March 2021 Message

Beloved Family,

Greetings of the Heart from Springtime in California! The birds are doing it, the fruit trees are blooming, most of the vegetables have been planted in the garden and the warm clothes are slowly being abandoned for tee shirt and shorts! And delightfully, two Mallard Ducks have moved into our backyard, coming and going, making love in the pool. We have affectionately named them Michelle and Barack - pictured below!

What a sweet milestone to know we have been meeting through the Ruhaniat Family ZOOM Gathering for a complete year and this Saturday marks the beginning of the2nd year featuring Murshida Asha. Last week’s call with our First Responders was very tender, and if you missed it, you can catch the recording here.

Making friends with Life, making friends with adversity is our constant companion as mystics. Anytime we feel that if the world would change to what we want, we will be happy, then as Hazrat Inayat Khan’s says, “This is an inexperienced expectation”. Found this quote on Facebook today by the great Tibetan master, HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche:

“ If you cannot yet feel love and compassion for those who treat you badly, it is a sign that your mind has not been fully transformed and that you need to keep working on it with the increased application.”

By now Tamam and I have received both vaccine shots, Moderna, and are so grateful to all involved, from the scientists to the manufacturers and to all the health care workers, paid and volunteered, that made my path easy. Recognizing the powerful efforts in my country, only contrasts with my aspiration for the same efforts to be made for all people of the world who wish to receive a vaccination. Inshallah! Having not been on a plane for over a year, perhaps by Fall I can start traveling again to share with Beloveds around the globe.

For our next wazifa practice lets recite these three names together, Ya Wahhab, Ya Razzaq, Ya Fattah (yaa wah-HAAB, yaa raz-ZAAḲ, yaa fat-TAAḤ) from our text:

There is a wonderful inner and outer relationship between al-Wahhab, ar-Razzaq, and al-Fattah. These three embodiments of divine abundance appear sequentially in the lists of 99 Names and are inseparably grouped together, in part because they share the same form in the sound code. The first syllable has a short “a” sound, the middle consonant is doubled, and then a long “aa” is added after it. The sound code tells us that the activity of each one of these three qualities is repetitive, continuous, and unending. This is a very important similarity. Moreover, as we shall see, these Names naturally dovetail into each other.

One metaphor that has been given to express their meanings and interrelationship is to say that al-Wahhab is the free rain that is given to all, ar-Razzaq is the water that flows in irrigation ditches, and al-Fattah is all the fruit harvested from all the trees that have been irrigated. In other words, al-Fattah is the continuing action of all that will ever be accomplished. Images of rain and water are found in the varying root meanings of all three of these divine Names.

Much love,

Shabda

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Wazifa Practice

Recite 101x

YA WAHHAB ~ YA RAZZAQ ~ YA FATTAH

16. Ya Wahhab (yaa wah-HAAB)

Al-Wahhab gives divine blessings continually and universally. It is a flow that is without disruption and which is freely given without any expectation of return. It is the one who constantly refreshes. There is no restraint based on scarcity, as its source is super-abundant. A form from the same root, mawhibah, is a cloud that rains freely on everything. Another form, mawhoob, is a child or any blessing given to you by God.

By invoking Ya Wahhab you become identified with a stream flowing continuously from the divine source, and everything you need in life is already fully present and flowing in that stream. It is closely related to Ya Razzaq (17) and Ya Fattah (18). In the sound code of the Arabic language, all three share a form that conveys continuous activity.

There is a developmental aspect in considering these three Names together. Al-Wahhab is the free rain that is given to all. Ar-Razzaq is the water that flows into irrigation ditches. Al-Fattah is all the fruit you harvest from all the trees you've irrigated. In other words, Al-Wahhab is a free gift; ar-Razzaq offers the means for achieving abundance; al-Fattah is the continuing action of all that will be accomplished.

17. Ya Razzaq (yaa raz-ZAAḲ)

Ar-Razzaq is the one who continuously provides the means for each of us to get what we need for our daily sustenance, our bread and butter. The noun rizq, formed from its root, means a gift of blessing from which all can benefit. The adage “The bounty of the dates can be seen at the bottom of the well” illustrates the meaning of ar-Razzaq. If you make use of the water of the well and draw it up and irrigate your palm trees every day, you will get the dates.

There are endless opportunities to benefit from the divine gifts that are offered by ar-Razzaq, and endless ways to make them available to others. Ar-Razzaq is also seen in a person’s openness to receive divine provenance. The word al-arzaaq means “endless gifts.” The truly endless gifts are the gifts of rahma: compassion, mercy, and love. The one who always gives these gifts has an infinite supply in treasure houses of infinite love.

18. Ya Fattah (yaa fat-TAAḤ)

Al-Fattah means both to begin and to open. Through it you begin to open your heart to the infinite possibilities of the divine presence. With al-Fattah, the opening is continuous. It is an enlightenment that keeps happening. Al-Fattah brings great power to clear the way of obstacles and open the path of your life for success. It is the one who opens the heart to love and ecstasy.

Al-Fattah means to open something with something else, a key. It is the key to opening the heart to Allah, the key to finding the God within. Reciting Ya Fattah is a very powerful practice because, even in the midst of despair, it brings the possibility of awakening to love and ecstasy. Its activity in us is opening up the veils of darkness over the heart to uncover the light within. Al-Fattah is the continuous action of all that will be accomplished. Invocation of Ya Fattah sets up the dynamic of going deeper and deeper in the process of opening.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Wahhab ~ Ya Razzaq ~ Ya Fattah

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Text and Commentary to Study

This next month we are reading Religion and World Peace, a presentation sent to the “World Peace Through Religion Conference” in Geneva by Murshid Samuel Lewis

Click to download

Religion and World Peace

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PHOTOS

Raven pursuing female Northern Harrier