The Declaration

With the words,  "    " I will not resign from the Sufi Order; I will not renounce my spiritual brothers and sisters in California. I’m just going to rise above the whole thing...", Mansur checks in with Moineddin in the letter dated September 19, 1977.

It's part of the unfoldment, i.e. separation, described in this chapter of Letters from Moineddin (www.mansurjohnson.com/content/declaration) brought on by Pir Vilayat Khan's Declaration that the hippies in the Sufi Order had to stop smoking grass, or leave . The Sufi Order and the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society (S.I.R.S.)--Up until now, we were all Sufi Order. After the Declaration, there were two organizations.

My visit to California caused Moineddin to write a critical letter (July 2, 1977). This made me deliver an angry defensive reply (July 8, 1977). Moineddin responded (July 14, 1977) with an unyielding compassionate letter on the same subject. And Mansur replied (July 18, 1977) but apparently didn’t mail the letter, as the original is still in the file. I’m leaving all these out for reasons of love, harmony and beauty.

However, I will share one line from Mansur’s last, the line, “And now I am told that Pir Vilayat is banning marijuana from the Sufi Order…” It is the first foreshadowing in the correspondence of Pir Vilayat Khan’s “Declaration.”

Let’s take it up from there. To set the scene, it must be remembered that at this time in the mid 70s Murshid Sam’s center in San Francisco, as well as Mansur’s in Boston, was one of many branches of the Sufi Order headed by Pir Vilayat. As the Spiritual Leader of the Hippies, Murshid Sam attracted and cultivated a bunch of people that smoked marijuana. With Pir Vilayat’s declaration, such individuals were no longer welcome in the Sufi Order. What a dilemma this turned out to be for Moineddin! His next was a form letter with the name space after “Dear” blank, so Moineddin could fill in the name of the person to whom he was sending this announcement.

Hurkalya

September 6, 1977

Dear Mansur, Beloved One (s) of Allah,

As-salaam aleikhum!

Enclosed you will find a copy of my statement regarding the recent developments surrounding Pir Vilayat’s Declaration. This statement will be published alongside of a similar statement by Pir Vilayat in the next issue of The Message. Am sending my statement out early to various Center Leaders so that they may know one’s position and not be kept in the dark on these and related matters.

I have added a few paragraphs under the heading of “Notes”, which are a direct response to some of Pir Vilayat’s words in his statement, words which if permitted to go unchallenged would cast S.I.R.S. in a less than favorable light. My “Notes” will be clearer when you are able to read Pir Vilayat’s statement in the next issue of The Message.

A special Jamiat Meeting of all Sheikhs, Khalifs and Center Leaders will be convened at Hurkalya on Saturday, September 24 at 8 p.m. to discuss how we may best effect this new way of working along autonomous lines. Leaders from outside the Bay Area are certainly invited to attend if possible; for those who cannot attend we shall endeavor to send out copies of the minutes of this Jamiat Meeting.

Then on Thursday evening, September 29 (time and place to be announced) there will be a Mureeds Meeting convened to air in a full and complete way the step open to mureeds as to how to proceed during this time of organizational flux.

This should bring you up to date.

Ya Fatah!

Moineddin

Murshid Moineddin Jablonski

 

STATEMENT ON SUFI ORDER AND S.I.R.S.

TOWARD THE ONE, THE PERFECTION OF LOVE, HARMONY AND BEAUTY, THE ONLY BEING, UNITED WITH ALL THE ILLUMINATED SOULS WHO FORM THE EMBODIMENT OF THE MASTER, THE SPIRIT OF GUIDANCE.

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and I spoke at length concerning the recent Declaration he made with regard to drugs, psychedelics and marijuana. An even deeper issue seems to be whether or not certain mureeds and leaders in the Sufi Order will accept Pir Vilayat’s guidelines and regard him as the spiritual teacher.I am aong this latter category, having been initiated into Sufim by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis who I consider my primary spiritual guide. A number of others are in this same category, some having been initiated by Murshid Lewis and some by other Sufi teachers. These mureeds and leaders, for one reason or another, find that they cannot abide Pir Vilayat’s Declaration or guidance.

It now appears that the Sufi Order under Pir Vilayat’s direction, and the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society under my direction, will take autonomous paths. However, and this is a very important however, we shall continue to cooperate on several fronts including the following:

  1. The reading of Gathas, Githas, etc. will continue under the present mode. Members of the Sufi Order will be permitted to attend Gathas sponsored by S.I.R.S., and S.I.R.S. members will likewise be allowed to attend the Gatha programs organized by the Sufi Order.
  2. Friendships that have been made must not be allowed to lapse or disintegrate through mud-slinging or other petty reactions.
  3. The sacred feeling of each group must be preserved. Each orientation feels that its roots are deep in the selfsame soil that Hazrat Inayat Khan prepared for the seeds of the Message of the New Age.
  4. We are not working at cross purposes; we are working in the spirit of mutual cooperation—with unique approaches—to further the spreading of God’s Living Message far and wide.

A special Bay Area Mureeds Meeting will be convened toward the end of September (time and place to be announced) to fully air these issues, and to clarify any questions in the minds of mureeds as to how to proceed with whichever group they choose to support.

Love and blessings,

Murshid Moineddin Jablonski (signed)

Murshid Moineddin Jablonski, representing the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society