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Leaders Guild E-Newsletter |
February 2011
| February 2011 | |||
Ruhaniat Dancers at a Jamiat Gathering |
In This Issue
Leading with Power and Feeling by Munir NA Write-Ups
Leader resources on the Dance Write-Ups page at the DUP North America website are now resident in the Resource Library in the password protected area of the new DUP International site. Links from the NA site now take youi to the log-in for the IN site and then to the dance Library. The DUPNA board approved this change following the Guidance Council's new policy on posting DUP resources on the web. This change helps support the direction in which the Guidance Council is moving with on line resources and building capacity in Dance leaders. The policy reads in part "The spiritual transmission of the Dances remains experiential, passed from one human being to another. It is especially important in this digital age to remain true to a person-to-person, hand-to-hand and heart-to-heart transmission of these dance practices. Collectively we dance leaders have the responsibility to channel dance resources in a manner which is consistent with the intent of the Leaders Guild, the Mentor Teachers Guild, and the intended use of the material."
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| Dear Friends, Welcome to our first Leaders Guild e-newsletter for 2011. We plan quarterly communications with you this year with the goal of engaging us all more deeply in the Dance work that we love. We are so pleased with your responses to our newly redesigned international website, www.DancesofUniversalPeace.org. You can read many of the comments sent in from around the world here. We plan expansion and improvements to the website in 2011. (See article below.) DUP International and the Guidance Council have developed new goals for 2011 emphasizing Leader training and engaging the Mentors Guild in a variety of ways to cultivate excellence and spiritual depth in leading the Dances and Walking meditations. Our plans include:
Much love, Darvesha
Dances of Universal Peace, Spain, 2007 |
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Leading with Power and Feeling By Munir Peter Reynolds
This article begins an Elements of Mastery column in this e-newsletter in which we will explore the art, craft and spiritual practice of Dance leading and mentoring. Mentors are invited to submit their reflections on this topic to the Guidance Council.
"It is the depth of thought that is powerful and sincerity of feeling which creates atmosphere." - Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Bowl of Saki for November 30
We often hear about the need for Dance leaders to cultivate "atmosphere" and to be true to the "transmission" of a particular Dance. The leader Guidelines point out that the primary quality the leader transmits is "sacred atmosphere and attunement, which is impossible to systematize." What does this really mean? And, if we understand what it means, how do we begin to attain to it?
Probably most of us have been in the presence of a teacher or Dance leader in whom we readily sense power. She is strong in herself, has found her own inner "Murshida". It is not a quality that is strained or put on. We can really feel the power of the Source or spirit effortlessly flowing through her. You cannot really say that she behaves in this way or that, because she may not say very much in particular or do anything in a certain way. We just sense that power is there, and the Dances and Walks she leads have a power or profundity to them. How is this power and atmosphere cultivated?
The words of Hazrat Inayat Khan cited above hold some clues. He says, "It is the depth of thought that is powerful..." Inayat Khan elsewhere writes about the importance to hold silence and speak when only we really have something to say because a reflective statement will carry much more weight or power. We can first see that saying or doing something of substance requires deliberation.
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Dear Leader Guild Member,
your personal log-in information for entering the enhanced content of www.DancesofUniversalPeace.org is:
User Name: Password: (To obtain this information, Contact the webmaster) Your log-in information definitely works! The characters are case-sensitive so it works best to copy and paste them in with no blank spaces. After you log in click "Your Info" to change your password and update your contact information. You find the log in under the Leaders Guild drop down menu under "My Info." Keep this information in a safe place. Log in soon and when you do so you will be able to update your contact information and access the Leaders Resource Library. New at www.DancesofUniversalPeace.org!
Dance Leader Training Events page. Emphasizing Leader and mentor training worldwide, this displays training events wherever they may be happening in the world. You may also post your planned events from this page.
246 Dance write-ups and audio files now in the Dance Resource Library. We have added data to allow searches by Dance Originators, and column headings to organize your search findings. Mexico Photo Gallery now online. The Foundation Dance Manual (FDM) - Dance write-ups and recordings contained in the FDM are posted individually by title in the Dance Resource Library. Related articles from the FDM can be accessed on the Articles/Papers page. In the very near future, the entire FDM will also be made available for interested Leaders Guild members to download and print a copy in its originally published form. Keep checking the Articles/Papers page. |
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Dances of Universal Peace International is funded almost entirely by the Leader Guild fees of mentored Dance leaders worldwide. Thank you to those who are paid-up Leaders Guild members! Together we are working to build resources and services to guide and support us all in this work that we love!
But, only about half of the 1,200 Dance leaders of record are currently paid up with their Leader Guild fees. That means that we are working at a real disadvantage as we move our work forward. The viability of DUP International-and therefore of the Mentor Teachers Guild and Guidance Council who nourish and serve and sustain the Dances of Universal Peace-rests on everyone's ongoing support. Accordingly, the Board has decided to make this our concentration in 2011 by encouraging all Leaders Guild members who are still actively leading the Dances to contribute financially. As part of this effort, a fund is being established, supported by donations, to provide full or partial remission of Leaders Guild fees in cases of financial hardship.
If you are not current with your Dance Region dues, please consider joining your Region now. In almost all Regions, the annual dues structure includes the appropriate Leaders Guild fee for members who are Dance leaders-the Region will automatically forward your Leaders Guild fee to DUP International.. If you are not residing in an existing DUP Region or network that collects dues, you may pay your $30 annual Leader Guild fee directly on line by clicking the "donate" button on this page.
Being a contributing member gives you access to our growing Leader Resource Library and enables you to update your contact information with us. Soon we will be offering an on-line directory of Leaders Guild members in the password-protected resource area. We hope this step will help to increase our connectivity world wide and provide up-to-date contacts for your use.
We also encourage outright donations, over and above your Leader Guild fee. At the close of 2010 we were delighted to receive a $2,000 anonymous gift. We are so
gratified by this! Thanks to whomever you are, and we invite others to give from their hearts for this work. You may make a donation anytime here. Perhaps your generosity can help other Dance leaders who are experiencing financial hardship and cannot contribute the full Leaders Guild fee.
Warm regards and gratitude for all the many ways you support the Dances of Universal Peace.
Kabir Stuart McKinnon, Treasurer, DUP International Mentor-in-Training, Nelson, BC CANADA |
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