Actions & Repose

Our conscientious actions allow us
to participate in this glorious dance of life, and to make a difference in the lives of others.

Our meditations fuel the divine light kindled in our heart, they give us the direction, strength and inspirition for our actions.

We must not neglect the practice of either!

Need Light?

Sometimes I just feel lost, depressed or angry for no apparent reason.  In these cases the only thing I can think to do, to help recover my balance, is fill my aura with light. 

When I do this, it literally feels like the sun coming out from behind the clouds.

First get in touch with your aura by feeling it as an energy bubble surrounding your body 2 - 3 ft.; then feel it being filled with light, becomeing brighter and brighter and brighter.
 
You may also attune to light in various other ways, try one of these short audio Light Visualizations given one of my teachers, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.

Filling the body with Light

Cleansing Emotions with Light

Renewing the body with light

Converging the Light of the Stars in you Aura

Life's Teachings

Contemplating Life, she has taught me:

to surrender into the One, by watching my dog fall to sleep;

to radiate light, by watching the sun;

to be receptive, by meditating on the crescent moon;

to reflect light, by watching a full moon;

to absorb light, by meditating on green leaves;

to understand unity, by reflecting on Nature;

to experience harmony, by listening to a symphony;

to understand inter-dependence, by watching humanity;

to flow, by watching brooks and streams;

to understand greatness, by communicating with trees;

to be magnanimous, by contemplating the Ocean;

to feel raw power, by watching storms;

to discover vastness, by observing the starry cosmos;

to be empty, by contemplating space;

to feel omnipresence, by observing the sky;

to give, by watching Mother Earth;

to be optimistic, by watching flowers open at dawn;

to feel freedom, by watching the wind;

to be in the moment, by observing a cat watch a bird;

to be innocence, by playing with children;

to see the heavenly spheres, by looking into the eyes of a baby;

to understand the cycles life, by observing the seasons unfold.

And just think, there is so much yet to Learn!

The 4 Healing Faces of Forgiveness

Without Forgiveness we cannot be free and whole as we were meant to be.  The four healing angels of Forgiveness can help us with the healing processes of being able to forgive ourselves, forgive others, and ask forgiveness of others.

We all make mistakes; we all have done things that we regret, deliberately or accidentally.  These actions can knock us down, crucify us, throw us into depression, and cause us to lose faith in the beauty and joy of life.  To heal from this, we must be able to accept forgiveness and perhaps to also ask forgiveness from others.  Allah, God, the Great Spirit is all forgiving but we must first forgive ourselves. This is not easy, for often we feel so horrible that we do not want to forgive ourselves or believe we can be forgiven, we would rather die or just quit living - but we are meant to go on, we must get back up again. 

In some cases this healing might require us to ask forgiveness of others we have wronged.  This also is not easy, it takes strength and humility. In doing this, we must realize that we might not be forgiven by the other – yet if we make a sincere effort and mean it, God forgives us even when the other cannot yet do so.  It is our attempt that counts here, not the reaction of the other.  Forgiveness can be asked for inwardly but it is best when it can be consummated outwardly.  Finally, what we might wish for most is for the effects and limitations caused by our mistakes and wrong actions upon our loved ones to be nullified. (Inshallah).  

Also, there are wrongs that have been done to us, directly or indirectly, that are the result of mistakes or ignorant actions by others.  These can create anger, bitterness, pain and suffering in us.  If we cannot find an antidote to these poisons, ways understand and integrate the hurt or pain. If we cannot somehow find a way to understand or come to terms with those actions, allowing us to finally let go of the bitterness and pain, then again, we are blocked from being healed and freed.

There are 4 Divine Qualities, Divine Angels of Forgiveness that, if we call to them, will help guide and heal us. They will help us to forgive ourselves; accept God’s forgiveness; integrate the pain caused by our mistakes or the mistakes of others upon us; help us find a way to be able to forgive others; and finally, to resolve the karma of our actions. 

The 4 Angles of Forgiveness are:

al-Ghafûr – To help us to be able to forgive others.
This is the One who completely forgives mistakes and faults, the perfection of Forgiveness.

al-Ghaffâr  - To be able to forgive ourselves and accept forgiveness.
This is the one who forgives our faults and mistakes, time and time again. The One who sets us free from the guilt and shame of our own mistakes and faults, such that we may discover inner harmony and peace.

al-'Afûw  - To blot out and leave no trace of the effects of our mistakes or of the actions we regret.
This is the One who removes and obliterates all traces of wrong actions; The One who can make any sin, error or fault disappear.

at-Tawwâb – To, inwardly or outwardly be able ask forgiveness of others we have wronged.
This is the One who beckons for our return. The One who forgives those who return to goodness. The One who restores to grace those who repent.
 
You can call upon these four blessed angles of forgiveness when you need them, either in prayer or by repeating their names on the breath - they will come if we call with a sincere heart.

Your are the Divine Breathing

Whether we know it or not, 

every breath we take IS Gods breath, 

literally, it is God breathing or the Universe breathing us.

When we remember this, 

it immediately and inherently expands our consciousness; 

it immediately and inherently brings us a tangible connection with all existence. 

Even if we do this for one moment it works, and 

in this moment we touch something deep and special which is always there, always inside us.  

We can label it sacred spirit, divine presence, wholeness, unity but the labels do not matter, what matters is the simple act of being aware that our breathing is not separate from the breathing of all existence, it is intrinsically part of it - directly connected to it.  

This awareness does not take a mantra or fancy spiritual practice,

Simply become aware of your breathing as it gently flows in and out, relax and feel, know or imagine that your breathing is the cosmos breathing you... relax and just let yourself be breathed by the cosmos.

Watch Your Breath

To know the directional flow of your breath, at the moment of observing an event, is to know the future life of that so observed.

The Direction of Breath is either

In or Out

Left or Right Nostril Predominant.

In - grows,

Out - flows;

Left - Stays,

Right - goes away.

 

A Universal Path to Awakening: The Spiritual Liberty of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

This is a very personal Blog... My Spiritual Mother, Mary Inayat, always told me we must remember and honor our teachers... so this New Years Day I will honor my personal Spiritual Roots in the Sufi Movement of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

There is a path that leads to the summit of Human Consciousness. It is a winding path that meanders through our lives, it is unique to each individual, shifting its course to provide continual awakening and unfoldment into the One Reality. 

Though in these times some say 'a spiritual path' is no longer required, that the Truth is inherently revealed, which is true in part; yet still, for those seeking something concrete, there exists the guide-ways we call spiritual schools or paths. These guide-ways offer an organized, methodological approach to Awakening into Self-Realization. They are not for the light-hearted, for although they ask nothing, they demand much by way of keeping up with the acceleration of awakening stimulated through initiation. 

So this is the way I choose to walk the Spiritual Path.  The way of taking the hand of initiation into the Sufi School of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan through my beloved teacher Sufi Amin Sherdil Macko Chishti, who founded the Fraternity of Light, and later with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan of the Sufi Order International. Through this spiritual path and school I have found a clear teaching and guidance, a kinship, freedom and openness to all; a non-judgmental universality that has formed the corner stone of my ideal of life and which serves as a constant beacon guiding me ever onward in awakening.

Here is how Hazrat Inayat Khan describes this path:
The purpose of the Sufi Movement is to work towards unity. Its main object is to bring humanity, divided as it is into so many different sections, closer together in the deeper understanding of life. It is a preparation for a world service, chiefly in three ways. One way is the philosophical understanding of life; another is bringing about brotherhood among races, nations, and creeds; and the third way is the meeting of the world’s greatest need...that natural religion which has always been the religion of humanity: to respect one another’s belief, scripture, and teacher.

The Sufi message is the echo of the same Divine message which has always come and will always come to enlighten humanity. It is not a new religion; it is the same message that is being given to humanity. It is the continuation of the same ancient religion which has always existed and will always exist, a religion which belongs to all teachers and all the scriptures. It is the continuation of all the great religions which have come at various times; and it is a unification of them all, which was the desire of all the prophets.

The Sufi Movement is constituted of those who have the same ideals of service to God and to humanity, and who have the ideal of devoting a part or the whole of their life to the service of humanity in the path of truth. This Movement has its groups, the members of which belong to all the different religions, for all are welcome, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis, Muslims. No one's faith or belief is questioned; each can follow his own church, religion, creed; no one need believe in any special creed or dogma. There is freedom of thought. At the same time personal guidance is given on the path, in the problems of both outer life and inner life. (http://www.sufiorder.org/sufi_message.html)

The Sufi Movement of Hazrat Inayat Khan is part of the Chishtiyya Sufi Lineage and there is a very nice, short review of its origins here: http://www.sufiorder.org/chisti_order.html, which is worth reading.

Today, there are a number of family streams within the Sufi Movement, each having a common foundation in the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, yet each expressing a unique key-note under the common ideals of Love, Harmony and Beauty. These family streams are members of the Federation of the Sufi Message (http://federation-message-hazrat-inayat-khan.blogspot.com/).  They are the:

• International Sufi Movement
• Sufi Order International
• Sufi Ruhaniat International
• Soefi Contact
• Fraternity of Light