True adab opens a space that love can enter, making love more manifest and real.
~ The Knowing Heart

We welcome your reflections on this theme.

As we know, the dervish in Sema is performing a remarkable feat of balance. And this symbolizes the balance we yearn for in our lives.

This year’s UK Threshold Retreat can be expected to be a balanced program of meditation, zikr, music, movement, discourse, and friendship, all made coherent through the theme of “Balance.”

I once asked the late and beloved Celalettin Çelebi, “Is it better to follow our mind or our heart?”

“It’s best when both can agree,” was his answer.

Finding our balance is a critical question, especially in these times. Some areas that we need to consider in order to live a free and independent life under divine grace in guidance:

In our personal lives, what is the balance between livelihood and spiritual practice? Between family obligations and individual needs? Between self-discipline and healthy pleasures?

Or on the world stage, between staying abreast of the “news” and avoiding toxic media? Or between moral outrage, and trust in the Divine Order?

And in a spiritual tradition, like ours, what would be the best balance between contemplation and service, between discipline and spontaneity, between esoteric and exoteric?

Put another way, how do we balance Aql and Ashk, Intellect and (Spiritual) Love?

These questions and more are integral to the Art of Balance. But most essential is the experience of balance that is possible in our community relationships, in our worship, and in our practice.

We invite you to join us.

Songs of the Soul, Volume III

An offering heart to heart from Camille, in support of the soul journey during these challenging times…

In honor of the Maulid an-Nabi of Beloved Prophet Muhammad celebrated this year on September 5th, 
may great peace and blessings be upon him, 

and in remembrance and gratitude for the birthday celebrated on September 30th 
of our beloved Pir, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, 
may God bless his secret.

These poems act as an open window through which we catch the fragrance of the Divine Beloved, 
whose Presence is everywhere and vibrating through all that is.

These moments of Exaltation, of witnessing the Creative Power and Beauty, 
invite us to partake of a spiritual banquet that is continually being provided from the Unseen, pouring into this visible realm, 
offering support for each of us in our realignment with our Source. 

We are reminded that we have been given hearts to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear 
the intimate songs of the Beloved resonating everywhere.

Available from Amazon, and Barnes and Noble; e-book available in October Inshallah.

The Threshold Approach to Spiritual Development

Sometimes it is helpful to try to restate in a fresh way what this path and our practice are really about. Threshold represents a unique approach to Islamic Sufism, one that was born out of an encounter between the contemporary West and the heartland of Sufism, matured within an international community, and supported and blessed by living saints from both the East and the West. And so I offer these few words as a reflection of where we are today.

~Shaikh Kabir

[Read more...]

A conversation with beloved Shaikha Nur Artiran, and friends, in the blessed days of Eid

Istanbul, June 8, 2025

~ Bengü Ergüner-Tekinalp  [Iowa USA]

And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth humbly...
[Surah Al-Furqan 25:63]

I used to be someone who could not fathom the Divine Majesty, wanting to engage with only the inspiring, mercy messages of the Quran. I was also someone having the illusion of control over life. But a couple of years ago, that all changed. It was a moment when I faced the Divine Majesty and, surprisingly, experienced a rush of calm. My sister, my uncle, and I just received my father's body from the hospital morgue and took him to the cemetery mosque for him to be washed with prayers for the burial the next day. It was after midnight, a full moon in the sky, and yet many visible stars. I swear the sky was vaster, closer; it was as if I could almost touch it. I was standing on top of the hill where the mosque was, looking down at the city lights. I felt the Divine Majesty, Jalal. I was so utterly small, utterly helpless. No matter what age you are when you lose a parent, you become an orphan. Nothing was in my control anymore, and a realization that nothing had been anyway. In that moment, under the immense sky, a knot in my throat, tears in my eyes, the Divine Majesty I felt was not the uncomfortable, terrorizing fear I had always assumed, but rather a profound awe and reverence that brought a desire to fall to my knees and submit.

If the world appears to you vast and bottomless,
know that to Omnipotence it is not an atom.
[Masnavi I, 525] 

The vast sky overwhelmed me, and recognizing the creator of the vast sky humbled me. This sense of Majesty was accompanied by a rush of Mercy… At that moment, I recognized grace—it enveloped me as I acknowledged the Majesty of Jalal, Jabbar, Aziz, Mutakabbir. Just a couple of weeks earlier, my father was in ultimate fear of dying. He was trying everything possible to still feel somewhat in control of his health, his failing body, his life, while battling the cancer. He was panicking, and that was even harder to watch. I wondered if he was afraid of facing the Divine Majesty. Nothing provided comfort to him in such a panicked state. Two days before his passing, at the hospital, my father was different. He was in complete submission, saying things like, “This, this is it; I am ready.” He was so comfortable; he was comforted not by medication but by humble acceptance. Surrendering with humility moved him from fear to acceptance. The calming embrace of Divine Mercy came when he confronted his own helplessness. I don't think I have ever experienced my father so calm. The moment he submitted to Divine Majesty, Jalal… he could experience the Divine Mercy, Jamal. The moment I wanted to fall to my knees in reverence, overwhelmed by the vast Ankara sky, I was embraced by Divine Mercy. There was no option but to be humble in the presence of the Majesty.

So that we may behold our weakness therein
and at that time recognize the power of God.
[Masnavi I, 471]

Hz. Mevlâna teaches us that we cannot separate Jalal and Jamal from one another. We need a dose of fear with a dose of hope, a dose of hope with a dose of fear. We need a trembling awareness of the Majesty that humbles, and hope that lifts and guides us. That feeling of awe, like an electricity running through our hearts, bends us in reverence, and we remember: we are small before Hu, yet held in Hu's endless Mercy.

Know that this is from the loving-kindness, that He terrifies you
in order that He may establish you in the kingdom of Iman.
[Masnavi I,1261]

In the presence of Divine Majesty, we feel awe and are lifted beyond ourselves, our awareness widens. In those moments, we become less preoccupied with the smallness of our own concerns, and we may experience a sense of inner spaciousness. Humility is often misunderstood as a weakness, self-doubt, self-depreciation, or merely a value we should try to practice. Humility is none of these. It is not about us or how we see or present ourselves. It is recognizing our place in the vastness of the creation. Humility naturally arises when we stand in awe and full awareness of Divine Majesty. We do not need extraordinary experiences to be in awe and to be humbly present. Every moment is an opportunity for recognition and awe. As Dede beautifully explains, “Humility is receiving everything as a gift, and surrendering ourselves to the One who holds us” (“Fearless Tenderness,” podcast, Sufism.org).

May we all carry the miracle of dervishhood, perfect humility in every moment of our lives, inshallah.

Bengü Ergüner-Tekinalp is a native of Turkiye, lives in Iowa, United States with her husband and two daughters, a dog, a cat, and a flock of chickens.

September 7th

Join us for a monthly online meditation and sohbet with Shaikh Kabir and special guests from the Threshold community. Held on the 1st Sunday of every month at 12pm Eastern Time (5pm UK).

Zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/435138208
Zoom passcode: threshold

Watch last month's meeting below and see all our videos here.

To view in YouTube without interrupting ads, use the Brave browser.

The Threshold Society, rooted within the traditions of Sufism and inspired by the life and work of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, is a non-profit educational foundation with the purpose of facilitating the experience of Divine Unity, Love, and Truth in the world. Sufism is a living tradition of human transformation through love and higher consciousness. Our fundamental framework is classical Sufism and the Qur’an as it has been understood over the centuries by the great Sufis. The Society is affiliated with the Mevlevi Order, and offers training programs, seminars and retreats around the world.

You can find our core articles here. We encourage our community to read and reread these regularly.

Each month we intend to highlight an article about our lineage and its principles. This month we offer: Lessons in the School of Love: The Adab of Sacred Space

Sufi training is accomplished, above all, in the Sufi lodge and the network of relationships cultivated there. Sometimes the Sufi lodge is an actual tekkye or dergah, a private home, a rented hall, and sometimes it may even be a “tekkye on wheels,” as when we travel to a foreign country together. What is most important is the intention and an understanding of why we come together. We are seeking to create and sustain an environment where spiritual realization can be optimized, where the influence of egoism can be minimized, and where the values and knowledge of the tradition can be preserved.

When we step over the threshold of the Sufi tekkye (lodge) we are leaving one world and entering another. We are leaving the environment of the mundane and entering sacred space. We do this, above all, with our intention. Our intention is to be present, courteous, and aware of our own self (nafs).

Everything within sacred space is inherently intentional; whereas the secular world, which is the result of egoistic and commercial forces, is much less coherent, harmonious, and holy.

Ideally, every thing within sacred space has meaning and purpose. If we are fortunate enough to have a sacred space that was designed specifically for a sacred purpose, even the proportions of the architecture will be intentional, reflecting the Golden Mean, for instance, or embodying sacred geometry and number in other ways.

Proportion also applies to human relationships. Relationships are more harmonious when we know where we fit, what our place is. In the tekkye relationships were proportioned by reciprocal humility and respect. The beauty of relationships in Sufism is one of the qualities that captured my heart. As a beginner on the path and as a guest, I encountered a quality of respect I had not seen in any other circumstances. In fact I felt that I received more respect than I deserved.

[Read more...]

Sep 26-29: UK Annual Retreat at The Vedanta, Lincolnshire, more details.

Mar 27-29: San Damiano, California. More details soon.

We’d love to hear from you: eyeoftheheart@sufism.org
Find out how to support the work of Threshold Society
You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up at sufism.org