About Us

 

It Began with a Vision

“Eat, dance, and pray together and you will bring peace to the world,” was Murshid Samuel Lewis’ message. Moineddin Jablonski embraced this and established the Southwest Sufi Community (SSC) in 1995, fulfilling the vision of a land-based spiritual community where the creation of a spiritual refuge, retreat facility, and healing center could be realized.

The SSC is comprised of three components: the Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center, the Khankah Gaia Noor Residential Community, and the Nature Preserve.

Located near Silver City New Mexico, the Southwest Sufi Community fosters a gathering place for people committed to inclusive spiritual practice within the sacred manuscript of nature.

LEARN ABOUT OUR HISTORY FROM A FOUNDING RESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

We are affiliated with The Sufi Ruhaniat International, a world-wide spiritual family walking in the footsteps of Murshid Samuel Lewis and his teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan who brought The Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty from India to the West in 1910.

Our Offerings

Residential Community

Those who feel called to fulfill the mission of Southwest Sufi Community are the caretakers and stewards of the Land.

Bear Creek Nature Preserve

Southwest Sufi Community works with The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico to provide conscious stewardship to nearly 1,500 wild acres.

Southwest Sufi Camp

Every year we hold our Camp on the Land, offering an immersion into the Teachings of our Teachers from our lineage.

Spiritual Retreats

All are welcome to visit our rustic off-grid sanctuary where one may experience serenity and solitude while on personal spiritual retreat.

HELP SUPPORT OUR MISSION

Our Mission

Since 1995, when the SSC was established in fulfillment of the vision of Hazrat Pir Moineddin Jablonski, it has endeavored to fulfill this mission:

The Southwest Sufi Community serves as a rural khankah (a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood and is a place for spiritual retreat) of caretakers, including families, couples/partners, individuals and young adults, on an inclusive spiritual path.

Spiritual Training and Retreat, Ziraat (a heart-based approach to gardening and food production outwardly and to spiritual growth inwardly) and Permaculture, Sacred Dance and Walk, and the Healing Arts are the primary concentrations here.

Acting from a global perspective, the Southwest Sufi Community invites guests from sacred cultures around the world to visit and share their wisdom.

To promote understanding of the Sufi Message, the Southwest Sufi Community also sponsors workshops, retreats and camps.

Bear Creek Nature Preserve

Conscious stewardship of the Land, informed by a continuing study of the sacred scripture of Nature, is embraced by each member of our community. SSC is actively working with The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico to preserve the Gila Wilderness.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATURE PRESERVE

Our Board of Trustees

Bahaar Thomas

Bahaar Thomas

President | Silver City, NM

Bahaar came to Sufism as a young girl, meeting the Spirit of Allah in a dream, dancing and encircling within the Zikr. Soon thereafter, Bahaar spent her 16th birthday at the Abode of the Message, seeking silence and refuge, her first Khilvat. Meeting Pir Vilayat at Columbia University…

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Pir Shabda Kahn

Pir Shabda Kahn

Member | Marin, CA

Shabda Kahn, a direct disciple of the American Sufi Master, Murshid Samuel Lewis, has been practicing Sufism since 1969 and since 2001, is the Pir (Spiritual Director) of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the lineage tracing from Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis. He is…

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Aziza Patricia Riely, MEd

Aziza Patricia Riely, MEd

Secretary | Columbia, MO

On the Sufi path since the 1980s, a ninth level Mureed of Pir Moineddin Jablonski and Mariam Baker, Ozark Sufi Camp Board Member, Soulwork Practitioner, Cherag Trainee, retired from a career in Educational and Counseling Psychology.

Jiva (Tim) O’Connor

Jiva (Tim) O’Connor

Member | Gila Hot Springs, NM

My first experience with Sufism was in the early 80’s. I moved to Kauai in 2005 where I attended Dances of Universal Peace, Zikr events and retreats including at SSC.  I was initiated by Bodhi Be in 2019.  
While in Kauai I was an organic farmer where I taught and hosted interns on my farm by hands-on experiences with sustainable and regenerative farming and gardening methods.
I recently retired and moved to southwest New Mexico in the small community of Gila Hot Springs.  I am blessed to have three children and five grandchildren.
Daveed Rhodes

Daveed Rhodes

Member | Silver City, NM

Daveed has been on the musical path for all of this lifetime. He was brought onto the Sufi path in 2009
when he and his beloved, Shunya Caban, were invited to be musicians in the zikr circle on Kauai.

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Bodhi Terry Daley

Bodhi Terry Daley

Member | Baja, CA

As a Canadian I have now taken up permanent residence in Baja California Mexico. I was initiated to the Sufi Ruhaniat by Yaqin in Prescott, AZ. I was also initiated into the Sufi Healing Order by Devi Tide. I am a member of the Sufi Circle Canada. I am grateful to be a part of the SSC and have a deep love for the land and those who go there and live there.

A Letter from the President of the
Southwest Sufi Community

Beloved Ones,

I am writing to you from Southwest Sufi Community, where 14 of us dwell in the wild nature sanctuary founded by Pir Moineddin Jablonski in 1995, coalescing into reality Murshid Sam’s vision: Eat, Dance, and Pray Together. Since that time a committed core group of Sufis and the Board of Trustees have guided this community and retreat center toward the One, creating a place to gather and maintaining a wilderness homestead for the hearty in body, mind and spirit. I am writing you today to tell you of a unique opportunity for residency and the availability of a small permaculture homesite, complete with unfinished, and presently livable, 400 sq.ft. solar cabin and established gardens for only $15,000.

Visitng our website you takes you photos of our beautiful Land and retreat center, The Voice of the Turtle. There are photos of the surrounding wilderness, the Dargah Gardens, the year-round flowing Bear Creek, the unique dwellings we have built and live in, the lush gardens we maintain from waters that flow both on the surface and deeply below. We steward 1500 acres of pristine high desert, with 1450 acres in conservation for perpetuity, the Voice of the Turtle at the heart of it all, the Creek a treasure in the landscape. In these changing times, a place of refuge within the Ruhaniat Family could be the invitation you have yet to accept.

Why live at SSC?

To live in service to the Voice of The Turtle, the Land, the community, our wider Ruhaniat Family and beyond; and also in service to oneself by dropping deeply into the contemplative life. The surrounding landscape is a perfect backdrop of the Divine Manuscript of Nature, where we can immerse ourselves in our practices, meditation and service. The symphonic silence of this place is resounding! Thoughts can truly dissolve and we awaken in this field of pure stillness. Living in community offers a safe container for both the individual and the group to grow deeply through witnessing ourselves in any situation: growing and healing, forgiving and accepting; the living presence of Love, Harmony and Beauty.

The little homestead for sale was built by Bevan Williams, a former building contractor and permaculture visionary. He has left SSC due to age and mobility issues. The cabin is essentially one room, with a kitchen on the east side overlooking the creek watershed, a unique wood stove complete with oven, sleeping nook, closet, and unfinished bathroom. Outhouse is just, well, outside. The cabin is very well built with quality materials, insulated, south facing, and with some know-how and creativity it will be a lovely home for one or two, especially if expanded into the shed space. The shed is an uninsulated shelter attached to the main cabin that Bevan has used for building and gardening supplies. Combining the 2 would double the living area. The homesite has full irrigation to the numerous fruit trees, grapevines, and established garden beds. Please see the attached flyer for photos and more information.

The Residential Community is comprised of a diverse group who care for the Land, host the retreats, maintain the structures, and together we run the retreat center while maintaining separate households. We range in age from four months to 80 years old! To thrive here, an intrinsic enjoyment of rugged and rustic living is necessary, as well as being able to support oneself financially, and have a vehicle able to manage a rough road. Equally, a sense of adventure as well as a passion for wilderness is a common appreciation throughout the residents, each of us feeling very blessed to be a part of this wild sacred place.

Like Bevan’s, there are many thriving gardens on the Land at individual homesites: luscious vegetables, a wide variety of fruit trees, abundant flowers and herbs attracting birds and wildlife, and even a small permaculture farm complete with a goat herd and chickens!

The Community garden is presently asleep under three inches of snow, awaiting spring and the renewal of life. This garden is comprised of approximately an acre and a half of fertile ground along year-round Bear Creek, with irrigation from the spring and water rights from the Creek. There are many fruit trees, as well as heirloom apples in an abandoned orchard that produce abundantly every few years. Although these gardens once flourished in the past, they are waiting for the next wave of community gardeners to help grow more self-reliance in food production and sustainability.

At the Jamiat Khas, I made a slide presentation, and spoke of the renaissance at SSC over the last five years, when the Board and Residents worked together refurbishing the retreat center, building the Dance Pavilion, releasing all of our debt, clearing the way for a sustainable future. For SSC to have a future, we invite you to come and become part of the next wave of leaders, assuming an available cabin, renting one of the community spaces, or possibly building your own — finding a refuge in the atmosphere of pure air, abundant water, the wild surrounding landscape, and community life.

Silver City is a small university town in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. This old fashioned, somewhat podunk town is a refreshing change from the hustles found in most US towns and cities today, and is the gateway to the Gila Wilderness and Continental Divide Trail. SSC is approximately 15 miles due north into the mountains on a dirt road, a trip that takes my breath away every time I head home from town.

If any of this interests you, please write to me directly. I will gladly host your visit come spring. Also, I encourage you to dream into a NextGen Retreat on the Land, where we can offer you a stunning gathering place and space for only the cost of food per person. I envision a caravan from all over the world to Southwest Sufi Community, keeping the fires of the Message alive and burning. We open our doors to the next generation of Sufis to carry the Message, the Mission, Vision and Purpose of the Southwest Sufi Community far and wide into the future. Please share with us how we can work together to make that happen.

On behalf or the Southwest Sufi Community Board & Residents

With Love, Bahaar

Bahaar
Board President

Our Advisory Council

Chant Thomas

Chant Thomas

SSC Resident | Silver City, NM

Chant has lived in wilderness community for nearly 50 years diving deep into the Wild, embedded in the embrace of Divine Creation. Chant first encountered Sufis in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park after an all-night Grateful Dead concert in December 1972. Sam’s tribe…

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Peter Lipa

Peter Lipa

SSC Participant | AZ

Joined the Sufi caravan in 1979, and became an official resident of the SSC in 1997. Moineddin became an inspiration for exploring the inner life, and what has ultimately helped me become a witness/watcher on the path. Over the last quarter century have visited the SSC numerous times…

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Waduda Welsh

Waduda Welsh

Accountant | Boulder, CO

Khalifa Waduda Welsh has been studying Sufism since the late 70’s. She has three daughters and six grandsons and she enjoys sharing spirituality, sword fighting and nature with them. She is a leader of Dances of Universal Peace, a sufi guide and a mureed of Pir Shabda Kahn. Waduda…

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Rashad

Rashad

SSC Resident | Silver City, NM

Rashad is a founding member of the Southwest Sufi Community and the First President of the SSC Board of Directors. He was initiated into Sufi Ruhaniat International in 1973 and Nur Ashki Jerrahi Order in 2000 and is a retired therapist, nurse, and inpatient long-term facilities consultant.

Our Member Donors

We are deeply grateful for our Member Donors, listed below in no particular order, who have contributed at least $3,000 in money or work/trade hours in support of the Southwest Sufi Community:

    • Quan Yin Lyn Williams
    • Shaheeda Pierce
    • Katherine Jensen
    • Khadija Julia Goforth
    • Asha Lela
    • Michael H. Tindall
    • Richard Lindley
    • Janet Haqqikah Williams
    • Saladin & Samia Pelfrey
    • Shemsuddin Barksdale
    • Hafeez Gavin Perry
    • Zakir & Aziza Twaddle
    • Jim Brumfield
    • Amina Rae Horton
    • Elena & Akbar DeJardin
    • Susan Ayesha Maginnis
    • Amrita Skye Blaine
    • Azima Abbe Anderson
    • Hasibuddin Mark Smeder
    • Wali Ali Meyer
    • Kaf-I-Mariam Ellen Fietz Hall
    • Shakura Mary Jane Young
    • Rahma Jackie Davis
    • Siddiq & Majida Middlebrooks
    • Jean Pierre David
    • Susanne Bell
  • Jemaluddin Carl Hall
  • Peter Lipa
  • Azima Lila Forest
  • Patrick Shakur Linkenhoger
  • Linda Morrow
  • Jami Frank Milan
  • Ushidarena Janet Aniline
  • Zahir Barker
  • Suka Jon Thompson
  • Lilith Jean Speck
  • Darren Craig
  • Chris & Ahura Henke
  • Selim Bill Lockhart
  • Paul Wikstrom
  • Martha Blacklock
  • Sophia Shunny
  • Rashad Wilson
  • Samia Wakkinen
  • Darwesh & Malika Walker
  • James J. Childress
  • Tom Morris
  • Jeremiah Kidd
  • Anandamayi Sherry Magee
  • Ghani Odell
  • Oliver Payne
  • Kate Moitoret
  • Sasha Bell
  • Marilyn Rea
  • Sufi Ruhaniat International
  • Lynda Aiman-Smith
  • Alexi Charter
  • Rick Shems Lambert
  • Qayyum Dennis Klein
  • Cathy Owens
  • Jelaluddin Shuffield
  • Munir Michael Hagmeier
  • Boudewijn Boom
  • Shanna Bomberger
  • Tavis Habib Schmidt
  • Ali & Khalila Charles
  • Keith Berry
  • Sue Rabia Holstrom
  • Pir Shabda Kahn
  • Amos England
  • Zardhusht Chet Van Wert
  • Bahaar Thomas
  • Joanie Connors