From Our Gathering on November 17, 2023:

Hazrat Inayat Khan - Volume VIII - The Art of Being, ThePrivilege of Being Human

There is a physical aspect of exaltation which comes as a reaction or a result of having seen the immensity of space, having looked at the wide horizon, or having seen the clear sky, the moonlit night and nature at dawn. Looking at the rising sun, watching the setting sun, looking at the horizon from the sea, being in the midst of nature, looking at the world from the top of a mountain, all these experiences, even such an experience as watching the little smiles of an innocent infant, these experiences lift one up and give one a feeling which one cannot call sensation. It is exaltation.

A higher aspect of exaltation is a moral exaltation – when we are sorry for having said or done something unpleasant; when we have asked forgiveness, and humbled ourselves before someone towards whom we were inconsiderate. We have humbled our pride then. Or when we felt a deep gratitude to someone who had done something for us; when we have felt love, sympathy, devotion, which seems endless and which seems so great that our heart cannot accommodate it; when we have felt so much compassion for someone that we have forgotten ourselves; when we have found a profound happiness in rendering a humble service to someone in need; when we have said a prayer which has come from the bottom of our heart; when we have realized our own limitation and smallness in comparison with the greatness of God; all these experiences lift one up….

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Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light, by Jan Richardson

Blessed are you who bear the light in unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief.

Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes –your heart a chapel, an altar where, in the deepest night can be seen the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith, in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing it finds.

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Summons, by Aurora Levins Morales

Last night I dreamed ten thousand grandmothers from the twelve hundred corners of the earth walked out into the gap, one breath deep, between the bullet and the flesh, between the bomb and the family.

They told me, we cannot wait for governments. There are no peacekeepers boarding planes. There are no leaders who dare to say every life is precious, so it will have to be us.

They said, we will cup our hands around each heart. We will sing the earth’s song, the song of water, a song so beautiful that vengeance will turn to weeping. The mourners will embrace, and grief replace every impulse toward harm.

Ten thousand is not enough, they said, so, we have sent this dream, like a flock of doves, into the sleep of the world. Wake up. Put on your shoes.

You who are reading this, I am bringing bandages and a bag of scented guavas from my trees. I think I remember the tune. Meet me at the corner.

Let’s go.

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From Our Gathering on October 15, 2023:

TAKING SIDES; Rabbi Irwin Keller

Today I am taking sides. I am taking the side of Peace.

Peace, which I will not abandon even when its voice is drowned out by hurt and hatred, bitterness of loss, cries of right and wrong.

I am taking the side of Peace whose name has barely been spoken in this winnerless war.

I will hold Peace in my arms, and share my body’s breath, lest Peace be added to the body count.

I will call for de-escalation even when I want nothing more than to get even. I will do it in the service of Peace.

I will make a clearing in the overgrown thicket of cause and effect so Peace can breathe for a minute and reach for the sky.

I will do what I must to save the life of Peace.

I will breathe through tears. I will swallow pride. I will bite my tongue. I will offer love without testing for deservingness.

So don’t ask me to wave a flag today unless it is the flag of Peace.

Don’t ask me to sing an anthem unless it is a song of Peace.

Don’t ask me to take sides unless it is the side of Peace.

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DEEP PEACE ~ A Celtic Blessing

Deep Peace of the running wave to you

Deep Peace of the flowing air to you

Deep Peace of the shining stars to you

Deep Peace of the quiet earth to you

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From Our Gathering on September 22, 2023:

"Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk quietly and take each gentle step with reverence. I propose that we walk this way every time we walk on the earth. The earth is sacred and we touch her with each step. We should be very respectful, because we are walking on our mother. If we walk like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing.

We can train ourselves to walk with reverence. Wherever we walk, whether it’s the railway station or the supermarket, we are walking on the earth and so we are in a holy sanctuary. If we remember to walk like that, we can be nourished and find solidity with each step.

To walk in this way, we have to notice each step. Each step made in mindfulness can bring us back to the here and the now. Go slowly. Mindfulness lights our way. We don’t rush. With each breath we may take just one step. We may have run all our life, but now we don’t have to run anymore. This is the time to stop running. To be grounded in the earth is to feel its solidity with each step and know that we are right where we are supposed to be.

Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

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“If one has a goal, physical or mental, while walking, it brings all the magnetisms together. It is a living concentration. For instance, a lover, going to meet his or her beloved, is endowed and imbued with a living spirit which makes action easier and fatigue disappears. If we practice a “Toward the One,” whatever be the goal or purpose, walking becomes much easier. And therefore, also sacred phrases may be thought or repeated, consciously or unconsciously…No doubt it is easier to impress people with abdomen-centering and heart-centering and head-centering. But Sufis have always been taught to watch their feet, and that they are treading on God’s earth.” -  Murshid Samuel Lewis from "Ten Lessons on the Walk"

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Barchu Dear One ~ Reflection by Mariam Beth Rodgers

In the Jewish tradition, in the circular flow of time of the Hebrew calendar, we are right in the midst of the Holy Days between Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, the New Year, the Day of Remembrance; and Yom Kippur, the Day of At-one-ment, sometimes called the Day of Forgetting, when we have released all grudges, forgiven all, made all of our amends. Yom Kippur has the quality of the beautiful name of God, Ya Afuw, the final stage of forgiveness, when the winds have swept the sands clean of all footprints, of all missteps. A new beginning.

These are the Days of Awe. The Days of Awesomeness. The Days of Teshuvah, in Arabic, Tawwaba, of returning to the light of our souls. Energetically, vibrationally, it’s a time that carries an immense amount of Hope for the possibility of transformation, for the acknowledgement that change is possible, which begins – again – with a return to Home, to a place of equanimity, which is reflected and amplified in the cosmos by these days of the Equinox.

The mystics say that the Divine Mystery, the Shekinah, in the days leading up to and including the Days of Awe, is in the field, closer than our jugular vein, as the Koran says. The veils between the worlds are thin. It’s a threshold time. The Shekinah whispers to us: Hineni. Here I am. And we respond: Hineni. Here I am, preparing – again – to see the good, to be the good– in the face of all that is. As Emily Dickinson said, “Hope inspires the Good to reveal itself.”

So, in this Dance, as we call on the Blessed Shekinah, we know She resides in our bodies, hearts and souls, as She does equally in the Divine Beings before us. To paraphrase Hazrat Inayat Khan, “When anyone has taken this pathway of Love, it is by the Divine in them.”

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Meditation of the Heart from the Karuna Yoga Gita by Murshid Samuel Lewis

“When shall we turn? When shall we return to the heart? When shall we resume the teachings and discard the doctrines? 

Let us turn, in silence let us turn to the heart, let us seek the secret asylum of the heart, for therein lies the city of refuge, great beyond conception, there is repose, there is salvation.

Seated in quiet comfort, laying aside woes and cares and problems, placing thoughts outside of consciousness, raising consciousness above thought, Feel the love that emanates from the sun-center of the heart. Feel this love, find this love, follow this love—that is all, that is the simplicity. The ever-so-easy meditation of the heart.

Thus the baptism in the bosom of Christ, this is tauba, this is shuvo, this is repentance.

This is the Way toward Love.”

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FROM OUR GATHERING ON June 16, 2023:

From papers and talks on the Universal Worship by Hazrat Inayat Khan

This activity of the Church of All is organized to make a facility that the Message may reach to all the people, whatever be their stage of evolution; that the lack of religion which is felt at the present moment may be supplied and, at the same time, all the bias of faiths and narrowness of view and prejudice against one another’s religion may be rooted out.

By keeping the scriptures there, we set anexample of tolerance towards different religions and of our belief that Wisdom comes from all sources.

 ...Our sacred task is to awaken among those around us and among those whom we can reach, in the first place, the spirit of tolerance for the religion, scripture and the ideal of devotion of one another; our next task is to make people understand people of different nations, races, and communities, also of different classes. By this we do not mean to say that all races and nations must become one, nor that all classes must become one; only what we have to say is that whatever be our religion, nation, race or class, our most sacred duty is to work for one another, in one another’s interest, and to consider that as the service of God. A spirit of reciprocity we must create among the people of different races and nations, different classes and communities, for the happiness, prosperity and welfare of each depends upon the happiness, prosperity and welfare of all.

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 “To each of you I offer these words of counsel:

Deepen your compassion.

Love the wounded places in you that need healing.

Open yourself to the grace of illumination.

Give freely of your joy.

Share your neighbor’s burden.

Through all these avenues, discover your

soul.”  ~Moineddin Jablonski

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 A Crystal Rim – Hafiz

The earth lifts her glass to the sun and light, light is poured.

A bird comes and sits on a crystal rim and frommy forest cave I hear singing.

So, I run to the edge of existence and join my soul in love.

I lift my soul to God and grace, grace is poured.

An emerald bird rises from inside me and now sits upon the Beloved’s glass. I have left that dark cave forever. My body has blended with God.

I lay my wing as a bridge to you so that you can join us, singing.

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FROM OUR GATHERING ON MAY 19, 2023:

Sutra from the Yoga of Wonder

Wherever, whenever we feel carried away, Rejoicing in every breath, There….there is our meditation space.

Cherish these times of absorption ~

Rocking the baby in the silence of the night, Pouring water into a crystal glass, Tending the logs in a crackling fire, Sharing a meal with a circle of friends.

Embrace these pleasures and know ~This is our true nature, our true essence.

 NOWHERE is more holy than this.

Right here is the sacred pilgrimage.

Live in alertness and awareness for such moments, dear one.

As if it were your one meeting with the Creator.

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Aphorisms of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

 "Life is a symphony, and the actionof every person in this symphony is the playing of his or her particular part in the music."

"The further we advance, the more difficult and more important our part of the symphony of life becomes, and the more conscious we become of this responsibility, the more efficient we become inaccomplishing our task."

"Once a soul has awakened to the continual music of life, that soul considers it as their responsibility, their duty, to play their part in the outer life, even if it be contrary to their inner condition at the moment."

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From our Gathering on January 20, 2023:

Intrinsic Ecstasy ~ Paul Reps

'Remember it takes only a word or motion to enter your intrinsic ecstasy. DANCE is a way too, especially the Sufi dance in-vented by Sam Lewis to actualize ALLAH. Pay attention to his gift. Receive it. Practice it. If the music is too strong or the beat is too loud, STOP. Begin again. Do one dance well. It takes only a word or motion to enter your intrinsic ecstasy.'

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Unending Love ~ Rabbi Rami Shapiro

We are loved by an unending love.

We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves. We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing. We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear. We are loved by an unending love.

We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall. We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting. We are loved by an unending love.

Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled—Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices; Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles. We are loved by an unending love.

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Forgiveness ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“We must develop and maintain our capacity to forgive. One who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and there is some evil in the best of us. When we recognize this we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

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The Final Word ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“I refuse to accept the view that humankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

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Soul of all souls, life of all life—you are That. Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving—You are That. The road that leads to the City is endless; Go without head or feet and you'll already be there. What else could you BE? You are that.

- Quatrain 419 by Rumi, Version by Jonathan Star, "In the Arms of the Beloved"

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For No Reason | Hafiz
And for no reason I start skipping like a child.
And for no reason I turn into a leaf that is carried so high I kiss the sun’s mouth and dissolve.
And for no reason a thousand birds choose my head for a conference table, start passing their cups of wine and their wild songbooks all around.
And for every reason in existence, I begin to eternally, to eternally laugh and love!
When I turn into a leaf and start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend and I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

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Be Your Note

Remember the lips where wind-breath originated, and let your note be clear.

Don't try to end it. Be your note.

I'll show you how it's enough.

Go up on the roof at night in this city of the soul.

Let everyone climb up on their roofs and sing their notes. Sing! Sing loud!

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The body is like Mary by Daniel Ladinsky

And each of us has a Jesus inside.

Who who is not in labour? Holy labor? Every creature is.

See the value of True Art, When the earth or a soul is in the mood to create beauty.

So that the witness might then, for a moment, know beyond any doubt that God Is there. God is there, within.

So innocently drawing life from us with her Umbilical Universe –infinite existence – and needing to be born! Yes, God

NEEDS TO BORN. So BIRTH!

From a hand’s loving touch, birth from a song, birth from a dance, breathing light into this world.

The body is like a Mary. And each of us, each of us has a Christ within.

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Why We Turn—Mevlevi Shaikh Suleyman Hayati Dede

If you are quiet and in a state of prayer when you turn, offering everything of yourself to god, then when your body is spinning, there is a completely still point in the center...the heavens respond; and all the invisible kingdoms join in the dance. But the world does not understand. They think we turn in order to go into some sort of trance. It is true that sometimes we do go into that state you call ecstasy, but that is only when we know and experience at the same time. We do not turn for ourselves. We turn around in the way that we do so that the light of god may descend upon the earth. As you act as a conduit in the turn, the light comes through the right hand, and the left hand brings it into this world. We turn for god and we turn for the world and it is the most beautiful thing you can imagine.

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ONE SONG

What is praised is one, so the praise is one too, many jugs being poured into a huge basin. All religions, all this singing: one song.The differences are just illusion and vanity. Sunlight looks slightly different on this wall than it does on that wall and a lot different on this other one, but it is still one light. We have borrowed these clothes, these time-and-space personalities, from a light, and when we praise, we pour them back in.

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Compilation by Mariam and Petaluma— From “The Soul of Rumi”, translations by Coleman Barks

Spine became strong. Spine became strong, because of two lucky stars: Justice and Forgiveness

Listen. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you. God.

We are the night ocean filled with glints of light. We are the space between the fish and the moon, while we sit here together.

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I like when the music happens like this: Something in Her eye grabs hold of a tambourine in me, Then I turn and lift a violin in someone else, and they turn, and this turning continues…

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YOU are song, a wished-for song. Go through the ear to the center Where sky is, where wind is, Where silent knowing is. Plant seeds and cover them. Blades will sprout where you do your work.

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Whatever comes, comes from a need, a sore distress, a hurting want. Mary’s pain made the baby Jesus. Her womb opened its lips and spoke the Word. And every need brings in what’s needed. Pain bears its cure like a child.

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And don’t just ask for one mercy. Let them flood in. Let the sky open under your feet. Take the cotton out of your ears. The cotton of consolations, s you can hear the sphere-music. The place that Solomon made to worship in, Called the Far Mosque, is not built of earth and water and stone, but of intention and wisdom And mystical conversation and compassionate action.

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Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. Where there is ruin, there is hope for treasure. This universe is the mountain and the actions are the echo.

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Spine became strong, spine became strong, because of two lucky stars: Justice and Forgiveness.

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The Ambience of Love by Hafiz, translated by Ladinsky

We all sit in his orchestra—some play their fiddles; some wield their clubs.

Tonight is worthy of music. Let’s get loose with compassion,

Let’s drown in the delicious ambience of Love.

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This season with the Friend so near, the body dims. Heart-light grows more intense. Storm clouds finally weep, because the lightening has started to laugh. With heavy tears everywhere coming down, the fields get uncontrollably tickled. ~from ‘Birdsong’ translation by Coleman Barks

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From our Gathering on November 18, 2022:

Volume XIII - The Gathas, Part IV; Pasi Anfas: Breath

1. Fikr

THE BREATH is like a swing, which has a constant motion, and whatever is put in the swing, swings also with the movement of the breath. Fikr, therefore, is not a breathing practice. In Fikr it is not necessary that one should breathe in a certain way, different from one's usual breathing. Fikr is to become conscious of the natural movement of the breath, and picturing breath as a swing, to put in that swing a certain thought, as a babe in the cradle, to rock it. Only the difference in rocking is an intentional activity on the part of the person who rocks the cradle. In Fikr no effort must be made to change the rhythm of the breath; the breath must be left to its own usual rhythm. One need not try even to regulate the rhythm of the breath, for the whole mechanism of one's body is already working rhythmically. So the breath is rhythmical by nature and it is the very breath itself, which causes man to distinguish rhythm. What is important in Fikr is not the rhythm but the concentration...

~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

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“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God… This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would makeall the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely ... the gate of heaven is every- where.”

~ Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

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"In the Secret Rose Garden, roses bloom that reveal the mysteries of the human heart;
Lilies sing and the narcissus sees everything perfectly.
To enter this garden, see with your heart's eyes and gaze gently on these blossoms.
All your doubts will fade away.

Don't look for mistakes: The roses may turn to thorns.
Ingratitude reveals ignorance, and the friends of the truth are truly grateful."

~ Shabistari

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From our Gathering on August 19, 2022

A Poem by Nasruddin Eddie

O human beings, Meet Jesus on the cross; rise up to your potential!!

Greet Moses, post golden calf; surrender to peace even a little; reconnoiter with laughter on a daily basis; make Groucho Marx your # 1 philosopher.

O humans, feed each other; nurture each other; forgive each other before it’s too late (which it might be already).

O humans, give up your littering today; rise up to purify this planet of hatred, jealousy, rage and warfare. Give up your need for it.

O humans, don’t wait for disaster to really be there for each other.

O humans, we need each other, we truly do.

We are the greatest miracle.

O brothers and sisters, when we can, again, post plague of course, take each other in our arms; wash each other’s feet.

We are all we have ….

O friends, gaze into each other’s eyes. Look at God—she’s in there, behind the eyes, staring out like some “Kilroy was here” picture.

O my fellow beings, Give up your fears, both real and unreal; give up your feeling of separation. Your endless attempts at trying to get rid of your feeling separate is “like trying to blow out the picture of a candle.”

O my friends, Bow down to the great mysterious unknown, unfathomable un-figure-out-ability of this so called human experience—“Try stopping an earthquake, a tornado, a virus!!! (only for those with control issues).

A great being was once asked “Why are we here?”

And he said “We are here to find out why we are here!”

O my brothers and sisters in spirit,

Click the “ruby slippers” that are deep in your heart today and in that cavern within, say to yourself, “There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home”.

O fellow, fellow human beings, don’t you know yet that we are all madly in love with each other and maybe one day We Will Know IT like we know how to breathe!

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PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, which is perfect and everlasting, that our Souls may radiate peace.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, that, amid our worldly strife, we may enjoy thy bliss.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, that we may endure all, tolerate all, in the thought of thy Grace and Mercy.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.

Send Thy Peace, O Beloved One, our father and mother, that we, thy children on earth, may unite in one family.

Amin, Amen, Ameyn

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From our Gathering on June 17, 2022

Bismillah Ir-Rahman Ir-Rahim: May every action, every thought, and every breath be taken in the most holy Name of Allah, Who is infinitely tender Mercy and boundless Compassion. ~ Lex Hixon/Sheikh Nur al Jerrahi, from Atom from the Sun of Knowledge

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YOUR OWN DAMN JOY by Chelan Harkin

The price of admission into heaven is your own damn joy.

Please stop denying yourself this and please stop telling yourself you'll only (maybe) get there when you die--go there now!

What kind of damn fool puts off heaven?

Child, it lives in the center of your heart, that endless meadow of happiness and praise.

This world needs you to go there now, to do your part in turning it into a paradise.

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Joy in the Midst of Suffering:

We don't turn away from the suffering; we offer joy as an antidote for it. ~ Mariam Beth Roger

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True joy does not discount real suffering; it shines all the greater in the midst of it. Melissa Kruger

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Sham etayn et dodai lach - There I will give you my love. (Song of Songs 7:13)

"This is a practice of strengthening and refining our deepest and finest intentions to love God through each moment and detail of our lives. Before the chant begins, imagine before you the landscape of your life — all the small details that make up your day. Then when you chant the word “Sham” (there), focus the force of your love into a particular detail or relationship of your daily routine.

Imagine bringing the power of Love (a love that embraces the mystery of the Whole), to everything you do: getting out of bed, making tea, greeting your family, doing your daily practice, cooking and eating breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, approaching your work, acknowledging strangers and friends. See and imagine each moment as an opportunity for loving God through whatever is before you."

- Rabbi Shefa Gold

From our Gathering on Earthday~ April 22, 2022

Element: Earth — poem by Petaluma Vale

It is not really an it. It is a community, held together by the hidden face of the garden it sustains, alive with millions, all contributing to its slow magic, the crumble of creation— The source, the process the outcome. All dead tucked in dearly. Worm weavers. Mushroom hush…

It is the inevitable—we need it; we are it. We swing around awhile in bones and skin, reveling as our feet detach from it, but this dance will end soon.

It feeds our food. It takes what we leave. It hides our secrets. It knows the wisdom of working in the dark, without rushing, without fanfare. If we listen well enough, it is the soft mountain of evidence that no one is alone, that we are in this together, kicking and crying, fasting and feasting and fooling, until we are still— and long, long after that.

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"Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk quietly and take each gentle step with reverence. I propose that we walk this way every time we walk on the earth. The earth is sacred and we touch her with each step. We should be very respectful, because we are walking on our mother. If we walk like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing.

We can train ourselves to walk with reverence. Wherever we walk, whether it’s the railway station or the supermarket, we are walking on the earth and so we are in a holy sanctuary. If we remember to walk like that, we can be nourished and find solidity with each step.

To walk in this way, we have to notice each step. Each step made in mindfulness can bring us back to the here and the now. Go slowly. Mindfulness lights our way. We don’t rush. With each breath we may take just one step. We may have run all our life, but now we don’t have to run anymore. This is the time to stop running. To be grounded in the earth is to feel its solidity with each step and know that we are right where we are supposed to be.

Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

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Chesed ~ Rabbi Yael

The earth is blooming: greens, yellows, purples, pinks. Gracefully rising with so much generosity and love, in the midst of all that is. And this is our call as well, beings of creation that we are: To break through the hard packed ground, To rise, To open, To blossom. To join in the earth’s chorus of Hallelujah and give of ourselves in generosity and love.

The soul on the brink of opening cries, “The world is filled with so much brokenness, so much sorrow, suffering and pain. How can I possibly shine?

All the more reason, the Infinite responds, Look towards the trees, flowers, the expanding buds. We are all lifted by each other’s beauty, kindness, generosity and care.

May the steadfast love of Chesed fill us all; may it inspire our endurance and devotion, and may the exquisite generosity of earth remind us that loving transformation is possible in every moment. ~ Rabbi Yael

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