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Archives 89 – AWAKE Film

Director Paola Di Florio in conversation with Sholeh Johnston

Web-89Latest-CW-YoganandaAWAKE: The Life of Yogananda charts the life of one of the 20th century’s most influential spiritual figures, Paramahansa Yogananda, a Hindu Swami who brought Yoga to America for the first time in the early 1920s.

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Archives 89 – The Ecstacy of Music

89-MEHMETSANLIKOL-SliderMehmet Ali Sanlikol in conversation with Sholeh Johnston

CultureWatch: At the turn of the millennium, successful jazz musician Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol embarked on an odyssey of discovery that would profoundly reshape his musical career as a composer and performer.

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Archives 88 – Winter Issue 2015

MartinIMG_5240lowresFROM THE EDITORS

In a time when attachment to the world and its wealth seems to many to be out of reasonable control, Winter Issue #88 SUFI explores the many facets of the act of detachment, and how the art of letting go creates a gateway to love. READ MORE

 

 

 

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Rose petals cascading from the oculus of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy

DISCOURSE

LAURENT_CHEHERE©FlyingHouselowresDETACHMENT
by Alireza Nurbakhsh

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS

Spread#2©BrittographyRosePetals-lowresGUARANTEED FOR LIFE
by Mary Gossy

Brainbow Hippocampus in BlueslowresDARKNESS HAS FALLEN
by Sister Miriam MacGillis

leila and majnoonlowresWOMEN ON THE ROOFTOP
by Safoura Nourbakhsh

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Psychology_34235011 ElenaRaylowresARTICLES AND ESSAYS

Spirit of the MountainLowResRUMI’S PREFERENCE FOR SCANDALOUS SUFIS
by Jawid Mojaddedi

shutterstock_34345969 ElenaRaylowresSUFI PRACTICE & CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS
by Michele Rousseau

NARRATIVE

Shoemaker-Spread-lowresBOOT CAMP OF COLLAPSING FORMS
by Jan Shoemaker

CULTUREWATCH

Brooks214459534_8cada32ac1_lowresTHE THEATRE OF PETER BROOK The Invisible Made Visible
by Joe Martin

BOOK REVIEWS

SACRED SEED
Compiled and edited by the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW)
by Rachel Carson
Review by Janet Jones[/threecol_one][threecol_one_last]

TA MAIN DANS LA MIENNE

POETRY

Chateau_Chambord_double-helix_staircase-lowresREMEMBERING YOU
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh

I THOUGHT I COULD FOLLOW
by John Wolf

shutterstock_38131522_Tish lowresAMOR FATI
by André Bjerke, translated by Hossein Kashani

THE BREATH OF THE ZEKR
by Irving Karchmar

CHORDS
by Roger Loff

FEATURED POET
ITHOUGHTICOULDFOLLOWlowresJOHN WOLF

FEATURED ARTIST
PATRIZIA MAÏMOUNA GUERRESI

FEATURED WEBSITE POET
FARRAH A. BOLVARDE
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Print and digital subscriptions available. Buy SUFI now.

 

Archives 89 – Summer Issue 2015

[caption id="attachment_11389" align="alignleft" width="300"]Padum, Zanskar Padum, Zanskar[/caption]

FROM THE EDITORS

At the heart of nearly every spiritual tradition is the figure of the spiritual guide or leader whom seekers turn to for guidance and inspiration and choose to follow as disciples. In this issue of SUFI, various facets of the role of the guide are explored across different spiritual paths, READ MORE

 

 

 

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Web-89Latest-Discourse

DISCOURSE

Web-89Latest-MastersGraceTHE SPIRITUAL GUIDE
by Alireza Nurbakhsh

ARTICLES AND INTERVIEW

Web-89Latest-ValentineTEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM
by Jay Valentine

Web-89Latest-HalmanIRADA / DEVOTION: THE SPACE WHERE SUFISM HAPPENS
by H. Talat Halman

Web-89Latest-TheGuide THE GUIDE: INTERVIEW WITH A SUFI SHAYKH
interviewed by Safoura Nourbakhsh

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Flowers series. Red flower petals on dark background

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS

Web-89Latest-BurtTRANSCENDANT BEING OR FALLIBLE HUMAN?
by Angela Burt

NARRATIVE

Web-89Latest-CheshmCHESHM
by Dani Kopoulos

CULTUREWATCH

Web-89Latest-CW-YoganandaAWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA
Director Paola Di Florio
interviewed by Sholeh Johnston

 

Web-89Latest-SanlikolTHE ECSTACY OF MUSIC
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol in
conversation with Sholeh Johnston

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Panoramic and perspective wide angle view to steel light blue ba
CULTUREWATCH
BOOK REVIEWS

Hafez—Translations and,
Interpretations of the Ghazals
translated by Geoffrey Squires
reviewed by David Paquiot

The Principles of Sufism
by A’ishah Al-Ba’uniyyah
reviewed by Terry Graham

 

POETRY

THE MASTER’S GRACE
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh

Narrow Street In VeniceIN GETTING THERE
by Mark Nepo

THE BEYOND WITHIN
by DANIEL SKACH-MILLS

GIVE UP WHAT YOU SEE WITH YOUR EYES
by Kathleen M. Kelley

I LOVE YOU
by Ali Asghar Mazhari

FEATURED POET
BILL WOLAK

LOST AT THE CROSS ROADS

Web-89Latest-Crossroadpoem

FEATURED ARTIST
MATTHIEU RICARD

585. On a bright winter morning, Tibetan and Bhutanese monks jump for joy at the sight of the ocean. They will throw themselves up in the air again this evening, on the stage of a theatre in Brittany, France, defying gravity. This image is not a multiple exposure, but a single shot of seven monks jumping. 1997 Les moines volants du Toit du Monde devant l’océan Atlantique ; moines du monastère de Shéchèn au cours d’une tournée européenne de danses sacrées. 1997

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Print and digital subscriptions available. Buy SUFI now.

 

Heech – Poems in Three Dimensions

PARVIZ TANAVOLI’S SCULPTURES OF NOTHINGNESS

by Sholeh Johnston
Parviz Tanavoli is undoubtedly one of Iran’s greatest modern and contemporary artists, and the father of Iranian modern sculpture. His work is housed in art collections, museums and public spaces around the world, as well as in his native Iran, and is one of the most significant collectors of traditional Iranian arts and crafts in the world. An acknowledged expert, Tanavoli’s collections and publications are contributions to preserving the history of Iranian art as valuable as his contemporary work.
Tanavoli, currently residing between Vancouver, Canada, and Tehran, Iran, was born in 1937 and was one of the very first students to enroll and graduate from Tehran’s newly-established School of Fine Arts in 1955. Following his further studies in sculpture at the Brera Academy of Milan (Italy) under the renowned Italian sculptor, Marino Marini, Tanavoli returned to Iran and established a studio, Atelier Kaboud, which was the birth place of one of the most significant movements in Iranian modern art, the saqqakhaneh movement – referred to by some as “Spiritual Pop Art.” It was during this time that Tanavoli conceived of his first Heech sculpture, based on the Persian word for “nothingness,” and since then the series has been developing through Tanavoli’s experimentations with different materials, size, position and context.
“Heech has multiple layers of meaning – in Persian Sufism it has a great meaning: God created the universe out of nothing, so if the universe is made of nothing then nothingness is everywhere, in every part of the universe, in all creatures. That’s one way of looking at it, and the other is that as a physical shape it has an appealing volume to me; it has a head, eyes and a very beautiful body. So, from both angles it was a perfect word for me to choose and work on.”
Tanavoli has been teaching sculpture since his graduation from Brera, including a residency at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and eighteen years as director of the sculpture department at the University of Tehran (1961 – 1979). His teaching continues into his 75th year as Tanavoli still holds studio tutorials and workshops for students in his Tehran studio.
For more insight into Parviz Tanavoli’s work, and the man behind the artist, read ‘Heech: poems in three dimensions’ based on an extensive interview with Tanavoli, in Issue 82 of Sufi. 
(Heech – Parviz Tanavoli photo courtesy of Abrinksky / Flickr)