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Ziraat Activity
Musawira Bruning & Sharifa NortonTurning our eyes to where the movement is
Ziraat provides an accommodation for : the inner cultivation of our heart, mind and soul, planetary healing and sacred ecology. When we look inside ourselves or we look to the outer world, the great need for harmony is obvious. Hazrat Inayat Khan said repeatedly that balance is the need of the world today. Thinking of harmony, sometimes we tend to think of the past, when life seemed to be easier and the planet was not threatened by overexploitation. Balance is an ongoing movement from stability to instability and then back, creating rhythm and harmony within a cycle. Each step we take leads us through a phase of instability and yet allows us to move forward. We cannot find solutions for today by looking back into the past with nostalgia.
All life moves in cycles. Our individual life as well as the life of our planet are but phases of larger and greater cycles. The Ziraat Dialogue speaks about these cycles, saying, the Farmer keeps watch. The knowledge of cycles in nature and as an underlying reality of our lives helps us to turn our eyes to where the movement is. We watch the signs on the horizon and within ourselves to perceive the new move, the new element, to build a bridge, a passage towards a new state of balance and harmony.
Turning the eyes to where the movement is, is what we consider to be one of the core principles of the Ziraat activity. The bridge, with its arch between the banks, symbolizes this principle, moving forward in life. A living heart creates a bridging, a passage between the two banks of the river. And a bridge once built becomes a passage not only for oneself but for others too.Turning the eyes to where the movement is, means looking into our hearts as the ultimate accomodation for all transformation. The movement we observe in nature throughout the seasons reveals the essence of all in different stages, from the seed towards the mature form and back to the seed. The inner movement of the heart is to create meaningfulness out of all kinds of experience, joy and pain. Thus the living heart could be considered as the way across the bridge. Living values, anchored in the soil of a cultivated heart enable us to meet the challenges of our time. Turning our eyes towards the depth of our hearts and building a bridge into the future, rooted in love, and not in fear is an expression of the open heart which can move the thoughts to find appropriate answers. Thus, cultivating the heart is essential for Ziraat, to become children of the future by means of maturity of experience. It’s not trying to escape the reality of our limited lives, but turning the eyes to where the movement is and extracting sense and meaning out of all kinds of experiences.
The first step to learn how to turn the eyes towards where the movement is, is being watchful. What does the Farmer do at night ? He keeps watch.In the story of Moses seeking his guide Khidr, Moses is asked to keep watch on his journey, to keep alert for where the fish he is carrying jumps into the water. He is told the place will be where the two seas meet. This is where he will meet his guide, Khidr, the verdant one. Moses misses this moment, only realizing later that he forgot to keep alert, literally forgetting to turn his attention to where the movement is and retraces his steps to where the fish jumped into the water. The two seas meeting may represent the locus of revelation, the confluence of harmony, the bridging of heaven and earth, of spirit and matter, the place where opposites are overcome, and the fish jumping into the water as where the living energy and vitality reside.
The Ziraat work asks that we be responsive to all life with a cultivated heart and mind. We are asked to read the correspondences; we are continually asked to be receptive to what is transpiring behind what appears. The Farmer works through all seasons and in all cycles, watchful, responsive to and taking great care of both the farm within and without.
« The world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection; it needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness is required from each one of us ». Hazrat Inayat Khan
We are asked to be alert, to watch and in a further step, to feel our responsibility. The first vow one says in Ziraat is « I will feel my responsibility » meaning listening to the need in the moment and responding. If we are awake and see where « the fish jumps into the water » we may see the place where opposites can meet, creating an accomodation for the next move, a new state of balance to emerge.
Watching out with the eyes of the heart, we may become participants of the great transformation, both within and on our planet Earth, unfolding with greater love, harmony, beauty. Building bridges of love from the depth of our innermost values and devotion on all levels of existence we uphold and honor the sacred interconnectedness of all life.
Much joy and all Warm Blessings,
Musawira Bruning, Ziraat in Europe
Sharifa Norton, Ziraat in North America
To learn more about Ziraat and upcoming events please visit:
www.Ziraat.org for North America
www.sufiorden.ch/z/ziraat index.html for Europe
Ziraat workshops and retreats focus on the upholding of the sacredness of all life and the cultivation of the heart, mind and soul. These teachings can open us more fully to our sacred kinship with all life and our own unique contribution to an earth of awakening.