"By working with the God Ideal, we imagine God's Perfections, and as we do so, God imagines our own Perfections." - Murshid Wali Ali Meyer
The God is Breath Program is a series of three courses designed to provide students with a broader insight into the value of embodying the fundamental teachings of our Ruhaniat Sufi lineage, through engaging with some deep, practical, individual and group experience with the core spiritual practices those teachings suggest. Course 1 is titled 'Breath, Concentration, and the God Ideal', Course 2 -'Mujahida', and Course 3 - 'Mushahida'.
Participants will reap the most benefit from the courses by approaching them with a dedicated intention and a compassionate commitment to their own inner development.
And as Murshid Wali Ali Meyer (photo right), the late head of the Ruhaniat's Esoteric School and creator of this engaging and inspired program, says in Course 1, Lesson 1:
"These teachings and practices are the whole of the inner methodology of the Sufi Path in a nutshell — making and using a loving connection with the Source as the vehicle of our growth. We continue to imagine and have our notion and feeling for what God is, evolving along with our own development...By working with the God Ideal we imagine God's Perfections, and as we do so, God imagines our own Perfections...We aren't separated in Truth from these Perfections or from God, only in our own experience."
Format
Participants are grouped with 7-15 people forming a Prayer Wheel under the guidance of a skilled Wheel Mentor. This format promotes the growth and development of a Sangha that supports participants in their journey through the practices. Prayer Wheels meet online via Zoom sessions once per month for 1½ to 2-hours. Occasionally, a Prayer Wheel may be offered that meets in-person or is a hybrid of in-person and online meetings.
Duration
Course 1 runs for 13 months (12 months of instruction and practice, and a final recap and "looking ahead" session), with some short, written teachings to study and contemplate in each of the lessons, plus a regimen of daily practices, that progresses from 15 to 30 or 40 minutes over the duration of the course. Course 2 and Course 3 run for 9 months plus final recap and "looking ahead" sessions.
Daily Practice & Assistance
Since all 3 courses are predominately focused on gaining deeper individual experience with the various spritiual practices, there is a gentle expectation, and a loving encouragement for Wheel members to build the habit of a daily practice if they don't have one, or to deepen their ongoing practice. Following Hazrat Inayat Khan's example, there is also no judgment if one falls short of this ideal. Rather one is encouraged to lovingly refocus on the ideal of daily practice, and move forward within the supportive container and co-created atmosphere of the Sangha of the Prayer Wheel.
If needed, participants can request some individual assistance from their Wheel Mentor, and from their Sufi Guide if they are working with one, in order to engage with any resistance in productive and healthy ways.
Course Tuitions
Each of the 3 courses has a suggested tuition. However money should not be an obstacle to your participation. A tuition adjustment is available if you need it.
For those living on fixed incomes, or in other situations where the suggested tuitions put the course or courses out of reach for you, or where currency exchange rates are too unfavorable for you, you may adjust the suggested tuitions.
Please consult your own heart and Guidance to decide on a tuition adjustment that will work for you and your situation, without compromising your basic needs. There is a "sweet" amount between too much and too little, that will respect your own financial and economic realities, while also honoring the great value and benefit this course offers, and completing the cycle of Spiritual Reciprocity.