Meeting Notes Nov. 18th

We were 5: H, T, J, D, U. B stayed home with K, and M stayed home with E - everyone's been feeling the fear of sickness in the air with all the H1N1 news. We missed B's notetaking, but half way through I decided to take notes.

We debriefed the logistical business of Shahabuddin's workshop The Art of Conscious Death. We talked about starting a ritual gear box, in addition to the tea/coffee/food box, with Volume 5 of the Sufi Message, which contains "Aqibat", and The Soul's Journey for death work, and Ziraat & Universal Worship & Healing altars & papers & Dance of the Soul, so we can do the rituals at the drop of a hat.

We talked about how Shahabuddin's work last spring on the "caravans" of incarnation intersects with this fall's work on the soul's journey. But I can't remember the great things that were said on this topic.

We wondered about the function of the yahrzeit candle and saying kaddish at the yahrzeit - they're not to bring the soul back close to the earth - what are they for? H says she thought you said kaddish for those who can't say it any longer.

I told my story about the train transfer station metaphor for the transfer of impressions in the jinn realm. Beings leave the angelic realm are like folks moving from Hawaii to Minnesota, but without any information about the destination - they know they'll probably need something. Beings leaving the earthly plane are like folks moving from Minnesota back to Hawaii, never to return. The outgoing won't be needing that winter hat, no more gloves, parka, heavy socks, so they strip them off and leave them at grand central jinn station. The incoming look and say "hey, that looks great!" and pick up two left boots and 5 purple gloves, and head to earth. That's how impressions get traded, and it looks like reincarnation of certain traits of a person, but is maybe more like a big recycling bin.

There were several realizations from the workshop.

• The jinn realm isn't just the mind world, but is the mind/heart world.
• A system of 3 layers is manageable, unlike those systems of 7.
• Eliminating past and future lives gave someone great relief and the sense of the immediacy of life.
• One ray changes in density, but is simultaneously available to all levels when in touch with the densest.

And from the walking the planes exercise, specifically.

• H was saying she expected to feel more resistance to entering the earth plane, but seeing Shahabuddin standing at that gate as the guide reminded her there are guides with us.
• J met someone she knew from outside the workshop, but didn't want to talk.
• Someone liked that the portapotties were part of the earthly world.
• I took pictures and we talked about the need for permission before publishing them on the website.
• We noted the places of hesitation, the varying length of time it took people, the feeling of missing something when you left one of the realms and passed to another.
• Someone said you're not really you when you leave the physical.
• Someone else noted the seamlessness of those coming in as you're going back or the other way around. We're not alone.

D noted that a whole level of fear of death has evaporated from her life as a result of this workshop. She put some plans in place for death maybe 15 or 20 years ago, but it's time to revamp, and others of us don't have anything or barely anything in place. In the past, Shahabuddin has given "write your own obituary/funeral/plans" as an exercise, and we're thinking of taking it on together anyway.

Someone tells the story of a former murid's mom who came to him after her death and said Hazrat Inayat Khan was right about what happens after death.

J counted 106 people at the Wednesday evening presentation. Nobody decided to attend the whole weekend from trying out Wednesday night, and only one of the two people who asked for the open evening was there, but we saw lots of people you don't see often, and some people we'd never seen before.

We'll need a new space for April, for a continuation of dying work, for 65 people, with wheelchair access and carpeting. We noted a couple places to check out.

We tried to make a date for next month, gave up, hugged and went home.

T.

Minutes for meeting October 14 2009

People keep discussing business while I am eating! I tell them, "that won't get in the minutes - I can't eat and write at the same time!" I do remember there was mention that Pir Zia might come to Seattle soon, which is very exciting. J arrives late, she is famished, she has driven a long way to reach us tonight.
We have a discussion about what we might or might not do for Shahabuddin's birthday which is coming soon after the seminar, and it is one of those with significant numbers, but we don't want to make newcomers feel excluded.
U tells us about an on-line class that Amir is doing on the 99 Names of God - the rest of us were unaware that he was doing this.
J has been trying to figure out how to help his aged mother, and H has a worry about dying without a Sufi nearby who would understand what she wanted. It seems as though Shahabuddin's seminar will be relevant to many of us right now. I have a friend at work whose mother died 8 weeks ago and whose father died 2 weeks ago.
Finally we talk about how our group of 8 has become more than just the total of us. There are other examples of this - like when we have a seminar, the feeling grows greater than the number of people present. It isn't the food, or even the connection of the Abrahamic Reunion. So what do we do? We organise, manage and support each other - we have developed presence for each other. This discovery makes us happy! We say the Peace Prayer, and hug each other good-night.

Minutes for Meeting September 17th 2008

Hmmm, I just found my minutes from our last meeting, and they don't really make any sense! I remember that we were all there, except for H, who was getting her son started as a Freshman at school. I remember that the weather still felt like summer, now it is clearly fall, which is beautiful but sad because the sunshine is going away fast. I remember having lots of good food to eat - as usual!
J talked about a Christian Arab who has started a school in an Arab area, which has both Jewish and Muslim children - and both religions are talked about. That is great. She also told us some news from Ibtisam - she is applying for a grant from the UN, which would be a very large amount of money to start the Women's Empowerment classes in other villages. There have been many requests for her to do this, which is wonderful. We all wish her luck and pray that she will be successful in this application.
We also do a lot of sharing, hearing each others news, what we have been reading, what we have been seeing at the movies, what we are planning to do soon.
I'll be writing more soon!
M read a book called "Three Cups of Tea". She thought it was great - I want to borrow it. Pir Zia is going to live in France for a year - I don't know how I feel about that - it seems like a long time to be away from the Abode.
T reminds us of something Shahabuddin said once. Worrying is praying for what you don't want. This has been sticking with me ever since the meeting. Isn't that a good thing to remember?

Minutes for August 11th 2009

It is such joy to be with each other again, our little group is all here - and I am excited that we have a special guest, A. I have wanted to meet her for ages now. She and J have worked together in Israel, with Shahabuddin and Ibtesam on Abrahamic Reunion events and trips.
H tells us about a radio talk she heard - and how she was struck by the speaker's comment that both Israel and Palestine need to simply acknowledge that each side must have their own state. This leads us into a discussion of what it means to lose or leave, willingly or unwillingly, one's own country. What traditions do we cling to, who keeps those traditions more accurately - the displaced or the ones left behind, and do the people still in the homeland grow and change with the traditions more easily than those who left? The people in the new country, how do they feel about those newcomers and their traditions? We are all familiar with, for example the problem of phoning for help with a computer and not being able to understand the voice on the other end of the line. What is life like for the new children and the teenagers of immigrants?
It is a potent and intense conversation.
J has watched a movie, "Slingshot Hop" made by 2 girls, one Israeli, and one Palestinian. More recommendations follow:
Movies, "Through the Eastern Gate" and "Walking the Bible", and a book "The Jew in the Lotus".
T manages to sum it all up - we want to move past the nation states, to feel that the whole earth is our home, and to move past our insistence that one religion is right, and find instead the unity of religions.

Minutes for Meeting July 7th 2009

Today we met at the home of B and J, so we could see the carpet J bought when he was in Uzbekistan with Shahabuddin. All of us were present which was lovely. We did not meet in June.
H told us that David Spangler has offered to hold a day when he talks about the Seven Pillars. This will help to raise money for The Abode. We tried to help figure out the best date for this, and it will probably be Nov 1st. H also had some personal news, her son has graduated, after all the trials of those teenage years!
Recently, M emailed out a newsletter from the Seattle Sufis Board, with information about what is coming up, and also told us about some changes to the structure of the Board.
J told us that the money we raised for Ibtisam paid for the new tiles on the floor of the trauma healing center which she is building. It was great to know that we made a difference. Ibtisam is also having success in doing fundraising, which is wonderful.
T's parents are coming to visit - and this is a mixed blessing for her family.
J's news was that his son is going to Sarasota to Shahabuaddin's class for young people. This is exciting too, and so we started talking about parents and children relationships - current and when we were children. This led some of us to deep waters, and painful memories, and along the way we discovered a big difference between the often large and tangled extended Jewish families, and the small and often isolated English-heritages the rest of us had, where feelings were not encouraged to be displayed. We thought about this on a larger scale in the Middle East, and wondered how it affected the families there. How do our families come to peaceful resolution and compromises? Is it the same on a bigger scale?

Minutes for Meeting May 2009

I was away in April, enjoying the bliss of the Caravan of the Beautiful in a Florida spring. After winter in Seattle the weather was glorious, 80, and no humidity - I even went for a swim in the sea!
In May, we talked about 2 things: Ibtisam's visit, and 2 of our members went to Uzbekistan with Shahabuddin.
The visit went brilliantly well. J had organized everything - the private home we were able to use was lovely, and the food was wonderful. It was great to meet Ibtisam at last, and her husband - and her slides and talk were excellent.
U and K had had a great time in Uzbekistan - U had bought a book which showed the architecture of the buildings and it is amazing.
Well, I have never posted this late before - our next meeting is in 2 days - I hope no-one was holding their breath!

Minutes for Meeting March 5th 2009

Our main topic tonight is what to do when Ibtisam comes, which she definitely is doing! T has come to a standstill with one possibility, but another one has opened up - she is pursuing this. J has found a friend who will host a dinner for a smaller group of people. We talk and share what we can do and what she may be able to do, and how much energy we all have or don't have at this time!
Of course, we eat too, and the food is good, and the company is wonderful, and I am so glad we are here, and we miss those who have not been able to come. We figure out when we can come next month - I won't be there, I am hoping to go to the Caravan of the Beautiful - everyone exclaims and is delighted, and tells me how wonderful it is. I can hardly wait! See you in 2 months!!

Minutes for February 10th 2009

As we sit down to eat, we ask H to tell us about her new job.  She has been job hunting for about a year I think, and so it is a strange thing - she got used to not working, which gave her more time to concentrate on other parts of her life, and this new job will take up a lot of her time.  So she is excited and anxious all at once.  She will have a regular meeting at the time that we usually meet, but we cannot imagine meeting without her, so we agree to change the day of the month that we get together.   J tells us news of Ibtisam.  She will be coming to Seattle, after the event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in San Francisco, arriving on Tuesday 27th April, and leaving on Saturday 1st May, so there could be a public fund-raising event on Thursday or Friday night.  We need to find a good translator to help.  H has connections with Seattle University, and there is a Jewish/Muslim group there who might be interested in helping, and there are rooms there which we might be able to book.  She agrees to research this.  T suggests some other possibilities, eg Steve Sher on NPR. J is going to make an information sheet, which can be handed out at events and also used for potential sponsors of an event.  J wants to arrange a dinner in someone's home for Ibtisam, an evening where interested friends could meet her (and her husband--through a translator since he doesn't speak English) and talk with her in a more informal way.  She is a lot of fun, and she will very much enjoy meeting our friends.   We do a "go around the table and see how everyone is", and there is worry for all of us about the economy, job losses, global warming  and how the new President is doing.  More than one of us really feels that something big is changing.  F is upset - a friend just got laid off after working in the same hospital for 22 years, and doing a great job.  The bad stuff is getting more personal.  M is so busy he is trying to not think about it, but his company has become owned by the employees, and there is a big learning curve going on. Their business has not slowed, which is a good thing.     U has a short video for us to watch.  It is about the women of Darfur, and the terrible things that have been happening there.  Darfur is an area of Sudan, and the Sudanese government has  a campaign to destroy rebel groups in that region.  They created a militia for this purpose, which has wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, stolen livestock and systematically murdered, tortured and raped women and children.   In particular, rape is used as a weapon because by raping a woman in front of her male relatives, it is like the raping the entire tribe - it ensures the destruction of that family.  It is considered in the traditional sense to be the deepest affront.  The women have been specifically targeted by the Sudanese government, and it is happening even in the camps. U explains to us about the Save Darfur Coalition, and how they are having a global event to involve people from all over the world.  She tells us there is a live panel discussion the following night, and also how else we may be involved and what we can do to help raise awareness of what is going on.  www.savedarfur.org/women   Everyone is visibly moved and saddened by what we have seen.  We say the Peace prayer together, and hold each other's hands, before we leave to go to our warm safe homes.

Minutes for January 13th Meeting.

Tonight we listened to a Dr Martin Luther King speech called the Riverside Church speech. It was recorded on April 4th 1967. It was so relevant to today. The phrase that caught my attention the most was "revolution of values", and it seems to me that it applies to any area of our lives today that we look at! CEO's, bankers, financiers, investment brokers and politicians - the list goes on. No doubt we could all inspect our own values too. What high hopes we all have for the new president. We pray for his safety, and that of his family. We look forward with great excitement to the inauguration! F