June theme: To come to know the deep well of your own being is better than to chase after the heels of the world.
~Mevlana

We welcome your reflections on this theme.

~

~  A video moment with Dede and Ana  ~

~ Mevlana Jaluluddin Rumi
(Excerpted from a translation by Nevit Ergin and Camille Helminski)

Hang around with lovers; always choose love.
When the Beloved so kindly uncovers Her Face,
when the curtains of majesty part, open in awe.
Always look at the one with a trace of that Face—
watch the Beauty of the Sun dance on his or her forehead.

The Sun put its cheek to the Beloved’s cheek, and gave such a light,
that when the moon sees his face, it faints to the earth.

 “You alone do we worship,” is inscribed on his hair.
 “You alone we ask for help,” is in the look of his eyes. *

His body has become pure spirit--
inside and out, pure milk and honey.
The peerless Beloved hugged him so close,
his fragrance has become the Beloved’s.


* * *

* Two passages from the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Qur’an

A retreat with Kabir Helminski, Selçuk Gürez, master Mevlevi musician, & Mahmoud Mostafa

August 14-17 2026, The Vedanta, Lincolnshire, UK

Join us for a balanced program of meditation, zikr, music, movement, discourse, and friendship, centered upon our the theme:
“Jewels of Remembrance.”

The Qur'an
English translation by Camille Adams Helminski

Among the volumes now available, Volume VI of the Qur’an, contains Surah TaHa, Surah al-Hajj (“the Pilgrimage”), Surah al-Anbiya (“the Prophets”), and Surah al-Mu’minun (“the Faithful”), offering moments of strong support and clarification of our purpose, continued guidance as to how to realign with the Source of our being.

And I unfurled upon you Love from Me [wa alqaytu ‘alayka mahabbatan minnee]—so that you might be brought up under My Eye (in touch with the spring of My Love).

For I have brought you up for (service and intimacy with) My Self. [Wa astan‘atuka li-Nafsi.] Go forth, you and your brother, with My Communications [bi Ayaati], and never let go of remembering Me [wa la taniya fi zhikri]. Go to Pharaoh, both of you, for truly, he has transgressed (beyond the bounds of what is right). But speak gently to him, so that perhaps he might remember, or come into awe.

For one who comes to Hu as a faithful person, having done deeds of wholeness and reconciliation—for them are exalted stations, Gardens of Eternal Bliss, beneath which running waters flow: they will dwell there—that shall be the recompense for all those who purify themselves.

[Surah Ta Ha, 20:39; 41-44; 75-76]

Spiritual conversation (sohbet) with Shaikh Kabir and Camille Helminski on 11/06/18 

~

“We come to this world with an essence, soul, and what is going to happen to it? To what extent can it be transformed, to what extent can it be matured, to what extent can it be changed and how will it change? The proposition that I am going to offer here is that there’s a process which we can call ‘the Path,’ or the process of spirituality, that works something like this: that that soul essence of yours and mine, with every experience that it has, if that experience is joyful or sorrowful, if that experience is received in a certain way, in other words consciously, gratefully, spiritually, that very essence is changed by that and it acquires, we could say, taste or fragrance or hues. What I am describing is that the essence is something in the soul; it is a soul essence which also has a psyche dimension, a body dimension, and has all of these experiences, but once these experiences begin to be experienced in this way that I am talking about every experience of life kind of adds up in the soul and becomes a maturing of the soul, an enriching of the soul.  

And to go a step further, and a very, very important step further, the more that we receive the experiences of life with the knowledge, the perception, the realization of Oneness—namely that all these experiences are coming from that one single Source in the unified field of Reality, the more we experience every circumstance of life in that way, the more we become coherent, the more there is a coherence in our soul. So, the soul is not only being enriched but gaining fragrance, flavors, colors, all of these qualities, and is beginning to achieve a kind of coherence, in contrast to the other state which is a state of dispersion, where there is no center, where there is just one thing after another, distracted, anything that takes your attention, that takes you along the way with it and there is nothing there; it is just disintegration with a name.   

In contrast, there is this other journey, this other process of the soul essence receiving from every experience of life. It doesn’t matter if the experience is an experience of your own failure, even your own sin, as much as your achievement or when you do things right, you’re doing something beautiful and you’re successful—it doesn’t matter. The soul learns from all of these things. That’s the mercy of it all. That is why Allah has said, the One who loves to forgive, because that forgiveness is a process that we learn from our failures, we learn from our weaknesses. If we do it. We don’t automatically learn, but if we are on this path, there’s the possibility of learning from every experience: positive, negative, failure, success, happiness and sadness. Over time, in time, in this earthly life the soul essence on this path, and with those who remember the name of their Rabb with utter devotion (which is another way of saying what I have been trying to describe), develops coherence, a richness of soul.”

~

We are happy to offer The Threshold Sufi Music Ensemble and The Ilahi Project. This album, "See What Love Has Done to Me," recorded this past June in Istanbul under the direction of Shaikh Kabir and Selçuk Gürez, celebrates the living tradition of Sufi “tekke” music.

You can also view and download the companion booklet, below, which includes the full Turkish texts and English translations of all the ilahis.

Spiritual conversation (sohbet) with Kabir Dede and our "Aunty", Shaikha Nur on Eid, in Istanbul, May 2025 

~

June 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 the Practical Aspects of Dervishood

By Mahmoud Mostafa

For me, dervishhood is a total commitment to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet, Mevlana Rumi, Shams, and all the blessed ones who traveled the way of love. There are many aspects to this following and over the years it has been shown to me that the sincerity of commitment to this path is manifest in knowing that one is a servant and living one’s life in this truth. What are the practical aspects of this way of living? For me there are several dimensions, there is a state of being, an active practice, a quality of self-reflection and self-knowing, and a way of conduct in daily life.

[Read more...]

Friday evening August 14 through Monday noon August 17: 2026 UK Annual Retreat, more details soon.

Friday October 9 to Sunday 11th: retreat, Madison, Wisconsin, led by Khadim Chishti, more details to follow 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