Essentially spiritual dance is an instrument for the transmission of blessing. Mystics speak of universal peace, of cosmic consciousness, that peace which is beyond understanding. Spiritual experience however is not the preserve of a few. Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (1896-1971), the originator of this form of dancing, offered it as a means for all people to experience such states in a relatively direct and accessible way.
Through an apparently simple process of dancing and singing sacred phrases with devotion, an inner and outer atmosphere of peace and unity is alchemically created. The chanting of the sacred phrase is the essence of the practice and its integration with the various group movements and gestures can attract a very high and noble form of magnetism from the space and at the same time can impregnate the immediate and not so immediate atmosphere with these magnetic qualities.
Those who have experienced these dances know how wonderful they feel when they sing and move together in the circle. There is clearly a fullness and openness of heart in ways that are simply not so easily accessible in any other group spiritual practices or social gatherings. The harmony is tangible. The peace can be deeply felt. Most of all perhaps there is the strength of connectedness and the feeling of being part of something greater than oneself; the limited self is transcended. Like any other discipline spiritual dance takes time and energy to master. Through a process of gradual unfoldment one explores both the depths of one’s inner being and the wider cosmos. The good news is that it is a joyful and ecstatic path as well as meditative, calming and reassuring.
For further information see also:
www.ruhaniat.org
www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org
www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org.uk