Sufism, Mysticism and the art of Qawwali - An interview with Kiran Rana

In this Chaitime, we talk to Sufi Murshid (Guide) Kiran Rana about sufism, mysticism and the art of Qawwali, which is a musical rendition of Sufi poetry. Kiran Rana and his group will be performing live at The Center SF, 548 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94117, on Saturday, February 25, 2017 Saturday from 3 pm to 6 pm (gate opens at 2). The entry to this event is free and it is being organized by the Hindi Urdu Sufi Poetry Meetup group. Hindi Urdu Sufi Poetry group is an active meetup group in San Francisco. This group was started by Mahendre Kutare, a San Francisco based engineer and a poet, as an experiment to bring together like minded people to read, explore and spread the beauty, love, mystic and spirituality expressed in Hindi, Urdu and Sufi Poems and Literature. The group is now more than 250 people strong and is growing. Kiran Rana was born and raised in India. He became dissatisfied at an early age with traditional responses that emphasized acceptance of scriptures or the elevation of one faith/teaching over another. After finishing his college, he traveled to the west in search of enlightenment. He had his first Sufi training from Fazal Inayat-Khan at Four Winds in England. For the past 40 years, Kiran Rana has been deeply engaged with Sufism. At the Bay Dervish center in Alameda, he and his wife Jeanne share traditional and new approaches to the inner life, love, creativity and awakening. Kiran can be reached at [email protected].