Stories from the Turkish Caravan, by Pir Shabda

Update on Murshid Wali Ali, by Sabura Meyer

Visiting Murshid Wali Ali, by Tawwaba Bloch

Ashram Diary, by Sabura Meyer

SoulWork: Neuroscience, by Raphael and Yahya

The Music of the Sufi Choir & More, from Allaudin Mathieu

Dearest Family,

September 10th began with a 13-hour flight from San Francisco to Istanbul to join the "Caravan Ya Rashid Ya Jabbar". Around 60 of us met in the old city in Istanbul, in the shadow of the great Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia, near the Topkapi Palace, with Roman ruins below our feet.

The Caravan, and the Beyond Initiative is vision of our very own Sheikh Arjun Jorge Calero from Colombia, who serves on the Board of Trustees for the International Network of the Dances of Universal Peace and also the Ruhaniat BOT. He is partnered by an incredible staff of Juan Nuraddin from Spain, Sheri/Sherifa from Iran living in Istanbul, Sinan from Istanbul and Ari Arzu from Izmir in Turkey. Deep bows to all of them! Our main teaching staff included Murshid Allaudin Ottinger, Sheikha Lakshmi Tamariz from Ecuador, Nur Jahan Roxana from Chile, Malika Salazar from Colombia and New York, and Yelena Swarana from Latvia....continue reading

In that vein I’d like to offer an update on where Wali Ali and I are on our journey together. Last year, anticipating there may come a point when he would need full-time care, I began researching memory care facilities. All of them were beyond our price range but more importantly, I could not see my beloved in any of them no matter how difficult things became...continue reading

In July 2022 Murshid Wali Ali entered the Elder Ashram where he now lives and receives visits from family and friends. Medicare and Medi-Cal do not provide any insurance coverage for Elder Ashram so we are raising funds to cover the cost of $84,000 per year. This is a large sum, yet it is $2,000-$3,000 less per month than other facilities in the Bay Area.

Murshida Fatima Lassar is generously paying for Wali Ali's first year at Elder Ashram. Deepest thanks to Fatima!

Please join us in funding the second year and going forward! Thank you for your generous support to Murshid Wali Ali.

One of the remarkable things about language is that when words, by necessity, take a back seat you realize they are only one way to communicate. The body has its own language, the breath, the heart, the eyes, the hands, each of these has an articulate and compelling voice. They are the portals I now listen from when I’m with Wali Ali. The trajectory of his words is no longer linear, rather a great swooping bird making circles in a widening sky with occasional laser-like dives to a brilliant point. Sometimes I can glean from his speech what he is trying to communicate, but often I have to listen from a different awareness, twinkling eye to eye, the reach of a hand, quiet breath, tone, silence...continue reading

Sabura recently sent a message to the community about Wali Ali's new living situation. She included an opening for the possibility of mureeds and friends to visit him there.

The Elder Ashram is a beautiful home for elders in the Fruitvale section of Oakland, not far from me in Berkeley. It operates in the philosophy that elders are our teachers, in whatever state and condition their lifetime has brought them. They refer to dementia as forgetfulness, and train and encourage staff and caregivers to let this state teach them about living in the present. Having checked out their website I was quite curious what I would find in the facility as well as my teacher's state.

A sign on the entry gate invited me to Center...then Enter.

Ahhhhhh...continue reading

Based on the book Physicians of the Heart; A Sufi View of the Ninety Nine Names of Allah

The original Sufi Choir recorded the "In Unison Chorale" on its final album, Remembrance, which includes (among other tracks) choral versions of the Invocation, Bismillah, Khatum, and the Chishti Silsila (sung by Pir Shabda Kahn).

Remembrance is available for purchase, along with the other five original albums, at TheSufiChoir.com The link forwards to the Sufi Choir portion of Allaudin Mathieu’s website, ColdMountainMusic.com. All albums can be purchased as digital downloads, or as CDs, and there’s a discounted bundle of all six albums. While you’re there, please download the beautiful song “Pure Diamond” as a gift.

And, of course, you can explore Allaudin’s other music and writings whilst on the website.

Your donations help us to answer the continuing call of our mission. We are grateful to our donors, volunteers, teachers, the Murshids' Circle and the Board of Trustees, who help us in our work and service. Thank You!

The Ruhaniat is a container for a living transmission that is anchored in the lineage practices and teachings that have been handed down to us through centuries. Please support the future of our organization by including Sufi Ruhaniat International in your will or trust. Help us pass on a thriving and vital organization.

To include SRI in your will or trust, click here for information

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Hu.