The Way of the Sufi is the Path of the Heart, the Path of Love.
With deep respect for all paths, knowing that they all come from
the same Source, sufi mystics throughout the ages have experienced
the Unity of All Life by practicing the Presence of the
One from moment to moment, in the midst of everyday life by:
- watching the Breath, and learning from it;
- honoring the sacredness of life in this body, in this world;
- repeating the Divine Names and Attributes,
in
the certain knowledge that what we focus on we become
- insisting that distinctions and differences
are
the surface of Life, not its Essence.
|
|
The Dances of Universal Peace are a meditation in motion, integrating
spirit, mind and body, through awareness of breath, sound, movement
and stillness. Combining simple folk dance forms, with singing
or chanting the Divine Names, and sacred phrases, from the world's
major spiritual traditions, the Dances offer easy access to expanded
states of consciousness and the experience of Unity--without
dogmas, catechisms or theological belief systems.
Currently being presented all over the world, the
Dances were originally received in vision, in San Francisco in
the late '60s, by Hazrati Murshid S.A.M. (Samuel L.
Lewis), an American mystic, and long-time friend and student
of Ruth St. Denis, one of the pioneers of American modern
dance. Murshid S.A.M. was publicly recognized and confirmed
as a master teacher in several spiritual lineages: as a sufi
murshid by the sufis of various orders in Pakistan, India,
and the Middle East; as a zen roshi by both the Soto
and Rinzai zen lineages in Japan and Korea; and in the
bhakti yoga tradition, his hindu guru, Swami Papa Ramdas
confirmed his ability to enter samadhi through his absorption
in the Divine Being of Ram and repitition of the sacred
phrase Om Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai, Jai Ram. Since his passing
in 1971, his immediate disciples and their own students have
continued to embody and expand his vision, spiritual transmission
and mystical legacy, as well as those of his sufi teacher-Hazrati
Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, a representative of the Chisti
Sufi Order of India, who came to the west in 1910 to sow
the seeds of a new form of Sufism--one more appropriate to the
psychology and evolution of the people in Europe and the Americas.
|
Muiz was formally initiated on the path of sufism in 1975,
within the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society, certified as
a Leader of the Dances of Universal Peace in 1979, and raised
to the post of Sheikh (teacher) in 1996. The Ruhaniat
was established by Murshid S.A.M. in the late '60s (see
Spiritual Lineage of the Dances), and is an eclectic,
and particularly American, embodiment of several of the more
traditional Indian and middle eastern sufi schools of experiential
spiritual growth and development.
For 6 years in San Francisco, under the direct guidance of his
two initiators, both senior disciples of Murshid S.A.M.,
Murshid Wali Ali Meyer and Murshid Moineddin Jablonski
(the spiritual successor of Murshid S.A.M. and current
head of the Ruhaniat), Muiz was trained in a variety
of sufi subjects, including spiritual dance and walk, breath
practice, wazifa (mantra), zikr (remembrance of
the Divine through repetition of the Sacred Names), concentration,
magnetism and attunement.
For
the past 20 years, at classes, seminars and retreats, both individually
and as a staff member for the Ruhaniat, and for 5 years
with PeaceWorks: International Center for the Dances of Universal
Peace, he has presented the Dances, led sufi spiritual practice,
and assisted with the training of other Dance leaders in California,
Hawai'i, New Mexico, Minnesota, Washington state, and Washington
DC.
Muiz' sufi work is informed and deepened by a wide variety
of interests and talents from other areas of his life including:
10 years of his own psychological and psychic healing and integration
using the personal, inner-growth work developed by Elizabeth
Kübler-Ross, and the 3-Selves/Huna system taught by
Rev. Frida Waterhouse; 7 years working with Both Sides
Now, Maui's gay, bisexual, lesbian social, educational and
community outreach organization; 4 years of very active HIV/AIDS
education, prevention, counseling and support, including co-founding
the Maui AIDS Foundation; one strenuous year studying,
dancing and performing Hawai'ian Hula; co-facilitating
2 groups of court-mandated men for Alternatives to Violence
Maui's domestic violence prevention program; member of the counseling
team during 5 annual Dance Leader Training Camps; 3+ years
directing a biweekly men's group; co-producing several weekend
men's retreats; certification as a MotherWave Awakening Practitioner
(combining breath work, movement, and belief system modification
techniques); training in diversity awareness and prejudice reduction
work through the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI);
and last but not least, a zany, irreverent sense of humor combined
with a strong belief in not taking self too seriously.
For what it is worth, having been out of the closet
since 1975, Muiz probably holds the distinction of being
the first openly gay/queer man to be confirmed as a Sheikh in
any formal Sufi Order.
|