Milaraspa, a poem by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis

Letter from Pir Shabda Kahn, COVID-19 and Vaccination

Bird Photography as Ziraat Practice, an interview

Update on Murshid Wali Ali, GoFundMe fundraiser

plus, Connections

MILARASPA. 551

When the ear hears light

And the eye sees sound,

When the self seeks self,

And no self is found,

With the mind at peace,

And the heart awake,

Lost in deep meditation

At the soul’s daybreak;

And the soul’s daybreak

Sees him still at rest,

With Amida’s Boundless Light

Shining through his breast.

Shining through his breast.

From Murshid Sam's collection of poems Rhapsodiae Coronae Mundi inspired by the paintings of Nicholas Roerich. The poem Milaraspa. 551 was inspired by the painting Milarepa, the One who Harkened, shown above.

Dear Family, - this is a long letter so please take the time to read it carefully

I have been requested to express my views on the current dialogue going on some of our group listserves about COVID-19 and vaccination.

I am very well aware that this is a charged subject so I aspire to respect each of your choices and ask you make the same aspiration.

I want to start that my job description as the Pir is to care for and nurture everyone in our Ruhaniat family, not based on conditions. In that sense, even though I may have guidance and preference, I aspire to hold each and every one of you in my Heart and in the Heart of the Lineage stream. Naturally, like all of you, I also aspire to bring that same nurturing to all beings in all realms.

My views may or may not be the view of our Murshids' Circle or other senior teachers, who have not been consulted. Further, I don’t feel it would be wise for me to enter into debate over this, as it is not my field of expertise, but I am happy to share my views.

We have all seen and felt the devastation this pandemic has wrought...continue reading

Thank you for your love, prayers and support for Murshid Wali Ali Meyer. You can send donations through a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by his family (this is not a donation to the SRI non-profit organization). His family writes:

The Kinship Ray website has been created to provide resources, collaboration opportunities, and communication tools for our community and to function as a reference point and place of contact for all of these efforts. Alhamdulillah!

You can access the Kinship Ray website from the home page of the Ruhaniat website under Ruhaniat Concentrations.

Soon, you will be able to access a calendar of training opportunities; find discussion groups, book clubs, etc. to participate in; find out about groups that match your specific interest (or create/list a group); learn about events and specific actions that are of interest or are taking place near you. Ya Fattah!

Please use this site to share the social and earth justice work you are doing and to find ways to collaborate with others in our spiritual family. Ya Jami!

For questions or with any suggestions to improve the site, please contact Wakil David Matthews

for more info click here

or contact Wakil David Matthews or Nur Mariam Simmons

To share and keep us informed about the many events happening in our worldwide community, we have launched a new Ruhaniat Events Calendar.

The calendar is visible to the public on the Ruhaniat website, and there is a link to the calendar on the bottom of every email that you receive from OurSohbet and the other Ruhaniat groups on Groups.io.

The calendar is maintained by volunteers, primarily Wakil David Matthews. Your patience and your willingness to work in harmony, as this effort evolves over time are much appreciated.

Murshida Asha Greer in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco with Pir Shabda and friends; video courtesy of Sierra Salin

On August 19, 2021 Murshida Asha, Pir Shabda, Murshid Allaudin, Yasmin Scott and many others gathered in Golden Gate Park to walk together in the tradition of Joe Miller's walks on the Urs of Joe's passing. An interesting anecdote is that when the date of the walk was chosen, they did not know at first that it fell upon the Urs of Joe Miller. Such lovely kismet!

Listen to Asha's closing comments to all who gathered to walk with her on that day. Watch video.

In another video clip from the walk, listen to Asha and Shabda sing "Drink with the Beloved" - the beloved song by Allaudin - video courtesy of Sierra Salin. Watch video

Sama Sangha retreat

Murshida Halima Sussman and Murshid Abraham Sussman write:

For the first time in more than a year and a half, a group of us gathered together at our home place to generate this year's United in the Heart Retreat. We ate, danced, prayed and zoomed together for all five sessions of the retreat, while some of our team beamed in from around the globe. Shakti Rowan Lena, part of our local heart sangha, with a great for beauty, created a short video of our home time together during the retreat. Please enjoy this "at home during the retreat" visit with us. Watch video

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!

October 8-10, a virtual retreat

Recordings: Video and Audio