Religion in motion

By Pamela J. Podger - Roanoke Times - Roanoke,VA,USA

Saturday, November 4, 2006

Breathing in toward the One. Breathing out toward the One.

Sufi dance leader Diane Elliot leads a dozen or so dancers — in steps, in breaths — lacing spiritual traditions in the fellowship hall at a rented Roanoke church. They began dancing together eight years ago, and now gather monthly.

Drawing from distinct threads, a carpet of dance is woven on the red-speckled linoleum floor. Simple circle dances — from Navajo, from Nigeria and other lands.
One spirit, she says, moves through different doorways of the world’s sacred traditions.
Bare feet and heavy hiking boots twirl and circle. Tiny stamping steps, then gentle rocking from foot to foot as the circle expands and collapses, expands and collapses. Everyone sings as they pick up the pace, finding their balance, holding hands and smiling through the missteps or hesitations of an intricate movement.

An unknown Sufi, in an ancient tale, described his spiritual beliefs in a metaphor.
“There are three ways of knowing a thing. Take for instance a flame. One can be told of the flame; one can see the flame with his own eyes; and finally one can reach out and be burned by it. In this way, we Sufis seek to be burned by God.”

Abandoning the self, yearning for divine unity.
“At your own pace and your own time, coming to a place of stillness,” Elliot says, her smile radiating out over the collection of joyful hearts and dancing feet.