TEACHING STAFF AND CLASS PREVIEWS

Matin Mize — Special Guest, dance and Zikr master

Sara Morgan — Being Yourself and YourSELF, Dissolving Awake, and Embodying Bodhicitta

Sara gave her life to Murshid Sam the night she met him in 1969, lived briefly at his home, the Mentorgarden before his death, and established & co- led early Sufi centers in Boston and Boulder during the 70's. She is also a longtime practitioner of Buddhism, both Vipassana and Tibetan, and is a student of Dzogchen master, Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She sings to a monkey named Hanuman and is an obsessed gardener. She teaches in the field of Conscious Dying at a transpersonal college in Santa Fe, NM, lives in Taos, has served as a Board Member elder & servant to The Lama Foundation for more than 30 years, and counsels in Psycho-Spiritual Integration. She maintains a close friendship with RamDass, has lived in India, & spent extensive time in Marrakech Morocco, endorses sacred activism, prefers to be barefoot and silent, and adores her 3 grandchildren. She aspires to be of benefit.

Gayan Macher — Journey to Love

When you turn in communion to the presence inside your own heart
When you drop the veils of cleverness and self image, and meet there in pure sincerity
Then you can know the great relief of belonging, at home here in this life
We gather together to practice the courageous path of love.

Gayan is a senior teacher in the Sufi Order. He co-created and led Sufi Retreats with Taj Inayat for 14 years. He helped Pir Zia Inayat Khan to launch Suluk Academy, and has taught at Suluk since its inception. Professionally, Gayan has a 30 year career consulting to corporations in the practice of human relations. He is also a singer song-writer. His recent CD is entitled "Stay Awake with Me".

Mary Kenney — Illumination, Intimacy, and Surrender ... into the Heart of Islam

"His determination, a riding-mount, is restless and ever on the move till it comes to kneel down in the Presence of the Holy on the carpet of intimacy, the place of reciprocal disclosure, confrontation companionship, conversation, contemplation, and looking."    --  Sufi Book of Wisdom (1245) Ibn ‘Ata’illah

Join us as we discover The Self of an Awakened Heart through the introduction and experience of traditional Islamic rituals of cleansing (wudu), and the yoga of prayer within the movements of Salat. This class will look at the power and process of sacred form and its purpose in helping us toward a stable, clear sense of being.

Mary is one of the many friends in the lineage of Murshid Samuel Lewis and Hazrat Inayat Khan. She has been a practitioner of Islam and seeker of the truth of the inner life within the Sufi path for more than 20 years. She is a dedicated student of traditional Sufism who is currently living in California with her family providing bedside care to the dying.

Richard & Madhura Cuadra — Nurturing the Resilient Heart

In this class, we will offer experiential practices that nurture emotional and spiritual resilience. We will explore the nature of forgiveness, surrender, inner peace and sacredness. Together we will create an environment of open hearts, playfulness, listening presence, and intimacy.

Richard and Madhura Cuadra have both been on the Sufi path for over 35 years. They offer Resilient Heart workshops and Peer Support Group Facilitator trainings. Madhura has presented the Walks and the Dances of Universal Peace for the past 30 years. Richard is the chair of the board of directors for The Hope Project in New Delhi, India and has had a private practice working with individuals and couples for the past 20 years.

Fazl Frank Olivier — Divine Laughter

Laughter, as a state of overflowing joy, is part and parcel of the spiritual experience. As a comedian I delight in shattering assumptions. It's how we create humor. It also happens to be a deep spiritual practice, with the ability to move our logic-minds and ego-selves out of the way, allowing the divine to enter. We'll use Nasrudin stories, theater games, movement and clowning techniques, interwoven with dances and zikr to experience and explore divine laughter.

Deborah Rae Thomson — Gospel Choir

"I'm gonna live the life I sing about in my song"    --  Mahalia Jackson

Deborah has been sharing the heart of gospel singing with the Sufi Community for over twenty-five years. An inspired teacher, director, and songwriter, her compositions have been recorded by the Lighthouse Singers of Marin, the Gospel Music Workshop of America, and the Edwin & Walter Hawkins Music & Arts Love Fellowship Conference. Deborah currently serves as the Director of the Unity In Marin Choir in Novato.

Jane Delozier — Yoga ... Clearing the River

The river is a perfect metaphor for the journey that the spirit takes through life, held in the banks of the body, the heart and the mind. Yoga shows us what lies below the surface, waiting to be set free of perceived boundaries, to flow unhindered toward fearlessness, toward inner truth, toward being less ourselves and more everything else. We’ll start slowly and move together in a little river of our own, sharing the sweet and unique flavor of practicing together.

Jane has been a yoga practitioner since sometime in the seventies and a teacher for twelve years. Her yoga is a blend of many lineages. "I stole everything I could from all my teachers. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Keep teaching and after a long time information starts to come from your own body. Your mind goes deeper. You begin uncovering truths that are yours. That’s good. Then you have something that’s worth stealing."

Pir Shabda Kahn — The Paradox of the Spiritual Path

Pir Shabda Kahn is a world-renowned Sufi teacher and leader, a master of the music of India and the West, and a master of the tuning of the heart. We are honored to welcome him once again to Mendocino Camp, where he will present Sufi teachings and practices to support the unfoldment of our true nature. He speaks to the humanity of each of us, newcomers and old hands alike, and so casts a light on our own divinity. His teachings are greatly appreciated by our youth as well as adults and elders.

Read Pir Shabda's online bio here.

Tamam Kahn — The Joy of Writing ... Let Your Inner Poet Thrive!

Tamam collects delectable, "WoW" poems and writings during the year, then creates a class booklet. Each writer has a copy. It is like an "inspiration library" in the middle of the beautiful Mendocino Forest. We'll be reading from this and writing our own material. Here is a tip from poet, William Stafford: "Poems don't just happen. They are luckily or stealthily related to a readiness within ourselves." Get ready for a word-fest at Mendo.

Spiritual Directors — Shafee Ballinger & Khushi Tanveer

After-Camp Silent Retreat — Siddiq Kilkenny & Nurah Garson

Youth Program Directors — Arifa Byron & Todd Mezzulo

Camp Managers — Kabir & Jelehla Ziemba

Karma Yoga — Ayat Kindschi

Kitchen — Ulu Stewart

Camp Environment

Mendocino Woodlands State Park, about thirty minutes inland from the beautiful northern California coast, is a natural wonderland nestled in 700 acres of redwood trees, ferns, glades, and meadows alongside a gentle (in summer!) river. Its rustic cabins and lodges were built during the Great Depression, and are protected as a National Historic Landmark.

Visit the Woodlands on California State Parks The Woodlands has been operated by the nonprofit Mendocino Woodlands Camp Association since 1949. Every year, when we return here for Sufi camp, we feel much gratitude for the many improvements we see, as well as for the preservation of the rustic spirit of the site -- in harmony with Nature. Read more about the Woodlands on the MWCA web site.

Registration Information
(Important -- Please Read!)

• Convenient online registration is available on this web site. Click here if you need to download and print the mail-in registration form instead, or call us at 707.444.9399 and we'll mail it to you.
• To reserve your space(s) at camp, send $100 minimum per person (checks payable to "Golden Gate Sufi Circle") with your completed registration form to the return address above. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover accepted.
• Showing up without registering: Please don't!
• Information, confirmation, and maps will be sent after receipt of your registration and funds, beginning in June.
• Accommodations are rustic, shared four-bed cabins -- or bring a tent to create your own space. There is limited flat parking for vans but no space for RVs.
• A few partial scholarships are available for those in financial need; send request letter (via email or postal mail) to address below before April 1, 2012.
  A $50 discount is available for seniors (65+), if financially necessary.
• Please help make our lives easier by paying camp fees in full by July 1!  ♥
• Cancellations: before July 1, $50 per person cancellation fee; after July 1, no refunds. Bounced check fee: $30.

• Paying camp fees: you can pay with a check (preferred) or with Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. Please make checks payable to "Golden Gate Sufi Circle" & mail (with completed form, unless completed online) to:
     Mendocino Sufi Camp
     c/o Golden Gate Sufi Circle
     P.O. Box 45
     Cutten, CA 95534
  
• Camp fees are due in full by July 1, 2012, by which date your payment must be postmarked or your card charged.
• Registration closes Monday, July 9, at noon.

Before-Camp Youth Retreat

Sufi youth ages 18 – 29 gather together for their twelfth retreat in the beauty of northern California's redwoods to dance, sing, pray, and play together. Guest teachers Pir Shabda Kahn and Jamilah Furniss will help guide retreatants in practice, contemplation, and the wealth of Sufi lineage through the Dances of Universal Peace, zikr, conversation, and music.

Youth Programs at Camp

Camp youth programs, codirected by Arifa Byron and Todd Mezzulo, include a children's camp (age 3 – 9), a tween camp (ages 10 – 13), and a teen camp (ages 14 – 18). The two younger camps will offer arts, crafts, games, sports, and community-building activities in a loving and joyful atmosphere. The teen camp will offer all of the above plus options for delving more deeply into mysticism, including the opportunity to attend adult classes.