Hamilton, Montana

Saladin was born towards the end of the Second World War (April 1944) and almost two years old before meeting his father. Most of my childhood until emancipation at age 16 was spent in very rural setting and moving frequently, at least once a year. My first significant spiritual experience came at age 11 in the mountains of Idaho. That very profound experience as a Catholic had no real foundational framework in my life hence it was kept secret as not understandable! Just a couple of months before turning twenty Saladin joined the Army which was quite life changing. At age twenty-three his life was completely changed by a seminal mystical experience and since that time awakening/realization and an insatiable yearning to constantly deepen in the sacred has been the core journey of his life.

This journey, beginning in earnest in my mid-twenties, involved many explorations, including martial arts, psychedelic experimentation, sensitivity groups, and meeting other similar folks seeking a deeper truth. We began meditating together and trying to understand the various practices of some mystical traditions. In the late 60s some teachers of different traditions came through the university. In 1972 I met Rupa Ananda and Raghava Janaka Ananda who were teachers in the school of Vedanta Yoga where much emphasis on pranayama (breath) and meditation was placed. For many years both these individuals were valued teachers in my life. A year later I had the fortune of encountering Anagarika, a Theravadan Nun, who introduced me to the practice of vipassana meditation. In 1976 at the local Yoga center and bookstore, where I just begun to teach pranayama and meditation, at a gathering I met Waduda Majid Easton (Murshida Khadija Goforth), a young Sufi teacher who recently moved to the area. She invited to attend one of her classes where I was introduced to the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis! I was hooked and have been ever since.

Over the years since, being encouraged by my guide Pir Moineddin to continue to honor the deep teachings I received from both the Buddhist and Vedanta paths, while ever deepening in my Sufi heart the teaching, practices and the sangha of the Ruhaniat. All the ‘Rays” given by Inayat Khan (Brotherhood/sisterhood, Healing, Universal Worship, Ziraat and the Esoteric teachings) have called to me in varying degrees over the years. Grace has allowed me to be an Initiator in the DHO, a Cherag (for over 40 years), a certified dance leader and several years ago given the initiation of Experienced Farmer in Ziraat (before the shift in the Ziraat school to move away from the old form). As a Murshid in the Ruhaniat my greatest satisfaction comes from the guiding others in the practice of Khilvat (retreat), taking regular periods of personal Khilvats, and teaching the many wonderful expressions of our esoteric school.

I live in the Bitterroots of Montana with my wife Samia, am retired as a Clinical Psychologist and continue to recreate and be deeply involved in service for the glorious gifts of nature. Exploring and travel/adventure have been and continue to be mainstays in my life. Living a life of curiosity within and without life has been rich beyond measure. “And so, it goes!”