Course Tuitions and Materials

In order to honor the Spiritual Principle of Reciprocity, to complete the Cycle of Giving and Receiving, and actively to participate in the ongoing financial support of our Ruhaniat organization, the following suggestions are offered as guidelines for deciding how much to contribute in exchange for individual participation in these study courses, and for use of this program with others.

Each course of study consists of a year's worth of readings, spiritual practices, and other assignments, presented in 10 or 11 monthly class sessions. The tuition range below is a suggestion, and of course you may contribute more. Please consult your heart when deciding how much you can afford, how much the stream of baraka and transmission of our lineage has blessed your life, and remembering that giving opens up space inside for more to be received.

The suggested individual tuition contribution range for each course of study is:

from $ 225  to  $ 333  USD, per course

The course tuitions include access to digital copies of the course materials and email access to Murshid Wali Ali for questions that might arise from the material, practices, and assignments if your initiator/guide is unable to assist you.

Economic Plus and Minus

For those who are doing well financially, and who are guided to contribute an amount larger than the suggested range, your benevolence is much appreciated, for it accomplishes two things: the generous and direct support of the work the Ruhaniat (for which you reap additional karmic benefit); and a compassionate Opening of the Way to enable those less fortunate than you to participate in this progam as well, without being forced to make difficult choices between living day to day, and pursuing their own esoteric development.    Ya Shakur, Ya Karim, Ya Fattah!

For those who are on limited or fixed incomes, or in restricted personal financial circumstances, or who live in areas where the economic climate may be difficult or depressed, there is NO expectation that you should have to make a choice between contributing the suggested amount and eating a meal, or paying the bills for your basic necessities — the exchange itself is much more important than the particular amount.

Please don't sit quietly by on the sidelines. if you feel guided to participate in this program and are concerned that you may not be able to afford the low end of the suggested contribution range, don't hesitate to contact Amrita to arrange a payment schedule, or to suggest a reduced contribution — one that works on all levels, honoring your particular situations and obligations, as well as contributing to the ongoing support of this important work.

As one example of how to arrive at an appropriate amount for a reduced tuition contribution, consider the following - during January through November of 2003, when these courses were being produced as monthly class sessions, it was felt that suggesting a tuition contribution of $20 per person per month, for each course, was a very reasonable amount, based on the economy in the San Francisco Bay Area, and considering the high caliber of Murshid Wali Ali as a spiritual teacher. In fact, most of those pursuing the initial classes felt that $20 a month was incredibly inexpensive for what they received in return ... the excellent quality of his teachings, his inspiration and guidance; his almost 40 years of experience with the teachings and practices personally, and with guiding numerous mureeds in their own growth and unfolding with the same teachings and practices; the magentism and baraka of his atmosphere, and the ongoing power of his concentration on the classes and the mureeds pursuing them; plus the daily baraka, and spiritual blessings to be reaped from spending a full year in a concentrated and focused process of studying the monthly reading selections, and doing the daily practices that Murshid Wali Ali was guided to select for each montly session.

This being so, consider what might be requested in your own geographic area, based on the particular economics of that location, to attend a monthly, 2 hour, spiritual development class, which builds in power and depth with each succeeding class session, over a period of a year, with focused reading selections to be studied and contemplated during each month, and spiritual practices and other exercises to be performed daily throughout that period; designed by, taught, and energetically overseen, by a teacher of a comparable caliber and long experience as Murshid Wali Ali.

In order to get a good sense of what is a fair amount for the economics of your own area, consider what might be requested for the same sort of series of classes, offered by a teacher of comparable experience and development, from a variety of different, respected spiritual lineages such as Tibetan Buddhism, Vipassana, Yoga, Qabbala, Shamanism, etc, and use this as a baseline for your reflections on the appropriate reduced tuition amount to contribute.

Knowing what others might be or are requesting for similar offerings and potential returns, meditate on what amount constitues Right Action for you, in your own particular circumstance, for this particular course of study and practice, and be guided by that.
Ya Shakur, Ya Razzaq, Ya Fattah!

Course Materials Available in Different Ways

By Download at No Charge:
The monthly reading selections are available to you here at the website, in four different file formats:

• Adobe Acrobat .PDF (requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

  The .PDF files are available in two versions each, one formatted for single sided printing, and the other for double-sided printing, for those who would like to save paper when printing them out. NOTE: unless you printer is capable of double sided printing, you WILL have to send the pages through the printer twice.

To open the .pdf files you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5, or later, installed on your computer. If you don't have it, you can download it for free from www.adobe.com (click the yellow and red button, in the blue box, just below the middle of the page, that says 'Get Acrobat Reader').

The monthly class session recordings are also available to you here at the website in MP3 compressed format, which means that a 1.5 to 2 hour class can be reduced in size from 750 - 1050 MegaBytes in standard audio format (requiring 2 cds) to only 15 - 20 MegaBytes in MP3 format. The one drawback is that MP3 recordings will NOT play in standard audio CD players. They can only be listened to on your computer, or in a special separate MP3 player. Burning an 'audio' CD copy (NOT a 'data' copy) of an MP3 recording will convert it back to audio format, making the copy playable in any standard music CD player.

Folks connecting to the internet with a 56Kb, or 28.8Kb modem will find that attempting to download these multi-megabyte audio files will take many hours each. If your phone service is less than robust, if there is a lot of static or other digital 'noise' on your line, if your modem tends to drop the connection, or if your ISP (Internet Service Provider) bumps you offline during high volume times, or if the downloading process is interrupted for some other reason, chances are you'll need to start the download process all over again, which can be very frustrating. One approach to this problem might be to begin the multi-hour download before you go to bed, and let it run while you're sleeping. The middle of the night is usually a low volume time for most ISPs and phone systems, so this approach might work — however despite your best intentions, this scenario just may not work. We don't recommend trying to download the class recordings via a 28.8Kb or 56Kb modem. A fast connection to the internet — DSL, ISDN, Cable Modem, Broadband, T1, or T3 — is what we recommend.

Remember MP3 audio files MUST be played on your computer, or in a separate MP3 player. In addition, the software that comes with most cd burners, that allows you to make copies of audio or data cds, will convert MP3 audio format to standard audio format if you make the copy as an 'audio' cd. This would allow you to transfer the downloaded MP3 files to cds that would be playable in regular audio cd players, such as your home, portable, or vehicle stereo systems. Each 1.5 - 2 hour MP3 recording will require 2 audio cds, so the full course will need 20 - 22 cds.

If you are feeling a bit technically challenged, perhaps you know someone in your area, a friend, a colleague at work, whose 'geek quotient' is higher than yours, who would be willing to do a bit of hand-holding for you and walk you through the process a time or two until you feel comfortable getting the materials yourself.

If your modem connection to the internet is too slow to make downloading multi-megabyte mp3 files feasible, perhaps you also know someone with a faster connection -- maybe the same friend, or colleague, who would be willing to download the audio files and burn them onto cds for you. A bit of judicious networking here could make a potentially daunting technological situation an enjoyable experience for you, plus building some skills in the process.

[NOTE: there has been difficulty reported trying to burn CD copies of these MP3 files using the Windows Millenium (ME) operating system.]

Hard-Copy Materials Mailed to You:
For those who are unable, or who prefer not, to download the course materials themselves, paper copies of the reading materials, and audio-format cds (playable in any standard cd player) of the class recordings, are available for an additional cost.

As there are out of pocket expenses, and additional time required to produce and ship these materials, tuition reductions do not apply to these hard copy prices.

Paper copies of course readings          $  99  US   per course
       (20-30 pages per montly class session)

Audio CDs of class session recordings  $  121  US   per course
       (2 cds per most montly class sessions) 

Postage and handling is included in the above prices.

Discount Hard-Copy Materials Option:
All of the course reading materials, plus the MP3 compressed versions of all of the class session recordings, will fit onto a single CD, and this is available for only $ 11 USD.

For those whose Internet modem connection is too slow to make downloading multi-MegaByte recordings feasible, and who can print the reading materials themselves, and listen to the MP3 class session recordings on their computer, or can burn copies of their own audio CDs, this option will save you both the expense of ordering the hard copy materials, as well as the time and effort of downloading.

Simply read the material and listen to the class session recordings from your computer, or print out the readings at your convenience, and burn your own copies of the individual class session CDs, from the readings and MP3 files on this CD.

Please note and remember that MP3 format recordings are NOT listenable on standard audio cd players. To listen to an MP3 recording, you must open this CD on your computer, using your computer's MP3 player, or use a special, separate MP3 player. For those with CD burners, the burning software should convert MP3 format to standard audio format, when you transfer the individual class session MP3 files to separate CDs. Make sure you burn the copy as an Audio CD, not a Data CD.

[NOTE: there has been difficulty reported trying to burn CD copies of these MP3 files using the Windows Millenium (ME) operating system.]

Payment Options

Payment of the course tuitions, hard copy materials orders and donations to the program to underwrite participation by mureeds less financially abundant than you, can be made by check, US Postal or International Money Order, by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover), or online via a secure online payment account at PayPal.com (see below).

Checks or Money Orders, in US funds, should be made payable to SRI.

Please indicate on the check, or on a separate sheet of paper the specific items you are paying for, so that we don't have to guess or make assumptions about your intentions. Give the course name, the tuition amount you are paying, and which hard copy materials you wish to order. If you have worked out a payment plan with me, indicate that this is Partial Payment, and when I should expect the subsequent payments.

Please send all payments to the Ruhaniat Secretariat. Please DO NOT send them to Muiz as he is no longer directly involved in the adminsitration of the study program, nor to Murshid Wali Ali, as he has turned over all proceeds from the courses to the Ruhaniat.

Amrita Blaine
SRI (Sufi Ruhaniat International)
PO Box 51118 [** please note that there are three 1's in this box number, 5-111-8 **]
Eugene, OR  97405 , USA
ruhaniat@mail.com
541-345-5223
(+1) 541-345-5223 (from outside the USA)
_____________________

Don't forget to include your mailing address and contact info (email and phone).

PayPal.com can be used for either credit or debit card payments:

1. Use the following information at PayPal when you make your payment

*PayPal Recipient = ruhaniat@mail.com
*PayPal Type = Service

*PayPal Note = Please indicate the item(s) that you're making payment for [Course Name, and amount(s) for Tuition Contributions, for Papers, for CDs]. If you aren't paying the full amount now (ie you plan to make payments), indicate that this is a PARTIAL PAYMENT, and what your payment frequency will be.

Please Include your mailing address and phone number, even if you are NOT ordering cds or papers, so that we have complete contact information for the study program.

Indicate 'donation' for any amounts over the tuitions and materials costs.

And finally, please send me an email indicating that you've paid via PayPal. The completion of your PayPal payment is supposed to automatically generate an email to me alerting me that a payment has been made, but for reasons that PayPal technical support cannot explain, the email often doesn't arrive, so unless I check the Ruhaniat account at PayPal, I may not know that you've made a payment.

Late Payments and Problems
If you have selected installment payments, PLEASE DO NOT WAIT TO RECEIVE PAYMENT REMINDERS. Please take personal responsibility for staying on top of your payment commitment, rather than expecting to be reminded of it. Late payments requiring email or telephone follow up add extra work to my already full schedule. If something in your life interferes with making timely payments at any point during the process, please contact me about it before the payment is overdue, so that I don't have to spend the time to find out what the situation is. As secretary for the Ruhaniat, and as well as working to make my own living, I have much better uses for my time and efforts.

If there is some situation that interfers with your fulfillment of your commitment to the program, if finances have become tight, if a payment is going to be late, if one has to drop out of the process, or if one needs put it on hold because of illness, etc, etc, etc, the proper adab would be to discuss the situation with your initiator/guide and with me, so that we can work out a solution together, rather than just ceasing communication, or simply 'dropping out of sight'.

PLEASE extend to your initiator/guide, to me, and to yourself, the deep courtesy and adab of communicating with me about it as soon as possible:

• so that we understand what's happening with your process,
• so that if needed, you and I can work out a solution that works for you, and for us,
• so that I don't have to 'chase you down' after your payment is late

MANY THANKS in advance for your conscientious attention to this and for your Right Action in following through on your commitment,

Amrita