Midwest Cherag Training and Continuing Education

Following the successful completion of a Midwest Cherag Training in Madison, Wisconsin, which culminated in the ordination of ten new Cherags, a second Midwest Cherag Training is currently underway in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The Very Rev. Siraja Tasnim Hermila Fernandez is leading the training, assisted by Rev. Jamila Joy Wood of the Madison Sufi community.

The structure of the series is designed to facilitate access to a regional training in the Heartland for people who are attracted to the Message and the possibility of ordination. The series offers two annual weekend trainings for three years during which Murshida Tasnim presents teachings to help prepare candidates for ordination and leads participants through practices to help deepen understanding of the Message as it has been conveyed by Masters, Saints and Prophets throughout time. Training content includes exploration of the "Call" to minister/serve, study of the historical message as given in the world's scriptures, learning to attune to the lineage of prophets and saints, meditation with sound and light, practice of walks, dances and movement to feel the embodiment of the Message, practice of the various services and rituals celebrated and performed by the Cherag, sharing of inquiry and dialogue, and investigation of each participant's authentic expression of the Message. Through all we do, we seek to invite and create an accommodation that allows the Message to reveal itself.

Participants in the Midwest Cherag Training include not only those who wish to become Cherags and those who are attracted to the Message but do not yet know whether they are called to pursue ordination, but also ordained Cherags. For those who have already been ordained, such a training opportunity is invaluable for continuing education - indeed, for lifelong learning - and for the cultivation of a network of support and resource sharing among colleagues who also happen to be our beloved brothers and sisters on the path.

For more information about the Midwest Cherag Training, contact Rev. Jamila Joy Wood at jwoodsky@frontier.com or Rev. Murad Jody Curley at jodycurley@gmail.com.

Vol. 1 - GAYAN #359 - CHALA #38 - God lives in nature...

God lives in nature and is buried alive under the artificial forms which stand as His tomb, covering Him.

The question which arises in the mind of every thoughtful person is, what was the reason, what was the purpose of the creation of this world? The answer is, to break the monotony. Call it God, call it the only Being, call it the source and goal of all; being alone, He wished that there should be something for Him to know. The Hindus say that the creation is the dream of Brahma. One may call it a dream, but it is the main purpose. The Sufis explain it thus: that God, the Lover, wanted to know his own nature; and that therefore through manifestation the Beloved was created, in order that love might manifest. And when we look at it in this light, then all that we see is the Beloved. As Rumi, the greatest writer of Persia says, 'The Beloved is all in all, the lover only veils Him; the Beloved is all that lives, the lover a dead thing.'

ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS - The Purpose of Life (1)

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The Hindu Tradition - The Isha Upanishad (Ishopanishad) - "The Inner Ruler"

Eknath Easwaran Translation

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All this is full. All that is full.
From fullness, fullness comes.
When fullness is taken from fullness,
Fullness still remains.
O M shanti shanti shanti

                    1. The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.
                    The Lord is the supreme Reality.
                    Rejoice in him through renunciation.
                    Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord.
                    2. Thus working may you live a hundred years.
                    Thus alone will you work.
                    3. Those who deny the Self are born again
                    Blind to the Self, enveloped in darkness,
                    Utterly devoid of love for the Lord.
                    4. The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is
                    Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses.
                    Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit.
                    Without the Self, never could life exist.
                    5. The Self seems to move, but is ever still.
                    He seems far away, but is ever near.
                    He is within all, and he transcends all.
                    6. Those who see all creatures in themselves
                    And themselves in all creatures know no fear.
                    7. Those who see all creatures in themselves
                    And themselves in all creatures know no grief.
                    How can the multiplicity of life
                    Delude the one who sees its unity?
                    8. The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self,
                    Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise,
                    Immanent and transcendent. He it is
                    Who holds the cosmos together.
                    9-11. In dark night live those for whom
                    The world without alone is real; in night
                    Darker still, for whom the world within
                    Alone is real. The first leads to a life
                    Of action, the second to a life of meditation.
                    But those who combine action with meditation
                    Cross the sea of death through action
                    And enter into immortality
                    Through the practice of meditation.
                    So have we heard from the wise.
                    12-14. In dark night live those for whom the Lord
                    Is transcendent only; in darker still,
                    For whom he is immanent only.
                    But those for whom he is transcendent
                    And immanent cross the sea of death
                    With the immanent and enter into
                    Immortality with the transcendent.
                    So have we heard from the wise.
                    15. The face of truth is hidden by your orb
                    Of gold, O sun. May you remove your orb
                    So that I, who adore the true, may see
                    16. The glory of truth. O nourishing sun,
                    Solitary traveler, controller,
                    Source of life for all creatures, spread your light
                    And subdue your dazzling splendor
                    So that I may see your blessed Self.
                    Even that very Self am I!
                    17. May my life merge in the Immortal
                    When my body is reduced to ashes.
                    O mind, meditate on the eternal Brahman.
                    Remember the deeds of the past.
                    Remember, O mind, remember.
                    18. O god of fire, lead us by the good path
                    To eternal joy. You know all our deeds.
                    Deliver us from evil, we who bow
                    And pray again and again.
                    O M shanti shanti shanti

The Buddhist Tradition - The Dhammapada - 1. The Pairs

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Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a defiled mind is to draw pain after oneself, like a wheel behind the feet of the animal drawing it. 1 
 

 Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a peaceful mind, is to draw happiness after oneself, like an inseparable shadow. 2 

 I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been robbed! Anger does not cease in those who harbour this sort of thought. 3

 I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been robbed! Anger ceases in those who do not harbour this sort of thought. 4 

 Occasions of hatred are certainly never settled by hatred. They are settled by freedom from hatred. This is the eternal law. 5
 

 Others may not understand that we must practice self-control, but quarrelling dies away in those who understand this fact. 6

 The Tempter masters the lazy and irresolute man who dwells on the attractive side of things, ungoverned in his senses, and unrestrained in his food, like the wind overcomes a rotten tree. 7
 

 But the Tempter cannot master a man who dwells on the distasteful side of things, self-controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, resolute and full of faith, like the wind cannot move a mountain crag. 8
 

 The man who wears the yellow-dyed robe but is not free from stains himself, without self- restraint and integrity, is unworthy of the robe. 9
 

 But the man who has freed himself of stains and has found peace of mind in an upright life, possessing self-restraint and integrity, he is indeed worthy of the dyed robe. 10
 

 To see the essence in the unessential and to see the essence as unessential means one can never get to the essence, wandering as one is in the road of wrong intentions. 11
 

 But to see the essence in the essential and the unessential as the unessential it is means one does get to the essence, being on the road of right intentions. 12
 

 In the same way that rain breaks into a house with a bad roof, desire breaks into the mind that has not been practising meditation. 13
 

 While in the same way that rain cannot break into a well-roofed house, desire cannot break into a mind that has been practising meditation well. 14
 

 Here and beyond he suffers. The wrong-doer suffers both ways. He suffers and is tormented to see his own depraved behaviour. 15
 

 Here and beyond he is glad. The doer of good is glad both ways. He is glad and rejoices to see his own good deeds. 16
 

 Here and beyond he is punished. The wrong-doer is punished both ways. He is punished by the thought, "I have done evil", and is even more punished when he comes to a bad state. 17
 

 Here and beyond he rejoices. The doer of good rejoices both way. He rejoices at the thought, "I have done good", and rejoices even more when he comes to a happy state. 18
 

 Even if he is fond of quoting appropriate texts, the thoughtless man who does not put them into practice himself is like cowherd counting other people's cows, not a partner in the Holy Life. 19
 

 Even if he does not quote appropriate texts much, if he follows the principles of the Teaching by getting rid of greed, hatred and delusion, deep of insight and with a mind free from attachment, not clinging to anything in this world or the next - that man is a partner in the Holy Life. 20

Ongoing Sufi Meditations by Shahabuddin David Less

The following link has a number of meditations by Shahabuddin David Less.

Description: universal meditation on talkshoe or http://www.davidless.com for more info.

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/40344

Pir Vilayat's Keeping in Touch #17 - Service

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan once said.  "The Murshid is there for the mureed." (The teacher is there to serve the pupil.) One might add, the mureed is there for the public.  That is the meaning of service.  The demand produces the supply. 
The ordeal of the fire triggers off the heroism in the fireman.  The suffering of the patient calls for the compassion of the nurse and the skill of the doctor.  The agony of the dying in the streets of Calcutta produces a Mother Teresa.  The budding genius of the child calls for the teacher to facilitate it.  The helplessness of the destitute calls for foodbanks and night shelters. The despair of the broken psyche calls for the dedicated priest or the psychotherapist.  One species may call to be serviced by another as the trees dying in the rain forests tax the skill of the ecologist to service them or the endangered species call for the ecologist to perpetuate their presence on the planet.  This is the meaning of service.
The whole planet calls out to be served and serviced; instead.  it is being more exploited than served.  There was a time when we humans took it for granted that it was our prerogative to control the planet.  Leadership is not controlling but releasing potentialities, facilitating them and coordinating them.  The reward is accessory.  When the reward becomes the objective, there is exploitation.
The trouble is that we feel our generosity runs counter to what we believe to be our most dire needs, or more so. those of our families. Moreover, we rightly are afraid that once we get ourselves involved in helping others, we shall be drawn further and further into sacrificing our needs since the demands appear to be much greater than we had at first suspected. In order to help others, one needs to hoist oneself in a position where one can help but one needs to tithe some of one's gain into lending a helping hand to those who cannot fend for themselves. In Ajmer and Rishikesh, one may find that as soon as one metes out a few rupies or chapaties, one is harassed by a solicitous crowd who may even tear one's clothes to pieces to grab what they can, so great is their hunger. Consequently, many prefer not starting this in the first place. Some even argue that one is simply perpetuating their misery by giving a pittance which could never answer their needs. Nature has a way of stemming the population explosion by pruning it at the cost of starvation.
Then there is the burnout of overstressing oneself by sheer zeal. The danger lurks in self pity that might very well brook unconscious resentment for the person one is helping, which one refuses to admit to one's conscious mind but may cause ponderous soul searchings and internal conflicts. Therefore, the cutting off point between stress and overstress must be clearly evaluated to avoid being self defeating and counterproductive. This is where Murshid's wisdom regarding balance in life proves to be a saving grace.
One should be wary of the personal satisfaction of helping as witnessed in a number of do-gooders and philanthropists. It escalates patronization. People feel indebted to one's generosity as if strings are attached to one's beneficence and it culminates in sheer crass egotism. St. Vincent de Paul, who created hospitals for the poor in France, once said that those whom you have benefitted nurture an unconscious resentment against you for the dependence in which you have placed them. Is the answer in anonymous, impersonal service? Institutional welfare with all its positive side has proven its inadequacy in dealing with the roots of human problems by merely providing palliatives.
Jemaluddin Bolling, who is one of the U.S. pioneers in foodbanks and has provided shelters for numberless people, said that the problem is deeper than just providing food and shelter to the homeless. Behind their inability to cope is a broken self-image, low self-esteem and abysmal loneliness and ejection. The real issue is helping people to convince themselves that they can do something useful by giving them a chance to find an activity that is not too challenging, yet moderately rewarding. The public services do not know how to meet that problem nor can this be institutionalized. The trouble with an impersonal system is first, that it lends itself to terrible abuses and second, it tends to take away personal incentive and effort by making people rely on the system rather than explore their resourcefulness.
It is only under stress that one's latent resourcefulness is discovered and actuated. We are living at a time when an increasing section of the public is pushed out of the active sector because of their inability to cope with the increased demands for technological skills. They do not stand a chance competing with a growing number of highly skilled people. The dejected ones are the victims of our relentless progress into automation and eventually, computing robotology. In additional, our trade union laws chase the unskilled out of the feasible brackets where unemployment is elicited.
Our affluence has created a demand; in turn, that demand is creating a supply. More and more people are sensitive to this call and are willing to help. In fact, if most people were aware of the extent of the despair of other people, they would do something about it. Unfortunately, most people do not quite know which is the beset way to make use of their services and there has been, up to the present, very little coordination between the supply and the demand. The momentous proliferation of personal computers in our time open up a whole new scope to deal with just this; to form a clearing station where people wishing to volunteer help may be brought into contact with those who need help and find out which is the most effective way of helping. This was the purpose of the Rescue Network Operation. As you know, it never really took off, except in the case of welfare, the Hope Project in Delhi and the Food bank in Atlanta, plus the efforts of quite a number of members working locally to help people unassumingly. But we never came across those who, having the skills, where able to give their time setting up a computer network.
We are living a second chapter in the unfoldment of our Sufi work where we find that quite a number of mureeds have graduated in our school to the point where they feel a need to the second step, which is to put the spiritual teaching to practice and service is the way to do it. This was the meaning of the Brotherhood activity of the Sufi Movement created by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, which so far, has never gotten off the ground completely, except in my Inter-Religious Congress, Omega Institute, and any welfare project, but here is much more that one can do. I would suggest calling it the Brother/Sisterhood activity and I suggest that Centers organize meetings in which members share ideas about creative ways of service and then spring into action.
It is not fulfilling to simply pursue one's personal advantage in life. Most evolved people need to serve a purpose beyond their own personal one in which the potentialities in their being attain fruition.

The Ten Sufi Thoughts

Hazrat Inayat Khan set forth ten thoughts, which form the basic creed of Universal Sufism:

• There is one God the Eternal, the Only Being, None exists save God

• There is one master the Guiding Spirit of all souls, who constantly leads all followers toward the Light.

• There is one Holy Book the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture that can enlighten the reader.

• There is one Religion the unswerving progress in the right direction, toward the Ideal, which fulfills the life's purpose of every soul

• There is one Law, the Law of Reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience together with a sense of awakened justice

• There is one Family, the human family, which unites the children of Earth indiscriminately in the parenthood of God

• There is one Moral Principle the love which springs forth from a willing heart, surrendered in service to God and humanity, and which blooms in deeds of beneficence

• There is one Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects, from the seen to the unseen

• There is one Truth the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of Wisdom

• There is one Path the effacement of the limited self in the unlimited, which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all Perfection