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Steps
on the Path:
Travelling a Deeper Way of the Heart
- Introduction to
the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Pir Murshid Samuel Lewis and Murshid Moineddin
Jablonski—especially for beginners and
those exploring taking up Sufi practice;
- Classes for those already on the
Sufi path—beginners, middle and
more advanced (including Sufi guides);
- Guided retreat processes using Dances
of Universal Peace, Sufi zikr and wasaif (mantric practice),
walking meditation, body awareness and
contemplation, Sufi Soulwork, Sufi healing practice, silence and
Sufi teaching stories;
- A way to experience and share practice with the main
Ruhaniat Sufi guides in Europe;
- Joyous community with seekers
from a dozen countries and languages—“eating,
dancing and praying together”
Life
often presents us with many challenges, to which we feel the need to
respond immediately, with as much grace and wisdom as we can manage at
the moment. At the same time, once we enter the spirirtual path, much
of what we experience is not driven by outside affairs, but by the inner
impulse of our hearts to expand. In essence, life conspires to help us
grow, and grow towards more love and life.
The spiritual
path is not only about mastering tools to "fix" life,
a sort of first-aid approach, but also about taking a wider heart-view
of where we are in life, and where we're going. The teachers of
the Ruhaniat Sufi lineage have reflected on these “steps on the path,” and
offered spiritual practice to help us see with the eyes of the
heart. A full description of the classes is below.
These
are some of the themes we will be exploring in 2010 at our Ruhaniat Summer
School in Europe Since the school's beginning eight years ago, we have
focused increasingly on providing advanced training for Sufi mureeds
and those ready to explore more deeply the Sufi teachings.
Our
summer school is dedicated to the service of peace and for the benefit
of all living beings. Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (1896–1971) was a mystic
schooled in both Zen and Sufism, recognized as a teacher in both traditions,
who felt that spirituality should be a matter of living experience, not
division and conflict. His spiritual successor, Moineddin Jablonski (1942–2001)
believed that spirituality was not fully realized until fully embodied,
with all elements of the personality – light and dark – included
in a life of joy and compassion. Both lived and taught in the tradition
of Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882–1927), who brought a tradition of universal
Sufism to the west. On this path we recognize equally all the different
spititual traditions of the world and honor them as an expression of the
Holy.
Whether
you are considering beginning a spiritual practice in the Sufi way, or have
been travelling awhile, you
can find here both guidance and a company of fellow travellers with open
hearts and arms ready to embace you. We hope you can join us!
Murshid
Saadi Shakur Chishti, Director
Classes offered in
2010
Featured
Teacher and Summer School Director:
 Murshid
Saadi Shakur Chisti (Scotland):
Steps
on the Path: Travelling a Deeper Way of the Heart based
on the papers "Fana-fi-Sheikh" and "Sadhana (Mastery
Through Accomplishment)" of
Murshid Samuel Lewis and Hazrat Inayat Khan:
This
all-school class will take up practice--wasifa, walking meditation, guided
contemplation and zikr--that aims to help us progress in life--both outwardly
and inwardly. Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis both describe the
way of "mastery through accomplishment"--meeting life's challenges, choosing
a goal and developing heart-power through reaching it. In addition, both
relate the outer journey of life to inner progression in the qualities of
peacefulness, joy and love. In the Sufi way, one does not avoid life but
meets it with open arms. We do not travel alone but arm-in-arm, in a larger
community of heart.
Murshid
Saadi will also conduct a smaller class for Sufi guides
and advanced students and co-lead a daily session
of zikr movement
and meditation practice with
Khalif Tansen.
 Murshida
Sophia Gita Onnen (Germany):
The Healing,
Integrative and Peaceful Power of Sufi Soulwork after the teachings of Murshid Moineddin Jablonski, "A Gift
of Life" and "Mental
Purification" from himself and Murshid Samuel Lewis:
This
work serves as support on the spiritual path of "Unity in Diversity" and "Diversity
in Unity." We get to know ourselves better and by "Knowing yourself,
you know God." In the meditative Soulwork, we
connect with the High Self, our individual "Door
to the Divine," which has its own wisdom in guiding and protecting us.
At our inner "Table of Holy Wisdom" we embrace all the different
inner aspects and voices. Through this inner contact and communication an
ever-more integrated "I AM"--and inner peace develops. This helps
our will in unison with the Divine will to serve our own growth and that
of our communities: for more peace, wisdom, joy, compassion and the ability
to love .
Each soul comes to earth in this body with a goal: the real purpose of life.
The longing of our soul guides us to the spiritual path, to get to know our
human nature better and unite with the divine essence. This path is a personal "wrestling," a
process in which we can look at life's challenges like a school. Everything
serves learning, and in this sense is a great gift. Old wounds need to be
healed, if we want to fulfill our full potential for spiritual growth, and
we also need to let go of old behavior-patterns, which no longer serve us.
Courageously we learn to look at our inner conflicts and contradictions in
thought, feeling and actions, to accept and respect them.
Practices in the class: meditative soulwork, wazaif, prayer, walks, dances,
Zikr, Fikr, silence and the Absent Healing Ritual of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
 Khalifa
Baraka von Kügelgen (Germany):
The
Art of the Walks: Meditation in Motion and Healing Tools on the Path,
based on selected texts of Murshid Samuel Lewis and Hazrat Inayat Khan:
With
various spiritual walking meditations, Murshid Samuel Lewis gave us a singular,
most effective instrument to help us in many ways on the spiritual path.
Through the Walks we can explore our personality and develop it further;
we can feel our body, integrate it and sense it as a divine temple, and we
can tune in with higher energies and melt our self-consciousness in God's
consciousness. In everyday life the Walks can provide a "quick restart" when
we lost our balance, bringing us back to the right rhythm and attunement.
In this class we will experiment together with the different types of Walks:
the Walks of the centers, the elements, the symbols, wazifa walks, astrological
walks and the walks of the masters, saints and prophets. We will also use
them in turning and in combinations with one another.
 Khalif
Tansen Philip o'Donohoe (England):
Spiritual
Evolution by the Power of Sound. Based on "The Metaphysics
of Sound" and "Spiritual Training through Music" as well as a number of other
writings of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis:
Tansen
will present a series of classes primarily, but not exclusively, for Sufi
mureeds who have been on the path for awhile and who would like to deepen
their practice. Working with sound has been the central core of Tansen's
own spiritual development for over thirty years. He will share in an accessible,
experiential way what he considers to be some of the most effective sound
practices for the journey towards self-realisation. He will explore in
some depth the vibrational effects and creative potentiality of such practices
as Zikr, wazifa, walks, spiritual dance and the sound of silence itself.
"Therefore
the wise have taken sound as the most important science for use in every
condition of life; in healing, in teaching, in solving, in accomplishing
all things in life, and on it the foundation of zikr was made by Sufis...
but by zikr I do not mean one particular phrase; by zikr I mean a science
of words. The best use of the science of sound is made in spiritual evolution;
by the power of sound or word one can evolve spiritually and experience
all different states of spiritual perfection."-- Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat
Inayat Khan.
In
addition Khalif Tansen will co-lead
a daily session of zikr movement and meditation practice with Murshid
Saadi.
 Khalif
Wali and Sheikha Arienne
van der Zwan (Germany):
The Path
of Initiation & Discipleship
based on the paper
of the same name by Hazrat Inayat Khan with commentary by Murshid Samuel Lewis.
Through movement (dance and walk), meditation and breath, we 'translate' all
to our own everyday experience:
Initiation
is taking a step into the unknown, shooting an arrow at an unknown mark.
So why take bayat (initiation)? Do I have to stop my bad habits? And what
happens if I choose the 'wrong' teacher? On the Sufi path there are no secrets,
but no one can tell you what your experience will be once the silsila (chain
of initiators) becomes alive in you. Guided by the teachings of Hazrat Inayat
Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis, we will enter these and other questions, living
in us, about the Sufi path, initiation, the first stages, the questions or
doubts that may arise later on and so forth. As long as we continue, for
in the end, as Murshid S.A.M. says, bayat may "open the doors to humanity
on earth, to hierarchy in heaven and to Allah in all aspects and planes of
existence."
 Sheikha
Alima Stoeckel (Germany):
Bestowal
of blessing: Receiving, Holding and Sharing the Power of the Heart, based
on the writings of Murshid Samuel Lewis "Bestowal of blessing:
Baraka
comes from the heart of the divine. It is positive, live-giving and increases
vitality. We will explore and experience how we can receive it, how to hold
and increase it and how to be a blessing for the world. We will work with
walks, dances, atunement and rituals from the rich treasure of the Ruhaniat
transmission.
"The great work of the initiates henceforth will be to spread Baraka.
By so doing they will purify the general atmosphere, and by that the message
which belongs to the sphere itself will gradually touch the hearts and minds
of all who pass through it, who breathe the air or go to the places where
the seeds of Baraka have been sown. The spreading of Baraka upon earth will
do much to heal the wounds of the earth." --Murshid Samuel Lewis.
 Khalif
Hauke Jelaluddin Sturm (Germany):
Sufi
Psychology: Practical Alchemy for Mind and Soul, based on Hazrat Inayat Khan's "Philosophy,
Psychology, Mysticism" as well as commentaries of Murshid Samuel Lewis
on "Mental purification":
Psychology
can be a higher alchemy, says Hazrat Inayat Khan, as long as we not only
study but also practice it. Through his teachings on psychology, Hazrat
Inayat Khan shows himself to be a very sensitive, but also very keen explorer
of human behavior. He knows our small problems as well as our deep conflicts,
our strengths and our weakness. He brings all of this empathy and wisdom
together when he offers practices, in meditation, sound and breath, to
awake our hearts and souls. How can we fullfil our purpose in life without
knowing ourselves and others? The starting point for him is our
everyday life. Every day offers enough material for growth and learning.
This deep longing we share to understand life, he says, is the basis for
our self-realisation, for the "alchemy of happiness."
 Sheikha
Rahmana Dziubany (Germany):
Helpers
of the Soul: Wazifa and Prayer based
on the Githa Papers "Ryazat" by Hazrat Inayat Khan with commentary by
Murshid Samuel Lewis, and on "The Sufi Book of Life" by Murshid Saadi
Shakur Chisti.
For
ages, Sufi mystics and poets have seen the heart as a clear mirror that reflects
the divine image through our own being. Life as a teacher with all its challenges
can leave traces of shadow or rust on our hearts. Following the rich transmission
of our sufi lineage we will meet helpers of our soul--wazifa and prayer--as
tools for our daily ilfe. We will explore the world of the sifat-i-Allah
(the beautiful names of Allah), getting to know them, learning how to work
with them and how to use them as a first aid kit in times of need, a process
that can be guided by the teacher-friend. Besides this very practical and
impersonal approach to wazifa work we will explore the very personal, intimate
and individual experience of prayer--creating an atmosphere of surrender,
letting go and letting God with the main concentration on our Sufi prayers
and the Fateha.
Sound,
dance, body prayer, poetry and silence create a space of practice and devotion
that help polish the heart.
Registration, Location
and Logistics here
Contact
for more information
about our Summer School |
