October 2017 Message

Beloved Family,

Fall greetings! This month I have had the pleasure of being home for much longer than I have in decades!

We send prayers and support for all our family that have suffered in the recent Northern California fires, that were about an hour North of here. For nearly a week, the air quality, even an hour south of the fires, was so bad, we confined ourselves to our home.

But when the air quality is good I have been sitting outside every early morning before and during the sunrise, doing my practices outside and enjoying all the bird and animal life as well. Some pictures are below.

Thank you for your prayers for Tamam. She now has a clear treatment plan and is gradually gaining strength.

In a little more than a week, all the Murshids and Murshidas get together for our annual in-face retreat, which will be in our home. From there we have our annual Leaders Retreat and the Ruhaniat Board of Trustees meeting at the IONS retreat center, half an hour north.

My next traveling will be to Maui for a Sufi Retreat in the beginning of December at the Sacred Earth Assembly, one of the most beautiful retreat centers on the planet!

And if you are thinking about joining Murshida Leilah and myself for our Pilgrimage to Mother India for Hazrat Inayat Khan’s URS, now is a good time to begin the process of registration and preparation.

Much love,

Shabda

Wazifa Practice - Recite 101x YA HALIM ~ YA SABUR

32. Ya Halim (yaa ḥa-LEEM)

Al-Halim is tender love, gentle and kind love. The tenderness of al-Halim is physical, emotional, and nurturing. God manifests this quality anywhere and everywhere, without exception. One physical root meaning is the shyness and gentleness that is found in an early pubescent girl. There is a kind of retiring or monastic quality to al-Halim. It offers a softness and kindness that makes for perseverance. Al-Halim is the place where the dreams can arise, which are really visions. Forms of the word, hulm and 'ahlam, are categories in dream interpretation.

Al-Halim offers an avenue for creative imagination, even as God is said to lovingly dream the universe. Repetition of Ya Halim brings a mildness of manner that is an antidote for anger and impatience. It expands with immense openness. Al-Halim’s harmonious qualities allow it to be beneficially paired with many other divine Names to enhance their effects.

99. Ya Sabur (yaa ṣa-BOOR)

As-Sabur is the divine power that will always see things through to the end. At the human level, it means to maintain inner equanimity through all trials and circumstances and to persevere to the end of the test. A physical-plane variation of its root means to endure and to stop complaining. As-Sabur embodies development of complete inner capacity. It is a great container that enables a spiritual student to endure the long journey of the path and actualize every detail and technique of the teachings. It is a powerful solidarity that allows you to stand firm. The divine manifestation of as-Sabur as a quality of God emphasizes that God doesn’t act hastily but forgives or defers judgment.

Invocation of Ya Sabur is a remedy for all who lack patience, especially on the spiritual path, and it is recommended for those who find it difficult to defer judgment or forgive. It may be effectively paired in recitation with Ya Halim (32). According to the story in the Qur'an of Khidr and Moses, sabr is the one essential element for following the path of mystical union.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Halim ~ Ya Sabur

TEXT and COMMENTARY to STUDY

This month we continue reading Series 2 of the Githa Murakkabah: Concentration of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan with commentary by Murshid Samuel Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti). Read Githa Series 2 Numbers 5 & 6, pages 16 - 23. This is a shorter reading to offer you time to spend with the deep nature concentrations that are offered in the text. Click here to download the document.