As we travel the path of leading the Dances of Universal Peace and Walking Concentrations we may find our lives become under the influence of something beyond our knowing. It may be impossible lead the Dances and not eventually come to contemplate the questions that challenge the deeply held notions of the separate self: "Who am I? Who is leading this Dance, for whom, and why? What is the message? What is being revealed?" Answers to questions like these may seem clearer in the beginning of our journey, less clear later. We may think we know, or not know. But, in time we may feel that something Other, something in the unseen, has taken hold and begun to have "its way" with us.   

Fan Vault Ceiling Bath Abbey, England

Hazrat Inayat Khan said "The Life absolute from which has sprung all that is felt, seen and perceived, and into which all again merges in time, is a silent, motionless and eternal life which among Sufis is called Dhat (zat). Every motion that springs forth from this silent life is a vibration and a creator of vibrations." He points to the Sufi view of the human being standing in the doorway (darwesh) between the relative and the Absolute order of being - between stillness and movement, inner and the outer, "this world" and "that world." In our work with the Dances, a potential exists to unite with a force that is rooted in the silent and eternal, yet expressed through the boundless creativity we see in the natural world all around us. As we become more silent and attuned to what Inayat Khan speaks of, what we bring forth reflects the power and creativity of Wholeness itself.

Art that flows from this mysterious depth has been called sacred art. Sacred art recapitulates the cosmic order of the seen and unseen worlds. Sacred art could be said to be the true art, because it is untainted by the ego notions that human beings often bring to their creations. These include the affectations and the need to make a personal statement that says "Look at me!" The attractions, aversions and self-glorifying tendencies of the ego are what we may see in the works of highly creative but often neurotic contemporary artists.

Sacred art operates on a completely different level. Sacred art scholar and self-described "rogue astronomer" John Martineau in his work on sacred geometry has noted some of the attributes that set Sacred art apart. Sacred art:
1) Is transitory 2) Uses natural materials 3) Follows sacred proportion and design, and 4) Is unsigned. What it would mean to adhere to these principles in leading the Dances of Universal Peace?