Cosmic Celebration
Prayer, Music and Contemplation w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Townhall Gersfeld (Rhön), Germany, Schloßplatz 9 and Online via Zoom
Thursday 6th to Monday 10th of April 2023
Between the years 1973 and 1983, Pir Vilayat conceived and set into motion an interreligious mystical pageant he called the Cosmic Celebration. Forty years have since passed, and the seeds of the Cosmic Celebration are quietly flowering in our time.
In this spring retreat, we will return to the music and sacred vision of the Cosmic Celebration, approaching the pageant this time as an interior experience of illumination. Through contemplation, meditation, prayer, and music we will make our way through the successive transformative stations of the immanence of the glory of the One, the renewal of faith, the descent of the Holy Spirit, Divine aid, communion with life’s essence, and the promise of the heart’s resurrection. Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Programme (Time CET)
Thursday, 6th of April
9.30 – 11.00 am: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
11.30 – 12.30 pm: Inayatiyya activities (no Zoom broadcast)
Lunchbreak
14.00 – 14.45 pm: Choir practice with Ophiel (no Zoom broadcast)
15.00 – 16.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
17.00 – 18.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
20.00 pm: General meeting of Inayatiyya Deutschland e.V. (Zoom-Link for members)
Parallel: Sufi music with Mehmet Ungan (no Zoom broadcast)
Friday, 7th of April (day of silence)
7.00 – 8.00 am: Morning meditation with Zumurrud Butta
9.30 – 11.00 am: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
11.30 – 12.30 pm: Inayatiyya activities (no Zoom broadcast)
Lunchbreak
14.00 – 14.45 pm: Choir practice with Ophiel (no Zoom broadcast)
15.00 – 16.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
17.00 – 18.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
20.00 pm: Concert
Saturday, 8th of April (day of silence)
7.00 – 8.00 am: Morning meditation with Zumurrud Butta
9.30 – 11.00 am: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
11.30 – 12.30 pm: Inayatiyya activities (no Zoom broadcast)
Lunchbreak
14.00 – 14.45 pm: Choir practice with Ophiel (no Zoom broadcast)
15.00 – 16.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
17.00 – 18.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
20.00 pm: Zikr evening
Easter Sunday, 9th of April
7.00 – 8.00 am: Morning meditation with Zumurrud Butta
9.30 – 11.00 am: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
11.30 – 12.30 pm: Inayatiyya activities (no Zoom broadcast)
12.30 – 13.30 pm: Leaders Gathering with Pir Zia (no Zoom broadcast)
Lunchbreak
14.00 – 14.45 pm: Choir practice with Ophiel (no Zoom broadcast)
15.00 – 16.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
17.00 – 18.30 pm: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Break
19.00 pm: Leaders get-together Inayatiyya Deutschland e.V. (no Zoom broadcast)
20.00 pm: Dances of Universal Peace (no Zoom broadcast)
Easter Monday, 10th of April
7.00 – 8.00 am: Morning meditation with Zumurrud Butta
10.00 – 12.30 pm: Universal Worship (open to public, guests are very welcome)
Biography
Pir Zia Inayat Khan carries the Sufi lineage of his grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan. He received his Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University. His books include Saracen Chivalry: Counsels on Valor, Generosity, and the Mystical Quest, Mingled Waters: Sufism and the Mystical Unity of Religions, and Dream Flowers: The Collected Works of Noor Inayat Khan. Pir Zia is president of the Inayatiyya and founder of Suluk Academy. Now based in Richmond, Virginia, he and his family live both in the United States and France.
Zumurrud Butta serves as Vice President of the Inner School of the Inayatiyya in Europe and leads the Inner School in Germany. She offers individual and group retreats and retreat guide training, has taught at Suluk Academy in North America and Europe and is serving on the Suluk Global Committee. Zumurrud teaches courses on Sufi mysticism in Europe and online, with a focus on the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Ibn ´Arabi and the female transmission of mysticism.
Mehmet Ungan is a sociologist, musician, lecturer and chairman of the board of the Oriental Music Academy in Mannheim, Germany. As a lecturer at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Mehmet Ungan teaches Islamic-mystical music. At the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, he teaches transcultural music in social work. With his Sufi music group Hosh Neva he gives guest performances at intercultural and interreligious events all over Europe. He owes his virtuosity on his instruments Ud and Ney to his two teachers Necati Çelik and Ömer Erdogdular (pupil of the legendary Ney master Niyazi Sayin). Mehmet Ungan studied with Oruç Güvenç and for decades has dedicated his life to healing through sound.
Ophiel Maarten van Leer is a conductor, singer and music teacher with many years of experience in the fields of music and meditation. He is the Vice-President for Europe for the new Inayatiyya Music Activity. He comes from a musical family; His mother introduced him to the Sufi message. At 17, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan became his inspiring teacher. He studied conducting and school music-teaching in Utrecht. For many years he has led seminars in ensemble singing, musical improvisation and meditation. He teaches music at a Rudolf Steiner School and directs various choirs in the Rhine-Main area around Frankfurt, Germany.
