“If anybody asks you, ‘What is Sufism’, you may answer. . . Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the most important thing is to seek God in the heart of humanity.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Welcome, friends. I looking forward to this conversation and exploration together.
The four sessions start this Wednesday at 6:30, on 11/1, 11/15, 11/29 and 12/13 in the home of my wife Jen and I at 1827 12th Ave Se, 98501 in Olympia. My cell is 360-481-6538.
I’ll publish this post a few days ahead of each session. The posts are also available to people registered for the class at edpolympia.com/classes/Sufi Inquirers Class Materials. Hopefully, we can also use posts another venue for sharing info, questions, and ides. See you Wednesday!
We’ll taste (dhawq) some prayer, chanting, movement and meditation practices. The invitation between classes is to test your palette- tasting again, sitting in pause, drinking in (sharab), and noticing: What is the felt sense? The felt shift (if any)?
“I know I’m nothing, no-thing, no-thing, not me, not me. I’m just a wild-assed spark of the infinite functioning in the finite! This is the magic that each of us has within us.”
Joe Miller and his wife Guin, were Godparents of the Ruhaniat Sufis.
As I mentioned in my previous email, here are some of the resources we’ll touch in with.
Life and Teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan – a brief biography (wahiduddin.net) for a bio intro on HIK. I also invite you to subscribe to the Bowl of Saki on this page, which provides a brief quote and commentary, about a sixty-second read. I envision the EDPO comment space as a venue to share questions or reflections on the Bowl of Saki, if you’re in to that sort of thing 😊
About Murshid Samuel Lewis (ruhaniat.org) Sufi SAM was a student of HIK. He founded the Sufi Ruhaniat International, and was the initial conduit for the Dances of Universal Peace in late 1960’s.
GATHEKAS FOR CANDIDATES (ruhaniat.org) Read the first couple Gathekas (teachings) for some background on Sufism from the perspective of Hazrat Inayat Khan. We’ll use this document as one resource for reading and discussion.
Ten Sufi Thoughts – Inayatiyya
SAM and HIK are part of a Sufi lineage called the Chishti, predominant in southeast Asia. It is one of many Sufi schools (Tariqas) that trace their lineage back to Muhammed. And, as you’ll read in HIK’s first couple Gathekas, some believe Sufis go way back, before the birth of Islam, recognizing “God’s every messenger and united with them all.”
“There is no such thing as ‘ultimate truth’ outside your ordinary life. Don’t paint legs on the snake.”
Nyogen Sensaki, SAM’s Zen teacher.
