i saw the dervish dancers in sydney opera house... love a bit of sufism...merle
Posted a few more great faces, just one face: Hazrat Inayat Khan, musician, and founder of the Sufi Order in the West. ;-) I practiced long with his disciples in New York City, before coming to practice with my shifu, Ch'an Master Sheng Yen in 1979, following years of hatha yoga, which continues now (but now I call it Buddhist Yoga, as taught by Sheng Yen for our use at home and on 7-day, 10-day, and 14-day retreat Ch'an retreat; a few 49 day retreats, too; I teach that yoga since 1980, because I promised shifu, and it is easy). Such a great face! Always loved old Hazrat just enough for that alone; but he gave us so much more. Thinking of days gone by. But he gives to people finding him now, too. As does Pir Vilayat. And Pir's son, I forget his name. Old Shahabuddin Less, at the kanka at 14th Street and 2nd Avenue, a "junk" neighborhood (heroin) in those days, taught like a zen teacher, and *said* that he taught like a zen teacher. We did 3-day retreats upstairs, and it was exactly zazen. I liked that, and since he said his way was like a zen teacher, I waited for a zen teacher. Sheng Yen appeared, and I was one of the Master's first disciples in the West. In fact, I was lucky: I was number 13. He passed away in Feb., 2009, too young. Impermanence bites ...us all, those who pass, and those who are left "behind". Is Sheng Yen's face in the Group photos page, too? No? --Joe
