15 May 2024
Dear Inayatiyya friends—
It is a blessing to be together, in this digital space and in various classes and retreats online and around the world. I am always amazed by and grateful for our friendship. Thank you for being part of our Caravan of Companions on “the Endless Path,” as we say in Suluk.
As a main part of this Caravan, we are five+ weeks into our 42-day retreat in the world. Each Sunday, Pir Zia has given us daily practices related to joy, death, incarnation, romance, and next week, the flames of pain! Many have said that this is their favorite course yet, offering immediate relevance as we live life which, as we know, is the true meta practice.
This week’s theme is balance. If you have a moment, our practice for today is—
Abu Bakr Wasiti: “The best act of worship is watchfulness of the moments.
Ya Khabir یا خبیر (O Aware) 11x
If you would like to do the Being in the World retreat in your own time, and are not yet signed up to receive the videos and daily practices, you may still do so through our last class this coming Sunday, May 19th. See here for details.
Also, as a bit of foreshadowing, in the fall we will turn to the The Alchemy of Happinesswhich delves into themes such as how to pleasantly adjust our attitudes, maintain our individual nervous systems, and fully actualize ourselves as fulfilled, happy human beings. FYI, part one of the course will be Sundays, Oct 6th—Nov 10th with part two in spring 2025.
Now, in the category of most immediate news, please save the date for this coming Friday, May 17th at 2 pm ET/8 pm CET, when Pir Zia and Shaykha Fariha will guide us in Prayers for Gaza. All people, of every faith and no faith, are encouraged to pray with us via Zoom.
And in one month, Pir Vilayat’s 20th Urs is on Monday, June 17th. We will host a day of Awakening, with attunements from some of those closest to Pir Vilayat—Taj, Ophiel, Devi, Saki, Nigel, Amida, and of course Pir Zia. Please come for as much of the day as you can.
And lastly, a bit about money. In my Zephyr letter in January, there was news of the Inayatiyya/Astana having what is called an “operating deficit.” This means that our operating costs—think staffing, facilities maintenance, etc.—have become more than our income from donations, grants, programs, and sales of items such as books and video. We’ve learned that many nonprofit organizations and businesses are experiencing this phenomenon post-pandemic—it looks like we are among the many groups now recalibrating for the future.
Since sharing this news, we have received a surprising, extremely generous commitment of $200,000/year for four years, through 2027. This anonymous donation from a devoted ashiqis meant to give us some space to strategically plan for the Inayatiyya’s future. We will do this in close collaboration with the Inayatiyya International Board, World Wide Message Council, those leading the Inayatiyya in 21 countries, and all of you.
Over the next 12-18 months we will look at our global organizational structure, programmatic and digital strategy, with the intended result being to strategically go forward with clarity, relevancy, and financial balance. May we powerfully share Murshid’s teaching into the future! Please know that we will share more on our finances and planning process in an annual report to be shared later this month.
We are incredibly grateful for your everlasting support of, and deep care for, both one another and our spiritual lineage.
With love,
Jennifer Alia Wittman, Executive Director
Inayatiyya North America/Oceania & The Astana
PS—We had such a connective and meaningful time May 3rd-5th with 50+ friends visiting the Astana. That Friday night Pir Zia and Pirani Sartaj welcomed us and led us in getting to know one another. Then on Saturday morning, Jabriel, Arhama and Hayat led Universal Worship with Jabriel giving a rousing sermon on “The Perfection of Love,” continuing the theme in a kinship circle co-led by Rabia Povich. That afternoon, Pir Zia guided a “Forest of Memory” practice and that evening Srinivas Reddy headlined our Indian Music Concert, followed by iced almond cake. On Sunday, Sama was incredibly moving with Srini playing sitar while Shams al-Haqq whirled. The weekend culminated with our Being in the World class, suhbat, tea and sweets. Many thanks to everyone who helped our Astana Open House weekend come together. See pictures here.
PSS—The Ziraat Activity of North America and Oceania is offering a six-week Introduction to Ziraat. This course is being organized independently of the Astana. To learn more, please see here.
Please note that Pir Zia, Gulrukh & I now rotate writing The Zephyr, with Pir Zia contributing every other month. Our aim is to provide a sense of what is happening with the Pir as well as aspects of the Inayatiyya held by the Inayatiyya International Board and the Astana.
Please join the Anjuman i Islam of the Inayatiyya in collaboration with the Nur Askhi Jerrahi Order in a Joint Prayer for Gaza on Friday, May 17th. Shaykha Fariha and Pir Zia will guide us in prayer, together with faith leaders of different communities. All of us will come together to pray for peace. This is an open prayer session—please invite friends of all backgrounds. More details and Zoom Link.
Please join us for a very special commemoration of the life of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan on Monday, June 17th, 2024. Our theme is Awakening, with attunements led by Taj, Ophiel, Amida, Saki, Nigel, and Pir Zia, every hour on the hour. This is a free, meditative experience open to everyone. You are welcome to come for all or parts of the day. We will share more details in early June, including the Zoom link! For now, please save the date! More details.
This summer we return to Omega Institute for a five-day retreat with Pir Zia and many friends, including Omid Safi, Nizam un Nisa Husain, Tarana Jobin, Shams al Haqq, and Julianna Takacs. Please join us for teachings, practices, music, whirling, conversation, and friendship! Flowing endlessly from the One, the Sufi discovers a force, an emotion, which will not fit into the narrow boxes of human language. The closest we can come to naming it is to speak of “love.” More details and registration.
Our dear friends within the Bilmen Akademi will host us once more for a five-day Sufi gathering in Turkiye, this time in the “City of the Prophets” called Sanliurfa. More details and registration.
The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of the Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information, please visit us at inayatiyya.org.
Inayatiyya
Inayatiyya
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