And we are blessed with the most glorious sunrise I have ever seen in the camp. And I personally feel a bit sad. But also sort of excited. The transition from camp to everyday so-called normal life can be a bit difficult. The very first time I came to a camp, it was in 1985. It was in the French Alps. And I took part in something that it was then called the Cosmic Celebration.

[01:05]

Which is a bit different to what Pierre does every Saturday. It was a huge pageant with actors that were ourselves, of course. Taking all prophets, all religions, all dimensions, everything was in it. And when we performed it, it was very much like we lived it.

[02:10]

And we did it on Saturday morning. Then we had lunch. And then Jesus, who was Dutch, drove us to the railway station. And we all broke down and cried. Because it was too much for our nervous system. For our nerves. I still remember it. And there's something more personal I'd like to share.

[03:12]

In that pageant I was the Prophet Muhammad. And I was given, like all the other prophets and angels, certain exercises to do to bring in the archetype. I had a beard and I remember And somebody put a turban in my head and a cape around my shoulders. And I remember meditating just before my part was due. And my ego part feeling very nervous.

[04:21]

But somehow feeling being taken over by something much greater than me. And then we came out using the whole landscape, we were using the whole mountain and hills. And I called to prayer as the Prophet Muhammad and the whole mountain reverberated. And I remember looking across the hills to the prophet, to the angel, Archangel Gabriel.

[05:24]

Who was also Dutch. And I remember feeling these sparks flying. And when I went home eventually, everything seemed dull. That experience was such an electric experience. What can I say? Everything else seemed black and white. And about a month went by. And part of me was still up there in the mountain in Sotokera.

[06:30]

I think part of me will always be there. And I received a letter. And it was from Archangel Gabriel. And I was excited. I liked him. So I slid the letter open and this picture fell out. And it was a picture of this beautiful dervish. My heart leapt. I felt so jealous of the Archangel Gabriel. All my romantic ideas about going to Afghanistan and finding some lost monastery with beautiful dervishes.

[07:32]

Somehow my heart ached that he had actually done it. And I started reading the letter biting my lips, I remember. Curious to see in which sort of half-forgotten part of the world these wonderful terrorists have lived. And as I read on, he said, I am sorry I took your photograph when you were meditating without asking you. And my jaw dropped. I'm telling you the story because it taught me so much.

[08:49]

Ultimately, what we are seeking for, we are already. It's as Rumi says, the confusion of our hair prevents us from seeing it. I remember Pirvelayat ending that cosmic celebration. saying, I am the one I love. If only we could discern the big I in the I am. If only Archangel Gabriel took our picture when we were meditating.

[10:14]

If only he was Dutch. And I was so lucky in a way to have it so plain in my face, my jealousy coming true. One of the very great Sufi masters, Sahrawardi, I can't even remember which century he was, He was describing a vision that he had. Where he met with his luminous being. He was blinded by the glory of that being. And in awe as he was approaching the being and that being was approaching himself.

[11:39]

He looked down at his feet. Shielding his eyes from the light. Until he got a little bit used to the intensity of that light and he looked up. Feeling totally engulfed in love and acceptance. And he looked at the face of that being and he saw it was himself That's the ultimate part on the path.

[12:50]

We start our journey walking towards God. And we project all sorts of things and images onto what God is. Some of us are in awe, some of us are just curious. Until we establish some sort of relationship without God. We have some experiences about our relationship. And then that God, instead of being the God of our forefathers and ancestors, becomes our own personal Lord.

[14:12]

And slowly That Lord extends his hand. And if we take it, we are raised. And if we take it, we are raised. And then the Lord becomes our beloved. And we melt in love. And if we lose ourselves in the bigger ourselves in that love, We discover that we are that being, ultimately.

[15:33]

What an exciting journey. I looked for God and I found myself. I looked for myself and I found God. We are so privileged to have the opportunity to be up in the mountain amongst brothers and sisters and friends.

[16:50]

We are so privileged to have been lucky enough to have that urge awakened in us. So can we open our heart and feel the gratitude to whatever circumstances have brought us here this minute? Whatever our personal problems, whatever our troubles might be, we're here. Let's celebrate it. Let us open our hearts and perhaps our voice as well and chant the sikha together.

[18:44]

And the meaning of the sikha is I've lost myself, but I found you. I have lost myself, but I found you. Laha ilaha ilaha ilahi La ilaha illallah hu La ilaha illallah hu La ilaha

[19:59]

Ilalahu la ilaha Ilalahu la ilaha Hilalahu la ilaha Hilalahu la ilaha Ilalahu la ilaha ilalahu La ilaha illallah.

[21:02]

La ilaha illallah. La ilaha illallah. La ilaha illallah [...]

[22:37]

Hilalahu la ilaha Hilalahu la ilaha La ilaha illallah La ilaha illallah Piro Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan has this ability to just come straight to the point with a couple of words.

[23:55]

And he said, My life flies towards thee like the blowing of the wind. My life flies towards thee like the blowing of the wind. Our life on this planet is so short. So full of destruction. Sometimes so full of troubles. But it can be so incredibly rich.

[25:22]

If it wasn't for the confusion of our hair. The storms in our teacups, as we say in England. We get so involved in our small self that we really miss out the bigger picture altogether. And the bigger picture is not to know what's happening in Israel, in South America or in Africa. That's only the first step. The bigger picture is to know what's happening in the cosmos. And to know that everything we do affects everything else.

[26:31]

Pierre Vallard keeps on saying that for every wave that rises in the sea, The whole ocean has to readjust. And here we are Most of us totally captured within our own small problems. My life lies toward thee as the blowing of the wind.

[28:04]

My life flies towards thee as the blowing of the wind. My life flies toward thee as the blowing of the wind. My life flies toward thee as the blowing of the wind. My life flies towards thee as the blowing of the wind

[29:12]

My life flies towards thee as the blowing of the wind My life Flies towards thee As the blowing of the wind My life flies towards thee as the blowing of the wind. I was talking with my support group yesterday about reincarnation and they didn't know what the Sufis say about it.

[30:32]

And they were very surprised at what I told them. So I'd like to offer this to you in case it is of some use. The Sufis don't really believe in reincarnation. It is an important whether you believe in it or not. If you believe that you can come back again and again and again until you get it right somehow this feeling of manana comes in.

[31:44]

Don't do today what you can put off for tomorrow. There is a certain fatalism that a lot of peoples in the East have. I feel one of the energy, one aspect of the energy that we have in the West is that we believe that this is it. And we better make the best of it. And though this has led to a lot of distortion, the Sufis believe that ultimately it is true. This is it. We don't come back. But our mask, our persona, our personality does.

[33:10]

So as we live through life And we experience pain and joy and whatever else. Every single experience has an effect upon our personality. A laugh line or a wrinkle. A laugh line. Or a certain depth in our eyes. Or we look as we really are. And when our body dies, the Sufis say that we go into some sort of meeting room.

[34:35]

A bit like Munich train station. full of hustle and trains coming and going. And there we look for people, for souls, whatever you want to call them, that are coming in. And we don't know how long we get to stay there. So we look for friendly sort of faces, so to speak, although there are no faces. And we have the same temperament as we have here. So we look for similar temperaments coming in. And we share So we tell them, look, there's a place called England and it's wet and cold and it's, wow, what a challenge to be there.

[35:58]

And they tell us, oh, there's a place like so and so and it is absolutely incredible. Or we tell that soul that there is this young boy or young girl that I've left behind and they are orphaned now. And you exchange information and experiences like travelers do. Like, don't go there, they will rip you off. Or go there, the food is good. And the souls that are coming in are very innocent. And very eager. So some of them might say, OK, look, I'll come in and bring some warmth in that wet and cold country that you're talking about, called England.

[37:33]

OK, I'll come in and bring some warmth in this wet and cold country which you call England. Or, I would like to experience what it is to wake up in the mist. That sounds fun. But to come in, they need something that you've got, that you don't want anymore. And it's like a suit, like a dress. That's the mask. That's the personality. So you give it to them. You don't want it anymore. It's a burden. You can't take it where you're going. And eventually your train comes. And you say, bye-bye. And they get to have your personality.

[38:42]

Some of them will say, lucky. And some of them will say, poor bastard. So you see, the Sufis believe that every laugh line and every wrinkle that you have, someone gets to inherit it. That's why Piro Murshid is talking about the art of personality. That a part of our are dead somehow to our soul to awaken. We also have a responsibility for whoever inherits our personality. So one of our purposes in life is to perfect it as much as we can.

[39:45]

And the best way I know to perfect your personality is not only to be conscious of everything you do, But enjoy it. Really enjoy it. We need to consciously awake in situations where bitterness doesn't have a chance.

[40:56]

We need to consciously share our heart. We need to consciously accept the necessity of pain in this world and enjoy it. Knowing that without pain there can be no pleasure. In this world of duality without shadow there can be no light. Embrace both. Integrate both. Turn your bitter lines into love lines.

[41:58]

And don't be afraid to hurt Most of us dip our big toe in the pool to see if the water is okay. Some of us are even afraid to do that. And we leave our lives constantly shielding and sheltering ourselves. Because we are afraid of being hurt. Until ultimately some of us create such a thick wall around us that no one can penetrate.

[42:59]

And then we feel safe. But we are not alive anymore. We have to commit ourselves to life. We can dip our big toe in the pool. But then, for God's sake, for life's sake, jump in, all of you. This is what we're here for.

[44:18]

Live life to the full. Turn the candle on both ends. I suppose you want to meditate. So something has come to my mind from a wonderful man I've never met called Thich Nhat Khanh. And it's a very simple everyday meditation. So I want to share it with you in case you want to take something down to feel that you have achieved something this morning. And he says, as I breathe in, I calm my body. As I breathe out, I smile. Let's meditate on that.

[45:45]

As I breathe in, I calm my body. As I breathe out, I smile. Plain. There is no creation. There is only the becoming of being. No creation. Only the becoming of being. And that is totally subjective. Das ist ganz subjektiv. We make our own reality.

[46:51]

Wir machen unsere eigene Realität. Every moment. We see the beauty we are. Wir sehen die Schönheit, die wir sind. We see the difficulty we are. Wir sehen die Schwierigkeit, die wir sind. We see the imperfection we are. It is the becoming of being. So, I hope that a part of the germs that we have shared we take a bit of each other's hearts with us as well. And some of us feel this connection on a heart level.

[47:59]

Because we have met in an appointed time in this big railway station up in the Alps. And we have talked about other places and worlds. And some of us have shared our pain together And our joy. So hold each other's heart in trust. And try to carry that feeling of openness into the bigger railway station out there.

[49:20]

And look at people in the eyes and communicate something of your light to them. And don't be afraid to share yourself. There is no end. So I wish you from the depths of my heart to keep on looking and to eventually find that which is looking for you.

[50:23]

So I would suggest that you very gently stretch and dance, if you feel like it, to this piece of music. God bless you. You could even interact with each other. You could even open your eyes.

[51:19]

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