Providing Pathways to Inner Peace

Dr. Hafiz Neil Rothenberg is a professor in Organizational Behavior at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. A mureed and teacher in the Inayatiyya for over 40 years, his goal is to demystify spiritual practice for everyday life. An expression of Universal Sufism, the Inayatiyya is an organization devoted to bringing spirituality into life. A mureed is someone who has taken initiation into the spiritual practices of its Inner School.

Neil received his Sufi name with the Persian poet Hafiz in mind. The name Hafiz means “the protector, the all-watching, the ever-preserving”. In keeping with his character, Hafiz Neil Rothenberg is dedicated to preserving the traditions of the Inayatiyya.

Urgent Need of Youths Today

Inspired by what he perceives as the urgent need of today’s young adults, Hafiz has discovered ways to incorporate meditation instruction into his course curriculum. Seeing a transformation in how society views meditation, he attributes much of the change to the mindfulness movement that has been highly successful in bringing meditation into society.

Fidgeting Students Get Shocked!

In fact, it was a “shocking” experiment revealing how distracted the younger generation has become that made clear to Hafiz this imperative to teach meditation to his students. He finds correlations between mindfulness and several organizational behavior concerns:

• stress management
• perception
• motivation
• conflict resolution

Based on his research, he now incorporates modified mindfulness meditation practice into his course curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Recently, he founded an organization dedicated to bringing spirituality into daily life called RU Mindful. This group engages and supports faculty and staff at Ryerson University who teach, research and/or practice mindfulness. In a discussion of three different modes of thinking, Hafiz shares simple ways to become familiar with our mind and body.

Who else will take on his challenge to our listeners:

Can you observe the monkey mind, this unconscious flow of thoughts?

Can you become the watcher?

Hafiz reveals what he sees as the greatest need of people today: inner peace. True to his name and nature, he offers listeners a practice they can do to calm the mind. To overcome the challenge of creating new, lasting habits, he suggests a way to stay consistent with practice, even when engaged in a busy life.

For insight into the mind, body and soul, listen now to this engaging watcher, protector and “demystifier” of spiritual practice. You can email him with any questions at Hafiz Neil Rothenberg.