Inspirer of my mind, consoler of my heart, healer of my spirit,
Thy presence lifteth me from earth to heaven
Thy words flow as the sacred river
Thy thought riseth as a divine spring
Thy tender feelings waken sympathy in my heart.

Beloved Teacher, thy very being is forgiveness.
The clouds of doubt and fear are scattered by thy piercing glance.
All ignorance vanishes in thy illuminating presence;
A new hope is born in my heart by breathing thy peaceful atmosphere.

O inspiring Guide through life’s puzzling ways, in Thee I feel abundance of blessing.

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On the occasion of his Urs, the anniversary of his return to the Beloved, I weep for my spiritual father and dance with joy in the downpour from the planes of light where he lives now.

I notice that these days, not so many people understand the “guru trip” as we termed it in our times. That may just be a phenomenon here where I live, or it may be a more universal one. These days, people don’t want to be initiated. They don’t want to join anything. They’re afraid they can’t trust, and so they don’t want to “surrender” to the guru, as we did (and learned that, painful thought it could be, surrender is the quickest path to freedom). They want to read books, see films and discuss them with other people. They’re like bees, sipping honey wherever they find it. Honey is delicious, but as Mevlana said, “the surrender to God is so hard the disciple sheds tears of blood” and the guru shows the way. I chose blood, and will never stop being thankful for that.

This is just how it seems to me, it may well not seem that way to others. And I have a long way to go, so don’t listen to me!

May all people be free.

The above sung by my dear friend Shams in the words of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan