[N.B. - After KIT125  in this SufiMedia Collection from kaivan@centrum-uiversel.com , www.centrum-universel.com , I find an unnumbered KIT which I have given docname =kit126_1 .  Then I find no KIT's until KIT132 , dated 12 Nov '01.
I  am copying all these KIT's etc. as invidividual *.txt docs, using a Click_C__Click_V into Word for Windows, Prof.essional Edition 2000 , without the UpPack4 or whatever its called, then as Save_As as text_only.
KIT 15 includes a number of brief quotes from musical scores, which I have not yet beem able to copy.

Sa=Steve Amdur, Campra, CH-6718 Olivone, Switzerland
23 Oct '05 - 20 Tishrei - 6th day of Sukot - Josef - 20 Ramadan
looks like another grey morning - fog or low clouds or foehn - been that way here all Sukot
Respects and best wishes to all. 
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(Nov 12st 2001)

132 - Our Wounded Humanity

Suffering is our first call.
Hazrat Inayat Khan.

N.B. The following is simply my personal opinion and neither an official statement of the policy of the Sufi Order nor a proposition for a such statement, and should not be construed as such.

The tidal wave of resentment that has surfaced in our troubled days jeopardizing   the fruit of the toil of dedicated human endeavor and skill, disrupting our society, the damage to our lovely Planet by disregard for its sacredness, the despoiling of  cherished  values that bepeak of decadence shake us out of our smug complacency and challenge us into exploring the core issues at the social scale and in ourselves. It manifests in bombs, computer viruses, biological contamination, crime, dissolute manners, vandalism ...      

We need to listen to the grievances behind the turmoil of outrage on all sides that spur our quarrelling, hating each other, killing each other, wreaking excruciating suffering upon our fellow beings.  In the incensed fire of our anger, we humans are destroying each other's homes, buildings, amenities, facilities, organizational blue-prints that represent decades, sometimes centuries of human toil, skill, know-how achieved at great cost, technologies of brilliant and dedicated minds! What a senseless wanton waste! And unless dealt with it risks to escalate beyond control! If we do not take heed by dealing with the causes there will inevitably be outbursts of anger availing itself of the update abuses of technology.

Could and should we not have foreseen and forestalled the Sept. 11th attack?

A computer game may have given  terrorists the idea to crash into the World Trade Centre.. The Microsoft Flight Simulator instructs computer users how to 'fly' Boeing and other aircraft across Manhattan, Washington or London.  It stimulates crashing into one of New York's towers.

Echoes of the screams when the neck of a stewardess was split by a razor blade and the eyes of the pilot were gauged out and the voices of passengers sending messages to their families: "We are hi-jaked, perhaps we will never meet again - I love you" and the scene of bodies tortured in the flames jumping to their death still resonate in our ears, and linger as wounds in our hearts, now intermeshed with those of ordinary people being bombed in Afghanistan. 

Our emotions are seriously aroused, wounded, pummeled, stunned, distraught, our thoughts disquieted, disturbed, perplexed, our projects stymied, our opinions and  motivations subjected to queries in deep ponderings and soul-searchings.

If one entertains values such as love, harmony, beauty, respect for the dignity of one's fellow beings, kindness, discovering the degree to which the emotions of hate and the insensitive discard of suffering erupts mercilessly, unscrupulously when threatened or frightened even amongst people who normally would function according normal standards of appropriate behavior is so distressing! Never has the Message of the awakening of conscience been so urgently relevant!

If we try to reconnoiter what are the emotional motives behind the present crisis, more than ever, it is clear that the hatred that triggered off this mutual violence at a massive scale is of the same nature as our resentment in our personal "storms in our cups of tea" and hence the importance of Christ's message "forgive those who offend us... they do not know what they do" beckons upon us more relevantly than ever. And it is this message that resonates implicitly in Hazrat Inayat Khan's message of respect for all religions and all races that has meant so much to so many people in our day and age. 

The challenge draws our attention more than ever to whatever we can do (albeit how limited the outreach of each one of us is) to value and share with our friends, distraught as we are the importance of "the awakening of conscience". Here lies the crux of what sparked the crisis; it urges us to deal with that very originating emotion. We cannot extricate ourselves from the plight of our fellow beings in a time of strife. Each little contribution on our part, (however small) has its part to play in the overall tidal wave of sensitivity to the sufferings of people and, to be consistent: focus on the cause that sparks violence.  It starts at the personal scale. The feedback that reaches us is that, rather than simply meting out retribution for the sheer monstrous atrocity of the Sept 11th,  we need to reconnoiter the originating Machiavelian emotion that spurred the terrorists, explore honestly what motivates  the retaliation? This beckons upon us to scan our own psyche to spot whether we nurture similar albeit less pernicious emotions ourselves at a personal scale.  We cannot preach kindness as an antidote to cruelty if we ourselves are entertaining resentment, particularly if we are acting on the emotion of this resentment to harm (or wish harm to) another living being. It starts with us. Resentment is an inherited, primitive survival instinct written into our psychological defense system which gets transmuted in the course of evolution into unconditional love.

Our concerns and misgivings are now heightened, exasperated by the fear of the horror of the increasing danger in which the world is plunging, escalating beyond control by the intensification of hatred and arousing more hate. Or will wisdom sober out the fever and prevail? Let us at least not play into the ploy of that game of intimidation. Let us not allow the chaos in the world to perpetrate panic in our hearts and thoughts. It is one of the methods used by those threatening havoc to exercise pressure to halt the present intervention. Never have our meditations been so relevant. I remember during the First World War when as baby, when the bugle announced the Zeplins, people rushing for shelter, Pir o Murshid remained in the meditation room with those who stayed, maintaining peaceful serenity.    

The inane outbreak of violence is nothing new to in the chronicles of our battling humanity. If by some superhuman colligation of our human society, we were endowed with a collective memory, running though the centuries, we would realize that the advance and collapse of civilizations of the past was fraught by extremes of savagery, abject cruelty, tortures, depravation, power plays, domination, oppression conspiracy, betrayal, stealth, (with amidst it all, heroic acts of chivalry, mercy and nobility), sparking dramatic changes, sometimes progress, sometimes decadence. Western legend tells us that it started with Cain and Abel. Let us just recall the Assyrian atrocities to subject the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Persian and the Jews: ("I flayed all the chief men who revolted, and covered the pillars with their skins, some I walled up inside the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar with stakes... I cut off the limbs of the officers who rebelled" King Ahurnasipal), the savage onslaught of the Huns, the Spanish inquisition, the genocide and extermination by colonial powers, the millions of victims for Stalin's access to power, the millions of young men who died in the trenches in World War 1, the monstrous Holocaust, the mutual bombings and destruction of cities between the Germans and the British in World War 2, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Bosnia, merciless feuds in Africa, etc, etc 

Are we progressing, even a little, learning by trial and error? It is ingratiating to hear that the strife that spells the present conflict is not against Islam or any nation or race, (although some perceive it as such) which is a sign that we have evolved over the national hatred that triggered off previous wars. Occasionally there are flares, glimpses of wisdom erupting in the conscience of humanity which announces a way out of the dark insensitive imbroglio.

In this conundrum, we have an impelling need to communicate with each other our quandaries, open our hearts, admit our uncertainty as to which is the appropriate action to deal with the ignominious challenge to the world in which we have been accustomed to live, perhaps admit that we ourselves are not immune from perhaps unavowed emotions of hate, intolerance, discrimination, a partisan spirit understandably inspired by loyalty. In this we are tested in exactly the challenge that determines the decisions of not only of those responsible for the conduct of situations that affect our lives, our security, our welfare but those operating behind the scenes disrupting the world order to give vent to their grievances. Moreover there is no telling to what atrocities this 'cause' can be exploited by 'uncouth, unaware' hooligans (as in football matches) ignorant as to how another person feels who, taking advantage of the pandemonium, suddenly appear out of the woodworks, wreaking diabolical atrocities, spoiling  it for the misguided indoctrinated, ideal-driven activists and the outlawed staunch knightly spirits outraged, exasperated by the very oppression condemned by the United Nations Charter on Human Rights - especially refusal to ban torture!  Unfortunately they seek to redress injustice in the only way they can imagine is within their power at the cost of cruel suffering for others that escalates into further unkindness and cumulates in atrocities spiraling ever further.

It is said that on the hilt of Prophet Mohammed's sword were the words: Forgive him who wrongs you; join him who cuts you off; do good to him who does evil to you, and speak the truth although it may be against yourself  (Cf. Helminski).

Quite understandably, we have a need to communicate what is in our hearts and thoughts, but I am pained when these exchanges that divide world opinion spill over in dissentions in our spiritual family. It is natural and healthy for us to share our thoughts apprehension, opinions as to the propriety of the policy used to intervene in the present situation, in the light of its moral implications. But let us not slip into partisan squabble, criticizing nations, governments, institutions (although we cannot posit that politicians are infallible!)  I sometimes hear a note of emotional antagonism in our statements, sometimes national resentment. Our judgment could well in some cases be afflicted by conditioned bias which bespeaks of loyalty to one's community. It is a great art to agree to disagree respectfully.

(A reminder: the following is solely my personal view, as a human being not that of the Sufi Order International).

What do we know about the hidden concerns behind Government strategies, (the cause behind causes), especially now as they become increasingly global. Glib opinions about politics are fraught with amateurishly jumping to conclusions. Quite understandably when hurting others our conscience is lacerated and we feel called upon to speak up, as long as it is not construed as the official view of the SOI. I realize that spiritualists can take refuge in a non-commital ivory tower to reassure people worried about the situation; we have agreed to spell our opinions however questionable.   

Rather than retaliation are we motivated by a global concern to protect the victims of violence?  In which way can one ensure that security without one's intervention having the opposite affect by triggering off a back-lash?  Could there be behind the scene concern to forestall at the eleventh hour the use of nuclear weapons in unwise hands? Preventive medicine? A surgeon's scalpel,  however painful may save a person's life. That was the story of Moses and Khidr. Or counterwise could intervention have the effect of antagonizing emotions, sensitivity? In some cases operating an encapsulated malignant tumor can trigger off a generalized proliferation of the metastasis of the spores.

The good news is that emerges in the cruel battle is that at last it frees the oppressed women!  But that was not the instigating motivation! Moreover, It has taken all this pandemonium to coerce Israel to withdraw from its take-over of some some Palestinian occupied territories. Rabbi Salman Shachter amongst strong public opinion in Europe warned against bulldozing Palestinian houses This, being one of the last vestiges of an obsolete, redundent mode of colonization has been all along one of the major piece in Arab grievances, (though not the only one). If settled a long time ago, could it l have prevented the Sept 11th excesses? Other grievances have been invoked. How can these be addressed respectfully without violence? Update political standards seeks to eschew violence by conflict resolution as in personal psychology. The present imbroglio is telling us to learn how to deal with political conflicts in the new worldviews. Are we up-to it before it is too late?          

There are deeper issues: cultural dissentions. In any efforts to sit around a table, Westerners must take into account the differences between the Western and Eastern mode of thinking where faith plays the decisive role. There is a concern about the degradation of cherished moral values safeguarded by tradition and a plethora of concupiscence while one's kins on the planet are struggling in penury.

Religion is intended as the custodian of the sacredness of our paramount values.  

What does traditional Sufism say?  

The Prophet reserved next to (or at) the Mosque of Medina a place (later Sufis built Ribats or Khanekas or Zaouia) where learned Shaykhs, the Sufis (the people of the Sofa) discussed 'ta'wil' the exegis (comment) of the 'revealed' ayahs (saying) under the guidance of Salman Pak.  Salman, (often branded Farsi (Iranian), brought up a Mazdean, became a Christian hermit, joined the Prophet who adopted him in his family. It is held that the Prophet preoccupied himself in interpreting the revelations received when in a high state. His esteem for Salman led him into consulting him with regard to the light that could be cast upon them originating in the Greeko-Iranian gnosis (called Sophia) . That the Qur'an was dictated by messages received in contrast with the Hadith which are purported to be the Prophet's own words is evidenced by the elliptic, exceptional Qur'anic idiom.  According to the Qur'an, not only the world and our psyche but similarly the Qur'an itself is composed of signs  that need to be interpreted. This view is not generally accepted despite Qur'an 20-28. (Cf. L. Massignon, Salman Pak, Societe des Etudes Iraniennes May 30th 1933) Sufism originated precisely here. But the subtlety of thoughts of Sufi masters like Ibn 'Arabi, Rumi, Hallaj, Jili, Jami, Niffari, Muin ud-Din Chichti, was difficult to understand. In the present miscommunication at the core of the crisis, the teaching of the authentic Sufi masters has light to throw on the cultural paradigm dichotomy around which the cultural dissentions gravitate which sparks the global conflagration.

Once again: according to our Statutes, the Sufi Order International is not allowed to intervene in politics or make statements with political implications. Therefore our governance cannot as a spiritual institution try to articulate a concerted official policy regarding government decisions - it is not of our resort, not within our expertise. However we as free human beings must be free to express personal opinion; It is our right to differ; we can agree to disagree; but we must expressly state that it is our personal opinion by labeling it 'personal'. Certainly as Mureeds of a spiritual Order, we can affirm our spiritual values. Admittedly there is a fine line between the two between these and inevitably an overlap.

It is told that Hazrat Ali when spat upon by his enemy released him. When asked why, he said: I did not wish to act in wrath!

But, one may rightly ask, can we not protect ourselves if attacked?

If one's compassion leads one to tolerate a person's mistreatment, it encourages their unkind misbehavior and therefore is not good for that person. As already said, our ideals are: love and forgive your neighbor, rather than the eye for 'an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. This was our Founder Hazrat Pir o Murshid's paramount principle. However there are cases where, giving in to people hurting other people is failing in taking responsibility. Hence Pir o Murshid's caution:

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is necessary when kindness and forgiveness will have no power whatever on the hard heart of the enemy. But so long as there is a chance of meeting the enemy's revenge with kindness, then the above law may not be practiced. Hazrat Inayat Khan.  

Therefore one needs to combine authority with compassion. This requires great composure in the realm of emotion: making one's opponent aware of one's strength without affirming one's ego. Here resides the great art of life - the hallmark of evolution from primitive instincts to what Hazrat Inayat Khan calls 'the quest for perfection'. It applies both at the personal level and the social scale.

This very provision avers its paramount antinomy in the Sephirotic tree of the Kabbala :
Khesed (compassion) - the way of the saint, and Din (rigor, the law) - the way of the master are balanced in tandem.

The relevant Wazaif are therefore:
YaRahman (magnanimity) - YaWali (mastery)
or Ya Rahim (compassion) - Ya  Qaher (sovereignty).

"Dare you wage war against war" exclaimed Bernard Shaw in Major Barbara. Cruelty countered by cruelty! Dare we wage peace on war?

What if we dared attempting the unrealistic improbable! What if we emboldened ourselves to turn the tables on violence? What if we gave love a chance?

Gandhi: The objective should not be to punish the opponent or to inflict injury upon him. We must make him feel that in us he has a friend.

It is a means to secure the cooperation of the opponent consistent with truth and justice.

To turn one's opponent into a friend, one needs to listen to his or her grievance, his or her suffering - ask: "am I obstructing your vital, desperate needs? Have I been snubbing your dignity? How can I help?" Then give heartily and receive heartily in honorable exchange in love, respect and kindness. Just imagine the pain, suffering and senseless waste of human resources (the slow down of world economy and productivity) that this would free us from!

People submit to power unwillingly - to love, willingly. Hazrat Inayat Khan

Last minute. One more catastrophe! Our hearts go out to the victims, our friends in New York - but it affects us all.
