Welcome

About us

SamaSangha is the community of seekers who have gathered in Massachusetts, and also far and wide, with the guidance of Sufi Murshids Halima and Abraham.

In the Sufi Ruhaniat lineage of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan and Murshid Samuel Lewis our sangha supports our collective realization that love, harmony, and beauty are the foundation of spiritual life. Tuning to the interconnected nature which unites all of creation, our practice serves the protection of all life on Earth.

Since 1972 Halima and Abraham have been leading gatherings of the Dances of Universal Peace in Cambridge Massachusetts, where Murshid Sam first brought the dances in 1969. Sama (which refers to the sacred dance and music) is the name of our center and our sangha includes our many friends who have shared these practices with us. In recent years Halima and Abraham have traveled to Russia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Holland, Latvia, and Spain, and the many friends they have made around the world have also become part of SamaSangha.

Through regular in person and online teachings and gatherings, this sangha continues to grow.

Our teachers

Abraham Sussman

Murshid · SamaSangha, Cambridge

Murshid Abraham Sussman is a senior teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International and a senior mentor teacher of the Dances of Universal Peace. Together with his wife, Murshida Halima Sussman, he guides SamaSangha (SAMA),…

Halima Sussman

Murshida · SamaSangha, Cambridge

Murshida Halima Sussman is a senior mentor teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International and the Dances of Universal Peace lineages, an inspired musician, and, in the words of her community, an "experienced guide in the…

The silsila, our lineage

In Sufism the silsila is the unbroken chain of heart-to-heart transmission from teacher to student. Ours flows through the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

1882–1927

Pir-o-Murshid · Founder of the Sufi Message in the West

Hazrat Inayat Khan was born on July 5, 1882, in Baroda, India, into a family in which music and devotion were inseparable. His maternal grandfather, Maula Bakhsh — remembered as "the Beethoven of…

“Truth is a divine inheritance found in the depth of every human heart.”

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Murshid Samuel Lewis

1896–1971

Murshid · Creator of the Dances of Universal Peace

Samuel Leonard Lewis — known to his students as Murshid SAM, and to the San Francisco newspapers as "Sufi Sam" — was born in San Francisco on October 18, 1896. His father, Jacob Lewis, rose from…

“One of the reasons I am teaching this music and dancing is to increase Joy, not awe towards another person, but bliss…”

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Pir Moineddin Jablonski

1942–2001

Pir · Sufi Ruhaniat International, 1971–2001

Pir Moineddin Carl Jablonski (January 1, 1942 – February 27, 2001) was the first spiritual successor of Murshid Samuel L. Lewis, known to his students as Murshid SAM, and he guided our lineage — then …

“I am not Murshid; we are Murshid. I do not have all the answers; we may have the answers.”

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Pir Shabda Kahn

Pir · Sufi Ruhaniat International, since 2001

Pir Shabda Kahn is the present lineage holder of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the stream of the Sufi message that flows from Hazrat Inayat Khan through Murshid Samuel Lewis. Born Peter Kahn in…

“Here's a great line for everyone to practice in order to make friends with life: This is how it is right now.”

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Honored ancestors

Elders and healers whose lives and work touched this lineage and the Cambridge community.

Frida Waterhouse

1907–1987

Godparent of the lineage · Seer & spiritual counselor

Frida Waterhouse (October 12, 1907 – November 18, 1987) was born in Gloversville, New York, to Jewish parents. Her early childhood was marked by…

Karmu

Healer of Cambridge

Karmu was a healer of Cambridge, Massachusetts — an auto mechanic by trade who, from his home, gave healing to everyone who came to see him, and…