Sufi Heart with Omid Safi – Details, episodes & analysis

Omid Safi discusses how modern myths like Star Wars can connect us to Sufism and the mystery of the universe.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Sufi Heart, Omid Safi has a discussion on:

• The story of Moses in the Qur’an
• Moses’ teacher, ‘the green one’, and Yoda from Star Wars
• How myth-makers revive spiritual traditions
• The mythic language found in music and movies
• How Taoists, Muslims, Christians, and more see themselves in ‘the force’
• Everything as animated and the energy that flows through all things
• Recognizing that we are made of the elements and of God
• How George Lucas asks beautiful questions in subtle ways
• Considering the mystery rather than having all of the answers
• The many forms that Allah may appear in and finding saints in ordinary people
• How movies fill a gap when we mistrust formal religion

“Luke and Obi-Wan, apprentice and master, this is the very stuff of the Sufi tradition, This is part of that re-enchanting that Star Wars is trying to accomplish. It’s trying to remind us that there are these mysterious ways of the heart, of the soul, of the universe, that we can still learn.” – Omid Safi

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sharing insights from the path of love, Omid Safi discusses the teachings of Sufi philosopher, Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode of Sufi Heart, Omid Safi explores:

• The universality of love
• Coming back to the center
• Experiencing God directly
• Signs of God in scripture, nature, and our own souls
• Having an open heart for all of humanity
• Practicing love as a religion
• Going into our breath for full presence and communion with God
• How vast God is, yet how close we are to God
• The singular focus of God as the beloved
• The necessity of our ancestors’ wisdom
• The path of the mystic vs. ordinary religion

“The center is where we come to have that direct, immediate, unmediated experience of God, which is to say, the heart.” – Omid Safi

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Journalist, Abdhul-Rehman Malik, from This Being Human Podcast interviews Omid on the commercialization of spirituality, Rumi's Guest House, reframing emotions, and embracing radical love like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award-winning journalist, educator, and organizer. He is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio, offering contemporary perspectives on spirituality. His recent documentary work includes the "The Muhammadan Bean: The Secret History of Islam and Coffee." Since 2019, Malik has served as a lecturer and associate research scholar at the Yale Divinity School. He is also the program coordinator for Yale University's Council on Middle East Studies and the director of the Muslim Leadership Lab, an innovative program being incubated at Yale’s Dwight Hall Center of Social Justice.

This podcast was is a part of the Aga Khan Museum’s new series - This Being Human, hosted by Abdhul-Rehman Malik. Check out interviews with Ginella Massa, Sultan Al Qassemi and other cultural leaders who explore what it means to be Muslim in today’s world: This Being Human.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special episode, Sikh Activist, Simran Jeet Singh, joins Omid Safi for conversation exploring anti-racism as a spiritual practice.

Recognized among TIME Magazine’s 16 people fighting for a more equal America, Simran Jeet Singh is Senior Adviser for Equity and Inclusion at YSC Consulting and a Visiting Professor at Union Seminary. He is a 2020 Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations, a Racial Equity Media Fellow with Interfaith Youth Core, and a Senior Fellow for the Sikh Coalition. Simran holds a PhD, MPhil, and MA from Columbia University, an MTS from Harvard University, and a BA from Trinity University. He is the author of a best-selling children's book, Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon, and is in the process of writing a non-fiction book for adults, titled, More of This Please: Sikh Wisdom for the Soul. For more information, please visit SimranJeetSingh.org

Originally recorded for Religion News Service

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ankhet Rumi and Omid join together to explore embodying truth through teaching, fighting for social justice, the contemporary American Saints of the Freedom Movement, working with anger, & the divine Sufi poetry and wisdom of Rumi.

Returning from a short hiatus, Omid is back with the Sufi Heart podcast, welcoming friend, poet, artist, and fellow podcaster, Ankhet Rumi, to the show. This special episode will be dual-casted, not only appearing here on the Be Here Now Network, but also on Ankhet's self-titled podcast, Ankhet, which illuminates the wisdom of Sufi poet, Rumi, and elucidates Eastern mysticism for modern times, holding deep credence towards the transcendental poetry of existence, social justice, and radical love.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Omid Safi shares wisdom on expanding our circle of compassion, redefining success, the dis-ease of busyness, and how love is synonymous with social justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Omid Safi shares a conversation with Marilyn Shannon about listening from the heart, dealing with suffering as we face a pandemic, and the powerful wisdom of the poet Rumi.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaking directly to the global crisis presented by the Coronavirus pandemic, Omid Safi offers a reflection on how we can find refuge in love and our spiritual practice even through the most difficult times of change.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Omid Safi continues to explore the teachings of Rumi, this time focusing on religious pluralism, the essentials for prayer, and returning to a state of presence.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Omid Safi begins a series of discussions around the teachings of Rumi that illuminates the path of our spiritual journey.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.