am grateful for your kind wishes on the occasion of my birthday. I spent the day exploring the seven classical planets with a group of Saliks and Salikas: a perfect way to mark the fifty circles I have been blessed to make around the Sun. Thanks to your prayers, I feel as youthful as ever.

My family is well, thanks and praise to the Most High. Pirani Sartaj is happily growing herbs and vegetables in the garden. Rasulan has been living in New York City, teaching at a charter school in the Bronx. Teaching a mixed online and in-person class in the midst of the pandemic has not been easy, but she has found her stride. Ravanbakhsh has just finished his first year of college, winning a religion scholarship in the process. He has also found the winner of his heart, a fellow student, and the two have gotten married. The gentle young lady’s Sufi name is Soraya, and her family originates in the Andes. We celebrate this blessed expansion of our family and ardently wish Ravanbakhsh and Soraya great happiness together in their life’s journey.

I hope you and your dear ones are well and flourishing in every way with the blessings of the One. God willing, we will have the chance to meet in person before long.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Pir Zia’s 50th Birthday  was on Saturday, May 22, 2021, during The Divine Art: The Alchemy of Human Transformation. While Pir Zia requests no gifts, if you feel called to do something to honor the special occasion, donations in support of Fazal Manzil’s 100th Anniversary are welcome. fazalmanzil.org

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org

19 May 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

I will never forget the look of sorrow in my father’s eyes. “They are destroying the Palestinians’ olive trees,” he said. For him, those trees were living symbols of endurance and hope. He had seen the horrors of the Second World War, and had fought for the survival and freedom of the Jewish people and other minorities in Europe. Noor had given her life. Now, my father reflected, the cycle of trauma was cascading and encompassing a new population in its crushing wake, the people of Palestine.

In recent weeks Palestinians have been protesting the forced expulsion of Arab families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem. Over three nights at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa mosque during prayers. In the horrendous, avoidable, and asymmetrical military exchange that has ensued, 212 people have been killed in Gaza, including 58 children, and twelve people have been killed in Israel, including two children.

Our hearts are lashed. We are lifting up ardent prayers for peace. An immediate ceasefire is needed. Equally necessary is a lasting peace founded on equity, justice, and goodwill.

“Humanity is one body,” said Murshid. “If part of the body is in pain, sooner or later the whole body is affected. No nation, race, or community can be considered as a separate part of humanity.”

There is enormous work to do to heal the rifts within our shared humanity so that we can be collectively whole. That work begins with the sober and clear-sighted recognition of one another’s rights and dignity. No longer may the “other” be brusquely swept aside or systematically humiliated. From Turtle Island to East Turkestan, from Tigray to Jerusalem and Gaza, it is urgently imperative that we learn to live together with respect.

In the Holy Land there is much about the political context that is contested and complex. But there is an axiom on which we can all surely agree: when innocent lives are taken, when violence is inflicted on beings that bear the breath of the All-Merciful, the very throne of God shakes.

This Sunday we will not hold our weekly Nature Meditations class as usual. Instead, we will gather for a contemplative conversation on Race, Equity, Justice, and Love, with our eyes and hearts turned to Palestine and Israel. I hope you will join us.

May Love’s victory come soon, and with it, awakened justice.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Race, Justice, Equity & Love Forum
“Palestine & Israel”

Sunday, May 23rd, 3-4:30 pm EDT / 9-10:30 pm CET
(In lieu of our weekly Nature Meditations class)
Special guests to be announced.
See here for our Zoom Link

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org

Image Credit:  Vincent van Gogh Olive Orchard 1889

21 April 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

Imagine a world in which the glorification of the One resounded continuously from pole to pole, offered up in innumerable languages and according to the rites of numerous sacred traditions, a planetary polyphony of praise poured forth in thanksgiving, repentance, remembrance, and communion. Imagine, likewise, all of the people of the earth heeding the guidance of the totality of the world’s divinely-guided prophets, prophetesses, saints, and sages, making no division between them and seeking to follow in their footsteps in the path of love and wholeness. Imagine the concord of spirit that is possible, and all that this would usher in from the inner worlds, just as we are most in need of a turn. This is the vision of the Universal Worship.

This year marks the Universal Worship’s hundredth anniversary. From the beginning, Murshid encouraged his murids to honor all of the prophets of God and to spend a moment every day thinking of their harmony in heaven. In London, during the First World War, murids would regularly gather with Murshid and meditatively read from the world’s great scriptures and mystical testaments, followed by a period of silence. After the war, Sophia Saintsbury Green conceived the form of the Universal Worship as we now know it, and Murshid gave it his blessing. He later said, “At this time when the world is divided into so many sections, one working against another, it is most necessary that humanity must at least unite in God. …. Universal Worship prepares us to sympathize with one another and to be blessed by all forms of wisdom which have come to us by different great teachers of humanity.”

The first-ever Universal Worship service was held in London on May 7th, 1921. A hundred years have since passed, and the vision of the Universal Worship remains as vital as ever, even more so. Under the care of Amina Hall and Qutbuddin Urs Schellenberg, several Sirajs and Sirajas, and many Cherags and Cheragas, the service is quietly flourishing throughout the world. On Friday, May 7th we will gather for an online centennial service featuring respected clergy from several of the world’s great religions. May it be light, may it be life, may it be love.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Universal Worship 100th Anniversary Celebratory Service
Friday, May 7th 2021, 9am EDT/3pm CET

That Which Transpires Behind That Which Appears
Saturday, April 24th 2021, 12pm EDT/6pm CET

Fazal Manzil: Keeping the Flame Lit
A 100th Anniversary Launch Event
Sunday, May 2nd 2021, 1:30 pm EDT/7:30 pm CET

Please see our full Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for more gatherings,
checking timeanddate.com for times in your region. 

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org.

17 March 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

May this find you well.

This week in Richmond the daffodils declared the arrival of spring, “tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” Soon every manner of herb will be unfurling its leaves, and the scaled and furred sleepers underground will groggily unbury themselves.

It continues to be a great pleasure meeting many of you every Sunday to investigate the living cosmos and our place within it. Far from having faded with the passage of a century, I find that Murshid’s sayings speak vitally to our day and age. Nature Meditations is a crucial spiritual survival manual for the Anthropocene.

Beyond the brilliance of the Meditations, what has given me particular delight is the companionship that is growing during these Sundays. It has been a difficult year in many ways, and there is a special consolation in being together in the midst of it all. The trees we have invoked, one by one, have together formed a verdant grove and gracious bower.

In two weeks’ time we will gather for our annual spring retreat. I look forward to being with many of you as we follow Khwaja Khizr and Hildegard of Bingen on the spiral path that leads to the greening of ourselves and the world.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

Please see our full Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for more gatherings,
checking timeanddate.com for times in your region. 

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org.

10 February 2021

Dear Companions on the Path,

Here in the United States, February is Black History Month. This annual observance presents Americans with an opportunity to reflect on the traditions, travails, and triumphs of the African American community. For our Sufi fellowship, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the African roots of our lineage, as well as to conscientiously examine the barriers of various kinds that have tended to prevent our African American siblings from fully joining the life and work of our movement, right down to the present day. Of course, examining our history and culture as it relates to Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color generally is not simply the task of a given month; it is an ongoing process of self-reflection (muhasaba).

With respect to our African roots, the importance of the early Egyptian shaykh Dhu’n-Nun (“He of the Fish”) Abu’l-Fayz Thawban Misri (d. 859) cannot be emphasized enough. A Nubian hailing from Ikhmim, or Panopolis, he became the leading Sufi of his time, and was the first to speak of gnosis (ma‘rifat), stations (maqamat), and states (ahwal). Significantly, he is remembered as an alchemist and a theurgist, and moreover a decipherer of hieroglyphs. Dhu’n-Nun’s pivotal role in the early transmission of Sufism goes far in substantiating Murshid’s intuition that Sufism’s ancient foundations lie in Khem, the realm of the black silt of the Nile.

It should be added that the vast majority of enslaved human beings forcibly transported to the Americas between the sixteen and nineteenth centuries came from West Africa, and approximately a quarter of them were of Muslim origin. The Islam of West Africa was, and remains, largely shaped by the culture of Sufism. Among the millions of enslaved souls brought against their will to Turtle Island, there must have been thousands of practicing Sufis.

Regarding the barriers to participation in our movement that exist for African Americans, as well as other communities, you may recall that we engaged in a series of soul-searching public conversations on this important question last the summer in the midst of the burgeoning crisis of conscience in the U.S. and abroad sparked by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. It is greatly encouraging to see how this conversation has continued to unfold, kept alive by many in our community and focalized by a diverse and dynamic group working under the heading of “REJL”: Race, Equity, Justice and Love. A meaningful recent elaboration of the discussion took place when our esteemed friends Fatima Muid, Onaje Muid, and Rabia Povich led the North American Board, Seven Activity Vice Presidents, Astana staff, Young Adult Council, Abode Board and myself in a three-session exploration of the nature of belonging, and the existence of visible and invisible obstacles to belonging, as well as the means of removing them.

Our aim is not to become “color blind.” Differences are real, but instead of dividing us they can unite us. A body or system is strongest and most resilient when it is made up of many diverse elements, all interacting harmoniously and dynamically for the good of the whole. In a living system of this kind, special care is always directed to a part that has been injured, for its own sake and for the sake of the whole.

There is much yet to be realized, but we are on our way. Our mandate from Murshid is clear: “to bring about a better understanding between the divided sections of humanity by awakening consciousness to the fact that humanity is one family.” And the awakening of consciousness always begins, and continues, with ourselves.

Yours ever,

Pir Zia

Inayatiyya BIPOC Group

We have now started an international BIack, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) group. The group will meet on Saturday 13th February at 1:00pm EST/7pm CET. During our time together we have an opportunity for members to seek, learn, share, heal and affirm connections to themselves and our community while recognizing the distinct history of BIPOC people and unlearning dominant narratives. If you would like more information please contact gulrukh@inayatiyya.org.

Please see our full Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for more gatherings,
checking timeanddate.com for times in your region. 

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information on our activities, please visit inayatiyya.org.