Allah Estaferallah La ilaha il'llah

This is How it is Right Now: Ya Shafi Ya Kafi

Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie, Kyrie. Christe Eleison, Christe, Christe. Alleluia! Alleluia!

It is the nature of this world to share its burden with you. And it is my nature to remove it from your back. (Hafiz)

Boil Nicely Now

Look at the chickpea in the pot, how it leaps up when it feels the fire.

While boiling, it continually rises to the top and cries, “Why are you setting the fire under me? Since you bought me, why are you turning me upside down?“

The housewife keeps hitting it with the ladle.

“No!” she says, “boil nicely now, and don’t leap away from the one who makes the fire.

It’s not because you are hateful to me that I boil you,

but so that you might gain flavor,

and become nutritious and mingle with essential spirit.

This affliction is not because you are despised.

When you were green and fresh, you were drinking water in the garden; that water-drinking was for the sake of this fire.”

Rumi Mathnawi III (Helminski)

The journey from Dark to Light and back again.

Bowl of Saki for 21 June Hazrat Inayat Khan: "The soul is all light; darkness is caused by the deadness of the heart; pain makes it alive."

Murshid SAM: “Soul is the Nuri Mohammed, the Universal Love-Light-Life, which becomes individualized in the heart. The heart covers the soul as a globe and in a certain sense cannot hide the light. But the heart has a movement like the expansion and contraction of a sphere from a point to a universe. It can contract until it is very tiny and expand until it is immeasurable. Contraction of heart may result from one’s outlook on life or one’s experience of life. When the consciousness is attracted to outer things and becomes intoxicated thereby, the heart ceases to expand in its natural manner and this interferes with the light of the soul which cannot then touch the surface. But the heart cannot forever remain in that state, and if it is not moved naturally to expand, life’s experiences through the law of Karma sooner or later awaken it. In the physical body it is true that when a muscle has not been used for a long time any attempt to move it is accompanied by pain. This is a thousand times more true for any area or portion of mind, and also infinitely more true of the heart."

Enter the space inside your head.

See it as already infinite,

Extending forever in all directions.

The spaciousness that you are Is permeated by luminosity.

Know this radiance

As the soul of the world.

(The Radiance Sutras No. 62, p. 97, Lorin Roche)

Close your eyes and imagine

An expanse of terrible darkness surrounds you—

No objects, no light no moon no stars—

Nothing but blackness spreading to infinity.

Do not shrink in terror; do not turn away.

Give yourself to the blackness

With no hope of light. Surrender completely.

Contemplating this feeling,

Merge with the mystery of night.

(The Radiance Sutras No. 65, p. 100, Lorin Roche)

Maori Creation Story

Te Kore...Te Kore Te Pō (the void - the night)

ki te Whai Ao (the first glimmer of dawn)

ki te Ao Mārama (the World of light)

Tihei Mauri Ora (Behold there is life!)

In this episode of Songs of One Breath, we enter the sacred rhythm of Ramadan and the deep stillness of Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power. We begin with a traditional melody sung to welcome the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, into the city of Medina, a song of hospitality, reverence, and love that continues to echo across the Middle East and beyond.

Through chant, breath, and reflection, we explore the moment of prophetic awakening when the angel Gabriel first spoke the words “Read” to Muhammad in the cave. We reflect on our own capacity to listen, to receive guidance, and to respond with the ancient prayer of readiness: Hineni, here I am, use me.

Drawing from Sufi wisdom, the prayer of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and shared imagery of the Holy Spirit as the dove, this episode invites a gentle breath practice that connects crown, heart, and earth. We rest in love, gratitude, and unity, allowing the holy breath to descend and rise within us.

This is a space of remembrance, stillness, and devotion, honouring the shared spiritual ground between Islam, Christianity, and the universal longing to be guided, held, and transformed by love.