“The life the Sufi ought to live may be explained in a few words. There are many things in the life of a Sufi, but the greatest is to have a tendency to friendship which is expressed in the form of tolerance and forgiveness, and in the form of service and trust. In whatever form he may express that central theme, the constant desire is to prove one’s love to humanity and to be the friend of all.”
Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Many of us start out on the spiritual path because we want to find a way out of suffering and all the difficulties of being a self in the world. We unconsciously are seeking a way out, a way to transcend all the pain and disappointment, relationships that fail, our own emotional struggles.
And the path does offer that beautiful taste of divine, the One Being, where form dissolves into the formless. But our Sufi path is one that doesn’t stop there. Once divine union is tasted, we are beckoned to bring that new transfigured awareness back into life. We are meant to enter into these particular selves, these particular emotional landscapes, these relationships that make up our lives. We are meant to be fully human and fully ourselves, as well as fully divine.
Our spiritual life may begin in solitude and the desire for transcendence, but as our heart opens, we are led deeper into relationship, being fully engaged and present to other beings and to the world. This is the work of Kinship, bringing the truth of our divine being fully into our unique selves and our relationships. Our spiritual practice involves love and interest, toward family and friends, toward our work, our wider communities and the natural world. The fruits of the path ultimately lead to service, bringing love and a spirit of friendship to all those who cross our path.
In the Inayatiyya, we call this work the Kinship Activity. It is an exploration of the art of relationship and the path of service. It is also an invitation to help us connect as spiritual family, to build the community of friends that is the Inayatiyya.
If you feel drawn to this work, I invite you to join me in a series of community gatherings to help us connect more and to explore the joys and challenges of walking the path of friendship. Please email me at siddiqi@inayatiyya.org.uk to be added to a mailing list for Kinship related programmes. I look forward to meeting you and connecting soon.Â