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Coming Event – Whidbey Zikr this Sunday

From brother Hassan:

June 9th
Monthly Whidbey Zikr Circle Unity of Whidbey

5671 Crawford Rd, Langley, WA

6:00 p.m. Community Potluck. 7:30 p.m. Zikr Allah (425) 788-1617  

Friends,
Please join us for our monthly Zikr and Community Potluck this coming Sunday.  We will be supported by Yana Viniko on piano and Khalid Ron Ward on drums.  

Friends it’s come to my attention that donations have been a bit slim of late.   The Unity Church is so generous to us offering their beautiful space.   And it’s nice to have some of our travel expenses covered as well.   This is a community event and we’re so grateful to all of you for your participation and generosity.   It appears that if everyone donates an average of 3 to 5 dollars we’ll be able to do this!   Please remember that your participation is the most important if funds are ever an issue.

Please note:  I will be in Montana in July and August and will miss the zikrs then.  At this time the circle will be happening.  Wakil will lead in July and Hamid is on for August.
Many thanks, and much love

Hassan for the Whidbey zikr team

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Mystical Activism – an important new article

This is a subject I have been working with for some time. I very much treasure the work of folks like Carolyn Baker, Andrew Harvey, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Joanna Macy, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Wendell Berry, and many others who have been so deeply engaged in this work.

This is another excellent article from an author new to me but with some inspiring ideas about how we navigate this challenging reality and what it means to embody mystical activism.

Some excerpts:

“To call these “end times” is hardly hyperbolic. We are in trouble and the signs are everywhere: extreme political divisions; xenophobic violence; enormous wealth inequity; poverty and homelessness; sexism and ageism; arms buildups and unending wars; and, most frightening of all, escalating climate disruption.”

“Driven by left-brain beliefs, illusions, addictions, and obsessions, we race headlong toward the collapse of civilization. Fortunately, the solution to these mounting crises also lies in the human psyche, arising from a most surprising source: the right-brain’s natural mystical consciousness. But our survival depends on whether we understand and resolve this paradox in time.”

“Humanity’s renewal is less a matter of faith than of transformed vision. Just as the divine world is never finished, neither is mystical revelation—we will be divinely guided through the death and rebirth of civilization if we pay attention. As the mind clears, so too does the path.”

Here’s the link to the full article:

Mystical Activism: Transforming a World in Crisis
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Retreat Near Eugene Oregon – Sept 13-15

Fana Fi Gaia Retreat – See attached flyer for registration and event details.

About Fana fi Gaia  – A Ziraat Retreat

Walking the Sufi path, we seek to dissolve the sense of individual self in the realization that nothing is separate in the Divine Reality. Ziraat is one ray on this path. The sacred book of Nature is its scripture.

The beautiful land of Big Bear Camp Retreat Center in the Oregon coastal mountains welcomes us to join in our love for Mother Earth. Big Bear offers the perfect setting as we work to deepen our connection with Nature and with Earth Energies. We will weave together practices of the Sufi path and Peruvian Shamanism.

Big Bear Camp Retreat Center is off the grid and with no cell phone service.

For more information about Big Bear, visit bigbearcamp.org.

We will be nourished by delicious meals with a focus on organic ingredients seasoned with love by PamAllah Dussault. 

Guides for Fana fi Gaia – Ziraat Retreat

Tawwaba Bloch is a Ziraat Farmer. She served for 12 years as Esoteric Secretary to Murshid Wali Ali Meyer. In that capacity she facilitated the creation of Physicians of the Heart and has intensive training in the use of Wazifah for healing, spiritual growth and transformation. She has deeply immersed herself in the life of Murshid Samuel Lewis through research for his biography. As Khalifa she serves his message and the lineages that were transmitted through him.

Alethea Devi is a Modern Shaman who offers empowering opportunities for deep heart connections to our Sacred Mother Earth. She is a Shamanic Energy Healer and Spiritual Counselor. Her work is supported by her personal practices and life experiences in indigenous traditions from South & North America, Sufi Mysticism as a Mevlevi Semazen, and Ruhaniat Cheraga. She has a background in Transpersonal and Depth Psychology, New Thought Christianity, Women’s Spirituality, Neo-Paganism, Entheogens, and Celebrancy

Fana-fi-Gaia-Ziraat FlyerDownload

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Wonderful Dance of Universal Peace event in Canada late June

From dear sister Hayra:

June 26-30, British Columbia Retreat– AFFORDABLE and worth it!

Beloveds!
Welcome to 4 full days of the Dances of Universal Peace at the top of
exquisite Kootanay Lake.

Phil Murad Notermann, Florence Aliya Guest, Majida Myriah Pazereckas Roy,
and Hayra Fatah invite us to collectively sing our heart into vibrancy, integrate body and spirit, and dwell in the sacred glance.

Find out about housing options, scrumptious meals, and schedule here:

http://www.johnsonslandingretreat.bc.ca/workshops/sacred-music-sacred-dance-3/

Additionally, Fliers for your Dance Circles are at the bottom of this page:

https://www.dancesofuniversalpeacena.org/OneTimeDetail.asp?id=1477

Be Well,
Hayra Fatah

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Poetry about the Divine Friend

In the Sufi world, we would call this Wali – that entity that walks with us and has always been there. What Fr. Richard Rohr might call the Christ Energy.

“Guardian Angel”

By Rolf Jacobsen

I am the bird that flutters against your window in the morning,
and your closest friend, whom you can never know,
blossoms that light up for the blind.

I am the glacier shining over the woods, so pale,
and heavy voices from the cathedral tower.
The thought that suddenly hits you in the middle of the day
and makes you feel so fantastically happy.

I am the one you have loved for many years.
I walk beside you all day and look intently at you
and put my mouth against your heart
though you’re not aware of it.

I am your third arm, your second
shadow, the white one,
whom you cannot accept,
and who can never forget you.

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Poetry by Jane Kenyon

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.
Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

— Jane Kenyon

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Coming Events of Note

June 1 – Sufi Saturday 2:30 pm – 9 pm

Our concentration will be on spiritual activism and holding our center with self-care in these challenging times.

2:30–6 pm • Sufi Practice • Dances of Universal Peace • Meditation, Teachings • Sohbet (conversation) • Healing Service

6 pm • POTLUCK      7 pm • ZIKR & TURNING

Lake City, WA • INFORMATION (206) 850-2111 • halway@comcast.net

2844 NE 117th Street, Seattle, WA 98115 • Park on street, walk down

Ruhaniat SUFI SATURDAYS are usually offered on first Saturdays

June 2 & 8 Seattle Peace Chorus Concerts

On Sunday, June 2, 2019, at University Congregational Church (7:00 p.m.) and Saturday, June 8, at Seattle’s newly renovated Town Hall (7:30 p.m.), Seattle Peace Chorus is presenting our Spring concerts featuring the epic choral masterpiece, “Canto General.”  

Sung in Spanish, it’s based on the poetry of Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, set to music by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.  The last time the Chorus performed this was in 2013 when we traveled to Chile and visited Neruda’s homes there.

If you’re not already a season ticket holder, advance tickets are only $22, so order them now from me! (contact me at drmatthewsusa@gmail.com or 206-272-0580) — you’ll save $5 per ticket since they are $27 if purchased at the door – also there is a service charge if you order them through Brown Paper Tickets.  Discount tickets of $20 are also available for students/older adults/special needs.

PLEASE NOTE:   YOU NEED TO SPECIFY WHICH CONCERT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND –– ticket prices are the same for both but the tickets are different.   Let me know how many tickets you would like to order and, once I receive your payment, I will mail your tickets to you or I can leave them at “Will Call.”

Please make checks out to “Seattle Peace Chorus” and mail to David Matthews, 546 Walnut St. Apt 102, Edmonds, WA 98020 

I hope to see you at one of the Spring concerts!

June 20-23 – Summer Solstice near Twisp, WA with Majid and Dancing Bear

This is always a lovely time to share in our community. There are choices to stay on their land or get a B&B nearby. Majid tells me there is also a wonderful Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival happening nearby on the 20th and the 22nd that folks might want to attend (https://methowmusicfestival.org).

For more information and specifics (that are still being imagined!) and/or to RSVP, please contact Majid at janetworthen@mac.com

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Important New Writing by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

With a big thank you to Brother Saladin for sending this out to his lucky Mureeds today.

This is such profound and timely writing – a chapter from a new book by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. So full of hope and reality. Please take a look and discuss here and with your community

Some quotes:
“Despite deep fears of economic instability, terrorism, or being overrun by migrants, the anxiety that is present in our culture does not come from any outside force. We fear that we are losing our way of life, and in that we are correct. But not in the way we understand or react to. The danger of climate change is real, but in the depths of our psyche we are sensing that something in our foundation no longer holds. This is the deep reason for our collective unease, which we project onto outer forces that appear to threaten us.”

“Much of our present insecurity comes from a deep knowing that our governments and cultures are planning for a future that will never happen. They may talk about economic expansion and increased prosperity, but we sense that these are just sand castles as the tide comes in”

“In the simplicity of our ordinary selves, living our ordinary lives, with our prayers and devotions we create a container that can help humanity make this transition. Rooted in the depth of our being we link together the inner and outer worlds so that the energy can flow more freely into the outer. And we do this not out of fear, which would contract us, but with love and joy to be of service, knowing that another cycle of revelation, another chapter in the story of our world, is unfolding.”

Full article:

https://workingwithoneness.org/articles/colliding-forces/

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Great quote from Howard Zinn

I find it is so crucial in these challenging times as we witness the degradation of our leadership and our planet and the suffering of our siblings – to remember joy and wonder and beauty and compassion. It is there if we choose to recognize it, and it has the capacity to hold us up and create resilience as we continue our work for justice and peace. Mr. Zinn is, as always, a font of wisdom:

An optimist isn’t necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time.  To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.  It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.  What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.  If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.  If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. 

~ Howard Zinn ~