Spiritual Transformation
in Daily Life
by Means of Remembrance, Gratitude,
& Love:
The Sufi - Islamic Path
with Dr. Alan ‘Abd
al-Haqq Godlas
Director of Sufis
Without borders
And Professor of
Religion at the
Date Saturday/Sunday:
March 29 and 30, 2008
Time
Presenter First called to Chishti-Inayati Sufism in
1972, Dr. Godlas has also received training in the Ni’matullahi,
Shadhili, and Naqshbandi
Sufi orders. Embraced by Islam in 1974, he lived in a Sufi center where he
received Sufi teachings for three years, while also studying Persian at the
Location
Cost Early
registration $120 (after March 15, cost will be $135), which includes
vegetarian lunches and coffee/snacks in Seminar room. Registration at the door
is possible, room permitting,
and may not include the meals. Please send CHECKS ONLY, payable to: Michele
Gauthier (Note: Godlas Seminar), mail to
Program Program Coordinator: Raiyan. For questions about the program, contact her at:
Questions beaverquillstudio@btc-bci.com The coordinator is hearing impaired, so
please
communicate with her by email or by
Lodging & The setting is a wing of a Catholic Convent with
pleasant dining and sitting areas, an interfaith
Transportation chapel with prayer
rug, and beautiful walking trails on large well-tended
57 acres grounds. NO SMOKING IN ANY OF THE BUILDINGS. 15 simple,
clean rooms with private bathrooms are reserved until March 19. These rooms are
near our Seminar location and cost $45 for single occupancy,
and $60 for double occupancy. Please call Sister Lucy Schneider at
269/381-6290, x 310 to reserve space and mention that you are there for the
Godlas Seminar. Mention also if you are willing to share your room
with someone you may not know. PLEASE make arrangements for lodging with Sister
Lucy. The
Those coming
from out of town may want to arrive Friday night and should make those arrangements
with Sister Lucy Schneider. Vegetarian meals can be reserved in
advance for dinner and breakfast at low cost. Commuters welcome! Transportation to the
Schedule for
Spiritual
Transformation in Daily Life
by means of Remembrance, Gratitude, and Love:
The
Sufi - Islamic Path
With
Dr.
Alan ‘Abd al-Haqq Godlas
Saturday/Sunday: March 29 and 30, 2008
On
both days Dr. Godlas will relate the Sufi topics under discussion to
expressions in the Qur'an, the sayings of Muhammad (hadith), and the works of classical Sufis (like Rumi, Hafez, and Ibn 'Arabi). Frequent
periods of Sufi meditative chanting (dhikr) will be
included.
Schedule for Saturday, March 29
Focus on Sufi Perspectives in General
(Optional Saturday evening dhikr meditation)
A. Introduction to
Sufi-Islamic Psycho-spiritual Transformation in Daily Life
1. Active and Receptive Embrace of Grateful Surrendering
B. The
Political, Ecological, Psychological, and Spiritual Importance of This
Transformation
C. A Brief Survey of
the Sufi-Islamic Understanding of Human Spiritual and Sufi History
1. The best of creation
2. "The fall"
3. A brief history of Divine guidance on the path of surrendering:
prophets and saints
4. "The return"
5. Macro and microcosmic process
D. A System for
Understanding the Dimensions of the Sufi-Islamic Viewpoint, encompassing:
1. Knowledge (its sources)
2. Reality (God, nature of existence [good & evil], planes of
existence, afterlife)
3. Primordial human nature, current human condition
4. Consciousness
5. Purpose of Life
6. Methods: surrendering-both worldly (right speech and action) and religio-spiritual (5-pillars, sharî’ah,
sunnah, Qur'anic
recitation, tarîqa-mystical path) and their
interrelationships
Schedule for
Sunday, March 30
Focus on Psycho-spiritual Transformation
(Optional sunrise Qur'an recitation walk with Dr. Godlas)
A. The Remembrance
of La ilaha ill Allah and Allah
1. Shirk: ego (nafs) and devotion to "other than God" (ilah)
2. Qualities, names, signs,
and theophanies of God
3. Surrendering from ilah to Allah
4. Surrendering and Taking
Action: the two complementary ways of effort
B. Four paths: parallel processes
1. Self-injurious path
2. Well-adjusted
non-religious path
3. Religious path
4. The cyclical Sufi
path beyond mediated and conditional surrender and love
a. this moment
b. unmediated and unconditional surrender and love
c. ecstasy and passing away-annihilation in God (fana)
d. subsisting through God (baqa)
C.
Life problems, feelings, and Sufi Solutions (the
inner and the outer)
1.
Avoidances & facing life; facing, dancing with,
and uniting with the Beloved
2.
Negative habits
3.
Desires
4.
Guilt, blame, & anger
5.
Anxiety, fear, & sadness
6.
Illness
7.
Problem solving & action
