Beloved of Allah,

Thank you for your interest in this series of courses offered as part of the Ruhaniat's Esoteric Studies Program, that Murshid Wali Ali developed. Because of the proliferation of individual connections to the internet and modern digital technology, you can participate in these classes without needing to attend them physically. Please read the information on this page, and on the pricing and ordering pages carefully, so that you have a clear understanding of how this process works. If you have questions after reading the material, please send them to me via email (ruhaniat@mail.com).

Overview of the 3 Classes

The vision for this program came about through Murshid Wali Ali's inspiration and guidance, to rededicate himself to active, regular spiritual practice, and to a deeper study of the rich body of esoteric teachings that we have received from Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, and Hazrat Murshid Samuel Lewis; and, in his position as head of the Ruhaniat's esoteric school, to call other mureeds to a similar rededication to their own practice and study.

At this point in time, Murshid Wali Ali is clear that this study program should be reserved for those who have made a formal commitment to an initiator or guide in one of the three orders in the lineage of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, that is mureeds of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the Sufi Order International, or the Sufi Movement International; or mureeds of the Mevlevi Order of America.

In January of 2003, a series of three, monthly, courses was begun in San Rafael, California, and all received rave reviews from those who participated. Because of the widespread availability of access to the internet, it was decided to make both the readings compilations and the class recordings available to a wider audience, so that those mureeds who were unable to attend the physical classes because of distance, or scheduling, could also participate remotely, using an independent study model.

During the first year more than 100 people made the commitment to their own development and actively pursued the study and practices. In a few areas the seeds of local study groups have begun to sprout. The Kansas City group is the first to organize in a formal way, with visits from Wali Ali planned as part of the group process.

The course called Prayer, the God-Ideal, and Wazifa is suitable for all mureeds (with the explicit permission of their initiators/guides because a full set of daily spiritual practices is prescribed in the assignments), and begins at the beginning of the study program that was originally envisioned by Hazrat Inayat Khan ... with Prayer, the God Ideal, and one's relationship to these two important fundamentals being the focus of the study material and practices.

Breath, Fikr, and Insight is more suitable for long-time mureeds (again with the explicit permission of their initiators/guides), and focuses on Breath and Breath Practices and one's relationship to both, on Fikr, and the development of Insight (Kashf).

Mujahida and Mushahida is a course restricted to mureeds of the 9th grade or above, and focuses on this advanced contemplation practice and the adoption of the viewpoint of God in relation to one's experience of the Inner and Outer Worlds. This course is inappropriate developmentally for a mureed until other stages have been passed through. If in any doubt as to its suitability for you or one of your mureeds, please consult with Murshid Wali Ali about it waliali@marinsufis.com

Checking in with your Initiator

These courses are open to mureeds of the four orders, with the permission and blessing of their Initiators, so if you haven't discussed this with your Guide yet, please do so before proceeding. In most cases this is purely a formality, but since you will be taking up a series of daily spiritual practices over an extended period, the proper adab should be observed, namely that of keeping your Guide apprised of significant focuses (like a regimen of regular practices) and any other major changes in your life. Participation requires a commitment of time, energy, attention, and a financial exchange in accord with the spiritual principle of reciprocity.

The Self Assessment Outline

At the 2002 Fall Jamiat Khas, in California, to begin the process of the Call to Rededication to Practice, Murshid Wali Ali presented a draft Self Assessment Outline to assist others in identifying their own areas of strength and weakness in regard to the practices and teachings which we use.

This is purely a tool of self discovery, to be used for your own information and edification in regard to your own experience with the full spectrum of teachings and practices that we have inherited from our Spiritual Lineage, and to make it more clear to each individual, which areas need attention, which need work. It is not any type of test or examination that will be evaluated by someone else. It does not need to be returned to Wali Ali, or to Amrita.

If you haven't already seen and used the Self Assessment Outline, please do so as your first step in this process. This outline can be dowloaded using the link in the previous sentence, or from the navigation links at the tops of these pages.

Your Committment to this Program

Your participation in one or more of these Esoteric Studies courses should be undertaken with more concentration, dedication, and devotion, than attending a regular Gatha or other Sufi classes, as they have been conducted, and as you may have approached them, in the past.

Participation entails making, and following through with, a committment to Murshid Wali Ali, and more importantly to yourself, to your deeper nature, and to your own spiritual growth and unfoldment, in two major areas -- time and personal effort, and financial support (an investment in your own continuing unfolding).

Your Time Committment
Set aside sufficient time each month for:

• reading, re-reading, studying, reflecting on, and contemplatingthe monthly reading selections
• 1 hour per day (approximately) of spiritual practice
• a few hours per month of writing in a journal
• listening to the 1.5 - 2 hour recorded class presentation, if you decide to do this

One of the focuses of this program is to ignite the passionate desire for spiritual practice and for diving deep into one's inner being, to discover one's strengths, and successes, as well as one's weaknesses, and blocks to progess, and systematically to identify and work with those areas that have been overlooked, neglected, or avoided in the past.

An hour of daily practice, plus a few hours for monthly study, reflection, and journalling, may present a challenge for some to incorporate into already busy, or overly full, schedules, but rather than retreating from the challenge, if one holds to the ideal, and works diligently towards it, gradually increasing the frequency and the time spent, the effort will be rewarded by an invaluable expansion and blossoming of one's spiritual nature into the rest of life.

Taking your time is another consideration to keep in mind, especially if you are joining this process now. There is great need to approach this endeavor with deliberation, concentration, and conscious awareness of each step. There is no rush to get through the material. Your participation is independent study, and each 'class session' or 'lesson' with its associated practices and assignments, should have a full month devoted to it. Rushing through one session to get on to the next is the best way to end up with little more than a bit of intellectual stimulation — and that is not at all what this process is about.

If you do choose to listen to the recorded class presentation, then in order to reap the greatest benefit from the process, please make space in your life to spend approximately 2 hours of uninterrupted time each month listening to the audio cd of Murshid Wali Ali's monthly presentation, rather than attempting to listen to it in multiple segments, starting and stopping, with split attention, when other commitments in your life, or demands on your attention, will interrupt your concentration.

Endeavor to approach this as if you were actually attending the class in person. Visualize yourself sitting with the group of other students who are also participating, attune to them and to Wali Ali, and devote your attention to taking the spoken word and the energetic transmission deep into your being. Create the atmosphere around you as if you were in the same physical space as Wali Ali and the other participants. Give yourself the gift of participating fully in the class.

If need be, actually enter the 2 hour block of time on your calendar as a formal appointment, and make it clear to those you live with that you are busy during this time and shouldn't be interrupted. Turn off the ringer on your phone and let your answering machine take messages for you, etc. Make a commitment to this, follow through with it, and protect it passionately.

Your Financial Committment
This portion of your committment to the process fulfills the Principle of Spiritual Reciprocity. To receive, completely and clearly, we must give. To give, cleanly and clearly, we must receive. In order to keep the energy and atmosphere clean and clear for both giver and receiver, this principle of reciprocity needs to be respected — there has to be a two way exchange, or both parties accumulate karmic debts, which ultimately cloud the process of Awakening.

Despite a popular misconception, spirituality has never been free. There has always been some sort of two-way exchange between giver and receiver — at times explicit, linear, immediate, and direct; at others implicit, non-linear, deferred in time, and indirect, sometimes even deferred to another person or to another life, but always reciprocal.

In previous cultures, work rather than money, was most often the medium of exchange. A mureed or chela came to the khankah or ashram offering physical labor, time, and effort in exchange for the blessings and baraka of the teachings, and for the transmission received through the sheikh or guru. In the Mahabharata there is even the story of the guru Drona requiring Ekalavya's right thumb as his guru dakshina (the required exchange for the spiritual teaching) — rather extreme for our modern sensibilities, to be sure, but the deeper point is that nothing in the manifested universe is free, and that the treasure of teachings, practices, and transmission that can lead one to Awakening is much, much more valuable than any thing, or commodity, that one might choose to purchase. In the Buddhist tradition, in areas where money is the primary medium of exchange, there is a long and respected history of encouraging the active financial support of teachers and the organizations within which they work, so that they have the wherewithal to devote their lives to teaching, and so that the organizations can flourish, providing a variety of services to their members and to the larger community.

Over the years our Sufi community has grown in its understanding and embodiment of this priniciple of spiritual reciprocity, and our teachers and organization are supported financially in a better manner than they were in the past. The tuition contributions and donations received from the participants of this new Esoteric Studies program have, and will continue, to add to this ongoing support of the work of spreading the Message far and wide.