December 2021 Message

Beloved Family,

Solstice Greetings ~ either the shortest day in our Northern Hemisphere or the longest for those in the Southern Hemisphere! Holy Days Blessings and Happy New Year 2022!

From the profound writings of Murshid Sam:

201SURAS ON BREATH

7. Christ is born when God’s breath enters man’s nostrils and he is crucified when man’s thought enters his mind. Therefore Christ was born in a manger, meaning the heart, but he was crucified at Golgatha, the place of the skull, which means the abode of thought. Christ’s two birthplaces, Bethlehem and Galilee, mean respectively, the house of breath and the place of elevation; that is to say, the physical body and the sphere of the heart. The crown of thorns around Christ’s head are the thoughts of man which prevent the Divine Being within himself from functioning.

Naturally sending prayers for protection, safety, and excellent health as we enter the next chapter in the pandemic we are all living through.

The unfolding of evidence of the spread and severity of omicron has put into question the need to cancel events that are planned for in-person retreats in 2022. From my side, no choices have been made so far but I am in contact with Dr. Larry Brilliant, my dear and famous epidemiologist friend. We agreed that in the next 10 days when he has more evidence and data, we would have a chat.

The plans most in question are a local in-person Celebration of Murshid Sam’s URS on January 15th and the resurgence of the Northern California Annual Sufi Sesshin planned for March 11-17, 2022, at a new retreat location in Cobb, California called Mandala Springs.

From a Northern Hemisphere perspective, it is natural that we celebrate the birth of Wisdom at the ‘darkest time’ in the form of the birth of the Prophet Jesus. It feels so hopeful and optimistic that Spring is coming around the corner, the days getting longer and as we compost the leaves of winter the newly enriched soil will support new growth and vitality. Inshallah!

Outwardly we have been working in the garden, collecting leaf mulch from all around and dressing all the vegetable beds, beginning pruning on the roses and fruit trees and preparing the beds for early planting. Like you, I use this all as a metaphor, it’s the same inner process in the unfoldment of Awakening.

For our next wazifa I would like to share a practice received from Pir Moineddin in the early 1970s, as I would go to his home once a week to help and support him. I imagine he received the same from Murshid Sam, or it is his original inspiration.

We recite YA QUDDUS 11x in each chakra ~ in the Crown Center, then the Third Eye Center, the Throat Center, the Heart Center, the Belly Center, the Internal Organs and the Root Chakra. Next, recite 11x YA NUR in each of the seven chakras ascending from the Root Chakra.

To add to the guidance below on Ya Quddus ~ in Hebrew YA KADOSH, Kad -container, dosh - the Divine Light…so making a container for the Divine. Another root of YA QUDDUS is the gold maker burning off the dross/impurities to end up with pure gold, which suggests purification through reciting YA QUDDUS!

The birds are continuing to communicate their beauty and love and I share some pictures hoping they bring you joy and wonder.

Much love,

Shabda

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Wazifa Practice

Recite 11X in each Chakra

(see directions above)

YA QUDDUS ~ YA NUR

4. Ya Quddus (yaa ḳud-DOOS)

Al-Quddus is the ever-purifying one. It requires us to take leave of what we cling to in order to experience intimate union. Al-Quddus allows the spiritual traveler to transcend the lower self and keep going toward the one. Al-Quddus is a force that constantly cleanses us from the conceptual mind and its differentiation. It is continuously purifying our experience of the world through inward intimacy and union with the absolute.

A variation of the root of this Name means to return home to one’s village. Al-Quddus is always purifying and always distancing, in the sense of leaving behind the ephemeral to go fully into the eternal.

What is constantly moving toward Allah is al-Quddus. The union given by al-Quddus is one of continually becoming the eternal reality.

93. Ya Nur (yaa NOOR)

An-Nur is the essence of light, luminosity itself. A Qur'anic verse says, “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.” An-Nur is the light of every soul and an inherent characteristic in every poreof your body. Munawwir is a form of the same root and means the one who illuminates.

It is interesting that the word for “hell” in Arabic is naar, which has the same root as Nur. What makes it hell is that the burning heat there is lacking in light. That kind of burning heat is our inner condition if we don’t embody God’s loving mercy and compassion (rahma) and instead become full of rage.

Whatever way we may turn, we see the all-pervading light of an-Nur. Even the darkness shines from within it. All the various forms of wisdom and guidance are expressions of an-Nur. For example, nur-ul-haqeeqah is the light of truth and guidance on the path. What continues to live on in God when we die is also a legacy of light.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Quddus ~ Ya Nur

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Text and Commentary to Study

This month we continue reading Yours in the Infinite, a series of letters from Hazrat Inayat Khan to Murshida Rabia Ada Martin 1911-1926. We last read these wonderful letters in 2016.

To quote Mother Krishnabai:

“Better to read the same book one hundred and eight times than to read one hundred and eight books.”

Read the letters, pages 32-56.

Click here

to download the document “Yours in the Infinite”

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PHOTOS

Snow Geese