Letter From Saul

Dearest family,

Greetings of the Season. As the old year winds down, and the Winter Solstice beckons, I am moved to share some concentrations to help the coming year move in a more peaceful and loving manner.

Most Important:
Do not despair. Despair only blocks the heart, and impedes the flow of baraka. Always know that you are not alone. Your initiation links you with multitudes of realized souls who can be called upon to share light, and love and happiness. Start with your initiator, and work backwards. Sometimes, just repeating their names as a mantra can be most beneficial.

Also important:
Do not surrender, or abandon your Concentration of Peace manifesting through the agency of Love, Harmony & Beauty.
Our founders (Sufi Inayat Khan, Murshid Sam, and Pir Moineddin) all had major disappointments in their lives; but did not allow the darkness to cloud their inner vision and never curtailed their work for The Message.

Always remember the great question:

‘If not me, then who?
If not now, then when?’

On a personal note: all is well in Virginia. Snow is melting, and our hearts are warm. Looking forward to soon being a fully retired former tribal textile person.

AND: June DHO approaches – June 16-21

Shasta amidst the re-growing greenery, and regrown ice pack.

Once again, we will dip into the Occult and Metaphysical portions of our transmission:

  • Mother Mary May Meyer, Swami Jugud Bundu, The Great White Brotherhood, Ascended Masters, secret machinery within the mountain, flying saucers, aliens, – Wow! and that’s just a portion of it:
  • Prophecy, intuition, inner sight, and the tools needed to train oneself: I Ching, Tarot, Numerology, Astrology, and the Bowl of Saki as ‘Openers’.
  • We plan on visiting Shasta Abby & Jiu Kennet Roshi (our God Mother), doing the Praja Paramati Sutra at her cenotaph, and remembering our times together.
  • Inshallah! Panther Meadows will be open and available. If not there’s Bunny Flats.
  • Widow Springs for the healing waters, and the headwaters of the Sacramento River.
  • And, hopefully, our dear brother Jeff Whittier (holder of Mother Mary’s physical treasures, and author of her biography – ‘ Good is Never Lost ‘) is planning on joining us.
  • Many, many stories to share – from The I Am Society to Jack Schwartz.

Have sent in my deposit. Looking forwards to see you all in June.

all blessings and love
Hakim Sauluddin
North Garden, Virginia
December 21, 2018

SHASTA June 16-21, 2019

Information for Registration:
We will be meeting and staying at the College of the Siskiyou’s in Weed, CA. Costs are still being worked on, but please send a $100 deposit to to reserve your space. Housing at the College is limited.

Send to Jude Sargent, 922 Stanyan, SF, CA 95117-3807.
Questions? Email – Murad or Jude

Please note: all DHO staff are volunteers, and pay full fees. Left over monies are donated to a local charity.

Report: DHO at Lama 2018

Dear family,

Our Lama pilgrimage is now part of the ‘living history’ of Murshid Sam’s legacy.

Firstly, I am so happy to report that Murshid is alive and present, and vocal.

About 70 of us gathered for our week together, and his blessings were palpable. Alhamdulliah! The Lama community was as gracious as ever, and we felt welcomed and honored.

Five of Murshid Sam’s original mureeds were present:
Siddiq, Mansur, Fawn (Nasima), Surya (Less), and myself

We held 2 formal processions up to the grave site, and did the Absent Healing Ritual there twice. What a rush of blessings.

Ananda was with us – Yeah! – and led deeply touching sung zikr in both the Lama dome, and at the grave site itself. 

So many inner instructions were given: 

I was told to make 3 more Shafayats: Jude Sargent, Michael Endlich and Nazzruddin Eddie Greenberg. And, Siddiq was recognized for his many, many years of unselfish devotion with the title of Vakil (the Guardian). I loved his comment, when asked if he wanted this public or private -“I’ve been doing this for so many years, it might as well be public.”

Mashallah!

Nasima came to me to share her instructions from Murshid. She had avoided the grave site, and was working in the kitchen. “He told me to be initiated,” she said. So, I initiated her as a healing conductor, and she will hold that post at Lama.

At our gathering, there were so many of our family who can hold both the inner and outer space, that we opened up the meeting to many presenters:
Although I opened with the first of the Absent Healing Ritual, each morning had a different conductor, ending with our newest initiated conductor. 

Our brother Aslan is undergoing Chemo Therapy, so there was no choir.

With more time to pray together, we increased our regular offerings: 

  • Ahura Grace took over the dance night. and, Ya Shakur! she held the energy very well.
  • Murad led an evening of Sufi Qigong/Healing Zikr that had us extending our fingers of light with wazifa and clearing blockages and pain from our bodies. A number of people reported amazing elimination of pain.
  • Ahura Grace led us in a powerful evening of zikr that was joined by the neighboring Lama community.
  • In addition, our brother Noel Hanuman was feeling too frail for high altitudes and uneven ground, so Richard took over the post of honoring Hanuman, and did a superb job. Ram! Ram! Ram!
  • 1001 Bead Zikr at the grave site (Murshida Mariam),
  • Sufi Qigong 3.0 (Murad),
  • Morning Yoga (Richard),
  • Tea (Siddiq & Sakina),
  • the Kuan Yin Aspect (Sarfaraz),
  • Dream Diving (Azima),
  • The Hidden Jewel in the Amulet (Micheal Endlich),
  • Writing Down the Bones (in honor of Elaine Sutton-Ayesha),
  • Shamanistic Journey (River)
  • Mansur read excerpts from his newest book of memories of what Murshid felt and did in his presence. He is calling it “The Bowl of Saki” – with his commentary and memories following each entry. He remarked that he had so many more memories to share that were not in his book Murshid.
  • And, there were walks
  • Ram Nam
  • The Kali Mantra
  • The Maha Mudra
  • bed time stories, and homework. 
  • Plus a lot of new reminiscences from folks who were with Murshid. I loved Nasima’s story of how she got her name…

We followed Lama’s Friday night Shabbos celebration, with some Hebrew Tassawuri walks, a few stories I recalled from my youth, and then Nazruddin enlivened the evening with Humor as a tool for healing the heart. Funny! as usual. And, better yet, it worked.

Some of the Old Timers came by for a howdy too – Rahaman was a stand out in memory. 

Special Kudos to Murad who oversaw the Pilgrimage – from inception, through planning and into reality, to Jude, who kept us in check and arranged transport and ride sharing, and to Jamil, our Lama contact, who assisted in holding such a welcoming and loving space for us to gather together. Ya Shakur.

We also spoke about our ‘special donation’ to Lama:
Lama is planning on renovating the old kitchen, which is now unusable, and they are raising funds for it. I did not want our donation to go into a large pool, but wanted it to go towards a single specific purpose, as we have done in the past. They want a new entrance door to the renovated kitchen, and donating a door (way) feels so much DHO. I envisioned a blend of design on the outer side – New Mexico and Sufi – and a Zen theme on the inner side – so that when one enters – one is aware of where one is, and when one leaves – one is made aware of leaving the inner, and re-entering the outer (world). I would also love to see a small inscription on the bottom of the outer side –

“Samuel L. Lewis Memorial Doorway to Inner Peace”

Lama has contact with a gifted local woodworker…so it is a possibility. Depending on what he charges, we may have enough in trust to cover it. Inshallah!

Topping it all off, 30 of us joined Murshida Darvesha, on Sunday – the next day – for a celebration of The Dances turning 50 years old. About 125 folks showed up for the afternoon. It was rocking.

Photos of Lama – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2ld8edpzgpwzi1v/AAB1q3Am2QdZG1xk4OdX5Yxja?dl=0

AND:

We are hoping for Mt. Shasta in 2019 – June 16 to 21
Mark your calendars.

Mother Mary. The Great White Brotherhood. The Order of Melchizadek.
Flying Saucers. Widow Springs. The Zen Mission Society. Jiu Kennett Roshi.
Panther Meadows. and so much more of the Esoteric Transmission of our lineage.

The proposed housing is not expensive, and they are happy to work with us on food.

More soon.

Am now resting up at home in Virginia
sending love and hugs

your in Service to the Real
Hakim Sauluddin
Happy Freedom Day – July 4, 2018

 

The Hidden Gift of Cancer – by Aslan Scott

Dear Ones,

The folks at the Center for Spiritual Living recorded my recent talk on the hidden gift of cancer and placed it online at:

https://soundcloud.com/eurekaspiritualcenter/thoughts-on-mortality-the-hidden-benefits-of-cancer

It lasts about 20 minutes and then there are a couple of questions from the group.  I thought you might like the reference, as I’d be happy to talk more about this aspect of life any time…

Much love,
Scott

On the Walk of Saturn

On the Walk of Saturn

Astrologically, Saturn is usually presented, at first, as representing obstacle, difficulty, and frustration. “You can’t always get what you want.” Not only that, but in its extreme, you can’t even get anything you want. My first formal lesson in the astrology of Saturn left me feeling, “That represents life on this earth.” And for me, that was the case at the time. Much later, Murshid Sam looked at my chart and said, “You’ve been thwarted a lot.” (Sun and moon conjunct Saturn square Pluto).

The first introduction to the walk of Saturn is similar. The movement is stunted, or stifled, if you will, and progress seems to come only with great difficulty, like a person with serious muscular disability, yet frustrated with his or her ability to move. Gravity seems stronger.

By way of articulating the other side of it, Saturn exalted, I mention my favorite Japanese scroll that we sometimes hang in our Tea Room. It has a single character, KAN, which means barrier, obstacle, gate. But it also means threshold, and implies passage.

Between the outer and inner Tea gardens there is a gate that is purely symbolic, and can be seen as a “Gateless Gate,” which is the title of the Mumonkan, a collection of 48 Zen koans, compiled from the teachings of early Chan masters in China. Here again, passage is implied by a symbolic barrier.

So, rightly understood, the gate or barrier becomes, with inner work, a threshold and a passage. Saturn, too, is a barrier, testing not only one’s resolve and acceptance, but skill and courage in meeting the challenge of the moment. As such it is also a gate, opening to a passage.

Gurdjieff held that Nature is not conducive to awakening, that is to say, awakening is not natural. It requires human effort, which in turn requires aspiration, and also discontent with being a pawn of nature, subject to all the frustrations that Saturn represents in its ordinary manifestations.

And Saturn exalted? The challenges remain, gravity remains, obstacles are inevitable — but one has mastered them, walking skillfully, upright with deliberation, albeit slowly. One has not overcome them, as one might overcome an enemy in battle, or a rival in competition. One has learned to work constructively with them. And one is stronger for it.

One is not “free” in the superficial sense of the word, but free in a deeper sense. Saturn has no room for sentimentality, or love without strength and skill. It demands that one cannot fly until one has fully mastered gravity. And it knows that birth and death are simply two aspects of life on this earth, forgetting neither.

Most of us cannot manifest exalted Saturn in our daily lives, any more than we can manifest the masters, saints, and prophets. We walk AS IF we had that mastery, and in all the spiritual walks gain a deeper understanding of our aspiration.

—Siddiq Hans von Briesen; March 9, 2015

2018 Pilgrimage to Lama

Dear ones,

I awoke this morning thinking about Lama and Murshid Sam: I remembered once asking Murshid Sam – ‘What is a Murshid?’

His reply was an instant illumination –

“A Murshid,” he replied, “is someone who knows a step of the dance you have not yet learned. And, they stand in front of you doing this step, so that you can follow it, until you learn it.”
I replied: “and, then, you stand beside them, and watch the one showing them the next step?”
“You got it!” he replied.

This coming June 18-23, we have scheduled a Pilgrimage to honor and remember his life long dedication to the Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty, and the Dances and Walks he brought through to spread this ideal.

Murshid often quoted Al Ghazalli – “God is your lover. Not your jailer.”

Join with us on Lama Mountain as we celebrate his dedication and his transcendent spirit. Register directly with Lama https://www.lamafoundation.org/event/a-pilgrimage-to-murshid-sam-with-the-dervish-healing-order/ (more information below).

After our D.H.O. Pilgrimage, on June 24, we will be joining with Murshida Darvesha, who is leading a 50 year celebration of the Dances of Universal Peace. Such events are planned world wide, but this is the one we will be at.

For our DHO campers, who choose to stay an extra afternoon, the gathering is free (with a donation requested) – dinner on June 23 and brunch on June 24 will be served (with a donation requested).

Camping on June 23 is free; if you are in housing, please pay the regular Lama costs for your room- https://www.lamafoundation.org/about-lama-foundation/general-info/housing-options/

BUT, please register with Lama, so they may have a handle of how many of us there will be on the Mountain. https://www.lamafoundation.org/event/50th-global-anniversary-of-the-dances-and-walks-of-universal-peace/

All monies from our Pilgrimage will go to Lama, as a way of financially supporting Murshid’s resting place.

Ananda and I look forwards to seeing you on the Mountain to honor and celebrate his life and the accomplishment of his mission. In addition, I look forwards to sharing his version of the Maha Mudra – which he first gave on Lama Mountain in 1970 – in the Only Room (in my presence). And, some of his Tassawuri Walks of the Masters, Saints and Prophets.

Once again, please register for both events early, so Lama and we, may know who and how many will attend.

all blessings and love
Hakim Sauluddin

Registration info: $400 for 5 days. Monday dinner-Saturday lunch. Register directly with Lama – online – https://www.lamafoundation.org/event/a-pilgrimage-to-murshid-sam-with-the-dervish-healing-order/ Or by phone-just ask for Stacy, the registrar. Their number is: 575 586-1269.

There may be a few indoor housing options  https://www.lamafoundation.org/about-lama-foundation/general-info/housing-options.

Register early if you want these. Register separately for the 50 year celebration of the Dances of Universal Peace – donation requested. https://www.lamafoundation.org/event/50th-global-anniversary-of-the-dances-and-walks-of-universal-peace/

There are motel accommodations available in Questa, for people who miss out on housing, and can’t tent. Questa Lodge – www.questalodge.com 

Jude has graciously volunteered to coordinate ride-shares. When you register with Lama, contact Jude: judesargent@yahoo.com

Questions, contact Murad – murad1@comcast.net

Aziza Lusansky-Inayat-Khan

Dear ones,

it is with deep sorrow that I forward this announcement from Hamida.
Aziza is our last living God-parent, both for the DHO and for the Ruhaniat.

Ya Salamo! May she rest in peace within the Heart of God,
and may her reunion with her beloved Hidayat be Rainbows of Light,
and Love, and Laughter.

our healing service starts shortly, so I will stop here,
and write up more for her Memorial Page this afternoon.

In Service to the Real
hakim sauluddin


Dear Shabda, Sauluddin and Aslan,

to our great regret Aziza, your Godparent, has left us, to join her beloved Hidayat. I am on my way to Munchen, and can tell you that the wonderful Schnede book will be shown in the Museum: so much living and loving energy it shows, and Aziza was so happy when receiving it last year.
If anyone feels like writing something, it can be sent to the Sufi Museum.
With love from Hamida