Casa Baraka The Heart of Sophia

Right now! A Berkshire sunset @

" Dance, when you are broken open.
Dance, if you have taken the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance, if you are perfectly free."
🧡 Rumi

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It is when we have lost the idea of separateness and feel ourselves at one with all creation that our eyes are opened and we see the cause of all things.

Bowl of Saki, September 27, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

View/Listen to a Recent Class:
https://www.sufi-message.org/meditations_on_the_message_archive2023.php

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Unity of Religious Ideals💛October Observances🙏Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our lives until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace. (Hazrat Inayat Khan)🌈Learn More https://sufi-message-unity-of-religions.blogspot.com

(Image: World Peace Sand Mandala)

The true religion, to the Sufi, is the sea of truth, and all different faiths are as its waves.
Hazrat Inayat Khan

Please visit Casa Baraka and like to see this and other heart opening inspiring posts and please share - ❤️

“ Someone I loved once gave me a box full of
darkness. It took me years to understand
that this too, was a gift. ”

~— Mary Oliver

“ Yet mystery and imagination arise from the
same source. This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all
understanding. ”

~— Lao Tzu

“ He who comprehends the Darkness
in himself to him the Light is near.”

~— C.G. Jung

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

~— Carl Jung

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“ Someone I loved once gave me a box full of
darkness. It took me years to understand
that this too, was a gift. ”

~— Mary Oliver

“ Yet mystery and imagination arise from the
same source. This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all
understanding. ”

~— Lao Tzu

“ He who comprehends the Darkness
in himself to him the Light is near.”

~— C.G. Jung

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

~— Carl Jung

The beautiful stained glass window in the meditation hall of the Abode of the Message, the Sufi community where I lived for 5 years, the home of my soul and the treasure trove of so many peoples´deepest, most touching times. This beautiful sanctuary on sacred land was established 48 years ago and sadly it is on the cusp of breathing its last but its ´Message´lives on in our hearts.

Reposting in honor of the ´Rebirth¨ of the Abode

The beautiful stained glass window in the meditation hall of the Abode of the Message, the Sufi community where I lived for 5 years, the home of my soul and the treasure trove of so many peoples´deepest, most touching times. This beautiful sanctuary on sacred land was established 48 years ago and sadly it is on the cusp of breathing its last but its ´Message´lives on in our hearts.

Sharing again in honor of the ´rebirth of the Abode¨

The beautiful stained glass window in the meditation hall of the Abode of the Message, the Sufi community where I lived for 5 years, the home of my soul and the treasure trove of so many peoples´deepest, most touching times. This beautiful sanctuary on sacred land was established 48 years ago and sadly it is on the cusp of breathing its last but its ´Message´lives on in our hearts.

The Goddess welcomes you this weekend my friends start your Open Studio art walk at my studio - there are two other ceramicists at Calle Tinajitas 30A - # 8 on your map if you have one or check out the Instituto Allende website

Remember !

“We were told that we would see America come and go. In a sense, America is dying, from within, because they forgot the instructions of how to live on earth. It's the Hopi belief, it's our belief, that if you are not spiritually connected to the earth, and understand the spiritual reality of how to live on earth, it's likely that you will not make it.
Everything is spiritual, everything has a spirit, everything was brought here by the creator, the one creator. Some people call him God, some people call him Buddha, some people call him Allah, some people call him other names. We call him Tunkaschila... Grandfather.
We are here on earth only a few winters, then we go to the spirit world. The spirit world is more real than most of us believe.
The spirit world is everything. Over 95% of our body is water. In order to stay healthy, you've got to drink good water. ... Water is sacred, the air is sacred.
Our DNA is made out of the same DNA as the tree, the tree breaths what we exhale, we need what the tree exhales. So we have a common destiny with the tree.
We are all from the earth, and when the earth, the water, the atmosphere is corrupted, then it will create its own reaction. The mother is reacting.
In the Hopi prophecy, they say the storms and floods will become greater. To me, it's not a negative thing to know that there will be great changes. It's not negative, it's evolution. When you look at it as evolution, it's time, nothing stays the same. You should learn how to plant something. That is the first connection.
You should treat all things as spirit, realize that we are one family. It's never something like the end. It's like life, there is no end to life.”

~Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Borrowed from All Natives United

"We are all connected; we all belong."

Beautiful teachings

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty."

Albert Einstein
Artwork - James C. Christensen - Old man with a lot on his mind

A taste of John O’Donohue on a very sad day -

When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days. When your mind becomes more acquainted with reverence, the light, grace and elegance of beauty find you more frequently. When the destination becomes gracious, the journey becomes an adventure of beauty.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Kerry, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

I have heard it said that a Sufi is someone who sees from his/her perspective as well as the perspective of others. How are you doing with that? It´s a valuable practice. We need more Sufis!

How have you learned to trust your deepest experience?
One way that comes to my mind is by all the times I didn´t know my deepest experience' so couldn´t trust it, from all the times I did know and ignored it for perhaps some immediate gratification 🙂
and the painful ´karma´consequences that I had to experience. I started to realize. it isn´t worth the price I have to pay.

Sunday mood 🌿

Blessing for beautiful John O’Donohue and to all

There are no manuals for the construction of the individual you would like to become. You are the only one who can decide this and take up the lifetime of work that it demands. This is a wonderful privilege and such an exciting adventure. To grow into the person that your deepest longing desires is a great blessing. If you can find a creative harmony between your soul and your life, you will have found something infinitely precious. You may not be able to do much about the great problems of the world or to change the situation you are in, but if you can awaken the eternal beauty and light of your soul, you will bring light wherever you go. The gift of life is given to us for ourselves and also to bring peace, courage, and compassion to others.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his book, Eternal Echoes
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Kerry, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

Hazrat Inayat KHan was the first Sufi teacher to come to the Weat on 1910 from India- he was a lauded musician - he brought the messave of the Unity of Religious Ideals

The pandemic of hatred - “Othering”

Origins and Nature of Hatred - Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox When did hatred begin? First, of course, hatred and fear have always been with the human species. And, when we don’t examine our own consciences, it easily gets projected and turned into blaming and scapegoating onto “the other.” The origins of hatred in America can be seen of course in Slaver...

Amazing ! Very symbolic to me that the is is happening now- a sign of the shift - the end of patriarchy and the birth of the Afe of Gaia- How l’d love to go -

‘Goddesses, I yield to you!’ Marina Warner on the volcanic power of witches, she-devils and divinities The writer has always resisted deity worship but she found her senses sparking at the British Museum’s gripping show about female superbeings – one wearing a necklace of severed heads

Sharing this from Casa Baraka page where you will find other inspiring sharings in honor of the Abode of the Message and all who contributed so much to create and maintain the community.

The beautiful stained glass window in the meditation hall of the Abode of the Message, the Sufi community where I lived for 5 years, the home of my soul and the treasure trove of so many peoples´deepest, most touching times. This beautiful sanctuary on sacred land was established 48 years ago and sadly it is on the cusp of breathing its last but its ´Message´lives on in our hearts.

¨Scrutinize the mystery underlying all things. Seek in higher dimensions of understanding a meaning behind all our sufferings. Unmask what appears to be the caprice of human destiny. How we long to become that which we hardly believe we are!¨
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
¨Theaphany!¨ Photo by me ☺️

Blessings on Spring equinox as we are in more ways than one way dancing with Light and Shadow.
Starhawk has been an inspiration for decades- a feminist, social and earth activist, teacher, author and more!

In this ironic spring, with the daffodils blooming and the trees budding out, I look up at our peaceful skies and think of the wars raging and the bombs falling in Ukraine.

Up here in the Cazadero hills, our community defense focuses on wildfire. Every Saturday, all through the winter and spring, volunteers turn out to tend the land, to thin brush on the roadsides and create shaded fuel breaks, to take responsibility for our safety and that of our neighbors. It’s hard work, but we enjoy it so much! We feel such a sense of camaraderie, and it is such an opportunity to connect and get to know our neighbors.

Today I am thinking of the people of Ukraine—the land my grandparents came from, fleeing anti-Semitism and conscription in the Czar of Russia’s army. They too are defending their community as best they can—much less joyfully but with great courage and spirit.

This Spring Equinox, this moment when day and night, light and dark are in balance, comes at a balance point for the world. Often at this time of year we tell the story of Demeter and Persephone—how Kore, the Maiden, was abducted into the underworld by Hades. As a feminist, I often prefer to tell the tale in ways that gives women agency—that Kore chose to descend, or that Hecate, the Crone Goddess of death, actually planned it all.

But there is a psychological truth in the tale of abduction. So often in life, we are basking in the sunshine, picking the beautiful wildflowers—when suddenly a chasm of loss and grief opens up under our feet and sucks us down.

Demeter responds with all the forms grief takes—searching, yearning, raging, and withdrawing her fertility and abundance from the world. In essence, she sanctions the Gods. Abduction has repercussions. Innocent people go hungry, suffer and die. Until, in the end, even the Gods relent, and Kore returns—changed, now, no longer innocent, but Queen of the Underworld, Persephone.

Let us remember this story now at this time when so much hangs in the balance, when so many innocents are suffering and dying. R**e must have repercussions, but when we do what we can to care for one another, we plant the seeds of renewal.

INVITATION
During these megalithic traumatic times, how are we to live? What are we called to do? Living in a personal trauma field is one matter, often with lifelong insurmountable consequences that reverberate for generations, as we know. It is quite another Herculean task to live in the Field of Collective Trauma, capital C, capital T. jas to one degree or another, we all are now. How affected do you feel by the global events?
I invite you to share your experience and what inner and outer resources you call upon. How does what is going on in our Family Home, affecting you? What helps! What do you need? A ¨Family Intervention¨?
Photo by me, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, Red Feather Lakes -Colorad

She Is Rising!
out of the rubble and ashes
out of the bombs and the drones
out of the screams and the cries
out of the toxic minds of oligarchs and tyrants
She Rises
with love and compassion
the sword of Truth held high
so we may all survive

Sophia Invocation
We invoke the presence of Sophia
as her devotee I dedicate myself to the embodiment of Love and Truth

She Rises by Dakini Lynn Marlow pencil & Ink original 5x7¨

Long but significant

Losing Love, Finding Love, and Living with the Fragility of It All “What an astonishing thing it is to find something. Children, who excel at it — chiefly because the world is still so new to them that they can’t help but notice it — understand this, and aut…

Dear friends, I just heard ¨organisms need optimal conditions to thrive.¨Let that sink in, in light of the conditions organisms are being viciously forced to live in by.... no word can describe so called people, for the most part, men, and now by only one man.

We actually know what these optimal conditions are and somehow the task has been given to us to create those conditions if we are not even to thrive, but survive.

Hazrat Inayat Khan said that ¨God is the answer to what´s needed in the moment?¨ I invite you to take a moment and contemplate: What do I need now?and what is my task as part of the Body of the One Being?