A sign on the way up to Pir Vilayat's Pod. "Almost ..." was right. I never found it. — N.M-Y. 2015
Just before seven, I headed outside in the rain to the Meditation Hall to lead the “Morning Attunement.” I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant in this context, and hadn’t much time to prepare, but figured I couldn’t go wrong giving instruction in and leading the retreatants in the Chishti dhikr. The session went well and I enjoyed it. Afterward, a wonderfully sincere young man came up and told me that was exactly what he had been looking for, the “real Sufism.” I thought about that . . . The basics of our path; that’s what we need to stick to.
A sign pointing up the road to Pir Vilayat's Pod. Or so it said. — N.M-Y.
Shortly before lunch, I made an attempt to go find Pir Vilayat’s Pod, the place where Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916-2004) used to retreat on the mountain. My friend, Atum O’Kane, one of Pir Vilayat’s senior students, told me that I should visit the spot years before. So I headed up the mountain in a lovely but ultimately fruitless attempt to find the pod. I came upon a campground of sorts and a stone foundation of something, but nothing like the pod that had once been described to me.
The campground on the mountain. — N.M-Y. 2015
In the afternoon teacher’s meeting, Pir Zia asked me to be part of a panel of younger leaders—including himself, Alia Wittman, and Sarah Leila Manolson—during sohbet to discuss issues of paradigm shift in the Sufi Order. It was an interesting conversation and brought up a number of issues for the community.
Sarah Leila Manolson speaking during the sohbet on paradigm shift in the Sufi Order. Photo by Hilary Benas, 2015.
Afterward, I spent the evening hanging out with friends and taking a series of long walks up and down Chairfactory Road, on which I tried to capture pictures of the Moon in puddles.
Unsuccessful attempt to capture the Moon in a puddle. — N.M-Y. 2015