Madison, WI and Santa Cruz, CA
Murshid Rahmat was born in Springfield, Massachusetts January 1, 1963 as Andrew D Moore. He grew up in the Rosicrucian tradition and started formal practice at age 14. He felt called from an early age to serve others and was admitted to a 7-year medical program out of high school. He graduated Brown University Program in Medicine in 1988 as a Medical Doctor. He completed 3 years of training in family medicine and was in practice for 7 years. His love of psychotherapy and being in loving presence with others led him to complete training as a psychiatrist. He studied psychotherapy with his mentor Dr. James Gustafson for many years even after his formal residency training. He taught Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for clients with depression and anxiety at the University of Wisconsin for 9 years. He currently practices in a residential treatment program for clients with severe depression.
He is a proud father of his daughter Ana and devoted husband to his wife Tasha who is a physician and gifted healer of Osteopathy and Homeopathy. He is an avid gardener and orchid grower and delights in the sight and scent of his orchids and plumeria tree blooming in Wisconsin in the middle of Winter. He loves devotional singing as a form of prayer and meditation. He lives between Madison, Wisconsin and Santa Cruz, California.
In as much as he grew up Rosicrucian he longed for a direct personal teacher and at the age of 20 he fell in love with the Sufi Path of Hazrat Inayat Khan. He was initiated into the Sufi Order by Azimat Schrieber-Cohn in February 1984. He feels an extraordinary gratitude for her guidance and the gifts of her direct transmission which continue to unfold to this day. He attended many leader trainings and retreats with Pir Vilayat Khan. He has extensive retreat experience and was trained as a retreat guide in the Sufi Order by Azimat and Aziza Scott. His first experience with the dances was in Boston with Azimat who had danced with Murshid SAM. This inspired him to explore and lead the dances.
In January 1990, while on retreat in a cold attic of a house in Cambridge, MA, he got guidance from Murshid SAM to find his students and to find the North Indian Classical vocal master Pandit Pran Nath and to study with them. Within a year he had found Pir Shabda and Pandit Pran Nath. His spiritual home is with the Sufi Ruhaniat and Pir Shabda is his beloved initiator and friend. He has pursued an in-depth study of North Indian classical vocal music with Pir Shabda and has led Dances of Universal Peace since 1991.
He was introduced to the power of presence by Sheikh Kabir Helminski in 1986 through the simple practice of attending to breath and presence. He has subsequently seriously practiced vipassana and awareness meditation. He has done a number of month-long retreats, both Sufi and Buddhist. He has studied with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters, Mingyur Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and Adyashanti. He has been deeply inspired by Krishna Das, Loch Kelly, Ken McLeod, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. He has greatly benefitted from many of his close friends who are extraordinary practitioners and supports on the path.
Murshid Rahmat has taught at the January Sufi Sesshin since its inception in 2002. He feels a deep connection with and gratitude for the blessings and teachings he has received from Murshid Wali Ali, Murshida Leilah, Murshida Taj Inayat, Murshid Atum O’kane and Murshid Suhrawardi Gebel.
He continues to work to deeply integrate of the Sufi teachings in his career as a psychiatrist. He leads classes and dances in Madison, WI. He guides individual retreats at his home and at a distance. He is passionate about the Path of Love and Presence wherever it is found and however it is practiced in its many forms.