|
   |
 |
|
Kinship Coming to the religions which have been given to the world, for instance, when we read in the bible the words of Jesus Christ, what do we read? "Love your fellow man, love your neighbor," from the beginning to the end. If there is any moral that the master taught and repeated constantly, it was this moral, the moral of kinship. The different religions which exist in the world, the followers of which are perhaps millions and millions, if one studies what is the central theme of it all? It is one and the same: love one another, serve one another, be sincere one to the other. — Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan The Kinship activity of the Sufi Order is in some ways the hardest to describe, while at the same time it is the most all pervading. The ways in which we interact with one another, with our communities and with the world at large, is the living proof of our spiritual development. The purpose of life is not fulfilled by realization alone. The sense of sympathy and responsibility toward all life is expressed by the initiate in her/his contribution toward improving the conditions of life. Individuals, Sufi centers, and communities have all found ways to concretize through service the ideals to which they aspire. Schools, food banks, counseling, birthing and health clinics, prison book funds, to say nothing of the Hope Project in Delhi, are but a few of the avenues through which lives have been enriched. The Sufi Order sponsors symposia and conferences in which leading thinkers in the sciences and humanities are brought together with spiritual and religious leaders to examine the emerging paradigms of the current age and promote world peace. These encounters help to define and refine the cutting edge of human development. Our awakening clarity is needed to envision and enact a collective healing with enough vitality to bring the world into love, harmony, and beauty. Perhaps if we can remember our natural kinship and learn to live it, die into it, discover happiness in it, we may be able to contribute a more whole view of the glorious resonance and radiance of existance. — Shams Kairys, Head of the Kinship Concentration Activities Home | Esoteric School | Healing Order | Ziraat | Universal Worship | Hope Project |
||