Kabir Helminski
Developing Presence and Soul in Daily Life,
Adapting Tradition to Contemporary Spiritual Needs
Care for the Soul
Ablution Fountain, Rumi's Shrine, Konya, Turkey
WELCOME
My life has been a quest for wisdom, consciousness, soul.
This search led me far beyond my culture and conventional forms of achievement and recognition. At the same time, I have always wanted to translate all that I discovered and all that I received from our brilliant and generous teachers into something that could be practiced in everyday life, in relationships, and in community.
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Living Presence is"An incredible insight into Sufism and an intelligent way for rational people to know God.”
Russell Brand, social critic, actor, with 6 million followers.
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Living Presence: “A heartfelt modern illumination of the Sufi path, filled with the fragrance of the ancients.”
Jack Kornfield, Buddhist author and teacher.
Holistic Islam is “a sagacious and indeed perspicacious walk through the heart and soul of Islam.”
Dr. Khalid Abou El Fadl (Distinguished Professor of Islamic Law at the UCLA Law School)
Praise & Reviews
The Knowing Heart: “A clear and well-grounded introduction to Sufism, liberally seasoned with insights from the Koran and the writings of Rumi... Perhaps the best beginner’s guide now available.”
Library Journal review of The Knowing Heart
Love's Ripening: “[The] central message of Rumi, that incomparable troubadour of love, is reflected with great care, devotion, authenticity, and yes, love in this book. There are now many translations of Rumi's poems in English, of various qualities. And yet, deposit all works in print on this subject, and it is certain that this book will stand out among them."
Seyyed Hossein Nasr Professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, on the Rumi collection Love’s Ripening.
In Holistic Islam Kabir Helminski evokes the beauty and solace that countless millions in history have witnessed and experienced in Islam, and continue to do so to this very day. Holistic Islam is not only about Sufism. It is about a profoundly spiritual religion which continues to be a touchstone for those seeking an authentic path of inner awareness and outer harmony.
Kabir Helminski has written an important and redolent book which deserves to be read and reread.
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Ali Allawi, Author of The Crisis of Islamic Civilization (Economist "Best Book of the Year"), and former Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense, Iraqi Transition Government.
In the House of Remembering:
Reading these talks, with their smoothly unfolding mix of Sufi stories, Rumi’s poetry, illuminating personal experiences, and scriptural reminders, constantly feels like being in the presence of a modern-day Rumi. infused with a palpable universality, accessibility, practical focus, comprehensiveness—and above all, with a constant, assured sense of reality and immediacy—that movingly reflect a lifetime of spiritual experience, commitment, and engagement. Each conversation here evokes a marvelous balance—and creative tension—between communion and community, meditation and active service, awareness of the timeless and immersion in the shared challenges of everyday life. This is truly a “bedside book,” a work that will seem (and be) new and enlightening each time one opens it up….
Prof. James W. Morris, Boston College, author of The Reflective Heart
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Rooted in the spontaneous guidance and connection of hearts that occurs in the healing and nurturing practice of Sohbet, they carry the direct, immediate and intimate voice of that quality of spoken language that is not distanced by abstraction, encumbered by complexity, or entangled in the knots of the rational mind. This is the work of an authentic teacher who helps us in sincerity and love to reflect deeply on our inner states within the concrete reality of our daily lives and by so doing to come ever closer to our longed-for awareness of Divine Unity.
Dr. Jeremy Henzell-Thomas, essayist and former Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge
In Holistic Islam, Shaykh Kabir convincingly demonstrates how Islam may be practiced in a holistic manner, and thus help to bring about a world in which Islam, and Muslims, are truly beneficent and contribute to the well-being of all humanity.
Kyai Haji Yayha Cholil Staquf, General Secretary, Supreme Council of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia (The largest Muslim organization in the world, 50,000,000 members)
I feel that [Helminski's translation of] Asad Ali’s Happiness without Death—if read carefully as it deserves—can help Westerners to understand the grandeur and power of pristine Islam. I sincerely hope that it will be read and meditated upon by many readers.
Annemarie Schimmel, Harvard University, possibly the greatest scholar of Sufism in the 20th Century,
The Mysterion, Rumi and the Secret of Becoming Fully Human:
Kabir Helminski is one of our most luminous and authentic spiritual teachers who has devoted his life to enshrining and transmitting the sublime truths of the Sufi path of love. In his extraordinary new book, The Mysterion, he explores with simplicity and great profundity the states and stations of the path to divine love. Very few contemporary spiritual books are as comprehensive and enchanting as this one. Helminski writes with the humble and courteous authority of someone whose soul has been forged in the fire of divine passion and mystery. No one on any path can afford to miss this masterwork by a great teacher.
Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope, A Guide to Sacred Activism; and The Way of Passion, among many others.
Some Favorite Videos
A relatively short guided meditation offered at The Festival of Faiths, Lousiville, Kentucky.
An excellent wide-ranging interview.
An in depth talk about the spiritual significance of the heart.
Begins with a glimpse of "Sema" in Istanbul.
Russell Brand promoted Living Presence on 3 occasions to millions of followers.
From a retreat in Delhi with a glimpse of a class on whirling.
At a Baraka Institute retreat in Santa Barbara.
Speaking In South Africa about Mevlevi practices.