Historically, the development of the Dances and Walks has occurred in relationship to branches of Universal Sufism. Murshid Moineddin Jablonski's requests of the Sufi teachers in the Sufi Ruhaniat International regarding the Dances have been incorporated into the practices of the Mentor Teachers Guild. Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan of the Sufi Order International, and Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan of the Sufi Movement International, have endorsed the Dances and the Mentor Teachers Guild as the vehicle for training in the Dances and Walks. The MTG includes representatives from all these orders in its membership. The information below is provided for members of these order and others who are interested.

If you are a member of the Sufi Ruhaniat International...The Dance/Walk training relationship now more closely resembles the central emphasis which the Ruhaniat places on the individual teacher-student relationship. In addition, Murshid Moineddin Jablonski's basic requests to all teachers representing Murshid Samuel Lewis's work became part of the agreements for those training Dance leaders as well as certified teachers themselves. These include the following:

1) In 1977, when the Ruhaniat Society and the Sufi Order International legally separated, Murshid Moineddin asked all teachers of the Dances to refer to them as the Dances of Universal Peace. Other names used by Murshid Samuel Lewis included specific types of spiritual Dances: Dervish Dance, Mantric Dance, Angelic Dance and Mystery Dance. But he named the entire body of this work Dances of Universal Peace.
2) In May 1985, Moineddin reaffirmed the Ruhaniat's longstanding policy requesting that teachers of Murshid S.A.M.'s work tithe to the mother organization. In relation to this, those conducting Dance teacher training now tithe from this work to either the Ruhaniat or the Network for the Dances, either internationally or to one of its formal regions (or both).
3) In 1987, Murshid Moineddin reaffirmed by letter to the SRI Jamiat Khass (the Ruhaniat leadership group) the necessity for every initiate and initiator to have a guide or peer supervisor for her/his progress. This carries on Murshid Samuel Lewis's practice in his own life. For the purposes of the Dance work, every Mentor teacher and certified teacher now also has a supervisor and agrees to basic ethical guidelines.
Many initiators in the Sufi Ruhaniat International are members of the Mentor Teachers Guild. Some have agreed to serve as Dance Mentors for their own spiritual students; some will accept other mentees as well. Please address Mentors individually for this information.

If you are a member of the Sufi Order International...Pir Vilayat has stated that the ultimate responsibility for training, certifying and vouching for Dance leaders lies with the transmission of Murshid Samuel Lewis. Pir Vilayat reaffirmed by letter in September 1994 that he wishes all representatives of the Sufi Order International who lead the Dances and Walks to participate in the certification and peer supervision process set up through the Mentor Teachers Guild.

Tasnim Fernandez is the primary liaison between the MTG and the Sufi Order Jamiat Khass; please contact her for any questions in this regard. Other Sufi Order representatives in the current Guild's Senior Mentor group are Noor Helweg-McGuigan (Holland), Shahabuddin Less (US), Zubeida Suzanne Mitten-Lewis (Australia) and Akbar Manolson (US). Additional Sufi Order representatives and members serve as Mentors. If you wish to have your Dance Mentor be a Sufi Order initiate this is easily accommodated through the current Guild membership.

If you are a member of the Sufi Movement International.... Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan has fully endorsed the training guidelines of the Mentor Teachers Guild and requests that all Sufi Movement International teachers and representatives who wish to share the Dances of Universal Peace and Walking Meditations as an aspect of the brother/sisterhood work pursue formal training and certification through the MTG. Just as with the Sufi Order, there are also Sufi Movement members of the MTG.

If you have any further questions regarding these relationships, please write one of the members of the MTG Sub-Committee, a service committee for MTG business. Its members are indicated on the MTG list.

September 2002