In reference to his approach to the path of spiritual perfection, Ostad Elahi once said “This is not a path of words, but of deeds; only through action can progress be achieved”. This idea lead to the creation over a year ago of the website OstadElahi inPractice. It has now inspired the design of a “100% action express lab” entitled “One day, one Maxim – 28 days straight”. This new lab, based on a volume entitled 100 Maxims of Guidance first published in 1995 on the occasion of Ostad Elahi’s centennial, will be launched in the next few days on OstadElahi inPractice.

The e-OstadElahi.com app will allow you to access all the articles published on e-OstadElahi.com from your smartphone or tablet, wherever you are, even if you do not have access to the internet. Its simple and intuitive navigation system will allow you to easily find all the articles you might be interested in. You will also be able to save your favorite articles directly on your mobile or tablet to access them even faster. How does it work?
The app opens on a screen showing the list of all the articles in reverse chronological order (newest articles at the top). On iOS (coming soon on Android), a search bar at the top of the screen allows for a simple search (by terms contained in the articles) through all the articles.

A lecture and a series of concerts presented on 16 November 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in conjunction with the exhibition The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi are now available in video on the website of the museum. This “Sunday at the Met” features an introduction by Ken Moore, Curator in Charge of the Department of Musical Instruments, a lecture by Jean During, Director of Research at the Centre de Recherche en Ethnomusicologie and performances by the Garcia-Fons Quartet and Parissa and Ensemble.

In order to provide its readers a more interactive participatory experience, e-ostadelahi.com is introducing nested comments: you may now reply directly to a comment by clicking on the “Reply to this comment” link. It thus becomes easier to follow the discussion.

The musician, composer and writer Clive Bell dedicates his November column in the British music magazine The Wire to Ostad Elahi’s music and the current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi”.

Ken Moore, Curator in charge of the Department of Musical Instruments at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gives a tour of the exhibition “The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi” on NYC-ARTS’s latest episode.

The academic journal Resuscitation recently published the results of a large-scale international study involving 2060 cardiac arrest patients. Sponsored by the University of Southampton (United Kingdom), the study was conducted by a medical research team under the direction of Dr. Sam Parnia, the author of Erasing Death: the Science that is Rewriting the Boundaries between Life and Death. Among the cases reported, the most disturbing are those—very numerous—of patients considered to be “brain-dead”, but who reported, once resuscitated, states of consciousness and even perceptions that seem to have taken place while they were suspended between life and death. The neurosurgeon Eben Alexander gave an account of his own spectacular experience in his 2012 best-selling book Proof of Heaven. It has become clear that such cases are not so uncommon, and they are now also better understood. According to the article published in Resuscitation, one case of verifiable conscious awareness was even attested to in the absence of any clinical evidence of brain activity.

John Schaefer showcases an excerpt of the special commemorative CD-book issued by the Metropolitan Museum and Harmonia Mundi for the exhibit, “The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi”, on the New Sounds programme of 30 September 2014 (Episode #3643), on WNYC.

“What is prayer? What purpose does it serve? What is its role in the process of spiritual perfection? Under what conditions can one best benefit from prayer? This lab aims at helping you better understand the goal, the effects and the conditions of prayer, and make the practice of prayer part of your daily life.”
Here is the introductory description of the brand new lab hosted by the website OstadElahi inPractice, an organisational platform for the practice of ethics and spirituality that we introduced here when it launched in July. After a first general lab entitled Toward an in vivo practice, which you may have already tried out this summer, this second curriculum entitled Connecting with the Divine, introduces us to the essential role of prayer.

An exhibit opens this week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, wholly devoted to the musical heritage of Ostad Elahi.

The exhibition runs from Aug. 5 2014 to Jan. 11 2015. Exhibition Location: The Hagop Kevorkian Fund Special Exhibition Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art.