Voices of Islam (267 page)

In 1912 Inayat Khan married an American, Ora Ray Baker (renamed Amina Begum), with whom he sired four children. His eldest son Pir Vilayat was born in London in 1916. Archival film shows Hazrat Inayat Khan in the year before his death passing on succession to Vilayat, who was then ten years old. In World War II, Pir Vilayat served as a minesweeper and later as a jour- nalist in North Africa, and his reporting aroused international acclamation.
30
Vilayat also studied with the Islamic Philosopher Henry Corbin at the Sor- bonne where he received his Ph.D. After the war, he traveled throughout India and other countries seeking out ‘‘dervishes, Hindu yogis, and
rishis
as well as Buddhist and Christian monks.’’
31
Since a number of his father’s rel- atives and others had also laid claim to succession,
32
in 1957, Pir Vilayat revived the Sufi Order his father had chartered in London in 1915 and named it the Sufi Order in the West (later, Sufi Order International). Pir Vilayat was not at odds with the other successors but was committed to ful- filling his father’s commission.
33
Toward that end he had received authoriza- tion to teach from Pir Fakhruddin, the son of Abu Hashim Madani, his father’s Chishti
pir.
In the 1970s he established a Sufi Community, the Abode of the Message in New Lebanon, New York, and later the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, a commercial New Age Workshop facility. Author of seven books and many articles, Pir Vilayat was admired by his followers as a meditation master, and as an inspired teacher who lucidly invig- orated and updated diverse spiritual teachings into an integral framework. He was fond of interpreting the Qur’anic phrase ‘‘
...
light upon light
.. .
’’ as describing ‘‘the light of intelligence strikes and your whole aura bursts into brightness more intensely than ever before.’’
34
In teaching the practice of
dhikr
repeating
la ilaha illa Allah,
Pir Vilayat combines spiritual and scien- tific references as he describes ‘‘
...
building a temple of light out of the fabric of our aura and a temple of magnetism out of electromagnetic fields, with our heart as the altar in this temple.’’
35
Concerning the Prophet Muhammad, Pir Vilayat explains that ‘‘[Muhammad] gave the fi al statement of Divine Wisdom: ‘None exists but Allah.’’’
36
Describing the ‘‘spirituality of the future,’’ Pir Vilayat sets forth three points similar to the character of the

Sufism in the West
179

Interspiritual Age: (1) it will be a spirituality free of dogma and ‘‘replacing theoretical belief with direct mystical experience; (2) ‘‘
...
a recognition of the need for seekers to trust their conscience and assume responsibility
...
rather than relying on role models to dictate prescriptive ‘do’s and don’t’s’’’; and (3) an new image of the Divine: ‘‘
...
the Universe is a Global Being of which the cosmos is a body whose intelligence flashes through our thoughts and emotions
...
.’’
37

Pir Vilayat’s son and successor Pir Zia Inayat Khan (1971–) who received investiture in 2001 also traveled widely to study with Sufi masters. He holds a B.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London and an M.A. from Duke University. When Pir Vilayat brought Pir Zia
38
to study Buddhism under the auspices of the Dalai Lama, Kalu Rinpoche, a highly respected Kagyu master, bestowed on Pir Zia the designa- tion of
tulku
—a reborn Tibetan teacher. Pir Zia decided that since he did not remember his previous life as a
tulku
and that it made no sense to him, he would rather not accept the honor. In this decision he also consulted with the Dalai Lama.
39
Since assuming the mantle of succession, Pir Zia has encouraged traditional Muslim practice in the Sufi Order. This is refl ted in inviting Imam Bilal Hyde to offer seminars in Islam at the Abode of the Message and on the Anjumani Listserve. Pir Zia also brings a renewed appreciation of the Indian Chishti Sufi lineage from which the Inayati– Chishti lineage stems. Members visit the tombs of both Hazrat Inayat Khan in Delhi and Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. A recent initiative by Pir Zia is the Suluk Academy of Sufi Studies. Its brochure states:

The Suluk Academy offers a course of focused spiritual study to cultivate medita- tive techniques and perspectives grounded in the traditional yoga of Sufi (
suluk
) which support the natural unfoldment of the soul in life.
40

In 2006, the Academy will offer a course on ‘‘Green Hermeticism.’’ Its three teachers bring eclectic backgrounds in alchemy, Kabbalah, herbal medi- cine, Celtic Christianity, and Sufism—both mainstream and antinomian. In addition to theoretical study, participants will practice
spagyrics
(plant alche- my), investigating how this knowledge can address ecological problems.
41

Inayat Khan, as a virtuoso musician, was very much a forerunner of the New Age Movement which appreciates music as a spiritual and healing resource. But Inayat Khan sacrificed his own musical career to teach and did not incorporate music directly into his teaching. That musical impulse would revive through Samuel Lewis.

Samuel Ahmad Murad Chisti (Samuel L. Lewis) (1896–1971)

Lewis is probably the most actively eclectic spiritual explorer in this chap- ter. After majoring in Agriculture at Columbia University, he began in

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1919 to live in an intentional community of Sufis in Fairfax, California that practiced the teachings of Inayat Khan.

Initiated in 1923 by Inayat Khan, Lewis was both overwhelmed by a blind- ing light and comforted by a kind presence. In comparison to Rinzai Zen masters Sogaku Shaku, Shaku Soyen, and Nyogen Senzaki with whom he had studied, he felt that Inayat Khan was the ‘‘fi person to deeply touch and awaken his heart.’’ (Lewis often wrote in the third person.) During a retreat in Fairfax in 1925, Lewis received three visitations from the immortal Prophet Khidr
42
who conferred the gifts of poetry and music. These visits were followed by the appearances of Shiva, Buddha, Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and finally Elijah who bestowed ‘‘the Robe.’’
43
In 1926, after six interviews with Lewis, Inayat Khan conferred upon him the title ‘‘Protector of the Message.’’

While continuing his Zen training, in 1938 Lewis met Ramana Maharshi’s disciple Paul Brunton with whom he achieved immediate
samadhi
(divine union). After Rabia Martin turned over authority for the Sufi Order to Meher Baba (see a discussion of this below), Lewis, who disagreed with this decision, maintained his contact with Inayat Khan on the inner planes. In 1946 the Prophets Muhammad and Jesus appeared to Lewis:

Around 1946, the writer entered into
fana-fi rassul
[absorption into the Prophet Muhammad]. Although this came from Mohammed, the Khatimal Mursaleen [Seal of the Chain-of-Prophets], it was followed almost immediately by a similar experience with Jesus (Isa).
44

After this visit with Brunton, Lewis received the name Ahmad Murad. In 1947, he experienced an inner visit from Inayat Khan who assigned him to the direct guidance of Jesus and Muhammad.

In the 1950s and 1960s Lewis worked on salt-water conversion projects. Then after reading Rachel Carson’s
Silent Spring,
he worked on nonpoison- ous pesticides at City College of San Francisco. In addition he proposed a comprehensive agricultural program inspired by Islamic symbolism in which North African soil would be rejuvenated through planting dates, figs, olives, and grapes. He traveled widely, especially to Egypt, India, and Japan and studied with Sufi, Hindu, and Buddhist masters.

In 1956 in Japan Lewis said the relationship between Amida Buddha and Shakyamuni Buddha, ‘‘is exactly the same as that between Allah and Muhammad.’’
45
Lewis later declared: ‘‘Both Sufism and Mahayana Buddhism teach the transcendentalism intuition (
kashf
or
prajna
and no- nonsense).’’
46
His ecumenism and intention to harmonize religion and sci- ence exemplify ideals of the New Age Movement and the Interspiritual Age.

Lewis trained further with Zen and Sufi masters before returning to America in 1962. Pir Maulana Abdul Ghafor, a Chishti shaykh, initiated Lewis and appointed him to serve as a spiritual inspiration like Shams-i

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Tabrizi to Inayat Khan’s disciples. Lewis maintained that his authority as a Sufi teacher derived from his training with numerous Sufi especially fi

Inayat Khan, Abdul Ghafor, Barakat Ali, Pir Dewal Shereef (President of the Board of Directors of Islamabad University), and Sidi Abusalam al-Alawi.
47
Murshid Sam wrote, ‘‘I never used this term ‘Sufi [as a self-referential title] until it was publicly announced by Pir Sufi Barakat Ali of the Chishti Order in 1961 at Salarwala, West Pakistan.’’
48
From this point Lewis would be known as Murshid S.A.M. (Samuel Ahmad Murshid).

In April 1967, while hospitalized for ptomaine poisoning, ‘‘
...
the voice of Allah appeared to Lewis and said, ‘I make you spiritual teacher to the hippies.’’’
49
These words came to life in ‘Sufi Dancing.’’ Lewis made a direct and lasting Sufi contribution to the New Age Movement through these ‘‘Dervish Dances’’ (now, the ‘‘Dances of Universal Peace’’):

Well, the voice of Allah came to me and presented more visions of Dervish Dances. These dances are based only slightly on the methods of the Mevlevi School. They have in them elements of the Rufai and Bedawi [Sufi Schools. And along with them the operative aspects of
kashf
[insight]
...
. [A]nd from that moment a new type of
Qawwal
[sacred song] was born.
50

Lewis claimed a divine and Islamic inspiration for the dances and described some of the chanting as
qawwal,
a South Asian devotional genre. As he con- tinued to ‘‘receive’’ these dances he consulted with Ruth St. Denis ‘‘my fairy godmother, so to speak.’’
51
Again we see a truly New Age eclecticism. The dances integrated singing and dancing from all the sacred traditions of the world. Some of the earliest included
Bismillah; As-Salaam Aleikum; Ya Hayy, Ya Haqq; Ya Muhammad Abdullah;
together with Hindu and Christian dances. This syncretistic and inclusive framework certainly belongs to the New Age Movement. Lewis wrote in 1970: ‘‘My friends, it is a New Age. It is an age of warm delight in the Divine Presence.’’
52

Nonetheless Lewis affirmed the Prophet Muhammad’s supremacy because he lived a perfect life in an ‘‘operative world’’:

The Bible says that God created Adam in His image, but Adam is usually associated with ‘‘sin.’’ There had to be a ‘‘perfect man’’ for redemption
.. .
. But the Buddhist does not live like the Buddha, nor the Christian like Christ, nor the Hindu like Ram or Krishna. We wish to live in an operative world—to raise families and go into business and study and do all those things which we consider human. It is on this point that Muhammad excels. He does not excel in being nearer to God, the Creator, but he does excel in being closer to man, the created.
53

In this spirit of simplicity, Samuel Lewis summarized his teaching in these words of the communal spirit: ‘‘Eat, pray, and dance together.’’ Lewis believed that three figures from the Islamic world offered particularly valuable

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Voices of Change

policies that might be applied today: the Caliph ‘Umar (d. 644
CE
), Sultan Salahaddin (d. 1193
CE
), and Suleiman the Magnificent (d. 1566
CE
).
54

Lewis appointed Moinuddin Carl Jablonski (1942–2001) as the
khalif
(designated leader) of the SIRS (Sufi Ruhaniat Islamia Society), now Sufi Ruhaniat International (SRI). Pir Vilayat also initiated Jablonski as a
murshid,
but in SIRS. In 1977 SIRS, as part of an effort to make the murshid-murid relationship more central than in the formal organization, Jablonski decided to separate SIRS from the Sufi Order but to continue its sisterhood relation- ship to both the Sufi Order and the (European) Sufi Movement. Jablonski integrated a system of psychotherapy counselling from Frida Waterhouse called Soulwork to aid
murids
in both achieving psychological unity and refraining from overemphasizing transcendence. As his successor, Jablonski appointed another former student of Murshid Samuel Lewis, Shabda Khan, who is also a master vocalist and musician trained in classical Indian music.

Another prominent Ruhaniat leader, Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz, has led the Dances of Universal Peace Movement. Under his auspices the catalog of dances now number at least 400. Klotz also leads a national movement of people studying, chanting, and dancing the words and prayers of Jesus in Aramaic.
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Saadi uses distinctive etymologies of Arabic words as he learned them from his Pakistani Qur’an teacher Shemsuddin Ahmed. Introducing the workings of Semitic languages, he encourages people to meditate on them in the heart in order to open more mystical levels of meaning. In his most recent book he poetically presents the Names of God as ‘‘pathways of the heart’’ serving as techniques of meditation. The first meditation in the book is typical:

With one hand lightly on your heart, breathe easily and gently. Feel the aware- ness of breath and heartbeat creating a clear, spacious place inside. Breathe with the sound
bismillah
(Bis-MiLLaaH). When we remember to connect our heart to the Heart of the Cosmos, we recall that, as the Sufis say, ‘‘God is your lover, nor your jailer.’’
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The Dances of Universal Peace have become mainstreamed and autono- mous. Not only are they performed in the Sufi Order, but free dances open to the public are offered around the world. This innovative form of worship, syncretic in both its religious and its cultural framework, is one of the most obvious Sufi contributions to the New Age Movement and the Interspiritual Age.