Fragments, Magic & Memories
Welcome to the latest issue of The Shamcher Bulletin, bringing you snippets from Shamcher’s writings that might help frame and context our experience of the world we live in today. Special greetings to new subscribers!
Inside:
Some Fragments - Shamcher’s passport, Sri Yukeswar connection
D’Annunzio recollection of Inayat Khan’s singing
Video recording of “Shamcher as I knew him” talk & discussion
Some Fragments
Yes, Shamcher was an International Man of Mystery! He travelled the world. Here’s his old Norwegian passport, from before he became a US citizen.
After joining with Inayat Khan, Shamcher also furthered his studies in yoga through Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship. In meditation, he felt a strong communication with the yogis in the Himalayas and their guidance. This is his well-worn copy of The Holy Science.
Magical Music
Shamcher was so fortunate to have been a pupil of the great mystic, Inayat Khan. At a Sufi gathering, he shared this account from the elite aesthete Gabriele D’Annunzio, who described hearing Inayat sing.
Shamcher said: This is a meeting from a time when Inayat Khan was operating as a singer. It was a meeting with Gabriele D'Annunzio in Italy where he describes his impression. He [D’Annunzio] was sitting at a party which was a little fin de siecle as the French say--the end of the century, a little bit fake. Everybody was appearing to be somebody they weren't and then came this
"...fragile man, he was a wisp of a slender man, and his singing seemed to rise from the depths of the temple, to come from beneath the rocks, from beyond the inner caverns of the earth, and it seemed to gather in its sweep the longings of all generations of man, and the labour of all beginnings.
"There were no walls, no narrow chimney; there were no more phantoms, no masquerades, no lies. There was the smoke of the wood and sweat-like jewels on the brow of the holy singer. In the interval no one dared speak or say a word. Inayat Khan looked at me at the beginning of every song. He wanted to let me know that he sang for me alone. For me alone he sang the chant from before the light, the song of the time before dawn, mysterious, as the message of the wind sent over the Sorrow of the earth by Him, Who is destined to let the Light grow."
- words of Gabriele D’Annunzio
Shamcher as I knew him….
Here’s the recording from the Shamcher feature at West Coast Dervish Coffee, hosted by Rani Kathleen McLaughlin and Moinuddin Christopher Clarke. It’s informal and off-the-cuff, so please bear with spot (7:05 - 7:38) where the zoom glitched and froze a bit before continuing. The presentation was followed by many interesting comments and questions. Your fact-checks and comments are most welcome here.
“This podcast with Sufia Carol Sill, a student of Shamcher, provides a brief account of her relationship with her Sufi teacher. Carol delves into Shamcher’s life, his work, and his teachings through stories and anecdotes, focusing on his unconventional approach to Sufism, which included a strong emphasis on personal experience and intuition, as well as an open-minded perspective towards other spiritual traditions. Carol highlights Shamcher's unique blend of spirituality, activism, and scientific inquiry, illustrating his profound impact on her life and the Sufi community. She also reflects on the enduring legacy of Shamcher and the challenges and rewards of carrying on his work in the modern world.”
If you’re intrigued and want a little more of this type of open conversation, join in on the 4th Saturday of each month. Link here for all West Coast Dervish Coffee events - everyone is welcome.
Thanks for subscribing to these excerpts from the archives of Shamcher Bryn Beorse.
Feel free to reply to this post if you have any Shamcher stories, photos or correspondence to share.
The Shamcher Bulletin is edited by Carol Sill, whose newsletter, “Personal Papers”, is HERE.
If you like this post, please click the heart. And your comments are always welcome.
Sometimes there are words that come to me that describe a truth for me that words have eluded to express. This describes my reasons for become a Sufi.
I so appreciate your exquisite words. Love you big hugs 💓
When responding to an email comment on the recorded talk, I realized I may have given a too firm impression there. So am correcting it here. Although Shamcher was not much for hierarchy, wherever he went he encouraged Sufi activities - founding and supporting groups to spread the message. I think that I may have come along too intensely on the individuality side in that talk. Shamcher had been so proud of the fact that he had introduced Pir Vilayat and Murshid Sam to encourage them to work together, and so disappointed by the separation, how could he ever be seen as against organization? He was all for it!