Dances of Universal Peace Weekend April 13-16, 2023

Join us for Polishing the Heart, our first Dances of Universal Peace Weekend since 2019 at The Farm Community in Summertown, Tennessee.

Register NOW!

We are so happy to welcome Murshid Allaudin Ottinger, one of America’s best-loved leaders of the Dances of Universal Peace, as our dance leader for the weekend, his third visit to The Farm. A senior teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International, Allaudin inspires one and all with his humility, clarity, and inclusive nature, raising the energy to a state of profound joy.

  • A Weekend of Dance, Music and Celebration
  • Kirtan
  • Guided Nature Walk
  • Farm Community Tour
  • All Vegetarian Meals Provided
  •   See the Weekend Schedule

The Farm was founded as a spiritual community in 1971 on the principles of nonviolence and respect for the earth. This gathering brings together two important spiritual movements born from the renaissance in San Francisco and the energy emanating 50 years ago from the Summer of Love.

Thursday 5 pm to Sunday Noon 
$200-$250 per person (Student discount available)
Price includes all meals, Thursday supper through Sunday Breakfast
$20 per Camp site: per night – Bathrooms and hot showers available
$25 Dorm rooms:  per bed, per night
B&B accommodations available.

Let us know if you need any assistance.

Register NOW!

Meet Your Host, Douglas Stevenson: Activist, artist, author, and musician, with The Farm Community since 1973.

I have been a musician pretty much all my life. By far the most fulfilling music I have ever played comes from leading group singing, chanting and dancing. It empowers each person to find their voice and link our spirits in a shared vibration. The group singing and chanting moves to a new level with the added movements known as the Dances of Universal Peace. The synchronicity of movement creates unity and builds community, and fills the space in our hearts with joy and love, so needed in today’s world.

I believe you will find The Farm to be a unique place in the world. I look forward to dancing with you on liberated land, and sharing with you the vibrational space created by our life in community.

I hope to see you in the circle!

Douglas

Learn more about my life, his books and hear samples of my music, by visiting http://douglasstevenson.com/music/

The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice employing evocative movements and singing sacred phrases and poetry from the world’s spiritual traditions.

The steps are simple and easy to learn, everyone in a circle, sometimes moving in one direction or the other, at other times with a partner, all while chanting and singing together.

As we dance and sing in unison, the vibrations from our voices and musical instruments become as one. There is an uplifting energy present that connects our hearts to one another and to the essence within us.

It is a very powerful spiritual experience and an incredible way to create a heart connection and build a sense of community. 

schedule

Tentative Schedule

Thursday

  • Welcoming Circle
  • Dinner – Registration includes all vegetarian meals.
  • Dances

Friday

  • Morning Walk
  • Breakfast
  • Farm Community & Green Home Tour with Dances
  • Lunch
  • Guided Nature Walk
  • Dinner
  • Dances

Saturday

  • Morning Walk
  • Breakfast
  • Dances
  • Lunch
  • Dances
  • Supper
  • Dances

Sunday

  • Breakfast
  • Group Meditation
  • Kirtan
  • Closing Dance
  • Closing Circle

Please let us know how to help you get the most from your experience.

More about Dances of Universal Peace

The Dances of Universal Peace are derived from a lineage of Sufi Masters, teachers of the mystical form of Islam.

Hazarat Inayat Kahn

Hazarat Inayat Kahn brought Sufi philosophy and teachings to America in 1910, expanding the philosophy into a new form, Universal Sufism  which recognized the essential oneness of all humanity. “The Sufi,” said Inayat Khan, “sees the truth in every religion.”

Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings on sound and vibrations presented his vision of the harmony which encompasses every aspect of our lives.

“What makes us feel drawn to music is that our whole being is music; our mind and our body, the nature in which we live, the nature that has made us, all that is beneath and around us, it is all music. We are close to all this music, and live and move and have our being in music…The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of all sciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself. Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should inspire.”

In 1919, Samuel Lewis, an American born to Jewish parents, became part of a Sufi community in California and a student of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

A year later, he also became the student of a Zen Buddhism, and eventually was recognized as both a Sufi Murshid and ordained as a Zen master.

Over the ensuing decades, Lewis traveled around the world, seeking to encounter other mystics and spiritual teachers.

While in the hospital recovering from a heart attack in 1967, Lewis stated that he heard the voice of God say, “I make you spiritual leader of the hippies.”

From this came his inspiration to create the Dances of Universal Peace, which encompass all of the spiritual traditions, Lewis encountered during his travels.

DUP Founder, Samuel L. Lewis “Sufi Sam” 
 San Francisco September 1969

Called “Sufi Sam,” by his students and followers, Lewis traveled throughout California teaching his music and dances to young people open to the spiritual experiences they provided.

Murshid Sam established  Sufi Ruhaniat International to carry forward his music and the Sufi lineage, shortly before his passing in 1971.

“Words are not peace. Thoughts are not peace. Plans are not peace. Programs are not peace. Peace is fundamental to all faiths. Peace is fullness, all inclusive…and must be experienced.”

Dance circles now take place in all parts of the world.

Visit the web site to learn more.
https://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/

Watch a video of a dance with Allaudin
https://youtu.be/LmcCSJpozGk

registration

Registration

Adult Registration Thursday – Sunday $250

Adult Registration Friday – Sunday $200

Student Discount $150

Child Registration 15 and under $35

Dorm Registration 2-3 nights (Women only)

Choose the number of nights

Camping

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