Vilayat Inayat Khan (19 June 1916 17 June 2004) was a teacher of meditation and of the traditions of the East Indian Chishti Sufi Order of Sufism. His teaching derived from the tradition of his father, Inayat Khan, founder of The Sufi Order in the West (now named the Ināyati Order), in a form tailored to the needs of Western seekers. One of his sisters was Noor Inayat Khan GC MBE. He taught in the tradition of Universal Sufism. His parents met at the New York City ashram of American yogi, Pierre Bernard, half-brother of his mother Pirani Ameena Begum.
Prior to his teaching career he worked in London as an assistant to Ghulam Mohammed, the Finance Minister of Pakistan in 1949, and served as a personal assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan during his visit to England.
In 1975 he founded The Abode of the Message, which serves as the central residential community of the Sufi Order International, a conference and retreat center, and a center of esoteric study.
Pir Vilayat had two sons (Zia and Mirza) and a daughter, Maria. He choose his eldest son, Zia Inayat Khan to be his successor. Zia is now the head of the Sufi Order International, the name of which he changed to Inayatiyya.
Legacy
During his lifetime Vilayat Inayat Khan was instrumental in the founding of several organisations that continue to operate today.
The Abode of the Message
Hope Project
The Institute for Applied Meditation
Inayatiyya.
Death
Vilayat Inayat Khan died on 17 June 2004, two days before his 88th birthday. His son is Zia Inayat Khan. His Dargah is located in Delhi, India.
Bibliography
- Inayat Khan, Pir Vilayat (2014) The Ecstasy Beyond Knowing: A Manual of Meditation. NY. Omega Publications ISBN 1941810012.
- Inayat Khan, Pir Vilayat (2011) Life is a Pilgrimage. NY. Omega Publications ISBN 0930872819.
- <!-- * Toward the One, (Harper and Row, 1974)
- The Message in Our Time, (Harper and Row, 1978)
- Contributed the foreword to The Complete Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, (Omega Publications, 1978)
- The Call of the Dervish, (Sufi Order Publications, 1981)
- Sufi Masters, (Sufi Order Publications, 1982)
- Introducing Spirituality Into Counseling and Therapy, (Omega Press, 1982)
- That Which Transpires Behind That Which Appears, (Omega Publications, 1994)
- Awakening: A Sufi Experience (Tarcher Putnam, 1999)
- In Search of the Hidden Treasure (Tarcher, 2003) -->
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