Abode Village View – Week of September 6

Dear Friends,

As we enter September, the rhythms of life that we once took for granted remain disrupted. “Back to school” and “back to work” are neither simple nor straightforward in this time of pandemic and upheaval.

For 45 years, the Abode has been an oasis, a sanctuary, for many seeking to recharge, refresh and reconnect. It has weathered crises and upheavals, thanks to a tenacious embrace of diversity in the pursuit of love, harmony and beauty; the generous spirit of its far-flung community, and the powerful spirit of hope contained in the Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

We have all been affected by the events of 2020, in ways small and profound. More change is likely, as new things emerge. And surely, a different Abode will reopen in the spring of 2021. While different in its operation, it will also be very familiar in its nature.

The Abode will be more focused on serving the needs of a wider community of seekers while holding firmly to our core Sufi teachings and practices. It will be focused on serving a balance of individuals and groups; focused on creating more open spaces for retreat, contemplation, and reflection, and focused more on providing hospitality than residential spaces. Each of these efforts have been works in progress; we are now accelerating them to address the needs that this time demands of us, if we are to be of service to others in need of healing.

Our fundraising campaign for the 45th Anniversary Courtyard Project has crossed the $50,000 threshold. We are more than two-thirds of the way to our $75,000 goal, with an end of our appeal approaching on Labor Day.

The Abode Board has authorized us to begin this transformative project.  We will be starting within days, with the goal of completion before the snow flies on Mount Lebanon. Thanks to you, we are together creating a legacy that we can share with others and can hand to the next generation.

If you have not donated, please do so now.  If there’s more you can give, we will be even more grateful. If you can enlist others to give, or share our emails and social media posts, it will be so helpful.

In peace and with love.

Al

Meditative Quiescence: Principles and Practices for Achieving the Samadhi of Settling in the Nature of Mind | Thursday, September 10 | 7:00 PM EDT

A continuation from last week, this week’s class will be devoted to practicing several forms of Shamatha meditation, one-pointed concentration and vivid attentive awareness for relaxing the mind in its natural state.

Achieving mental stability in order to sustain meditative quiescence and tranquility – called shamatha in Buddhism — is an essential prelude to later directly observing and unmasking what Pir Vilayat often described as the hoaxes of the mind.

Universal Worship | Sunday, September 20 | 11:00 AM EDT

You are invited to the next Zoom Universal Worship from the Abode on Sunday, September 20, at 11:00am. In honor of International Day of Peace (the next day, September 21st)—and recognizing the great need of our time—the theme will be Peace.

In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan:

“It is useless to discuss the peace of the world. What is necessary just now is to create peace in ourselves that we ourselves become examples of love, harmony and peace. That is the only way of saving the world and ourselves. Let man try to become more considerate of others; let him ask himself, ‘Of what use am I in the world? Am I born for a certain purpose?’, and then try to train himself in self-control by the mystery of breath, the best means for accomplishing that purpose.”

Come explore the ways to create inner peace and celebrate the sharing of outer expressions of peace in our time. Please join us!

Aimée & Friends