Faculty

The faculty of the Suluk Academy comprises an experienced group of dedicated teachers within the Sufi Order. The faculty's background in the study, practice, and teaching of spiritual development, make them a valuable resource for students.

Pir Zia Inayat-Khan is the permanent faculty whose presence provides an integrative continuity. Each year he will be joined by a different faculty member; as a result students will be exposed to a variety of teachers and teaching styles. In addition, teaching assistants, or "mentors" will be present to support the lead faculty and enhance the students learning process. The diverse faculty enriches the overall experience of the program, with each member providing a unique attunement and making a distinct contribution to the Suluk Academy curriculum.

Current Suluk Academy faculty are:

Pir Zia Inayat-Khan - Europe and USA
An experienced teacher of Sufi meditation, Pir Zia Inayat-Khan is the designated successor of his father Pir Vilayat Khan. Since 2000 Pir Zia has been the head of the Sufi Order International, which was founded in 1910, by Hazrat Inayat Khan. Pir Zia holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Duke University.

Yaqin Joseph Aubert - USA
Yaqin Joseph Aubert was initiated into the Sufi path by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan in 1972. He is a founding member and former director of the Abode of the Message Sufi community and Mt. Road Children's School. Yaqin has been guiding individual and group retreats since 1978. He is a teacher, storyteller, and Cherag (minister) in the Universal Worship. He is presently a mentor in Suluk Academy, the core esoteric training of the Sufi Order International. The path of light is his heart's calling.

Sarida Brown - Europe
Sarida Brown became a student of Pir Vilayat Khan in 1975. She serves as Worldwide Kefayat (leader) of the Sufi Healing Order and as a Representative in the Sufi Order, and teaches and guides retreats in the UK and Europe. She lives in Royal Leamington Spa in England, has been practising acupuncture for 35 years and is Founding and Consultant Editor of Caduceus Journal.

Zumurrud Butta - Europe and USA
Zumurrud Butta has been a student on the Sufi path for 20 years. In the lineage of Inayat Khan she serves in the Esoteric Training Committee and as European vice-president of the Universal Worship. She lives in Vienna, Austria, where she has done research and worked in the field of human rights. Zumurrud lectures on Sufism and leads retreats in many countries.

Amida Cary - USA
Amida Cary is a traveler of the Sufi path and student of the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. She became a mureed of Pir Vilayat in 1975, and from 1980 on has served as a teacher and retreat guide of Sufi Order International. Amida worked closely with Pir Vilayat in the development of his Curriculum and as editor of www.universel.net. She helped design and develop the Suluk Academy. An educator by profession, she is dedicated to advancing consciousness and conscience. Amida teaches in the San Francisco Bay area and guides retreats in natural settings.

Ischtar Dvorak - Europe
Ischtar Dvorak serves as Vice President of the Universal Worship in Europe. In Germany she is responsible for the training of Cherags and leaders. Together with her husband she edits the German Sufi magazine SIFAT. In her profession as a psychotherapist she worked with clients in her own practice, as a trainer in the Institute of Integrative Therapy and as a teacher and member of research projects at the University of Hamburg.

Sharif Munawir Graham - Europe
Donald A. Sharif Graham was a professor of Literature and Comparative Religion at University of Arizona. He first encountered Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan in 1970 and worked closely with him on several of his books, and also edited books of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. In 1998 he moved to Suresnes to work full time on The Complete Works, the seventh volume of which was recently completed. He has given seminars in many places about Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan and his teachings

Nigel Hamilton, PhD. - Europe
Nigel Hamilton is Director of the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education as well as a professional Transpersonal Psychotherapist with an extensive background in Sufi teachings, Alchemy and guiding spiritual retreats. He has been the UK representative and a Spiritual Retreat Guide for the Sufi Order International for the past 26 years.

Taj Inayat - USA
Taj Inayat is the Vice President of the Sufi Order International, and the long time spiritual companion of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. She has been on the path of Sufism since she was initiated by Murshid Samuel Lewis in 1967. She is a co-founder of Sufi Retreats, a process of unfoldment based on the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the insights of modern psychology, and has a MA in Counseling Psychology. Taj is the mother of Pir Zia Inayat Khan.

Himayat Inayati - USA
Himayat Inayati, Th.D., has been on the Sufi path for over 35 years, studying with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis, and is the former International head of the Sufi Healing Order. He has been a catalytic figure in the on-going dialogue between science, spirituality, and healing and is the founder of The Raphaelite Work, a method of healing and transformational process rooted in Sufism and updated by modern psychology and body work. Himayat's teaching is lucid, accessible and humorous - orienting the ancient mystical teaching of the major world spiritual traditions toward solutions of contemporary issues.

Saki Lee - Europe
Saki Lee was a mureed of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan since 1973. As a senior Sufi guide and teacher in the SOI, Saki guides ongoing retreats and leaders trainings in Europe. She also serves as a European mentor for the Dances of Universal Peace and Vice President for Kinship. Her professional work is in the Netherlands as a doctor of Oriental medicine.

Shahabuddin Less - USA
Shahabuddin Less has been studying and teaching the Sufi Message of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan for over thirty years. He is a direct student of Pir Vilayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis, founder of the Dances of Universal Peace. He has studied with Shamcher and Mother Krishnbai, and has absorbed teachings from many schools of mysticism throughout the world. He lives in Sarasota, Florida, where he serves as director of Rising Tide Institute, an organization promoting spirituality and the arts, which he founded.

Gayan Macher - USA
Gayan Macher has been a student and teacher of the Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan for over 20 years. His capacity as a guide derives from psychological understanding combined with continual spiritual practice. During the last 10 years Gayan has helped create and lead Sufi Retreats, an in-depth group process of mystical transformation. Professionally, he works with corporate executives concerning issues of human relations.

Murshid Wali Ali Meyer - USA
Murshid Wali Ali is a disciple of American Sufi Master Murshid Samuel Lewis, has traveled the Sufi path for nearly four decades. He served as Murshid Samuel Lewis' esoteric secretary and now directs the Sufi Ruhaniat International Esoteric School. Wali Ali's spiritual journey has included years as an educator, spiritual guide, and community builder. He is best known for facilitating mastery in Dances of Universal Peace, Walk, Wazifa, and Meditation practice while transmitting the baraka/grace of the Sufi lineage he represents.

Sharifa Felicia Norton - USA
Sharifa Felicia Norton, a student of Pir Vilayat since 1975, is a senior teacherand retreat guide within the Sufi Order International. A teacher and mentor for many years she also offers an especially unique perspective drawing on her experience as a professional dancer and as a long time student of Sufi and Buddhist meditative traditions. She serves as Vice President of Ziraat in North America, SOI (www.Ziraat.org) and is a co-founder of the Light of Guidance Center for Sufi Studies (www.lightofguidance.org) in NYC where she lives. She is co-author of the book "An Emerald Earth" and offers retreats and workshops internationally.

Aziza Scott, M.Ed. - USA
Aziza Scott has been a student of the retreat process for 30 years and serves as the head of the Esoteric School and as Director of the Retreat Guide Training Program of the Sufi Order International, working closely with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. She has many years of experience leading individual and group retreats and conducting workshops in the US, Europe and India. Aziza runs a retreat center in Nottingham, NH.