Candlelit Community Chat: Death, Loss, Grief & the Purpose of Life

Join us for a candlelit evening of reflection, conversation, and presence at The Pad.

I’m deeply honored to host a live, in-person community chat with Shabda Kahn—internationally traveling spiritual teacher and the father of Nicole Cronin's late fiancé, Solomon Kahn—for an evening devoted to exploring death, loss, grief, and the greater purpose of life.

Through conversation, inquiry, and shared presence, Shabda will offer insight drawn from decades of spiritual teaching, lived experience, and deep wisdom and contemplation of impermanence, love, and transformation. There will be time for reflection, listening, and optional audience questions.

This gathering is open to anyone curious about or navigating loss—recent or long past—as well as those who feel called to deepen their understanding of grief, mortality, and what it means to live fully and consciously.

Come as you are, we welcome you into this sacred conversation. Candles will be lit, hearts open, and the evening held with care and compassion.

Bio:

Shabda Kahn, a direct disciple of the American Sufi Master, Murshid Samuel Lewis, has been practicing Sufism since 1969 and since 2001, is the Pir (Spiritual Director) of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the lineage tracing from Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis. He is also the Spiritual Guide of the Dances of Universal Peace~ worldwide. Shabda has studied and performed North Indian Classical Vocal Music under the guidance of the late Master Singer, Pandit Pran Nath, since 1972. He is also a disciple of the illustrious Tibetan Master, the 12th TaiSitu Rinpoche. Shabda leads retreats and camps in Sufism with an emphasis on the mysticism of breath; the science and art of wazifa and zikr; music; the walking meditations of Murshid Samuel Lewis and opening the heart. He brings gentleness and humor in transmitting the rich lineage of Sufism.

Nicole Cronin is the co-owner and teacher at the Pad Studios SF. In 2012, Nicole was in a serious car accident where she lost her beloved fiance & and broke her back and found herself in a wheelchair. She chose to deeply focus on her healing & many topics related to eastern philosophy, death, dying & rebirth. As I moved through the loss of Solomon, his father, Shabda, embodied a rare steadiness and spiritual clarity that illuminated a path through grief I did not know how to walk alone. 14 years later, I feel called to share the story more intimately to support others on their path.

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