Omid Safi discusses Sufi teachings from one of the greatest muslim mystics, an Andalusian sage named Ibn ‘Arabi.

"When Ibn 'Arabi comes, he sits with all of himself. When he's listening, he listens with all of himself. When it's time to go, he gets up with all of himself. All of him is here, so I can give him all of the love. That's such a practice, and it's such a challenge for all of us who are always distracted. A lot of Sufi practice is really this art of being present." – Omid Safi

This week on Sufi Heart, Omid Safi illuminates:

• The life of Ibn ‘Arabi from Andalusia, to Morocco, Turkey, and Damascus
• The prayer of opening and Ibn ‘Arabi’s text, Futuhat al-Makkiyya (openings of the heart)
• Removing that which veils you from direct presence with God
• Experiencing Kashf—the unveiled revelations that arise from intimate communion with God
• The paradoxical ‘yes and no’ response that Ibn ‘Arabi often gave to philosophical questions and finding beauty in the paradox
• Remembering that we do not see God, we are seen by God
• Presence and mindfulness as a core feature of Sufi spiritual practice
• How Ibn ‘Arabi’s life teaches us what it means to have a teacher and blurring together seeker and master
• A commentary on all in the natural realm that is made beautiful
• Dissolving the illusion of separation between lover and beloved
• A poem from Ibn ‘Arabi on alchemy and the Prophet

“Most people translate it as ‘I become’ then ‘I become the sight by which you see’. Ibn ‘Arabi says ‘it’s not I become, I am’. It sounds really different, it hits different. I am the eye by which you see. I am the hearing by which you hear. I am the hand by which you touch. I am the tongue by which you speak.” – Omid Safi

About Omid Safi:

Dr. Omid Safi is the director of Duke University’s Islamic Studies Center. He specializes in the study of Islamic mysticism and contemporary Islam and frequently writes on liberationist traditions of Dr. King and Malcolm X, and is committed to traditions that link together love and justice. He leads spiritual tours every year to Turkey, Morocco, or other countries, to study the rich multiple religious traditions there. The trips are open to everyone from every country. More information is available at Illuminated Courses & Tours.

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Illuminating Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings on radical love, Omid Safi leads listeners down the Sufi path of love, harmony, and beauty.

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This time on Sufi Heart, Omid provides a lesson on:

• The Sufi tradition of radical love, universal harmony, and experiencing beauty
• Hazrat Inayat Khan’s timely and timeless teachings
• Music as a sacred bridge between cultures and a channel for divine connection
• The universality of love across religions and wisdom traditions
• Seeing the unity in the multiplicity and the multiplicity in the unity
• The reduction of love to romantic ideals and reclaiming its divine essence
• Radical love, loving all beings, and the claim that love is God
• The mystical poetry of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Rumi
• The ultimate unity of love, lover, and beloved
• Seeing each one of our faculties—sight, sound, breath, as a portal to see and be seen by God
• The symphony of creation and what it may sound like if we operated in harmony
• How global disharmony—social, political, and ecological—reflects spiritual/inner disconnection
• Harmony as one of the keys that connects the human realm to the divine realm
• The divine light of God which is hidden in each of our souls
• Surrendering willingly to beauty and allowing it to connect us to the divine mystery of God

This episode was part of a longer conversation with friends over at Spiritual Wanderlust. Omid encourages listeners to check out that offering, part of their series on “Mystics and Prophets”, HERE.

About Omid Safi:

Dr. Omid Safi is director of Duke University’s Islamic Studies Center. He specializes in the study of Islamic mysticism and contemporary Islam and frequently writes on liberationist traditions of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and is committed to traditions that link together love and justice. He leads spiritual tours every year to Turkey, Morocco, or other countries, to study the rich multiple religious traditions there. The trips are open to everyone, from every country. More information is available at Illuminated Courses & Tours.

"The path of radical love makes an extraordinary claim. The claim is fundamentally the notion that there is no ultimate divide between the love of God and the love of creation. Love is one. Love is not merely a quality of God, love is God. It is the very being, very essence, very heart of God." – Omid Safi

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Re-enchanting the world with God, the beloved, Omid Safi and teacher Joshua Michael Schrei explore the push-and-pull relationship we have with the divine.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

This week on Sufi Heart, Omid and Joshua get into:

• The many types of love we experience with the divine
• How the seeker was first being sought by God
• The possibility of tying together the sensual and the spiritual
• Nature as a living saint and master of seasons/cycles
• Remembering the greater picture that we are all a part of
• Balancing transcendence and imminence
• Considering how we relate to lack and longing
• Being in ecstatic union with the beloved
• Knowing that God is present both within and without moments of consummation
• How the treasures of our lives are often related to the hardships we have endured
• What activism could look like in the political and social climate we are living in
• Re-enchanting the world and suffusing it with divine love
• The ripple effect of global events and how everything is interconnected
• Pontificating how we can build a just, loving society

Check out Joshua's podcast, The Emerald, where you can explore more of the human experience through a vibrant lens of myth, story, and imagination. You can also keep up with the podcast via Instagram.

About Joshua Michael Schrei :

Joshua is a podcaster, mythteller, teacher, and a lifelong student of the cosmologies and mythologies of the world — in particular, the Indian subcontinent. Throughout a lifetime of teaching, study, meditation and yogic practice, wilderness immersion, art, music, and public speaking, Joshua has sought to navigate the living, animate space of the imagination and advocate for a world that prioritizes imaginative vision. Joshua has taught intensive courses in mythology and somatic disciplines for over 20 years. He is the founder of The Emerald Podcast, which combines evocative narrative, soul-stirring music, and interviews with award-winning authors and luminaries to explore the human experience through a vibrant lens of myth, story, and imagination. Less a traditional podcast and more a multi-layered sonic journey, The Emerald aims to reawaken the lost promise of oral storytelling tradition — the transmission of the direct felt experience of wonder and awe, and the rekindling of our relationship with spirit. Keep up with Joshua on his website.

“In any great love affair, in every great love-making, there is always that moment where you lose track of where your body ends and the beloved's body begins. There is no more notion of who is the lover and who is the beloved; there's only the moment and pure absolute pleasure and bliss. That's in some ways what the mystics are trying to get to. They're trying to get to that place where the boundary between you and I, lover and beloved, human and divine, becomes very blurred.” – Omid Safi

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