Brotherhood/Sisterhood School

Brotherhood/Sisterhood Ray

The Children of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Hidayat, Kair-un-nisa, Noor-un-nisa, Vilayat

The Brotherhood/Sisterhood Ray encompasses seminars in various subjects of spiritual training, such as yoga, philosophy, psychology, music, dances of Universal Peace and different styles of meditation practices. See the schedule for local classes and other related events.

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  • Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood
  • Seven Aspects of Brotherhood and Sisterhood
  • The Great Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood
  • Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representatives and Center Leaders

The Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood

The Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood inspires and guides in all one’s efforts offered humbly to the spreading of a Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty; a Message which each one serves in according to the attunement of his or her own personal convictions.

As followers of this Ideal, ones heartfelt motivation is expressed in the transparency of ones insight in the opinion of others, with as much intensity as one would expect ones own convictions to be understood. It is then that preconceived ideas vanish leaving place for Wisdom.

The Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood is destined to the world at large at the level of the Unity of Religious Ideals which offers Inner Peace to those souls who’s hearts are open to the diversity of images of the One and only Truth; the Divine Spirit of Guidance. And in so doing, making a reality of the privilege that all Brothers and Sisters have been granting in becoming living examples of the Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty.

Seven Aspects of Brotherhood and Sisterhood as given by Hidayat Inayat Khan

FROM A HUMAN POINT OF VIEW:
talking to each other in his or her own tone

FROM A SOCIAL POINT OF VIEW:
showing understanding for the opinions of others

FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW:
promoting the unity of religious ideals

FROM AMORAL POINT OF VIEW:
offering all that which is expected while expecting nothing in return

FROM A POINT OF VIEW OF WISDOM:
being a living example of love, harmony and beauty

FROM A MYSTICAL POINT OF VIEW:
freeing oneself from the illusion of the self

FROM A SPIRITUAL POINT OF VIEW:
attuning oneself and others to the divine spirit of guidance

The Great Ideal of Brotherhood and Sisterhood

Our Master Hazrat Inayat Khan has mentioned so often in different ways that the secret resides in the manner of contacting others at their own religious level, their own spiritual level, their own cultural level, and in harmonising oneself with their characteristics. One of the images that our Master gives is the following: a Maharaja, in all his glory, is invited to have a dry loaf of bread and a little bit of water in the hut of a beggar. If at that moment he were to make the effort to place himself at the level of the destitute beggar, so that the beggar would feel neither envious nor ashamed, then the Maharaja would truly show greatness of soul. But if the beggar were invited to the palace of the Maharaja, he would not deserve that privilege if he did not do everything possible to behave correctly, avoiding disharmonious words or actions and attuning himself to the beauty, the glory, the majesty of the palace. These are extreme examples but in subtler forms such situations do come about in some way or other in our lives.

This brings us to another subject to consider: even if we do not agree with the opinion of another, we might remember that they have the right not to agree with our opinion. If we expect others to respect our own opinion, it is our duty to respect the fact that another has a different opinion. It does not mean that we adopt the opinions of others when respecting them, for in so doing we also strengthen our own.

We might want to make a reality out of a precious privilege which we have all been granted, that of becoming living examples of love, harmony and beauty, although we only exemplify these precious qualities insofar as we have understood the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan. “Make God a reality and God shall make you the truth.” Only when the mind is purified, or in other words freed from all distinctions and differences, retaining only those abstract concepts relevant to our ideal, shall we understand the meaning of the words: “Not to be is to be”.

Knowledge is indisputable when it willingly proves itself in the face of apparent contradictions, unlike dogma, which refuses any comparative reasoning. Neither does inspiration contradict reason; although not always appearing logical, yet inspiration is ultimately the fulfilment of reason. Discrimination void of reason is distorted insight, often generated by emotion aroused by ideological concepts and the unsound interpretation of these. All thoughts and actions throw the mind world into corresponding waves. When a thought or action no longer occupies – our attention we then assume that the waves have ceased to rise and fall, whereas it is only a reduction in intensity of the waves. The mind world can however be stirred again and again into stormy waters, each time the power of the memory is let loose. Mastery over the illusion of the self is obtained when restraining thoughts and feelings, thereby offering repose to the thinking mechanism, as opposed to identifying oneself with all that stimulates self- consciousness.

Let us therefore dedicate our minds as well as our bodies, hearts and souls to the very purpose of our lives; let us respect with transparent insight the opinions of others, just as one would want one’s own to be rightly understood; let us vanquish our preconceived ideas so that wisdom may finally prevail, that very wisdom which embodies the real meaning of the word Sufi. In accepting this precious privilege, let us greet each other most heartily as true brothers and sisters, together venturing forward with one and the same purpose — on the one universal path of spiritual liberty.

Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representatives and Center Leaders

  1. The Center Leader is the representative of the Esoteric School of the International Sufi Movement with right of Bayat (right to give initiation), who is also authorized to represent the other four activities of the Sufi Movement, but without any obligation. Center Leaders are therefore welcome to delegate their responsibilities regarding one or more of the other four activities, if they do not want to handle these. However, they cannot delegate their responsibilities as Representative of the Esoteric School. If the Center Leader is not in a position to function, the National Representative is expected to refer to the Office of the Representative General (attention: Executive Supervisor) and to propose a successor who is then appointed officially by the Executive Supervisor, in consultation with the Representative General. In general a Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative is not a Center Leader but functions within the chain of Brotherhood Representatives in a city, region or country and has the following superiors: the Continental Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative, the National Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative, the Regional Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative.
  2. Local Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representatives represent the Brotherhood/Sisterhood Activity as Representatives of the Sufi Movement, their responsibility as Local Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representatives is to spread the Message at the level of Brotherhood/Sisterhood activities. They are the “Contact” persons in charge of giving out information regarding the Sufi work in general, in the absence of a Center Leader in their area. However, if there is a Center Leader in this area, they are expected to function in consultation with the Center Leader. A Local Representative can also represent the Sufi Movement, as a Brother or Sister in remote areas where there is no National Representative, nor Sufi Center, nor any type of Sufi activity, but in that case the Local Representatives refrain from organizing esoteric activities.
  3. The Regional Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representatives are in charge of keeping contact with the other Local Representatives in the region, they can very well function in a city where there are one or more Sufi Centers, because their responsibility is limited to the Brotherhood/Sisterhood activity. However, it is expected that there be a good relationship between the Regional Representative and the Center Leader in the city. A Regional Representative can very well be responsible for an entire region in a country, and in such case is expected to consult with the National Representative. A Center Leader in a city can also be a Regional Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative for a large area where there are no Sufi Centers, just as a Center Leader can very well be at the same time the National Representative in that country.
  4. There is also such a thing as a Brotherhood/Sisterhood Center where only the Brotherhood/Sisterhood ideal of the Sufi Movement is activated by a Local Representative and where no initiations are given.
  5. The National Representative is expected to motivate all five activities in a country and can also, however, delegate one or more of the National Representative functions to a qualified Leader, such as a Siraj(a) or a Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative.
  6. There can be such a thing as a National Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative for a country, who is not qualified to motivate any activity other than the Brotherhood/Sisterhood. This is a rare situation but we do have this in Singapore and in the Philippines.