Online Programs
Living Sufism 2025
Living Sufism: Practicing Adab will be held over 6 sessions on the second Sunday of each month, beginning January 12, 2025 and ending June 8.
A Zoom link will be provided to all registrants in a separate email as we near the first session date.
While in traditional Sufism, adab is the thoughtful sensitivity one brings to all human relations, in our previous program, The Way of Adab (2024), we looked at this as the refinement of responsiveness in all relational fields: with others, with oneself, with the world around us, and with what lies beyond.
In this year’s program we will emphasize the practical aspects of adab. Through discussions, guided experiences, and chilla (tasks) we will explore adab in the relational experiences we all share, including those we often find difficult.
To this end we will work with the four aspects of attentive awareness: attending, inquiring, opening, and doing. We will cultivate these capacities through various Sufi teachings and disciplines. Practicing attentive awareness in this way enables us to increasingly refine our responsiveness in everything we do and with everyone we meet.
Through the development of these spiritual insights and understandings, Practicing Adab invites us to live Sufism in the call and response of our everyday relationships. And, since the life we experience is shaped by how we relate to others and to whatever comes up in our lives, practicing adab can transform our reality.
Registration now open (£, €, $)
Every Thursday
Every Thursday we hold half-hour sessions of online communal meditation at 11:00 AM Pacific, 12:00 PM Mountain, 1:00 PM Central, 2:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM UK, and 8:00 PM EU. All are welcome.
To receive reminder emails with each Thursday's Zoom link, please fill out our Contact form, and indicate you would like to be added to the Every Thursday email list.
Each Thursday session during the month has a different form. There is no charge for these Every Thursday offerings. Your support through donations of any size are always appreciated. For ways to donate, please visit our Donate page.
First Thursday: ALANKARA
An alankara is a classic style of Sufi communal contemplation. Gentle meditative music is played softly, and every couple of minutes the music is faded into silence when a short aphorism or saying is read by the Alankara leader. Then the music is resumed, allowing us to contemplate together the saying and its resonant meaning. The Alankara leader will have selected these sayings from teachings of the world’s spiritual traditions and poetry, usually relating to a single theme. A powerful aspect of these Alankara contemplations is the sense that a group of us, however physically distant we might be, are opening to the meaning of these sayings at the same time. Our communion is with both the significance of the sayings and with each other’s simultaneous presence. The Alankara sessions will last about 30 minutes. Our video cameras will not be open – a simple photo of a scene from nature will be on our screens to reduce distraction.
Second Thursday: SAMA
with Omar and Suzanne Inayat-Khan
These communal musical meditations are unique to the Sufi Way. Sama are deep, harmonious zikrs sung in unison, each with its own evocative theme, such as the Zikr of Gratitude, the Zikr of Becoming, the Zikr of Longing, the Zikr of the Stream of Love, the Zikr of Intimacy, the Zikr of Peace, and many others. As with Alankaras, our video cameras are not open during the Sama sessions, which last for about 30 minutes.
Third Thursday: SHARING SILENCE
with Murshida Kunderke Noverraz
Sharing silence together in a Zoom Meeting can create a subtle quality of communion — a communion beyond words and thought. These sessions of Sharing Silence will begin with a few words of guidance to help us settle and relax into the present moment. Our video cameras will not be open — a simple nature photo will be on-screen to reduce distraction. Our silence together will continue for approximately 20 minutes.
Fourth Thursday: A TIME FOR QUESTIONS
with Pir Elias
Our communion will take a different form in these sessions — rather than being meditative, they will be a chance for you to ask Pir Elias questions on any subject. The sessions will not begin with a talk or be focused on a specific theme; rather this is a time for you to bring up any questions you might have about your practice or life experience, the Sufi Way or anything else. Our video cameras and mics will be open to facilitate these sessions, which may extend beyond a half-hour if necessary.