Founder, Fraternity of Light

Sufi Shirdil Amin Richard Macko

Sufi Shirdil Amin Richard Macko

Upon completing his B.S.M.E at Cleveland State Univeristy, Amin's span of professional involvement included positions of Chief Engineer, Manager of Plant Engineering, President of his own corporation, inventor and lecturer.

Amin devoted many years to the study and practices of Self or God Realization. His schools of study included Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, the Upanishads, Raja Yoga, Vedanta and various schools that taught of samadhi-meditation and healing. He entered the Sufi path in the order of the Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan and after he completed formal initiatic training in that school in 1974 was initiated as a Spiritual Teacher by the Pir of the order.

In 1975 Amin's vision of "Spirituality in Everyday Life" took him away from active participation in his Sufi Order and his Spiritual Sufi Master bid him "Gods speed on your mission." Amin discontinued active participation in the Sufi school and began to give lectures, seminars, and retreats to the general public through public schools, colleges, YMCAs, Adult Education and Life Long Learning programs throughout the United States. The theme of his seminars and retreats was always focused on:

"Spirituality as an every day experience: its all God."

Amin's classes, seminars and meditation retreats taught the practices and philosophy of Raja-yoga, positive thinking, Spiritual Liberity, and introduced the great monotheistic sutras such as the Pratyabhijnahrdyam, Atma-Boddha, Yoga Darshana,

Thirty Minor Upanishads (the mystical instruction of God to Yoga Masters), the Science of the Tattvas, The Purpose of Life, The Message of Sufi Inayat Khan, the Mathnawi, the works of Ibn al Arabi, The 1000 Names of Vishnu, the 99 Sacred Names of Allah. To Amin these great spiritual teachings all had one underlying thread or foundation: "There is no reality but God, all that exists is God, We all live, move and have our being in God." Not a God made of concepts and/or belief systems, but an all encompassing, all pervading, all living, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, ONE REALITY.

IT'S ALL GOD-NOTHING ELSE EXISTS.

In 1978 Amin founded the Fraternity of Light, an interdenominational, nonprofit (901c3) corporation, and in 1980 he founded the Universal Church of the Prophets in the state of Ohio. These organizations were founded to embrace the high ideals of the world's monotheistic, universal spiritual traditions and world religions. They were formed to fulfill five major functions:

  1. Help merge together science, religion and mysticism
  2. Help people to spiritually master everyday life
  3. Help people them find their purpose in life
  4. Hold Universal Interdenominational Religious Services
  5. For those seeking the path of Awakening to God realization, it offered an inner initiatic school of training in the Sufi Path.

Amin wrote two books: "Opening the Door To Your Life", and "Mystics, Mudzubs and Madness- Mysticism in Everyday Life." He also left to the Fraternity of Light a library of over 200 tapes of the many seminars he has given. These tapes are available to the public to use. Amin also left to the world many beloved spiritual teachers and students who carry on his ideal of "Spirituality IS Everyday Life" through the Fraternity of Light, Universal Church of the Prophets, The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan and many other spiritual endevors and activities that offer to "Humankind the Great Orphan" the way of Awaken to one's true self and purpose in life.