Centennial Jubilee - the Urs

Hello, friends. Of all the dates of special significance next year for the Centennial Jubilee, the Urs is in many ways the most important. The Urs is the traditional date for celebrating the being of a Sufi master, saint or prophet. I've always appreciated that, both because of the long tradition and because it seems to emphasize the eternal being, more than the birthday or an event would. This year the 100th anniversary is of course of a year long event, Murshid leaving his home in India on Sept. 13, 1910, to teach in the West. (I understand that to mean he left Baroda that day for Bombay and his ocean voyage.) Still the Urs is especially important.

Because of the tradition, the Urs is a good time to invite mureeds of other orders to celebrate together. Just as we love to be included in, say, Mevlana's Urs, I believe other groups will appreciate an invitation to celebrate with us, especially during this Centennial Jubilee year. In our Washington DC area I think of the groups we are especially close to: the Jerrahi, the Mevlevi, the Naqshbandi, the Rifai. Also, Jewish Renewal.

For those of you in areas where there are mureeds of other Inayati orders, I would encourage you to contact those groups and see what can be done together for the Urs. This is not always easy, and sometimes there are Issues to be worked out, but it seems important. Shouldn't our appreciation of all religions and all paths include those paths closest to us?

If you wish to be tied in directly to the worldwide efforts of the
Federation of the Sufi Message, the suggested theme for the Urs is "Love, Lover and Beloved." The choice of the theme was admittedly rather arbitrary--there are so many central themes in Murshid's teaching, and any one of them could be chosen for the Urs. The thinking was that on the Urs we celebrate a saint for what he or she has given to us, that is, as a teacher and a source of inspiration and blessing, and this is where the message of love and devotion is so central.

...With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved, I shook the throne of God in heaven. I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love, "Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret." She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear, "My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover, and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored."
-Vadan,
Alankaras

With love and blessings,

Jami
Washington, DC, USA