Dear Friends, On this first day of autumn, I send you my best wishes. After a long summer of travels, it is good to be back at the Astana in Richmond. My European tour ended in late August with retreat at the Sufi Temple in Katwijk, Holland, amidst the dunes where Murshid meditated a century […]
“I neither defend the wrongdoer nor do I condemn him.” Wrongdoing is unbeautiful action, action that mars the world rather than adorning it. Wrongdoing goes against the grain of the universe and yet is intrinsic to its unfolding story. It is against the background of the unbeautiful that the beautiful is distinguished. By defending wrongdoing […]
August 21, 2019 Dear Companions on the Path, As our collective understanding of ethics evolves culturally, it is imperative that our Order’s policies stay current. At my recommendation, an in-depth review of the Inayati Order’s ethics policies and procedures was recently undertaken by the Board of the Inayati Order North America and the Ethics Committee, […]
Dear Friends, Late summer greetings to you! My family and I—minus Rasulan, who is doing an internship in San Francisco—have just reached Suresnes from Switzerland, where we took part in the Zenith Camp over the last two weeks. The first week at Zenith was dedicated to the numinosity and resilience of the human body, and […]
“None need I remove to place another in my heart; My heart is large enough to accommodate each and all.” The heart is the container in the mind in which others find a place within the self. The more malleable the heart, the more numerous the presences it can contain. A rigid heart can hold […]
Dear Friends, Greetings from Kars, Turkey, where we have gathered for a retreat near the tomb of the great saint Hazrat Abu’l-Hasan Kharaqani (may God sanctify his secret). Hazrat Kharaqani was a consummate master of futuwwat, or spiritual chivalry. Our gathering began with a conference exploring his teachings. The speakers were Shaykha Hayat Nur Artiran (our […]
“My presence stimulates in your heart that feeling that must always be kept alive.” The Murshid may teach the murid the ways of prayer, fasting, and vigils in the night. The Murshid may tell stories of the prophets and saints of long ago. The Murshid may speak of the invisible world. None of this, however, […]
Dear Companions on the Path, A blessed Urs to you! I am happy to let you know that I have finished my book on Pirzadi-Shahida Noor’s literary legacy. It’s been fascinating to spend the last several months poring over Noor’s writings and roving the trails of her many-splendored mind. I hope my book will serve […]
“I have not come to teach you what you know not, I have come to deepen in you that wisdom which is already yours.” The sun, the moon, and the stars inhabit you. A worshipful angel stands hidden within your frame, and a visionary djinn. Animals and plants are entwined in your limbs. Earth is […]
Dear Companions on the Path, I hope this finds you very well. I am now back in Richmond following two visits to Europe. The first visit was to Germany for the annual Easter Retreat in Gersfeld, in the Rhön Valley. Before the retreat began, my kind host Margarethe Hubauer took me to the childhood home of the Brothers […]
