Equity and Love NROL Tips for June 2020
Monday, June 13
The Whole of Humanity
June 11, 2020
Dear Friends,
The brutal killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor have shocked the conscience of the world. These tragedies have put into sharp relief the systemic injustices that African Americans continue to endure in the United States. The Inayatiyya stands united with all those who are grieving and calling for an end to the entrenched and pervasive presence of white supremacy in our society.
The oppressive legacies of slavery and Jim Crow are palpable and pernicious. As a result, African Americans on the whole earn less, are employed less, own homes less, have less access to quality education and health care, are exposed to more polluted air and water, are more often pulled over by the police, and are treated more harshly by the justice system, resulting in incarceration at over five times the rate of White people. Black men are more than twice as likely to be killed by police than White men.
In the Inayatiyya, we affirm that humanity is one body. An attack on Black bodies is an attack on the whole of humanity. Black lives profoundly matter. Our earnest wish is to be of service in the creation of a kind, just, equitable world in which all people stand shoulder to shoulder in the pursuit of the common good.
We realize that our work must begin within our own community. We recognize that the Inayatiyya is not yet nearly as diverse as the world around us, and that, like so many institutions, our movement has been consistently more accessible to White people than to Black and Brown people since its founding a century ago. This must change, and the change will require a process of sustained reflection and action on the part of all of us.
The events of the last weeks have intensified our conversation on Inclusion. On May 31st we convened a forum on Race, Justice & Love facilitated by Onaje Muid, Fatima Hafiz, Omid Safi, and Jennifer Alia Wittman. My opening remarks may be found here. On June 14th and 21st we will convene two more forums. As part of a larger endeavor, these conversations will help guide our approach to the dismantling of racism, conscious and unconscious, in our movement and in our world. I hope you will join us.
I close with the words of our founder, Hazrat Inayat Khan: “The Sufi Message is not for one nation, race, or community; it is for the whole of humanity. Its one and only object is to bring about a better understanding between the divided sections of humanity by awakening their consciousness to the fact that humanity is one family.”
Yours ever,
Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Thursday, June 16
Only Love
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love
Monday, June 22
Day of Remembrance
Celebrating Pir Vilayat Inayat Vilayat Inayat Khan (19 June 1916 – 17 June 2004) was a teacher of meditation and of the traditions of the East Indian Chishti Sufi sect of Sufism. His teaching derived from the tradition of his father, Inayat Khan, founder of The Sufi Order in the West (now named the Ināyatiyya), in a form tailored to the needs of Western seekers. One of his sisters was Noor Inayat Khan GC MBE. He taught in the tradition of universal Sufism, which views all religions as rays of light from the same sun. His parents met at the New York City ashram of American yogi, Pierre Bernard, half- brother of his mother Pirani Ameena Begum.[1]
June 17, 2020
Dear Friends,
The following is Taj’s address to the International URS on June 17th to celebrate the life of Pir Vilayat:
Thank you for inviting me to participate in this beautiful day of remembrance and celebration of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan with whom I had the great pleasure and privilege to be with for many years.
I am honored to be asked to say a few words about Pir Vilayat. I usually speak spontaneously but to assist in the challenging task of simultaneous translation, (which is occurring right now) I agreed to offer a written testimony.
It is truly impossible to do justice in a few words to the vast scope of Pir Vilayat's life and work. He had a full spectrum life, a life that included intense spiritual discipline. He took 40 day retreats while fasting and repeating the zikr 22,000 times a day. As a British naval officer he participated in the landing at Normandy on D Day. He played Bach cello suites on his cello and directed choirs singing the transcendent music of Victoria, Tallis and many others.
His life was so generous. From the findings of his own spiritual quest with its encounters and discoveries he brought us so many riches. Influenced by the Rishis he met residing in stone caves high above the tree line in the Himalayas he introduced us to the infinite through the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. From his meetings with intoxicated dervishes in Ajmer Sharif he transmitted the oneness of existence through the ecstasy and depth of la illaha illa la hu. From sharing in the sacred life of the monks on Mt Athos he taught us that we could participate in the sacred broken heart of Christ, could bleed with humanity, and discover new life.
In addition to the spiritual treasures he bestowed, he opened new dialogues between mystics and scientists, and founded educational and charitable organizations such as Omega Institute and The Hope Project. Each aspect of his life could be a story in itself.
Pir Vilayat is a man who defies categories or pigeonholes, rather he was a force in a human shape. If you talk to his admirers, friends, family and students (and even detractors) you will meet many different Pir Vilayats.
He was a man of contradictions, or we could say opposites. One of his favorite themes concerned the task of what he called reconciling the irreconcilables. Just stop and think about this for a moment…reconciling the irreconcilables!!
What an assignment! He gave us a giant cosmic puzzle to solve, asked us to join him in an evolutionary adventure, and we signed up! Only later did we read the fine print: we would be with this for the rest of our lives, new lands would be revealed along the way and we would see things differently over and over again….there would be support and guidance, he would always be with us, and at the end of it all, we would feel our life had been well spent!
As I said, Pir Vilayat defied easy categorization. We normally expect people to be a certain way and not two ways at once! Yet, it was these extraordinary and often baffling incongruities that made up much of Pir Vilayat’s being and charisma.
He was a child of mixed race parents, living in Europe (a place neither of his parents were born). As a brown-skinned little boy, he was a bullied outsider and later at times as an adult was treated like a second class citizen. (I remember him telling me about the taunts his fellow classmates hurled at him, “do you eat with a knife and fork?”). At the same time, he had the shelter of very loving parents who offered him not only an earthly family to belong to but also in the radiance of his father, Hazrat Inayat Khan (a great awakened being), he found a sense of belonging to a home beyond this world.
When Vilayat was 11, just before his father left for India and died there, he was given a public blessing and the charge to carry on his work. At around 15 or 16 Vilayat, with this immense weight on his frail shoulders, and without the means or knowing how he would accomplish this mission, kneeled as a knight and pledged himself to the service of the Message of love harmony and beauty that his father had brought to the west. For a moment, imagine yourself at 15 taking on the gravity of such a commitment.
Later Pir Vilayat would often quote Goethe “What you inherit from your father must first be earned before it's yours.”
Great strength and vulnerability lived together in Pir Vilayat. As a spiritual master, he was an exemplar of strength, mastery, and steadfastness. His life was an expression of perseverance. He simply never gave up. Despite the many difficulties, opposition and even failures, to the end of his days, he remained true to the knightly vow he made kneeling as a 16 year old boy.
Having great power and mastery did not mean that he did not also feel vulnerable at times. He lived with a broken heart. As a British naval officer in WWII on a mine sweeper (one of the most dangerous war time jobs) his ship was hit and capsized, killing many of the men in a fiery inferno. After the war, he tragically lost both his fiancé and his best friend and sister, Noor. Later as a journalist he courageously became a whistle blower when he chronicled the atrocities inflicted on Algerians by French armed forces. As a result, he declared a persona non grata and was ordered to leave France.
Pir Vilayat experienced the worst of humanity, but his special power was his capacity to allow the light to shine through his broken heart, and that light became a beacon for others to follow.
You can feel this when he says, "dive deeply into the miracle of life and let the tips of your wings be burnt by the flame, let your feet be lacerated by the thorns, let your heart be stirred by human emotion and let your soul be lifted beyond the earth."
There was no either-or with Pir Vilayat. For him, life was all about becoming wide and deep and large enough to span the whole spectrum of the human and divine experience. He was a master of meditation who could lead his students into the rarefied realms of awakened awareness and landscapes of light and pure Being. He was the epitome of transcendent knowing, yet he was not a dreamy character, detached from the joys and sorrows of this everyday life. He didn’t miss a thing in this human realm. I was often surprised by his attention to and his care about the smallest details of everyday living.
An example of this is a painful memory for me concerning a spoon. Pir Vilayat was fastidious about his tea preparation which involved first the cup and pot warming, followed by the perfectly timed steeping, and finally completed by the addition of just the right amount of heated milk.
Even though I was well aware of his tea ritual, I didn’t know that he took particular delight in stirring his tea with a rather unremarkable-looking spoon. One time when returning from his long teaching travels, I noticed him going through all the kitchen drawers. What are you looking for? I asked. Soon I was to find out that while reorganizing the kitchen, I had thrown out his favorite spoon. I had been oblivious to his relationship with this spoon. I felt sad about what I had done, and charmed that this man, who had so few ties to the material world, enjoyed a special connection to a rather plain, functional spoon and how he so enjoyed the simple human pastime of brewing and enjoying a fine cup of English tea.
Eleanor Roosevelt said something that describes the essence of who Pir Vilayat was for so many people.“Many people will walk in and out of your life,” Mrs. Roosevelt said, “but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” Pir Vilayat was a true friend and a remarkable man. Let us bless and remember him for his generous service and the gifts he imparted to us, many of which we only more fully come to know as we grow older and discover the challenges and conundrums of life.
I will end with his words, a summons to all of us in these times to follow his example of brave humanity and shimmering otherworldliness. Dare you have the courage to be who you truly are! Let us build a beautiful world of beautiful people.
Thursday, June 25
One Body
If there is any moral principal that the Sufi Movement brings, it is this: that the whole of humanity is like one body, and any organ of that body which is hurt or troubled can indirectly cause damage to the whole body. And as the health of the whole body depends upon the health of each part, so the health of the whole of humanity depends on the health of every nation.
- Hazrat Inayat Khan
Monday, June 29
Right and Wrong
The standard of right and wrong, the conception of good and evil, and the idea of sin and virtue are understood differently by the people of different races, nations, and religions; therefore it is difficult to discern the law governing these opposites. It becomes clear, however, by understanding the law of vibrations.
Every thing and being on the surface of existence seem separate from one another, but in every plane beneath the surface they approach nearer to each other, and in the innermost plane they all become one. Every disturbance therefore, caused to the peace of the smallest part of existence on the surface, inwardly affects the whole. Thus any thought, speech or action that disturbs peace is wrong; if it brings about peace it is right, good, and a virtue. Life being like a dome, its nature is also dome-like.
Disturbance of the slightest part of life disturbs the whole and returns negatively upon the person who caused it; any peace produced on the surface comforts the whole, and thence returns as peace to the producer.
Thursday, July 2
Nabi
A torch in the darkness, A staff during my weakness, A rock in the weariness of life, Thou, my Master, makest earth a paradise. Thy thought giveth me unearthly joy, Thy light illuminateth my life's path, Thy words inspire me with divine wisdom, I follow in thy footsteps, which lead me to the eternal goal. Comforter of the broken-hearted, Support of those in need, Friend of the lovers of truth, Blessed Master, thou art the Prophet of God.
- Hazrat Inayat Khan
Monday, July 6
The God Thing, Making it Real
Ken Wilber said, “God has a serious PR problem.” Woody Allen said, “If only God would give me a clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank.” Hazrat Inayat Khan said, “The first necessity is the belief that there is such a Being as God, in whom goodness, beauty, and greatness are perfect. In the beginning it will seem nothing but a belief; but in time, if kept in sincerity and faith, that belief will become like the egg of the Phoenix, out of which the magic bird is born.” Murshid tells us necessary ingredients in the journey of awakening to Reality/Love/the non- separated life, is a life of belonging: Openness to believe in something greater than yourself and your own mind Patience - transformation takes time Trust - trusting your sincere heart Magic - something happens that we don’t make happen. As Rumi says, something opens our wings that makes boredom and hurt disappear. Murshid invites us to believe correctly. “Make god a reality and God will make you the truth.” Really? Is it really up to us to make God real? How do we do this? He’s saying we need to make god real to ourselves, so that the Ultimate Truth can enter our hearts through the god image portal we have carved out. Sort of like creating our own god avatar as a temporary stand in. We make a space for god by creating a place in our heart where the greater god (the magic bird), not of our making, can be born. It’s really not such a big task to create a god ideal. It's just a simple matter of recognizing what we love, letting ourselves love it whole heartedly, and then letting the alchemy of love take over. Loving opens our heart. A Korean Buddhist monk says about nim, what we love.. “Nim is not only a human lover, but everything yearned for. All beings are nim for the Buddha, and philosophy is the nim of Kant. The spring rain is nim for the rose and Italy is the nim of Massani, Nim is what I love, but also loves me.“ (Han Yogun) Our god image is the means through which we as human beings can relate in a heartfelt way to life, to the cosmos, to what is. The god ideal, our nim, is a bridge between infinite vastness and our human shape.
It’s important to do the heart work of finding what our sense of god is. As an example, in the following excerpt from her article in the book God at 2000, Benedictine Sister Joan D. Chittister speaks of her journey toward her God image. She begins the article speaking about all the gods she related to early in her life. But now…. ……I have abandoned god, the stern father, who had no time for human nonsense and little time for women either. I have abandoned “god the cloud sitter” who keeps count of our childish stumbles toward spiritual adulthood in order to exact fierce retribution from humans for being human. And I have seen all those fragments of the face of god dissolve into the mist of impossibility. I am more and more convinced that those Gods do not exist, never did exist, must not exist if god is really god. But when such small ideas die, with what great thoughts shall we replace them? I have become sure that if all I know about God is that my God is the fullness of life and the consummation of hope, the light on the way and the light at the end, then I will live my life in that consciousness of God and of goodness everywhere, obscure at times, perhaps but never wholly lacking. So now God, that old rascal is doing it again. I am moving in my heart from god as a trophy to be won, or a master, however benign, to be pacified, to God a cosmic unity and everlasting light. The change has been gradual but very very clear. It has come at the juncture of five divides; all seemingly separate, but all a piece: spiritual tradition, personal experience, science, globalism and feminism. These have all come together in my life to show me a God whom I cannot think, but do deeply know to be real.
Monday, July 9
The 6th Sufi Thought
'There is One family, the human family which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the parenthood of God.'
Sufis free themselves from national, racial, and religious boundaries, uniting in the human family which is devoid of the differences and distinctions of class, caste, creed, race, nation, or religion, and unites us in a universal finship.