February 2019 Message

Beloved Family,

I travel to Mother India this Monday, Feb 11, to once again join my colleagues of the Peace Pledge Pilgrimage group. We will be pilgrims at the Kumbha Mela, then at Hazrat Inayat Khan’s Dargah, followed by the Ganges in Rishikesh and lastly at the spiritual home of HH the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche, Palpung Sherab Ling Monastic Seat.

Our efforts will be to spread the message of Loving Kindness and Compassion. Our involvement will be through Childhood Education, meeting with politicians, working on sanitation projects and clean water projects.

Please keep us in your heart and make prayers for safety and the blessings of spreading the Message!

We had a deep inward Celebration of Hazrat Inayat Khan's URS here in Northern California, hosted by the Inayat Order. I gave a short Raga Offering at the event which Sierra was kind enough to film. https://youtu.be/cHVjH3bS9So

Upcoming right after Mother India I’m offering a Sufi Retreat in Boulder, March 15-17, 2019 with Special Guest Pir Netanel Miles-Yepes of the Inayati Maimuni stream.

Another opportunity to consider is our 20th Annual Federation of the Sufi Message gathering in Charlottesville, VA, May 2-5, 2019 where we held the first gathering. Later in May I travel and teach in Kauai, May 17-19.

Hoping to share this year’s Jamiat Aam at Murshid Sam’s completed Dargah at Lama Foundation with many of you May 30- June 2, 2019.

The energy for the Mendocino Sufi Campis building, see you there.

Much love,

Shabda

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Wazifa Practice

Recite 101x YA HALIM ~ YA SABUR

32. Ya Halim (yaa ḥa-LEEM)

Al-Halim is tender love, gentle and kind love. The tenderness of al-Halim is physical, emotional, and nurturing. God manifests this quality anywhere and everywhere, without exception. One physical root meaning is the shyness and gentleness that is found in an early pubescent girl. There is a kind of retiring or monastic quality to al-Halim. It offers a softness and kindness that makes for perseverance. Al-Halim is the place where the dreams can arise, which are really visions. Forms of the word, hulm and 'ahlam, are categories in dream interpretation.

Al-Halim offers an avenue for creative imagination, even as God is said to lovingly dream the universe. Repetition of Ya Halim brings a mildness of manner that is an antidote for anger and impatience. It expands with immense openness. Al-Halim's harmonious qualities allow it to be beneficially paired with many other divine Names to enhance their effects.

99. Ya Sabur (yaa ṣa-BOOR)

As-Sabur is the divine power that will always see things through to the end. At the human level, it means to maintain inner equanimity through all trials and circumstances and to persevere to the end of the test. A physical-plane variation of its root means to endure and to stop complaining. As-Sabur embodies development of complete inner capacity. It is a great container that enables a spiritual student to endure the long journey of the path and actualize every detail and technique of the teachings. It is a powerful solidarity that allows you to stand firm. The divine manifestation of as-Sabur as a quality of God emphasizes that God doesn't act hastily but forgives or defers judgment.

Invocation of Ya Sabur is a remedy for all who lack patience, especially on the spiritual path, and it is recommended for those who find it difficult to defer judgment or forgive. It may be effectively paired in recitation with Ya Halim (32). According to the story in the Qur'an of Khidr and Moses, sabr is the one essential element for following the path of mystical union.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Halim ~ Ya Sabur

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TEXT and COMMENTARY to STUDY

This month we begin working with theGitha Ryazat Series IIwithCommentary by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis(Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti). Read and reflect on the topic of Fikr and purification of the breath, Numbers 3-4, pages 9-18. Click here to download the document.