Sufi Conference Presenters 2001 – 2008

MAATA LYNN BARRON received her formal training in the classical tradition of Sufism from a Shaykh in India. She is known and loved throughout the United States for her teaching and her poem “The Unknown She.” She is interviewed and profiled in Hilary Hart’s book, The Unknown She: Eight Faces of an Emerging Consciousness

ZAKIRA BEASLEY has been a follower of the Sufi path since 1972, and has been deeply influenced by the teachings and examples of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis. In the fall of 2001 she met Sheikh Hamza Al Qadiri Al Butchishi in a dream, and the path took a new turn when she journeyed to Morocco the following year. Her life now includes teaching English to immigrants and expanding an internet news delivery business. She and her husband live in Virginia where they are enjoying the delights of young grandchildren.

LATIF BOLAT is a native of the Turkish Mediterranean town of Mersin. Now residing in California, Mr. Bolat is one of the most distinguished Turkish musicians in the US and tours internationally, including England, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Turkey. With a vast repertory that includes songs in classical, folk and Sufi mystic music styles, he accompanies his singing on the baglama (long-necked lute), and various other traditional instruments from the Turkish folk music tradition.

AMIDA CARY is a Representative of the Sufi Order International under the direction of Pir Vilayat Inayat-Khan. She has been a traveler on the Sufi path for the last 25 years, and is also a retreat guide.

SHAYKHA FARIHA AL-JERRAHI is the spiritual guide of the Nur Askhi Jerrahi Sufi Order in New York City. She received direct transmission from Grand Shaykh Muzaffer Ozak of Istanbul in 1980 and is a successor of Lex Hixon (Nur al-Jerrahi). She guides communities around the world.

SONIA GILBERT is president of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. She was trained as an opera singer and is blessed with five children. In 1972 she met M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a Sufi Sheikh from Ceylon. His teachings of the Sufi Way, by example and word, have been her life’s focus ever since.

KHATIBA GRAIS first became involved in Sufism in 1973 through the Dances of Universal Peace. In 1975 she received inititation into the Sufi Order of the West from Pir Vilayat Inayat-Khan and that same year became a founding member of the Abode of the Message, a Sufi Community in upstate New York which is home to Pir Zia Inayat-Khan and the Sufi Order Secretariat, as well as the Saluk Academy. Currently she is a Representative of the Sufi Order International, a Cheraga (minister) in the Church of All, and a Retreat Guide. She is also a teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International, and is a certified dance leader for the Dances of Universal Peace. In her professional life, Khatiba is a Marriage and Family Therapist, practicing in Santa Rosa, California. She is married and has a daughter in college.

ANDREW HARVEY is a renowned and distinguished mystical scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, poet, novelist, spiritual teacher and writer, and architect of Sacred Activism. He is the author of more than thirty books, including The Direct Path, The Essential Mystics, The Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi, and Light Upon Light: Inspirations from Rumi.

CAMILLE HELMINSKI is co-founder and co-director of the Threshold Society, a non-profit educational foundation rooted within the Mevlevi Tradition. She has worked within the Mevlevi Tradition for over twenty-five years and has translated into English several volumes of Sufi literature including the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi, and a book of selections from the Qur’an for daily contemplation, The Light of Dawn. Recently published is her translation with Refik Algan, Rumi’s Sun: The Teachings of Shams of Tabriz. She is also author of the book, Women of Sufism, A Hidden Treasure.

KABIR HELMINSKI is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order and is the co-director of the Threshold Society, a non-profit educational foundation that has developed programs that provide a structure for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. Translator of many volumes of Sufi literature, including the works of Rumi, he is the author of three books on Sufism: Love’s Ripening: Rumi on the Heart’s Journey, Living Presence and The Knowing Heart.

IMAM BILAL HYDE has pursued traditional Sufism for 35 years. He studied in Om Durman, Sudan and Egypt; Medina and Mecca. He teaches Quranic recitation and serves as Imam for Naqshbandi, Chisti, Mevlevi and Jerrahi Sufi Orders and teaches classes on the inner meanings of the Qur’an throughout the United States. He leads retreats at the Abode of the Message in New York for the Sufi Order of the West, at HeartSong in the Mid-West, at Lama Foundation in New Mexico and in the San Francisco Bay Area. He lives in Albany, California with his wife and daughters. Imam Bilal has a wonderful way of making the complex accessible. His manner is warm and sets one at-ease while engaging in the exploration of advanced metaphysical concepts and their applications.

DR. ROBERT IBRAHIM JAFFE is a holistic physician, energetic healer, and Muqassam and Master Teacher of the Shadhiliyya Sufi Order under the guidance of Sheikh Muhammad Al-Jamal ash-Shadhiliyya. Also the founder of the Shadhiliyya Sufi Center and the Shadhiliyya Sufi School of Spiritual Healing, he lives in Napa, California.

PIR SHABDA KAHN, a direct disciple of the American Sufi Master, Murshid Samuel Lewis, has been practicing Sufism since 1969 and since 2001, is the Pir (Spiritual Director) of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the lineage tracing from Hazrat Inayat-Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis. He has studied and performed North Indian Classical Vocal Music under the guidance of the late Master Singer, Pandit Pran Nath, since 1972. He is also a disciple of the illustrious Tibetan Master, the 12th TaiSitu Rinpoche. Shabda leads retreats and camps in Sufism with an emphasis on the mysticism of breath; the science and art of wazifa and zikr; music; the walking meditations of Murshid Samuel Lewis and opening the heart. He brings gentleness and humor in transmitting the rich lineage of Sufism.

PIR ZIA INAYAT-KHAN is the spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International, a mystical and ecumenical fellowship rooted in the visionary legacy of his grandfather, Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat-Khan. Pir Zia is also the President of the Suluk Academy and Executive Editor of Elixir magazine. Pir Zia holds a Doctoral degree in Religion from Duke University and is a recipient of the U Thant Peace Award.

PETER KINGSLEY’S groundbreaking work on the origins of western spirituality, philosophy and culture is recognized around the world. Through his writings as well as lectures he speaks straight to the heart, and has helped to transform many people’s understanding not only of the past but of who they are. The author of three books including Reality and In the Dark Places of Wisdom, he is currently an honorary professor at both the University of New Mexico and Simon Fraser University in Canada.

SHAHABUDDIN DAVID LESS has devoted his life to the propagation of the message of spiritual unity for people of all faiths and spiritual paths. He is also an esoteric guide to many individuals around the world as well as teaching meditation, spiritual dance and Sufism. As a young man, he had the good fortune to study with Murshid Samuel Lewis, Mother Krishnabai, Joe and Guin Miller, and many other teachers of love, unity and the inner path throughout the world. For the last 35 years, he has received direct guidance from Pir Vilayat Inayat-Khan. Rising Tide International is a spiritual center and community founded by Shahabuddin to promote spiritual teachings based upon joy and the transformation of consciousness by awakening the heart. He travels extensively, offering his teaching through humor, storytelling, meditation, sound and chanting and creates an atmosphere of compassion and friendship. His wife, Anna, of 28 years is a global teacher of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They have four adult children.

K. SRIDHAR is rare among classical Indian musicians in that he is fluent in both the precise and rhythmic Carnatic tradition of southern India and the more commonly known and ornate Hindustani style of northern India. While capable of performing in a broad range of styles, as a senior disciple of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Sridhar’s concerts are known for their contemplative alaaps, which are expected in the traditionally classical and devotional Dhrupad style. In 1982 he began touring internationally and has performed throughout Europe, North America, Scandinavia, Israel, Australia, and the Far East particularly under the auspices of Peter Gabriel’s non-profit W.O.M.A.D. It is to Sridhar’s Sufi guru that he gives credit for giving his music a quality often described as “an aspiration towards spiritual bliss.”

MYOSHO VIRGINIA MATTHEWS finds her life’s support in the three pillars of family; spiritual practice; and her work as a dancer/choreographer and teacher. She has been a student of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki, Roshi for 30 years taking lay ordination in 2000 at her home temple of Myoko Ni Sorin, a women’s meditation and practice center. Concurrently she has had a 30 year career as a professional dancer/choreographer/teacher beginning with her role as a founding member of The Margaret Jenkins Dance Co. and encompassing worldwide touring as a member of Dances for 1 and 2 and creating The Virginia Matthews Dance Co. Currently she is the director of The Downtown Dance/Art Space in Sebastopol, Ca. where she teaches dance and leads women’s zazen meditation sessions. Most recently she was featured in the book, The Unknown She: Eight Faces of an Emerging Consciousness. She lives in northern California with her husband and three sons.

WILLIAM ALLAUDIN MATHIEU is a Sufi Sheikh in the lineage of Hazrat Inayat-Khan, a direct mureed of Samuel Lewis, and was a disciple of North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath for 25 years. Director of the Sufi Choir from 1969-82, Allaudin has composed and recorded numerous chamber and vocal works. He has written three books on music, including The Listening Book, published by Shambhala.

LLEWELLYN VAUGHAN-LEE is a Sufi teacher in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order. He has specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of modern psychology. In recent years the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition, and the emerging global consciousness of oneness. Author of several books, including Alchemy of Light: Working with the Primal Energies of Life, Including the Earth in Our Prayers: A Global Dimension to Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Power: How it Works, and The Face Before I was Born: A Spiritual Autobiography, he lectures throughout the United States and Europe.