Sufism




Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan
 
The Sufi Invocation
 
Toward the One, The Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the Only Being, United with All the Illuminated Souls, Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, The Spirit of Guidance.
                                                     


  Mudita speaking on Sufism
at Unity KC North, October 12, 2014
 To watch Mudita speaking on Sufism, click here.
October 12, 2014, "We are One Series-On Sufism-Part 1!
The first 30 seconds of the video begins with Rev. Myra and the children...then Mudita follows.
Enlarge the screen.
 

 
Remembrance - Zikr

In 1910 the famous East Indian Sufi musician, Hazrat Inayat Khan, set sail to America from India. His teacher told him to...unite the east and the west through music. Actually, Hazrat Inayat Khan was the first person to bring Indian music to America. Hazrat Inayat Khan, that played the Vina as a musician said something to the affect of, I now stop tuning my Vina, and I start tuning souls, which he did. He traveled for years through-out...America, England, France, Russia...ect and India...where he died in 1927. In the 1920's, a man named Murshid Sam Lewis, took initiation (became a student) with Hazrat Inayat Khan. From that initiation blessing....in the 1960's...the first Dances of Universal Peace came through Murshid Sam in San Francisco. Now those dances (and more) have traveled all over the world. Now the head of the Sufi Ruhaniat International (SRI) Order, which is a branch of one of the Inayati Order's that Murshid Samuel Lewis started. Now the head of the SRI is Pir Shabda Kahn. Murshid Sam's ecsoteric secretary was Murshid Wali Ali Meyer....and I am his student. The Sufi path is one of Initiation and Discipleship...but not in the sense of discipleship where one gives their "power away", but rather is empowered to lead a more fulfilling life. - to travel the path with their teacher, as a friend on the Path. All initiation means is taking a step into an unknown direction....to receive the blessing of the Sufi lineage...the Silsala.

Zikr is an ancient practice of Remembrance. Remembrance of what? Of the Divine (of the one God). One could say that Zikr is a method to wipe the rust from the heart, so the Light of the Soul, that is hidden in the globe of the heart, can be reflect out into the world like a light being reflected through a crystal. All the Masters, Saints, and Prophets of all the ages were like moons to God, receiving the Divine Light, the Divine Message, and they were suns to humanity....shining the Divine Light upon humanity...shining the Divine Message to humanity. It is only humanity (well, some of humanity) that became fixed on concepts of experiences, instead of having actual experiences....which Sufism is based on...experiences...not concepts or dogma's.

We too can reflect the Divine Light through our hearts & minds. First one has to purify the impressions which we are born with...I would call them Archetypal impression. In the East they would call them Samscaric impressions, or Karmic impressions...karma. The Buddhist, which I would say that I am a Bufi (Buddhist/Sufi), purify themselves (their karma/unvirtuous past actions) through mantra/prayer, just as the Hindu's, Christian, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans and all the Illuminated souls have done through-out time. Sufism is not considered a religion, just as Buddhism is not considered a religion, it is considered a Philosophy...Phil-O-Sofia...Sofia is Wisdom...Divine Wisdom. So one could say that Sufism is The Religion of the Heart, of Divine Wisdom of the Heart....the spiritual heart.

In Zikr, we use beautiful music and the repetition of sacred phrases - which are explained before every repetition of that sacred phrase - during Zikr. Zikr is performed in a group circle. Sometimes standing while holding hands, and sometimes sitting (not holding hands). Musicians are in the center of the circle. Sometimes a few people will also Whirl....as the Whirling Dervishes do. Sometimes we read poetry during Zikr. I like to read from Rumi, the 13th century mystic poet. Sometimes we sit during Zikr while reading inspired Sufi thoughts and/or poetry, such as Rumi, Hafiz and Hazrat Inayat Khan. We meditate using the breath, as the invisible string, that takes us from he seen world, in to the unseen world, our inner world.

The repetition of the sacred phrase carries a blessing with it, or one could say has spiritual magnetism (Baraka) that it carries in the sound quality, which helps in so many ways...but most importantly it helps one to clear unwanted impressions from the heart, so to be able to awaken to the Divine. We use the sacred phrases and the breath as a means to awaken the sleeping Divine Qualities or Divine Attributes that are hidden within our soul, due to unwanted impressions from this dense world. We pray..."raises us from the denseness of the earth." Zikr helps to make one feel more alive, joyous, peaceful, and more like who they truly are, where before the impression of the world were laid upon the heart. Zikr can also help with the forgiveness process, healing, and to awake to our purpose of our life.

We always welcome everyone into the circle, because this "Message of Spiritual Liberty," is not a new Message, not a Message from the East or the West, but the Message of the Soul...
One is always welcome to be the Prayerful Watcher during Zikr too!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at mudita@muditasabato.com

May all be well and happy.
Love,
Mudita
Summer 2011

June 7
The Bowl of Saki with Commentary -
Nobody appears inferior to us when our heart is kindled with kindness and our eyes are open to the vision of God. Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Commentary from Hazrat Murshid Samuel L. Lewis
Inferior and superior are qualities connected with dualism. Heart knows only oneness, and therefore heart does not understand distinctions into grades. The sun looks upon the earth -- not upon the hills and mountains and valleys and oceans. From a certain point of view these things exist; from another point of view they cannot be perceived. So it is with the outlook of the heart; when it sees God, it perceives all in the light and this of itself brings to fruition kindness, compassion, and all heart qualities.


Gatheka 2 - Candidate Papers
Sufism: The Spirit of All Religions
By Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan

The word Sufi, or Saf, implies purity, which contains two qualities. That is pure which is unmixed with any element other than its own, or in other words, that is pure which existed in its own element unalloyed and unstained. And secondly, that is pure which is most adaptable. Pure water, for instance, is water without the mixture of anything else, and the test of its purity is that it can adapt itself to whatever is mixed with it. If it is mixed with a red powder it becomes red, if with a green powder, green. Such is the nature of the Sufi. In the first place the Sufis purify themselves by keeping the vision of God always before them, not allowing the stains of earthly differences and distinctions to be mirrored upon their heart. Neither good nor bad society, nor intercourse with people of high or low class, nor faith or belief can ever interfere with one’s purity.

The Sufi shows universal kinship in one’s adaptability. Among Christians one is a Christian, among Jews one is a Jew, among Muslims, a Muslim, among Hindus, a Hindu, for a Sufi is with all and thus all are with the Sufi. Sufis allow everyone to join with them in the brother/sisterhood, and in the same way allow themselves to join in any other. The Sufi never questions, “What is your creed, nation, or religion?” Neither does a Sufi ask, “What are your teachings or principles?” If you call a Sufi brother or sister, one answers as brother or sister.

The Sufi has no fixed principles, because what is sweet may be beneficial to one and harmful to another, and it is thus with all principles, good or bad, kind or cruel. If you require of soldiers that they should be merciful during a battle they will at once be defeated. This shows that each person has one’s own principles for each action and situation.

The Sufi is a true Christian in life, in charity, in kinship and in that one heals one’s own soul as well as that of another. The Sufi may not be bigoted in adherence to a particular church or in forsaking the other masters who came before and after Christ, but the Sufi’s attunement with Christ and appreciation and practice of truth are as keen as those of what a true Christian should be. In the lives of the dervishes one sees the real picture of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, especially in that they share their food and abode with others whether they be friend or foe. Even to the present day, they continue in their pure ways. The Sufi is a Catholic in producing the picture of the ideal of devotion in one’s soul, and the Sufi is a Protestant in giving up the ceremonies of the cult. The Sufi is a Brahmin, for the word Brahmin means knower of Brahma, of God, the Only Being.

The Sufi’s religion lies in believing in no other existence than that of God, which the Brahmin calls Advaita. The Sufi has as many grades of spiritual evolution to go through as the Yogi. There is even very little difference to be found in their practices, the difference being chiefly in the names.

Of course, the Sufi chooses a normal life in preference to that of an ascetic, yet does not restrict him/herself either to the former or to the latter. The Sufi considers the teachings of the avatars as true manifestations of the divine wisdom and is in perfect sympathy with the subtle knowledge of the Vedanta. The Sufi appreciates the Jain conception of harmlessness and considers that kindness is the only true path of purity and perfection.

  
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