December 2016 Message

Beloved Family,

As we approach Winter Solstice and Rumi’s URS, the heavens have opened here where I live with a generous offering of rain, as many of you around the country and Europe and winter places are in for snow and cold temperatures. With a lovely visit to Seattle behind us it is such a pleasure to have an extended period of time at home, until we begin the Northern California Sufi Sesshin.

We continue to make progress on the Dargah, with the Timber Framer well into cutting the corbels and making a model to scale of the dome members. All the stone from India is ready to go when the Spring arrives. We are still awaiting word from Lama Foundation when we will have our Murshid Sam Completion Ceremony, likely around August 23-27, 2017. Donate

Beginning February I’ll be teaching near Berlin and then with Murshid Saadi in Scotland. March begins with a retreat in Kauai, in case you want to find a warm climate during the tail of winter, followed by the Jamiat Aam in Madison WI.

For this months wazifa I’d like to recite Ya Nuri, a form of Ya Nur. In the text Githekas on Self Protection (download here) by Murshid Sam:

The choice of Wazifa or sacred phrase selects the atoms. Getting the breath in rhythm corresponds to starting the radio, and the choice of Wazifa is the selectivity, choosing the vibrations and wavelengths needed. This is very important.

So when you want to get warm, when it is cold, after you have gotten your breath in rhythm with the use of “Toward the One” (Darood), you use as selective Wazifa Ya Nuri or Allah Nuri. This means that God is Light, but the idea of Light includes Heat, Warmth, Comfort, and Love—all are included in the thought. And the marvel is that you do not have to breathe more deeply, the thought controls the breath.

And the same practice “Ya Nuri” is also used to keep cool in warm weather, only to keep warm, if your inhalation is not strong, you may direct it a little with the will, and to keep cool, if the exhalation is not strong you may direct it, for this Wazifa primarily brings comfort, not strictly speaking heat or cold.

Further in the text:

If one is emotionally upset, concentration on the phrase Ya Nuri (O Light!) may be beneficial. That is to say, this is like the Indian prayer “Take us from darkness into Light,” only it is a single word.

Stay warm and may your inner light shine and be beneficial in every direction! Blessings to your Holy Days ahead and for the coming New Year!

Much love,

Shabda

Wazifa Practice

Recite 101x YA NURI (Noori)

93. Ya Nur (yaa NOOR)

An-Nur is the essence of light, luminosity itself. A Qur'anic verse says, “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.”17 An-Nur is the light of every soul and an inherent characteristic in every pore of your body. Munawwir is a form of the same root and means the one who illuminates.

It is interesting that the word for “hell” in Arabic is naar, which has the same root as Nur. What makes it hell is that the burning heat there is lacking in light. That kind of burning heat is our inner condition if we don’t embody God’s loving mercy and compassion (rahma) and instead become full of rage.

Whatever way we may turn, we see the all-pervading light of an Nur. Even the darkness shines from within it. All the various forms of wisdom and guidance are expressions of an-Nur. For example, nur-ul-haqeeqah is the light of truth and guidance on the path. What continues to live on in God when we die is also a legacy of light.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Nur

TEXT and COMMENTARY to STUDY

This month we continue reading Yours in the Infinite, a series of letters from Hazrat Inayat Khan to Murshida Rabia Martin. Read pages 23-28. Click here to download the document.

TimberModelDome Timber frame model of Dargah dome