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The Federation of the Su Message Spring 2006Volume Seven
Toward the
A Journal of Unity
including
The Problem of the Day
The Sacred Circle
Living Baraka
Spreading Our Wings
Imagining Reality
and more

The Message in Our Time
Federation of the Su Message
T
he Federation of the Su Message was originally formed by the International Headquarters of the Su
Movement and the Su Ruhaniat International out of a shared devotion to Hazrat Inayat Khan and the
Su Message, the Message for our time. Its purpose was and is to realize and express harmony and co-opera-
tion among all organizations, leaders and mureeds who trace their origins to the teachings of Hazrat Inayat
Khan. We understand that different streams of this transmission may have different ways of interpreting
and representing these teachings and different understandings about initiations and ordinations, and we
wish to respect each and every stream that has a genuine intention of being a vehicle for sharing the Su
Message with humanity.
Our purpose therefore is to continue working on a structure that will allow for all such groups to come
together in dialogue and to encourage friendships across organizational lines. In this way we can learn from
each other and engage in real collaborative work. By doing so we will begin to create a united Brotherhood/
Sisterhood activity as envisioned for the world by Hazrat Inayat Khan. By doing spiritual practices together
and listening to each others stories, we will help to build an atmosphere of mutual respect for each other in
the hope of opening possibilities for working together in the other Su activities wherever this is desirable
and possible. We are condent that our shared devotion for the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan will help
us to set aside partisan differences and meet together in harmony.
Guidelines
The Federation will be governed by a Council of equal numbers of at least three representatives of each
member organization, including a Chair, a Vice-President and a Delegate. It will be co-chaired by the Chairs
from each organization. Except for the Chairs, who are ex ofcio members of the Council, their terms of
ofce will be three years, after which they can be reelected or reappointed by their respective organizations.
In addition to these representatives, each member organization can invite two non-voting participants to
any Council meeting. Spouses of voting members may also attend as non-voting participants. The Council
will meet at least once a year, in Europe or in North America. Traveling costs for Council members will be
borne individually or by the respective organizations, but will not be paid for by the Federation.
1. The Chair can temporarily delegate their seat to their respective Vice-President.
2. In the event of the passing or incapacity of a Chair, the succeeding Chair is selected by the respective
organization.
3. A Chair may only give their proxy to a Council member from their respective organization.
4. The Council will aim for consensus in its decisions; if this is not possible, decisions can be taken by a
qualied majority of three-fourths of its members. It is hoped that Council decisions will represent the
collective will of the member organizations, and that member organizations will feel encouraged and
inspired to implement them, but the decisions of the Federation Council will not be binding on the
member organizations.

Every eort has been made to secure permission to reproduce the images in this issue. Any
additional copyright holders are invited to contact the editor so that proper credit can be given in future issues.
Department:
An Indian Pilgrimage by Pir-o-Murshid Mushara Moulamia Khan ......................... 57
Heirlooms: offerings from our past
Table of Contents
Editorial .......................................................................................................................5
Te Problem of the Day by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan .....................................6
Te Message in Our Time by Hidayat Inayat-Khan .....................................................12
Te Sacred Circle by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis and Saadi Douglas-Klotz ......................16
Zaynabs Wedding Meal a poem by Tamam Kahn ........................................................31
Living Baraka a talk by Wali Ali Meyer ........................................................................32
Spreading Our Wings to Spread the Message
a letter from Hannah Lagasse and Michal Schouwenaar .................................35
Imagining Reality by Krishna Ste. Marie Terrien ........................................................37
Impressions of a Visit by Stephanie Nuria Sabato .........................................................46
Making the Message a Reality by Maharani de Caluw ................................................51
Modern Life and Prayer by Rashid and Jalila Guerra ..................................................54
Report from India by Nawab William Pasnak .............................................................62
From a Christian Service to a Universal Worship by Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss ...............65
White Jasmine by Nawab William Pasnak ..................................................................68
Calendar of Some Events ............................................................................................70
Some of Our Contributors .........................................................................................74
Published by: Te Federation of the Su Message
Editors: Nawab William Pasnak and Amrita Skye Blaine
Special thanks to the Sta of this issue: Attar Boom and Nirtan Ekaterina Pasnak
Language: With regard to general usage, readers are reminded that Toward the Onea
Journal of Unity is an international publication, and therefore both European and North
American conventions may be observed. With regard to the specic issue of gender, it
should be noted that some of the material which from time to time appears in these pages
found expression before there was any effort to remove gender discrimination from common
usage. Out of respect for our historical sources, we have left the language as it was originally
given, feeling that a careful reading of the texts in question reveals open-hearted inclusion
rather than an intent to exclude any group. Nevertheless, we offer our sincere apologies to
any who feel alienated by the choice of words herein.
Opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the
Federation of the Su Message or its member organizations.
We welcome submissions of articles and artwork, but suggest you discuss your submission
with us rst. If at all possible, articles should be in digital format, and art work in hard
copy. Every effort will be made to return art work promptly, but Toward the One cannot be
responsible for lost or damaged material.
Mail to: Toward the One, c/o SRI, PO Box 51118, Eugene, OR 97405 USA
Nawab Pasnak: 613-738-7370, Email: wepasnak@ca.inter.net
Amrita Skye Blaine: 541-345-5223, Email: ruhaniat@mail.com or skyeblaine@comcast.net
5 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Editorial
Nawab William Pasnak and Amrita Skye Blaine
I
t is safe to assume that all of our communitythe readers, writers, friends, family, editors
and collective publishers of Toward the Onehave been deeply touched by the Su Message
brought by Hazrat Inayat Khan: not a message of Susm, but the same divine message which
has always been, spoken this time in the tone and manner of the Sus.
It is, Hazrat Inayat Khan said, the message of our time, the message of the age, and like
every message, it will not have reached its fulllment until it has been received and understood
by those to whom it is addressed, which is to say, all of humanity. Considering the state of
the world, we can be sure this has not yet happened, and it was with this in mind that we set
the challenge of addressing in this issue the problems facing the Message in our time, and
how to overcome them.
Te responses have been wide-ranging and insightful, with a keen awareness of the practical
(In Imagining Reality, Krishna Ste. Marie Terrien asks, Howdoes Hazrat Inayat Khans
message of Love, Harmony and Beauty play out here on the outskirts of Edenin the economic
reality of transforming nature into a living?) but without getting bound up in the political
or the technical. Rashid and Jalila Guerra propose a greater reliance on prayer; Maharani de
Caluw says we can make the message a reality by serving others; Michal Schouwenaar and
Hannah Lagasse suggest we spread the wings of our collective hearts to spread the message,
and Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss oers a personal reection on the form and meaning of the
Universal Worship, which of course is intended to overcome the distinctions and dierences
which divide.
Perhaps the musings of this issue will not bring about any dramatic acceleration in the
progress of the message, but it is important to keep the subject in mind. If we only come
to the teachings of Susm for our own benet, we miss, among other things, an important
opportunity of service. And yet, paradoxically, if there is anything that unites the various themes
and reections of our writers in this issue, it could be this: if we dont live it, we cant give it. If
we dont make the message a reality in our own lives, there is no way it can inuence another
life. In other words, and not to steal the thunder of our deeply appreciated contributors in
the following pages, all we have to oer to the problem of the day is us.

Religion, coming from the root religio, to tie together, is meant to unite humanity, but
it often seems to be the cause of discord and separation. Te theme of our next issue will be,
One ideal, many faiths. Proposals for unique, profound and beautifully crafted articles and
imagery are most heartily welcome, and should reach the editors by October 15th.
6 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
The Problem of the Day
Extracts from Su Mysticism
by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
T
he hustle and bustle of life leaves a man
very little time to think of his general
condition. Te only news he receives is
from the newspapers, and so he depends upon
the papers for his ideas; and the intoxication of
life leaves him very little time to think about
the real meaning of life. When he looks around
him and considers the condition of the nations
today, he nds that in spite of all the progress
there is an increase in ill-feeling between them.
Friendship exists only for self-interest. A nation
only thinks about its own interest whether it has
to deal with friend or enemy; and if he consid-
ers the world as a body, he can say that poison
has been put into its heart, owing to the hatred
which people feel towards one another.
No period like this can be traced in the history
of the world; this age has accomplished a much
greater destruction than ever before. It reminds
one of a spider, which weaves its web for its
own comfort but cannot get out of the web it
has made for itself. And if one goes to the root
of this subject one sees that all this disorder has
been caused by the spirit of materialism. Money
seems to be the only gain and the only aim. It is
undeniable that when one is continually thinking
of such a subject all ones thoughts and energy
will go in that direction, and perhaps in the end
man awakens and nds that all his life he has
given his thoughts to something which does
not last, which does not even exist, and which
is only an illusion.
No doubt this pessimism is the bridge from
one optimism to another, and it may be said to
be disinterestedness, or Vairagya, as it is called
in Vedanta terms. It is not the man who leaves
the world who is great, but the one who lives
in the world, understanding the diculties
and troubles that belong to humanity. It is he
who sees not his little self, but the whole. Jesus
Christ taught us to think of our fellow-men,
to love our fellow-men. And what do we see
today? Diculties arising between masters and
workmen; peace conferences where nothing
can be decided concerning peace. And all this
because the point of view is not there which
makes people say, I will do something for you
and you will do something for me. No, says
everyone, I will look after myself and you will
look after yourself. To serve one another, to love
one another, to work for one another, should
be the aim of life, but man has lost hold of it
altogether.
Look at the central theme of the education
of today. Only a short time is given to the child
to prepare him for the kingliness of life and
the freedom of the spirit. And when the childs
intellect grows, every year more and more it
sees life before it like an ocean which it has to
cross, like something dark awaiting it. And later
when the child has become a man, he gives all
his time to his work, to his oce, and there is
no time even for love or friendship; yet at the
7 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
continued on next page
end he cannot take all these things with him.
After sacricing all his life to these things, what
has he really gained? Trough his external life
in the world the complications of life have only
increased.
In spite of all the progress of modern
civilization that has been made in all departments
of life, such as commerce, industry, politics, and
economics, the question still remains whether
we have really progressed. If one observes the
superciality of the life which man lives today in
the so-called civilized parts of the world, one will
certainly nd that he is far removed from nature
both within and without, and he has become an
exile from the ideal state of life. Te more laws
that are made, the more crimes are committed;
the more mechanisms that are prepared, the
more work increases, and yet little is being done;
the more lawsuits that are brought in court, the
more cases occur; the more physicians, the more
diseases. Cupidity has come to the fore so that
whether one has an aristocratic or a democratic
system, justice seems to be absent.
8 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Also, in spite of the regard for the rights of
women which have been established in this age,
womans responsibility in life has much increased.
She has to ght her battle in the open eld,
which naturally exhausts her energy and courage,
causing her to lose her inherently free nature as
she has constantly to rub against the rough edges
of life. Te prejudice, hatred, and distrust that
exist between nations whether friends or foes,
every nation being absorbed in its own interest
regardless of the people in general, have reected
on the mentality of individuals and have made life
dicult for both rich and poor. Everywhere one
turns one sees material strife; every ideal, every
principle has to be sacriced for it. And yet no
man can be deprived of his human inheritance.
Tere is a treasure in himself which has to be
found. Religion should have helped man, but
the religious authorities have very often failed
to uphold the inner qualities of their religion.
Te question is not what religion one follows,
but how to live ones religion. When religion
has lost its hold on inner life and faith, there is
nothing left. Many people, especially among the
intellectuals, have lost their religion, and among
the younger ones there are a good many who
even dread the name of God.
What is needed today is an education that
will teach humanity to feel the essence of their
religion in everyday life. Man is not put on this
earth to be an angel. He need not be praying in
church all day long, nor go into the wilderness.
He needs only to understand life better. He
must learn to set apart a certain time in the
day to think about his own life and doings. He
must ask himself, Have I done an honest deed
today? Have I proved myself worthy in that
place, in that capacity? In this way he can make
his everyday life a prayer. Among politicians,
doctors, lawyers, merchants it might be possible
to have love as the battery behind every deed,
every action, together with a sense of harmony
behind all these activities.
We need today the religion of tolerance.
In daily life we cannot all meet on the same
ground, being so dierent, having such dierent
capacities, states of evolution, and tasks. So if we
had no tolerance, no desire to forgive, we could
never bring harmony into our soul; for to live
in the world is not easy and every moment of
the day demands a victory. If there is anything
to learn it is this tolerance, and by teaching this
simple religion of tolerance to one another we are
helping the world. It is no use to hold on to the
idea that the world is going from bad to worse,
that the germs of disease will spread and bring
greater calamities. Every mans being is good;
in the depths of his heart there is something
denitely good.
Tere are teachings about healing, but
the best way is the way of character healing,
healing ones own character; in this way instead
of accomplishing miracles, ones whole life can
become a miracle. Te lack of religion today has
created strange beliefs about communicating
with ghosts or fairies, and things one does not
and cannot understand; but all this has very little
to do with religion. Te Bible is full of simple
things and one would be happy if one could
accomplish one of them. Tere has been a great
demand for knowledge and for occult powers, but
with all his intellectuality what has man achieved
beyond the destruction of his brother?
Te need of the world today is not learning,
but how to become considerate towards one
another: to try to nd out in what way happiness
can be brought about, and in this way to realize
that peace which is the longing of every soul;
and to impart it to others, thereby attaining our
lifes goal, the sublimity of life. []
Te unrest which one nds throughout
the world, the diculties among the nations,
the hatred existing among people, the cry of
misery which comes more or less from all sides,
the commercial catastrophes, the political
problems, all these make one wonder what may
be done to nd a solution for the general cry
of humanity. What happens today is that the
dierent institutions try to extinguish the res
9 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
burning here and there, but that can never solve
the problem of the world.
Te rst thing that should be remembered is
that all activities of life are connected with each
other, and if one does not heed this one nds
that while one thing is put in order another thing
goes wrong. It is just like a person who is ill and
who needs sleep and good diet: if he gets sleep
without that diet it will
not do him good, nor
will a good diet without
sleep help him. While
trying to straighten out
commercial diculties
political problems creep
in; while considering
the social questions
moral diculties appear.
The desire to serve
humanity in the work
of reconstruction is the
duty and responsibility of every sensible soul
whatever be his rank or position or qualications
in life; and the rst question to be studied is what
remedy can be found for all the maladies that
manifest on the surface of life today.
Tere is one principal remedy and that is the
changing of the attitude of humanity; it is this
alone which can help in all aspects of life. Tis
attitude can be changed by moral, spiritual, and
religious advancement, and the work that the Su
message has to accomplish lies in this particular
direction; for it is a method which enables man
to have another outlook on life.
Te chief thing that the Su Movement tries
to avoid is sectarianism, which has divided man
in all ages of the worlds history.
Te Su message is not opposed to any
religion, faith, or belief; it is rather a support to
all religions, it is a defense for religions which
are attacked by the followers of other religions.
At the same time the Su Movement provides
humanity with that religion which is in reality
all religions. Te Su Movement is not supposed
to take the whole of humanity in its arms, yet
in the service of the whole of humanity lies
the fulllment of the Su message. Te Su
Movement, therefore, does not stand as a barrier
between a member and his own religious faith,
but as an open door leading to the heart of that
faith. A member of the Movement is a bearer of
the divine message to the followers of whatever
church or sect he may belong to.
Te work of the Su
Movement is not to
collect all the rainwater
in its own tanks, but
to make a way for the
stream of the message to
ow and to supply water
to all the elds of the
world. Te work of the
Su message is sowing;
reaping we shall leave to
humanity to do, for the
elds do not belong to
our particular Movement; all the elds belong
to God. We who are employed to work on this
farm of the world must do what we have to do
and leave the rest to God. Success we do not
trouble about; let those who strive for it seek
some other direction. Truth alone is our success,
for the only lasting success is truth.
World Reconstruction
Especially after a war and the pain that the
world has thereby experienced, people begin to
think again about the subject of reconstruction.
But no doubt every person looks at it according
to his own mentality, and in this way the ideas
about the reconstruction of the world dier
very much.
If we consider the condition of the world as
it is today, we see that its nancial condition,
which is most essential for order and peace, has
become so involved that many people of intellect
and understanding are helpless before this most
dicult problem. No doubt there are those
who will tell us that there is no remedy for the
The Su message is not
opposed to any religion,
faith, or belief; it is rather a
support to all religions, it is
a defense for religions which
are attacked by the followers
of other religions.
10 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
betterment of humanity other than the solution
of the nancial problems; but at the same time
it seems that these problems are becoming daily
more and more dicult and bringing nations
and races and communities towards a greater and
greater destruction. Before a solution is reached
it will be no wonder if a great deal of damage is
done to many nations.
And although, absorbed by their own
problems, men do not think enough about these
things, nevertheless in the end the world in general
will realize the weakness, the feebleness caused by
this disorder and by the unbalanced condition
of the nancial world. Nations and people make
prot out of the losses of other nations and people,
and even if for the moment they may think that
they are beneted, in the end they will realize
that we human beings, whether as individuals
or as a multitude, all depend upon one another.
For instance, if because of one part of ones body
another part suers, it the end there will prove
to be an unbalanced state, a lack of health in the
physical body; and just as health means that all
the organs of the body are in good condition, so
the health of the world means that all nations,
all people, are in a good condition.
Leaving this nancial question and coming
to the problem of education, in spite of all
the progress that has been made in this eld,
any thoughtful person will be struck by the
amount of work which a little child is given to
do, considering its age and its strength. It seems
that in the enthusiasm for making education
richer and richer, a load has been heaped upon
the minds of the children. And what happens?
It is like a dish which was meant to be cooked
for half an hour but is being made ready in ve
minutes. It will perhaps be burnt, or perhaps it
is underdone. Te child knows too much for
its age; it knows what it does not require, what
it does not value, what is a load to it, what is
forced upon its mind. And how few of us stop
to think of this question, that childhood is a
kingliness in itself. It is a gift from above that
the child is growing and that during the time of
its growth it is unaware of the woes and worries
and anxieties of life. Tese are the only days for
experiencing the kingliness of life, the days when
the child should play, when it should be near
to nature, when it should absorb what nature
gradually teaches.
Te whole of childhood is devoted to study,
study of material knowledge; and as soon as the
child has grown into a youth, the burden of life is
put on its shoulders, a burden which is becoming
heavier and heavier for rich and poor. Te result
of this is that there is strife between the political
parties, that there is disagreement between labor
and capital; and this life full of struggle to which
the child opens its eyes never leaves it time to be
one with nature, to dive deep within itself, or to
think beyond this life in the crowd.
When we consider the problem of nations
we become still more perplexed. Te enmity,
hatred, and prejudice which exist between one
nation and another, and the antagonism and
utter selshness which are the central theme of
the relationships and ties between nations, show
that the world is going from bad to worse, and
unrest seems to be all-pervading. Tere seems
to be no trust between nations, no sympathy,
except for their own interest. And what is the
outcome of it? Its impression falls as a reection,
as a shadow upon individuals, turning them also
towards egoism and selshness.
Religion was meant to be the safest, the
only refuge in the world; but at the present
moment, with ever-growing materialism and
overwhelming commercialism, religion seems
to be fading away. A silent indierence towards
religion seems to be increasing, especially in
the countries foremost in civilization; and that
being so, where can man nd the solution of the
problem of the day?
We can also consider this question from a
philosophical point of view. What is construction
and what is reconstruction? A construction is
that which is already made. A newborn child
is a construction. But after a disorder in the
body or in the mind, there comes a need of
11 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
reconstruction. In English there is an expression:
to pull oneself together. Te reconstruction of
the world today means that the world has to
pull itself together. Education, the political,
social, and nancial condition, religion, all
these things which made civilization, seem to
have been scattered; and in order that they may
come together again, the secret of life must be
studied. What is the secret of healing power? It
is making oneself strong enough to pull oneself
together; and that is the secret of the life of the
mystic. Te world has lost its health, and if one
pictures the world as an individual, one can
see what it means to lose ones health. It is just
like illness in the life of an individual; and as
for every illness there is a remedy, so for every
disaster there is a reconstruction.
But people have dierent ideas. Tere is a
pessimist who says, If the world has got to this
state of destruction who can help it, how can it
be helped? Tis is like a person who says, Well, I
have been so ill, I have suered so much, I do not
care. How can I be well now? It is too late. In this
way he holds on to his disease and he cherishes
it, though he does not like it. And then there is
the curious person, who is very anxious to look
at the newspaper and see whether his investments
have gone up or whether they have gone down,
and to see whether there is the probability of
war; and he will excite his friends about it. Ten
there is another person who says, Committees
must be formed, there must be societies and
leagues; congresses must be held, and many more
meetings, many more discussions. Tere seems
to be no end to the discussions and disputes in
order to nd out the ways and means of how to
improve conditions!
I do not mean to say that any eort, in
whatever form, towards the reconstruction
or towards the betterment of conditions is
not worthwhile. But what is most needed is
for us to understand that religion of religions
and that philosophy of philosophies which is
self-knowledge. We shall never understand the
outer life if we do not understand ourselves. It
is knowledge of the self that gives knowledge
of the world. Te politician, the statesman,
however qualied, will dispute about things
for years and years, but he will never come to
a satisfactory conclusion unless he understands
the psychology of life and of the situation. And
so the educationalist will try new schemes but
he will never come to a satisfactory conclusion
unless he has a psychological knowledge of
life, the knowledge which will teach him the
psychology of human nature. But I do not mean
by psychology what is generally understood by
this word; I mean the understanding of the self,
the understanding of the nature and character
of the mind and of the body.
What is health? Health is order. And what is
order? Order is music. Where there is rhythm,
regularity, co-operation, there is harmony, there
is sympathy. Health of mind and health of the
body depend therefore upon the preserving of
that harmony, upon keeping intact that sympathy
which exists in the mind and body. Life in the
world, and especially as we live it amidst the
crowd, will test and try our patience every
moment of the day, and it will be most dicult
to preserve that harmony and peace which is all
happiness. For what is the denition of life? Life
means struggle with friends and battle with foes.
It is continual giving and taking.
And where are we to learn this? All education
and learning and knowledge is acquired, but this
one art is a divine art, and man has inherited it.
Because he is absorbed in the outer learning he
has forgotten it, but it is an art which is known
to the soul; it is his own being; it is the deepest
knowledge that he has in his heart. No progress
in any line that man can make will give him the
satisfaction which his soul is craving for, except
this one which is the art of life, the art of being,
the pursuit of his soul.
In order to further the reconstruction of the
world the only thing possible and the only thing
necessary, before trying to serve humanity, is to
learn the art of being, the art of life, for oneself
and in order to be an example for others.
12 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
A
s we march courageously onward through
the darkness of human ignorance, stead-
fastly displaying the banner of spiritual
liberty, we may perhaps discover that truth could
be interpreted as an invitation to become as liv-
ing altars of all religious beliefs, communicating
in each ones language, while safely holding on
to the only secret that there is to inner peace,
to happiness, to spiritu-
ality: the supremacy of
truth, which cannot be
dened.
There is only one
truth: the nobility of
the heart. Tere is only
one true heart: seless
feelings within. Te inner
self, the all-pervading, is
revealed at all levels of
mystical understanding
when the illusion of
the self is transcended.
Tis is the path of the
wise, who recognize that
all they know is what
they imagine knowing.
Wisdom is only wisdom
when not pretending
to others about ones
own wisdom, but when
oering a silent example
of an awakening to the everlasting riddle: who,
what, why, how, which, whence, whither?
Religious ideals, which were originally
destined to oer a helping hand towards the
realization of truth, tend to be conned within
dierent religious forms and clad in various
garbs by those who do not see that the means to
attain an objective cannot be the goal; the goal
is further still. Te path is the means of reaching
the goal, but if one argues over the authenticity of
the path, one is detained by dierences and can
never ever reach the goal, which is certainly to
become conscious of that Divine heritage which
reveals itself in the awakening to the inner call.
Our Divine heritage can
only be revealed along
the course of a very
thorny path called the
art of personality, and
the journey on this path
requires constant eort
to forge the character
into a living example
of love, harmony and
beauty. One can be a
bringer of happiness
when overlooking all
that disturbs one when
others are not in accord
with ones own thinking,
making thereby every
eort to work on ones
own shortcomings rather
than to judge others.
Even in a fall there is
a hidden stepping-stone
by which one may rise
above shortcomings, distinctions and dierences.
In this way one may tune ones ego to a higher
pitch, so as to harmonize with those whom
one meets, and in whose company one might
discover sparks of hidden guidance. Tere is
no experience in life which is really worthless,
The Message in Our Time
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan
Hidayat Inayat-Khan
13 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
and there is not one moment which is really
wasted, providing one is wise enough to carefully
assemble the elements of past memories and learn
from these with the idea of accomplishing ones
lifes purpose, although ones vision of right and
wrong might not always correspond to that of
others. Each time that we set aside our own ego,
even for a moment, we oer a little bit of our
heart to the Divine Presence, and in return the
light of the Spirit of Guidance becomes brighter
and brighter, so that there remains no shadow
to hide the perfection of the
All-pervading.
Any role that one performs
in the play of life soon
becomes intoxicating, and
under that spell one cherishes
the illusion of ones identity.
As soon as one discovers that
nothing is really absolute,
however, one realizes that all
is but a momentary game,
whatever be ones condition, whether bright or
gloomy, and that all values are only comparative,
dependent upon the angle from which they are
considered, and only true to a certain extent in
comparison to unlimited truth, which is beyond
all speculation. Te self which one clings to, and
which is only a phantom of ones true identity,
is, however, the channel through which the soul
is ultimately the spectator of all happenings,
reected as images upon a mirror. Yet the images
have only reached its surface without causing any
permanent alteration, leaving the mirror of the
soul immaculately pure.
Every eort towards the fulllment of ones
lifes purpose, whether it be a material or a
spiritual one, brings one step by step to the
ultimate goal. Tis process could be seen as a
humble contribution to the fulllment of the
Divine goal, since the entire creation is in a
constant state of formation according to a central
theme. Te purpose of life is not only to rise to
the greatest heights but also to dive deep into
the deepest depths, whereby the self is lost, but
nds itself again as a result of the widening of
the consciousness, just as the seed nds the
fulllment of its purpose when diving into the
earth and then rising as a plant to spread out in
full bloom under the rays of the sun.
Susm is neither a religion nor a cult,
neither a doctrine nor a dogmatic institution.
Perhaps one could say that Susm has always
been, ever since wisdom was wisdom. Esoteric
schools can be traced as far back as the time of
Abraham, and even earlier.
In Arabia, esoteric schools
were known for their
metaphysical teaching; in
Persia, literature, poetry
and music were the sources
of inspiration; in India,
the esoteric schools were
mainly of a meditative
character. Although these
and others may perhaps
dier slightly in the methods of inner training, yet
all are united in their object, because esotericism
does not belong to just one esoteric school.
Te term Su, meaning wisdom, does not
refer only to ancient schools, known or unknown,
where spiritual concepts blossomed through
the ages and subsequently crystallized within
various orders; it refers in reality to all eorts
made to raise human understanding to a level
of spiritual awakening, which is the outcome of
the purication of the mind from the limitations
of traditional barriers, as well as from ones own
preconceived ideas unconsciously built up day
by day. Wisdom cannot be worded, nor can it
be identied as being the property of one single
transmission because of its universal nature. It
is a message of human rights of thought and
feeling that has been calling since eternity but is
not always heard, which explains why articial
terminologies generally misrepresent true inner
realization. Unless there is an awakening to the
basic moral principles of honesty in spirituality,
There is only one truth:
the nobility of the
heart. There is only one
true heart: seless
feelings within.
14 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
the religious contingent of mankind remains
enslaved by the tyranny of the illusion of
Truth.
Another subject found in Su teaching is the
alchemy of happiness, which, as we know from
fairy tales, is the use of a magic formula to turn
base metal into gold. Tis mystical illustration
symbolizes so beautifully the basic principle
of the inner school of the Sus, where deep
consideration is oered to the transformation of
ones gross ego into a humble attitude of respect,
awakening ones heart to the consciousness of the
privilege of being the temple of God, radiating
Gods love upon all who come ones way.
For a Su, the diversity of names and forms
of the worlds religious doctrines are like veils
covering the phenomenon of the Spirit of
Guidance constantly manifesting at all levels
of evolution. Tis explains why one of the
great ideals of a Su is the awakening of the
heart qualities, resulting in a broader outlook,
reaching far beyond concepts of faith and
belief, and a compassionate attitude toward
the tragic misunderstandings that divide the
earnest followers of religious and philosophical
traditions. Te Su thoughtfully avoids making
a display of speculative concepts, using only the
language of the heart when communicating
with others, respectful of all interpretations of
the one and only object of worship.
All down the ages, the world Messengers
have come to humanity with the great ideal of
liberating the religious impulse from the various
dogmas that over and over again through the
centuries have built up speculative theories
about abstract concepts. Te followers of the
followers of the followers impose these forms
upon innocent believers, perpetuating thereby
the spectre of fanaticism even in this age when
science has successfully catapulted factual
knowledge as far as the surface of the moon,
beyond the tragic limitations of what is held as
religious knowledge describing heaven in terms
which appeal to the ignorant.
Te message of all times, which is sounding
again in our century, reminds mankind that
those religious traditions highly respected within
the museum of the past now face the reality of
new visions, such as the concept of the unity of
religious ideals. Obviously, this concept becomes
a normal understanding as soon as ones inner
awareness opens to the light of the pearls of
the ocean unseen displayed in all religious
symbolism. Tis light, which is hidden beneath
so many layers of disguise, pretence, and fanatical
thinking, may also be seen within ones own heart,
which, to the mystic, is the living altar.
Te Divine Message, which comes in all ages
under dierent names, is now the message of
wisdom. Tis message is not meant only for a
certain culture nor is it destined for just one part
of the world; it is for the whole of humanity. It
is a universal message, expressed in a Universal
Worship inspired by teachings from the great
religions, known and unknown to the world
at large. Te religious ideal is focused upon the
Spirit of Guidance, the Teacher of all teachers,
oering inspiration to the world of science,
freedom to the world of art, liberty to the social
world, and to the religious world, the spirit of
guidance oers the realization of the Divine
within all creation.
To the question, What is the Message?
the answer diers in accordance with the
understanding, because each person represents
a dierent point of view, yet all venture to
drink from the same water, whether it be called
a stream, a river, a lake, a sea, an ocean or the
Divine source itself.
Receiving the Divine Message
Tere are two ways of receiving the Divine
message: either through the heart or through
the mind. Te message received through the
mind will whirl around in the head until the
wind of reason rises and blows it away. Te
message received through the heart will settle
in the depths, awakening virtues, merits and
inspiration, but the heart requires preparation
15 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
in a process through which one overcomes
the false identities of the self. And then, when
discovering the real self, one oers the limited
ego as a sacrice to the truth within.
A spiritual ideal is like a ladder that helps one
to reach up to the understanding of the purpose
for which the Message has always been given.
Terefore condence and trust in the Message
oer the strength to stand rm in the service of
God and humanity, and one should never let
oneself become discouraged by lack of success,
which everyone experiences in some way or other
in this limited world.
Te Message is in the seedling period, and
the seed has not yet grown into a plant. Te time
shall come when this seed shall become a tree,
and it shall then be able to support itself with
its own strength. Our responsibility, therefore,
is to tend this little seedling with much care, to
rear it, to water it, to oer it sun and air, and to
let it grow and spread, so that some day it shall
produce the fruits and owers that the Message
is destined to oer to humanity. Te Message
may be likened to the rain which is intended
for each particular season, with the purpose of
helping the plants and trees to grow, and to give
to the earth its sustenance, besides also making
the rivers run full, and the sea rejoice with the
coming of water from the clouds. And as rain is
the answer to the need of the earth, so is Gods
message the answer to the need of humanity.
Te Message should not be regarded as
just something to study like a science, or as
a book of new ideas and new theories, but as
something given in the form of higher ideals.
Tere shall always be diculties, because of the
diculty in understanding the truth, as well as
of distinguishing truth from falsehood, which
has always been the cause of misunderstandings.
Human eorts are limited, human means are
limited, and the human grasp of wisdom may
be limited, but truth cannot be limited, and
so there is no reason to be discouraged. Truth
shall never fail.
Wherever the Message of God was given to
the world, and at whatever period, its central
theme was human brotherhood and sisterhood.
Te forms of the religions and the interpretations
brought in the scriptures are secondary. When
diving deeper into this subject, one shall nd that
the various teachings do not dier very much. If
there is a dierence it is either one of terms or in
the way in which people have understood them.
Terefore, the dierence is not in the teaching;
if one nds a dierence, it is because one wants
to nd it, just as when one wants to nd a fault
in the best person, one nds it, and when one
wants to nd some good in the worst person,
one also nds it.
Te more one shall widen ones view of
the horizon, the more one shall see beyond
the limitations of preconceived ideas, and the
more one shall realize that one cannot judge
great personalities only from historical legends.
Dierences arise from the views of each person,
according to the individual conception of the
teacher. But when one realises the greatness of
the bringers of the Message, one discovers the
true magic of their divine personalities, which
have struck the hearts of millions of people
through the ages.
Te Su Message given to the world today
is found in the prayers Saum and Salat. During
these prayers, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists,
and Hindus can stand shoulder to shoulder
in a universal congregation. In this universal
worship of God no one shall miss the name of
the saviour whom they worship. Some day all
shall awaken to the idea that a divine personality
has the names of all teachers, saints, sages and
prophets, and even more names, known and
unknown to the world.
Te prayers Saum and Salat are like pillars
upon which the entire structure of the Su
teaching stands. Tese prayers oer an appeal
from the heart, uniting races, nations and faiths,
independent of religious principles and various
conceptions of truth.
16 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
T
he book of bitterness has closed.
A new cycle has denitely begun.
It is obvious that there is a huge
integrative movement going on. Tis may be
indicative of the Aquarian Age, for something
like this is certainly going on. Te group has
displaced the individual, but it is a dynamic,
organic group, demonstrating I am the vine
and ye are the branches thereof.
Samuel L. Lewis, December 1. 1968
(Suf Vision and Initiation, pg. 324)
1. Formation of the Group Unit in the
Presence of a Teacher
VOICE OF SAM: Te presence of the Teacher,
guru or sheikh facilitates the formation of a
group-unit. Tere are several positions which the
teacher can assume. One is to be in the circle of
the groupas if at its heart-centerto breathe
with his whole love-cosmic-consciousness in and
out. In that manner the atmosphere of the room,
building or arena is permeated by holy vibrations
and becomes replete with blessings and powers
(siddhis). In such cases lectures are not necessary
and speech may be out of place.
COMMENTARY: Tis is demonstrated in the
Dances of Universal Peace. Te Dances are more
than a collection of steps, music or even phrases,
however sacred. Without the inner realization
of a living person to activate the ingredients,
nothing happens. Sometimes the inner realiza-
tion of a member of the circle exceeds that of the
teacher. In that case, all benet nonetheless.
And when the teacher is not feeling very mag-
netic, if the current is blocked, then it is better
to be part of the circle and oer ones surrender
or fana rather than ones realization or baka. As
Mevlana says: If nothing else, oer your dry,
hypocritical, agnostic prayer, because the Only
Being, in innite mercy, accepts bad coin.
VOICE OF SAM: But the Teacher may also sit
before her/his disciples and before the multitude
and carry on the same attunement-concentra-
tion. If there are only disciples and the Teacher
wishes to speak, the best magnetic results come
when they sit before him or her in the form of a
semicircle. In that case they not only receive the
benecent, holy rays of their Teacher but also,
being related one to another, help to establish
mutual concord and harmony.
COMMENTARY: Tis is clearly demonstrated
in the Healing Ritual of Hazrat Inayat Khan,
where the conductor conducts the current
channeled from the One through the group
healing battery formed. Te presence of one
sincere student in a crowd of hundreds can
activate the transmission of blessing that may
come through the Teacher. At the same time, the
person sitting in the place of the Teacher must
be surrendered inwardly to her/his own highest
The Sacred Circle:
Te Teacher And Te Group In Spiritual Organization
Draft Commentary on Four Chapters of Introduction to Spiritual Brotherhood
by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Su Ahmed Murad Chishti-SAM)
by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Su Saadi Shakur Chishti)
Toward the One,
the perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the only Being,
united with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the Master,
the Spirit of Guidance.
17 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
purpose and guidance, in the form of their own
living teacher, in the seen or unseen. As Kabir
says, when one ower opens, ordinarily dozens
open. It is the primary work of those who sit in
the place of the Teacher to create accommoda-
tion or living magnetic potential, in order for
the unseen teaching, which transcends words,
to come through.
VOICE OF SAM: It cannot be emphasized too
strongly that the living presence of the Teacher
has a determinative eect in establishing cen-
ters of baraka or blessing, so that for centuries
thereafter people may benet by coming to such
a sacred abode. On the part of the Teacher, it
may be relatively unimportant whether s/he
maintains silent meditations and concentra-
tions, speaks to the select few or to the larger
generality, restricts him/herself to instruction or
performs healing and miracles. Te Teacher is
the one with the vision and foresight, and his/her
action is determined by an outlook usually not
common to even the chosen disciples.
COMMENTARY: In other words, vision is not
a matter of a popularity contest, or trying to be
nice. As Hazrat Inayat Khan says, What the
world calls success is like a dolls wedding. No
doubt the ego-mind can attach itself to a vision-
ary state and this can lead to the self-delusion
that causes abuse. For this reason no one sits
or stands in the place of the Teacher without
having genuinely beenand continuing to
bea student. Murshid Samuel L. Lewis felt
that, despite his inner relationship with Hazrat
Inayat Khan, which continued after the latters
passing, it was always necessary to have a guide
in human form to act as a check on his ego.
VOICE OF SAM: Te state of the Teacher is
known as baka, and the maqam or grade of it
may be determined by him or herself. If it is too
high or noble it is like spreading many blessings
over a large area, so that few are accumulated
at a single point. If it is not so high, it is like
focusing a light so that all within range can
Saadi Douglas-Klotz Murshid Samuel L. Lewis
18 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
obtain the maximum benet. Te state of the
pupil is fanaeacement or surrenderand
the maqam of the students fana determines
his grade of evolution and sometimes her/his
spiritual status.
COMMENTARY: Baka means realization:
in the words of Murshid Samuel Lewis, the
Teacher is the positive pole of the battery. Fana
means surrender: the student is the receptive
pole. When the current ows, both feel a type
of ecstasy.
Tis can happen one-to-one or in a group
where the vibration has reached a harmonious
pitch. In either case, the way in which Teacher
or student learn how to make this experience a
regular, reliable reality has to do with maqam
the level of realization that each is able to carry
forth in everyday life. Tis is the challenge that
one faces constantly, no matter what hal (state)
or maqam (station) one is in. Or as the Buddha
said in his words of farewell: Dont put any false
heads above your own. Work out your salvation
with diligence.
VOICE OF SAM: For untold centuries gurus
have given open instructions as well as silent
communications to disciples. Tese commu-
nications are usually in the form of breaths or
love-powers, but sometimes they take on other
forms. When they lead to much phenomena
there is usually less blessing in them. Blessings
may be accumulated, but when phenomena are
manifested the vibrations have completed their
usefulness and are transmuted or transposed.
COMMENTARY: What is most outwardly
miraculous or awe-inspiring is not most pen-
etrating. Spiritual magnetism may be wasted as
personal charisma aimed at attracting crowds or
popularity. What is needed is the bestowal of
blessing by each and all, whether acknowledged
outwardly as teacher or student. Tis type
of work has little to do even with acknowledg-
ment, but when attuned, those who have the
eyes to see, do see, and recognize each other.
Heart speaks to heart and soul to soul (Hazrat
Inayat Khan).
VOICE OF SAM: Love itself is the great phe-
nomenon, and it is needed more than ever today
because of the huge, catastrophic, destructive
forces unleashed upon earth. However, love
without self-sacrice is very limited in its scope;
it may even be useless. Terefore, the God-re-
alized person comes to x the centers for the
transmissions of love and blessings, and these
sacred centers may be called temples, whether
there are buildings there or not.
COMMENTARY: Or as Jesus said, each person
is a temple, a center for blessing to accumulate,
whether s/he knows it or not. Tis heart-mag-
netism is not what usually passes for love in
Western culture, which in a religious, psychic
or cultic sense has more to do with sentimental-
ity, romantic myth or addiction to control. Te
sacrice of the self puries love, and great love
can lead to greater fana, even when the experi-
ence also brings pain.
VOICE OF SAM: All the great saints and
holy ones are the embodiments of love. Teir
personalities have been perfected because of
their hearts progress. When the heart touches
a certain plane it bursts into ame, so to speak,
and that ame touches the many planes of the
universe. Tis ame is really unquenchable. It is
that water which Christ spoke of, the partak-
ing of which ended all thirst. By it and through
it one can see into and touch the personalities of
all attuned easily and of all attuned less easily.
COMMENTARY: Te heart that bursts into
ame is beyond analysis, psycho- or otherwise.
Te experience transcends the emotional-psy-
chic plane, and while therapy may be a necessary
preparation for it, it can only free one enough
from the strings of negative past impressions
that this super-therapeutic experience becomes
19 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
a reality. Tis is the meaning of the statement
in Te Inner Life (Hazrat Inayat Khan) that
all wishes of the mureed must be fullled, all
misgivings about the journey overcome, before
one embarks on the spiritual path. Te heart as
mirror is the realm of karma. Te heart as ame
is the realm of dharma.
VOICE OF SAM: When two or three are
gathered together in the Name of the Perfect
Teacher, they form a single embodiment of
consciousness. Tis is an incomplete translation.
Te Shem of the Hebrews is hardly described by
our limited word name. It means that renown
which has come to one because of that persons
absorption of living-light. It is the living-light
determining personality which was called Shem
in Hebrew. It is the coming into consciousness
of this living-light which makes for spiritual and
holy sister-brotherhood. Te Perfect Masters
bring this light in complete form; other Masters
preserve it in complete form or bring it in less
complete form.
COMMENTARY: To be perfect means to be
complete in the mystical sense of the Semitic
languages like Hebrew. Te heart that encom-
passes the willing surrender and cooperation of
the complete range of feelings, emotions and
diversity present in the nafs becomes a complete
channel for Shem. Tis coming together inside
is mirrored outside when two or three meet in
complete wholeheartedness in order to channel
and direct divine light. Te Healing Ritual of
Hazrat Inayat Khan demonstrates this divine
cooperation, and, to the extent of the attun-
ement of the participants, also exemplies the
group functioning as both Saint and Master. In
the language of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Saint
says: Use us for the purpose that Ty wisdom
chooseth. Te Master says: In unison with the
Will of God, we will....
VOICE OF SAM: Te Teacher carries this light
and its vibrations. Te emanations of it exude
through the eyes, breath, mouth, hands and feet.
Terefore the very footsteps which the Master
takes become holy, and the ground upon which
the Master has walked becomes sanctied. Tis
is not a mere belief or superstition. Tere is an
actual emanation deposited by the feet where
they walk, and the vibrations thereof are caught
by the ground. If the Master walks upon build-
ing oors the vibrations and blessings remain
only for a while, but where blessed feet touch
the solid earth, the blessings remain indenitely.
Many healings can be ascribed to places where
holy personages have dwelt.
COMMENTARY: Tis subject is discussed at
length in Te Bestowal of Blessing (by Murshid
Samuel L. Lewis.) In reality, every pair of feet
becomes blessed feet at the instant when that be-
ing becomes a channel for blessing. Te Dances
of Universal Peace provide the accommodation
for this to become a reality, even for the person
who may have no previous experience or train-
ing in them. As the initiate develops further, the
Walks enable her/him to integrate these states
of ecstasy as an everyday experience of blessing,
with less and less attachment on the part of the
ego to doing anything.
VOICE OF SAM: Today the Teacher brings
living presence into the midst of disciples. Te
Teacher animates them with spiritual fervor.
Tey are drawn to the Teacher and to one an-
other by sacred love. Tey become a compact
unit, which can and should act as a unit in all
things. Tis is the ideal pattern after which other
lesser patterns have been made. And it is thus
that Hierarchy operates upon the planes above
and below, with the seen and unseen beings.
COMMENTARY: Hierarchy is no longer an
acceptable word today, even in spiritual circles.
Yet all sacred traditions acknowledge the dier-
ence of experience and realization between the
accomplished and the neophyte, master and
20 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
apprentice. If there were no dierence in bless-
ing-potential, the current of blessing would not
ow and there would be no need for the spiritual
path. If diversity were not a basic principle of
creation, we would all be one undierenti-
ated smudge along with all the plants, animals
and galaxies that preceded us. In actuality, the
popular spiritual or New Age path today often
suers from the antithesis of the real hierarchy
described by Murshid. Tis is simply the tyr-
anny of the ego: the leveling of everyone to the
same degree of knowing little or nothing except
jargon. Only in a circle that develops concen-
tration and group attunement through love is
the accommodation for spiritual breakthrough
enabled, as the nafs of each so-called individual,
and the whole group, becomes more pliable
and reective. Tis type of group-unit begins
to function like circles of adepts in the cultures
of old, where miracle and the sacred were not
metaphors but a reality that interpenetrated
everyday life, as the Christian author C.S. Lewis
notes in his book on Miracles.
VOICE OF SAM: Te organization thus formed
may be formal or not. If too informal it will pres-
ent no ideal to the generality. But if too formal it
will lead to the institution of ceremonies and to
the establishment of another priesthood, which
in its turn will decoy and disrupt humanity, as
is the wont of priest craft. So the ideal will be to
establish an equilibrium, suited to the needs of
the times, so that advantages may be taken of all
the progress of science and technology, so that
the steps forward inwardly can be taken without
losing ground outwardly. Tus humanity may
be led toward the light on all planes.
COMMENTARY: Te challenge to initiates
today is to envision new types of group orga-
nization, which do not unconsciously imitate
the dominant organizational structures of the
surrounding consumer culture, all of which
operate from the gratication of the mind,
ego and desire-nature. Whether capitalist or
socialist, so-called New Age or fundamentalist,
the same issues remain as challenges, the same
obstacles to a group genuinely acting as a center
of guidance. Te Dances of Universal Peace, the
Healing Ritual and other collaborative rituals
provide training wheels that are preparing us,
and our children, for more advanced forms of
cooperation and wise action. In the meantime,
most spiritual organizations continue to suer
from the trap of deeming mission more impor-
tant than process, ideals more important than
relationships. Process is the real working out of
dharma with diligence. Whether in a position
of leadership or not, we may each be hearing
no more than the faintest echo of the real Mis-
sion, which is what Hazrat Inayat Khan called
the wordless Message, contained in the sphere
of Being itself. As Murshid Moineddin writes
in Jobs Tears: I am not Murshid; we are
Murshid. I do not have all the answers; we may
have the answers.

2. Formation of the Group-Unit in the
Absence of a Teacher
VOICE OF SAM: After the Prophet Moham-
med was withdrawn from outer functions, his
close friend and disciple Abu Bakr Siddiq said,
Tose who worshipped the Prophet, let them
know that Mohammed is dead, but those that
worshipped the Creator of all, know that He is
ever-living, eternal. Tus it may be said that
while the Masters may be the harbingers of the
light and united with the light while they are
on earth, we must learn that actually the light
is God Him/Herself, that it is in all people and
that all people are in it.
COMMENTARY: In other words, as the
Buddha is reported to have said, All being are
already enlightened, they simply dont know it.
Nevertheless, it is one thing to say, In God we
live and move and have our being, and another
to realize it on the level of spiritual leadership.
Egocentric claims either to leadership or equally
21 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
egocentric criticisms of leadership by those who
have not demonstrated spiritual transmission
in practice have plagued all spiritual groups
since the establishment in the inner world of
the functions of Master, Saint and Prophet.
One may roughly date this to a time 10-15,000
years ago when the great Axial Age stories were
rst told to remind humanity of capabilities,
qualities and relationships that were fading from
memory as it began to abandon a nomadic life
in favor of settled existence. If one looks into
the lives of the prophets and saints of both the
Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions, of indig-
enous wisdoms both East and West, one nds a
common struggle with the human tendency to
attempt to control and dogmatize the mystical
state, which itself dictates no ethical code other
than the Golden Rule.
VOICE OF SAM: To preserve this light and to
bring about a maximum of benets therefrom,
various Teachers have used the methods most
suited to their times. Tese methods have very
much in common. All are based upon the estab-
lishment and continued function of some sort of
group-unit, of many working as onein other
words, of a brother/sisterhood. In more recent
years Su Inayat Khan had his disciples and co-
workers sit in a circle, especially in the ritual of
the service known as the Healing Service. Tis
was formed of a group having a leader who was
himself or herself not a Teacher or Master. But
by sitting in the circle and carrying on certain
meditations and concentrations, they made an
accommodation for the light and thus preserved
a modicum of the light that their Master had
brought.
COMMENTARY: Te establishment of a modi-
cum of light is more than no light. Te establish-
ment of a modicum of group co-operation in the
bringing through of spiritual transmission is bet-
ter than the unbridled posturing and politicking
that have pervaded organized and disorganized
religion for the past two to three millennia.
Teachers use suitable means to try to establish
a form or center that will hold the baraka that
they have channeled during their lifetimes. Tis
may include spiritual communities, practices,
writings, recordings or, most importantly, the
passing on of the inner transmission to at least
one student. Paradoxically, it is this transmis-
sion to an individual or individuals that makes
possible the further progression of the group as
a focus for spiritual guidance.
Leadership in any larger sense evokes
not only psychological reactions (the so-called
authority issues of others that include both
inappropriate aversion and attraction to the
leader), but also archetypal reactions. In the
unseen world, vibrational patterns of the human
mind-world over millennia create both shadow
and light around any person who feels a mission
or who steps out of the group-mind. Tis has
probably been so since the individual sense of
I arose in the era mentioned above. Frank
Herberts Dune series of books explores the
story of a man who discovers the limitations of
being a saviour and then attempts to subvert,
invert or otherwise escape the archetypal role to
which he becomes subject.
VOICE OF SAM: Please observe that the ritual
here was not to be considered as a Mass. It was
not completely esoteric. It did not establish
light until the Teacher had prepared an accom-
modation therefore. But it did preserve the light
and blessings in the absence of any developed
personalities: By sitting at a roundtable or in a
circle, the power of the space could be drawn
together and, after being so drawn, directed
and dispersed.
COMMENTARY: While the basic elements
of the Healing Service and other rituals of at-
tunement are not complex, it is the attunement
to the spirit of the Teacher as well as heartfelt
devotion that empowers them. At the same time,
the attachment to the Teacher must not be to
22 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
his/her person; otherwise the ritual degenerates
into mere ritualism. Te heartfelt devotion must
be directed, not to the Teacher, but to God (or at
least Universal Loving-kindness, in the Buddhist
sense), otherwise the ritual likewise degenerates
into a personality cult, similar to some interpre-
tations of the Eucharist in Christianity.
VOICE OF SAM: It is not so dicult to center
and disperse light, but it is harder to do so under
direction, to control the healing and blessing
vibrations and emanations. Quakers and Qui-
etists have held silences, thinking thereby that
inspiration comes more easily. And perhaps it
does. But does this bring wisdom? No act of
human beings can assure the presence of God
unless the Grace of God has already been given.
So the work of the Master is established by the
Master; the work of God is instituted by Gods
representatives. After that, whether the Teacher
is physically or otherwise absent, the disciples
through attunement can carry on his work. It
is thus that Dharma is preserved. It is thus that
the Teachers can work in many places, through
their several disciples and followers.
COMMENTARY: Te absence of the Teacher
mentioned in the title may be of various kinds.
In the sense mentioned here, the Teacher is
never absent, only in some cases not physically,
emotionally or psychically present. On the in-
ner plane, various prophets and Rassouls are
present to dierent extents in dierent bodies,
hence the feeling of closeness or absence that a
devotee feels in relation to them. Jesus saying,
I go to prepare a place for you as well as other
sayings, and the experience of many devotees
(Christian and non-Christian alike) show that
he is closer in his emotional and psychic body
to many people than some other Messengers.
Muhammad, who emphasized I am a man like
you, can primarily be experienced through his
light or etheric body, which is merged with the
archetype of the primal human being, called
Nur-i-Muhammed. Murshid Samuel Lewis
himself said that he would be better known
for his transmission through fana--Pir, that is,
after leaving his physical body, than through his
transmission during his lifetime. At the same
time, it is an undeniable grace and blessing to
have the physical presence of the Teacher living
and breathing in the community. Remembrance
and nostalgia do not substitute for actual sur-
render to a teacher in the esh.
VOICE OF SAM: Although the Spirit of God
is everywhere, although in the silence one may
feel the profundity of it and even draw from
the Divine Wisdom, the inspiration is too
often sporadic or uncertain. Methods have
been used in the Orient whereby a link may be
maintained with the Teacher andwhat is most
importantwith God even when no Teacher
is present.
COMMENTARY: Muhammad emphasized
standing shoulder-to-shoulder with ones
community members in prayer, and during
his lifetime this was done, men and women
together. All faced a direction (rst Jerusalem,
later Mecca) associated with Allah, the One Be-
ing, rather than a physical altar, symbol or priest.
Only after his time were men and women sepa-
rated, and legal precedents and their interpreters
in Islam began to take on sacerdotal status. Te
prayer practiced by Muhammad still remains
one of the most powerful communal methods
of spiritual transmission in the absence of the
Teacher. Te Sus also benet from the practice
by breathing, moving and coming into rhythm
with the person who initiated this practice (that
is, as a form of tassawuri). Te darshan of the
Dharma traditions, by contrast, is one of the
most powerful spiritual transmissions of the
presence and glance of the living teacher. Te
practice degrades markedly when a photograph
is substituted, while the Salat seems to get
stronger the fewer the trappings of institutional
religion present.
23 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
VOICE OF SAM: In the ancient mysteries
they used to sit in a certain manner such as a
semicircle (lunar rite) or full circle (solar rite).
Tis brought forth a full psychic concentration
and thereby established a path whereby the
ner vibrations could pass down to the outer
manifestation. Tis psychic path was a veritable
ladder from profundity to the here-and-now
and from the earth plane back to the heavens,
reaching that inner plane most attuned to the
persons so sitting.
COMMENTARY: On an individual level, this
is Jacobs ladder, a bridge from the seen to the
unseen world. In the modern era, the prevalence
of psychic channels witnesses to the reality of
this possibility, although one might ask how
many channels work both ways, or what entity a
particular person is channeling. As Hazrat Inayat
Khan once said to one of his mureeds, Tere are
as many lying souls on the other side as there are
on this side. On a group level, we can see the
Mevlevi Sema as a profound witness to both the
lunar and solar rites mentioned. Tough an aus-
tere and dicult practice physically, the group
prays for the community, and in a wider sense,
the collected gathering of all beings. While the
presence of the sheikh provides a pole which
centers the ritual, the survival of the form in its
power for the better part of 700 years witnesses
to its ability to survive degradation through both
persecution as well as popular acceptance as a
merely cultural entertainment.
VOICE OF SAM: While the ancient mysteries
may be said to be lost, the eternal verities are
never lost. It is quite possible for people sitting
in the proper manneras prescribed by a Saint
or Teacher suciently evolvedto continue
the work of that Saint or Teacher and maintain
the psychic ladder, so to speak. But no group of
people establishes a holy pathway by self-will,
even with the use of prayers and invocations. If
this were true, we should be seeing the answers
to those prayers in the world today, and it is
most obvious that we do not.
COMMENTARY: In other words, self-will,
even if good will is still self-will. Willing peace
on earth, happiness or any other universal vir-
tue for its own sake will not thereby eect the
goal, if the divine will does not subsume the
human. Jesus prayed that the divine pleasure or
delight (Aramaic, saba) of the universe should
come through him to unite heaven and earth.
Perhaps if more groups dedicated to peace or
understanding through world religion would
add ego-surrender plus delight into their agen-
das, they would be more eective in actually
bringing heaven on earth.
VOICE OF SAM: Yet prayers may be answered,
prayers which from their very inception are in
harmony with the Divine Will. And if people
are really innocent and childlike and their hearts
are awakened and sensitive, they themselves are
open to spirituality. If two or three are gathered
together in the Divine Shemthat is to say,
in the cycle or station of receptivity to Divin-
ityGod will be in their very midst. Tis is true,
always was true, always shall be true.
COMMENTARY: Tat is say, as Rumi did,
Bring your dry, hypocritical prayer if thats all
you have, for God in the divine mercy accepts
bad coin. At the same time, it is a mistake
to confuse being childlike with being child-
ish. God answers prayers that are brought by
whole human beings, complete with aws and
complexities. Again, as Rumi says, God asked
the soul returning to heaven from its earthly
journey, Where are the bumps and scratches
of your trip?
VOICE OF SAM: And the true sacred brother/
sisterhood is established by people who so sit
and so act. Besides this there are certain aids,
aids that have been found most useful through
the ages. One of the most important of these
is music: not that music which appeals to the
senses or to the intellect or even to thee motions,
continued on next page
24 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
but that music which, touching the very depths
of the heart, sensitizes and awakens the heart and
produces a feeling of expansiveness, livingness,
compassion and love. Tis very atmosphere is a
sign of the Divine Shem and these very qualities
are derivatives of attunement with God.
COMMENTARY: Some of this music may
include mantric or sacred phrases and some not.
Te addition of a sacred phrase may help in the
physical or mental sphere to cleanse the vibra-
tions of the devotee, but if chanting degenerates
into emotionalism then no real change occurs.
Te spirit comes and goes like air in a balloon,
but the balloon doesnt change. Te atmosphere
of Divine Shem may come with or without
words, with or without music, with or without
dance. In this day and age, when activity and
complexity have become the keynote, the use
of all suitable means has been blessed by the
hierarchy for the continued establishment of
the dharma upon the earth. Te only sin may
be hypocrisy. [skipping to part 4]
4. Meta-psychics in the New Age
(Part Two, Chapter 6 of Introduction to
Spiritual Brotherhood)
VOICE OF SAM: The New Age will not tol-
erate the sneer, the snide remark, the a priori
rejection, the egocentric appeal to common
sense and those subjectivities that have always
barred progress. There will of course be two
aspects to metapsychic development: the
moral and the direct. The moral is simply the
extension of objectivitythe same as we nd
in the purer sciencesand will substantiate
this opening remark.
COMMENTARY: In other words, the use of
higher faculties to help human beings in actual
situations cannot be denied. At the same time,
the prevalence of wonder-working by certain
personalities East and West, which may be no
more than psychic special eects to attain
celebrity, may have little relevance to everyday
life. Common sense in the sense used here is
not even sense, more an appeal to conventional
wisdom, that is, what has been conveyed or
indoctrinated either by the unexamined assump-
tions of a kind of scientism, which is really an-
other form of religious dogma, or by the media
for purposes of manipulation in order to weaken
the individuals belief in her or him-self.
VOICE OF SAM: Te direction will be simply
that more and more people with previously re-
garded unusual faculties will take their place
in culture and society. Tus while magnetism
was originally associated with the metal iron, it
has been found that all the chemical elements
have some positive and negative magnetic quali-
ties (though often very little). Tus although
radioactivity was originally associated with a
few elements, a universal law was discovered
demonstrating a cosmic harmony as to the
radioactive faculties of every form of matter.
Indeed these cosmic harmonies can be extended
to all properties of all forms of matter.
COMMENTARY: Te challenges of the future
will involve avoiding inhibiting the inner growth
of individuals toward their divine purpose,
which always seeks expression, whether formally
trained or not. If not given proper outlets, these
intuitive impulses can become perverted to vari-
ous forms of intoxication and self-mutilation.
Another challenge will be to prevent all public
institutions of Western culture and society
from being set up and maintained in such a
way that individuals with such developed facul-
ties are prevented from taking part. Again the
dominance of unevolved mental types in even
organizations that purport to higher benet has
been the bane of spiritual organizations from
time immemorial. Some research on Christi-
anity in Egypt has proposed that many early
Christian groups evolved from esoteric schools
to churches simply because the majority of
people were not experiencing the visions that the
25 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
founders had. In this sense, these groups ended
up replicating the mindset of the scribes whom
Jesus condemned: those who were not using
the keys to the malkuta (king/queendom), the
universal realm of vision and power, and who
also did not permit others to do so.
VOICE OF SAM: In perhaps a parallel situa-
tion it will be discovered that all human beings
without exception have certain types of psychic
faculties. Some may be dormant, some may be
nullied by other factors, some may be useless.
On the other hand, many may be well developed
though unrecognized. Honesty and objectivity
will compel recognition. Tat is the rst stage.
COMMENTARY: Fortunately, it is now being
recognized that the type of objectivity needed
to evaluate individuals with such faculties is dif-
ferent from the type that is involved with watch-
ing an apple fall from a window. New models
of research have evolved in order to deal with
what is called the inter-subjective nature of
psychic and psychological phenomena. In other
words, the do-er and the done are part of a eld
that involves the observer and all participants.
Tis seems to be true both at the quantum and
cosmic levelsthe very small and the very large.
In this sense, we see the Su principle of tawhid
or unity trying to express itself in the reformula-
tion of scientic thought.
VOICE OF SAM: Ten it will be found which of
these faculties operate in the daily life, which in
dreams, which in trance, which in meditation and
which in experiences of higher states of conscious-
ness. Tere is far more dishonesty in refusing to
examine facts than in the chicanery of pretenders.
Tere is no positive value in negations. What
must be made clear is that it will be the activities
and later the philosophies of the sensitives which
will add to human knowledge.
COMMENTARY: In many realms there is still
a long way to go. Reports of actual religious
or spiritual experiences are still not recognized
in most academic circles as research. Many
scholars of mysticism or spirituality accept as
research the elaborate schema and taxonomies
of those who have not had the experiences but
who are facile with a certain capacity of mind.
Here the writer of this book looks for a more
rigorous system of evaluating higher faculties
that can both bridge the traditional categories
(for instance, of the classical Sus) with the
psychological categories used to help people
presently labeled abnormal in the Western
medical-clinical world. More than this would be
the understanding that such advanced faculties
are the result of both nature and nurture. Some
souls arrive with a head start, but all can partici-
pate to one degree or another in the awakening
of consciousness.
VOICE OF SAM: We no longer permit, and
in some countries we absolutely forbid, non-sci-
entists from evaluating the operations of those
skilled in laboratory and research techniques.
Tey are mere lookers-on at best. Te same atti-
tudeindeed, the same policywill be applied
to these and all critics. Indeed, the sensitives will
not wish them around.
COMMENTARY: Again, the presence of skep-
tics, or really those who already believe that a
thing is impossible, can alter the eld in which
certain phenomena occur. On the other hand,
the powers of some individuals can sometimes
overwhelm even non-belief, but this is often
not the most evolved or compassionate form of
development. Wonders for mere wonders sake
are not the real issue, although they may be the
most news-worthy for a media addicted to
excitement and celebrity.
VOICE OF SAM: All signs point to the awak-
ening of powers latent within humanity. All
signs point to more and more souls nding
more and more avenues of expression for latent
26 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
faculties. Many scientists already recognize that
they have not studied the operations of mind
and consciousness as they have studied the
behavior of external matter and of the various
instruments and modalities they use. No doubt
the mind itself is much more important than
all instruments and all modalities. No doubt
the mind may have other channels than the
traditional senses. And no doubt the sensoriums
of people are unequal just as their IQs, their
various sense-faculties, their physical prowess,
their appetites and all other aspects of outer
being are unequal.
COMMENTARY: It is the inequality, that is,
the diversity, which should become the hallmark
of future research in this area. While general
categories may be helpful, the capabilities of the
mind and nervous system and entire soma seem
to be much stranger and more wonderful than
ever anticipated. In this regard, the writings of
Dr. Oliver Sacks have done an enormous service
in bringing unusual qualities of the mind and
soma, especially in those who would otherwise
be considered disabled in some sense, to the
attention of the public.
VOICE OF SAM: Tere is already one univer-
sity doing direct, honest, objective research into
reincarnation and former life memories. Tere
are several such universities and institutions on
the Asian continent. Tese people are in a sense
much further out than the Psychic Research
Society of Great Britain. Tey have opened more
doors. But humanity itself will open still more
doors, because fortied by numbers the unusual
and sensitive people will become much bolder,
speak much more freely and thus bring into the
objective world their faculties and knowledge.
COMMENTARY: No doubt this is happening
more and more. Te greatest obstacle to such
people being taken seriously is the progressive
dumbing down of so-called modern Western
peoples through the mass media. People are led
blindly (and deay) to believe whatever they are
told, and in many cases a steady diet of the mass
media leaves them without enough self-coher-
ence or mental energy to be skeptical. Added to
this, one nds the general enervation of people
being forced to work so hard to make economic
ends meet that they generally have not time to
consider aspects of life beyond basic survival.
Education then begins to reect purely utilitar-
ian motives, void of the humanizing inuences
of the liberal arts. By contrast, cultures that still
maintain some connection to their traditional
music, dance and other participatory arts have
an advantage in developing their ner faculties.
Te pursuit and furtherance of what is beautiful
for coming generations both opens the heart to
the sacred as well as to service and concern for
the welfare of others.
VOICE OF SAM: One must be careful here
not to lay down restrictions or norms. We have
seen how disciples of seers and highly advanced
people have tried to establish norms for those
who follow when they themselves have not
aroused their gifts. No doubt there are rules. No
doubt there are laws governing every aspect of
existence. But to have the less advanced police
the more advanced has always led to turmoil and
misunderstanding. Te same cannot be avoided
by advice. Te only possible way is for the less
advanced to become really humble and show a
willingness to accept the larger vistas and more
advanced faculties of forthcoming generations.
Besides this, it will be felt (if not found) that
response to these enlarged faculties will bring
more harmony, more satisfaction, even more
peace than what has been the norm of society.
COMMENTARY: As the writer notes, advice
does not suce. Tis means learning the hard
way, by experience. Institutions and organiza-
tions fall apart and come back together and fall
apart again. As the writer Morris Berman notes
in Te Twilight of American Culture, we
may simply be experiencing a very long cycle of
27 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
swing between periods of human cultural rise
and decay, with those dedicated to wisdom and
compassion taking the monastic option dur-
ing periods of the latter. Facing such a prospect,
the mystic may follow and become one with the
movement of clouds and sand in unison with the
evolving, creative ow of sacred unity.
5. Religion in the New Age
(Part II, Chapter 7 of Introduction to Spiritual
Brotherhood)
VOICE OF SAM: Religion in the New Age will
be based more on human experience. In the end
it will be based entirely on human experience
and on such ritual and methods that stimulate
the advancement of human experience.
COMMENTARY: In practice, this means a
greater amount of openness to sharing ones
spiritual experiences in community, without
envy or greed. In modern Susm itself, this has
not been the norm, but in order for the group
unit as nexus of spiritual authority to evolve,
it must become the norm. Sangha must prog-
ress and grow; otherwise Buddha and Dharma
have no ground. Holding onto the artifacts of
the pasthistorical or emotionalas the basis
of Sangha is the same as a cell holding onto the
atoms and electrons it needs to release in order
to change and replicate.
In the same way, on the material level, the
human relationship and experience of nature
must be preserved over against all forms of subtle
and overt degradation. Otherwise the ground for
the expression and experience of spiritual states
is missing. An education that only includes the
experience of concrete leads to a consciousness
of concrete. Unity means unity with all beings.
Compassion means compassion for all beings.
VOICE OF SAM: Tis will not negate any of
the teachings of the founders of religions but
will gradually eliminate all the deductions,
ceremonies, theologies, credos, formulae and
so forth which obviously arose from the con-
sciousness of the less developed. No doubt these
were needed in times of intellectual darkness,
but during the centuries they have become the
ceilings for much of the culture of humankind.
Tus while raising humanity up, let us say, one
step, they have hindered all progress to higher
developments.
COMMENTARY: Each spiritual tradition
and community is now, consciously or uncon-
sciously, involved in sorting through what is of
enduring value and what was only temporarily
(or perhaps never) helpful. At the same time
a battleone cannot call it anything elseis
underway in each community to answer the
question, Who may call themselves a Chris-
tian, or a Buddhist or a Su? What constitutes
membership and so investment in sorting
through the useful and useless historical baggage
that a community carries with it? Unfortunately,
in many so-called inter-faith circles those with
the largest bank account or property holdings
or best publicity agency exclude other voices
that would prove the diversity the so-called
faith traditions. It might, in fact, be better to
formulate such dialogue groups on the basis of
experience traditions. Such a move is currently
underway in the name of inter-spirituality.
For this to become more than simply another
buzzword, such groups need to keep spiritual
experiences, and those who actually have them,
at their center.
VOICE OF SAM: Indeed, all religionsand
we nd this particularly in Hinduismhave
consciously or unconsciously foisted a status
at much lower levels than humanity is capable
of. In India smitri (tradition) has usurped the
place of the sruti (revelation) despite the fact
that all traditions say srutis are much higher than
smitris. In the religions of revelationJudaism,
Christianity and Islammany of the original
continued on next page
28 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
scriptures are not used at all and those that are
generally are used only in a restricted sense.
COMMENTARY: While the writer of this book
gives the particular example of Hinduism, he
had occasion to see the devastating eects of
tradition honored over revelation and human
concern in the aftermath of Indian indepen-
dence and in the common life of the people.
A similar degradation has occurred in much
of the Islamic world where ijma, or customary
legal precedent, has dominated the actual words
of revelation in Quran, much less the ongoing
revelation through the saints of Allah. Tis has
led to the widespread oppression of women
and children. Te abuses of Christianity in this
regard, extending beyond the theological to
the religious blood feuds of Northern Ireland
and the terrorism of Christian fundamentalists
against medical clinics, are too numerous to
mention. At the same time, large segments of
the Jewish community remain mute in response
not only to the co-opting of the name Jewish
by the state of Israel for many actions not in
accord with Mosaic law, but to its continuing
religious justication for the political exclusion
of many Sephardic and other Israeli Jews, who
are dened legally as not Jews.
VOICE OF SAM: Te founders of every reli-
gion without exception have taught that they
are not unique, that all humanity could reach
their level. Te heredity guardians, the prelates,
the privileged have in eect abrogated this. Tey
have made humanity feel small whereas the
founders tried to show them they were great.
Te New Age people will not be so small. Even
more they will not be barred from associating
with each other. Tey will not accept articial
lines of demarcation; after a while they will not
accept any demarcations at all.
COMMENTARY: The so-called New Age
movement that we see today is exactly the op-
posite. In fact, some groups are worse than the
traditional religions in their predilection for
exclusion, celebrity, spiritual materialism and
dogma. Tis means that in the sense used here
by the writer, we have yet to really see a group
that can be called New Age, whether in the
name of holism, universalism or any other ism.
At the same time, we are seeing movements of
connection across and between various com-
munities, out of which movements like Creation
Spirituality and Jewish Renewal have formed.
VOICE OF SAM: Brother/sisterhood will arise
of itself. It will not come through groups calling
themselves brotherhoods or sisterhoods and
separating themselves from the generality. Such
actions make them sects in the original and only
eective meaning of this word. A sect is a cut
or section. If you make a cut or a section you
belong to a sect. If you by-pass cuts and sections
you belong to a sister/brotherhood. Tis will
become more and more the norm of the future
of humanity.
COMMENTARY: Te Su Hazrat Inayat Khan
used the term brotherhood in order to pro-
mote the spread of what he called a formless
Message. Te Message, as he said, was in the
sphere itself. It was not to be limited to particu-
lar writings or formulations. Nevertheless, labels
and names make convenient conventions, even
when the way they become used works against
the intention of the person who rst used them.
Tis itself is a habit of human nature, a habit
that can be transformed with a teaspoon of what
Murshid might call general semantics: what do
we really mean when we use a word, and does it
mean that to all people who use it?
Te pursuit of normal life, and what it
means for either an individual or a group, remains
the challenge for Susm today. As the writer of
this book said of Pir Maulana Ghaour when
he met him in East Pakistan: He was the most
perfect ordinary human being I ever met. How
does an individual, much less an organization,
become so perfectly ordinary? By tolerance,
29 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
humility and by recognizing that such a thing
as real spiritual guidance (rather than simply the
democracy of the lowest common denominator
or celebrity) does exist. We can also check our
tendency to project our desires to be rescued
from the predicaments of life by our spiritual
teachers and leaders. If the spiritual leaders of
the future are to act as midwives, as Murshid
recommends, then we must all do our individual
share of breathing and pushing.
VOICE OF SAM: To formulate the New Age
is to restrict the New Age. Of course, as more
and more people have the divine experience or
any form of super-mental experience, they will
be raised above the distinctions and dierences
that divide humanity. Universal human beings
need not abolish religion, but they will choose
their form of worship on a higher levelas one
chooses food, clothing, amusements, all the
functions in life. It is only silent meditation to
which all can join, in which all can join.
COMMENTARY: Tis has been tried, but the
silence involved must be one of fullness, not
passivity. Tis means a group could concen-
trate on love, joy, peace and other qualities of
compassion in order to spread this energy to
their communities. In this sense, it fullls the
prescriptions of the Buddha, Jesus and most
other historic prophets, while being limited to
the precise formulations of none.
In another sense, the writers own inspiration
through the Dances of Universal Peace must
evolve to become still more broad and deep,
and perhaps there will also need to be Dances
in silence where each chooses and breathes her
or his own sacred phrase, or from a choice of
sacred phrases. In any case, the evolution of the
Dances must continue with vision and fullness,
not with passivity or from an imitation of mass
culture that substitutes emotional excitement
for inspiration.
VOICE OF SAM: Thus the unity will not
mean uniformity. Te unity need not abolish
diversity. Tere may be a universal religion or
there may be a condition wherein when one
joins a religion one joins all religions automati-
cally. Or there may develop new modes, new
rituals and so forth based on a much greater
knowledge of occult laws (as some Teosophists
once proposed).
COMMENTARY: These new modes may
see new combinations of sacred movements,
phrases or music or they may see a sacralizing
of what was either previously seen as profane
or was ignored completely in Western culture.
Te attempts to create seasonal rituals or rites
of passage that are meaningful in modern and
post-modern culture show this trend.
VOICE OF SAM: Or it may be something quite
new and dierent in its operations. To formulate
the New Age is to restrict the New Age. Tat is
why many now hailed will later be disregarded.
Visions that crystallize are incomplete.
COMMENTARY: And so the importance of
any spiritual group or organization to build
into its mission statement, exibility, even
randomness. Without compost and the creation
of topsoil by using what is discarded, growth
is stunted and after a time, becomes impossible
altogether. Articial fertilizer which in ritual
sees mechanical recordings, amplication and
other electronic eects substituting for the actual
raising of human energyonly helps short-term
growth. In the long run, these methods take
more than they give, from both human beings
and from nature.
Te impetus to perform practices like the
Healing Ritual in places of great historical human
suering also represent the invigoration of the
tradition by engaging with a much wider range
of vibrations than are present in a semi-closed
continued on next page
30 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
group or retreat. A similar impetus has been to
take the Dances of Universal Peace into public
places where active peace making is needed, out
of the comfort zone of circles that can without
vigilance become cultic.
VOICE OF SAM: Te New Age will be uidic,
but the spirit of devotion need not change:
forms yes, spirit no. Terefore, to be too exact
in this regard becomes a self-contradiction. You
cannot hold a cloud in its place or shape, nor
can human beings of a certain period restrict,
formulate or make demands of future cultures,
future mankind.
COMMENTARY: With this disclaimer, both
the writer and the commentator ask for forgive-
ness from the One for anything in this work that
serves to hold another person back from his or
her true purpose in life.
VOICE OF SAM: We can say with assurance
that the religion of the future will be a religion
of free men and free women, of people with en-
larged horizons and extended inner vision, with
faculties now latent in much fuller operation.
Tis will not change the relation of humanity to
God and of God to humanity, but it will make
these horizons, visions and faculties more com-
mon occurrences in human experience.
COMMENTARY: When we consider the way
that the theory of evolution is quoted today in
popular culture, there is often an undercurrent
of the idea: everything changes, nothing stays
the same. Tis is, of course, a Buddhist prin-
ciple, except that even the Buddhists consider
that the human relationship to either buddhi
(the nature of enlightenment) or Universal
Loving-kindness has not changed over the
centuries. In fact, the basic human relationship
to both the ground of Reality and nature, and
our dependency upon both, has not changed.
We have only insulated ourselves from our
dependence with all sorts of scientistic or
rationalistic theories, or with the luxuries that
these theories have created, in detriment to
the earth itself.
When the writer speaks of the relationship
of humanity to God and God to humanity, he
means the actual underlying Reality, not its
perception in popular culture. If, in fact, the
enlarged horizons and extended inner visions
mentioned by the writer do make their presence
more known in popular culture, it will be
through the evidence of an increasing humility
and compassion by leaders in all organizations
and governments. We will nd more people in
all walks of life, saying in one way or another,
like Prophet Muhammad, We have not known
You as You really are.
Ya SaburOh Patience!
31 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
from the forthcoming book:
Among the Firstthe unveiling, poems and stories of the Mothers of Islam
Zaynabs Wedding Meal a sonnet
for Taj, by Tamam Kahn
The groom says, End the meal. He stands
and goes out to underscore his words. Shes
bride on display, Wife of the Prophet, who
sits and gazes at her sleeve, takes in
the pitch of talk, the struggle of a moth
in the water jar. Mutton bones and flies,
a soiled, yellow cloth, and next to her, his
sheepskin with the fresh lanolin smell.
But the rickrack men want to yak and
eye Zaynab by lamp light. Sudden smoke.
They rub their eyes and swear, but when
they go, the olive oil wick burns clear.
The vulgar never comprehend good manners.
Pray for a little burn adab* inscribed on banners.

*adab code of considerate behavior, chivalry
Tis poem is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced.
32 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Wali Ali Meyer
O
kay, Ill stand here in proximity to
this chair and this dervish robe. We
welcome you to come and share in
this living baraka which is here. Murshid felt
his energy was in this chair.
I know his energy is in this
robe. Were here thirty-four
years after he left his body on
this day. We are here because
he didnt die. If he died no-
body would be here or all over
the world celebrating this life
that goes on.
He was asked, it was
captured on lm right before
his passing, What do you
want to do before you die? He
laughed, and he said, Tats
a very funny question to ask
a person who has experienced
immortality direct. And
then he laughed again. Ten he answered in
relative terms, Id like a few of my disciples to
become illuminated. Ten I said, How would
you know that? He said, Actual light, actually
shining! {laughter}
He didnt beat around the bush and he didnt
hold back. He lived in the divine being. So it is
very appropriate that when we celebrate his life,
we come here and we say the name of God over
and over again, in dierent ways from dierent
traditions, whether we call it Buddha or God or
whatever we call it. We live and move and have
our being in it.
God is more real than these ideas that we
have of ourselves. Our breath is more than this
ego idea that we have of ourselves. Shahabuddin
Less, who was deeply impressed by Murshid, told
a story a few months ago when
we were together. He said,
When Sam stayed with me
in at my apartment in New
York, one of the things he said
to me was Go through your
bible and everywhere it says
God strike it out and write
Breath.
We get caught in the world
of concepts and the ideas that
make God a reality. Be Ye Songs
of Glory. What you sing, you
are. Everyone is a note in this
divine symphony. You have
got to strike your own note.
Its not enough to sit here and
say Oh he was wonderful. Ten you are being
in separation.
He said in one of his poems Te watcher is
the prayerful devotee but the dancer becomes
divine. We want to be divine dancers. We want
to move in that joy of the divine presence, like
he did. Tat way we honor him, not by making
him out to be the great saint or master that he
was or is. Tat doesnt help us.
We are very grateful that he has touched
our lives. He has touched our lives and he has
touched the lives of so many beings that this is
just a wonderful thing. It is more than a human
Living Baraka
by Wali Ali Meyer
This talk was given at the Urs of Murshid SAM in Corte Madera CA, January 15 2005
33 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
being can do. It is what God does when God is
allowed to be.
When he laughed and said, Tats a very
funny question to ask a person who has an
experience of immortality direct, thats not
so dierent from what Joe Miller used to say,
{singing} Tis is the key to eternity, yes, this is
the key to eternity, the words and the music and
the melody make our hearts one so you can see
that you immortal are, and you have but to be!
{clapping and laughter} And that means to be
that you really are immortal, that there really is
no separation between you and the immortal.
So if we are going to take this baraka, this
living transmission that we were so fortunate
to be touched by, and which still comes up
to people in dreams and visions. He comes in
through the dance. Shabda is now in Australia
and he is going to New Zealand, and then India.
Tese dances have traveled all over the world. I
was in Germany last summer and people were
coming from Russia, traveling for forty-eight
hours non-stop on a bus from Russia to come
to this gathering. I was really moved by this
penetration of this blessing. It is because it is
a living presence of this divine joy. Its in the
music, its in the dance, its in the beings. Its not
in worshipping an individual who would be the
rst one to say he never existed anyway. God is
the only existing reality. We live and move and
have our being in God.
Tis is what Sam Lewis brought forward
because he wasnt afraid of it. He didnt hold back
from it. He let his light shine in the darkest of
times. Because he knew the light would turn. He
knew the generations were coming that would
embrace this mystical teaching that God is the
only reality. Tat Soul is nothing but that reality
in its depth. It is just covered over by layers and
stains and rust and then as people rise to that
reality, then the world itself, even the outer world,
will be transformed.
We are in a great period of test and trial
and transition. Our relationship with Nature is
one that we have to look at very deeply because
we made it so articial. Psyches are so out of
balance that the natural world is responding
to us in that way, too. Everything is within us.
All of the elements are within us. Te Earth
is within us, the Water, the Fire, the Air and
the Ether which brings the peace to all of this
if we can bring it in. Its in our breath; its in
our mediation. We arent living here in some
dualistic reality where we are Man and Nature
or some such abstraction. Tere is nothing but
this Oneness that we participate in. Yes, it goes
through its ux. Te light comes forward insofar
as we can be the agents of it and the transformers
in our own sphere. To stand up for the light, to
stand up for this joy within the context of our
lives, not to be afraid of it. And if we can gain
anything from the light of this incredible being,
it is to do just that. Not to be afraid of living in
God. Not to be afraidknowing that the spirit
of guidance is close. As Mohammed said, it is
closer than the jugular vein.
We live and move and have our being in it.
We are going around like the sh saying, where
is the ocean, wheres the ocean? Tats our
relationship to God. We dont know it because it
is so close. We breathe it in, it comes in through
our gills, we have no separation from it and yet
we make a separation out of our fear.
So what does a great teacher do? He or she
brings this piercing glance that cuts through fear
and ignorance, brings a consoling to our hearts
so were not afraid to live from our hearts.
Tat is what I would like to stand here and
remind people of, encourage us to do, because
Sam Lewis did it so you can do it. He didnt make
it so that it could be special. As Allaudin said, he
would talk to everyone from an inner place of
Oneness, accepting them just the way they were,
and it didnt matter if whether it was the head of
some spiritual order or a clerk at the dented can
store. In his reality it was just the same.
I remember being in this dented can store
with him. We went to buy, I dont know, peas
34 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
for his curry, and the guy was very rheumy
eyed, very bleary, probably had been drinking
for days it was a very dingy atmosphere. Sam
came in there and we got to the checkout stand
and Sam looked at him and he said, Im going
to the Conference of Religions in Geneva. You
know what I am going to tell them? Not this
Love Ye One Another, they are not ready for
it. At least you can respect each other. Respect
each other!
And the guy just looked at him, and checked
the can out. Sam wasnt disappointed. Te
canned food guy, that was the person, that was
the energy, that was the God that was in front
of him. He gave it, and then and there we very
happily walked on back to the Mentorgarden
with our dented can.
We dont need to worry about who it is or
are they higher than us or lower than us or are
they ignorant or wise. God is hiding behind
every face. We cant stray from that reality. If
we live from it then we nd that we have all of
the universe working with us and through us
and consequently what seems impossible, when
you think you might accomplish it, might move
through you with the divine will and power.
We were there when these dances were born
in the basement of the Mentorgarden and he
knew they were going to go all around the
world. Not because he was great but because he
could feel the blessing of God was behind them
and they were going to be a force for bringing
harmony between people. Because they had
no agenda. Tey werent asking you to join
something. Tey werent asking you to believe
something. Tey were just saying, Come, dance
together, take sacred phrases and acknowledge
and respect everyone, because God has come to
every people in a form that they could recognize.
And that is what Mohammed said; everyone
has received this message at some form in their
culture in their own way. So if you can respect
that, people will understand that you respect
their culture. Its not Im coming here to save
you, I am bringing Allah or Jesus or Buddha to
you because youre poor, you dont have it. I
mean everybody has it. Were born and it lives
in our breath.
Someone once said to Sam, speaking about a
questionable spiritual leader, Is he spiritual? And
Sam said, Is he breathing? {laughter} Everybody
is spiritual, the spirit moves in us, moves through
us. We are a part of it. Yes, it is possible to act in
such a way that we are coarse in our vibration, we
let the rust on our heart, we turn the love which
is our true nature into hate out of our own pain
and disappointed but underneath it if we can
see deeply we can see that same beauty which is
hidden within every soul.
I am glad to have an opportunity to come
here and just to say this much to this group of
people because in some way your lives have been
touched by this man, Murshid Samuel Lewis,
who lived in God and would like nothing better
than for YOU to wake up. Not for you to honor
him but for you to wake up to your own true
reality and live according to the note of your
own life. I want to thank you and God bless you
and lets do some more dances. We welcome
you to come up here at some point before the
evening is over, just accept the blessing to sit in
the atmosphere of this robe and this chair.
35 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
D
ear friends on the path,
As we look forward to our international
Federation of the Su Message retreat of 2006,
we direct our attention toward the theme, Te
Message in Our Time. Meditation upon this
idea brings to mind and heart the contempla-
tion of our simple and guiding principles: Love,
Harmony, Beauty and Unity.
It has been nearly one hundred years since
Inayat Khan came from India bearing sacred
teachings which he gave in Europe and America,
creating books and writings on Susm. Yet in
his Invocation, we can feel the living essence of
the Message, as it begins, Toward the One, the
perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty Te
very vibrations of these words, with the entire
invocation, spoken together in Su circles or
classes, joining hand to hand, heart to heart,
create a resonance that is sublime and deeply
touching. Tis vibrational Message goes out to
touch all creation, as ripples upon water.
Tus again the message of Su life eludes
denition and is most clear when experienced
together in shared heart resonance. One of Hazrat
Inayat Khans well-known mureeds in the USA,
our friend Samuel Lewis, taught us this again
and again. Spirituality must be experienced
to be real. As we unite in intentions of love,
harmony and beauty we become the message
and the messengers. We bless one another in
our work to let the shining heart of love freely
move among all people.
Contemplating our theme, Te Message
in Our Time, we sense hidden questions
presented for us to share. We live in a time of
great transformations, this we all know. Yet the
phrase, in our time, poses more questioning,
provokes deeper thoughts.
To make an interconnection between our
time and the Message means to focus on the
clear issues that characterize this special period
in which we live and in which point of evolution
we have arrived.
Te world now is very complex. On one side
there is global consciousness growing by the use
of nearly unlimited ways of communication.
Telephone, e-mail and internet are not only used
world-wide for commercial reasons, but also for
countless personal messages from heart to heart,
reaching from continent to continent.
On the other hand these possibilities bring
responsibility as well. We are informed of nearly
every victim of human or natural violence in
the world. We are standing close to thousands
of starving people. A bomb can be thrown any
place in the world and we know it within a short
time. So we are informed about creation and how
we handle it in all places worldwide.
In one of the Su prayers (Salat) is the phrase,
May the Message of God reach far and wide.
May the Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty
reach far and wide
Yes. How do we do that in our time? How do
we love the other cultures, the other religions,
the other people we meet worldwide daily? What
harmony do we create among all the distinctions
and dierences that divide us? What is the
beauty spread out in a world of permanent
interconnection?
Our teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan emphasizes
that we must treat our fellow world brother
Spreading Our Wings to Spread the Message
A letter from Hannah Lagasse and Michal Schouwenaar
36 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
or sister in the same way we like to be treated
ourselves. Tat is an old message found in
Hinduism and Buddhism as well. Te Jewish,
Christian and Islamic scriptures talk about it.
How we can pray to God or love God and hate
someone of another group, country or religion,
is another question posed by Inayat Khan. In
the Gayan he writes, My action toward every
man I consider as my action toward God, and
the action of every man toward me I take as an
action of God.
We meet God in every being of His creation
and to feel judgment or even hate toward any
other member of the same creation should mean
that we dishonor God.
How many wars have been fought in the name
of God? It is an unbelievable contradiction. It
is our own limitation projected on an image of
God we made. Tough God is known by more
than a thousand names, seen from our human
limitations He stays unnamable and only is
revealed in His own creation, nature, including
human nature.
Our time is open to worldwide com-
munication and connection, to world trade
and trac, but many times our hearts are still
closed to the stranger, to the one who has other
opinions and values than we have.
In this, our time, it is a tremendous challenge
to look upon every world citizen as a potential
brother or sister in the Fatherhood of God. Old
forms, strange cultures, unknown behavior,
dierent customs are all to be regarded with
respect and sympathy. Old religions, traditional
rules and dogmas, rigid structures are like big
old trees, with mighty trunks, many branches
and countless shivering leaves, standing solid in
the ground with deep roots.
Te Su has the winged heart as a symbol
expressing spiritual freedom. So how do we
move between all these giant, unmoving trees?
Like birds! We y from tree to tree. We stretch
our wings to further discernment, to visit every
tree with respect. One year we might build our
nest in the very old oak and the next year in the
tall fragile birch or the towering sequoia. Yes!!
Let us y over the world with respect for all we
meet, honoring the father-mother God in all
Her revelations, leaving the trees in their own
dreams, and spread our wings to spread love and
harmony and beauty.
By traveling around in a world so open and
well known, so quickly connected, let us be open
ourselves as well, willing to learn from everything
we visit, from all that comes on our path, with
modesty, with sympathy.
Te time of one opinion leading the world,
of bringing our mission to other cultures, of
convincing others of our truth, that time is
no longer, it is not our time. Tis is a time of
openness, of honesty, not ruled by convictions
but by exchanges, not by hierarchy but by
equality, as brothers and sisters connected
by e-mail, by internet, sending messages
worldwide.
Again we will meet each other in the
Federation Retreat of the Susm of Hazrat
Inayat Khan. Te spiritual freedom he taught
brought forth many, many birds, spreading their
wings, spreading the Message, ying from tree
to tree. We all are coming from many places
all over the world, from diverse groups, from
dierent cultures and yet can share our mutual
sympathy towards one another. We can dedicate
our togetherness towards the One. Tat is the
real challenge, responsibility and blessing of
our time. It is also a practice of spreading the
Message, of living the Message. We may show
the divine Message in the way we get along
with each other. We have the chance and the
responsibility as well to consider this meeting,
this connection as an example of the brother
and sisterhood under the father-motherhood
of God.
Lets spread our wings, open our hearts and
follow the voice from within!
Hannah & Michal
Su Ruhaniat International/Su Contact
Te Netherlands
37 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
I was transported by destiny from the world of lyric and poetry to the world
of industry and commerce, on the 13th of September 1910. I bade farewell to
my motherland, the soil of India, the land of the sun, for America the land of
my future, wondering: perhaps I shall return some day, and yet I did not
know how long it would be before I should return. Te ocean that I had to
cross seemed to me a gulf between the life that was passed and the life which
was to begin. (Te Su Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Biography, Autobiog-
raphy, Journal and Anecdotes Part IIAutobiography, America, 19101912)
W
hen I read these poignant words of Murshids recollection of his initial journey to the West
I feel a certain sadness; it is easy to imagine the vast ocean that separated the poetic, lyrical
world from the world of industry and commerce. But with his prophetic vision he is able, almost
in the same breath, to alter his perception and bring the feeling of separation into harmony with
the greater reality:
I spent my moments on the ship looking at the rising and falling of the waves
and realizing in this rise and fall the picture of life reected, the life of individuals,
of nations, of races, and of the world. (ibid)
What are we to do, then, when made aware, almost on a daily basis, of what seems to be an
ever-widening gulf between the world of lyric and poetry and the world of industry and commerce,
of the dangerous imbalance between human needs and the needs of the rest of earthly creation
andsplitting the dichotomy into even smaller, more acute piecesthe widening economic gulf
between members of our own human species, inequities that border on supreme neglect if not
outright maliciousness?
In choosing this social and ecological focus, I nd myself in the company of that hapless
embodiment of human bewilderment, Nasruddin. I am almost always bewildered when trying to
understand how our species has wandered so far from a truly harmonic relationship with nature.
Most of us are familiar with the story where, having lost the key to his abode, Nasruddin is found
groping around for it at the base of a street lamp. When a passerby asks him where he lost the key
Nasruddin points over to the darkness of the roadside bushes. Ten why are you looking here?
the passerby asks. Because, says Nasruddin, there is more light over here.
Where are we to look for the key to rebalancing our human needs with the needs of the
environment? As spiritual beings we are naturally drawn to the light, especially in times of diculty.
But perhaps the key to social and ecological balance can be found elsewhere: not in the light but
in the shadows, the darker more uncomfortable aspect of humankinds incredible power to create.
Imagining Reality
by Krishna Ste. Marie Terrien
continued on next page
38 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Perhaps we should leave Nasruddin searching under the light while we root around in the bushes
and darkness of the ditch where we lost the key in the rst place.
Momentarily abandoning Nasruddin, under cover of darkness let me confess that there
are days when, imagining myself rising above the planet to gaze down on the Earth, I often
look past the awesome beauty of this small, fertile and fragile globe oating in the immensity
of the cosmos and see instead displays of much pain and distress. Tere are days when, from
the wide angle of my imaginary view, I witness the daily political horrors erupting on the local
levelurban poverty, violence, drug addiction, gang warfareas well as the broader geo-political
struggles: the viral strength of the Middle-East conict; the apocalyptic fantasy that is the clash
of civilizations manifesting as a war on terror; the battle for nationalistic supremacy in large,
oil-driven economies. Tere are days when I simply stare helplessly into the horror-stricken faces
of mothers and children slipping away defeated by the African Aids pandemic, leaving a third
of its child population orphaned and caring for even younger siblings. I witness also the rapid
worldwide depletion of clean water, breathable air, and viable topsoil, to say nothing of the rapid
desertication of vast areas of already impoverished landmasses on the one hand, and the melting
polar ice caps and ooding, on the other.
But I also must confess that there is a spark of light in this darkness, a small but bright light,
the reection of an eye gleaming in the darkness. It is the light in the eye of my two-year-old
grandson Isaac, sitting in the dark with me. His smile and utter innocence makes the state of the
planets health personal, direct, and profoundly disturbing.
In spite of the horror, I imagine Isaacs future, supported by family and community, as abundant
and free, his spirit ennobled by and in harmony with nature. How can I accord this idyllic vision
with the vision of the eco-futurists who are sounding the alarmwhich, my gut tells me, is also
true and requires immediate attention? Am I just a nave romantic, just another love-smitten
grandpa?
Toward the One,
the perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the only Being,
united with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the Master,
the Spirit of Guidance.
39 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
In our Su invocation we can see the mystery of incarnation, the immanent becoming manifest.
In our reaching towards the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, we unite with those souls,
graced with illumination, which are the embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. Tat
is, through Creation the Divine takes form. Love, Harmony and Beauty, whose perfection we are
invoking, involves humanity in a profound and critical way.
On the horizon of human consciousness, in the fertile elds between Love and Beauty we
are called to consciously participate in the unfolding of the uni-verse, the one dance, the single
turning. Here, human agency is called into play. Love and Beauty converge through Harmony. It
is here that our destiny as co-creators, as vice-regents of the Divine, is fullled.
What does our participation in this harmonic convergence of Love and Beauty mean to
us in our day-to-day lives, and how does it impact on the community outside our immediate
social and spiritual communities? How, in other words, does Hazrat Inayat Khans message of
Love, Harmony and Beauty play out here on the outskirts of Edenin the economic reality of
transforming nature into a living? How might it inform the relationship between civilization and
the natural environment?
Te ideal of unity, of universal love and harmony, is put to the test when we view the planet in
economic terms of human appetite and needs. To acknowledge the real connection between the
privileged and the dehumanized, to see those appetites and needs in the context of the biosphere
that is their sole resource, challenges the assumption that spirituality is above and beyond the laws
of physical survival or that unity belongs exclusively to the realm of the spirit.
It is dicult sometimes for us to remember that the One includes the Many, that the Batin and
the Zahir (the Hidden and the Revealed) are two sides of the same coin, or that the visible and the
invisible do not necessarily contradict one another. Hazrat Inayat Khan reminds us that
Tose who think that God is not outside but only within are as wrong as those
who believe that God is not within but only outside. In fact God is both inside
and outside, but it is very necessary to begin by believing in that God outside. (Te
Su Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume IX Te Unity of Religious Ideals, Part
IIA Te God-Ideal)
To become attached to the ideal of Unity to the exclusion of His manifestation, preferring the
absolute over the relative, is to deepen the conceptual divisions between Creator and creature,
between body and soul, between self and other. It is to forget that God acts through the cosmos,
through nature and through humanity. Te Sus God, Murshid reminds us, is not in heaven
alone. there is no name which is not the name of God and there is no form which is not the
form of God.

According to the hadith, creation came into being when God in His Mercy revealed Himself. I
was a hidden treasure said the One, and I longed to be known, so I created the world that I might
know myself. From love and longing the world is born. Tis essential creative power was seeded
in the heart of Adam so the One could witness, through us, the unfolding of His own becoming.
By knowing ourselves, our created selves, we know our Lord. Man, according to ibn Arabi, is
to the Real (al Haqq) as the pupil is to the eye through which the act of seeing takes place. for
it is through Man that the Real contemplates His creation and bestows mercy.
continued on next page
40 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Iblis, the jealous angel, was outraged that Allah bestowed upon Adam the task of naming His
creatures; he envied our will and worldly power to name. To name is to give meaning to the world
and is the cornerstone of humankinds creative power. It is an imaginative power and carries with
it an awesome responsibility.
Te longing of the Lord to unveil His hidden treasure is reected by the Su through a quality
called himma, the hearts desire, spiritual will impressing its vision on the cosmosthe creative
power of our Adamic inheritance. But what does this gift bestowed by the Merciful One require
of us humans that it doesnt require of other creatures? Acknowledging our co-creative power, what
do we do with it? How do we handle it?
Creativity and imagination carry with them, in todays dominant culture, conceptual baggage
that clouds the essence of what is meant by the Sus creative power. Clearly we are not talking
here about a mere mental mechanism, the imagination of dream or reverie, or the capricious
mental workings of the schemeror even the creativity of the artist or the poet. We mean, rather,
an active seeing that cuts through the darkness, an imaginal force driven by a desire sown into
our hearts by the Originator to empower us to fulll our destiny as co-creators of the perpetually
unfolding cosmos. We can think of it as a particular state of being that exists when we are poised
between Love and Beauty, between immanence and manifestation, in that dimension of incarnation
Harmonywhich calls the human heart to action.
In this state created by the longing of the heart for the Beloved, the culturally-bound perceptions
of imaginary and real lose their individual identities. It is through this prophetic imagination
that the Real (al-Haqq) imagines the world into being, and we are the medium for this unfolding.
Tis is our natural place in the complexity of planetary life and culture, and this creative human
imperative contributes, in concert with other species, to life in the relative world of physical
manifestation.

Te mind of Homo Sapiens imagined a use for re, imagined the husbandry of sheep and
ruminants, the domestication of grain, the storage of nutrients. Te mind of Homo Sapiens
imagined the blessings of music, the cohesive power of ritual, the revelatory power of the word,
the healing beauty of weaving and dyed patterns, and the strength of mud and straw. Te mind
of Homo Sapiens also imagined the cutting o of supplies, the threat of mounted horsemen, the
power of int, the shortening of distances with wheels, the utility of gears and pulleys for reducing
toil, the power of the internal combustion engine, and ight into outer space.
But the mind of Homo Sapiens is only now beginning to imagine the actual connectivity
and interdependency between all elements of Nature, and the actual limitation of nonrenewable
resourcesthe irreplaceable material source, in other words, of the continuous, unremitting
feeding of our extraordinary god-given capacity for imagining and transforming the imagined
into the actual.
Is it possible that the dire ecological straits in which we nd ourselves signal nothing less than
a failure of imagination? Perhaps the mind of Homo Sapiens must imagine for itself a completely
dierent use of its creative power, and re-establish its proper place in the unfolding universe.
Perhaps this re-imaging requires a radical spiritual transformation, a transformation that already
seems to be emerging, in ever-growing pockets of ecological-spiritual awakening, but which is
41 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
still obscured by the manic imaginings of the materially powerful and the suering of the socially
and physically deprived.
When the Wright brothers dreamed of mechanized ight they did not imagine bombs being
dropped from airplanes. When Einstein evolved his theory of relativity, he did not imagine
Hiroshima. But all acts of violence committed against humanity nd their roots in the human
imagination. Troughout history it seems that our genius for creating actuality out of thought has
surprised us with its outcomes. Progress seems to have a life of its own, but I am suggesting that
the life in question is simply the actualization of an unconscious use of collective imagination. It
is, in eect, imagination unharnessed from its origin, operating without a conscious recognition
of its true nature.

How did we go from the atom to the atom bomb? Doesnt our demonstrated ability to create
holocausts and ecological collapse bring into question the divine nature of human creativity?
Perhaps it is a question of evolution. Perhaps only now are we ready to acknowledge the true
creative power of the human imagination and the substantial veracity of the Oneness of Beingnot
simply as an abstract spiritual concept but as an actuality expressed through the living heart of
humankind. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of the interdependent mental activities that
bind us as a whole manifesting into what we like to call reality. And in that reality what we see is
but a reection of the only Reality, without which we would be nothing.

I was blessed recently with a job in Vancouvers infamous Downtown East Side, one of the most
poverty-stricken and drug-ravaged urban ghettoes on the continent, where AIDS, tuberculosis and
other infectious diseases run rampant. My role was to supervise a landscaping crew made up of
men who were on the upside of coming o the street, actively disengaging from substance abuse,
working towards re-uniting with their families and, via our program, re-entering the work-force
after many years of disenfranchisement. Teir mental and nancial states were extremely precarious,
their living conditions barely a step above the alleys and gulleys and parks they had been sleeping
in, in some cases their vermin-infested rooms more disease-prone than living outdoors. Simply
to show up for work, for some of these individuals, was a major accomplishment, and to slip
back into addictive behaviour or to disappear for weeks at a time, was never taken as other than
a temporary stumble.
I had taken to working closely with one particularly sensitive, deeply afflicted soul. We
rarely spoke, and when we did, it was always a short, casual, work-related conversation. For
weeks he found it impossible to look directly at me. Then one day he looked me in the eye.
Though I had been anticipating the moment I knew would eventually come, I was shocked
at how difficult it was for me to hold his gaze long enough to connecta millisecond was
enough, but still I noticed my slight recoil, a resistance. I later replayed the moment in my
minds eye, trying to understand it; I knew it had nothing to do with the words we were
exchanging at the time, that something beyond words had been transmitted in that instant.
I waited for the next opportunity, and, the ice having been broken, it came soon after.
This time I maintained eye contact, allowed myself to go there. I knew immediately that I
continued on next page
42 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
had been taken off stride by the first glance because what I had seen in his eyes was utterly
unexpected. I had, quite unconsciously, been expecting pain or despair or anger. But what
I saw was pure unalloyed need and utter defenselessness. I had come face to face with a kind
of submissiona submission to my own good willand it was disconcerting. I saw in his
eyes the human personality stripped down to its most basic expressionand it spontaneously
drew my own fundamental dependence on others to the surface.
In a society that has made independence and self-suciency its supreme value, deeply embedding
the illusion of individual separateness into our psyches, coming face to face with our own need
for and dependence on others can be, to say the least, disconcerting.
The longing of the battered heart emanates not only from local street people or from the
African epicentre of the AIDS pandemic, nor only from the earthquake victims in Kashmir,
the battered citizens of Baghdad or the starving masses in Darfur. It emanates also from those
in the privileged classes where the inequity inherent in our industrial economic systems often
results in emotional restlessness, in manic, soul-destroying behavior and spiritual hunger.
It emanates, too, from the hearts of the hard-working, disappearing middle-classes, from
the hearts of the sublimely imprisoned inhabitants of gated communities, from the hearts
of corporate executives of transnational energy conglomerates and also from the hearts of
politicians and military leaders.
The simple truth, difficult to remember, is that all of us on this struggling planet want the
same thing: food, shelter, good health, to live in peace with our fellow beings and in harmony
with nature; we want to be free from suffering and strife. Hope lies not in the coincidence
of common needs but in the actual living substance of a single needthe hearts ubiquitous
longing, its himma. This is the same force that drives the root of the tree underground, that
guides the distant star on its ellipsoidal path, that stirs the human urge to create objects of
beauty and to bring joy to one another. As a living organism this One Heart is dependent
upon its environment to provide the nutrients it needs to sustain itself. And we are that
environmentour thoughts, our words, our beliefs are the nutrients which sustain the human
heart as, in collaboration with the Creator, it imagines reality into being.

Murshid continually befriended and immersed himself in the solace of Nature. He witnessed
Nature as worshipful and even put the purity of Natures exaltation above humanitys.
[Te animals and birds] all have their religion, and they all worship God in their own
way. Te birds while singing in the forest feel that exaltation even more than man after
he has worshipped God; for not all men who join in prayer are as sincere as the birds
in the forest, not one of which utters its prayer without sincerity. If a human soul
were awakened to feel what they feel when singing at dawn, he would know that their
prayer is even more exalting than his own, for their prayer is more natural. Te godly,
therefore, worship their God together with nature, and thus they experience perfect
exaltation as the result of their prayer. (Te Messasge of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume
IX, Te Unity of Religious Ideals, Part II-B, God Te Innite)
Inayat recognized the manifestation of Nature as the primary sacred book on which all other
sacred texts, including the Quran were modeled. To the mystic, he said, forest and desert, mountains
and rivers, sunrise and the night skyall aspects
43 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
are one aspect of nature. they stand like letters, characters, gures made by the
Creator to read if one is able to read them. Te sura of the Quran which contains the
rst revelation of the Prophet includes the verse, Read in the name of your Lord...
.Te uttering of the leaves comes to [the mystics] ears as a whisper, the murmur
of the wind falls on his ears as music, and the sound of little streams of water run-
ning in the forest, making their way through rocks and pebbles is a symphony to
the ears of the mystic. No music can be greater and higher and better than this.
And for a mystic they make a picture of life, not a dead picture but a living picture,
which at every moment continually reveals a new secret, a new mystery to his heart.
(Te Su Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume XI Philosophy, Psychology and
Mysticism, Part III: Mysticism, Chapter VII, Nature)
Being able to read the holy book of Nature requires true humility and peacefulness. It is the
peaceful one, says Murshid, who is observant, who has
the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for
peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no
peace cannot contemplate properly. (Te Su Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume
I, Te Way of Illumination Section IVTe Purpose of Life, Chapter VI)
Te split between Creator and creature, between Self and self, between man and natureillusory
and perceptualis violence. It is the supreme violence from which all other violence stems because
it is to forget the Oneness of God.
When Arjuna was about to go to war against his own people, he had many spiritual reasons to
defer from taking action. But his Lord Krishna told him that there is war, that we cannot in our
earthly manifestation avoid action, and since in this particular case reality had unfolded in such a
way that required him to act as military leader, then he ought to do so in a manner betting the
spirit he embodiedthat is, to do so with the clarity and vision that only an enlightened disinterest
in the outcome would allow.
From that state of spiritual intention, attuned to the Divine longing of the human heart, poised
between action and attachment to outcome, between the Immanent and the Manifest, Arjuna
was able to participate, with clarity and faith, in the unfolding of the universe in a way that felt
in complete accord with the will of God.
Accepting the unique role of the human imagination, seeing how it inundates our every action,
our every thought, and accepting responsibility for co-creating the reality we live inwhile daring
to imagine the world as an interwoven, beautiful, cosmic revelation of the One Alonerequires
no violent action.
Experiencing nature as ever-present in everything we do, whether in the workshop, the kitchen,
the oce, the garden; watching the world as it unfolds second by second, mystery by mystery,
with our active imaginative participation, can only bring peace.

O Moses, place none other than Me in your place of need and ask Me even for the
salt you put in your dough. (Quran)
continued on next page
44 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
At such times when I am lled with dread and bewilderment, even hopelessness, at the state
of the world, I nd the act of submission requested by Moses theophany and its comforting
undertow of heavenly authority rather seductive.
Tis passage seems to be primarily about humility, and the humility that the Voice is asking
of Mosesand of usis a profound one. It also sounds like a warning. But what are we being
warned against? And where exactly is this place of need? We are being asked to remember that
the smallest morsel of sustenance, the simplest nutrienteven a pinch of saltis not due usbut
comes rather as a result of our asking.
If we must ask for something as basic as a pinch of salt, what about all the other things, material
and otherwise, that we need for survival? Maybe its the asking itself, as an act of humility, that
ensures the continued fulllment of our needs.
Having eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and gained consciousness, we create
tools to compensate for our estrangement from paradise. And we especially cling to language,
linked to imagination, as a critical tool for survival.
Trough language we engage with our environment in a most profound way, creating metaphors
to explain the inexplicable. Tis is how we are. Tis creative way of being, this need for meaning, this
constant longing for the outer reaches of consciousness is the specialized glory of humankind. But
every creature has its own price to pay for its own particular glory. In our case, the glory of conscious
participation in the irrepressible unfolding of creation is paid for by the threat of self-annihilation.
We have this power, this ability to create, and not understanding it fully we run the risk of destroying
ourselves with it, because creation necessitates altering the environment in one way or another, and
the environment is the only thing that can support our continued material existence.
In the world of eat-and-be-eaten, the realm of awareness and transformation seems to be our
lot. Human beings make things up, transform trees and rocks into cities, harness rivers to create
lightand we are capable of immense biospheric destruction.
So great is your power, the voice seems to be saying to Moses, that you must constantly remem-
ber the One who bestowed it upon you. Without Me, without remembering that I am at the
centre of everything you do, that I am the life-force at the core of every breath you takeunless
you remember My constant Presence, My Ineability, which you must call forth, you will surely
destroy yourselves.
Perhaps when we call forth the Lord of Creation we are simply inoculating ourselves against
the hubris and intoxication that can so bewilder us in our gargantuan creative endeavors. Perhaps,
since our creative powers are capable of transforming the very biosphere which sustains all organic
life into something useless, we need to sober up once in a while and put everything in its proper
context.
Te voice of Moses theophany seems to be warning us against our own abuse of power, the
power of the intellect, the power of creativity and imagination, the power of a mind so great, so
cosmic, that without some way of giving it form and shape with which to return it to its origins,
it becomes capable of absolute apocalyptic destruction. Without the humility (in the sense of
bringing back to earth) to contain this creative force that we have wholeheartedly taken to ourselves,
creation becomes destruction.
We, through Moses, are being given simple pragmatic advice. Tough we have been created in
His image, we are being reminded not to mistake ourselves for Him. Always return to the centre,
we are being told, the emptiness and the longing at the core of our beingthis is our place of
needand from there springs our will and need to create. Everything comes from Me, the Lord
45 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
seems to be saying, right down to the invisible particles of oxygen that travel in your blood and
feed your very senses, your mind, your limbs and voiceyour heart and your glory. . . and I
beg you, for your own sake, so that you dont destroy yourselves, to remember Me there at the
centre of your need, and keep Me always in mind and ask Me for every little thingin which is
contained the entire origin and purpose of your beingremember Me even in the pinch of salt
you put in your dough.
In this humble act our salvation may lie.

I have a photo of my grandson Isaac on my desk-top. He is on a tricycle, ying past a brick


wall, hair blowing in the wind, eyebrows raised with intense concentration, lips clamped shut on
a protruding tongue. A startling forcefulness infuses his body as he leans into the approaching
curve. But closer inspection of the photo reveals that his feet are dangling a good six inches from
the pedals! Te bicycle is stationarybut the beautiful Isaac is traveling at the speed of light. Who
is to say where this speed-demon is headed?
Whatever his destination, it will be neither in the full light of the sun nor in the darkness of
night. It will be in the shadow-play of light and dark, where Reality dances between Immanence
and Manifestationin the unfolding of the universe that is the perfection of Love, Harmony,
and Beauty.
Krishna Ste. Marie Terrien can be reached at appliedpoetics@shaw.ca
46 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
I
n the summer of 2005 Hidayat Inayat-Khans
symphonic composition La Montonia was se-
lected as the crowning jewel of a special capstone
concert at the Suzuki Music Festival, Ottawa,
Kansas, USA, under the baton of conductor
and musical educator Maestro David Barg.
To make the event still more signicant, the
composer was invited to attend the rehearsals
and the concert.
Trough a series of fortuitous circumstances,
my husband, Joseph (Joe) Gorski and I became
the hosts to Hidayat and Aziza Inayat-Khan.
What follows is my diary of their ten-day visit
and the beauty that unfolded as hearts met hearts
in the ocean of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.
Monday, June 13
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Fatth, Te Opener, Te Revealer
Hazrat Inayat Khan: He who realizes the relation
of friendship between one soul and anotherthe
tenderness, delicacy, and sacredness of this
relationshiphe is living, and in this way he will
one day communicate with God.
13:13 arrival Kansas City, Missouri Interna-
tional Airport.
Hidayat and Aziza arrived with perfect
timing. My husband, Joe and I received them
at the airport. We all met with smiles, hugs, and
enthusiasm, and also with anticipation of how
the next ten days together would unfold.
In the car we chatted about the upcoming
schedule of events, their journey here, etc. But
one thing that stands out about that journey
home was that we all agreed that we would be
comfortable living together for ten days only
if we spoke honestly and directly amongst
ourselves. Tis immediately opened the door to
the feeling of being with family and establishing
intimacy.
Tat evening we dined on the plaza while we
shared the stories of our meetings as couples. It
happened to be Joes and my 17
th
month wedding
anniversary. We all mused at the auspiciousness
of how Hidayat and Aziza arrived at 13:13 on
the 13
th
, and how Joe and I were married on
the 13
th
.
After dinner we came home and settled in
for our rst night.
Tuesday, June 14
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Wal, Te Protecting Friend, Te
Nearby Guardian
Hazrat Inayat Khan: Te man who has proved in
his life to be the friend of every person he meets, in
the end will prove to be the friend of God.
After an early breakfast and a visit, we headed
out for a city tour, shopping, and lunch. My
Mother, Margaret Anne (Maggie) Sabato joined
us for this day on the town. Our rst stop was
the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art where we
lunched. Afterward, we went to the second oor
of the Museum where we visited the majestic
and spiritually powerful Bodhisattva Guanyin
statue. (To see a photo of the statue, please go to
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/collections/asian/
detail/bodhisat.htm.)
After leaving the Museum we toured about
Kansas City by car, stopping here and there to
shop for souvenirs, to sip tea and cappuccino, to
nibble on a sweet, and last but not least all the
while to savour the delicious atmosphere and
conversation with Hidayat and Aziza.
Impressions of a Visit
by Stephanie Nuria Sabato
47 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Nuria, Hidayat, Aziza, Joe
continued on next page
Amidst the fun and activity one could not
help but note how in the shops and on the streets
Hidayat and Aziza touched people. I continually
noticed how people would honorically and
reverently bow before Hidayat, and how
people seemed compelled to treat Aziza with an
unusually high degree of friendliness, helpfulness
and respect.
I was personally and deeply moved by the
connection my Mother had with Hidayat and
Aziza. It was obvious that this was a connection
that would unfold in wondrous ways over
the coming days into a growing respect and
friendship.
Tat evening we feasted on Indian food at
mureed Caryn Kabriya Challmans, whose home
is next door. And we feasted in so many ways
throughout the day and evening!
Wednesday, June 15
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Hd, Te Guide, Te Leader on
the Right Path
Hazrat Inayat Khan: One thing is true: although
the teacher cannot give the knowledge, he can kindle
the light if the oil is in the lamp.
We arose quite early, had a quick breakfast,
and then departed for Ottawa University. Te
drive took about one and a quarter hours. Te
time ew as we visited all the while, getting to
know each other better and better.
We arrived at the University Chapel around
8:40AM and when we walked in the 60 piece
string orchestra stopped playing, all the musicians
rose to their feet and enthusiastically applauded
the arrival of Hidayat. It was touching and
inspiring!
Aziza and I sat in the choir loft while Hidayat
was invited to sit amongst the musicians of the
orchestra. From there he could give musical
direction to both the musicians and the
conductor, David Barg.
It was a feast for all the inner and outer
senses. Te music was coming forth with such
power and grace, the conductor and musicians
responded with both enthusiasm and reverence
to Hidayat. Hidayats mastery was magnicently
expressed as he challenged both conductor and
musicians to work toward further and further
renement of the music, La Monotonia. Aziza
48 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
and I sat with tears in our eyes as witnesses to
the beautiful unfoldment and enfoldment.
After the rehearsal Hidayat, Aziza, and I were
invited to sit in on Davids conducting class.
Hidayat was invited to speak of his musical
training and to share his knowledge with the
students. Te students were so enthusiastic
about meeting Hidayat that many them asked if
they could stay after class for further discussion
with him. Hidayat graciously accepted their
invitation, and the students gathered around
him in the most aectionate and respectful
manner.
Tat evening we went out to a local restaurant
on the plaza for a family-style dinner. It was
quite a festive occasion as we shared with all
the happenings at Ottawa University. Hidayat
also shared Nasruddin stories and Su wisdom
with all.
Tursday, June 16
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Azm, Te Supreme Glory, Te Most
Grand
Hazrat Inayat Khan: No love oering can be more
precious than a word or act of respect, for the highest
expression of love is respect.
Te ow of the day went much as it did on
Wednesday.
Te evening was spent at a gathering with the
members of the Shining Heart Su Community
in honor of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khans Urs the
following day.
Hidayat led the group in a silent meditation
in honor of his brother. After the meditation
Hidayat (with Azizas loving assistance and
encouragement) shared stories of Murshid,
his childhood memories, and memories of
Vilayat.
Te evening was concluded with another
silent meditation in honor of Pir Vilayat Inayat
Khan.
After the meditation Hidayat lovingly
hugged everyone present. It was a special and
graced event.
Friday, June 17
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Musawwir, Te Fashioner, Te
Bestower of Forms
Hazrat Inayat Khan: When the soul is attuned to
God, every action becomes music.
Troughout the weeks prior to Hidayats
and Azizas visit I had been in contact with
their daughter Inayat Bergum Khan. Inayat was
planning on coming to Kansas City to attend
the concert. She also conded in me that her
brother Gayan Inayat-Khan was planning on
surprising Hidayat and Aziza by also ying into
town to attend the concert. It was hard to dance
around this secret with Hidayat and Aziza, but
it was accomplished.
On Friday just after breakfast, Inayat and
Gayan showed up at the house. Tey ran upstairs
to surprise their father, and surprise him they
did. It was a wonderfully joyful moment that
unfolded into joyful days!
By this time another Su mureed Terri
Karima-Gita Erickson had come into town
to help with cooking, cleaning, etc. Tat day
Kabriya, Karima-Gita, and I made a huge pot
of homemade vegetable steak soup.
Late that afternoon we all gathered together
to share in this hearty soup, a salad, and some
homemade bread. We then all scurried to our
respective abodes to get freshened up and to dress
for the concert that evening in Ottawa!
We caravanned by car, and arrived early so
we could set up a table of Hidayats cds and
books. We also wanted to be available for any last
minute details that might need to be attended,
and to greet the many Su friends who would
be traveling there for the concert.
Front row seats were reserved for us, and
when it was time for the concert to begin we
took our places.
Te concert was rich and full, with many
musical oerings by many musical directors.
Hidayats piece was the second to the last
on the program. As you might imagine the
anticipation was great!
49 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Before the playing of La Monotonia Op.
13, the conductor, David Barg, turned to the
audience and gave a passionate speech about
how he met Hidayat, how he rst experienced
Hidayats music, the meaning of the piece being
dedicated to Noorunisa Inayat Khan, and his
attraction to the Message of Hazrat Inayat
Khan.
Words cannot express the spiritually moving
quality of how La Monotonia was played that
night. Everyone was touched, and showed their
appreciation by a standing ovation and tribute
to Hidayat, with Aziza proudly at his side.
After the concert Hidayat was again honored
with a standing applause as he and Aziza entered
the reception organized for him and the musical
directors of the evening.
Saturday, June 18
th
, 2005
Keynote: Dh-l-Jalli wal-Ikrm, Te Lord of
Majesty and Generosity
Hazrat Inayat Khan: Love develops into harmony,
and of harmony is born beauty.
Tere were two sessions planned with the
local Shining Heart Su Community for this
day. During the afternoon session Hidayat gave
a talk on the meaning of being spiritual, and
led the group in the element breath practices.
Te detail and meaning he emphasized for each
breath gave new meaning to these practices,
even though some of us have been doing them
for many years!
Tat evening the members of the Shining
Heart Community gathered at St. Marys
Episcopal Cathedral (the oldest church in Kansas
City). We were blessed by Hidayat guiding us in
the practices of Kasab and Shagal, followed by
the performance of the singing Zikar of Hazrat
Inayat Khan.
Te evening was concluded with a reception
for Hidayat, Aziza, Inayat, and Gayan. Tere
was a lot of picture taking, good conversation,
and sharing in the Presence of Love, Harmony,
and Beauty.
Hidayat was presented with a Fathers Day
card signed by all!
Sunday, June 19
th
, 2005 - Fathers Day
Keynote: Ya Wadd, Te Loving-Kindness, Te
Most Aectionate
Hazrat Inayat Khan: Te truly great souls become
streams of love.
Tis day was spent in casual relaxation on
the treetop deck of our home. Tere Hidayat
and Aziza visited through the day with Inayat
and Gayan. What a wonderful way to spend
Fathers Day!
Inayat and Gayan left in the late afternoon.
Shortly after their departure my Mom and
Sister came by for dinner and a visit. Te
most magical thing happened. My Mom told
Hidayat, I thought I knew everything, but I
have really learned some things from you over
the past few days. I would like to ask you for
your blessing.
Parenthetically let me share the following: I was
in and out of the kitchen preparing and serving tea,
coee, and snacks. My Mom walked in and asked
me, Should I ask for initiation? I, of course, said,
Yes! My Mother left the kitchen and Hidayat
came in and asked me, Am I to understand that
your Mother is asking for initiation? I again said,
Yes! Shortly thereafter Hidayat rose from the table
and asked my Mom to stand. He then welcomed
her in to the Su Movement. Tis past Saturday,
June 25
th
, Mom telephoned me full of excitement.
She had already received an ocial Certicate
of Initiation from the Headquarters of the Su
Movement thanks to Hamidas speedy eciency.
Tanks, Hamida! Now Mom wants Hidayat to
give her a spiritual name!
Monday, June 20
th
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Wsi, Te All-Embracing, Te All-
Pervading
Hazrat Inayat Khan: Man as a human being is
capable of loving one, but his soul as the light of
continued on next page
50 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Hidayat Inayat-Khan working with orchestra
God is capable of loving not only the world, but
even a thousand worlds; for the heart of man is
larger than the whole universe.
After a leisurely breakfast and visit, Hidayat
sat down with the Complete Works of Pir-O-
Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, Original Texts:
Lectures on Susm, 1923 II: July-December for
the rest of the day. Aziza and I headed out for
some last minute souvenir shopping. We had
so much fun together. Like two girlfriends out
on the town, shopping, lunching, chatting,
laughing, sipping coee! What memorable,
heartfelt moments!
Aziza and I arrived home just in time for
a quick bite to eat with Hidayat and Joe. We
all then headed o for a Summer Solstice
Celebration gathering
at St. Marys Cathedral.
The evening began
with the Invocation
l ead by Hi dayat ,
and a few Dances of
Universal Peace lead
by Ruhaniat Shaikh
Al l audi n Otti nger.
Then trumpet player
Stanton Kessler and
tamboura player Sarmad
Bernstein performed
the Invocation composed by Hidayat. Tis was
followed by a group performance of Tibetan
gongs, bells, and bowls.
Last, but certainly not least, Hidayat gave a
brief talk on the Mysticism of Sound and lead
a Zoroastrian practice focusing on the elements
and their corresponding notes.
Te evening was again concluded with a
reception with many fond farewell wishes.
After we returned home, I asked Hidayat to
receive me into the Su Movement with Aziza
as witness. Ya Shakur, Hidayat.
Tuesday, June 21
st
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Muqt, The Nourisher, The
Sustainer
Hazrat Inayat Khan: True happiness is in the
love-stream that springs from ones soul, and the
man who will allow this stream to ow continually,
in all conditions of life, in all situations, however
dicult, will have a happiness that truly belongs
to him.
Te day was spent quietly at home. Aziza was
busy packing. Hidayat was going page by page
through the Complete Works volume, very
lovingly book-marking pages for me to study
more in depth. We would all take little breaks
to sit and drink tea and coee and chat.
Te remainder of the day and evening were
spent in casual relaxation and conversation
amongst Hidayat, Aziza, Joe, and myself.
Wednesday, June
22
nd
, 2005
Keynote: Ya Hayy, Te
Ever-Living, Te Alive
Hazrat Inayat Khan:
Humor is the sign of light
from above. When that
light touches the mind,
it tickles it, and it is the
tickling of the mind that
produces humor.
Tat morning we all
shared our last breakfast,
at least for this trip. We loaded up the car and
headed for the airport. Hidayat, Aziza, Joe, and
I sat and chatted at an airport snack bar until it
was time for them to go through the security.
During our last hour together we shared more
stories, and we laughed, and laughed.
As we all walked to the departure gate we
felt full and happy, and yet it was a bittersweet
parting. With warm hearts, smiles on our lips,
and tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes to
each other.
Return soon to us here in the Heartland of
Kansas City, Missouri. Your home on Cherry
Street awaits you!
51 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
As soon as man claims the importance of his
community over others, he has lost the very seed
of wisdom that was given to him for his spiritual
development. If we really recognized the inner
voice we would see that the dierent scriptures
all contain words spoken by one and the same
voice. Ten we would be attuned to that voice
settled in the human heart, the home of the soul.
In Te Unity of Religious Ideals Murshid gives
such a wonderful symbolic example. He sees the
dierent religions as the tones of one and the
same piece of music. Each tone is a good one
but music only arises when they are attuned to
each other. And each one plays his own part on
his own instrument. So we all are instruments
in the orchestra of life, searching for harmony
in our life-symphony. Tat is what is meant
by making the message a reality. Tat is what
the Su Movement has in view: to nd your
own keynote in the knowledge that everybody
has his original tone, dierent from others. By
attunement to all these beautiful tones we get
one Divine composition.
One time a teacher of music gave us an
exercise. Everyone was walking around the
room singing his own keynote. The task
included keeping your own note while listening
to the others. Tat was not easy. It needed
concentration to hold that note. Te next task
was to connect your tone with another one.
What then happened, it was wonderful. Finally
we were standing together with everyone singing
Making the Message a Reality
by Maharani de Caluw
Te human heart is the home of the soul, and upon this home the comfort and the
power of the soul depend.
Gayan, Hazrat Inayat Khan
T
o make the Message a reality depends on the
above-mentioned comfort and power of the
soul. It all depends on attunement and unity.
In Volume X of the Su Message series, chapter
VII of Te Problem of the Day, Hazrat Inayat
Khan says:
One can see the beginning of the spirit of
brotherhood when one looks at ocks of birds ying
together in the sky, or at the herds of animals in the
eld and the swarms of insects all living and moving
together. No doubt this tendency of brotherhood
is more pronounced in man, for man is not only
capable of realizing the spirit of brotherhood, but
also of fullling the purpose which is hidden in
this natural tendency. Tere is one secret behind all
this diversity which we call good or bad, right or
wrong, sin or virtue; and it is that all that leads to
happiness is right, good, and virtuous, and all that
leads to unhappiness is wrong, bad, and evil; and if
there is any sin, it is the latter which may be called
sin. Brotherhood is not something which man has
learned or acquired; it is something which is born
in him, and according to his development of this
spirit he shows the unfoldment of his soul.
In Te Unity of Religious Ideals we can read
about the subject of unity and uniformity. Unity
is the inner nature of every soul, the only purpose
of life, while uniformity is there to help to full
that purpose. But is it not strange that through all
the ages the dierent religions which have been
given to man for his spiritual development with
the single idea of unity, have gradually developed
into separate communities?
continued on next page
52 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
his base-tone and it sounded fantastic. All the
tones sounded like they were interweaving with
each other. Not all the tones were pure of course,
but when the attunement is all right then all the
little unevenesses disappear.
Tat is what happens so often in our daily life.
Te rst task is to stay in your own keynote, in
attunement to your own inner voice. Secondly,
we try to attune to the heart of other human
beings. In experiencing Unity we can learn
that dierences are not hindrances on our way
but inspiring helps on our path. Only when we
uphold our thoughts and feelings as the only right
ones we do not attune ourselves to others but
to our own limitations. Tat is what happened
with the dierent religions. Not a single one of
the prophets came with the thought of creating
an exclusive community. Te dierences in the
religions exist because of the external generality,
the general populace. Te inner meaning of all
religions is one and the same, the attunement
to the Divine.
Te rst lesson on the spiritual path is that
there is nothing but God. To whatever object
we may attune ourselves, we can meet God: in
each form, in pictures, in art, in nature, in the
animal world, but most of all in man. Sometimes
the behaviour of man doesnt look like this; it is
dicult then to see the divine part in him, but this
does not mean that there is no divine part.
A cardiologist in Arnhem, Holland, is doing
research on near death experiences. He asks in
one of his articles: What is man? Am I a body
or do I have a body? Where am I when I sleep,
when I dream, when I am dead? He also uses
the example of music. Music does not depend on
the instrument. Tere is always music in the air.
Sometimes you can hear that music in your head,
but you only can make it a real sound through
an instrument that is able to receive this music
and send it out. Is that what happens when we
tune ourselves to our soul, that we make the
connection? Is that what we call intuition? What
happens when we tune ourselves to the soul of
other people? Do we then become the instrument
to receive their message and send out ours?
Could it be possible that the light that people
talk about in the case of near death experiences
is always around us? Could it be that we have
made ourselves unable to perceive that light
because of our own limitation?
Is total surrender, like a patient anesthetized
for surgery, the answer? Is that the answer to the
question how to make the message a reality?
Speaking in musical terms, Hazrat Inayat
Khan gives us three keynotes for spirituality:
love, harmony and beauty. When we stick to
these three keynotes we are making the message
a reality. Tat is our universal soul connection,
our ties to sister- and brotherhood. We cannot
live without love. Without a loving heart it is
impossible to receive. If we are not open to the
signals sent out by others, we cannot understand
others. Love is needed to be tolerant, to forgive
not only in regard to others, but it starts with
tolerance and forgiveness to ourselves.
Is that not egoism? It would be, if we do
not care about others. What happens in our
being together is that we give strength to each
other. We are interwoven with each other. Every
expression, every contact, shows us how we are
linked to one another. Tink how strong the
inuence can be of somebodys acts or glances.
Sometimes it seems that we only are the results
of causes in the outer world, but it isnt so.
Being conscious of that inuence can help
us to realize that people are dierent without
leaving our own peaceful harmony, our keynote.
Tat consciousness can also help us to realize that
we, in a subtle way, should notice the feelings
of others and have consideration for them. And
that consciousness can strengthen us in the
knowledge that we ourselves have the possibility
to inuence each other in a loving way. Tat is
the consciousness of Unity.
Tis world needs more than ever the idea of
sister- and brotherhood. All that people desire
in the world is safety, solidarity, security, to be
tied with friends and family members.
53 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Maybe the growing interest in spirituality
is a counter-movement against this material
and supercial world. Is this because we meet
so little loving goodness, or because we have
diculties being a loving human being in this
world? Hazrat Inayat Khan says: It is nice to
have many friends but it is much nicer to be a
friend. Tat means to give without expecting
something back. One who is able to practise
this becomes a source of happiness for everyone
he meets, a blessing for others but especially a
blessing for himself. It seems paradoxical that we
feel rich by giving to others, that we feel happy
by serving others, but that is the way it works.
It is much nicer to serve than to be dependent
on the service of others. Love, happiness, and
cheerfulness are gifts. Te ones who are blessed
with those qualities are privileged and have other
tasks and responsibilities than the ones who are
not so happily blessed.
Te need to develop peace and harmony
applies to all of us but some have to work harder
than others in order to come in touch with their
inner qualities. For these, no rejection, but loving
compassion, which is balsam on the wounds that
need to be healed. Tat is the way in which we
can work on a beautiful symphony of Unity. Tat
is how we can make the Message a reality.
54 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
I
n the western world, in what we call the de-
veloped countries, we are living in a society
where there has been occurring a big change in
individual, family and social values.
We are living in a century where moral
relativism and rationalism have become more
and more prevalent and the key drivers of a
successful way of thinking, living and working.
A lot of examples of this point of view are
available. Because of this mind model, the largest
part of our good tradition has been vanishing.
Individualism and separation are more and more
wide spread in our social life. In these days we
are living with the social problems coming from
a non-integrated multiethnic society.
In fact, the mass media are more and more
powerful and invasive in our everyday life.
Moreover, commercial advertising is bombarding
our minds, creating new needs and more and
more seductive models for a successful life based
on materialism.
In many political conferences and congresses,
experts of economic and social phenomena call
it social progress. Te rate of growth of the total
wealth of a country or geographic region (the
percent growth rate of the GNP) is the gold
standard for comparison and competition. Life
is becoming more and more competitive in every
daily aspect.
What has been happening is that we have
been moving from models of society mostly
inspired and driven in everyday life by traditional
social, moral, ethical and religious values to
the development of social groups driven by
rationalism and materialistic and economic
standards.
Terefore, we are going farther and farther
from our natural life. Tere is less and less space
for a natural existence.
This evolution has different rates of
penetration in Europe and North America,
and within their dierent areas. So, in the big
cities and more developed countries it is usually
prevalent and diused through all the layers
of society. In small town and less developed
countries it is more isolated in its impact and
less dominant.
Tis process was already described by Pir-
o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the early
days of the 20
th
century. He analyzed it and its
consequences precisely, based on his observations
when he visited big modern cities like New York
and London.
Tis growing materialism has been having
a big eect at all the dierent levels of human
being, family and society.
If we actively observe everyday life moving
around us, the eect of this change is visible on
the faces of most of the people we meet in a train
station or in the metro of a big city, including
in young people, whom one might expect to be
more carefree. People frequently look sad and
unhappy.
Why?
From a material point of view, we have all
kind of comforts in our life, but the expression
in peoples eyes is frequently worried. Tey are
unhappy, sad, afraid or angry, as well as being
selfish, unsatisfied, closed, competitive or
aggressive, and indierent to the condition of
other human beings.
Modern Life and Prayer
by Rashid and Jalila Guerra
55 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
Social connections and interactions are
reduced to a minimum. Tere is no time to speak
together, no time to create and develop human
relationships in our family or community, no
time to share experiences with friends or people
coming from other cultures, no time to pay
attention to others. Tere is no time to welcome
new people.
What is happening?
We are becoming more and more mechanical,
like robots, mainly concentrated on doing
business.
One could ask, where the engineer present
within ourselves is going?
Due to this on-going change our life is
frequently unbalanced and not in good health
and condition.
We have lost the most part of our good natural
habits. Tere is no time to hear the sounds of
the nature around us, no time to hear from our
inner Self, no time to hear and to help our friends
and other people.
All these unnatural conditions in a person
produce suering on the physical, spiritual and
social level. More and more frequently there is
a prevalent negative feeling which covers the
hearts of people like a shadow. It is a block to
the passage of Divine light and to the direct
contact with our eternal Source of inspiration.
Because of this, people become unhappy, sad,
dissatised with their life, more and more
competitive and selsh, and therefore conicts
with other people grow.
Many people are becoming aware that
they have this problem and, consciously or
unconsciously, are looking for a cure, usually
from outside in the form of medicines or
drugs. Tey go to medical doctors to nd some
therapy. Consequently, medical doctors prescribe
powerful and expensive chemical medicines.
Is that useful? Is that the natural way of
managing it? Is that really what they need?
From ancient times, and as Pir-o-Murshid
Hazrat Inayat Khan has taught us, all human
beings have cured these kinds of problems in
a very simple but eective and powerful way:
by praying.
Because of rationalism in our evolved
society, prayer is frequently considered a sort of
superstition, an old fashioned way of thinking,
an aspect of a primitive life style.
Is that true?
If we look at all sacred scriptures of the world,
like those of the Hindu, Christian, Muslim,
and Zoroastrian religions, we can discover the
impressive importance attributed to prayer by all
the messengers of every time. Prayers have been
used for 8,000 years. Prayer is the rst step for
faith, to believe. It is the gate through which we
can speak and reach God in our heart.
We can read that prayers can cure, protect,
and tune us to the One, in every situation of
our everyday life. We can nd dierent kind of
prayers with dierent needs for each situation of
life. Tere is a prayer to speak directly to God in
our heart; to ask Him for advice or counsel; to
thank Him for the gifts of life we receive every
day; to ask Him for help when in diculties; to
ask Him for healing when in ill health.
Prayer is a most powerful and personal tool,
but it is also a social tool when prayers are made
in a group. Tus, prayer presents a truly complete
array of natural, tailor-made medicines. Still
in the present time, the majority of people of
the under-developed world and of the human
family use prayer as the most powerful tool to
cure illness of every kind. Tey frequently join
together in prayer to multiply the power.
However, prayer is not something automatic;
it becomes so powerful when we say it in the
right way, with the right mental attitude, when
we regularly practise it, when we sincerely say it,
from the deepest depth of our heart, with all our
being, body, mind and soul. In this way we can
create a direct connection with the greatest Healer,
speaking directly to Him Who is in our heart.
Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan teaches us
that prayer is mystical because of its power to
transform in the same heart a prevailing negative
56 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
feeling to a positive one, in order to master our
mind and so our life. Tis is a true miracle of
prayer, not only at an individual level, but also
at the social, national and world level.
Prayer eliminates toxins, and protects and
maintains a clean heart. Te daily practise of
prayer acts as a form of spiritual and physical
hygiene. It is a purication of our heart.
Therefore, let us pray sincerely and
regularly in our everyday life to tune ourselves
to the One. Let us pray for the health and
the peace of our society and the world. Let
us join together to pray, to give our prayers
more power. Above all, let us use the incredible
richness represented by the updated prayers
given to us by our Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat
Inayat Khan. In this way, sooner or later we
can gain real development, the real dividend
from the unique investment of this eternal
treasure represented by Wisdom.
57 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on next page
Te following is condensed from articles which
appeared in Te Su, a quarterly journal of
mysticism, in 1936, and which were subsequently
incorporated in the authors memoir, Pages in the
Life of a Su.
W
hat is India? Te answer comes: India is
like a tree bearing an abundance of fruits,
oering to all without expecting any return.
Te object of our journey to India was to
visit certain holy tombs and shrines. Revisiting
my own country after an absence of twenty-ve
years brought to me many impressions that seem
to me inexpressible, not to be recorded in words.
I only pray that I may be able to cherish them,
beautiful and unfaded, till the end of my days.
Tere are experiences each individual must
surely make for himself, and which cannot be
explained or conveyed to others; they must be
felt to be known. Such were the experiences
which came to me beside those holy shrines and
tombs that were the goal of our journey. When
I think of the many sensations felt beside the
tombs of dierent sages; when I think of the
special atmosphere which pervades the graves of
emperors who were also mystics, and of the kings
who were not mystics; when I think of what I
received through the privilege of meetings with
dervishes, mashaiks, mahatmas and madzoubs;
when I recall the eect of the deep music of the
magical sama upon heart and soulhow shall
I nd words to speak of these things?
Te tomb of Nizamuddin Aulia is situated in
New Delhi, about an hours drive from Delhi.
On our arrival we went rst to pay our respect
to the shrine of this famous teacher and saint,
whose teachings have reached as far as China and
have been carried on through the centuries by an
uninterrupted chain of successors and disciples.
It is told of him that he lost his father and many
relatives in childhood; his mother, being left
alone to take care of him, was often so poor that
she had nothing in the house to eat, and then
she would remind her son, Today, God is our
host. Tis training in reliance upon God and
an enduring faith gave him his line in life; so
his mother was his rst guru and murshid. He
grew to look forward to hearing her say these
words, believing that he was thus strengthened
in steadfastness and mystical development,
with trust and love towards Providence. His
unswerving purpose, learned in childhood, is
still the magnet that draws countless numbers
to him; and we see that being true to an ideal in
life makes man a king of life indeed.
Near to his tomb is the tomb of Amir
Khusrou, who was poet and musician and the
originator of the sitar and many other musical
instruments. We are told that he lived surrounded
by musicians, and that almost ve hundred
minstrels would accompany him, as he moved
from place to place on his journeys, in order
to learn from him. Musical festivals are still
constantly held in his honour; they are called
quwalis or sama. We went to one of these at the
end of our stay in Delhifor me perhaps the
most outstanding event of our tour.
An Indian Pilgrimage
by Pir-o-Murshid Mushara Moulamia Khan
Heirlooms: oerings from our past
58 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Moulamia Khan
On our rst visit to these shrines we found
a large number of visitors, among whom we
noticed a couple of Europeans; and it was while
we were looking at the beautifully wrought screen
before the shrine of Nizamuddin Aulia, which is
covered with presents and tokens and tributes of
gratitude, that the guardian asked us if we should
like to visit the tomb of Hazrat Inayat Khan. So
before we spoke of him, we heard his name for
whose sake I had left India,
twenty-ve years earlier,
and to visit whose resting
place was the purpose of
our journey.
Tere is a bird in India
called the papaya, which
repeats all it hears. O
Papaya, says the poet,
do not repeat the name
of my beloved. And like
the poet we felt also that
it was almost too much
to bear, to hear that name
repeated in that place.
Te dargah of Hazrat
Inayat Khan is quite close
to that of Nizamuddin
Aulia and that of Amir
Khusrou, but it is in
comparison much smaller,
and to European eyes it
might seem almost too unpretentious.
A stone building, pinkish in colour, square
and domed, it is from outside shaded by two
great trees.
Perhaps you would like to visit the tomb of
Hazrat Inayat Khan? the guardian had said. And
he left us to wait before the closed green door,
while he went for the key to open it. Already I
felt, as I stood there, as if I was about to meet
my beloved comforter.
Most of the visitors to the burial ground had
by now gone away; but the ground is surrounded
by houses; quickly the news had spread and from
the roofs and windows we saw people gathering
to watch us, but in no idle curiosity. Tey guessed
who we were, and sharing in our emotion, they
were moved with kindness and sympathy toward
us. Within the tomb, we saw the raised con.
We read the inscription, written in English and
Urdu: Hazrat Inayat Khan, Founder of the Su
Movement in the West.
Tere are moments when consciousness of
time and place fades away, and all seems at a
standstill. Tinking and
willing cease; hoping
and expecting are at an
end, because an entire
satisfaction pervades and
informs the whole being.
Above and beyond the
sensual existence, in
the peace of an utter
happiness, from which
one may bring back no
more than a memory of
a most sweet perfume; of
a voice of transcending
beauty; of music that
enraptured; of a touch
that blessed and healed,
there is a world that all
of us enter at times.
Ther e, i n t hat
supersensual world, one
loses all thought or fear
of personal merit or demerit; of gain or of loss;
and imagination is stilled in the face of perfection.
Seeing, hearing, knowing are caught beyond the
wrappings and veils of our daily existence.
Each day of our stay in Delhi, which lasted two
months, we went to visit the dargah; not always
at the same time, but never a day passed without
our seeking the happiness that lay there for us,
in the presence which gave us wings to rise.

Te beauty of the Indian dawn, the feeling of


that dawn, and the desire for meditation that rises
59 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
from it under that clear sky, gave us peace and
happiness at the start of each fresh day. Below in
the streets were singing dervishes, chanting the
words of great poets. Breath is my friend; breath
is my life, my companion. A long bazaar stretches
before me, a long journey. I have to go, sings one.
O friend, what you are seeking is not so lasting,
sings another; position and possession are an
illusion. Tey sing their rag jogya, the morning
mode or melody. At midnight, we heard an old
man singing with a few companions, calling
those who rise at midnight to pray. Mine and
thine; thou and I; here this life is a moments
halting place, all this is a momentary game. Do
you not see this?
Be not deceived. What is mine? What is
thine? Stop, think, what is there besides? Te
moment you forget, this is mine; this is thine;
you begin to think of what is common to us. Tat
moment shows there is no real separation.
Te stars were bright above; the night was still.
He sang thus during the night of the fast days, to
waken the people to meditation. Incidents such
as these continually struck the same devotional
note we wished to hold in the rhythm of life.
We gathered many remarkable impressions
from these poor homeless people, who ask for
nothing and scarcely require coverings or shelter
in the heat or in the cold. Tere was one I saw
lying on the ground, so poor and apparently
insignicant that I asked myself what his life
could be worth to him or to any one else. At
once the answer came. A cloud of sweet perfume
enveloped me, the incense from that sweet and
saintly soul; and I knew that here was a pure
and perfect being of great spiritual power. And
in my thought I bowed to him, asking pardon
that I could have had such an idea of him, even
for a moment. We spoke no word, but there was
an understanding at once between us, and I felt
again that strong uplifting that all beauty and
perfection give; an uplifting that lls one with
the sense of the value of human life, and with an
optimism that assures one that all is yet well, in
spite of the injustice and cruelty in the world.
We met also a remarkable man who was
known for the wonders that he did through
the help of spirits. He told us that he had set
out on the pure spiritual path, but had been
lled with curiosity about a certain aspect of
supernatural experience. He had then begun to
devote himself to communicating with spirits
and was now unable to throw o his interest
in that line; but he assured us most earnestly
that he would not advise anyone to follow his
example. He was a sickly individual, with an
unhealthy aspect, and though of great power,
there was something repellent about him. He
too, has many friends and seeks to be of aid to
those who come to him, and to use his interest
and knowledge for their benet.
It is interesting, perhaps, to note that the
evolved perceive a most disagreeable odour
surrounding such a person; this smell is often
noticed by people who come in their presence,
and become faint and feel ill, without knowing
the reason, not having any knowledge or idea
of such things. Others who may not even be
physically conscious of an unpleasant odour
may be similarly aected.

Often on our daily visits to the dargah we


met the pir in charge of the burial ground. His
special function is to edit and publish all that is
written about the teachings of Nizamuddin Aulia
by his disciples and followers, and to keep all these
histories and records together and exact. His days
are occupied in such work and in lecturing, his
nights in prayer. Many young men come to sit
at his feet and to learn from him; and when he
asked us to his house, we found him surrounded
by people who were listening to him. He spoke
of the work of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and said
that in those European disciples whom he had
met, he had found an unusual understanding
of things mystical, and this seemed to him an
continued on next page
60 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
unique and miraculous thing. He spoke of the
magic current of love that came from Hazrat
Inayat Khan to his European mureeds; and the
men and women around him listened attentively
to his words, as he sat on a carpet in their midst.
We felt ourselves much moved and impressed
by him and his words.
Walking with him in the burial ground one
day, he told us also how Hazrat Inayat Khan had
pointed to the spot where his body now lies,
saying: I should like to live close by.
After we had been in Delhi some weeks, the
pir asked us to be present at a quwali held in
honour of Amir Khusrou, close to his shrine, and
to give an address on the work of Hazrat Inayat
Khan. A festival of this kind lasts throughout the
day and night, for several days. Te singers and
musicians who gather there each sing and play
in turn. Numbers of people come to these sacred
meetings; several thousands were present at the
one to which we were bidden. On these occasions
the railway station called Hazrat Nizamuddin
Aulia receives great numbers of devotees.
Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia had learned to
endure poverty in his childhood; and when later
he became rich, receiving many gifts from royal
visitors who delighted to honour him, he still
lived a life of simplicity, spending the wealth he
received on the poor and in giving hospitality
to travelers. In the same way the pir provides
accommodation for those who come at such
times. His house is quite close and there he lives
a mystical life, in the old traditional way, where
his ancestors lived before him. But at the quwali
to which we were asked, a special enclosure had
been erected for him and for certain guests. Tis
diwan khana held about two hundred people, and
through an opening in its walls one could see the
shrines and the assembled crowd without.
It was about 10 oclock in the morning that
a young student called for us, to take us to the
quwali; and driving along beside him, I felt unable
to speak of my brother. What an irreparable
loss for the world, that such an illuminated soul
should leave it, he said to me. I could only bow
my head in answer. Arrived at our destination,
the eldest son of the pir met us and brought us
to our seats.
Tere were a number of notabilities present
that day: the representative of Mahatma Gandhi,
the ex-Sultan of Morocco, many ulemas and
shaik-ul-mashaiks and dervishes, some wearing
green turbans, some in brown and some in
yellow robes. We both spoke in our turn on the
work of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and the interest
and responsive attitude shown by the assembled
company for what we had to say was inexpressibly
touching.
Tere followed a programme of songs and
music. Tere is such power in music to bless; when
intellect and will are still, then indeed they may
be lifted upwards, carried by the soaring beauty
to a realm where all is music, the music of the
Eternal. Tere, drinking of a draught that is magic
and potent, something is gained that can never be
quite lost; divine intimations, heavenly mysteries
heal and bless. Even for weeks after the music
surrounded us with its notes. So charged was the
atmosphere with the combined inuence of the
music of saintly men and the spiritual inuence
of that company of dervishes and adepts, the
sweet sympathy and response given to the story
of Hazrat Inayat Khanall created an ecstasy
of thought and feeling; a communion of souls
conscious of the beauty invisible; a harmony
and peace in the comprehension of holy and
spiritual aspiration.
Te young man who had come to take us
to the meeting brought us home again. He
too had been caught up in the universal, the
cosmic consciousness. A thousand mureeds
of Inayat Khan in the West equal ten hundred
thousand in the East, he said. Surely these
Western mureeds, he continued to say, can
and will do their part. Surely they will carry on
the Message he left them. And again he spoke
of the irreparable loss to the world that such an
illuminated being should have left it. He asked
me for my blessing, and I will never ask you or
disturb to give me anything more.
61 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Some weeks later I paid my last visit to the
dargah of my revered brother, this time alone.
We felt this parting would be too much for my
companion to watch and endure. Strong and
deep was my inner prayer. Tis is, you know,
my last homage to you, my murshid, here; my
only thought is that the message you left may
spread far and wide, and that you will always
send us illumination and inspire us. If I could
bring even one person to an understanding of
that Message, I would be quite content. I felt
almost as if I were speaking to him.
I remembered, too, that after his own
initiation, he went to the tomb of Moinuddin
Chisti. And as he was on his way there, he passed
a dervish, who whispered in his ear: O young
man, do not be so restless and eager. Go on, but
things will happen themselves and develop. Te
whispering of the dervish in his ear seemed to
comfort him, before the thought: How great
is my task and how shall I begin it? Among
dervishes there is no idea of haste and despair,
of time and place.
I felt as if I were speaking to my brother and
saying to him: You know our diculties very
well; how some take it and misunderstand. And
I had a feeling as if an answer came, steadying
me in my resolution and conviction, with a
promise of help. And I was lifted into a country
of hope.
Tere is a light hidden behind the clouds,
a light that remains even when the eyes are
looking at the dark colour of stormy clouds.
Behind the confusion of life, a memory of this
light, once seen, remains constant; of this light
which suuses that world above, that world of
hope. It remains more visible than all in this
seen world.
Patience, I heard.
And patience, I felt, will help me to dive
into the innermost, deepest depths. Tose
depths touched, the knowledge must remain an
unutterable mystery, except in the manner that
one may translate it into ones life, for others to
see and to know.
To go to a tomb or a shrine is to be comforted
according to the force of our desire and our
responsiveness. Tat the body is resting there has
its own signicance, and is more than a feeling.
But to live for his message is to live with him. In
his message, he is living. To live for that keeps
one near him.
Te shrine brings one to the consciousness
of the inner being, and devotion to a shrine
kindles the inner light. Tere is such a happy
optimism in this experience; hope awakens,
strength is aroused and sends one out renewed.
As the poet says: As my wondering eyes looked
at the holy shrine, I heard from within me in
that stillness, softly arising, a gentle whispering,
a voice saying: Do you not know me? I am the
eye of the shrine.
Ones own voice is the voice, ones own eyes
are the eyes of the shrine.
To retain balance and the dignity of the
human being, to develop every human possibility,
but towards perfection that is natural, this is the
Su way. To attract by strange ways, to hold and
fascinate the people by some peculiar idea, is
going against nature.
Whatever is natural to develop, that is
beautiful. Te real success is in durability and
is lasting. Te mystic, therefore, can be wide
awake in the world. Tough not a slave to things
material, the outer life may be one of balance
and human dignity and beauty, and the human
reason, made greater by that eternal Light which
is the knowledge of the Will of God.
62 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
F
or some years now, the annual celebration
of Visalat Day at the Dargah in Delhi has
been preceded by a music festival in Baroda
dedicated to the memory of Hazrat Inayat Khan
and his illustrious grandfather Maula Bakhsh.
Tis year that festival was also the occasion of
an extraordinary event, the inauguration of the
newly renovated room in which Hazrat Inayat
was born on July 5
th
1882.
In the time of Maula Bakhsh and for many
years afterward, the large house not far from the
palace was home to the extended family. With the
passage of time, however, it was gradually broken
up into separate dwellings, and began to fall into
decay. Fifteen years ago, Harunisa Mahmood
Khanim Begum and Petra Beate Schildbach
joined forces with other mureeds and members
of the family to try to reclaim and rehabilitate
at least a portion of the house. On January 28
th
,
a small company of family, friends and mureeds
from overseas joined in prayers and ceremonies
to bless and celebrate the rst accomplishments
in the project, the opening of an assembly hall
at ground level, and on the oor above, a library
and the birth room itself.
Resplendent in fresh paint and polished
marble, with a magnicent inlaid oor in the
library and a glowing domed skylight in the
birth room, the rooms communicate some of
the atmosphere of beauty and optimism that
must have prevailed in the days when the little
grandson of Maula Bakhsh was born there. For
Report from India
by Nawab William Pasnak
Our reverence, our homage and our gratitude: Magda Alberts and Waldo van Essen, both of South Africa,
performing an informal Universal Worship service in the assembly hall in Maula Bakhsh House.
63 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
those who were witness to the calamitous state
of disrepair to which the rooms had fallen, with
peeling plaster, collapsing stairs, and the dubious
charm of a resident goat, the transformation is
that much more striking.
For more information on Maula Bakhsh
House and how to visit it, as well as details
about the annual music festival, readers are
invited to contact Petra Beate Schildbach
pebeschi@t-online.de and Harunisa Begum
harunissakhanim@hotmail.com.

Te architecture of the Dargah of Hazrat
Inayat Khan has won numerous compliments,
forming a secluded oasis in the midst of the
dust and disorder of the surrounding Basti.
However, it is not easily accessible to anyone who
has diculty walking; the long stairs can be a
formidable challenge to someone with sore hips
or knees. To someone conned to a wheelchair,
the way is virtually closed.
The situation can be remedied by the
installation of a vertical lift from the lower
courtyard to the upper gallery (see photo). With
a few other small modications, the Dargah
would then be much more welcoming to the
handicapped.
Te cost of such a lift, though, is substantial,
and the Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust,
which cares for the Dargah, is unable to undertake
the work without support from the community
at large. Some donations have already been
received, but more are needed before the work
can begin.
To learn more about this project, or to make
a contribution, readers are invited to contact the
Deputy Administrator of the Trust at wepasnak@
ca.inter.net
A formidable challenge: the long stairs at the Dargah can be a real barrier.
The proposed location of the vertical lift is marked against the white wall.
64 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
p
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Women at the Hope Project selling crafts
65 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
From a Christian Service to a Universal Worship
by Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss
Introduction
I
n this paper I trace the evolution of my re-
lationship to the formal Universal Worship
Service as Ive experienced it. My initial reaction
to it was as a Christian Service, which brought
up all my resistances to Christianity in particu-
lar, and religion in general.
My Story
Growing up in Australia in the 1950s was
a challenging experience for me. Like many
migrant children I was confronted with one
culture at home and another in my local school
and neighbourhood. At home, my parents
created a very loving and colourful world that
had a Jewish eastern European atmosphere.
At school, I was confronted with an austere
Anglo-Protestant Christian world, which was
very dierent. Emotionally restrained, highly
individualistic, rather anti-intellectual and
parochial, the Australia of the 50s was not
known for its high culture. By contrast, I grew up
playing the violin and attending Cheder, a Jewish
religious after-school class three times a week.
I was encouraged to be successful academically,
and was told stories of a dierent world where
intellect and classical culture was praised, while
sport had no place. Jewish thinkers like Freud
and Einstein were held in high esteem, as were
the biblical prophets like Moses and Abraham.
Te wisdom of King Solomon was regarded as
rather more signicant than the sporting prowess
of the cricketer, Donald Bradman.
I studied biblical Hebrew and Jewish religious
practices for my Bar Mitzvah in the local orthodox
synagogue. Te eastern suburbs of Sydney at
that time had the highest population of Jewish
people in Australia, so being Jewish in this part
of Sydney felt pretty normal. Only when I went
to high school outside my neighbourhood, and
then to university did I realise that the rest of
Australia was a very dierent world.
At high school we had to say the Lords Prayer
at every assembly, even if we were Jewish. We
also had to sing the English National Anthem,
God Save the Queen, and think of England as
the mother country. Being of a Jewish eastern
European background was something I learnt
to hide; I had to pass for white, Christian and
Anglo, if I were to be accepted as Australian.
Fortunately sun tans were fashionable in those
days, so my dark complexion and olive skin was
not a total disaster, although it did occasionally
evoke a comment about being a dark swarthy
type.
Once I had studied chemical engineering, I
decided that religion was more trouble than it
was worth and that it didnt have much relevance
to the modern world of science and technology
that I was being educated for at university. So I
didnt have to deal with the whole issue of being
Jewish in a Christian world. By gaining tertiary
qualications and shortening my rst name to
Ben, rather than the very Jewish Ben-Zion, I
found I could be almost accepted as Australian,
except that people could never spell my German
surname.
When I later began my spiritual search, it
was to yoga and zen Buddhism that I was drawn.
Tese forms of meditative practices seemed to
continued on next page
66 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
have great benet to my body, mind and spirit,
and they seemed culturally neutral in terms of
religious forms, as there was no need to deal
with the G word. Teir primary focus was
experiential and their teachings were on peace
and compassion. Tese values that they presented
were positive for me, so it made sense to pursue
them. Tis I did for a number of years.
But something was missing. In time, the
lack of emotional engagement, the lack of
intellectual discussion and the unfamiliar Asian
cultural forms became limitations for me. So
the Universe sent along the Dances of Universal
Peace. I responded very strongly to the Middle
Eastern music and dances as well as the Hebrew
and Arabic languages. During my zen practices
we read a poem called Te Song of Zazen, by
Hakuin Zenji, an 18th century zen Master. In
this poem he says: With mind that is no mind,
singing and dancing are the voice of the law.
Miraculously the Universe led me to this voice
of the law in the dances.
Universal Worship
Given my background and my spiritual
journey, my rst response to a formal Universal
Worship was very mixed. I was interested in its
universality, but found the service rather churchy,
Christian and stilted. As a person from a Jewish
background, I had some resistance to what I
regarded as Christian rituals that had echoes
of Anglican Christianity. Te reason for this, I
suspect, lies in the form and the language. Te
former relates to the sitting in rows, with the
Cherags out the front, performing the rituals
and prayers. I felt like a spectator rather than
a participant.
Te use of English as the medium for the
prayers was also a challenge for me. Hebrew
was the religious language of my childhood,
while Sanskrit and Pali were predominantly the
language of the yogic and Buddhist chanting
that became part of my later spiritual questing.
English for me was either a secular language or
associated with the Anglican Christianity that
I felt was forced upon me growing up in a so-
called secular Australia.
My reaction was partly due to my dierent
cultural orientation, coming from a Romanian
Jewish family, and partly due to a feeling of
discomfort around Christian anti-Semitism.
As an Evangelical Sister of Mary (a member of
a German Lutheran order devoted to Jewish-
Christian reconciliation started in 1947)
once explained to me: the very term New
Testament implies a replacement theology.
Tis places Judaism into a past scenario of
the Old Testament, which implies that the
contract between the people of Israel and the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacobas stated
in the Torahhas now been replaced by
one between God and Yeshua (Jesus) as the
New Testament. Tus Jesus and Christianity
supposedly supersede the teachings of the
ancient Jewish prophets.
Tis explanation made me reect on how I
had once been told by a Catholic work colleague
that the God of the Old Testament was an
angry, vengeful God, while the God of the New
Testament was a loving God. I tried to explain that
in my understanding, there was only one God.
Im conscious of the enormous contribution in
the eld of art, music and culture that has been
the blessing of two thousand years of Christianity
and that informs Australian society. What I have
diculty with, is that I have to comply with the
hidden Christian agenda of the so-called secular
society I live in. For me, at rst, the Universal
Worship seemed to be an extension of that hidden
agenda. Furthermore, the use of English further
alienated me, because, as I mention above, for
me English in the liturgy was associated with
Christianity.
Te Present
Since that rst contact ten years ago, much
has changed. Firstly, through my practice of the
Dances of Universal Peace and my Su practices,
Ive come to see my Jewish background very
dierently. Indeed, after years of being alienated
67 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
from Judaism as a formal practice, I have, over the
last few years, become part of the Jewish Renewal
Movement. Jewish Renewal involves meditation
practices drawn from the Kabbalah, the Jewish
mysticism, and includes music, chanting,
movement, dancing and is made up of people who
have explored a variety of other spiritual practices
like Buddhism, Yoga, Susm and Shamanism.
It also takes a stand on social justice issues like
feminism, ecology, peace, racism, homophobia
and various forms of inequality.
Secondly, my Su and Dances practice have
been instrumental in shifting my relationship
to all the major world religionsespecially
Christianity. Te Aramaic Jesus work of Saadi
has been a major contributor to this process, as
I have come to understand and connect with
the Middle Eastern origins of Christianity in
Judaism and Susm. According to Hazrat Inayat
Khan: Te schools of the Sus, whose origin
is the ancient school of Egypt where Abraham
was initiated, still exist and there are words you
use, which have that power. (Te Mysticism
of Sound and Music, Chapter II)
Tirdly, Ive now experienced the Universal
Worship in a number of forms, with a number
of interpretations. Indeed, it was the experience
of doing the Universal Worship interpreted in
dance that inspired me to read Te Unity of
Religious Ideals, which led to my participation
in Su practices as well as the Dances. Tat led
to my taking on a dance mentor and to initiation
into the Su Movement. Ten I experienced
the Universal Worship in other contexts, such
as a funeral service. Tis year I experienced
a very creative version as a Universal Peace
celebration with Murshida Mariam Baker at a
retreat, in a beautiful nature reserve, where we
could draw our text from the sacred manuscript
of nature!
All these experiences have led to a deepening
of my understanding of the Universal Worship
and an appreciation of its importance at this
time of growing global intolerance. It challenges
the absurd idea of the need for a Clash of
Civilizations (from the title of the book by
the American, Samuel Huntington), that for
me represents the antithesis of the Universal
Worship. By contrast, the Universal Worship
provides a model of harmony among civilizations
and universal peace. With this developing
understanding, which was further nurtured by
my experience of Summer School in Holland
last year, I have come to a place where I have a
very dierent understanding and appreciation
of the Universal Worship, as the following
poem portrays.
Te lighting of candles
Te chanting of prayers
One by one the texts are read
Words radiate light
from
All the worlds major religions.
People listen with their hearts
And feel their connection
to
Sacred Unity.
I remember all those
Who have held aloft the light of truth,
In the darkness of human ignorance.
I feel their blessing and am grateful
In gratitude.
68 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
T
here were once three brothers, sons of a
great king, who were sent by their father
to search the world until they had found their
hearts content. I have all that anyone could
need right here, said the king, but until you
have searched on your own account, you will not
be satised. So, go, with my
blessing, and do not return
until you can say you have
found what will make you
happy.
Te three brothers were
very dierent in their outlook.
Te oldest believed rmly in
the future, and felt that a great
destiny awaited him. Te
second was very interested in
the past since all the present
had come from there, while
the youngest took no notice
of the past or the future, but
acted just as he felt like at the
moment. Naturally, the two
oldest brothers thought the
youngest was a scatterbrain and would never
amount to anything, but the youngest brother
didnt care what they thought.
Sent forth by their father, the three brothers
travelled together until they found themselves
passing through a vast, carefully tended park. At
last, they came in sight of a great castle standing
on a hill. Te rst brother said, Surely my fate
has led us to this ne castle. Let us go forward
and inquire who lives here. Te second brother
had kept a careful record of their journey, and
knew that all they had done so far had led them
to that spot and to none other, and that they
must therefore go forward. Te youngest brother
thought that the castle and the park around it
looked very nice, and so he agreed.
Outside the gates of the castle, they met an
old woman who told them it was the home of
a noble king who had a very
beautiful daughter. Tey
say, said the woman, that
whoever wins her for his
bride will have his hearts
content.
Tere! said the eldest
brother. Did I not tell you
that my fate has brought
us here? We shall go in
and meet the lord and his
daughter. The second,
considering carefully all that
had happened so far that day,
was not at all surprised that
they now stood where they
did, and supposed that soon
they would stand somewhere
elseperhaps in the castle that lay before them.
Te youngest thought that he would like to meet
the princess, and so he was quite willing to go
and knock on the castle door.
Te three brothers were made very welcome.
Te king gave them rooms that looked upon
the wide gardens, where they were allowed to
walk if they chose, and each day delicious meals
were brought to them by the beautiful princess
herself. At the sight of her, the brothers were
each deeply struck. Te eldest said, It is destiny
that has brought us together, and surely destiny
White Jasmine
by Nawab William Pasnak
Nawab William Pasnak
69 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
will win this beautiful maiden for my hand
and my hearts content. Te second brother,
considering carefully all the maidens he had met
in his life, of whom he knew the exact number,
found that none compared with this particular
young maiden, and that he would therefore be
happy if he could have her for his wife. Te third
brother only said that he liked her very much,
and from the moment he rst saw her could
think of nothing but her beautiful face.
After some days, the king called the three
brothers to him, and said, I suppose that like
all the other princes before you who have come
to this castle, you wish to marry my daughter.
Very well, I will set you the same test I set for
them, although none has yet succeeded. You
have seen the wide gardens that surround the
castle. Tey extend for a days ride in every
direction, and I myself have not seen all their
beauties. Last night, my daughter went out
alone into the garden, and has chosen a place
that pleases her. Whoever is able to nd her
before the sun has set may have the privilege to
ask for her hand. If she accepts, he will have
her for his wife.
Te task seemed impossible. Te gardens
were vast, and thick with woods, walks, winding
paths and secluded pools and grottos. How
could anyone hope to nd the princess in a
single day? Nevertheless, the eldest brother said,
By nightfall, she shall certainly be mine. Te
fate that led me here shall bring me to her. We
are destined to be united. So saying, he strode
boldly o into the garden, walking straight before
him, looking neither left nor rightand where
his destiny led him no one can say for certain,
for he was never seen again.
Te second brother, knowing that the past
always leads nowhere else but to the present,
thought carefully for a moment, and then said
to himself, Before the princess came to where
she is now, she was somewhere else. As the past
makes a trail to the present, so the princess must
have made a trail to where she now sits waiting
for my arrival. I have only to follow that trail
to nd my hearts content. And with these
words, he began to search carefully around the
palace, looking for traces of the princesss passage.
It was not long before he found what he was
looking for, and soon he was following a trail of
bent grass blades, half-obscured foot-prints and
other subtle clues. All day he followed the signs,
until, near sunset, he came at last to a clearing
in a wood, and there foundnot the princess,
but a troop of the kings gardeners, taking their
evening meal around a re.
Te youngest brother did not know what
his destiny was, nor did he consider which way
the princess might have gone. Led only by the
tender feelings she had woken in his heart and
his longing to see her again, he wandered into
the garden, and before midday, he had found
her, reading a book, hidden from view under a
bower of fragrant white jasmine.
When the youngest brother appeared beneath
the bower, the princess dropped her book and
sprang to her feet, startled. After a long, searching
look, she said, Well! You have passed the test,
young man. You have the right to ask my hand,
but before I give my answer, I must know, how
did you nd me? Was it perhaps by accident?
Or maybe some servant spied out my hiding
place and told you?
Te young man shook his head. Each day
when you brought us food, he said, I saw that
you had these owers in your hair. After you left
the room, their fragrance lingered, and I could
not forget it. Tis morning, when I was walking
in the garden and smelled their perfume, I came
here remembering your beauty.
Te princess smiled. You have passed a
second test, she advised the young man. And
therefore I will accept you. Let us go and tell
my father to prepare the wedding feast.
And so it was that not long after the youngest
brother was able to return home, having
successfully fullled his fathers commandment
to nd his hearts content.
70 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
continued on page 72
20062007 Calendar of Some Events
April 21-23, 2006: Dance Leader Trainingnr. Silver City, NM, USA
with Darvesha and Azima Lila Forest. Embodied Spirituality at Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center.
Contact: azima@zianet.com, 505-534-0431, darvesh@starband.net
April 28-30, 2006: Annual Ruhaniat Jamiat Ahm Gathering, Madison, WI, USA
Te traditional gathering of the Su Ruhaniat International mureeds. We welcome and extend an invi-
tation to our Friends, the mureeds of all the Inayati lineages and Dancers of Universal Peace. Contact:
Rahmat Moore, 608-255-5626, E-mail: andrewrahmat@sbcglobal.net, or Dan Gallagher, 608-882-
3732, dan_with_plan@yahoo.com
May 7-12, 2006: Advanced Dance Leader Trainingnr. Portland, OR, USA
Spirit Ripening II: with Wali Ali Meyer, Leilah Be, Darvesha MacDonald and others. Contact: James
Warner, 206-783-7929, high-dances@comcast.net
May 11-14, 2006: Su Sesshin with Pir ShabdaIthaca, NY, USA
Contact: Khadija Radin, 607-272-0694, E-mail: khadija@whirlingdervish.org
May 19-21, 2006: PreWorkshop near Hamburg, Lneburger Heide, Germany
with Shamsuddin. Contact: Purusha Falkenhagen, phone 0049 30 39 31 522,
E-mail: dinesh@dinesh.de
May 19-21, 2006 In the Footsteps of the TeacherNorth Central MA, USA
A retreat with Murshid Wali Ali Meyer. Walks, dances, meditations, teachings in a rural setting.
Contact: Abraham Sussman 617-491-8694, email:sussman@thecia.net or samiabloch@verizon.net
May 19-21, 2006: Conference of the Birdsnr. Silver City, NM, USA
at Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center with Hayra Nur and LoraKim Joyner. Attars poem, plus birding
in high migration season.
Contact: Basira Nickle, registrar, 505-538-5034, basira@southwestsucommunity.org
May 22-28, 2006: 22nd Su CampHaus Schnede, Lneburger Heide, Germany
with Murshid Sauluddin. Contact: Martin Zahir Kchler, phone 0049 2763-6155,
Martin.kuechler@t-online
May 26-29, 2006: Inland Northwest Su Family CampLake Coeur dAlene, ID, USA
13th annual camp in North Idaho, with an active Childrens program. Spiritual Director: Noor-un-
Nisa Joan Smith. Contact: Karima Jan Weedman, 509-838-4295, janweedman@mac.com
May 26-31, 2006: Ozark Spring Su Campnear Osage Beach, MO, USA
Jewel in the Lotus. Camp director: Ali Kadr Sousley. Contact: Nur Rahman Locke, phone 816-630-
4159, E-mail: nurrahman@aol.com; website http://shiningheartcommunity.org/index.html.
June 1-4, 2006: Italian Spring School (Scuola di Primavera) in Khankah Abadan Abad
Malvaglia, Malvaglia, Ticino, Switzerland
Prayer, practice and deepening with Dahnya Bozzini, Ameen Carp and others. Principal language
Italian. Contact: dwhbvg@sirline.com
June 6-11, 2006: Living and Dancing in the Heart of the Onenr. Talinn, Estonia
Dance, Walking Meditation and Spiritual Voice Retreat with Murshid Saadi Douglas-Klotz, Maris
Warrior and Silje Devi Seppik. Contact: Silje Devi, siljeseppik@hot.ee
June 8-11, 2006: Su Retreat with Pir Shabda KahnEngland
Contact: Tansen ODonohoe, phone 011 44 1258 818067, mail@philipodonohoe.co.uk
72 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006

June 9-11, 2006: Australian Winter RetreatMelbourne, Victoria
Singlemindedness. Contact: Nuria Irene Pollock, irenepollock@iprimus.com.au
June 12-18, 2006: 3rd Annual Russian Ruhaniat Su Campnr. St. Petersburg, Russia.
Contact: Ilona, 011 7 921 927 7827; E-mail: ilona.v@mail.ru
June 23-25, 2006: Ziraat Retreat at SSCSilver City, NM, USA
Rediscovering our Earth: New Dimensions, New Perspectives with Asha Lela, Darvesha MacDonald,
Contact: Asha Lela, 360-468-2838, E-mail: ashalela@rockisland.com
June 24-July 1, 2006: Ruhaniat European Summer Schoolnr. Hamburg, Germany
Te teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Hazrat Murshid Samuel L. Lewis and Hazrat Murshid Moineddin
Jablonski. Special guest teacher: Murshid Wali Ali Meyer, plus European Ruhaniat teachers.
Contact: Wali van der Zwan, samark@peaceinmotion.info, Tel. 31 (0)30/225-0546. Ayat Sabine
Brandt, 49-(0)30-47036783, ayatsabine@web.de
June 21-27, 2006: DHO benet for Lama FoundationSan Cristobal, NM, USA
with Hakim Saul and senior Ruhaniat teachers in the DHO. Contact: Jennifer Avian,
650-464 0638, jen@well.com
July 5-23, 2006: International Summer School, Murad HassilKatwijk, Holland
Integrity in Spiritualitylectures, concentrations and practices in all ve Activities, as well as days of
retreat; with Hidayat Inayat-Khan, Karimbakhsh Witteveen, Nawab Pasnak, Aslan Sattler and others.
Principal language English. Contact: suap@hetnet.nl
July 11-15, 2006: 6th Annual Su Youth Retreat, No. California, USA
Tuesday through Saturday Contact: Alia, 714-319-9004, E-mail: agrace@sbcglobal.net
July 16-23, 2006: Mendocino Su CampNo. California, USA
Contact: Mary Kenney; E-mail: maryma33@hotmail.com
July 27-30, 2006: Eat, Dance & Pray Together: A Campout RetreatNorth Central MA, USA.
Camp Directors: Halima & Abraham Sussman. Contact: Abraham Sussman, 617-491-8694 email:
sussman@thecia.net
August 3-6, 2006: NC Beach Camp, a residential workshopSalterpath, NC, USA
with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz. Contact: Farrunnissa, 919-361-2383, NurLuna@aol.com
August 13-20, 2006: Northwest Su Campnr. Malolla, OR, USA
Calling in the Bees. Spiritual director: Nurjamila Elliott. Contact: Jala Hayat:
707-825-9121, info@nwsucamp.org
August 13-20, 2006: Workshop for Dance Mentors and SupervisorsSan Cristobal, NM, USA
at Lama Foundation with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz and Tasnim Hermila Fernandez.
Contact: Farrunnissa, 919-361-2383, NurLuna@aol.com
August 20-26, 2006: South America Retreat/Escuela Pan-LatinaBogot, Colombia
with Nawab Pasnak and others. An international collaboration, in Spanish. Childrens camp.
Contact: movimientosu@etb.net.co
August 25-29, 2006: Te Vast Silence North Central MA, USA
A Retreat with Asha Greer, Halima & Abraham Sussman. Silence by day. Zikr at night. Residential.
Contact: Abraham Sussman, 617-491-8694, email:sussman@thecia.net
September 28-October 1, 2006: RetiroCiudad de Leon, Mexico
Retreat with Nawab Pasnak. Contact: karimsu54@yahoo.com.mx
73 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
2007
January 16-22, 2007: Australian Summer Schoolnr. Sydney, Australia
with Nawab Pasnak, Nuria Pollock and others. Contact: irenepollock@iprimus.com.au
January 27-28, 2007: Sangeet Ratna Maulabakhsh & Hazrat Inayat Khan Music Festival
Baroda, India
Organized in conjunction with the Gayanshala, now called the Faculty of Performing Arts, MSU.
Contact: pebeschi@t-online.de
February 3-7, 2007: Visalat CelebrationNew Delhi, India
Music festival, traditional prayers, retreat and celebrations marking the passing of Hazrat Inayat Khan
at his Dargah in India. Celebrations this year organized by the Su Ruhaniat International.
Contact: wepasnak@ca.inter.net
October 24-27, 2007: Te Mysticism of Sound Conference 2007Vancouver, Canada
Exploring the Teachings and Practices of Hazrat Inayat Khan Trough Music and Sound. Practices,
lectures and live music, including some works of Hidayat Inayat-Khan. Contact: sill@telusplanet.net
November 20-27, 2006: Dargah RetreatNew Delhi, India
A guided retreat on a theme to be announced with Nawab Pasnak at the Dargah of Hazrat
Inayat Khan. Contact: nirtan@ca.inter.net
74 TOWARD THE ONE: A Journal of Unity; Volume Seven, Spring 2006
Some of our Contributors
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan was born into a highly musical family in Baroda, India in 1882. After
meeting his Murshid and entering the Su path, he travelled to the west in 1910, and began to spread the
Su message in America and in Europe. In 1926 he returned to India, leaving his wife and four children in
France, and after a short illness, passed away in Delhi in 1927.
Hidayat Inayat-Khan is the younger son of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the founder of the International Su
Movement. A musician and composer of a number of symphonies and shorter works that blend eastern
and western musical traditions, Hidayat Inayat-Khan is also the Representative General of the International
Su Movement and the Pir-o-Murshid of its Inner School.
Samuel L. Lewis (Su Ahmed Murad Chishti) was the rst American-born Su master. The rst spiritual
teacher to touch his heart was Hazrat Inayat Khan who brought the Su Message to the West in 1910.
Murshid SAM worked tirelessly to unite East and West through mysticism and the arts. Murshid Samuel
Lewis founded the Su Ruhaniat International shortly before his death.
Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz (Saadi Shakur Chishti) is a disciple of Hazrat Pir Moineddin Jablonski. He directs
the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning in Edinburgh, Scotland and is the co-chair of the Mysticism
Group of the American Academy of Religion. He is the author of Prayers of the Cosmos, Desert Wisdom,
The Hidden Gospel, The Genesis Meditations and the Su Book of Life. For more information on his work,
see www.abwoon.com.
Tamam Kahn has been on the path of Susm since 1975 and is married to Pir Shabda Kahn, head of
the Su Ruhaniat International. She leads Su meditation retreats and is a poet. She has been working
on a manuscript about the Mothers of Islam, Wives and Daughters of Prophet Muhammad, inspired by
Moroccan Qadiri Su Women.
Wali Ali Meyer was born in Starkville, Mississippi in 1942. He was a disciple and housemate of Murshid
Samuel Lewis in San Francisco from 1968 to 1971, and was initiated as a Su teacher by him. He founded
Khankah SAM, edited many of Murshid Sams manuscripts, and has travelled extensively lecturing on Susm
and transmitting the Walks and Dances of Universal Peace. He is presently the head of the esoteric school
of the Su Ruhaniat International.
Nawab William Pasnak is the Assistant Executive Supervisor of the International Su Movement, the Council
Secretary of the Federation of the Su Message, and Deputy Administrator of the Dargah of Hazrat Inayat
Khan. He presently lives in Canada.
Su Ruhaniat International
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