Ep. 1 - Discourse on Devotional Sufi Poetry w/ Dr. Bilal Ware

From, “Kama Sutra, a Tale of Love”

A poem by Ankhet.

A poem by Ankhet.

Blue 💙 is dedicated to the Mississippi Delta and 1862. Blue 💙 is for the human beings who proved themselves immortal through sound. Blue is dedicated to the numerous American stories that want to be told. In the poem, I say, “the world ignored how blue we were being made, but they cannot ignore the sounds we make.” It’s true.

Episode details courtesy of The Bw Here Now Network. Ankhet Rumi and Omid join together to explore embodying truth through teaching, fighting for social justice, the contemporary American Saints of the Freedom Movement, working with anger, & the divine Sufi poetry and wisdom of Rumi. Returning from a short hiatus, Omid is back with the Sufi Heart podcast, welcoming friend, poet, artist, and fellow podcaster, Ankhet Rumi, to the show. This special episode will be dual-casted, not only appearing here on the Be Here Now Network, but also on Ankhet’s self-titled podcast, Ankhet, which illuminates the wisdom of Sufi poet, Rumi, and elucidates Eastern mysticism for modern times, holding deep credence towards the transcendental poetry of existence, social justice, and radical love. Subscribe to Ankhet’s podcast on Spotify and on Anchor Teaching in Truth: Embodying Social Justice Speaking to Omid’s honest, nuanced, and trust-filled presence and teaching style, Ankhet shares, through the lens of a Black Woman, the importance of finding teachers with clear vision and true compassion for the injustices that plague our society. In a world where everything seems so compartmentalized and polarized, to find a teacher with a holistic, interconnected view pointing towards, and bringing people into, the presence of love and truth, is a rare and special embodiment. “As a woman of what is considered Black in this country, when we go looking, or we happen to run into a teacher, we must hear not only love, but even a deeper love, which is the one that refuses to turn away from societal injustices.” – Ankhet Rumi Explore the intersection of social justice and spirituality with activist and spiritual teacher, Konda Mason. Check out Ep. 2 of her brand new Brown Rice Hour The Freedom Movement: Contemporary Saints of United States (2:25) Omid, sharing his activism work, describes when he met famous Civil Rights Leader, Vincent Harding, that Vincent explained he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never once called it the ‘Civil Rights Movement.’ Instead they called it, ‘The Freedom Movement.’ Through this lens, Omid and Ankhet view Civil Rights leaders such as Dr. King and Ella Baker as the true contemporary Saints of the United States, harkening a Sufi tradition optimism, that as long as there is one person remembering God, there is still hope for redemption. “Think about the wisdom of the Sufi tradition, that God will never destroy a people as long as there’s one person left there who’s remembering God. As long as this nation is producing John Lewis, Ella Baker, Martin King, Vincent Harding, Sister Amber; our destiny is not yet destruction. The hour is late, but it’s not too late. There’s still time for hope, redemption, and righting this ship.” – Dr. Omid Safi Join Omid as he reflects on Freedom Movement leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the pertinence of his message for today’s world, on Ep. 11 of Sufi Heart Working with Anger: Colonialism, Lower Selves, & God-Remembrance (39:29) How can we learn to open ourselves to taking in the hard truths of history, like colonialism, slavery, and racism, while not being completely overtaken by anger? How can we notice when we are caught in our lower nafs (selves), and use this a reminder for coming-back to a state of God-remembrance? Quoting Rumi in regards to fighting for social justice, Ankhet and Omid explore practices and vantage points for working with anger, remembering that the base of reality is love. “I asked one of my dear friends, ‘Where does love fit into the revolution?’ ‘Ultimately,’ he said, ‘Where does revolution fit into love? Because all there is, is love.'” – Ankhet Rumi For insight into the divinely transcendental poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi, join Omid for one of his ‘Fireside Chats with Rumi,’ on Ep. 15 of Sufi Heart

My beloved peer, sister, companion, friend Essah Cozett joined me on this episode to talk friendship. Our conversation covered vast amounts of the human experience from the significance of dedicating our academic and spiritual journey to ancestral art, to travel, poetry, marriage and companionship. Press play for an honest, loving exchange drenched in sisterhood!  Essah Cozett is a Liberian-American poet from Georgia. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Her mission is to encourage others to move forward unafraid in pursuit of their dreams.

“You know the North Star that Saint Harriet followed to freedom? You have One inside you.” If you find truth and walk away....”it would make you a hypocrite. And that’s what we strive to escape...” Discourse on devotional Sufi poetry with Dr. Bilal Ware. By the blessings of all who walked this path of Love, who saw what we hope to see and became what we hope to become. We thank them for the grains of sand leading back to this Ocean. In this discourse, we go over the, “Goal of Creation”. We answer the question, “what came first, the branch or the fruit?” This arrangement of words here: “The outward form of these stars maintains our world. But our inward reality maintains the heavens.” This is the pinnacle of our conversation. Jalal al-din Balkhī Rumi has said this, “Do you know who you are? You are a manuscript of a Divine Letter, a mirror reflecting that Face”. What does all this mean if “Who You Are”, is not beneficial for all humanity? God teaches, “I’m in the human heart”. So what does it truly mean to serve another human? “The way to God is in the human heart”. Dr. Bilal Ware sums this all up for us beautifully towards the end of our discussion. “What happens when we are serving other human beings?” If you’ve come across this discussion, I pray that it serves your heart. 🌊🌊