~ by Juliet rabia Gentile
Outside the lavender gray sky opened and a torrent of rain poured down, inside all who were gathered moved and swayed to the sound of the affirmation of unity, La illaha ilallah, there is no reality apart from God. This was the auspicious beginning of the first of three inaugural preview gatherings of Faith House Manhattan.
We began with a suggestion from life: breathe. What does it mean to breathe? In this frenetic place of paradox and contradiction, this city we call home: Manhattan, all those gathered collectively took a breath of fresh air, put aside our certitudes and concepts and moved towards a new vision of what it means to be: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or another sojourner. We all embarked upon a journey to find something new: the other.
The Stranger, the guest at the table, these are concepts that play a central role in the mystical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. What does it mean to be a guest? What does it mean to open one’s home to the other? Islamic oral tradition relates that it was the practice of the Prophet Abraham to abstain from eating unless he had a guest at his table. At one time he even waited an entire month without food because no guest or beggar came to his house seeking a meal. In this way Abraham is an example of the most extreme form of hospitality, that which seeks the other in order to survive. Abraham, the father of monotheism, had a tent in the deserts of Arabia, a tent that was open on all sides. Under this tent he invited all to join him and to pray, to feast and to learn from one another. Each one of us has followed his example in answering the invitation of Faith House: by inviting each other to be guests at our house, to seek shelter under our tent.
Just one week ago we gathered and watched as this creation took form, as a modern tent of Abraham was erected in mid-town…
The day began at 4pm with a sound of shofar. The program began with Samir Selmanovic, our coordinator, extending an invitation to all those gathered. This invitation was to enter Faith House with an open mind, to experience “holy awkwardness.” By accepting this invitation, each one of us entered the “living room” of Faith House, a place where one can share a meal, a thought, a dream with friends. A place where one can share a concern, ask a question, ask for help. A place where everyone is welcome to be themselves, to live…
Reflecting this plurality, the three co-leaders, Jill Minkoff, Bowie Snodgrass and myself came forward to each recite the central prayers of our traditions (The Shema, The Lord's Prayer, and Al Fatiha). Lauralea Banks led the group in a moment of silence to honor the multiplicity of spiritual traditions that were not formally represented that day.
Following this prelude of unity, the afternoon progressed with a short guided meditation on ”breath” from the Islamic tradition. This prayer, known as dhikr kafi or silent remembrance, consists of sitting silently and focusing on the heart while repeating the name Allah with each breath, Al- on the in-breath, and -Lah on the out-breath. The goal of this prayer is to drop away from the mind-space, to leave behind the have-to’s and must’s of daily life, and enter the Heart. The Heart or qalb in the Islamic tradition, is a place one can enter at any time and be with the Lord and Beloved alone, a place of refuge, of silence. From this space of embodied prayer we moved into a brief explanation of the common types of prayer practiced in the Islamic tradition. This explanation flowed naturally into another experiential exercise. This time we plunged into the prayer known as dhikr jali or audible remembrance. Those gathered began chanting, La illaha ilallah or there is no reality apart from the One. As the intensity of the chanting increased I began to sing a kaside or traditional improvisational song. After the chanting finished we all sat in silence for one moment before Jill led us in the fun and spirited exercise of “breathing life into Faith House,” along with the children.
This concluded our experience of reflecting on the foundation of our community: Life. This experience opened up new horizons and questions about what it means to be connected to each other and to our common Source of Life, as the life-breath which sustains us without question, distinction or hesitation.
We can only experience this community with your participation. Without the other, we cannot fully know ourselves. It is the goal of Faith House to invite everyone to this banquet table, to this tent of Abraham, to enjoy spiritual fellowship, to learn together, to grow together. There is so much yet to discover and to share.
Mevlana Jellaludin Rumi writes in his poem, The Guest House:
The human being is a Guest House
every morning there is a knocking at the door
a new arrival: joy, anger, sadness
some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor
Welcome and entertain them all
even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of all its furniture
Treat each guest honorably,
for He may be clearing you out for some new delight
The dark thought, the shame, the malice
meet them at the door laughing
and invite them in
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
In this poem Rumi suggests that even what appears to be bitter may be inwardly sweet, may hold some hidden gold, some hidden wisdom for us. It is with this openness, with this sense of hospitality that we wish to invite you to be our Guest. We invite you to bring your hopes, fears, and questions to the door of Faith House, so that we may all learn together, the secrets that have been sent from beyond…
Thank you to all those who have brought Faith House into the world and to all those who will contribute in the future.
The doors are open. Enter in. Welcome to the adventure!
Thank you Julie for such a wonderful recap of our first meeting together. I very much enjoyed it. I was wondering if anyone could explain something to me. I have understood that the literal translation (or the way I learned it anyways) of the phrase "La illaha ilallah" is "there is no God, but God" which is slightly different from how it was presented from the Sufi tradition. Any insight would be appreciated. :)
Posted by: Sam | Jul 08, 2008 at 12:56 PM
The common translation is : There is no god But God.
(which means there is no partner with God) & also means (nothing comes close to God)
"La illaha ilallah, there is no reality apart from God" is used by some mystics. (to mean that everything else is an illusion but God)
Posted by: Daisy Khan | Jul 10, 2008 at 01:33 PM