Living Light

Faith is the first requirement in life. I do not mean faith in a belief, a person, a religion but the divine reality of Faith that is full of complete certainty and free from all fear. In life, Faith brings the strength and self-confidence to manifest and move forward within the current of challenges, trials and tribulations.   Sufi Amin used to say without faith we would not even drive through a green light. The practice for the developing this essential quality is: Ya Maumin

Life is flow, Death (Kemal) is the absence of Flow. We are all on Earth with a purpose in Life and the Light of that purpose was kindled in our soul even before our birth.   It is that purpose moving in our life's breath that creates our flow. When we feel emotions like despair, anger, depression, lack of joy, it is often because we are not flowing.   Sufi Amin used to tell me I was either blocked or out of touch with the expression of my life's purpose.   So life flow is about expressing our purpose and that brings joy, harmony and fulfillment to ones heart and life.  Once you are flowing with the stream of life, you don't even have to row, just steer.   It also occurs to me that it is not only a matter of expressing our purpose but also committing to it at some level. Blessings for flow: Alternate Breathing without breath retention Relaxation of body, breath and mind Circulating the Cosmic Current Ya Fatah (The Opener and remover of blockages) Ya Wahabo (The Div

LIFE as a DISTRACTION We have heard it said many times in many mystical paths, life is a distraction from the realization of God.   From a certain perspective this is true because it is easy for an individual to find life filled with many attachments and aversions: things we love and things we strongly dislike.   These things, according to the law of Pratyaya (the mirror nature of consciousness) absorb our attention and thereby distract us from the deeper perception of our unlimited being.   In Buddhism these are known as the 3 poisons: attachment, aversion and delusion. But it is an unavoidable part of evolution to be deeply involved in life and at first this involvement naturally creates attachments and aversions.   Attachments and aversions are a part of motivated desire - without desire there would be no life, nor evolution of the divine expression through life.   The hidden desire of the Creator is the secret of the whole creation. -           Hazrat Inayat Khan LIFE as an

Have you ever had trouble falling to sleep or waking up too early? Over the past year, due to many changes in life, I have often woken up earlier than planned and had trouble falling back to sleep. I started using a practice that seems to work most every time to help me fall back to sleep no matter how much I have on my mind. Here is the practice... 1. In bed, lay in Shivasana or Corps Pose (however I allow my palms to face downward), then relax your entire body, let your body relax and sink into the bed until your are very relaxed - take whatever time you need to do this. 2. Now simply FEEL that you are breathing in and out through the soles of your relaxed feet, slowly, gently. Use moderately full relaxed breaths but not strained in anyway.  Feel the breath gently flowing in through the soles of your feet and up to your solar plexus, then feel the breath gently flowing out from the soles of your relaxed feet.  Note: if your mind wanders off the practice this often means y

As Given by Hazrat Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan. Practices With Breath by Hazrat Inayat Khan   The breath is the source which keeps body and mind alive, and body and mind connected. Impurity of breath turns body and mind impure, and purity of breath gives purity to body and mind.  The question of how we should purify the breath may be answered this way: that breath is constituted of the five elements of which both the body and the mind are composed, and it is the same elements that are used by the mystics to purify the breath. After a person has made their breath rhythmic and has acquired strength in the breath, then they may purify the breath with different elements. By breathing on earth, they will give all impurities to earth, and will attract purity from earth. By breathing before water, they will purify the breath and will give out impurities to water. By breathing before fire, the Sufi purifies breath by that element. Therefore, incense is burnt in religious places, and t

Getting Hammered by Life What do u do when life just takes your let's out from under you and the knocks you flat with a hard blow to the heart or ego? This really hurts; sometimes the pain causes me to react in anger or to revert to old coping mechanisms like staying in bed or drinking more wine than I should.   I’m not criticizing these things, but they don't generally take away the pain, at the most they just temporarily hide it. Admittedly, during these times, there is very little in the way of spiritual practice I feel like doing because I am so lost in my feelings of pain and out of balance. Yet, it may be useful to note that there are a few things I find I can do (maybe must do) to help me regain my balance again... I may do only one of these for a prolonged period of time but I practice it often: ·         I find I can usually just sit down and breathe, in and out, in and out - letting the breath carry away everything else but the breathing. Just sitting and breathe

What is an invocation? In short, a true spiritual invocation is a phrase charged with spiritual magnetism. It embodies, behind the words so to speak, a transcendental dimension of awareness.  Invocations instantiate Sacred Space. One who repeats an invocation with feeling, sincerity and belief makes themselves a receptacle for the magnetism or truth which the invocation embodies.   The power of an invocation is "TO BE", in other words as you say it manifests.  Regular use of a spiritual invocation builds an atmosphere of emotion, thought, and spirit from the all-pervading life into your present life. The practice and use of spiritual invocation and affirmation utilizes the principle called: take one step toward God and God will take ten steps toward you. Here are a few invocations you may enjoy using: THE SUFI INVOCATION of Hazrat Inayat Khan Toward the One The Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty The Only Being United with all the illuminated souls who form the