“THE ESSENCE OF OUR BEING IS LOVE”

Salma has traveled to and lived in many countries, beginning with living in Switzerland at the age of eighteen. These experiences gave her the opportunity to develop personal connection with people of all faiths and traditions. Her consciousness expanded and awakened in her the search questioning her Divine purpose in life. Salma embarked on her spiritual journey with enthusiasm, willingness, and curiosity. She visited many ancient holy sites known for their mystical energy and healing powers in Palestine, the land of the three major religions; Syria, the country of her birth; Lebanon; and the United States; as well as Stonehenge, Yugoslavia, holy sites in India and extended stays in ashrams, El Camino, Machu Picchu, Lourdes, St. Therese Lesieux, Find Horn, Egypt and the pyramids, Brazil and Argentina, and many, many more. As a young child, Salma visited Jerusalem in Palestine with her Catholic school at the age of seven and again with her family at the age of twelve. These journeys moved her to embrace a universal spiritual life.

Salma “Light” Al Alami was born in the land of ancient civilization, in the Middle East, in the Holy City of Damascus, Syria – a land known as the Oasis and Pearl of the Orient, and also as the City of Jasmine and Roses and Gliding Doves. This is the land where Saul of Tarsus, who was later known as the Apostle Paul, was travelling by horse on the way to Damascus to extend his ravages. He suddenly saw a blinding light and fell to the ground and heard a voice saying onto him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me!” Saul said, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I AM JESUS.” Paul’s conversion occurred there on the road to Damascus. Today, to be on “the Road to Damascus” means to undergo a transformative spiritual conversion. In Arabic we call Damascus “Sham Shareef” meaning “the Noble Damascus.” Salma also had Lebanese citizenship from her mother’s lineage. Syria was once a greater land consisting of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Years ago, Syria was identified with pluralism. It has plural languages, cultures, and religions. Historically, Syria was inhabited by Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians. Amorites and Babylonians. One will find the First Temple of Baal, a synagogue, the eldest church, a Zoroastrian temple, and a mosque. One will find Syrians, Armenians, Kurds, Christians, Jewish, Muslims and more living together in harmony. Syria is a land of hospitality, good values, honorable virtues, and the elements of good neighbors and friendship. Muslims are committed to the love of Jesus, who is for them the breath and spirit of God, and the holy Mother Mary, who has an exalted place and is identified as the greatest of all women. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression were a signature principle in the Syrian government. This is the land of Syria and the Holy City of Damascus that Salma knows and loves. It saddens her greatly to know that her birthplace is hardly recognizable over the last forty years. The inclusiveness and harmony of her upbringing allows Salma to see within every person their uniqueness and value to the world.

[With a humble heart and kindness, Salma would like to give a very brief history of Syria: Prehistory Syria is the Palaeolithic and Neanderthal eras. Archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria is one of the most ancient on earth. It is part of the Fertile Crescent and, since approximately 10,000 BCE, it was one of the Neolithic culture centers. And you will find the ruin of Ebla, which appears to have been an East Semitic. It may have controlled an empire reaching north to Anatolia, east to Mesopotamia, and south to Damascus. Ebla traded with the Mesopotamia states of Sumer, Akkad and Assyria. Gifts from Pharaohs found during excavations show contact with Egypt. From the third millennium BCE, Syria was occupied by Sumerians, Eblaites, Akkadians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittities, Hurrians, Mitanni, Amorites and Babylonians. When the middle Syrian empire began to deteriorate, Canaanites and Phoenicians occupied the coast, and Arameans and Suteans supplanted the Amorites. From the 10^th century BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire arose and was ruled by Assyria for the next three centuries. After this empire collapse, Mesopotamian dominance continued with a short live Neo-Babylonian Empire.]

[You can learn more about Syria’s Classical Antiquity; Medieval Era; Ottoman Era; and Modern History at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Syria.  If you would like to search more about the French occupation of Syria, you can learn from an article about the notable remarkable Christian man, Faris al Khoury, a wonderful friend of Salma’s uncle, who helped free Syria from the French (https://pastor-aji.jimdofree.com/articles-in-english/faris-al-khoury/).]

[Faidi Al Alami, from Salma’s paternal family, was Mayor of Jerusalem from 1906 to 1909. In 1914, he was chosen to represent the city in the Ottoman parliament. His father, Musa Al Alami, was also a mayor of the city (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Faidi_al-Alami). Saad a-Din Al Alami was a Muslim religious leader of the Palestinian people and the fourth Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He became Grand Mufti in 1952 until his death in 1993.]

[You can also search for the ethical and sincere Fawzi al Ghazzi, from Salma’s maternal family, the creator of the Syrian constitution, a politician and lawyer born in Damascus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzi_al-Ghazzi). And also look for the honorable and astute Muslim lawyer and politician Said al Ghazzi, born in Damascus and great uncle in my maternal family (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_al-Ghazzi). History and Contributions of Masons to Damascus: Freemasonry dates back to the King Solomon Lodge established in 1868 and included the then Ottoman governor of the city of Damascus. The formation of the Lodge was supported by the Lebanese Brethren of the Scottish Constitution Palestine Lodge of Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1861. True to Masonic teachings, all of the lodges founded in Damascus were symbolically established east of the city with focal point being the Grand Umayyad Mosque. Syria Grand Masonic Lodge was opened in 1879.]

Salma grew up in a loving home with open-minded and generous-hearted parents. They always opened their home to anyone seeking help. Her mother worked in the field of education as a Directress of a young women’s school and her father was a medical doctor graduated from the University of Damascus and then Harvard. Her parents were gracefully gifted. Salma’s mother helped many families and her father would do house calls without compensation to help other families. Her introduction to Spiritual Healing came at a very young age from her Sufi grandparents. Through their teachings and example, the mystic paths of Sufism were planted and awakened in her heart. Salma’s mother was a spiritual seer and sought the truth through direct experience with the Divine. Her parents sent her and her sisters to study in a private school with Christian Catholic nun teachers and classmates of many faiths. Salma and her peers learned, played, acted, danced, sang, laughed, shared food, camped, and lived together as one community in harmony and solidarity. Her mother and father taught Salma and her sisters kindness and honesty and focused on the importance of education, instilling in them deep appreciation for reading literature, poetry and history. Several members of her immediate family from both sides married into different nationalities, such as Cherkessia, Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, France, Brazil, Spain, and United States, and into interfaith marriages as well. These relationships awakened her awareness to the connection and unity of the human family.

At the age of 11, Salma was sitting on her porch swing on a summer night looking at the brilliant stars. Suddenly, one of the stars grew larger and larger as it moved closer and closer toward her. This scared Salma and she ran to her mother for help. Her mother held her close and gently said, “Do not be afraid, my love, it is okay.”

At the age of 14, Salma was in a car accident and almost died. At the time of the accident, as she was thrown from the car. Salma saw herself being caught by the tops of the tall evergreen trees, and she became a dove flying high and merging with the frequency of the rainbow light. Later, she awoke in the hospital and learned she had been in a coma for thirty-six hours and had sustained serious injuries. Salma felt a tremendous transformation had occurred but did not understand at her young age what it meant. A year later, she lost her beloved mother to a sudden death. These traumas ignited in Salma an awareness of the impermanence of life and fueled her spiritual journey into the mystical realms and universality of all life. In midlife, Salma suffered other traumas, including burn injuries, which awakened her to the essence of the beauty within. Another experience, which kept her bed bound for several months, fired her nerve endings with intense pain and broke open her Divine energy channels. This process is called Kundalini rising and Salma was under the supervision of spiritual teachers during this time. This spiritual experience intensified her central nervous system with an immense expression of love and kindness to all beings. Her journey of awareness, healing, and awakening was not an easy ride. At a young age, she recognized that there is a mystery and sacredness beyond what is seen and a vastness greater than what is thought.

While she and her husband M. Salam Aboush lived in Spain, their country of citizenship, Salma pursued earnestly her spiritual and metaphysical studies and learned from many renowned teachers in England and Spain. She and her husband practiced the Japanese Buddhist teaching and chanting the mantra Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Salma began her personal training in many disciplines, including natural holistic therapies and complimentary modalities. She continued her practice and study in Spain, and then in the United States with many interesting advanced spiritual and metaphysical teachers. Salma humbly lives a life of service in the integrity of universal truths, including compassion, generosity, wisdom, inclusiveness, and equanimity. Life was not always smooth, and she encountered her share of challenging and stressful times, and would doubt her purpose. Through these difficulties, Salma learned to appreciate her Higher Self and in doing so extended this appreciation to all people, remembering that each person embodies all the qualities of God. Her soul blossomed and grace poured into her life and opened her heart to Light and Love. Her connection with the power and unconditional love of the Divine supported her journey with greater awareness and harmony. This Divine connection allows her to be truly helpful and of service to the world. Salma learned much from so many people, all enriching her life, and igniting within her heart sparks of the Greater Rays. With a deep remembrance that our souls come from One Source, her presence and loving support is beneficial to all who know her.

Salma has studied many different religions, including the mystical Kabbalah, and is connected to many local communities. She is one of the founders of Attitudinal Healing at OASIS Institute in Knoxville, TN USA, established in 1995, and a student of A Course of Miracles (ACIM) since 1990, whose teachings are blessings and integral to her path. She enjoys the friendships and peaceful environment at OASIS Institute and honors her dear friends Stephen and Susan Anthony, its Director and his wife. OASIS, which name was given by the late ACIM teacher Richard Pax and means Our Ancient Self Is Sacred, brought immense spiritual growth to the entire East Tennessee community. Salma is active in the Knoxville Community of Mindfulness and participates in its sangha group and loving kindness meditations. She is grateful for the graceful Buddhist teachings of John Blackburn. She is involved in the Sufi and Baha’i faith communities, which speaks to her faithful heart. She cherishes the welcoming attitude of the people, spiritual sermons, and music at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. Salma is very grateful for Unity Church, the first church she attended in Knoxville in 1989, which strengthened her spiritual aspirations. She is also grateful to the Center of Peace in Seymour, TN, its co-founder Minister Perry Robinson and his wife Jeanne, the Native American teachings of Joseph Rael, and the peace sound chamber and sweat lodge, which she attended many times. She is one of the people to introduce Reiki energy healing in Knoxville in 1990.

Salma is a mother, grandmother, sister, friend and teacher. She loves her family dearly – her sons and their wives and her grandchildren – and is very proud of them. Salma loves, admires and honors her sisters. She enjoys nature, people, the sea, flowers, music, dancing, horseback riding, tennis, travel, interesting movies, volunteer work, learning, poetry, walking, talking to birds, playing with cats, meditation, gazing at the stars, solitude and silence.

Her training includes:

• Kriya Yoga, a practice and spiritual method through which human evolution can be quickened and is linked with breath mastery to bring balance of mind and calmness and unites the soul with spirit, initiated in 1990 and taught by the Indian yogi, Paramahamsa Hariharananda Giri
• Bach Flower Remedy certified in London in 1980 and Knoxville in 1998
• awarded in grateful appreciation for many contributions to staff and students by the English Language Institute at the University of Tennessee in 1990
• Interfaith Communicator in 1992
• Integrative Guided Imagery in 1993
• World Service Facilitator, based on a vision of a better and a peaceful world, in 1994
• Attitudinal Healing in 1995, an approach and philosophy based on universal principles and forgiveness to dismantle our fears and judgments
• holds a diploma in History and Philosophy of Religion and courses in Malaga, Spain
• college-trained and graduated medical assistant in 1992
• guided imagery and visualization, which she taught for many years to the classes of health care in the Dept. of Sociology at University of Tennessee
• Organizational Training and Development with Susan Trout
• Hospice Volunteer Training at Covenant Hospice in 1998
• studies with Sufi teacher Pir Valayat Inayat Khan (who wrote a book entitled Awakening and whose father Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote the book The Mysticism of Sound and Music) which enabled her to give instructional lectures on Sufism, the path of the heart, way to the heart of hearts, and utmost direct intense experience of one’s sacred identity; and studies with Neil Douglas-Klotz, author of The Sufi Book of Life, Desert Wisdom: The Middle Eastern Tradition-From the Goddess to the Sufis, and The Genesis Meditations: A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews and Muslims
• student of the Patanjali Kundalini Yoga-Care under directors Swami Chandrasekharanand Saraswati of Rishikesh, India and Joan Shivarpita Harrigan Ph.D., of Knoxville, TN USA, for spiritual guidance, self-illumination therapy, healthy lifestyle, and increased peace and clarity
• several workshops through The Life Training (now called More to Life), a program to awaken your unique purpose, with gratitude to the theologian and psychologist Dr. Roy Whitten and to his staff and all the volunteers

Salma is a facilitator for alternative wellness and other holistic complementary modalities* alone or in combination. She offers:

• Reiki Master/ teacher training with Reiki Master Teacher Jeanne Greening,
• Reiki Jin Kei Do and the Buddho International meditation with Dr. Ranga J. Premaratna, Ph.D.
• Karuna Reiki
• Quantum Touch, Healing Touch, and Radiant Heart Reiki
• Bioenergy – a healing art
• Contemplative prayers, meditation, and guided imagery

*(the holistic energy is not substitute for consultation with a physician and psychologist. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition.)

Before any holistic work, Salma recites an invocation: “I invite the Divine Light, remembering whenever we come together, everyone always has a gift to share. Our spirits resonate with Source, the One, igniting our inner light into a state of inclusiveness and well-being. We rejoice in the Hidden Treasure within, transcending all limitation and expanding our heart’s vibration.”

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” -Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Salma and her husband M. Salam Aboush brought their spirituality and awareness of the Divine into everything they did. They were members of an International Association which took care of the emotional, medical and nurturing needs of children and orphans in the Middle East. They were developers and owners of a hotel in Spain and partners in several businesses. Salma and Salam were awarded by the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce with International Awards for Excellence and Beautification, Development and Generous Contribution to the Community. Her husband Salam had a very noble heart and would keep his office open late, helping the community in every way possible. Salma guided group meditations in her home. In 1993, Salma was interviewed in Spain on the healing effects of prayer, faith, energy modalities and trust in the Divine.

Salma’s first visit to the United States was to New York City in 1980 to visit her aunt. When she saw the majestic Statue of Liberty, with the Torch of Light in one hand shining bright aspiring to the highest grace for all and the Book of Knowledge in the other hand held toward her loving and illumined heart, Salma felt great reverence for its message of unity, blessing and freedom. Her stepson Vedat came to Knoxville, TN in 1984, Samer went to France, and Fadi came to Knoxville in 1986. She would travel back and forth to her home in Spain and in 1996, she decided to stay in Knoxville. Many years after her husband M. Salam made his transformation, Salma married her partner Gary Nicholas Kees in 2005. Gary was a counselor and a psychologist who helped many people to remember their life purpose and heal. She and Gary continued their healing work together. In 2015, Salma became a citizen of the United States. She considers herself a citizen of the world. She continues to do group meditations in her Knoxville home.

Salma would like to say, “I am always a beginner and a student on this journey of the path of the heart and I always ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. My life was rich with great people and mysterious visible and invisible lessons and also full of many experiences of ups and downs. My trust in the Divine and the goodness of others made my journey graceful. When I go to sleep and say my prayers of gratitude, I recognize that there is something precious under my pillow which makes me bask in total joy that fills my heart with love, and a smile.”