When Oceans Merge
The Contemporary Sufi and Hasidic Teachings of Pir Vilayat Khan and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Published on 12. March 2019
284 pages
978-1-948626-00-2 (ISBN)
Description
This is a book about the intersection of Sufi and Hasidic wisdom as gleaned from the lives and teachings of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement and Pir Vilayat Khan, the head and spiritual director of the Sufi Order of the West. The foreword is by Netanel Miles-Yépez who is one of the founders of the Adam Kadmon Book imprint as well as a Pir and founder of a Jewish-Sufi lineage which was blessed and inspired by Reb Zalman and Pir Vilayat. Reb Zalman and Pir Vilayat knew and held each other in the highest regard while still living. Indeed they were initiated into each other's spiritual community. More than anything, this book shows how a deep spirituality can be developed that is rooted in religious tradition but transcends it.
More details
Person
Gregory Blann, also known as Muhammad Jamal al-Jerrahi, is a sheikh in the Halveti-Jerrahi order of Dervishes and the author of Lifting the Boundaries: Muzaffer Efendi and the Transmission of Sufism to the West and The Garden of Mystic Love: The Origin and Formation of the Great Sufi Orders.
Content
Chapters:
Foreword by Netanel Miles-Yépez
Introduction by the Author
Table of Contents/ Illustrations
Chapter 1: Pir Vilayat Khan
The formative years
Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Message brought by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Murshid Sam
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and the blossoming of the Sufi Order
The Alchemical retreat
Stages of the retreat
The Cosmic Celebration
Connecting with Pir Vilayat Khan
Reb Zalman and the Jewish-Sufi connection
A Pir Vilayat interview with Ellen Burstyn
The Divine Programming
Universalist Sufism and Islamic Sufism
A Pir Vilayat radio interview with Lex Hixon
Words from a Universal Worship Service
Pir Vilayat's visit to Nashville
A peak experience
Discovering in ourselves the awakening of the Universe
Pir Vilayat's last years
Chapter 3: Reb Zalman Schatchter-Shalomi
The early years
Connecting with the universalist Rebbe
1. Universalism and renewal of the sacred traditions
2. The Four levels of reality and the multi-dimensionality of God
3. Ten sephirot and the inner council
4. Updating our God language and concepts
5. Spiritual paradigm shifts and the evolution of the God-ideal
Universalism and renewal of the sacred traditions
Jews seeking fulfillment outside of Judaism
There are still treasures in the tradition
Considering critiques of the traditional image of God
Distinguishing myth and allegory from literal history
Issues around spiritual renewal
Generic Religion
The Four levels of reality & the multi-dimensionality of God
God in the physical world
God in the feeling world
God in the mind world
The world of Divine transcendence
The four paths of Yoga
Karma Yoga (in the world of action)
Bhakti Yoga (in the world of feeling)
Jnana Yoga ( in the world of knowledge)
Raja Yoga (in the world of being and transcendence)
Introduction to the four worlds in Kabbalah and Sufism
The four worlds in psychology and Jung's four types
Archetypal and accessible models
Further elaborations on the four worlds by Reb Zalman
Four levels of meaning in the scriptures
The Levels of the soul in Kabbalah
A conversation on the soul with Reb Zalman
Accessing your fully enlightened self
The Ten Sephirot and the Inner Council
Further sephirotic considerations from Reb Zalman
Consulting your inner council
Updating Our God Language and Concepts
If God is Good, Whence comes Evil?
How our language misleads us
God as Father, enthroned on high
Spiritual paradigm shifts and the evolution of the God-ideal
Teilhard de Chardin
How the divine ideal has changed over time
The Age of Taurus, the bull
The Age of Aries, the ram
The Age of Pisces, the fish
The Age of Aquarius, the water-bearer
The Astrological Ages in the context of the Four Worlds
The Second Axial Age
The Sinai Gathering
Meetings with the Dalai Lama
Renewing the Sufi connection
The passing of Reb Zalman
Appendix 1: Kabbalistic meditations by Pir Vilayat Khan
The sephirot on the Tree of Life
Meditation on the descent
The Christian meditation of Nicholas of Flüe
Appendix 2: The Gospels as Midrash; Christ as Archetype of the Divinity in Humanity
Behold, I show you a mystery
The Christian mystery
Parabolic and symbolic content
Archetype and Allegory in the Christ story
Final thoughts from Reb Zalman
Index
Glossary
Foreword by Netanel Miles-Yépez
Introduction by the Author
Table of Contents/ Illustrations
Chapter 1: Pir Vilayat Khan
The formative years
Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Message brought by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Murshid Sam
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and the blossoming of the Sufi Order
The Alchemical retreat
Stages of the retreat
The Cosmic Celebration
Connecting with Pir Vilayat Khan
Reb Zalman and the Jewish-Sufi connection
A Pir Vilayat interview with Ellen Burstyn
The Divine Programming
Universalist Sufism and Islamic Sufism
A Pir Vilayat radio interview with Lex Hixon
Words from a Universal Worship Service
Pir Vilayat's visit to Nashville
A peak experience
Discovering in ourselves the awakening of the Universe
Pir Vilayat's last years
Chapter 3: Reb Zalman Schatchter-Shalomi
The early years
Connecting with the universalist Rebbe
1. Universalism and renewal of the sacred traditions
2. The Four levels of reality and the multi-dimensionality of God
3. Ten sephirot and the inner council
4. Updating our God language and concepts
5. Spiritual paradigm shifts and the evolution of the God-ideal
Universalism and renewal of the sacred traditions
Jews seeking fulfillment outside of Judaism
There are still treasures in the tradition
Considering critiques of the traditional image of God
Distinguishing myth and allegory from literal history
Issues around spiritual renewal
Generic Religion
The Four levels of reality & the multi-dimensionality of God
God in the physical world
God in the feeling world
God in the mind world
The world of Divine transcendence
The four paths of Yoga
Karma Yoga (in the world of action)
Bhakti Yoga (in the world of feeling)
Jnana Yoga ( in the world of knowledge)
Raja Yoga (in the world of being and transcendence)
Introduction to the four worlds in Kabbalah and Sufism
The four worlds in psychology and Jung's four types
Archetypal and accessible models
Further elaborations on the four worlds by Reb Zalman
Four levels of meaning in the scriptures
The Levels of the soul in Kabbalah
A conversation on the soul with Reb Zalman
Accessing your fully enlightened self
The Ten Sephirot and the Inner Council
Further sephirotic considerations from Reb Zalman
Consulting your inner council
Updating Our God Language and Concepts
If God is Good, Whence comes Evil?
How our language misleads us
God as Father, enthroned on high
Spiritual paradigm shifts and the evolution of the God-ideal
Teilhard de Chardin
How the divine ideal has changed over time
The Age of Taurus, the bull
The Age of Aries, the ram
The Age of Pisces, the fish
The Age of Aquarius, the water-bearer
The Astrological Ages in the context of the Four Worlds
The Second Axial Age
The Sinai Gathering
Meetings with the Dalai Lama
Renewing the Sufi connection
The passing of Reb Zalman
Appendix 1: Kabbalistic meditations by Pir Vilayat Khan
The sephirot on the Tree of Life
Meditation on the descent
The Christian meditation of Nicholas of Flüe
Appendix 2: The Gospels as Midrash; Christ as Archetype of the Divinity in Humanity
Behold, I show you a mystery
The Christian mystery
Parabolic and symbolic content
Archetype and Allegory in the Christ story
Final thoughts from Reb Zalman
Index
Glossary
