Madison Margolin and Sukina Pilgrim explore different gateways to the Divine, including poetry and creativity, along with how we can remember our oneness and access the voice of the heart.
Sukina Pilgrim is a Poet, Spoken-Word artist, Playwright, Workshop Facilitator and Event Organiser, and co-founder of Muslim female Hip Hop duo, Poetic Pilgrimage. She has facilitated creative writing workshops across the world, empowering communities to use the written word as a tool for dialogue and engagement. Connect with Sukina on Instagram, where she shares her poetry and reflections.
Gateways to the Divine
Madison welcomes Sukina and asks about the many layers to her journey. They discuss the intersection of spirituality and creativity, how poetry helps us access our own spiritual voice, and how psychedelics can be a gateway to the Divine. Sukina shares some of her Sufi tradition and the ways they strive to connect to the Divine, including Dhikr, which is similar to mantra practice.
“There’s definitely something in the kind of repetition of a particular name, or repetition of a litany, that has the capacity to kind of take one outside of one’s self and into a spiritual place.” – Sukina Pilgrim
Krishna Das talks about the repetition of the Divine name in Pilgrim Heart Ep. 75
Remember Our Oneness (15:05)
Madison digs deeper into Sukina’s Sufi tradition. They talk about mantra as a way to cleanse one’s self, how there are different manifestations of the Divine, and the role of sheiks within the Sufi tradition. Madison brings up our innate capacity as humans to communicate with the Divine, while Sukina explores the different ways in which we remember our oneness.
“But I think that’s another thing that the spiritual path entails, is the fact that it is beyond what is sensible, you know, it’s a reality that’s beyond what we can comprehend, particularly when we’re dealing with the affair of love.” – Sukina Pilgrim
Omid Safi explores teachings from the Sufi tradition about the sacredness of love in Sufi Heart Ep. 2
The Voice of the Heart (32:45)
Madison and Sukina discuss bringing our spiritual practice into our everyday lives, and how service is a gateway to the Divine. Sukina talks about the ways that Muslim prayer is very much an embodied practice. She ends the episode by sharing how passionate she is about helping others connect to the mystical element within themselves and access the voice of the heart.
“The heart is a portal. And I think that by way of accessing the heart, and accessing the voice of the heart, we have access to an overflowing well of wisdom that we all have.” –Sukina Pilgrim
Spring Washam gives a dharma talk on the nature of empowered compassionate service in BHNN Guest Podcast Ep. 69
