HeartBeat Summer 2009 - Sufi Ruhaniat International

Sufi Ruhaniat InternationalToward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the Only Being;United with all the Illuminated Souls Who form the embodiment of the Master,the Spirit of Guidance.We aspire to support the awakening of heartsand the relieving of suffering, helping humanbeings unfold their soul’s purpose andlive harmoniously.The Sufi Ruhaniat International was foundedby Murshid Samuel L. Lewis shortly before he died in1971. We are in the stream of the ages-old wisdom lineageof Sufism brought to the West in 1910 by HazratPir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, 1882-1927, under the title“The Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty,” and his discipleHazrat Pir-o-Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi AhmedMurad Chisti). This work was continued by Hazrat PirMoineddin Jablonski, the spiritual successor of MurshidSamuel Lewis, who guided the Ruhaniat from 1971 untilhis death in 2001. It continues today under the guidance ofPir Shabda Kahn, the successor of Pir Moineddin.The Invocation of Hazrat Inayat Khan states:Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmonyand Beauty, the Only Being; United with All the IlluminatedSouls, Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, theSpirit of Guidance.In accord with this invocation, we affirm our desirefor unity of heart with all spiritual seekers on all paths towardGod. Celebrating diversity within unity, we affirmour unique heritage and universal spiritual transmissionthrough the life and work of Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti. Thisconnects us principally to the Sufi lineage of Hazrat InayatKhan, but also many other Illuminated Souls, known andunknown to the world. This transmission includes blessingstreams from Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti’s many teachers ,only some of whom are named here: Swami Papa Ramdas,Mother Krishnabai, Nyogen Senzaki, Sokei-an Sasaki,Sufi Barkat Ali, and Mata-ji Ruth St. Denis.The Ruhaniat family is composed of sincere mureeds(formally initiated students) who tread the path of initiationand discipleship, seeking the truth of the inner life throughpersonal practice and direct experience—just as the disciplesof Christ, Buddha, the Divine Mother, Mohammed,and other illuminated souls, known and unknown, havedone through the ages. Because Sufism is based on experiencesand not on premises, we affirm the preciousness ofan initiatic relationship of spiritual transmission betweeninitiator and mureed. It is a fundamental principle of theSufi Ruhaniat International that each mureed have an initiatorto serve as friend, guide and reality check. This primaryinitiatic relationship provides a living matrix withinwhich student as well as teacher may develop in characterand spiritual experience.Further activities of the Ruhaniat include an EsotericStudies program, the International Network for the Dances ofUniversal Peace, the Dervish Healing Order, the Service ofUniversal Peace and ministerial training, Spiritual Psychologyand Soulwork, Ziraat, and many other inspired teachingsof the leaders and lineage holders of the Ruhaniat.Many contemporary tools are available to help us inour personal and spiritual growth. At the same time, we representa tradition that has its roots in prehistory. The sacredpractices and teachings that have arisen from diverse climesand cultures have been carefully cultivated and prepared forus to be planted in the soil of today’s heart.We aspire to serve humanity in experiencing love,harmony, and beauty, by embodying the unity of religiousideals, and by working for the awakening of humankindto the divine light and power that is the essence of everyhuman being.From Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat KhanObjects of the movement:1. To establish a human unity with no considerationof caste, creed, race, nation, or religion. Differencesproduce inharmony and cause all miseries in theworld.2. To spread the wisdom of Sufis which has been untilnow a hidden treasure, it being the property of humankindwhich does not belong to a certain race orreligion.3. To attain that perfection where mysticism remainsno more a mystery, which relieves the disbelieverfrom ignorance and the believer from falling victimto hypocrisy.From Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti(Murshid Samuel L. Lewis)Our work is to spread the knowledge and love and light ofGod. By stressing the positive, the affirmative, the true, wehelp ourselves and all humanity.From Hazrat Pir Moineddin JablonskiAspirations for those on the path:Deepen your compassion. Love the wounded places in youthat 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.May all beings be well!May all beings be happy!Peace, Peace, Peace. 2 HeartBeat Summer 2009