Sufi Dinner with Pacifica Institute

A Sufi Dinner with Pacifica Institute where music will be played, food will be provided, and a whirling dance known as the Whirling Dervish will be shown.
Below is more information about Pacifica Institute and the Whirling Dervish (Sufi whirling).

Sufi whirling (or Sufi turning) (Turkish: Semazen borrowed from Persian Sama-zan, Sama, meaning listening, from Arabic, and zan, meaning doer, from Persian) is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa’i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes (from the persian Darvish Persian درویش also called semazens, from Persian سماعزن) aim to reach greater connection with Allah. This is sought through abandoning one’s nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one’s body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the Sun.^[1]

Mission

Pacifica Institute’s mission is to develop social capital—the creation and extension of positive connections within and between disparate social networks to achieve mutual understanding and common commitments to enriching the social good in the Western US States.

Vision

Pacifica Institute seeks to accomplish its vision by engaging in a variety of civic activities and inviting others to generate and share insights, thereby removing barriers to confidence-building and trust. This sharing of insights and understanding can then create real opportunities for mutual respect and appreciation, offering an environment in which a shared narrative can be rooted.

Background

Pacifica Institute strives for social justice, interfaith cooperation, advocacy through positive change and connections, relationship-building and partnership for the common good, and respecting both religious and non religious identities through its wide range of activities like Social Responsibility Projects, Festivals, Panels, Conferences, Talks, Civic Engagement Projects, Annual Dialogue and Award Ceremonies, Scriptural Reasoning Panels, Sufi Nights, Abraham’s Sacrifice and Hospitality Panels, Ramadan Iftar Dinners and Intercultural Trips and Study Abroad Programs.

In all these activities, Pacifica Institute aligns with the ideas of the transnational social movement called Hizmet, which means “service” in Turkish. The movement finds its meaning in the principle that service to humanity – regardless of one’s faith, tradition, gender, or ethnicity. The Hizmet Movement is active in almost all the countries around the world and works diligently in the areas of education, and interfaith dialogue, and aid organization.

[1] Sufi Whirling; Wikipedia