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Murshid Aslan Sattler

Murshida Khadija Goforth

Murshid Khabir Kitz

Murshida Asha Greer

Murshida Kamae Amrapali Miller

Murshid Wali Ali Meyer

Seattle, WA and New York City, NY

A student of Pir Moineddin, Murshid Wali Ali and pretty much everyone these days, Khadija accepts as a working hypothesis that “there is nothing but God,” seeking that experience everywhere. A traveler on the Sufi path since 1973 she first encountered her beloved “Soofies” in her early 20's in a Beverly Hills theatre via Murshid SAM in the film “Sunseed.” 

In 1994 with her husband Mansur, Khadija served as semazenbashi/dance master at the dargah of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi in Konya, Turkey; in 2007 she organized a Universal Worship Service with Ruhaniat, Sufi Order, and Sufi Movement ministers, celebrating Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan’s 80th URS in New Delhi, India. A retired Ruhaniat trustee and NWSC co-founder/15-year board veteran, she serves as a Dances of Universal Peace sr. mentor; Service of Universal Peace siraj/sr. minister; and DHO initiator. Khadija’s path explores Hazrat Inayat Khan and Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi’s spiritual transmissions via Dance, Spiritual Walk and Turn; khilvat/retreat; Services of Universal Peace; the Dervish Healing Service; astrology; photography; and friendship/groups/community. She is a mother and grandmother.

Deer, AR   

Murshid Khabir Don Kitz was born in Woodbury, New Jersey.  He first thought he would become a Lutheran Minister but instead studied art at the Philadelphia College of Art.  In 1974, while living San Antonio, Texas he met his first Sufi teacher Shaikh Sarmad Brody.  Shortly after, he was ordained as a cherag by Pir Vilayat Khan.

Batesville, VA   Website    Visit Asha on YouTube

Asha is a lifelong student of the human condition. She is often intoxicated with awe, fascination, or bafflement about the nature of reality. Her "her-story" includes a lifelong interest in comparative religion and its influence on the brain, thought, and behavior. She was a co-founder of the Lama Foundation, an ecumenical spiritual community which has been thriving for over 60 years in the mountains of New Mexico.

Kamae was a writer, artist, Master of Arts in Creativity and Spirituality, and teacher of sacred movement in the Sufi tradition. She facilitated workshops on women's spirituality, dance, walking meditation, and creativity in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, and Australia. Deeply devoted to harmony in the human family and for this planet she was engaged since her teenage years in being an active voice and body for Peace.

Kamae moved to San Francisco in the 1970s and began her formal Sufi training. She immersed herself in the joys and rigors of daily life with the community at Khanqah SAM and with her guide Murshid Wali Ali Meyer.

Wali Ali was born in Mississippi in 1942. He attended the University of Alabama at a time when it was a segregated institution and was named college newspaper editor of the year for his newspaper’s editorial campaign offering ethical and moral reasons to support integration.  He went to graduate school at Vanderbilt University on a fellowship, majoring in Philosophy, and minoring in Theology.  He received a M.A. in Philosophy and fulfilled all the requirements for the Ph.D. with the exception of completing his dissertation.

Inner experiences had led him to the dissertation topic of “The Laughter of God”, or “Cosmic Laughter”, but a different era had arrived in the U.S. in the mid 1960s and he was inwardly moved toward seeking actual mystical experience rather than mostly philosophizing about it. His quest became an odyssey that ultimately led him to the door of Murshid Samuel Lewis in San Francisco.  Here he met a unique man, filled with joy and strength, wisdom and God-realization, whose embodiment provided the answer to his spiritual search.

He became a disciple of Murshid Sam in 1968 and immediately responded to his request for people to help him with his work.  He began to come over to Murshid’s home, the Mentorgarten, almost on a daily basis and did whatever tasks he was asked to do. In January of 1969 he was invited to move in and live there, and he ultimately became Murshid’s esoteric secretary. In 1970 Murshid initiated him as a Sheikh on the Sufi path.

After Murshid Sam’s passing in January of 1971, Wali Ali continued to cultivate attunement to his teacher. He continued working on Murshid’s world projects, and stayed at the Mentorgarten. He offered classes in Sufism, Dharma classes, Dance and Walks training, and he initiated and trained students in Sufism.  Wali Ali edited a number of Murshid Samuel Lewis’ manuscripts for publication, including “The Jerusalem Trilogy”. He helped Murshid Sam’s successor, Murshid Moineddin Jablonski, in carrying forward the Sufi work.

The Mentorgarten was purchased to be a continuing center in 1971. In 1972, Wali Ali founded Khankah Sam, and in time it became an expanded residential community of practitioners in the neighborhood. After nearly 40 years teaching Sufism at camps and retreats and workshop around the world, and a stint of 8 years heading the Humanities Department at the Tandem School in Virginia, Wali Ali returned to the Mentorgarten and Khankah SAM where he served as the director of the Esoteric School of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, and offered guidance to spiritual wayfarers on the path of awakening to the true nature of their soul.

Murshid Wali Ali Meyer died at home at the Mentorgarten on Thanksgiving morning, November 24, 2022 lovingly attended by his wife Sabura Rose Meyer and Mary Shaffea Bartley, a long-time friend. His passing followed a difficult time of dementia, but during which, he still shared his love through his presence with his extensive community.

Watch Murshid Wali Ali's Memorial Service, March 12, 2023 at the Dominican University Campus in San Rafael, California

Watch Murshid Wali Ali's 1st Urs Celebration, November 25, 2023, via Zoom

Wali Ali Treasury a collection of stories about Murshid Wali Ali Meyer

Eureka, CA

Aslan was born in Pennsylvania in 1946, and raised in rural Ohio, moving to California to attend medical school in 1968. He received his medical degree in 1973. After internship, he was guided (while hitchhiking) to Humboldt County where he served an unanticipated 8-year stint on the Hoopa Indian Reservation.  He then joined a family practice medical group in Eureka and lived there until his passing. He and his wife Kathy raised two daughters and have three grandchildren.