Friends and Recent Coworkers
During Covid, I have kept active through various online retreats, seminars and series, particularly focusing on the Aramaic words of Jesus.
In addition, I have been fortunate to team up again with several longtime friends and colleagues to offer other aspects of the inner path of soul, self and awakening. A path that, at one and the same time is a “horizon that recedes” (Inayat Khan) as well as “all already done” (Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri). It all depends on who is viewing what—who we are when we are doing our prayer, practice, contemplation, social action, or anything in life.
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri (South Africa): I have been working with Shaykh Fadhlalla for more than ten years. As a wise mentor, he has helped me immeasurably. Together with Dr. Adnan al Adnani, a scientist and Qur’anic exegete living in France, we have been doing meetings on various topics comparing the way of illumination in the Qur’an with that in the Aramaic words of Jesus and the Bible. You can find these at the SFH Foundation YouTube channel. The Shaykh Fadhlalla’s website is here.
Natalia Nur Jahan: Meditation teacher, healer, counselor and mentor. Together we have been leading an intensive weekly group for nearly two years called “Sending Light into the Winter…and Beyond.” It uses (and we are used by) Prophet Muhammad (saawas) Prayer of Light. Nur Jahan writes: “Just like one would plant a tree and keep watering and nurturing it, knowing that its blossoms will be for other people to see, we are willing to offer our heartspace for nurturing of the world for the generations to come – knowing that GOOD IS NEVER LOST.” Her website is In the Rose Garden.
Murshida Tasnim Fernandez: I have had the grace to know Tasnim since 1982, when we began the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace together. Tasnim is a beloved friend, a prodigious student of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and deeply steeped in the teachings of Ibn al-`Arabi. Together we have done various online weekend retreats. Her website is The Church of All in Burbank, California.
Brother Joseph Kilikevice. O.P.: Another old friend and colleague. Together we began residential retreats based on my work with the Aramaic words of Jesus in the 1980s. We also began the “Creating Male Spirit” retreats, which Joe continues, now online. His Shem Center for Interfaith Spirituality in Oak Park, Illinois, USA “offers the sojourners of all spiritual paths and faith traditions, as well as those who claim none, a sacred space where all are respectfully welcomed to encounter the wisdom found in the sacred traditions of the peoples of the world.” Shem Center website.
Tara and Maboud Swierkoscz: Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tara and Maboud are also friends from more than thirty years ago. They do deep work with combining contemplation and chanting of the asma ul husna (the 99 Most Beautiful Names of All) together with Dances of Universal Peace. I have been pleased to share some of my work in this area in their online “Hummingbird” retreats. Their website is Dances of Universal Peace Santa Fe.
