A Taste of Shasta

Dear ones,

Enclosed is a link to an audio file –

A Taste of DHO-Shasta-2014

For those of you who were able to make it there, here is a reminder.
For those of you who were not able to make it there, here is a taste.

There were, of course, many other wonderful parts, including Saul’s walks class, lots of Saul’s stories about Murshid Sam, Mother Mary and Kennet Roshi and much more.

Thank you to those on this audio tape –  Sauluddin, Mariam, Aslan, Michael Endlich, Eddie (the Nazz) Greenburg, Murad and to the leaders not on the tape – Sarfaraz, Siddiq, Sakina, Noel, Richard Mann, Isa. Estafurgh’allah if I forgot anyone.

Love,
Murad

Reb Zalman in the San Francisco Bay Area

Beloveds,

Please see the article at http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66104/reb-zalman-87-coming-to-east-bay-for-rare-visit/

I have had a few questions about how to know whether venues have changes for the various sessions of the Symposium where Zalman will be honored.

All changes will be posted on the website at http://www.sksmstudents.com/symposium-2012—public-events.html.

If you will be attending, you may want to check the website each day in case the crowd continues to grow beyond the capacity of the present location.

Shabbat shalom,
Pam Frydman

________________________________________________________

Dear one,

Many thanks for the alert. Please pass on my love.

As a short remembrance:

One day in the middle 70’s – I walked into the San Francisco house of Hallelujah The Three Rings. In the front room, I found a large bearded man sitting comfortably on the floor with a Sufi message book in his hands. He looked up at me with a smile on his face and said, “This is amazing. I’m reading ‘The Soul Whence and Wither‘ and Inayat Khan’s description of the soul’s journey is right out of the Midrash.”

Thus I had my first (although not the last) meeting with Zalman.

Mashallah! May he live healthy and clear minded until the next century.

all blessings,
hakim sauluddin

Mother Mary and Murshid SAM

Dear family,

Murshid Sam made the most incredible statement to me about Mother Mary (of Mount Shasta): I will take any of her students as my mureeds.” (He wound up with 4 or 5, that I recall.)

I never heard him make such a statement about any other spiritual teacher and their students. He also attempted to meet with her, when Mansur (and myself) drove through Mt Shasta en route to Vancouver, to see Sam’s uncle Harry. We missed her, but did get to hang out with Helen Fetterman (Mary’s Lieutenant) and visit Crater Lake.

Helen later drove down to San Francisco when Murshid passed and helped console us, as she “witnessed” the funeral arrangements, and the court battle to fight his autopsy. (We didn’t want his body cut, and Pir Vilayat showed up to assist us in this. He actually called Sam a Sufi Saint – under oath – in Marin County Court.)

Basira (then called Gypsy) first told SAM about Mother Mary, and he sent her and Shirin up to Mt. Shasta to meet her, and for Shirin to see a living High Priestess in action. Shirin later said she was a real one. It was this duo (Shirin and Basira) who brought me to meet Murshid, and I was hooked from the very beginning.

I share these stories, as I believe that a direct spiritual connection exists between these two lights. And, am deeply touched, that I was blessed to be able to “walk with her” and “take hands” with Murshid. Murshid once remarked to me: “You call her Mother,” he said. “But I’m really your Mother. She’s your Father.” I got it, and it’s true – the Father directs, and the Mother nurtures. Mary started me out, and Sam nurtured my path.

So, our gathering on Mt Shasta will bring forth these joint blessings: From Hazrat Inayat Khan (whom Mother claimed to have met in vision – she was also good friends with Murshida Bkati Engle, and of course knew all about Bakti’s teacher), to The Great White Brotherhood, the Order of Melchizadeck, and the Space Brotherhoods.

We will be joined by Jeffrey Whittier (whose book on Mother Mary should be bound and ready for distribution), and Linden Carlton (Mother’s driver on our trip to meet the Hopis in 1968) as well as a goodly number of senior teachers in the Ruhaniat. So far we have commitments from: Murshid Saadi Klotz, Murshida Mariam Baker, Shiekhs Jean Pierre David, Aslan Sattler, Murad Finkelstein, Siddiq von Brissen, Mansur Johnson, Sarfaraz Knight & Najat Roberts – and of course myself. Plus our own Michael Endlich, Fadhilla Bradly, and Nazruddin Greenberg; and Special Guests from the Mountain.

We’re looking forwards to a great time, with gourmet food, many presentations, and visits to the Mountain, Shasta Abbey (Jiu Kennett Roshi) and Widow Healing Springs. All this plus Flying Saucers.

JUNE 19th (dinner) to JUNE 24th (lunch) – 5 Full Days.

Stewart Mineral Springs, Mt Shasta, California: www.stewartmineralsprings.com
Looks like costs will be between $117 per night to $171 per night – all inclusive.
For specific costs and reservations, contact: Jude Sargent

Please note: Staff receives neither reimbursement, nor honorarium, and pays full fees.

See you on the Mountain:
All Blessings
Hakim Sauluddin

Murshid’s Urs Day

Dear ones,

Here is a short quote from S.A.M. on his Urs day:

“There are only 2 reasons to do things – one is for God, and the other is for money.”

Ya Shakur Allah!
Ya Shakur Murshid.

How fortunate we all were to be touched by his presence.

In addition, I was privileged to be present and to record Murshid’s ‘death-bed’ letter to his living Pir – Sufi Barkat Ali:

“Praise be to Allah! This has been a glorious exit, and one which will go down in history, a sign of all the beauty, truth and goodness in the universe. One has been truly saved from the jaws of death and adversity, and may live on indefinitely, as God wills. It is the sign ad symbol of all goodness, and the establishment of God’s message in the Western world forever, praise be to Allah! For I am the first one born in the West to have received the divine message, and believe to have representatives in all the purity and goodness of which Allah is capable, and which will now be presumed done forever.”

all blessings

hakim sauluddin

Health and our Ruhaniat

Dear friends and family,

As we begin this newest year, I am moved to offer some thoughts on Health, Prayer and the active healing concentration held within our Ruhaniat by the Dervish Healing Order.

One of the more important aspects of Murshid Sam’s effect on people was not just his sun like energy, but also the razor sharp clarity of his mind. He felt that these were inter-dependent.

During my two active years with him, I rarely saw him in an agitated state. Mostly, he was not only clear, but also enthusiastically heart centered. He often remarked that “if one wishes to use the Zen Stick, one’s heart must be open.”

I also remember during a meeting he remarked, “ An idea dropped into a clear and focused mind will crisp like a potato slice in bubbling hot oil.”

It is this clarity and focused will (or purpose) which directs our ‘performance’ of the absent healing ritual. The reason why the healing conductor is an initiation, is so that:

  1. They are first trained, and evaluated, to insure that their ‘makam’ is sufficient for this work.
  2. They are connected to, and may draw from the inner clarity & barakka of our silsela.

To do successful healing, one must first have an open and focused heart. To attempt the absent healing ritual without these in place, puts the very health of the person being prayed for into jeopardy. When one concentrates with any negative, or even personal emotions, than one takes the risk that these negative (or personal) feelings will also be sent out. Not what the ill or grieved has asked for.

Some orders are very firm in their ‘qualifications’ for leading the healing ritual. And, some leaders in our own order have asked that their names not be put out to general distribution. Their concern is actual, and perhaps has some merit.

As of this writing, we are in the process of attempting a unitive approach to the healing needs of our Inayati family.

I am hopeful that in the near future, there will be a real “all order healing list” for all of us to send our prayers through.

This will be a major step towards unity, and your positive thoughts ar e requested.

Until these steps are accepted by all the various orders, please continue to support your local healing centers. It is very important that we have an active healing concentration in place for our own Ruhaniat.

If you are not on the DHO listserve, or do not know the Healing Conductors in your area, then please continue to place your requests for healing on Oursohbet and the Jamiat Khas listserves. No other entity represents our work.

Even better, join with your local healing circle to pray for our order, our spiritual family, and our world.

If all of us take on what Inayat Khan called the “problems of the day,” we will have a greater opportunity to alter our interactions with the world, and thus bring into manifestation the healthy, clear, and loving kindness we all seek.

Remember, Murshid Sam said that “the New Age will come about by itself.” And, Mother Mary told me that “if we were very fortunate, we could become the teachers of the teachers of the New Age.”

Supporting your local healing circle is a wonderful opportunity to manifest our spiritual ideals of Serving God by Serving Humanity.

I send all my love and blessings, and my prayers for our health, and the continued prosperity of our spirit.

Remember the DHO Gathering – outside Portland, Oregon – June 22 to 26, 2009. More data very soon.

yours in service to the real

hakim sauluddin
January 10, 2009

P.s. Do I need to note that Murshid Sam’s Urs is January 15th?

Frida Waterhouse: question & reply

Dear Friends,

In our Gathekas Class we have been including a study of some of the history of the lineage of the Sufi Ruhaniat International by, in part, reading biographies of our spiritual God Parents, including Frida Waterhouse.

The (auto) biography of Frida in the Mureeds Manual says nothing of what her relationship was to Murshid Samuel Lewis or Hazrat Inayat Khan and I would like to get a better understanding of this.  I do have two books that she published, Why Me? and Tomorrow Never Comes but her books do not have references to Murshid SAM or Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Can anyone help fill in this history, all types of information about her would be welcome, including personal stories of your experiences with her if you are willing to share them (Saul?).

Love and Thanks,
Basira
Maui

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Basira,

Thank you for asking the question.  And, I am so pleased that your class is taking up the historical roots and transmission of our order.

Murshid felt that it was important that his mureeds have a “past-life” reading -so that we should all be more aware of the unseen worlds, and our interactions with them.

When I was a new mureed, Murshid sent me (and Mary Sultana) to see Lois Robinson (his psychic of choice) for our readings.

Later, one of the mureeds from a Marin commune (I think it was Sara Morgan?), introduced Murshid to Frida Waterhouse, and she became his psychic of choice.

I have no idea what ever became of Lois Robinson.  She just dropped off our radar screen, and Frida took over that work.  Frida became one of Murshids ‘older’ friends and collegues (like Joe & Guin, Gene Wagner, Voica Fisk and Teddy Reich).

Frida took over the psychic portion of our training after Murshid passed, and held classes and did individual sessions with mureeds, as well as starting to train others to do similar work.

When I was doing the Rainbow Bridge, I helped publish and distribute her books.

Moineddin made her an ‘honorary’ Murshid in the Ruhaniat — as he did with Joe & Guin (amongst others).

It was from her work with us that the present incarnation, called ‘soul work,’ was developed.

Actually, I also feel that our training and attunement to the ‘unseen worlds’ has been less actively persued in more recent times.

As a partial correction to this historical process, our (2008 June) DHO gathering at Lama will have the theme of “Oracles and the Oracular Function.”

Hope this helps.  any questions?

all blessings
hakim saul

 

Murshid Story

Dear all,

I feel moved to report an occurance I wittnessed at the Khankah in Novato (Garden of Inayat) in 1970.

Someone had brought over a film of some teacher talking (not our family), and the members of the Khanka were watching it in their dining room.

Murshid arrived, saw what was happening, went to the meditation room, and closed the door. I was not interested in the film, and was outside the room talking to Ayesha when Murshid stormed out of the meditation room and started to rake the Khankah over the coals.

I don’t remember exactly what he said, as I was attempting to make myself as small as possible against the wall as he fumed by.  He glanced at me in passing and said “This has nothing to do with you.” As Ayesha and I went upstairs, I heard Murshid say, “If I have hurt your vision or your heart I apologize. But I don’t give a damn about your ego.”

Happy Fall

hakim saul

Murshid…

A short recollection:

When Murshid was in San Francisco General Hospital (just prior to his passing) he awoke from a coma and looked at me in the eye to ask where he was and who had been there to visit him.

I replied that he had realy put us-me through the wringer, and I was so happy he was back.  He twinkled at me, "If you think this is something, you should see what you have in store for you."

Who would have thought.

Happy Birthday Murshid - Ice Cream is on the House!

all blessings,
sauluddin

The Story of Two Covers

Beloved ones of God,

Firstly allow me to thank all the folks who made the Pilgrimage happen so well and so smoothly. To Zuleikha who gave us a fabulous evening of dance, and story, of zikr, and love. To Asha who flew across country from one camp right into ours. To Mansur Johnson who brought the manuscript of his time with Murshid with him and read from it.  And, to all the dozen plus Murshidas, Shiekas, Khalifas, and the 50 beloveds who participated, and to our hosts, the Lama beans – especially Krishnasdas and Austin. Ya Shakur!

$11,000.00 was raised for Lama.  Alhamdullilah!

_________________________________

It is also time to share with the larger group the story of the two coverings, which were placed on Murshid's Maqbara,

1.

When Murshid S.A.M. fell and went into a coma (late December of 1970), I called “auntie” Helen in Oregon, and gave her the news and asked for her prayers. She said she would be coming down to hold my hand through all of this. And, when S.A.M. died, she came down.

She brought with her a green velvet cover, fully inscribed in Arabic calligraphy. She said that when she was in town (Klamath Falls) making a few purchases for the trip south, she heard Mother Mary’s voice clearly in her head. (Mother Mary had died the year earlier) “Turn right here.” Mother said. She turned as directed, and found herself in front of a gift shop. “Enter.” said mother, and she did. “Get that one for Saul.” she was told. “Tell Saul that the calligraphy means something. It is not just decorative.” She went to pay for the velvet coverlet, and found that she had just enough money to pay for it.  This was especially important, as she and her family were as poor as ‘church mice.’

She arrived the next day, and when we went to see S.A.M. in the Mortuary, she placed the cover over his body, and it remained there until he was autopsied and buried.

2.

About 2 months ago, a dear friend (Jerry Toporovsky) returned from a trip to India. When he was in Ajmir, he felt moved to purchase (for Saul) a cloth cover from the tomb of Moineddin Chisti. When he presented it to me, I heard the words Maqbarra and Murshid. So, I brought it with us to Lama to be placed on Murshid’s grave.

Both covers were placed on Murshid’s gravesite – I asked Mansur Johnson (as Murshid’s ‘senior’ mureed present) to assist me.

The cloth from Moinuddin Chisti remains at Lama. It will have a small box made for it, and it will “live” in the retreat cabin by the Maqbara.

The cover from Mother Mary (through Auntie Helen) returned with me.

Finally, the last morning, we did the healing ritual under the dome. Hadi David Hunter performed it. The energy was so deep and powerful it carried us all safely back home.
Alhamdullilah!

All love and blessings
Hakim sauluddin