Making the New Human

Kabir Helminski~ From our very first days on the Sufi path, what intrigued us was the quality of human beings we met–their humanity, their capacity for friendship, service and love. Sufism is not about aiming for extraordinary mystical or supernatural experiences; it is about the transformation of character and the realization of spiritual maturity. If there is one thing I wish I could “teach,” or contribute to people’s lives, it …

A Conversation with Mevlevi Teacher, Nur Artiran

In October 2011, the following conversation took place between Shaikh Kabir and Nur Artiran, Sefik Can Efendi’s successor, and one of Turkey’s most beloved teachers.

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2 Poems by Hussein Ibn Mansur Al Hallaj

• By Mahmoud Mostafa

The expressions of his intimate moments with the Beloved are like a powerful thunderstorm that sweeps the heart with terrifying power and yet brings serenity, life-giving water, freshness, and renewal to the heart, and occasionally a rainbow upon the horizon.

Al Hallaj often expressed his understanding of Oneness in paradoxical and beautifully poetic ways. For example he was once asked about the path to God and he replied, “A path is between two points but there is nothing beside God!” He was asked to clarify and he replied with a poem. . .

Baraka Retreat in Oakland, March 23-25

Sufi Teachers Share Experiences of the Soul’s Journey In a Weekend Retreat

Friday Evening March 23-Mid-day Sunday March 25
ICCNC (Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California), 1433 Madison St Oakland, CA 94612-4314
Cemalnir Sargut, Abdul Hayy Robert Darr, Camille & Kabir Helminski

Embody Patience

To embody patience is, at the least, to show no haste in matters that require time. This requires a presence that is fully in the moment and, simultaneously, outside of time. Only in this way can we give each thing its proper time. But the mental awareness alone is not sufficient to induce a holy patience. Something else is required—a sense of the Divine Presence.

Claim Nothing, Let the Divine Do

• By Kabir Helminski

This theme is an advanced teaching. It presumes that we have to some extent developed a healthy capacity for will. By will we mean the capacity to choose consciously; and will power is the capacity to follow through on what we have consciously chosen. Only then can we glimpse the meaning of “Claim nothing, let the Divine do.” A healthy will is a will that more often than not chooses what is good for the soul and is independent of the whims and desires of the lower self. It is at this stage that this theme becomes applicable.

How Experience Imbues our Essence

• By Kabir Helminski

Every human soul is in the process of acquiring experience. Does it matter that we acquire experience? Does it serve any purpose? Yes, the Divine has sent souls into the world in order to share in its ecstasy and love. If we go through life relatively unconscious, numb, unappreciative, ungrateful, and absorbed with our petty desires, we are forfeiting our chance to share in God’s ecstasy and love.