The Sufi Heart podcast with Omid Safi features teachings and stories about a sacred tradition of love, one that manifests outwardly as justice and inwardly as t...
Exploring what it means to practice Islam in a world filled with evil, Omid Safi explains how strangeness can bring us back home to God.Today’s podcast 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, Omid Safi holds a talk on:Sacred sounds and the movement of the heavenly spheresHeavy hearts from global suffering and genocideThe counterculture of Islam when it beganLooking into our own communities to consider what seems strangeNot being afraid to veer from traditionWays that we can become strangers to our own religionStanding with those who are vulnerableReturning home to the loving presence of GodRemembering what it means to be a SufiTaking care of the poor, the needy, the strangers, the lonely“We want to become re-acquainted and return to our original home which is the very loving presence of God. That’s where and when we’re going to be at home.” – Omid SafiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ep. 32 – Star Wars, Yoda & Sufism
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’anMoses’ teacher, ‘the green one’, and Yoda from Star WarsHow myth-makers revive spiritual traditionsThe mythic language found in music and moviesHow Taoists, Muslims, Christians, and more see themselves in ‘the force’Everything as animated and the energy that flows through all thingsRecognizing that we are made of the elements and of GodHow George Lucas asks beautiful questions in subtle waysConsidering the mystery rather than having all of the answersThe many forms that Allah may appear in and finding saints in ordinary peopleHow 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 SafiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ep. 31 – Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Sufi Path of Love
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 loveComing back to the centerExperiencing God directlySigns of God in scripture, nature, and our own soulsHaving an open heart for all of humanityPracticing love as a religionGoing into our breath for full presence and communion with GodHow vast God is, yet how close we are to GodThe singular focus of God as the belovedThe necessity of our ancestors’ wisdomThe 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 SafiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ep. 30 – The Lover and The Beloved with Kelly Deutsch
Examining how mysticism hides in plain sight, Omid Safi describes God as love, the lover, and the beloved with guest host Kelly Deutsch.This episode was originally recorded for the Spiritual Wanderlust Podcast, with Kelly Deutsch. Learn more about this series that explores the wild, untamed frontiers of our interior life at spiritualwanderlust.org/podcast This time on Sufi Heart, Omid Safi speaks with Kelly about:Discovering Islamic MysticsSufism and having a pure heartOmid’s life in Iran and exposure to masculine displays of emotionThe mystery of being human, the mystery of GodHeartbreak and experiencing the heart breaking openSacred Eroticism and using our senses to experience lovelinessWhat we can learn from the type of love a mother providesRadical love and going into the rootsLinking together love and justice“The Sufis explicitly say something that of course we find also in the Christian mystical contemplative tradition. Mischievously, they almost say there is a holy trinity, a language which most orthodox Muslims would avoid and all Jews would have avoided. But they say the trinity is love, lover, and beloved. God is love, God is the lover, and God is the beloved.” – Omid SafiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Pushing beyond the bare minimum of religiosity, Omid Safi inspires listeners to deepen their faith into an ecstatic adoration of God.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/beherenowIn this episode of Sufi Heart, Omid Safi elucidates :Islam and the unity of AllahIman as faith and Ihsan as virtueSpirituality and AestheticsDoing what is required of us through religionHow Habib (the chosen one) inspired a deeper level of faithHow we can aspire to be in a state of love and adorationThe eyes of the heart versus the eyes of the headWorshiping God for more than just salvationIslamic Saints and their stories of experiencing Allah through beautyRecognizing the unwavering divine presence of GodThe eternal now and present moment awarenessUndivided attention as an act of loveCourtesy and recognizing our individual journeysBeing a beautiful witness“God is to be found here and now…the divine simply is not to be experienced in the afterlife, in the heavenly realms, in the celestial realm. Here and now where you are, where we are, we can come to experience Allah.” - Omid SafiYou can join Omid on one of his heart-centered and spiritually-focused educational tours of:Mecca and Medina Umrah program: December 14-21st, 2023. [For Muslim participants]Morocco: April 13-22nd, 2024.Turkey: somewhere in late May to early June, 2024.Further information is available at Illuminated Courses & Tours where you can also find information on virtual courses, spiritual talks, and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Sufi Heart podcast with Omid Safi features teachings and stories about a sacred tradition of love, one that manifests outwardly as justice and inwardly as tenderness. Drawing primarily on the wisdom of the Islamic tradition as well as the legacies of the Civil Rights movements and other wisdom teachings, Omid invites you to a meditation on the transformative power of love and recalling the necessity of linking healing our own hearts with healing the world. Omid Safi is director of Duke University’s Islamic Studies Center. He specializes in the study of Islamic mysticism and contemporary Islam and frequently writes on liberationist traditions of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and is committed to traditions that link together love and justice.Omid is the past chair for the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion. He has written many books, including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism; Cambridge Companion to American Islam; Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam; and Memories of Muhammad. His forthcoming books include Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Traditions and a book on the famed mystic Rumi.Omid is among the most frequently sought out speakers on Islam in popular media, appearing in The New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, PBS, NPR, NBC, CNN, and other international media. He leads spiritual tours every year to Turkey, Morocco, or other countries, to study the rich multiple religious traditions there. The trips are open to everyone, from every country. More information is available at Illuminated Tours.
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