Special Events

October 3-5, 2008:

Toward the One: The Art & Practice of Coming Closer


A Weekend of Closeness, Music & Beauty with Gayan Macher

Friday October 3rd,
Saturday October 4th &
Half Day Sunday October 5th
Includes Lunch, Dinner & Sweets
Friday night: Zhikr & Sema
Saturday night: Persian Classical Live Music

The awesome march of the cosmos towards conscious unity is felt in us as the longing for connection. This desire may take various forms. Outwardly, for true contact with a friend; the touch of a lover; the kiss of the sun on our skin. Inwardly, to feel the holding arms of our true home; to commune with the knowing voice that answers our deepest questions.

Coming closer - both to our innermost self or to others - is in essence a movement from the encapsulated ego toward the center of the one being. The exquisite intimacy brings God's satisfaction experienced through our personal hearts.

Certain qualities and principles engender the sense of closeness including presence, sincerity, receptivity and expression. This weekend - through interior and interactive exercises, music and sema - we will cultivate these in an atmosphere of spiritual friendship.

Gayan Macher has been a student of the Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan for over 30 years. He co-created and led Sufi Retreats, a process of inner transformation integrating mysticism with modern psychology. Gayan chaired the curriculum project that helped shape spiritual training in the Sufi Order, and is a lead teacher in Suluk Academy, the Order's core esoteric school. He has worked closely with Pir Zia Inayat Khan to create Seven Pillars House of Wisdom and served as it's first chair of the board. Professionally, he has consulted to corporate executives for 25 years concerning the art and science of human relations. Gayan is also a singer song writer.

at Fay (Fatima) Besharat's personal residence:
1817 10th Place W
Kirkland, WA 98033

Please Come & Join Us!
Donation of $150 for entire event recommended.
RSVP (Limited space, 40 guests maximum)
All proceeds are gifted to Seven Pillars.
Please write your check directly to "Seven Pillars" and mail to Fay Besharat's address by August 30th, 2008.

For more information, contact Fay at (206) 999-0715



October 4, 2008:

Jerrahi Dhikrullah


6:30 p.m.
Ballard Oddfellows Hall, 1706 Market St., Seattle

As-salaam aleikum, beloved friends,
Inshallah, our new date for the Jerrahi Dhikrullah is October 4, 2008.
We will meet @ the OddFellows Hall, at the street level hall.
We will meet @ 6:30 for a potluck/ discussion of our ceremony, and then make the Isha prayer a few minutes after 8 PM. Inshallah, we will begin the Dhikrullah immediately thereafter.
Everyone should dress modestly and wear hair covering.
I will cook a main dish.
It would be helpful if you would RSVP so I know how much food to make.
Please forward this invitation to your communities, everyone is invited.
Please bring sheepskins, benches, prayer rugs, and anything else you think would be helpful. If you have any questions, call me. 206-713-6917
As-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
Rifaat



October 15, 2008:

"Introduction to the Seven Pillars School of Thought"
An Evening Talk with Pir Zia Inayat-Khan


7:30-9 p.m.
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California.

For information or tickets please visit www.ciis.edu/publicprograms/.



October 16-19, 2008:

"The Awakening of the Heart"
A Sufi Conference


The Sufi Conference brings together different Sufi orders and lovers of God as an expression of oneness and love. The purpose of the Sufi Conference is to create a container for a spiritual energy, a frequency of divine love that is needed in the West for its spiritual evolution. For the 2008 Conference, the presenters include Pir Zia Inayat Khan, Maata Lynn Barron, Imam Bilal Hyde, Zakira Beasley, Pir Shabda Khan, K. Sridhar, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, and guest speaker Peter Kingsley.

At the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California.
For full information please visit www.suficonference.org.



November 6-9, 2008:

"Intense Spiritual Practice"
A four day post-election intensive with Shahabuddin David Less


Spiritual Practice is the use of sound, breath, thought, prayer, meditation, or movement to quicken the deep emotions of the soul, transform insight into intuition, and connect us with the power of our own will. It is also through spiritual practice that the consciousness becomes used to a condition that is in contrast to our everyday limited point of view. Nevertheless there is resistance to spiritual practice, and this resistance needs to be overcome by a powerful connection to our own soul and spirit. There are a few rare souls who are born with the gift of ecstasy and intuition without the need for practice. But for most people it is the repetition of holy sounds and forms that moves the limited toward the limitless. Spiritual practice becomes a natural aspect of daily life and protects us from some of the harshness of this world. Group practice, with friends new and old, is a wonderful way of magnifying and intensifying this effect.

After four days of practice the light of the unseen world is more present and perceptible.

Thursday, November 6 - Sunday November 9,
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(Evening program TBA)

At The Sand Point Learning Center
6208 60th Ave. N.E.
Seattle
[Map]

Tuition is on a sliding scale as follows:
Early registration with full tuition paid by October 10, 2008: $360 to $460

After October 10: $425 to $525
Per day: $105
(no discount for half-days)

For further information: contact Jelila Judith Allen or call 206.329.5576.

See complete posting here.



November 29, 2008:

Unity Dhikrullah
"A Dhikr of Gratitude."


6:30 p.m. Potluck
8:00 p.m. Dhikrullah
at the Ballard Oddfellows Hall, 1706 Market St., Seattle

Note from Rifaat:
The beneficiary of this event will be the Ballard OddFellows Hall. The floors in the kitchen and dining room need to be replaced. There is no money for this project, so we need to take action. The OddFellows have given us the use of the hall so many times and it is appropriate that we help to maintain the facility. Inshallah, I will be doing the floor installation with volunteers but need to purchase durable flooring material. This will be on the Thanksgiving weekend, and we hope you will all come, join with us and share in community, service and joy. Please also forward this invitation to all of our friends and beloveds.
As-salaam aleikum, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
Rifaat



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