Description
Social Gathekas
Sufi Wisdom on Social Harmony and Service
by Hazrat Inayat Khan
The complete teachings on kinship for inner and outer guidance. Fundamental to the mystical vision of life is the insight that the whole universe forms a single body. From this perspective, everything is related to everything else within a complex and dynamic pattern of interconnectedness. One who discerns this all-encompassing moiré of unity-in-multiplicity discovers the self in the other and the other in the self. The mode of living that results from this discovery is a gentle and refined manner. Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings on kinship are a profound introduction to this way of seeing and being. Here, simply spoken, is the answer to the problem of the day.
Reviews for Social Gathekas:
“We live in a world that all too often seems to be coming undone at the seams. Yet the world, like our own hearts, is not meant to be broken. There is a path upward, inward, towards healing. The teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan are as timeless as they are timely. So many tend to focus on love and beauty as quintessential qualities of the Sufi path. Yet Hazrat Inayat Khan insists on harmony being the mediating quality between love and beauty. And this harmony operates now inward, now outbound. It is not by choosing inward harmony or outbound harmony, but by cultivating an awareness that toggles forth and back, back and forth till love spills over and manifests as beauty. Social Gathekas is recommended for all who care to bring together spiritual path and harmony in the manifest world.”
– Omid Safi, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University, author of Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition
“Everyone, everywhere, in all times and all places, has need of wisdom: to reveal life’s invisible mysteries, but also as a guide through the complicated world we live in: a world of love, but also hate and intolerance; a world of peace, but also war and violence; a world of love and harmony, but also of inexplicable tragedy; a world of abundance, but also poverty; a world of natural beauty, but also of environmental ruin. How to both make sense of and reconcile these opposites—especially for those on a spiritual path—is the task set forth in this book. Elegantly distilled from the teachings of the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, Social Gathekas offers an invaluable guide to those who walk both the inner, spiritual path—and the path of service in the suffering world we live in.”
– Pythia Peay, author of America on the Couch: Psychological Perspectives on American Politics and Culture
“This is a rare and beautiful book spoken by a spiritual teacher of great maturity and depth. A series of talks on diverse subjects, the key theme is kinship by which Pir Khan means the greater kinship of all beings living in peace. The teachings are heart-centered and emphasize balance, harmony, and most importantly, love and beauty. Only by living with tolerance, patience, and optimism can we overcome the limitations of self for a more open, loving world. This is a book about soul awakening and overcoming worldly concerns in order to realize the fullness of divine presence and to manifest that presence in outward acts of care, compassion, and joy. Here is a guiding voice for all traditions, masterful teaching in simple, direct language. This book is a treasure, a source of lasting instruction from a true master and a great musician of the soul!”
– Dr. Lee Irwin, Professor Emeritus, College of Charleston, author of Labyrinths of Love: On Psyche, Soul, and Self
“These words of Hazrat Inayat Khan echo through time reaching us with a message as relevant today as it was nearly one hundred years ago. Bound by no particular faith and with an open sky view his words invite us into a mystical perspective of social values that show a way forward. To the view of the Sufi the struggles that we face today are the very reason for material existence, and our rise to meet them is dignified as it is the fulfillment of our potential. Should we reach our ideal we will have succeeded at the goal of world reconstruction. The collection of lectures presented here read like a magical how-to for deciphering the conditions of the world through the human experience. With our feet on the ground and our hearts reaching the heavens Hazrat Inayat Khan lets us in on the way of the Sufi, in which the skills needed for repair are studied and gained through relationship (kinship); understood through concentration, contemplation, and realization; and expressed in nature, music, and art. The Sufi view of unity in multiplicity shared in these lectures casts light on the causes and reasons behind the dramas that have lead humanity to strife and unrest. The acculturated life’s knowledge that is rooted in materiality is not what is needed for us to reach our goals. The reader will find inspiration to seek a greater knowledge than that which we have been relying on. By tuning to a higher pitch we may each become receptive to wisdom that continually renews and inspires. Unbounded, it is this wisdom that leads us to freedom, as harmony is wisdom’s nature. That a way can be clearly explained and naturally understood is salve for humanity. Our core wounds can be healed. We may one day be able to trust ourselves with ourselves. If a master can bring anything to humanity it is contained right here, a way to reengage with our lives that transforms our thoughts and actions into holy imaginings and healing gestures that bring about peace.”
– Wendy Jehanara Tremayne, artist and author of The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living
