River of Guidance Library

Principles and Practices of Inner and Outer Peace

Jonathan Granoff (Ahamed Muhaiyaddeen)

Watch three 90-minute classes at your own pace

We are honored to welcome Jonathan Granoff to River of Guidance. It feels auspicious to offer a course that gives us opportunities to deepen our understanding, commitment, and capacity to contribute to a more peaceful, sustainable world. Jonathan has requested that each session include a panel of responders to engage with him in conversation.

First Class Panel

Nur Mariam Simmons, Tansen Philip O'Donohoe, Amira Sara Pelfrey, Pir Shabda Kahn

Second Class Panel

Diana Lyon, Dr. Mitchell Kossak, Muiz Brinkerhoff

Third Class Panel

Arjun Jorge Calero, Arifa Byron Singer (aka Dr. Amanda Byron Singer)

From Jonathan: In this course, we will explore principles and policies that cultivate peace and security; from the inner realm of the heart to our families, our communities, nations, and to the world. The wisdom of sages and saints is necessary to meet today's existential challenges. What can spiritually awakened people do in a secular society where competition and selfishness are lauded as virtues? We are living at a moment when perennial wisdom invokes our moral imperative to take action. We are a generation living with an inherited capacity to be the last. How do we channel our insights into meaningful, realized action?

About Jonathan

Jonathan Granoff is an attorney, author and International advocate engaged in peace and global security negotiations between nations in the areas of disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, and environmental protection.

He serves on numerous governing and advisory boards, including the Global Security Institute, Jane Goodall Institute, and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament.

He is the Senior Advisor to the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and its Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador for Peace, Security and Nuclear Disarmament of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. He was nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.


Jonathan studied and lived with Sufi saint Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and is honored to carry his name, Ahamed Muhaiyaddeen.

Pray in a Natural Way

A Note from Pir Shabda:

Jonathan Granoff, whose Sufi name is Ahamed Muhaiyaddeen, is a very dear friend and colleague who blends the heart of a Sufi mystic with extraordinary activities for social justice and protection of the planet. Most importantly, he is a senior disciple of the great Sufi Master Guru Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, having lived by his feet in Sri Lanka and the USA for many years.

He is the President of the Global Security Institute, founded by Mikhail Gorbachev and California Senator Alan Cranston to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Jonathan is an attorney, author and international advocate emphasizing the legal and ethical dimensions of human development and security, with a specific focus on advancing the rule of law to address international security and the threats posed by nuclear weapons.

Jonathan serves on numerous governing and advisory boards including The Jane Goodall Institute and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament. He is the Senior Advisor and United Nations Representative to the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summits of Nobel Peace Laureates and is the Ambassador for Peace, Security and Nuclear Disarmament of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. He was nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

He and I are core members of the Universal Sufi Council which morphed into the Peace Pledge Project. We have been on Pilgrimage together in Greenland, Assisi, India, and Holland, to give the clarion call for Loving Kindness and Compassion to be at the core of human expression, showing that spiritual leaders, educators, scientists and politicians can all work together to further the cause of Love and care for the planet.

With much love,

Shabda

Watch three 90-minute videos

(at your own pace)

Supplemental Materials for Course

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  • Class 1: Practice, Contemplation, and Inquiry

    During this first class Jonathan Ahamed Muhaiyaddeen gives us 4 questions to contemplate, and a paper to read: Nobel Peace Summit Final Statements:

    http://www.nobelpeacesummit.com/wpcontent/uploads/Nobel_Final_Statements_LIGHT.pdf (Go to page 30 for background re questions)

    During the class, Jonathan noted how important it is to hold our elected representatives answerable to the following 3 questions.

    Contemplations:

    Ask yourself these 3 questions:

    1. What are you doing to protect the climate and environment?

    2. What are you doing to eliminate poverty?

    3. What are you doing to eliminate nuclear weapons and pursue peace?

    4. What am I doing to find the highest love within myself and bring it into action?