This Virtual Sufi Lodge is a Place for Spiritual Companionship (Sohbet)
Something you and I share in common is having two families. The circumstances are different, but somehow I feel that both of us came away with a similar sense of belonging everywhere and nowhere at once. . .
"The Themes of 2015, A Retrospective" is a sohbet on the themes of the last year, some core principles of Sufi practice, and the possibilities of conscious community.
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Reflections on this month’s theme, ‘The beauty of the human being is as much and as great as their love.’
The purpose and value, then, of Rumi’s wisdom at this defining moment of human civilization is to orient us toward that which is completely and essentially human at a time when we are in danger of forgetting the meaning and purpose of our humanness.
Written by Kabir Helminski with input from Imam Bazargan, Robert Crane, Abdul Aziz Sachedina, Jeremy Henzell-Thomas. St Anne's Mosque: When this haven, previously St. Anne's Convent, was purchased to be used as a mosque and Islamic center, a small place was created in the grounds for the few remaining nuns. This [...]
Perhaps humanity as a whole has never been this close to waking up to its true Divine nature. The crisis of our times is forcing us to recognize the destructiveness of our egoism that projects itself on others, and to acknowledge the deep core of our being, which exists beyond the prison of the five senses and all the compulsions and fears these produce. Our inner being is the threshold to the spiritual world. Whole societies, cultures, and worlds float on that Ocean of Intelligence. That Ocean is also accessible within us.
My intention in gathering these Letters, and putting the feeling around them into words, is to share the incredible luminosity and warmth of our Prophet that I experienced, and which are gifts in themselves. Far from being a distant or larger-than-life figure, it is his accessibility, his very human Being, that makes him so inspiring. He is a man as well as a messenger. And even though I may address him as “M,” it is Muhammad I fell in love with.
Sufism is based on certain premises that are unfamiliar, if not foreign, to our contemporary environment in which transcendent realities have been relegated so far to the background of life that they are effectively ignored: The first of these is the idea that the soul itself needs to be educated and trained. . .
This booklet is has been written by American Muslims to reach out to all Americans to express our support for the fundamental values of pluralism, tolerance, freedom, and human dignity. We unequivocally condemn terrorism in all forms, support freedom of conscience, and wish to make a positive contribution to American society. As a nation and as a human race we face many complex challenges. We cannot afford to misunderstand each other or be unnecessarily divided.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war torn countries, Beirut and Paris ripped by terror, demagogues responding to the lowest instincts of the populace... Amidst what seems like a cacophony of voices, of arbitrary violence, of staggering hypocrisies, we have to keep our hearts intact.