A Message from Pir Shabda Kahn

Murshid Sam Archive, Selected Readings

A Message from Pir Shabda Kahn

Beloved Family,

I hope this reaches you all in good health and spirit!

Those of us living in the USA especially feel the precarious and important moment in our history with this election, the recent change to the US Supreme Court, along with the light shining on racial, gender, religious and income inequality and the clarion call to slow down the abuse to our environment. All this in the midst of a pandemic affecting the whole world.

I believe this implores us all to connect with our potential for contribution through a compassionate heart and an easeful swing of the breath amplified by a steady daily practice.

With all love and gratitude,

Pir Shabda

News from the Southwest Sufi Community by Bahaar

Morning comes slowly here at Voice of the Turtle and Southwest Sufi Community. Birds begin their conversations well before first light; swallows, red tanagers, black tail hawks. The mountains awaken. People and critters living here begin their daily practices. A sunrise walk, a steaming cup of coffee, bells, breath, song on the wind. There are goats to milk and gardens to water as golden rays illuminate the sky and settle onto the ridges.

I remember, as a new mureed, sitting with Pir Moineddin, watching his eyes dance and his heart sing, as he spoke of this Land, the sanctuary he envisioned here, a blessing far and wide for humanity. Pir Moineddin, grounded in the Earth energies of the great cosmos, recognized the resonance embedded in this desert landscape of color and form, vast sky, living waters, and mistral winds.

Pir Moineddin’s vision took root, and we prepare a place for you in this wilderness Khankah. As we expand our capacity to host guests at the retreat center, we envision you Being here… Inshallah, at our annual Sufi Camp, Khilvat (supported solitary retreat), service retreats, full moon dances, house concerts, intimate gatherings of mureeds, Murshids’ Circle, residential stay, Sufi Sesshin, Universal Worship, a spring, summer or autumn internship, a wedding, a honeymoon… The Dance Pavilion is in progress… under the wise hands of a master builder and artisan. Ya Fattah! Pir Moineddin’s vision lives on: In this sacred place to sing and dance, zikr and yoga, gathering in groups, or a solitary walk through the meadow.

From the Murshid Samuel Lewis Archives - A selection from archivist, Murshid Tansen O'Donohoe

GATHEKA: In as much as it is necessary to cleanse and purify the body, so necessary or perhaps even more necessary, is it that the mind be cleansed and purified. All impurity causes diseases as well as irregularity in the working of the physical system. The same applies to the mind.

TASAWWUF: From the very beginning of the teachings, even for candidates and in public lectures the stress is that Sufism consists of the establishment of purity, and also there is the proposal that all things are pure by nature. Impurities arise from mixture and the interposition of egos. This is the very nature of Nufsaniat (samsara).

Under the banner of the Kinship Ray, a group of Ruhaniat mureeds is working to fuse our broken hearts in an effort to capture the momentum of this time by taking social and earth justice actions in service to our greater communities. We are allies to each other and kindred spirits in alignment with Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teaching:

“Our most sacred duty is to work for one another, in one another’s interest and to consider that as service as we work together in our reclaiming of love, harmony, and beauty that is our true inheritance as spiritual beings.”

Many of you are engaged in social and earth justice causes in your communities. We have created a plan to connect “Wheels within Wheels” of small action groups based on locale or affinity, create and facilitate training, and encourage and facilitate study and book groups. Please click here for more details about our vision and goals.

We would like to hear from you about the ways you would like to connect, collaborate and participate. We are collecting this information to create a database that will be accessible on our website, which is still in development:

Book and study groups contact Nur Mariam adsimmons@comcast.net or Wakil drmatthewsusa@gmail.com

Trainings and seminars contact Gayatri kirakull@gmail.com or Basheera kathleen.jm.ritchie@gmail.com

Wheels within Wheels action circles contact Basheera kathleen.jm.ritchie@gmail.com or Sheril deeplyrelaxed@earthlink.net

Joanna Macy Wheel contact Kalama kalama@embarqmail.com

Assisting with the design, management, and maintenance of the Web site--contact Wakil drmatthewsusa@gmail.com

Advising, generally helping, have something specific to offer, etc.--contact any of the names above.

Please watch our presentation on the Kinship Concentration on the October 17, 2020 Ruhaniat Family Zoom here. Join our Facebook group, Sufi Ruhaniat Kinship Ray

Interview with Sheikh Dakini Maris Warrior ~

We received wonderful feedback from many of you about the first Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Board of Trustees on August 9th, along with your serious and sincere questions. The Board of Trustees and staff members spent the last weeks and months making follow up telephone calls and emails to personally answer your questions. We thank you for your concerns and care about how we are shepherding this organization and serving our precious lineage.

We learned that many of you have similar questions about SRI and in response to this, we have created a Frequently Asked Questions document. You can find the FAQ, SRI legal organizing documents, BOT minutes, financial statements and other information on the Non-Profits Standards and Fiscal Reporting web page.

In the meantime, please contact Basira Beardsworth, Secretariat, if you have any questions or comments about SRI as an organization.

Peace Meditation: Invoke 11x, daily at 12:00 noon, in your time zone

Video and Audio

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 ~