Joy and Jilani have been friends and sisters on the path from the moment they met, nearly 20 years ago. They have been teaching, singing and playing together ever since, sharing music, dance, meditation, prayer, friendship and love. This deep and loving friendship underpins the work they share together. They are very happy to bring this essence of their playful souls to this retreat and feel privileged to be able to share it with you. Come, come whoever you are!
We are so delighted that we will gather again at the Oblate Retreat Centre, Thursday 16th ~ Sunday 19th January 2025 to further explore and develop our Khankah of the Heart. We will send out more detailed information very soon. We hope that you can join us. Do get in touch with Jilani or Shamsia to book or to ask any questions…
sandrasunfire@gmail.com
jilanicordelia@gmail.com
The Khankah of the Heart is a vision of a Sufi community, a Khankah, based not in a building of bricks and mortar, but in the relationships between the deep and loving hearts of its members. All fervent seekers are welcome to join, whether new to this or having been walking the path for many years. The core of this community will be the practices and teachings of Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti (Samuel Lewis) and the Sufi and Dance lineages that he birthed. Dances of Universal Peace will be central to our group practice. In our experience and understanding, the Dances of Universal Peace are rooted in the whole of S.A.M.’s teachings and practices including the Walks and that they will flourish more fully, firmly attached to their roots from which they can not be separated.
Last year Jilani Cordelia Prescott & Shamsia Sandra Sunfire initiated our gathering together with a shared purpose. The Khankah of the Heart is envisioned to meet in different places at different times with different people guiding us through retreats. We are living in the UK but retreats here will welcome those from other countries and future retreats could also be held in other countries. This particular retreat will be 16th-19th January 2025, from supper on Thursday to after lunch on Sunday, at the Oblate Retreat Centre, Crewe, UK. Further details are on the attached flyer. The retreat will happen just after the Urs of Samuel Lewis, the anniversary of his death, of when he returned to the Source from which he came. There is a hope to expand this to a week long annual retreat, with other online and in person gatherings keeping us in touch in between. The retreats are envisioned to serve and nourish the Sufi community and friends, wherever we may call home, returning to our home in the heart, our Khankah of the Heart, where we can gather to eat, dance and pray together.
We are guided by our teachers.
One who has learned friendship has learned religion; the one who has learned friendship has attained spiritual knowledge. The one who has learned friendship need learn very little else; morals in Persian is friendship (Hazrat Inayat Khan)
…real meetings are mergings; they change the parties involved leaving them more fully themselves. (Murshid SAM)
We follow in their footsteps, walking with them.
As Mentors and Dance Leaders we strongly feel that in order for the transmission of the Dances of Universal Peace to be healthy and complete, we need to provide opportunities for Dance Leaders and potential Dance Leaders, to deeply experience SAM’s Dances & Walks, teachings and practices. This can provide strong roots for DUP to grow and bloom anew, setting new seeds for future growth in our young people.
We are applying for grants to start an ongoing bursary fund to enable us to support those encountering financial difficulties to be able to join us. This will be available to all including those who will in future serve and support our communities, the young people. We recognise that these are challenging times and that financial challenges are becoming more widespread and that a bursary fund will help our community to be more supportive and inclusive. If you are experiencing abundance and feel inspired to support our bursary fund, please contact us.
We are committed to exploring sustainable ways to continue to gather as a Sufi Community, financially and based on caring for the Earth’s limited resources. This venture has been unfolding in our hearts and our lives each and every time we meet, we nurture and pray for its past, present and future.
Saturday 21 December – Winter Solstice Celebration at Om Yoga
2-5 pm
£25 (£22 if paid by 30th November)
Gather together with like-minded friends in a heart warming celebration of the returning of the light at the Celtic festival of the Winter Solstice. Using chant and dance we invite you to open your hearts to the light and to each other. The Winter Solstice can be a time to look back and reflect, but also to look ahead, to dream into the coming year, and to rejoice in the light returning. We will feel into and explore the nourishment and regeneration of this time of fertile darkness, and we will rejoice in the rebirth and returning of the light. We will work with simple sacred chants and movements, beautiful live music, powerful breath practices, and sharing; and the power of ritual and ceremony. We offer the opportunity to meet one other, fully embodied, in the heart-space of deep meditation and devotion. Everything will be clearly guided and held. All are welcome, whether you are new friends or old.
If you’d like to join us for a shared meal afterwards, please bring a contribution of something delicious to share.
Email jilanicordelia@gmail.com to book and for payment details
Jilani and Salik Bio
Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik lead dance events and retreats around the UK, across Europe and beyond. Their workshops are always a safely held space to explore more of who you really are, supported and enchanted by beautiful live music and gentle, meditative movement. Both Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik are dance leaders certified in the Leaders Guild of Dances of Universal Peace International. Jilani is also a dance mentor, and a guide in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik love to play music and lead dances together, supporting each other in joyful harmony, with guitar, viola and drum bringing sweet accompaniment to their well-matched singing voices. We are looking forward to dancing with you!
Read more about the Dances of Universal Peace at www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org or www.jilanicordelia.com where you can also sign up for Jilani’s mailing list.
Oh Thou, the breathing Life of all, Creator of the shimmering Sound that touches us! You create all that moves in Light…
A residential retreat in France (in French/English) to learn and practice the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, with chants and body prayers. This workshop is based on the work of Neil Douglas-Klotz, with whom I trained for three years nearly 20 years ago. Neil has spent over 35 years studying Jesus in the context of Middle Eastern spirituality, seeing him as a Middle Eastern prophet, and looking at his words in the language he actually spoke, Aramaic. Aramaic is a bridge between ancient Hebrew and modern day Hebrew and Arabic, and by studying the words of Jesus in this context we arrive at a very different way of understanding his message. Specifically, there is not one way to translate Aramaic into English, but many layers of meaning, which can be very helpful for us nowadays, especially if we have ever felt alienated or put off by traditional translations of the words of Jesus. I have led this work in many countries, and both practising Christians and people who have felt wounded and alienated by the Christian church have had profound and healing experiences with it.
The Aramaic Prayer is the Lord’s Prayer in as close as we can get to the original words spoken by Jesus. We will explore those words in Aramaic, and discover several possible ways to understand and relate to those words through some English translations.
Above all this work is experiential, and embodied. The emphasis is not so much on study and mental understanding as on gaining an embodied experience of the prayer. To this end we will be chanting each line many times, with simple melodies and movements. This makes it easier for us to learn the words and also to drop into a felt sense of what we are experiencing.
During the weekend we will explore each line of the prayer, with time for questions and learning. The culmination will consist of a full experience of the prayer including a part where we share juice and bread to deepen our understanding and connection with the experience. The emphasis will not be on ‘getting it right’, but on dropping deeply into the prayer as a ceremony and a way to connect with the original message of Jesus, which many people find quite profound and surprising.
Dance the Prayers of your Body, Heart and Soul! With Jilani and Salik, at Om Yoga
Saturday 14th September – Looking towards the Equinox, Dancing with Balance and Harmony at Om Yoga
2-5 pm
£25 (£22 if paid by 14th August)
If you’d like to join us for a shared meal afterwards, please bring a contribution of something delicious to share.
Simple sacred chants and movements. Beautiful Live Music. Powerful breath practices, and sharing. Ritual and ceremony. The opportunity to meet ourselves and each other, fully embodied, in the heart-space of deep meditation and devotion. Everything clearly guided and held. All are welcome, whether you are new friends or old.
These dances could be called body prayers: simple, gentle yet powerful movements with chants drawn from many world traditions, all celebrating Unity. Moving, chanting and breathing in rhythm together we begin to harmonise ourselves as individuals and as a group. Our bodies and hearts can realign with the rhythm of our souls. The results can be wonderful: we may experience sensations of peace and joy, heart-opening connections with others and a sense of oneness with all-that-is.
Everything is taught as we go along, so anyone can join.
Email jilanicordelia@gmail.com to book and for payment details
Jilani and Salik Bio
Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik lead dance events and retreats around the UK, across Europe and beyond. Their workshops are always a safely held space to explore more of who you really are, supported and enchanted by beautiful live music and gentle, meditative movement. Both Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik are dance leaders certified in the Leaders Guild of Dances of Universal Peace International. Jilani is also a dance mentor, and a guide in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik love to play music and lead dances together, supporting each other in joyful harmony, with guitar, viola and drum bringing sweet accompaniment to their well-matched singing voices. We are looking forward to dancing with you!
Read more about the Dances of Universal Peace at www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org or www.jilanicordelia.com where you can also sign up for Jilani’s mailing list.
International Camp of the Dances of Universal Peace in SE France
Camp International de Danses de la Paix Universelle (DPU) France
Avec une grande joie, nous annonçons la présence de deux guides mondialement reconnus comme leaders du camp : Jilani (UK) et Malika (Colombie) ! Cet événement aura lieu du 3 au 8 septembre au Hameau des Damias (05300 Éourres)- France.
