Omar and Amira and the team in Turkey did a wonderful job.
The community of open-hearted people that journeyed together to Turkey made the trip amazing for me. It gave me a sense of being beyond time and place, which is perhaps the goal of all spiritual experience, connecting to eternity. The semah in cappadocia under the moonlight, the joining a dhikr meditation in Konya with a community that has been doing dhikr together there for decades, these are the experiences that were grounding , spiritually elevating, shaking the dust off of the eyes of my heart as Mevlana might say.
The trip was amazing. 10/10 stars.
(Note : Not sure why the wetravel site deletes the entire text I've typed when I clicked to accept cookies - looks like someone else had the same issue, just a note to Omar! )
Omar and Amira, I have come to a conclusion. Magical. The trip was magic. All around us, with us in every way. Magic that awakened dormant seeds and brought to life love, laughter and deep connection. I know I was deeply touched and I believe everyone was deeply touched in some way. Thank you for making this happen.
On the practical:
Proubably an on going debate about the bus or train or plane. The bus was really long and yet one of my highlights was eating at the bus stop, shopping , then going across the street to the historic Site known as a stop for travelers on the Silk Road. Amaizing place. It was there I practiced whirling my first time. The place was beautiful. And…Bus. Long long days.
Food was over all fine. The Retreat center food really good.
Group dynamics- really good.
Leadership: Omar- excellent. You are Amaizing
Teachers/ cultural exposure: every one and more: Haleh, Chem Baba, Shamstick (forgetting his name) the talk about Sufi hats and all the beautiful felt, exposure attending evening events Rumi’s birthday, semma gatherings, everything informed each other when developing a stronger picture of a Sufi culture and practice while recognizing how much more there is to learn.
Group schedule: could be improved. More clarity so folks could slip out for personal needs and or space for options of things to do.
Beside schedule need for clarity I also wonder if personal time was consumed by 3 days of bus time.
Overall: Amaizing. Thank you! thank you! I send love and gratitude.
There are no words to describe how nourishing and expanding this Journey with Lila Series Tours was. Firstly the accommodations, food , and travel provided were all exceptional. Most amazingly this was a journey of the heart, of participants and experiencers , not of tourists and intellectual accumulators. We became an international family of joyous participation from whatever varied levels of exposure we had had previously to Sufi culture. I am deeply grateful and astoundingly enriched by this journey. I will never be the same. Thank you , Mahalo, Tesekkur ederim!