The Alchemy of Ease & Dis-Ease
A lecture on Traditional Islamic Healing and Medicine
By Ilyas Kashani
Friday, April 27, 2018 / 8:00 pm

Traditional Islamic Healing and Medicine (TIHM) is intimately acquainted with the “golden key” of healing—the sacred spaceless space in the timeless time where the soul’s free will stands alone unveiled before its Lord at the crossroads of life.… between felicity and fall, the heart’s expansion and contraction, and ease and dis-ease. Healing practically demands a return to this precious moment—transporting the soul through space-time—where the Most Merciful and Ever-Forgiving gifts us the opportunity to make amends, reconcile, and effectively rewrite our stories. What immediately transpires in the body is nothing short of miraculous, for “He need only say to a thing ‘Be,’ and it becomes!” [Qur’an 19:35] It is the stuff of spiritual alchemy that beautifully elucidates the paradigm and principles of TIHM. Dare to join us and step on to our magic carpet that just might transport you back to your own true self!

Ilyas Kashani is a “hakim” or practitioner of Traditional Islamic Healing and Medicine (TIHM). His training began at six years of age through his father, Mirza Muhammad Sadiq al-Shirazi al-Kashani. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has studied various traditional and modern holistic therapies since 1990, including Oriental Medicine, Osteopathic Manual Medicine, Meditation, Qigong, and Yoga. He holds a Master of Acupuncture degree from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute, and is certified in Chinese Herbology by the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture. In 2000, he founded the Circle of One –a 501c3 non-profit Center of Traditional Medicine– to serve people in need, regardless of their financial circumstances. At present, he is advancing the Hakim Wellness Project to revive the study and practice of TIHM.

A Night of Persian Classical Music
Friday, February 16, 2018
8:00 pm

TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT!

Hedayat Shafeei: Tar, Sehtar
Mehdei Leghayeh: Vocal
Gabriel Marin: Dutar, Tanbur
Dan Kurfirst: Tonback , Daff
Yousef Tehrani: Tonback, Daff

The Futuhat Project
The world of Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi
A two-day workshop with Dr. Eric Winkel
December 1-2, 2017 – New York City

Friday Night Lecture

7:30 pm – doors open

8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
The Futuhat Project:
The world of Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi

Saturday Workshop

9:30 am – doors open

10:00 am – 11:30 am – Session 1
The mirror, the shadow, and the mother

11:30 am – 12:00 pm- break

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm – Session 2
The (sexual) grammar of Be!, hearing the scratching pens of destiny, and fihi ma fihi

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – lunch break

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Session 3
Finding a signpost in the world

5:00 pm – end

Event Registration

Friday Night & Saturday
Advance registration online has closed. Tickets will be available at the door.
$60: At the door
$30: Member
$30: Student (ID required at the door)

Friday Night only
$15: Friday Night only

Saturday only
$45: Saturday only

Venue

Dergah al-Farah
245 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013
tel: 212.966.9773
email: info@nurashkijerrahi.org

The Futuhat Project is Dr. Eric Winkel’s translation project of the entirety of Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi’s al-Futuhat al-Makkiyah, The Openings Revealed in Makkah. To learn more please visit www.thefutuhat.com.

…

The Youth said, “I am the ripened meadow, the universal harvest, so lift my veils and recite what is contained etched in my lines; what you learn from me, put in your book, and speak directly in it to everyone dearest to you.” I lifted his veils and I observed his etched lines, and there shone to my eyes his light that was deposited with- in him, all that he contained and encompassed of hidden knowledge. The first line I recited and the first mystery from that line which I learned are what I shall cite now in this second chapter following. And God, exalted beyond, is the guide to knowledge and to an evened path.

…

Throughout the Openings Revealed in Makkah we hear the two imperatives: Learn, and Verify for yourself. The six sections of the Youth, etched in light and revealed to Ibn al-Arabi, correspond to six processes we seek to learn, and verify for ourselves. The all-day workshop gives us time to process what we learn, and prepares us to verify for ourselves all along our spiritual paths.

The six sections are as follows. Recognitions: what we need to recognize. Interactions: how we need to interact, among ourselves, and fundamentally as creatures with the Creator. States: how we are, and how we can learn from our transitory, passing states and situations. Mansions: where we learn. Alighting places: where we meet with the Kind, the Compassionate; the One who descends to the sky of this world in the third part of the night. And Stations: the context and siting of places where we learn.

You discover the beauty of the Openings when you begin to find languages that express exactly what you know, perhaps deep within, perhaps inchoately, perhaps unconsciously. The sacred text you know has been speaking to you suddenly begins to be tying together all you know. You know why you love the beloved. You know how to love the beloved. Ibn al-Arabi speaks from the heart of the Youth, to the heart of all who are ready to be cast onto the path, and who are on the path. Even at ten thousand pages, hand-written over three years, Ibn al-Arabi calls the Openings Revealed in Makkah a hastily assembled provision sack for you to draw upon during your journey. These provisions nourish and encourage the committed traveler, the traveler prepared to do the work that is the propulsion along the path.

It is well known that both the classical poetic and spiritual expressions of the Islamic humanities (including the vernacular masterpieces of Sufi poetry and spiritual pedagogy across the Muslim world) and the learned Arabic intellectual and spiritual traditions of Islamic thought are alike deeply rooted in contemplation, practice, and ongoing reflection on the immense corpus of Prophetic sayings and teachings that were recorded in the early centuries of the Islamic era.  Yet today Muslims and non-Muslims alike often tend to imagine the hadith as somehow limited to their most mundane–and often problematic–uses by jurists, political ideologues, and the like. 

Since we are just entering a period when more and more hadith are increasingly available in English, this short talk will begin by introducing a few basic considerations that can help anyone (I.e., without any specialized background) to begin to appreciate the deeper spiritual dimensions of a wide range of translated hadith.  Then we will turn to discussion and questions regarding  a  representative sample of a few very practical hadith on adab, or spiritually appropriate attitudes and behavior. 

Professor James Morris (Boston College) has taught Islamic and comparative religious studies at the Universities of Exeter, Princeton, Oberlin, and the Sorbonne, and lectures widely on Sufism, the Islamic humanities, Islamic philosophy, the Qur’an, and Shiite thought. Recent books include Ostad Elahi’s Knowing the Spirit (2007); The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn ‘Arabi’s ‘Meccan Illuminations’ (2005); Orientations: Islamic Thought in a World Civilisation (2004); and Ibn ‘Arabi’s The Meccan Revelations (Pir Press, 2003).

NO MORE ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE.
LIMITED TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR WHEN WE OPEN AT 7:15 PM.

Persian Music Ensemble’s music is infused with the lyrical poetry of Rumi and Hafez, as well as Sufi repertoire including Persian Ghazal, Arabic folk songs, and Turkish Sacred songs (Illahi). Instrumentation includes the rich sound of the Persian Setar, the Arabic Oud and world percussion.Amin Sarshar – Setar, vocals
April Centrone- Oud, percussion
Juliet Rabia Gentile – Vocals, frame drum
Ali Rahman – Vocals, dafAmin Sarshar is originally from Hamadan, Iran and has performed with various ensembles. He was also classically trained to sing Persian ghazals under the Persian Dastagh system. He received his PHD in mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology.

April Centrone is the Executive Director of The New York Arabic Orchestra. She is a versatile performer of drumset in the genres of hard rock, jazz, funk, world, progressive and avante-garde. Her other trademark is as a performer and educator of the riqq (Arabic tambourine), as well as the darbekkeh (goblet drum) and frame drum. For almost ten years, she was student of master Lebanese/Palestinian percussionist, Michel Baklouk Merhej, and studied Arabic music and its other instruments, including the oud (Arabic lute), buzuq (Arabic ‘saz’) and violin. She has performed with renowned Arab artists such as Marcel Khalife, Ziad Rahbani, Bassam Saba, Charbel Rouhana and Najib Shaheen.

Juliet Rabia Gentile is a student of sufism, writer and performance artist. She holds an MA from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA from New School University. She is a student of her teacher Shaykha Fariha Fatima of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Community. Juliet has led prayer ceremonies and lectured widely on Sufism throughout New York City at venues including: the U.N. General Assembly, Riverside Church, Barnard College, Cathedral St. John the Divine, New York Open Center, Union Theological, Auburn Seminary, Museum of Jewish Heritage and One Spirit Learning Alliance. Juliet is a vocalist who sings Sufi improvisational chants in Arabic known as Qaside, Persian folk songs and Turkish sacred songs, as well as plays the frame drum. She performs in several ensembles including Red Union, Brooklyn Raga Massive, American Sufi Project, Adam Maalouf and The Tribe, I Guillari di Piazza. She also teaches Sufi Sema (whirling) both privately and in groups in NYC.

“There is no proof, among the animals, of the epithet of the True described as every day hu is upon a brilliant radiance more indicative of change than chameleons. You see, there is no adjective in the universe and no state which remains for two time periods, and no image which emerges visibly two times – and knowing accompanies the first and the last, so hu is the first and the last, and the visible and the invisible. This is the hu – she is colored and one in multiplicity.”

Dr. Eric Winkel (Shu’ayb) has just printed the third of six sections of the 10,000 page Openings revealed in Makkah to Ibn al-Arabi, the chapters on Changes. Here, halfway through the Futuhat al-Makkiyah, Ibn al-Arabi is counseling us to learn about changes, by observing ourselves and by identifying the coursing of the Divine in the cosmos. In the animal world, we observe the chameleon. In the human world, we watch the shadow play, which children and others who recognize the Divine understand is exactly their religion, while the obtuse adults dismiss it as frivolous: they are taking their Religion, which teaches us that we are shadows in a play, as mere play and amusement.

Murshid Ali writes in The Treasure, “With Dr. Shu’ayb’s translation of the Futuhat, by the gift of the Merciful, there will be no more exclusivity of this great work, which is a gift to all of humanity. The time has come to see people gathering and exploring and studying, and removing the darkness that has been plaguing this world for so long. The only way is to make peace with Heaven so that Earth will be transformed for the new humanity. I beseech my Beloved Allah to fulfill this vision of mine in the near future.”

Calligraphy is the most prominent art in Islamic culture. Having its roots in the Qur’an, the practice of calligraphy is a multidimensional endeavor. The practice of calligraphy requires patience and discipline, develops understanding of space and design, and, as the calligrapher develops, engages the intellect in a contemplative way. Mastery of the craft comes after years of effort, but the rewards that come from perseverance along the path enrich the soul.

Elinor Aishah Holland is one of four North American calligraphers to receive an icazet in Thuluth and Nashk scripts within the rigorous Ottoman School. She is the only calligrapher among her contemporaries to practice with equal discipline in both the Arabic and Latin scripts. Holland presents and exhibits extensively across the US and Canada. Clients include the Smithsonian Institute, US Department of State, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Rubin Museum. She has exhibited at King Fahd Qur’an Conference, Sharjah and Kuwait Biennials, New York Islamic Arts Kadim Sanatin.