Sufi Work

Love, Harmony and Beauty
Universal Sufism


Sufism found me before I had language for what I was looking for. The pull was toward something I can only describe as a quality of presence, the mystic way of moving through the world in love. Shamcher Beorse carried that quality effortlessly, and being in correspondence with him was an education in what it means to be genuinely awake to life. That relationship shaped me in ways I am still discovering.
I am no longer active organizationally, but Sufism is not an organization. It is a way of being, attending to beauty and the hidden life in things. It is discovering the human being as a vessel for something larger than personality. That attending still moves through my writing, my daily life on Salt Spring Island, and the quiet archival work of keeping Shamcher’s voice in circulation. Love, Harmony, and Beauty are not just principles I hold intellectually. They are what I reach for when I sit down to write.

01

Sufi Centres


In 1975 I began organizing Sufi meetings in Edmonton. In collaboration with others, this work expanded to Banff and Calgary, and eventually to the Rocky Mountain Sufi Camp, an esoteric gathering held annually for decades at Lake O’Hara Lodge. Through Shamcher’s inspiration I was instrumental in founding and encouraging Sufi centres across Western Canada, and have led gatherings and activities in the US, Mexico, and Europe.

02

Teaching


For many years I taught meditation in the open tradition of Inayat Khan, helping to spread these practices in Canada. Through my first initiator, Shamcher Beorse, I was later connected to the Sufi Order through Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and, Shahabuddin Less and the Ruhaniat through Wali Ali, and others. Through Shamcher I also connected with the Sufi Movement of Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan, who gave me the name Sufia, and enabled an initiatory contact with Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood Khan.

03

Activities


I have been devoted to the Inner School, the esoteric line of the Sufi effort founded by Hazrat Inayat Khan in its many forms. As a Cherag and Siraj, I have founded Universal Worship activities and performed regular devotional services, including weddings, baby blessings, and memorial services. I worked with Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Khan to establish a Zirat Ceremony at Lake O’Hara, and also have been engaged in the Healing Order and spreading the Dances of Universal Peace.

04

Archives


I manage the Shamcher Archives, preserving his Sufi teachings and historical documents for the future. Through the archives I have published books and articles by Shamcher Bryn Beorse, the Norwegian-American pupil of Inayat Khan who was instrumental in spreading the Sufi work worldwide across many disciplines.

05

Publications


I published “Letters: Shamcher Beorse and Carol Sill, 1974–1977,” which documents my spiritual journey and correspondence with my mentor and teacher. The book offers rare insights into the profound teacher-student relationship in Sufism, described by some as akin to the relation between Shams Tabriz and Rumi.
My work has been included in recent books on Sufism: Dervishes of the North, Sufism in Canada, Technicians of the Heart, and Ziraat Reader. I have also published Notes on the Sacred Element Work, and the Sufi-based novel Attars.

06

Communication


Although no longer active organizationally, I remain in touch with many of the Sufis involved in the early work in Canada, as well as others across various organizations: The Sufi Movement, Sufi Circle Canada, Sufi Ruhaniat, The Inayattiya, and many independent Sufis. I also help produce the Substack: Sufi Circle Canada Chronicles.