Within this healing worship gathering we shall share embodied practices to enhance our spiritual development and inner transformation.
Chanting the mantra “Om Namah Shivaya” is a direct way to connect to the Divine. This powerful mantra activates the qualities of purification and protection.
This Mantra can be repeated by anyone, anywhere and at anytime for it is truly a mantra of manifestation and purification.
It is said that if this mantra vibrates continuously in your heart it is a devotional chant of the highest vibration and leads one to “bow to the true self” and what serves your soul.
This gathering is in-person.
Or, you may watch it live on our YouTube channel:
Our 2023 Spiritual Discernment:
Transforming the Body, Heart, and Mind
JANUARY Discernment: Purifying the Body
FEBRUARY Discernment: Cleansing the Heart
MARCH Discernment: Observing the Mind
Read more here.
More about the chant we will be singing:
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA
This delightfully powerful mantra leads us to the highest state of meditation and inner peace. Shiva is the supreme reality, the inner self; the name given to consciousness that dwells within all. Shiva ultimately represents consciousness, the true reality – your true identity – your inner self – yourself. An expression of deepest devotion, respect and faith for the divine to which we are all connected to and from which we came. The words, translated, may be understood to mean “I surrender to the Divine” or “Lord, Thy Will Be Done.”
According to Hindu mythology there are three Gods who rule creation.
BRAHMA- Creates the Universe
VISHNU- Preserves the Universe
SHIVA- Destroys the Universe and also symbolizes the inner self which remains intact after the destruction and thus symbolizes the resolution and evolution. Shiva is a state of pure consciousness or nothingness, the state where no thoughts arise; it’s complete silence, and the truth is revealed only in silence. (learn more).
The five elements are embodied in this ancient mantra:
NA-EARTH
MA-WATER
SI-FIRE
VA-AIR
YA-ETHER/AKASHA
NAMAH SHIVAYA is a wonderful ancient Sanskrit chant for meditation and daily living. This mantra represents life, action, and love. Ultimately chanting OM Namah Shivaya is a true expression of deep devotion, belief, faith and uttermost respect for the innate power and source which connects ALL from which we emanate. (learn more here)
Chanting will be led by Rev. Cherag Michael Bodhi Douglas.
About Reverend Karen Lindquist:
Karen is co-founder and co-minister of Interfaith Community Sanctuary, a spiritual community grounded in circular leadership principles. She co-creates interfaith services throughout the year at the Sanctuary and with interfaith organizations in the greater Seattle area. For many years she served as a board member on The Interfaith Council of Washington and The Interfaith Network, now known as Northwest Interfaith. Reverend Karen’s regular spiritual practices include deep immersion within the Mevlevi tradition (as a follower of Rumi) with the Mevlevi Order of America and absorption into the mystic tradition of Ecclesia Gnostica through the Hagia Sophia Gnostic Parish.
About Michael Bodhi Douglas
Michael is an initiated teacher and musician in the Mevlevi Sufi tradition. As a Cherag of the Universal Worship in the Inayati Sufi Order, he leads interfaith worship, guides spiritual practice, and teaches world religions. He is an Associate Minister at Interfaith Community Sanctuary, an icon painter and stonemason. He also works with the Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization dedicated to friendship, love, and truth.
What is Interspirituality?
“Interspirituality is committed to finding the spirituality both within and beyond religion. What ties us together is a shared desire to connect with the Ground of Being in a way that fully respects our differences. The challenge is to embody what is most true and real for us without seeking to convince or convert others.”
~ Joan Borysenko
Interspirituality comes from the work of Wayne Teasdale, who developed this term to reflect commonalities between religious traditions, specifically those that are spiritual in nature. These commonalities across religious practices do not erase differences in beliefs, rather they build community and sharing across practices, leading to the ultimate goal of more human responsibility to one another and the planet as a whole. At its core, this is an “assimilation of insights, values, and spiritual practices” drawn from many different traditions that can be applied to one’s own life to further personal, spiritual development.
SHARING OUR WEALTH
https://interfaithcommunitysanctuary.org/donate/
Your generous donation allows us to continue offering interfaith worship services, events, classes. Also to continue creating sacred community as well as maintaining a historic building in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Currently we are in the process of recovering from rain water damage.
Thank you for your help!
Your generous DONATION may be mailed to:
Interfaith Community Sanctuary
1763 NW 62nd Street
Seattle, Washington 98107
Read: Our COVID Responsibilities HERE
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“I wish to acknowledge the land I occupy is the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, in particular the Muckleshoot, Suquamish, and Duwamish Tribes. I am grateful to them as the rightful past, present, and future caretakers of this beautiful land which I do not own but which I call home. I am also grateful to cedar, frog, deer, and all those beings who were here long before me and my kin. I apologize to them all for any injustice enacted upon them. I must recognize those Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous peoples who helped build this country but were often enslaved, exploited, or unpaid, and continue to face racism and discrimination. They require liberation and reparation in the name of healing, equity, and justice. We are One.”
~ Steve Kramer, Charter for Compassion
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