by Camille Hamilton Adams Helminski

The Way of Mary, Maryam, Beloved of God, is a weaving of strands from ancient sources, traditional stories, poetry and prayers of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism (and beyond) to reveal through the illuminated being and life stations of Beloved Mary, the palpable Oneness of all Creation, our Oneness in Spirit.

Publishing Nov 30th. Available for pre-order shortly from all US and UK book suppliers.

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Revered across the family of Abraham and Sarah, adored as Miriam, Mary, Maryam, Madre Maria, there is no other single figure who so universally serves to lift up the weary heart of the world, blessing us with lovingkindness and infusing us with hope. With her signature blend of sublime wisdom and grounded scholarship, beloved Sufi teacher Camille Helminski offers a penetrating and life-giving transmission of Maryam as guide to the awakening of the soul, during a time when we need her most.

~ Mirabai Starr, author of God of Love and Wild Mercy

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The Way of Mary, Maryam, Beloved of God is an incredible offering of holy wisdom, scholarship, poetry, art and song that brings Beloved Mary to life as a multidimensional Woman of God. Within these pages her story seems fresh, even new, as the extraordinary and famous events of her life and choosing come together with relatable moments in her lifetime of loving service, and beyond. For anyone unfamiliar with Mary this book is a rich introduction.

Beloved Mary’s story in the Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran and other sources is interlaced to carry us on a journey from her pre-birth to after-death, thus offering a holistic view of her continuum. Camille Ana lovingly restores fragments and lost ideas to new weavings to create a shift of perspective that allows the traveler a deeper sense of the Beloved Lady, and quite possibly a deeper sense of Self in relation to this Love story. The wisdom within invites and encourages us to recognize and nourish the Connection we share as we journey together, always together, on The Way.

~ Aliya Kocamis, member, Threshold Society

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Read more details and testimonials here.

Oct 3rd & 17th

Join us for an online meditation with Shaikh Kabir Helminski, Camille, and other members of the Threshold community. Held on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month at 11am Eastern Time (4pm UK).

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

Watch the previous meditations here.

The Turkish translation of The Knowing Heart, Bilen Kalp, is being republished by Nefes Books with this beautiful foreword by Hayat Nur Artiran.

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Foreword by Hayat Nur Artiran

In the name of Allah, the Infinitely Compassionate and the Infinitely Merciful…

In the first few lines of his Mesnevi, our beloved Hazrati Mevlânâ Rumi says: “This is our story.”  Indeed, mankind’s story of travel from the world of spirits to this world is long. The agonized soul is suspended powerless like a feather in a desert breeze between the world of Meaning and Truth, on one side, and the human condition, on the other. In the midst of all this chaos, a Sufi seeking a path to salvation knows that everlasting peace is attained by being suffused with the light of the divine revelation as it descends into our hearts. Of course, “knowing” is not a cure by itself, but those who reach the highest levels of human virtue and faith are the only true possessors of “knowledge.” Knowing means knowing yourself. Therefore our beloved Prophet guides us, saying: “Knowing your nafs is knowing your essential self.”  

American author, researcher, educator, and prominent figure in the Sufi and Mevlevi traditions, Kabir Helminski, truly tells us “our story” in his book The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation, translated into Turkish as Bilen Kâlp: Ruhsal Dönüşümün Sufi Yolu by Dr. Refik Algan. The book shows us all of the layers of “knowing ourselves.” Our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, says: “Your true enemy is your nafs that is between your two shoulders,” pointing out a universal human truth. Self, heart, spirit, intellect, and the manifold levels of consciousness (sır)—all of these find embodiment in human existence but a person remains ignorant, neglectful, and unaware of them. The Qur’an warns: Are those who know equal to those who do not know? (39:9). The Divine Truth in Its Ipseity eternally and always encourages true knowledge and reflection.

Heart is the sultan of the kingdom of embodied existence. A heart reaches spiritual intimacy and subtle grace through purification alone. Our beloved Prophet put it this way: “In the body there is an organ; if it be sound, the whole body is sound, and if it be corrupt, the whole body is corrupt—it is the heart” (Sahih al-Bukhari 52). Owning the knowledge in the heart carries the responsibility of acting according to it.

Kabir Helminski is a mature, completed representative of the Sufi tradition. Looking at the cover with the title of his book, The Knowing Heart, our hearts tremble from the first glance because of the powerful implications of those words. The book is made up of seven main sections that contain a rich mixture of Sufi teachings with a depth of perspective, many quotes from the Quran and hadith, and sayings and stories from Hazrati Mevlânâ and other saints and sages.

The Knowing Heart is an extensive study that introduces and explains many Sufi terms that help the seeker become familiar with the self and know it, the subjective and objective psychological and spiritual toolset that allows transformation. For example, it begins with a love story attributed to Muhyiddîn İbnü’l-Arabî (d. 1240). In this short story, we see a lover changing from state to state out of love for the beloved, which past generations might have called “effacement in the master” (fenâ-fi’ş-şeyh) and “effacement in Allah” (fenâ-fi’llâh—extinguishing individual being in the unity of the absolute. Even on the first page, at the beginning of the book, we see the whole purpose of all our reading and our spiritual life set forth to us, welcoming us. We cannot get enough of looking at it.

In the subsequent chapters, we face our ego and states of our humanness—what modern life brings; spiritual search; love’s power; Sufi training; the structure of the nafs; heart-cleansing; zikir (remembrance); humility; surrender; student-teacher relationships; the dervish path; sohbet (spiritual conversation); âdab (spiritual etiquette); Quran; spirit; vecd (ecstacy); semâ; truths of human existence; disciplining the nafs and training the heart—as the book goes through these and other topics, we witness the Sufi’s life-long adventure. The Knowing Heart covers many topics in a vast field of study and offers us solutions to many questions, and naturally wins our hearts and minds. Kabir Helminski offers this book to seekers out of his life’s-work of knowing himself. His pen is the pen of a master of the heart, dedicated to knowing human be-ing and absolute existence beyond its endless transitory states.

It is important for Sufism and its deep spiritual knowledge of Islam to be introduced and carried to the West. Meticulous translation of the original work is a great service to the Turkish readers that deserves recognition—for us, it is like trying to touch a shining star with our fingers, a cause for great joy and yearning. First published in 1999 in the United States, The Knowing Heart once more recalls to us this truth: the healing power of the miraculous Quran and the Muslim ethics (Muhammedî ahlâk) we inherited is universal. The tree-roots of Sufi Islam are nourished from a single source in both West and East. Sufi Islam takes us to safety and peace (selamet); its fruit, a blessing from God, is needed by all humanity. Thus, in Surah Bakara, ayah 115, God says: “To God belong the East and the West; wherever you turn there is the presence of God. For God is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.”

As we journey through the pages of The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation, in addition to the divine love that descends on our hearts from Kabir Helminski’s pen, I believe the blessings and spiritual fruits of his deep friendship with Camille Helminski—also a person of heart, like Kabir himself, and the compassion in the Sufi life they lived together shoulder to shoulder, side by side—and with late Mevlevî master Suleyman Dede, and Hazrati Mevlânâ’s twenty-first generation grandson Celâleddin Bâkır Çelebi and many other Sufi masters will touch the readers’ hearts.

I must convey that I cannot fit into sounds, words, or sentences the brightness that Sultan of the Lovers, Hazreti Pîr Mevlânâ Rumi’s students Kabir Helminski and Camille Helminski have brought the Sufi path. To give a small example of the most sincere service that these two lovers of God have done, our beloved late Mesnevihan and Sertarik (Head of the Order), Şefik Can Dede, traveled from Istanbul to the United States, to attend to Kabir Helminski and Camille Helminski’s heartfelt invitation although he had already passed the age of ninety. I would like take this opportunity to also share with The Knowing Heart readers that our beloved Şefik Can Dede dedicated his two-volume book, Jewels from the Mesnevi: Selections, to Kabir and Camille with this quote: “I dedicate this book to a great man, Mr. Kabir Helminski, and his wife, Mrs. Camille Helminski, both of whom have been working tirelessly in the United States to introduce Hazrati Mevlana Rumi through many books and publications."

They say: “The seeker finds what he/she seeks” and “Lovers never die!” I completely believe that compassionate divine love, reaching us at the threshold of knowing hearts, beneath the shadow of the Lovers of God, will bring health, unity, and brotherhood to all humanity. As long as we can truly understand with our hearts what we’ve found, and build a life on that understanding. May God grant us permission.

I would like to thank Nefes Publications for bringing The Knowing Heart to Turkish readers and offer my sincerest gratitude to everyone at Nefes Publications.

We remember all the friends of God, those whose names we mentioned briefly above and many more we could not, with compassion, yearning, and gratitude. May their beneficence be upon us always. I greet wholeheartedly the author of this book, who extended our horizons, a true friend of God (Hakk dost), Kabir Helminski, and all readers.

Shaikha Nur Artiran with Shaikh Kabir Helminski

Two believers that lend support to each other are like a pair of hands that wash each other clean. ~Muhammad (a.s.)

We welcome your reflections on this theme.

~ Adila Ahmed [London, UK]

When I read the above hadith, I feel asked to reflect on what wealth I’m most preoccupied with. Is it the material or is it something else? What am I chasing and spending my energies on?

If I take stock of myself there’s no denying that I’m addicted to accumulating things. Some apparent, others not so much. But all benefit me in ways that might not always be so wholesome; creature comforts, material wealth, a certain image…

The hadith also prompts me to reflect on a way of being. What if rather than grasping at things… there is trust in that One who is always upon some endeavour to complete our work (55:29)?

One year whilst on a retreat on an organic farm in Turkey, a friend and I had an encounter with a young man who was making his way across the country, finding food and shelter where he could, offering his services, immersing himself in the work and activities and then moving on when it was time. As the retreat was coming to an end, my friend asked him, “Where are you going to stay? What will you eat?” He looked at us with a direct gaze and gestured skywards, “That’s for Him to organise; it’s my job to trust Him.”

I have another memory, one closer to home, of my late mother. She was a woman with no bank account and no real appetite for material things. I cannot recall it being a concern for her. In her presence, I felt like I was with someone who trusted that what was meant for her would come to her and what was withheld or taken was also a reason to be grateful.

Reflecting on their ways relieves me of myself somehow.

When asked to reflect on this month’s theme, I felt called to look at the Arabic.

لَيْسَ الْغَنِىُّ عَنْ كَثْرَةِ الْعَرْضِ، وَلَكِنَّ الْغَنِىَّ غَنِىُّ النَّفْس
Laysal ghani an kasratil ‘ard, wa lakinal ghani ghanian-nafs

The Arabic uses the word ghina for wealth, a word related to two of the 99 Names of Allah: Al-Ghaniyy and Al-Mughni. Interestingly these two names feature in the chapter titled “The Secret of Ecstasy” within Physicians of the Heart.

Ghina, the word used for wealth in Arabic, Ghaniyy and Mughni all share the same root, and this quality is described in the book as "an incredible, inexhaustible treasure house of riches."

This richness, this wealth is in flow from Al-Ghaniyy to Al-Mughni. This is conveyed to us in the Quranic verse, We found you in want (aa’il) and gave you sufficiency (ghina) (93:8).

"The source and primary cause of richness of existence is al-Ghaniyy, and the causal manifestation is al-Mughni" (Physicians of the Heart).

The Arabic also uses the word ‘ard for property. I asked a dear fellow dervish, a native Arabic speaker, to help with the meaning of ‘ard. She explained that it could have various meanings, but some of the ones she mentioned were honour, possessions, that which is apparent. She said if she were to translate it, she would use “richness is not what is apparent, rather richness is ghina of the nafs.”

When immersed fully in the possibilities of the meaning of this hadith, I’m reminded of a poem once shared by dear Camille while we were in Costa Rica one year. A poem by Antonio Machado.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvellous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvellous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvellous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvellous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

~ Adila lives in London and attends the London circle.

Amidst the pandemic, Marian Brehmer—a German-born lover of Sufism, freelance journalist and friend of Threshold Society—cycled 1,500 kilometres across Turkey following the old Ottoman pilgrimage route from Istanbul to Mecca.

Pedaling off the beaten tracks through the Central Anatolian countryside, he visited remote Sufi and Alevi shrines while facing the challenges of the road. Here is an excerpt from Marian’s e-book:

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Pilgrimage, that’s a big word. What I mean is not the common religious connotation of the term, but an intentional way to travel. It is your state of presence and attention that can turn every trip into a pilgrimage.

Before heading to bed I ask Seda, who is a gifted bağlama player and singer of sacred music, for a tune. She fetches her four-stringed lute, hands tenderly moving across the instrument, eyes closed, her face expression one of perfect peace. The otherworldly beautiful song she sings — a “breath” from the Bektaşi tradition — includes a line that would continue to live as a prayer in my head for the coming days: “Hayırlar feth olsun, şerler def olsun;" may the good be with you, may the bad be repelled.

With a full heart, I jot down some intentions for my journey before falling asleep. Knowing that the road will surely have some challenges in store, I would like to learn to embrace every single experience and take it as an opportunity for growth. At the same time, I want to free myself of any expectations and ideas about how the journey should be like. That’s not an easy one, given all the images I’m already carrying in my mind.

(…)

Before leaving Iznik I pay a visit to the shrine of Sarı Saltık which lies in the middle of a garden with olive and pomegranate trees, right next to the municipal graveyard. Called an “ecstatic devotee” by the Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta, Sarı Saltuk was a 13th-century Alevi dervish who is thought to have come to Turkey from the Crimea. As I circle his grave I try to imagine how many generations of visitors the place has seen throughout the ages. This geography has embraced them all with their needs and intentions, even in our modern age that has largely expelled ritual and meaning from its systems, sacrificing spiritual life on the altar of progress, materialism and comfort.

Noticing how my body still feels exhausted from yesterday’s climbs, I decide not to continue on the original Sufi Trail, this old Mecca track that leads through hilly terrain above Lake Iznik. I opt for the main road instead. It is pleasantly flat, although I need to cope with speeding trucks. Cycling on the edge of the emergency lane, I can safely enjoy the panorama around me. Rows of olive trees are gently sloping towards the hills on both sides of the road. The clouds cast a graceful pattern of black shadows onto the green mountains.

Many of the drivers wave at me or give me a thumbs-up. All of a sudden, water splashes land on my back. Startled, I look to the side and see a young man leaning out of the window of an overtaking truck. Smiling widely, he holds a water bottle in his hand. Having seen me cycle in the midday heat, he must have thought he could help me with a cold shower. His gesture of kindness gives me a boost of energy to continue.

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The e-book, which includes 52 photos from the journey, is available here. Based out of Istanbul, Marian Brehmer is a writer, tour guide, musician, educator and independent scholar. Marian’s blog Acquiring Thirst features an interview he conducted with Kabir Dede in 2016.

Designing for Empathy Virtual Summit & Workshops 2021 brings together online an innovative group of professionals from across the globe who are committed to solving the empathy-deficit problem in our world through individual, institutional, and collective actions. Shaikh Kabir will be offering the keynote address this year, joined by Selcuk Gurez and whirling dervishes.

The Threshold Society has a few complimentary passes to the 4th annual Empathy Summit.  If you are interested in attending the entire summit please send an e-mail to eyeoftheheart@sufism.org.  Someone will be in touch with you on how to register.

See more details here.

Camille will be offering the closing contemplation for this year's RAYfest. The festival will be celebrating women of spirit, exploring what is possible when we reconnect with our bodies and begin again to see them and the earth from which they are formed as sacred, regenerative, and holding wisdom. The festival will also offer practices encouraging deeper connection to our bodies and the earth, along with conversation, prayer, and music. All welcome.

See more details here.

Threshold's collaborative blog channel The Living Tradition on Patheos.com has been reaching new audiences and sharing the experiences of our community in a unique and vibrant way for nearly four years. We are now transitioning over to Medium in the coming months, and will be writing under our new publication, Awakening with Rumi.

Recent articles:

5 Early Indications I was Destined for Islam by Anna Rohleder

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.

Each month we intend to highlight an article about our lineage and its principles. This month we offer: Suggestions for Practice Within the Threshold Society & The Mevlevi Tradition.

Most people who come to Sufism have preconceptions as well as questions about what Sufism is. What does the practice consist of and how will I learn and develop? Is there a detailed curriculum? Or hidden knowledge? What should I expect of my shaikh and what kind of relationship is possible? Some people might imagine that the shaikh has a detailed, objective technical knowledge of various inner states, spiritual energies, planes of reality, spiritual powers, etc. While there is some truth in this, it has been our experience that among the best teachers these subjects are seldom emphasized or talked about directly. An emphasis on secret, privileged knowledge, or encouraging a mystique or building a cult of personality, or intimations of end-time scenarios, have proven time and time again to be counter-indicators of spirituality. In other words, the more such tendencies surround a teaching, the less likely it is that the teaching will be balanced and authentic. If we look to the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad, we see a sane and balanced presentation of the Way. Our approach, therefore, places a strong emphasis on developing our capacities for presence, remembrance, service, and humility.

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