New Website

Please visit our new website at:

www.SufiHouse.org

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Ya Haqq (Oh Truth)

Kevin

Serving Others

Abu Sa'id Abi'l-Khayr anecdote:

One day in addressing the assembly of Sufis in his khanaqah in the city of Nashipur, the master said, “The length and breadth of the khanaqah is strewn with gems. Why don’t you pick any up?” Everyone looked around to see if the floor was covered with jewels. Not seeing any precious stones lying around they turned back to the master with puzzled looks.
“O Master,” they cried, “where are these gems which we do not see?”
“Service!”, cried the master, “Service!”

~Selected from Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh's discourse "Serving Others" [Sufi Journal 43]

Love and Life

"If you haven't ransomed your heart for the love of a moon-faced beauty,
Consider your life as a total waste.
-----The key to eternal life lies in the palm of Love's hand."

By Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh (Sufi Journal 61)

Rumi Translations

A friend recently mentioned that her and her family loves the Rumi translations by Shahriar Shahriari, which captures the meaning and melody of the original Persian.

Check out:

www.rumionfire.com

The website has selected stories from the Mathnawi and 60 poems from the Divan-i Shams.

Ya Haqq!

Sufi Politics

With the hand of yearning, the foundation of the palace
~~~of Loving-kindness was built,
While joyously we demolished the edifice
~~~of "I and we."

We passed beyond the discerning mind
~~~of religion and nationality,
And with Love dispelled quantity and quality
~~~from the kingdom of the heart.

By remembrance of the Friend, we became liberated
~~~from the dangers of multiplicity
And carried our banner from the ocean of "no God"
~~~to the shore of "but God."

Divani Nurbakhsh

My New Year... Is You

My New Year is You: my festival
You, the delight of my soul.

You are my Beloved, my only Love,
my only Soul!

~Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh in Sufi Journal (54).

(See other poems by the Nimatullahi Sufi Order Master at www.nimatullahi.net)

First Lesson of Sufism

"The first lesson of Sufism is to love God's creatures and respect their views. Therefore, a Sufi should, in principle, refrain from interfering in others' affairs or condemning their way of thinking. Anyone who condemns other people's religious convictions or manner of worship--which are ways of attracting God's favor and moving closer to Him--not only is not a Sufi, but is, in fact, an enemy of the Sufis, for objecting to others' religious views in any way is a form of arrogance and self-centeredness, constituting the greatest offense in Sufism.

Together, we must free Sufism from dogmatism and pretension and work on protecting the basis of Sufi spirituality from hypocrisy. We should be especially mindful of the fact that Sufism is the school of humanity. Without emphasis on inward spirituality and purity, once cannot, properly speaking, develop into a true human being, truly love all humanity, or serve others with heart and soul without any thought of reward."

~Selection from "Who is a Sufi?" in Discourses by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh