Sheikh Kabir Helminski, Sheikha Camille Helminski of the Threshold Society, Jennifer Alia Wittman, Executive Director of the Inayati Order—North America, and Pir Netanel Miles-Yepez of the Inayati-Miamuni Order at the Louisville Center of the Threshold Society.
Got into Louisville, Kentucky this evening to have dinner at the home of Sheikh Kabir and Sheikha Camille Helminski of the Mevlevi Order, founders of the Threshold Society.
Kabir began the study of Sufism with Suleyman Hayati of Konya and was officially recognized as a Mevlevi Sheikh in 1990 by the late Celalettin Celebi, head of the Mevlevi Order. From 1980 until 1999, he was the director of Threshold Books, one of the foremost publishers of Sufi literature. Kabir is the author of two books on Sufism—Living Presence: A Sufi Way of Mindfulness and The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation. Camille has been working within the Mevlevi tradition of Sufism for over thirty years and has helped to increase awareness of the integral contribution of women to the spiritual path of Islam with her book, Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure. She was co-director of Threshold Books.
I first met Sheikh Kabir and Sheikha Camille while working for the Spiritual Paths Foundation, arranging InterSpiritual conferences and editing content for its website. It had been a long time, and it was a pleasure to get to know one another again. The following is a great article on Kabir and Camille's work in Forbes Magazine:
"Whirling Dervishes of Kentucky: Why Sufis are popular in America"
Sheikh Kabir Helminski, Sheikha Camille Helminski in the Louisville Center of the Threshold Society.