The Alchemy of Happiness with Sheikha Quan Yin Williams

We began by literally turning, whether as a dervish turns, or someone turning while sitting in their seat

(i.e., imagining turning) and using that experience to see how our thoughts change. Do your own

thought and turning experiment. We brought Moineddin into class, singing “Turning” from the Sufi

Choir. (recording in the first class video)

~~~~~~~~~

Turning turning.Turning, turning turning.

Turning, turning, turning, turning, turning turning.

Birds into bells, bells into oceans,

oceans into vinas

Vinas into flutes

Flutes into trumpets

Trumpets into thunder

Thunder into ether

Ether into turning

Turning, turning, turning

Turning, turning, turning

Turning and turning and turning and turning, turning turning

Turning into this

Turning into that

Turning, turning, turning

Turning, turning, turning

Stones into pearls

Pearls into diamonds

Diamonds into seeds

Seeds into flowers

Flowers into white doves

Flowers into white doves

Doves in trees

Trees in sunshine

Sons and daughters

Dancing in light

Whirling in light

Praising Allah

Dancing Allah

Turning turning

Allah Allah

Singing Singing

Allah Allah

Allah Allah

Lord how we turn……..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE ALCHEMISTS PRAYER

(Alchemists try to rid themselves of the lesser gods of ego, dogma, and unyielding archetypes that

imprison all of us, so they could move closer to God. More than any other movement in history, truly

more so than any religion or science of our times, the alchemists never took their eyes from the true

God, the One who is All. This can be seen in the words of the Alchemist's Prayer:)

The Alchemist’s Prayer

Oh, most singular and unspeakable Presence,

first and last in the universe, heighten the fury of my fire and burn away the dross of my being.

Cleanse my soiled soul; bathe me in your awesome light.

Set me free from my history and cut me loose from my boundaries.

Unite me with the One Thing hidden in my life, wherein is my only strength.

Fill me with your Presence, allow me to see through your Eye, grant me entry to your Mind, let me

resonate with your Will.

Make me transparent to your flame, and fashion me into a lens for your light only.

Transmute me into an incorruptible Stone in your eternal service, like the golden light that surrounds

you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can download free the entirety of Al-Ghazzali’s writing on the Alchemy of Happiness:

https://data.nur.nu/Kutub/English/Ghazali_Alchemy-of-Happiness.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Volume V - Spiritual Liberty

Part V: Pearls From The Ocean Unseen

The Alchemy Of Hapiness

The word 'alchemy' comes from an Arabic word, al-kimia, which means the art of making gold. There

are two kinds of gold: the gold that we obtain from outside, and the gold that the

Eastern alchemist knew how to make for himself. The same may be applied to happiness. Every soul

seeks for happiness, and either depends on external objects for it, or like the alchemist of old,

creates happiness for himself.

Those who seek for happiness from external sources are never really satisfied. A man imagines that

if he could have a certain sum of money he would be happy, but if he gets it he is not

really content. He wants more. No earthly happiness is lasting: it never remains. The only cause of

this lack of happiness is the discomfort of the spirit. If we were offered all the homage and riches of

the world if only we would remain floating in the air, we would forgo them all, for our body belongs to

the earth. And if a like offer were made to us if we would always stand in the water, we should refuse

for the same reason. For our earthly body has its comfort only on earth.

So it is with our spirit. The Bible says, 'The spirit quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing.' Our spirit is

the real part of us. The body is but a garment. There is absolute peace in the abode from whence the

spirit came, and the true happiness of the soul lies in that peace. As man would not find peace at the

tailor's just because his coat came from there, so the spirit cannot get true happiness from the earth

just because the body belongs to the earth. The soul experiences life through the mind and body and

enjoys it, but its true happiness lies in peace.

In order to gain this peace we have to begin with ourselves. There are fights going on within us

between spirit and matter. Struggles for our daily bread, and want of peace in our surroundings. We

must first get this peace within ourselves before we can talk of peace in the world. Then we must be

at peace with our surroundings, and never do or say anything that disturbs that peace. All thoughts,

words, and actions that disturb the peace are sin, and all thoughts words, and actions that create

peace are virtue. In our dealings with those with whom it isn't easy to keep peace, a constant effort to

do so has a great effect.

There are two forces in us, love and reason. We must keep an even balance between the two. If we

give too much expression to love we become unbalanced and fall into trouble. And if on the other

hand we lean too much on the side of reason we become cold.

~~~~~~~

We emphasized the importance of the container in Alchemy. Pay attention to that in your life. Imagine

a chemistry lab without containers, beakers, jars. Or a kitchen without pots or bowls or ovens. Look

for the containers you utilize in your daily life as well as your spiritual life. Sometimes when things fall

apart we have to look at the container or the lack thereof. If you’re not sure about that, ask for help—-

you can ask friends, neighbors, colleagues or reach out to others in the various classes the Ruhaniat

offers.

~~~~~~~~~~~

We began looking at the most basic of the Alchemical Processes, which can be seen in our sufi

breath practices of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. The Alchemist’s latinized the words to

Coagulatio, Solutio, Calcinatio, Sublimatio.

With much love and appreciation, Quan Yin

Alchemy of Happiness Quan Yin with Nur Ali Ried (Class 2 notes)

Quan Yin's longtime friend and colleague Nur Ali Jeffrey Ried shared some experience on using alchemy as a model for organizations in his Agriculture Development Work in Togo.

From Nur Ali: Alchemy is operating all around us. Whether we realize it or not, we are participating in a growth and transformation. The information in the two slides shows my experience of alchemy and how we fit it into our personal and professional lives. Each turn of the alchemical cycle brings change; we participate in multiple cycles simultaneously. Recognizing where we are in the cycle helps us navigate the change. I hope the information in these slides allow you to see where you are at in growth and transformation and be able to navigate it in greater harmony. Nur Ali Jeffrey Ried

Click here for notes from class from Nur Ali Ried’s presentation.

Note from Quan Yin continuing practice: TURNING while listening to "Turning" by the Sufi Choir (on the web hub) The whole "show" of alchemy is about change and transformation, chemically/alchemically/psychologically etc. By Turning we uproot ourselves from our old way of seeing and have the opportunity for a new perspective (Sublimatio).

Blessings to all, Quan Yin

Downloadable PDF: Class 3 “The Alchemy of Happiness” with QuanYin Lynne Williams

'Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

~Shaker song early 1800's

Practical Alchemy Notes from Nur Ali Jeffrey Ried

Head, heart, hands, patience Alchemy (30 Apr 2023)