May 2012 Leaders Guild Newsletter

May 2012

Leaders Guild News and Update

36 new Dance Write-ups now on line! These include the Beatitude Dances of Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz, submissions from Wali and Arienne van der Zwan in Germany, and from the UK and North America Regions. A total of 356 write-ups and recordings are now on line. To view the Dance titles added so far this year, type "2012" into the search box.

Leader Guild Fee Status Now Displayed Online.

After numerous requests, you can now view the status of your Leaders Guild fees on line. Your "paid through" date now appears on the "My Info" page after log-in. Region members please note that the date displayed here may reflect some lag time before fees are received in our office.

June 30 Due Date to be Current with Fees. Notices are now being sent to mentored leaders not current with Leaders Guild fees. Leaders must be current by June 30, 2012 to retain membership benefits in the Guild. Read more about this here and in the Director's blog. If you are current with your region dues or have paid your leaders guild fees directly to DUP International, no worries! If you have financial hardship, you can file a fee support request by sending an email to our office assistant Martha Bracken citing your needs for finanancial assistance.

Spanish/Russian Translations Underway. Major translations of our website and dance resource materials are being made into Spanish and Russian. This work will include a log-in new portal and resource library for Spanish speakers. More about this in our July newsletter.

New Board Members. At the DUP International Board annual meeting on April 26 two new board members were elected to the board to replace the outgoing Halima Sussman and Allaudin Sandy Hill. They are:

Anahita Diana Kanoy (Ft. McCoy, Florida, USA) is a certified dance leader and mentor who hosts monthly dances at her Florida farm, Dancing Peacock Paradise. She presents leader training events, leads "outreach" dances and facilitates retreats featuring internationally known DUP leaders. A guide in the Sufi Ruhaniat International, "DiAnahita" presently conserves her land, caring for the animals and organic garden, attending dance and Sufi gatherings whenever possible.

Arjun Jorge Arjun Calero (Atlantida Ecovillage, Colombia) was born in Colombia in 1978. Raised in close contact with nature and spiritual seeking, he finished his Biology studies in 2001 with a special degree in ethno-ecology. He has worked for years with local native communities and environmental groups in schools. In 2003 he co-founded Atlantida Ecovillage where he still resides and hosts 2 major DUP events every year. A Dance mentor, guitarist and Ruhaniat initiate, Arjun works actively with the ecovillage networks (national and continental) and the revival of the ancient wisdom of the Americas.

Thanks and best wishes to Allaudin and Halima as they leave the board.

In this Issue

News and Update

Elements of Mastery:

Dancing the Heart Awake

by Murshid Abraham Sussman

"Riding the Wave"

in Colombia

ridingthewave1

Riding the Wave
Colombia, April 2012

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Dances of Universal Peace International

PO Box 55994,

Seattle, WA 98155-0994 USA (206) 367-0389

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Now in Soft Cover!

Physicians of the Heart: A Sufi View of the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah

$33.00 includes shipping.

A penetrating insight into the Divine names and the Sufi path. An outstanding resource for Dance leaders. Available from PhysiciansoftheHeart.com

Elements of Mastery:

Dancing the Heart Awake

By Murshid Abraham Sussman

Abraham Sussman This article continues our Elements of Mastery column in which we 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.

As a young wanderer in 1969, I first met my spiritual teacher, Sufi Murshid Samuel Lewis, dancing in Precita Park in San Francisco. I realized quickly that life was taking me on an extraordinary adventure, and that my primary task was simply to be open, to listen, and to welcome the awesome blessings that were pouring forth from this God-realized dervish. I embraced the dances he shared with us as opportunities for ecstasy and as pathways to higher consciousness. I loved the community drawn together around this unpredictable, funny and wise elder. Adorned in our colorful robes, I experienced beauty in each and all of the dancers, and spiritually, I felt I was arriving home.

Now, 43 years later, I feel the same yearning for ecstasy and the genuine awakening of my heart. Whether I am leading a dance, playing music for a dance, or dancing a dance, I recognize that with every step, and every breath, the transformative potential of this sacred practice is powerful beyond limits. The essential ingredients for this heart awakening are the same for me as for every other dancer: to be sincere in my devotion, to be present and attuned to the group energy, and to give myself fully to the sacred phrase.

In considering ecstasy and devotion, we are talking about the inner life, what Hazrat Inayat Khan calls the realm of "vibrations". Heart-awakening means just that: the awakening of our hearts from the stupor of isolation, disconnection, and fear, to become alive in the magnetism of spiritual realization. HIK also teaches us that the essential ailment of the human condition, from which all other illnesses and imbalances arise, is a "coldness of heart". Thus, our warm embrace of the Beloved, in whatever form, brings healing to our hearts and lives. For the inner life, our resources are silence, and breath, and attunement to the masters and mystics that have come before us.

From this perspective, what makes the Dances of Universal Peace sacred dance and spiritual practice is that they have the power to magnetize our inner life, and to awaken our heart.....

Continue to the Full Article

Riding the Wave - An International Gathering in Colombia

Ridingthewave2 130 Dance leaders, mentors and dancers from the Americas just gathered at Atlantida Ecovillage in Colombia for the annual Easter week-long dance leader training. As always, cross pollination took place between participants from many countries in South America and Europe. But this year, for the first time, dance leaders from North America were able to attend.

Because this training attracts such a high number of young dance leaders, grants from Oneness Project and the Sufi Ruhaniat International were generated in order to bring 8 young leaders from the U.S. and Canada so that they too might have the experience of dancing with so many other leaders their same age.

For 2 ½ days during the middle of the week Darvesha Victoria focalized a Vipassana retreat, with dances substituted for the usual walking practices. Everyone kept noble silence for the entire period both in the maloca (the meditation/dancing space) and without. Participants felt their experience was profoundly deepened by this experience.

ridingthewave4 The teaching staff of this annual training is focused by Darvesha with 3 South American mentors: Sophia Murillo, Arjun Jorge Calero, and Fernando Castano. Cultivating depth of spiritual practice through the Dances and Walks was emphasized throughout. All the leaders in the training had opportunities to lead either in the main sessions or in break out sessions. Darvesha noted that this year the event format and the unique mix of talent from two continents created an important experience of Unity and purpose among the young people. It was a new experience for South Americans to meet young leaders from North America and see that the Dances are passing to a new generation in the north. And, of course, the North American leaders were touched by the warmth, dedication, vibrancy and deep devotion of the South Americans.

Said Jorge Arjun, "It's so nice for everyone to see that we are part of a worldwide famly, not only in our Latin American network but across continents."