Marian, one of our Sufi Trail friends, recently started his new blog "Sacred Journalism". After 10 years of working for mainstream newspapers and magazines, Marian feels it's time for writing new stories that uplift and connect. His blog focuses on articles from the Middle East and features reflective essays as well as interviews with inspiring people from around the world. You can also read a lot on Sufism, including an upcoming interview about the Sufi Trail. You can sign up for his blog for free on the start page (make sure to confirm your email address through your mailbox immediately): www.sacredjournalism.org 

A moment of “goal achieved”. Here in the picture we pose just after we have received our caps and pennants. Still a different sensation if it is there in your hand or on our heads. With great gratitude and a happy feeling we smile at the good man who takes this picture. Setting a goal and achieving it are a beautiful unity. One day a pilgrim decides, I am going here or there, or whatever idea one has before the journey begins. For us that was the ultimate goal of the cycling trip from Vienna: collecting the Sufi caps. Fortunately, the caps fitted in the bicycle bag. It even seemed like we were lighter on the return journey. We did donate our tent though. If you want to support these initiatives, but don't walk, the Sufi caps are on sale!

We launched a pilgrimage in Heiloo and Egmond in the Netherlands that will take you round and round for 40 days accompanied by your every day zikr. Mantra's are already integrated into our western society by yogi's. The combination of zikrs and hiking is suprime you can just hike your day from where you are and take your dairy with you. The starting package is made for the pilgrim and the book translated zikrs into Dutch by the renowned Dutch imam Abdulwahied van Bommel.

On the Sufi Trail… AT HOME Without the arrival of the corana virus, I would now report on my experiences on the trail.

Staring at a map of the trail above my desk, I wonder if I can recall a quote from the Sufi tradition. I walk to my bookcase. They are still there: a number of works from more than forty years ago. Before I even start a job, the following statement comes to mind:
Oh God
If I worship you because of the fear of hell, throw me into hell
If I worship you out of longing for paradise, deny me paradise
But if I worship Thee for Thine own sake then withold not from me Thine Eternal Beauty

The author's name escapes me. I search and dive into Idries Shah's The way of the sufi. From the 1960s, this writer contributed to making Sufi wisdom known to the general public with his popular works. In the chapter Solitary Reflection Themes, given by Sufi teachers to their students for individual study, I find the pronunciation and the name to which she is attributed, namely Rabia of Basra, who died in 801. This famous Sufi woman was known for her amazing skill to get to the heart of any spiritual problem. I can wholeheartedly agree. Her statement, as already mentioned, opens avenues for any spiritual seeker of any tradition. And isn't the sufi trail an excellent opportunity to deepen one's spiritual life through lessons from other traditions? Now we have to wait for a vaccine to start the journey.

Marcel Schuurmans