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What are the Dances of Universal Peace and Chanting?

DUP Logo policy "One of the reasons I am teaching this music and dance is to increase joy, not awe towards another person, but bliss in our own self. This is finding God within, through experience." (Samuel Lewis, founder of the Dances of Universal Peace)

Experience the magic of the Dances of Universal Peace, their gentle uplifting and transformative effect:
Singing and dancing are elementary creative expressions of our being.
Focusing and using our bodies, hearts and souls brings our whole being into balance and harmony.
Rhythm is life: every step - every heartbeat - breathing in and out.
The human voice is a gateway to the soul.
Forming a circle is a symbol and reminder of us being part of a community. In synchronised movements of the group as one organism, the separated individuality may dissolve into a blissful state of oneness.
Singing in harmony with others can also resonate with all creation: sun, moon and the planets, the elements around us - and the dancing atoms in us.
The soul can rejoyce - and worries fade away... (Ralph)
Read an inspiring poem: 'Praise of the Dance' by Saint Augustine

"We sing and dance and move in circles. This is the outer form - yet beyond this there is something subtle and penetrating that can be felt deep inside when we dance. These simple circle dances, which can be wonderfully joyful and yet profoundly moving, are inspired by the wisdom and sacred phrases of the world’s spiritual traditions. Essentially they are a form of meditation through sacred sounds and devotional movements." (Philip O'Donohoe)
"The feeling of chanting simple, sacred phrases with devotion in English, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit and many other languages gives, especially when combined with movement, an immediate, accessible feeling for another tradition." (Saadi Neil Douglas Klotz)

Kalyan Thy music causeth my soul to dance; In the murmer of the wind I hear Thy flute; The waves of the sea keep the rhythm of my dancing steps. Through the whole of nature I hear Thy music played, my Beloved; My soul while dancing speaketh of it's joy in song. Hazrat Inayat Khan - Gayan / Ragas

The peace dances are very much multi-faith. They are not religious in any narrow sense, but rather a spiritual (or even mystical) experience in a joyful and worshipful atmosphere, honouring various religious and spiritual traditions.

Unlike most spiritual traditions, the dances include contact with others, thus helping to melt down the walls, surrounding and separating us from others (and ourselves). The Dances of Universal Peace have an uplifting, opening and healing effect. They are taught in 28 countries throughout the world.
The circle of connected hearts is a protected logo - see copyright logo at www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/uses.htm.

Samuel L. Lewis (also known as 'Sufi Sam', 1896-1971) from California was probably the world’s first Guru-Roshi-Murshid (in one person), see portrait below. He studied the main world religions in debth, created these dances (or they came to him 'from above'). In Sufi groups they are usually called Sufi dances.
Murshid Samuel Lewis was recognised as a sufi murshid by the sufis of eight orders in Pakistan, India, and the Middle East. He was also a zen roshi, recognised by both the Soto and Rinzai zen lineages in Japan and Korea. He also spent a long time in an Indian ashram to study Hinduism, until his hindu guru of the the bhakti yoga tradition, Swami Papa Ramdas, confirmed Samuel L. Lewis' ability to enter Samadhi.
Many Christians respected him as a teacher of the message of the Bible.

When I feel low and close to the earth Make me then a dance floor. Let your divine dervishes Spin above me In drunken ecstasy. Let them spill their sacred Wine Across me in a river of singing light. Let their sandals Wear away my hard veneer And sand me down And leave holy scars As sweet blessed mementos Of love that is endless and wild, Love that is mad and shining With reckless abandon! Love that dances through the stars Of a secret sky And laughter that echoes All the way across Your shoreless Sea. Jelaluddin Rumi

With the peace dances he managed to bring drug-addicted people off their drugs, because they felt "high" after dancing with him. He was a spiritual master with a good sense of humour. The Dances were inspired by Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968, famous feminist contemporary avant-garde dancer), who amazed spectators by embodying goddesses, and Hazrat Pir-0-Murshid Inayat Khan, 1882-1927 (see Sufi Order) who brought Sufism to the west.
Among many others the following teachers were significantly influential on Samuel Lewis:
Nyogen Zenzaki (Roshi & Zen-Buddhism teacher) - and Swami Papa Ramdas with Mother Krishnabai, Kerala (South-India, both Bhakti Yogis).
Please visit the website of the spiritual secretary of Samuel Lewis, Mansur Johnson http://www.mansurjohnson.com/, who wrote the most remarkable book: "Murshid - A Personal Memoir of Life with American Sufi Samuel L. Lewis" (Paperback, signed, U.S. $25, ISBN 0-915424-16-9).

INVITATION to the DANCE video at http://revver.com/watch/590254 video introduction to the Peace Dances
Over 100 VIDEO clips of peace dances on http://www.youtube.com. Read more about the DUP at http://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/about.htm. A detailed article about the Peace Dances: "We circle around", by Dr. Saadi Neil Douglas Klotz can be found at: www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org.uk/article2.html

Interested? Join one of our Cambridge peace dance groups - or one of the many groups or workshops in the UK or the international yearly 'Sacred Arts Camp' in England with many top teachers and participants from other countries: check links at DUP links.

           

Ralph's VISION (from 1998)

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CONTACT Ralph: 01223 510 442 or send me an e-mail

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