The Dances of Universal Peace and Walking Meditations are simple, meditative, joyful circle dances, body prayers, and concentrations. They invite a direct experience of Spirit within and promote bringing this experience into our daily life and into our experiences with each other.
In the dance circle, new and experienced dancers join hands. Singing and moving together, we invoke sacred phrases and chants drawn from many of the world’s religions and spiritual paths. We are invited to step into the experience and heart attunement these practices embody. For those looking to cultivate the inner life, the Dances and Walks provide practices of self-development and personal growth; concentrations of breath, rhythm, sound, movement and attunement.
The Walking Meditations are practices of concentration, self-mastery and realization. They include the Element Walks, the Center Walks, the Astrological Yoga Walks, The Divine Attribute Walks and The Walks of the Masters, Saints and Prophets.
Murshid Samuel Lewis, receiving the Dances and Walks in vision, began teaching them to a small circle of devoted students in San Francisco in the late 1960’s. “All right!” Murshid would say. “Everyone up! Form a circle! We begin in Mercy and Compassion”. "Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah” the circle begins to move …”Right foot, left foot…Er Rahman, Er Rahim.” The simple repetitive sound, coupled with simple body movement, begins to awaken a sense of compassion, of heart connection opening to this moment.
And we could be singing “Om Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram” or “Resurrexit Christe” or “Shema Yisreal” or “Namo Amida Butsu”. Even though we invoke different names for God and Divine Realization, we recognize that the call is to the One Reality which cannot be contained by name or form. Our heart resonates with all, connecting us in Unity and our shared humanity.
Since these early moments and simple beginnings, the Dances and Walks have spread hand-to-hand, and heart-to-heart, to more than 40 countries worldwide. More than a half million people in North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, India, the Middle East, Africa, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have joined hands in the Dances of Universal Peace, creating networks of connection and furthering opportunity for citizen diplomacy. There is a living network of dancers and dance leaders that encircle the planet.
The Dances of Universal Peace and Walking Meditations have evolved and expanded to meet a deeply felt need for reverence, creativity and an embodied connection to each other and the natural world. They continue to be, as Murshid Samuel Lewis envisioned them, a way to make life energy and “the peace that passeth understanding” a reality for all who come in contact with them.
The Dances of Universal Peace and Walking Meditations are held in trust by The Sufi Ruhaniat International. The Ruhaniat extends this trust to the Mentor Teachers Guild (MTG), the body of mentor teachers responsible for preserving the transmission of the dance lineage through the training of dance leaders. The MTG Guidance Council, which oversees the work of the Mentor Teachers Guild, is appointed by the Pir of The Ruhaniat. The work of the MTG is supported by The International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace (INDUP), a non-profit, public benefit corporation, which also serves as the central hub connecting the worldwide network of dance leaders and dancers.
www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org
Photo Credits: 1) Dance Circle with Murshid Samuel Lewis, unknown photographer; 2) Dance in New York, by Elizabeth Morledge-Sayre; 3) Dance Circle with Pir Shabda Kahn in Arkansas, by Shining Heart; 4) Dance Circle in Jordan, courtesy of Tansen O'Donohoe; 5) Dance Circle in the United Kingdom, unknown photographer; 6) Dance Circle in Latvia, by Vitalija Hayat; 7) Dance Circle in Greece, courtesy of Tansen O'Donohoe; 8) Dance Circle in Utah, by Bob Spencer