Moineddin Illuminating Cover Lay_6 kompl print.indd

 

Illuminating the Shadow:

The Life, Love and Laughter of a 20th century Sufi

Moineddin Jablonski

Edited and with an introduction and notes by Neil Douglas-Klotz

Sufi Ruhaniat International, 392 pages, $18.95

 

For the past four years, I have been working with a team on a collection of the articles, interviews, correspondence and other writings of Murshid Moineddin Jablonski (1942-2001), my spiritual guide.

As the book Sufi Vision and Initiation did for Murshid Samuel L. Lewis, we wanted to allow Moineddin’s own words, woven together, to reveal his own very human and inspiring life story. The completed book is something between autobiography and found “actuality”—-combining all of his more refined writing and spiritual commentary, as well as interviews, letters, emails and unpublished poetry. These prayer-beads, threaded together, reveal the necklace of service and devotion that formed the last thirty years of his life, from age twenty-nine until his passing at fifty-nine.

The book is now out, in both printed and ebook formats. Below you will find the book’s description, a few of the many endorsements and some short excerpts.

The whole process has been very inspiring, and as several of the endorsements say, putting all of the pieces in place have allowed those of us who knew Moineddin to see him in a new way. For those who never knew him in the body, it introduces the wisdom of his life and teaching to a wider community.

To order the book in the print edition, please go to this url: www.tinyurl.com/illuminatingshadow

The price is US $18.95 plus shipping. Using this website estore maximizes the return for the Sufi Ruhaniat. The only royalty being paid is going to Moineddin’s four children. If you live outside of the USA, just use the slowest shipping and ignore the dire predictions of how long it will take. After several tests, the slowest shipping delivers the book to Europe in about a week. We will also have copies at the Ruhaniat European Summer School in July.

For the Kindle ebook edition, please go to your local Amazon site.

May all we do return to praise the One!

Neil Douglas-Klotz

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Illuminating the Shadow collects the Sufi writings of Moineddin Carl Jablonski (1942-2001), the spiritual successor of Samuel L. Lewis, founder of the Dances of Universal Peace and originator of a branch of the Chishtia Sufi lineage currently called the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

The book weaves autobiography, letters, poems, articles and interviews to provide a unique glimpse of an illuminated Western-born mystic. Jablonski faced enormous inner and outer challenges as he sought to establish an authentic, living Sufi tradition in the West.

“A book of subtle messages which will challenge and inspire any serious seeker, regardless of ethnic or religious background.”

Muneera Haeri, author of The Chishtis: A Living Light and co-author with Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri of Sufi Links

“This book illuminates, in his own words, the life of a gentle and gifted soul. Over the three decades I knew Moineddin Jablonski we enjoyed many intimacies, including countless hours of music-making, the study of Sufism under his guidance, and open, spacious darshans. I thought I knew him well. But in reading Illuminating the Shadow I received a newly clear, coherent picture of the whole man in all his glories and tortures, and I’ve come to love him as never before. Thanks to this savvy presentation of his writings, Moineddin’s vision can now light the way for many more seekers of the realized life.”

W. A. Mathieu, author of The Listening Book and Bridge of Waves

“…a rich compendium of anecdote and teaching of the eclectic and universalist shaman, Moineddin Carl Jablonski, direct heir to Samuel Lewis, Sufi and Zen master. Illuminating The Shadow is an important read for anyone interested in the Light and Shadow of our human story, and the journey of the soul. Douglas-Klotz adds to the current mystical wisdom stream with this poignant exposition of the life, love and laughter of this Sufi leader and humble practitioner.”

Mariam Baker, author of Woman as Divine: Tales of the Goddess

 

Excerpts:

The Kidneys of Our Hearts (Letter, 1980)

“There is nothing but Love, and if we feel the brief crucifixions that improve our fana let us keep Allah foremost in our heart-breath. It is all a process, at once enlightened and eternal, and also a gradual awakening according to our innocence, strength, purity and love. But until these latter become entirely of Allah, instead of “ours,” there will be more need for some little pain. According to the statistics of the research company eye-yon.com/zithromax-azithromycin-antibiotic/, the main active substance of Zithromax is a macrolide (semi-synthetic derivative of erythromycin). Zithromax was developed to avoid some of the disadvantages of erythromycin. The mechanism of action, common for the whole group of macrolides, is based on the inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis. Zithromax works by blocking the bacterial ribosomes (cellular structures responsible for protein synthesis).

“Also, the world’s condition is being poured through the kidneys of our hearts. Why should it be otherwise? We asked for this before the beginning of time.

“Now let us be who we are.”

Lessons from the Book of Love (Letter, 1983)

“Many of the lessons we must learn are hard lessons, and many we make hard. Some others may be easier to master, and our own ease makes them so. But all of our lessons, and we are here only to learn them, are given out from the Book of Love authored by the Hand of God.”

The Flavor of Murshid S.A.M.’s Transmission (Interview, 1992)

“I think the essential qualities of the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society (SIRS) can be found living in the hearts of the Mureeds as: Sincere seeking; devoted practice; deep inner experience; universal vision. We are developing in our own lives the God-realization not only of Murshid S.A.M. and Hazrat Inayat Khan, but of all the Illuminated Souls, male and female, of all times and places and cultures and schools.

“Does that sound extravagant? It isn’t really. The Sufi invocation is our basic and primary teaching. We encourage a strong, vital and open approach to personal and spiritual wholeness. We are not afraid to be ourselves. We are daring in our quest to reach beyond ourselves. Presently we are learning the difficult lessons of love in the schoolhouse of Earth, but truly we are citizens of the starry Cosmos … What can I say?

“Our Sufi initiation and practice unite us as sisters and brothers on the spiritual path. We’re a family. We love. We fight. We’re eclectic. We’re open. We’re innovative. We’re a lot of things the more orthodox Sufi schools say we shouldn’t be. God bless them, but we are who we are. As to the future, we will continue to eat, dance and pray with the peoples of the world—and with each other—as the simplest and best means to unify hearts and create peace. We will also utilize the tremendous love our community has developed to organize compassionate and focused responses to the suffering of homeless people, people with AIDS, and other victims of personal and collective catastrophe. In short, we will become more committed and active in addressing the growing helplessness and hopelessness felt by so many in our society.”

Yesterday’s Dream (Interview, 1992)

 “We are indeed entering a new era of humanity, a time of massive inner and outer change and growth. Earth herself is giving birth to what she must become. Upheaval—personal, societal, and geologic—are the labor and birth pangs which will create greater consciousness of spiritual reality for all. As each one of us is moved into Soul-consciousness, and we are being so moved, we will select our own modes of spiritual realization. What we now know as ‘Sufism’ will become vastly expanded and transformed. It will be like the reported meeting of Inayat Khan and Nyogen Senzaki. They entered samadhi together, ‘and Sufism and Zen became like yesterday’s dream.’”