Opposites Attract

Opposites Attract

Community Retreat with Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Week 2A, July 31st – August 6th, 2022

God is known in the coincidence of the opposites.
– Abu Sa’id al-Kharraz

The inner and the outer, the needs of self and other, the imperatives of love and freedom: these are a few of the many polarities that compose our lives. The path to the One does not lead to the abolishment of the contraries that are inherent in creation. Rather, it reveals ever more elegant weavings of the opposites.

In this five day long silent retreat, Pir Zia will lead a silent journey through the stations of spiritual alchemy, traversing the interior landscapes that stretch from the obscurity of the unexamined life to the “fragrant gold” of the soul’s self-realization. We will use breath, sound, and contemplation to find a balance that excludes nothing and harmonizes everything.

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.