News

The Zephyr, January 2023

18 January 2023

Dear Companions on the Path,

When Hagar and her infant son Ishmael arrived in the Paran desert and Abraham took his leave (peace be upon the three of them), there was no water to be seen. Hagar set Ishmael down and walked back and forth seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa. Returning to Ishmael, she found that a spring was welling up. It hadn’t been there until she took her walk – not visibly at least. When times are uncertain, sometimes a walk is exactly what is needed to reveal the way forward.

Just as lockdown was declared three years ago, Sartaj and I moved into a little house by the river in Richmond. A daily walk, whenever possible, has always been my custom, so I lost no time in exploring our new neighborhood by foot. To my fascination I found that there were virtually no cars on the roads, flâneurs were strolling in droves, and those who weren’t walking were on their porches, waving at passers-by, playing instruments, and drinking tea. I felt as though I had stepped into William Morris’ News from Nowhere. With time, however, normalcy gradually returned. Cars reappeared and porch sitters disappeared. My walks have continued, but – with the exception of an occasional runner or dog walker – the sidewalks are now largely vacant.

It isn’t always easy to make time for my walk. I might be tired after a long day, or my inbox might be overflowing. I remind myself then that a walk is not so much an expenditure of energy as an infusion of élan vital. My work won’t suffer but will instead gain a boost if I imbibe fresh air and stretch my limbs. What is more, a walk is a chance to greet human neighbors, cats, birds, trees, clouds, and sunbeams. It might be an opportunity to hail the last sycamore leaf of autumn or the first purple crocus of spring. You never know who is going to cross your path or what the sylphs of the sky will send down. Unless it’s torrential, rain isn’t a reason for me to cancel my walk. Why shouldn’t I bathe outdoors?

Walking runs in the family. Hazrat Inayat Khan was known to take regular strolls through Suresnes along a route he especially favored. Even more than Murshid was, my uncle Shaikh al-Mashaik is prone to long walks, in Suresnes and elsewhere, and I’m convinced it’s the secret to his excellent health and longevity. He turned ninety-five last year and is as vigorous as ever, God bless him.

Walking also runs in the larger spiritual family of the Inayatiyya. Murshid taught his murids to silently intone zikr while walking. The method is outlined in Shah Nizam ad-Din Aurangabadi’s Nizam al-qulub. When going briskly, illa’llahu is said with every footstep. When going slowly, on the right foot one says la, on the left foot ilaha, on the right foot illa, and on the left foot ‘llahu. When going at a moderate pace, on the right foot la ilaha is said, and on the left illa’llahu. Throughout, one is walking in the consciousness of one’s Murshid (and therefore Murshid’s Murshid, etc.).

As it was in the past, so may it be in the future. My grandson Kara-Suleyman, now a year old, has begun taking his first wobbly but determined steps. “To learn wisdom at every step on the path of life is the only work of the Sufi,” said Kara-Suleyman’s great-great-grandfather.

Sauntering is an interesting word. Thoreau believed it arose as a description of medieval pilgrims making their way to the sainte terre, or “holy land,” of Jerusalem. The truth is that sacred ground is already under the foot of every saunterer whose soul and soles are in good accord.

Now, isn’t it time to step out the door?

Yours ever,
Pir Zia


Inayatiyya Contributions 2022

We are incredibly grateful for all of your gifts in 2022. While we are still tallying totals, preliminarily it looks as though we raised $441,355 in donations last year, including $186,000+ toward our fall appeal and $74,322 from tithes. If you gave a gift in 2022, please look for a letter from us to arrive around the end of this month. Shukran!


Inayatiyya International Board
Monthly Newsletter, January 2023

This month we commence with a monthly newsletter from the Inayatiyya International Board (IIB). The IIB is leading on our global strategy, working closely with the World Wide Message Council, National Boards, the Astana, and Pir Zia. We have a few updates to share with you. Read more


The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more gatherings, please visit our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for Spring 2023.

Inayatiyya International Board Newsletter, January 2023

Inayatiyya International Board
Monthly Newsletter, January 2023

This month we commence with a monthly newsletter from the Inayatiyya International Board (IIB). The IIB is leading on our global strategy, working closely with the World Wide Message Council, National Boards, the Astana, and Pir Zia. We have a few updates to share with you. 

Worldwide Message Council

Over the last three years, Firos Holterman of Germany has served as Dar-us-salam/Vice President of the Ziraat Activity in Europe. He is now transitioning out of the role due to some wonderful new opportunities in his life. We would like to thank him for his dedicated and inspired work for the Ziraat Activity and for his serving as a vital part of the Worldwide Message Council. 

The European Dar-us-salam/Vice President of Ziraat role will now be shared by two people:

Tasnim Stupac is originally from Bosnia and now lives in Switzerland where she has worked with Refugees and Victims of Torture and War. Tasnim is passionate about permaculture and  is a graduate of the Suluk Tuba class.

 Raqib Kittel, a murid since 1980, has been involved in many roles within the Inayatiyya. Raqib is a social worker and supervisor in Germany, where he lives with his wife and two children. He is a graduate of the Suluk Zindarud class.

For next month’s The Zephyr, we will post a full list of Worldwide Message Council members. 

Inayatiyya International Board

Qahira Wirgman has completed her three-year term as a member of the IIB and is moving into the role of advisor. She is being replaced on the board by Mehrunnisa Dilek Ekşi Bilgin from Turkey who brings her expertise of  Software Design and Project Management, as well as her love and dedication to the Message. Mehrunnisa has translated the Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan into Turkish and is a graduate of the  Suluk Zindarud class. 

Pir-o-Murshid’s 96th Urs 2023

The year, Murshid’s Urs Celebration will take place in Delhi, India between the 3-5th of February, 2023. Here is some information about the programme, including who to contact for additional details.

🌟Shukran🌟

31 December 2022

Dearest friends,

On this last day of the Gregorian Calendar, common year 2022, we again thank you for so generously giving toward our fall appeal. As of this morning, we have raised $173,942, significantly more than our goal of $150,000. If you still feel called to give by year-end, to help us to reach $175,000 or over, this would be most appreciated! Donations need to be received today by midnight New York Time to be considered toward the fall appeal. (inayatiyya.org/donate)

Also, we hope to begin the year anew with you at our New Year’s Day Attunement w/ Pir Ziatomorrow, Sunday, January 1, 2023, 12 Noon EST (New York). 7 am (Honolulu), 9 am (San Francisco), 10 am (Boulder), 11 am (Chicago), 12 pm (New York), 5 pm (London), 6 pm (Paris), 8 pm (Istanbul), 10 pm (Lahore), 10:30 pm (New Delhi), 1 am next day (Perth) 2 am next day (Tokyo), 4 am next day (Sydney), 6 am next day (Auckland)

With much love & gratitude,
Alia for the Astana

DONATE TODAY


The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines.

🌟Singing Starry Wisdom with Pir Zia + Extending Free Immortality Gift One More Day🌟

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 – Day Seven

Over the last seven days we have collectively raised another $20,695 toward the Inayatiyya’s Fall Appeal 2022. Our grand total for the appeal is now $134,122. We are eternally grateful for the many gifts you give in support of our community and lineage.

Many thanks to the World Wide Message Council, our teachers, guides, and leaders, for all that you give.  Also especially to Pir Zia for leading us Toward the One and only goal.

It is not too late to receive a complimentary excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide. We are extending the deadline by one more day. If you make a donation by tonight (Dec 24th), the excerpt will be in your email on Monday.

And lastly, do we remember when we…

✓ Sang “Starry Wisdom” with Pir Zia?
✓ Exchanged a Zoom glance with a beloved friend?
✓ Opened our hearts to all of creation?
✓ Were inspired by sacred text?
✓ Recognized our divinity?
✓ Connected our eating to agriculture?
✓ Kindled the light for all who hold the light of truth?
✓ Discerned our own calling to heal bodies, hearts and souls?
✓ Drew strength from the Earth and gave kindness in return?
✓ Prayed for tortoises?
✓ Purified through breath?
✓ Were a tendril of the living Earth?
✓ Oriented toward the New Moon?
✓ Read “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou?
✓ Called forth healing for those living in places of conflict?
✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstasy?
✓ Held the silence?

PS—If you would still like to make a donation, we need to raise another $15,878 to reach our $150,000 goal. All gifts must be received by Saturday, December 31st, 2022. Checks must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be included as within 2022.  Donations by credit card may be made anytime up to 9 pm Pacific (San Fransisco) /12 midnight Eastern Time (New York) the last day of the year next Saturday. 

Our Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 was conceptualized by Tajalli Roselli, formerly of the Inayatiyya North America Board and now of the Astana staff. Thank you, Tajalli!

DONATE TODAY


The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

🌟We recognized our divinity + Pir Zia’s spring calendar preview…🌟

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 – Day Six

On the sixth day, we add three more items to our To-Do List for 2022. Were you with us when we…

✓ Were inspired by sacred text?
✓ Recognized our divinity?
✓ Connected our eating to agriculture?
✓ Kindled the light for all who hold the light of truth?
✓ Discerned our own calling to heal bodies, hearts and souls?
✓ Drew strength from the Earth and gave kindness in return?
✓ Prayed for tortoises?
✓ Purified through breath?
✓ Were a tendril of the living Earth?
✓ Oriented toward the New Moon?
✓ Read “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou?
✓ Called forth healing for those living in places of conflict?
✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstasy?
✓ Held the silence?

Artwork: Van Gogh “The Olive Trees” 1889

DONATE TODAY


Pir Zia’s Spring 2023 Calendar Preview

We have been finishing up details for Pir Zia’s 2023 Calendar. For now, we want to share a few programs to look forward to in the new year. All programs listed below are public and open to all.

New Year’s Day Attunement (Zoom)
Sunday, January 2, 2023, 12 Noon EST/6 pm CET
https://inayatiyya.org/event/new-years-day-attunement/

Sufi Teachings w/ Pir Zia (Astana, Richmond VA)
Sunday, January 8, 2023, 3 pm EST
Will be in person only.

Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan Urs 2023 (New Delhi, India)
Sunday, February 5, 2023, TBD
Will be in person only. 

The Dutch Sessions w/ Shaikh al-Mashaik & Pir Zia  (Zoom)
Sunday, February 26, 2023, 10 am EST/4 pm CET

German Spring Retreat (Germany & Online)
April 6-10, 2023, TBD

The Biography of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan w/ Pir Zia (Zoom)
Sundays, April 16 to May 21, 2-3:30 pm EDT/8-9:30 pm CET
Note new 2 pm EST/8 pm CET start-time.
Recommended Reading—The Biography of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Lexicon of the Sufis (Astana, Richmond, VA)
Tuesdays, April 25 to June 13, 2023, 6-8 pm EDT)
Will be in person only. Audio recordings will be shared in 2024.

The Dutch Sessions w/ Shaikh al-Mashaik & Pir Zia (Zoom)
Sunday, April 30, 2023, 10 am EST/4 pm CET

Sufi Teachings & Suhbat w/ Pir Zia (Astana & Zoom)
Thursday, May 25-Sunday, May 28, 2023

The Sufi Path of Immortality (Omega Institute)
Sunday, June 25-Friday, June 30, 2023
Recommended Reading—Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide

Additional details on all of the above will be shared in January. If you have questions, please email [email protected]


Your support helps us increase the presence of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings online. There is so much more we could do with Vimeo and especially Youtube. If you haven’t already, please consider giving toward the Inayatiyya’s Fall Appeal 2022. We thank you!

The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

🌟We kindled the light + top videos of 2022…🌟

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 – Day Five

Together we reflect and grow our to-do list. Do you remember that we: 

✓ Kindled the light for all who hold the light of truth?
✓ Discerned our own calling to heal bodies, hearts and souls? 
✓ Drew strength from the Earth and gave kindness in return?
✓ Prayed for tortoises?
✓ Purified through breath?
✓ Were a tendril of the living Earth?
✓ Oriented toward the New Moon?
✓ Read “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou?
✓ Called forth healing for those living in places of conflict?
✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstasy?
✓ Held the silence?

DONATE TODAY


Inayatiyya Video Stats & Views 2022

Nori Khellaf, our Audio/Video (aka Zoom) Manager based in Germany, shares a few stats with us related to Vimeo and Youtube views in 2022:

  • The Inayatiyya posts videos almost weekly at vimeo.com/inayatiyya.
  • 308 videos are currently on Vimeo, with 91,600 total views to date.
  • We have 115 videos on Youtube at youtube.com/inayatiyya.
  • There are 52,989 Youtube views in total with 1,430 people subscribing to our channel.

Our top three videos on Vimeo in 2022 are:


Nature Meditations: Landscapes w/ Pir Zia & David Abrams (Oct 24, 2021, 352 Views)
https://vimeo.com/638844028

Coltrane & the Mysticism of Sound (Nov 13, 2022, 288 Views)
https://vimeo.com/770310741

New Year’s Day Attunement w/ Pir Zia (Jan 1, 2022, 262 Views)
https://vimeo.com/662113383


Our three top videos on Youtube in 2022 are:

David Abrams on the Animate Earth & Becoming Animal
 (Oct 14, 2021, 1607 Views)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUoH9gfUyNE

The Elemental Purfication Breaths w/ Pir Zia (Oct 21, 2021, 1097 Views)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBsjE5Wr4g

Gatha Papers: Breath & The Mystery of Breath (Jan 16, 2020, 906 Views)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wu7EcDCYmM

Also notable: Coltrane & the Mysticism of Sound (Nov 17, 2022, 445 Views)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e0Z-FwKDY0


Your support helps us increase the presence of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings online. There is so much more we could do with Vimeo and especially Youtube. If you haven’t already, please consider giving toward the Inayatiyya’s Fall Appeal 2022. We thank you!

The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

The Zephyr, December 2022

21 December 2022

Dear Companions on the Path,

When Shams met Rumi he set the latter’s books on fire. How do we know? The incident is described in a book (1). Book knowledge cannot compare with real knowledge – or so the books tell us. That being said, the same Shams-i Tabriz who thought so little of Rumi’s library also inspired him to compose Divan-i Shams, one of the great books of all time.

In the human body, old cells are continuously shed as new ones take shape. Looking at my bookshelves, I see the same phenomenon at play. Books I don’t expect to open again make their way back into the great Circle of Life. Meanwhile, new (or new-to-me) books routinely take their place.

I frequently borrow books from the library. In a world where buying and selling fills every visible nook and cranny of our urban topography, libraries and parks are a saving grace. Judging by their gentle manner, the librarians at my local branch are likely some of the happiest people I know. Borges wrote, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” These librarians seem to be moved by just such a vision, and it gives them an abiding calm.

As the solar year nears its close, I am looking back on the books I had the pleasure of reading over the last twelve months. Let me share a few highlights.

As a child I read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but for one reason or another never went on to The Lord of the Rings. This year I corrected the omission. Tolkien is a masterful world-builder, and I find his evocations of landscape rapturous. My friend Peter Kingsley warned me at the outset, however, that despite the obvious spagyric symbolism in the books, there is something fundamentally contra-alchemical in the notion of the Ring as a thing to be destroyed rather than reckoned with, transformed, and redeemed (2).

As I made my way through the trilogy I could very well see what Peter meant, and was also taken aback by the attribution of “slanting” eyes and “swarthy” skin to the story’s villains. And then there is the matter of the Orcs, a whole race that is ostensibly lowly and evil by genetic predisposition. In The Two Towers, the plant-man Treebeard says of the Isengarders, “Are they Men he (Sauron) has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? That would be a black evil!” Comments like that, raising the specter of eugenics, truly give one pause. There is some consolation, however, in learning that Tolkien was vocally opposed to aparthied in South Africa and the maniacal racism of the Nazis. And there certainly are enchanting passages in The Lord of the Rings. These are a few that I noted down:

  • Gandalf to Frodo: “Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least.”
  • Tom Bombadil to the traveling hobbits when asked his name: “Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless?”
  • Gandalf to Saruman: “He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
  • Pippin on Treebeard’s eyes: “One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them, filled up with ages of memory, and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present; like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree, or on the ripples of a very deep lake.”
  • Treebeard to Merry: “Hill. Yes, that was it. But it is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here ever since this part of the world was shaped.”
  • Gwaihir to Gandalf: “The Sun shines through you.”
  • Aragorn to Pippin: “One who cannot cast away a treasure in need is in fetters.”
  • Frodo’s sleeping face: “Frodo’s face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiseling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed.”
  • Faramir on the ritual of the people of Gondor before each meal: “We look towards Numenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and ever will be.”
  • Frodo to Faramir: “Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good.”

Turning now to Sufi books, I continue to take great delight in the collections at Fazal Manzil and the Astana (3). Specifically, I have been rediscovering some of the marvelous translations of Sufi classics issued by the once-prolific publisher Octagon Press.

Let me name three. ‘Abd ar-Razzaq Kashani’s Glossary of Sufi Technical Terms (Kitab al-istilahat as-sufiyya), translated by Nabil Safwat (with the original Arabic text included), is an extremely valuable handbook of Sufi terminology as explained by an major exponent of the school of Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn al-‘Arabi. This past spring we discussed its definitions at the Astana, and we plan to return to it in 2023. Abu Ghanim al-Maqdisi’s Revelation of the Secrets of the Birds and Flowers (Kashf al-asrar ‘an il-hikam al-muda‘a fi tuyur wa’l-azhar), translated by Irene Hoare and Darya Galy (again, with the Arabic included), is a highly refined work of spiritual belles lettres in which the author consults the animals and plants of the garden concerning the deeper meanings of life (4). As some of you may recall, we had recourse to it in The Whorl and the World.

Finally, Shah Wali Allah Dihlavi’s Sufism and the Islamic Tradition (Sata‘at and Lamahat), translated by G.N. Jalbani (alas, without the Arabic), is an extraordinary exploration of the workings of the inner planes by an Indian Sufi scholar who influentially undertook to bring contrasting schools of thought into harmony during the late Mughal period (5). These three volumes are now hard to find, but if you can track them down I highly recommend them. 

Octagon Press may be no more, but Suluk Press is thankfully as active as ever. In addition to my new book Immortality, which I’ve previously mentioned here in the Zephyr, Suluk Press plans to publish several volumes in the coming year, including an expanded and updated edition of Caravan of Souls, the long-awaited fifth volume of the Sufi Message series, Breathtaking Revelations by Carl W. Ernst and Patrick D’Silva (which includes Murshid’s “Science of Breath”), and No God Only God by Hassan Suhrawardi Gebel. A new edition of the classic Nekbakht Foundation Biography of Murshid has already come out, and we will be studying it online in the spring, God willing, thanks to our friend Jennifer Alia Wittman’s welcome suggestion.

There are many more books one could mention, but this has already become a lengthy letter, so let me close here by wishing you a luminous Solstice, a happy Hanukkah, a merry Christmas, a blessed Kwanzaa, and a splendid New Year. I appreciate all that each of you do in thought, word, and deed to support each other and our caravan as a whole. I hope to see you in the year ahead, at least online and hopefully face to face. Below are some possibilities. Meanwhile, enjoy your reading hours!

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

(1) Ibn Abi al-Wafa’s Al-Jawahir al-muzi’a. In Jami’s Nafahat al-uns, Shams is said to have thrown Rumi’s books in a well (and then restored them to him miraculously dry).

(2) On the subject of alchemy, let me recommend another friend’s artistic and scholarly work on the Royal Art: https://www.galipton.com/artblog.

(3) Qahira Wirgman recently organized the Fazal Manzil library, to great effect, and Josh Octaviani carefully curates the collection at the Astana.

(4) Speaking of consulting the green world, be sure to visit the new Ziraat website.

(5) Prof. Marcia Hermansen, whose spiritual itinerary has included Chamonix and Suluk, has produced a lucid translation of Shah Wali Allah’s Conclusive Argument from God.


New Year’s Day Attunement w/ Pir Zia
Sunday, January 1st, 12:00 pm EST / 6:00 pm CET

We invite you to join us for our annual New Year’s Day Attunement, to be united in the sacred transmission of the Sufi mystic and musician Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927). All are welcome.

*Video of the attunement will be posted to vimeo.com/inayatiyya within a day or two of January 1st.

More Details & Zoom Link


Suluk Global Online Course
March 2023 – December 2024
Applications Deadline Extension – January 18th, 2023

Due to a high volume of applications, we are expanding the size of the class, and will continue to admit applications on a rolling basis through January 18th, 2023!

Suluk is designed for initiates, called murids, within the Inayatiyya’s Inner School. Over the course of two years, students deeply explore the fundamentals of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s school of Sufism under the rubric of Concentration, Contemplation, Meditation and Realization. If you are interested in becoming a student of Suluk, please email [email protected] or click on the link below for more details.

More Details & Application



The Inayatiyya’s Call of the Earth Initiative, galvanized by the climate needs of our collective moment, unites us all in spirit and action through the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. The final offering from this year long initiative comes from Gulrukh Patel and Tariq Al-Olaimy on behalf of the Inayatiyya International Board: “Not only human beings, but animals, birds, insects, trees, and plants all have a spiritual attainment…” Read more


Inayatiyya Fall Appeal 2022

We are in the midst of our Inayatiyya Fall Appeal 2022! Please support the monthly creation of The Zephyr newsletter, as well as hundreds of other digital, programmatic, and community projects organized and held by the Astana each year, in collaboration with our network of teachers, guides, musicians, gatherers, healers, clergy, naturalists, heralds, knights, and other friends far and wide. To give today, please visit inayatiyya.org/donate.


The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more gatherings, please visit our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar for Spring 2023.

🌟Do you remember being a tendril? + $28,193 more to raise…🌟

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 – Day Four

Since Sunday, 53 of us have given, raising another $8,560. Our fall appeal grand total is now $121,807, with $28,193 more to raise by the end of the year. Thank you for helping us make this goal, to ensure the well-being of our work into 2023.

Do you remember when we …

✓ Prayed for tortoises?
✓ Purified through breath?
✓ Were a tendril of the living Earth?

✓ Oriented toward the New Moon?
✓ Read “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou?
✓ Called forth healing for those living in places of conflict?
✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstasy?
✓ Held the silence?

Ya Shakur! Ya Shakur! Ya Shakur!

DONATE TODAY


The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

The Caged Bird sings …

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022 – Day Three

Continuing onward, as we further reflect on our wealth of experiences in 2022, have you … 

✓ Oriented toward the New Moon?
✓ Read “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou?
✓ Called forth healing for those living in places of conflict?
✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstasy?
✓ Held the silence?

Indian Miniature Painting of Birds in The Cage Real Gold & Gouache Art On Paper

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Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.


The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

Traveling to Saturn… 💛

Inayatiyya To Do List 2022

As we continue our year in review, in 2022 have you been together with your Inayatiyya companions and … 

✓ Traveled to Saturn?
✓ Received wisdom from Grandmothers?
✓ Listened to Coltrane’s “Love Supreme”?
✓ Breathed like a wolf?
✓ Whirled in ecstacy?
✓ Held the silence?

If you have done any or all of the above, and felt the sense of unity and presence inherent in our path, please consider donating today. We are very close to the eternal goal. 

DONATE TODAY


The Inayatiyya is a non-profit 501c3 organization, Tax ID #23-7159641. Your donation may be fully deductible for tax purposes per United States IRS guidelines. Please note that donations made by check must be received and deposited by Friday, December 30th to be considered as within 2022. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send to Inayatiyya, 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219. 

If you make a donation by this coming Friday, December 23rd, you will receive a free excerpt of Pir Zia’s forthcoming title, Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide, to be emailed next Monday. All who tithed this fall will also receive a copy of the excerpt. Thank you!

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