Kinship Circles: Explorations for Our Time
Kinship Circles: Explorations for Our Time
Third Fridays, February – May 2022
The Inayatiyya’s Kinship Activity cultivates the natural connection of one heart to another, fostering harmony, a broad perspective, and caring action. Kinship Circles are gatherings designed to nurture a sense of belonging. Join us on the third Fridays of the month this spring, as we explore topics for our time.
All are welcome to attend. This program is open and free to the public. Come to all or any parts of the series.
Dates & Themes
- February 18 – Building Resilience & Preventing Burnout w/ Raqib Kogan and Elizabeth Leach, hosted by Jabriel Hasan
- March 18 – Growing into New Ways w/ Diana Badger, hosted by Shams Kairys
- April 15 – Radical Hospitality w/ Stephen Hitchcock and Kenneth Sparks, hosted by Khatidja Rodriguez-Ruiz
- May 20 – Living with Relevance w/ Joanna Macy, hosted by Shams Kairys
All circles are from 3-4:30 pm New York Time, 9-10:30 pm Central Europe Time.
If you have questions about Kinship, or about this series, please email us at kinship@inayatiyya.org.
February 18 – Building Resilience & Preventing Burnout w/ Raqib Kogan and Elizabeth Leach, hosted by Jabriel Hasan
Join two healing professionals as we explore: How can we sustain our balance and well-being during this time of pandemic, political discord, unresolved racial injustice and ecological crisis? What do we need to reduce stress, avoid burnout and cultivate hope?
March 18 – Growing into New Ways w/ Diana Badger, hosted by Shams Kairys
Join us as we inquire into how we are called to change, adapt, and grow into new ways of being while experiencing massive, ongoing earth changes and their many resulting impacts. What new (to us) frameworks might aid us in the necessary adaptation and transformation we are called to? What assumptions, habits, and values need to be let go of, and what others need to be called to the fore, on the individual as well as collective levels?
This program is part of the Inayatiyya Kinship Council of North America’s “Responding to the Ecological Crisis” series.
April 15 – Radical Hospitality w/ Stephen Hitchcock and Kenneth Sparks, hosted by Khatidja Rodriguez-Ruiz
What is required of us to open ourselves, our spaces and our hearts to others, especially those who are challenging or different? What is needed of us to extend comfort to the broken, support to those in need, and to befriend the seeker after truth? Join us for an engaging conversation with heart activists as they share their experiences with radical hospitality.
May 20 – Living with Relevance w/ Joanna Macy, hosted by Shams Kairys
In this time of climate change and other global threats, we will explore how to apply Joanna’s wide-ranging work with the psychological and spiritual aspects of ecological awareness. Her work brings a new way of seeing the world – as our larger living body – freeing us from the assumptions and attitudes that now impact all of life on Earth.
This program is part of the Inayatiyya Kinship Council of North America’s “Responding to the Ecological Crisis” series.
Speakers
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Jabriel HasanJabriel Hasan is a graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary and currently a student at the College of William and Mary studying counseling. He is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer and a former resident of Richmond Hill, an ecumenical Christian community and retreat center in Richmond, Virginia. He is also a founding member and officer of the Black Coalition of Change, a local community organization also in Richmond. As of spring 2023, Jabriel is an ordained Healing Cherag within the Inayatiyya.
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Raqib Misha Kogan M.D.Raqib Misha Kogan, M.D. received his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. He’s the medical director of the GW Center for Integrative Medicine and associate professor of medicine in the division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care at George Washington University. Raqib has been on the Sufi path since 2001 and is a Conductor in the Inayatiyya Healing Activity. Together with his wife Rafia, he completed Suluk training in 2007. Raqib has been working closely with Devi Tide and other Healing Activity leaders for over 10 years and has assisted in organizing and running many annual Leadership Retreats. Raqib’s goal is to bring healing wisdom and practices of the Inayatiyya to more people, especially those who are vulnerable. To achieve this goal, Raqib founded AIM Health Institute, a non-profit organization in the Washington, D.C. area that provides integrative medicine services to low-income and terminally ill patients regardless of their ability to pay.
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Shams KairysShams Kairys has been a student and guide in the Inayatiyya for over 45 years, and served as coordinator of the Kinship Activity in the North America region for 20 years. His has worked with many innovative organizations and projects dedicated to helping heal the world. His love of the natural world and growing awareness of its degradation led him to focus on shedding light on the root sources of the global ecological crisis and fostering a deeper rapport with the web of life at this critical time. He enjoys walks in nature and is an editor professionally.
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Khatidja Rodriguez-RuizKhatidja Rodriguez-Ruiz was initiated into the Inayatiyya in 2008 and is a graduate of the Suluk Academy (Naubahar). She currently serves on the North American Board of Trustees as chair of the Fundraising Committee. Khatidja received her Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Sociology and Public Policy from the University of Virginia. Professionally, she works as a fundraising strategist in higher education philanthropy where she works to expand accessibility and inclusivity in higher education. In her volunteer life, she uses improv music and theater as a conduit to support local grassroots organizations and the arts, in order to amplify their message and spread it to a wider audience. She is motivated by the philosophy that our diverse outlooks can make us stronger, if we work collaboratively to weave a unifying ideal of love, harmony, and beauty. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Joanna Macy PhDJoanna Macy, PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology, and has been an activist in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology for five decades. She is the author of more than twelve books, and is the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, which she has imparted through workshops and trainings with thousands of people around the world. Her group methods have been adopted and adapted widely in classrooms, churches, and grassroots organizing, helping people transform despair and apathy in the face of overwhelming social and ecological crises into constructive, collaborative action.
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Elizabeth Leach
Elizabeth Leach is the Principal of The Awareness Practice LLC and presently serves as a private practice psychotherapist and coach in Princeton and Hillsborough, New Jersey. For over twenty years she has led teams as a director and management consultant in a range of healthcare and social service settings. With a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from New York University (NYU) and a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Comparative Religion from Brown University – she taught graduate and post-graduate students at NYU as an adjunct and guest lecturer. A Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, she specialized in post-masters training and has experience in caregiver fatigue and burnout from David Olsen, author of When Helping Starts to Hurt. Elizabeth discovered Sufism in a class at Brown University around 1984 and has been its student ever since. She is a graduate of the Suluk Academy and a Cheraga/Healing Conductor with an advanced ordainment in spiritual caregiving. Her publications include “The Psychology of Self in Sufism” in the Journal Sufi and a piece on optimistic universalism and social justice in African and Asian Studies.
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Stephen HitchcockStephen Hitchcock is the executive director of The Haven (thehaven.org), a low-barrier day shelter and housing resource center in downtown Charlottesville, VA. During his tenure at The Haven, Stephen has served as the volunteer coordinator and day shelter manager. In 2014 he became the executive director. He received an MDiv from the University of British Columbia, Regent College, in 2006 and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2019. He is interested in resonances between the caregiving encounter and the creative encounter, specifically what it means to embody and sustain a posture of radical openness.
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Diana BadgerDiana Badger is a group facilitator, writer/editor, parent, counseling astrologer, dreamworker, photographer, and follower of the Naqshbandi path, who has worked with diverse populations including prison inmates, seniors, and homeless women. During the pandemic, she founded a women’s Spiritual Ecology group with whom to explore how we can best live into the rapidly changing times upon us. She is passionate about deepening our connection to the natural world, and other practices that promote resilience through life’s inevitable losses and challenges. She is an avid gardener and herbalist, and enjoys cooking healthy meals.
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Kenneth SparksKenneth Sparks is a seasoned professional, with over twenty years of administrative, human resources, and operations experience. He serves as the Director of Operations & Human Resources for the Astana, the Inayatiyya’s Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, and in this role also serves as Kinship liaison. He has worked with corporations, nonprofits, and small businesses on many levels. Kenneth has had extensive training in customer service, logistics, and time management. He has used this training to play a key role in supporting organizational growth and success. Kenneth was born and raised in New York City, and received his education in Business Administration. He and his family have been residents of Virginia since early 2016.
