Spiritual Transformation in Daily Life

by means of Remembrance, Gratitude, and Love:

The Sufi - Islamic Path

with Dr. Alan ‘Abd al-Haqq Godlas

Director of Sufis Without borders

And Professor of Religion at the University of Georgia

Date Saturday/Sunday: March 29 and 30, 2008

Time 9 AM to 5:30 PM w/ lunch breaks; optional dhikr on Saturday evening. 

Presenter First called to Chishti-Inayati Sufism in 1972, Dr. Godlas has also received training in the Ni’matullahi, Shadhili, and Naqshbandi Sufi orders. Embraced by Islam in 1974, he lived in a Sufi center where he received Sufi teachings for three years, while also studying Persian at the University of Tehran. Dr. Godlas received his Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of California, Berkeley, after further study and practice in Cairo and Istanbul. He has been teaching courses in Islam, Sufism, Arabic, and World Religions at the University of Georgia since 1991. The focus of his academic work is Sufi Qur’an commentary. Author of Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism’s Many Paths, www.uga.edu/islam/Sufism.html , Dr. Godlas is also the director of Sufis Without Borders, an international association of Sufis of many orientations. He has been authorized to teach Sufi practice by the Naqshbandi lineage.

Location Transformations Spirituality Center, (Sisters of St Joseph) 

3427 Gull Road, P.O. Box 02, Nazareth, (Kalamazoo) Michigan 49074

Cost Early registration $120 (after March 15, cost will be $135), which includes vegetarian lunches and coffee/snacks in Seminar room. Registration at the door is possible, room permitting,

and may not include the meals. Please send CHECKS ONLY, payable to: Michele Gauthier (Note: Godlas Seminar), mail to P.O.Box 189, Grand Junction, MI.  49056 . (If you are not commuting, contact Sister Lucy Schneider, as indicated below, in order to arrange for lodging.)

Program Program Coordinator: Raiyan. For questions about the program, contact her at:

Questions beaverquillstudio@btc-bci.com The coordinator is hearing impaired, so please

communicate with her by email or by U.S. mail rather than phone calls. For those without email, call 269/434-6255 until 12:00 pm on Friday the March 28, then call 269/382-6290 and ask for the Godlas Seminar representative.

Lodging & The setting is a wing of a Catholic Convent with pleasant dining and sitting areas, an interfaith

Transportation chapel with prayer rug, and beautiful walking trails on large well-tended 57 acres grounds.   NO SMOKING IN ANY OF THE BUILDINGS. 15 simple, clean rooms with private bathrooms are reserved until March 19. These rooms are near our Seminar location and cost $45 for single occupancy, and $60 for double occupancy.   Please call Sister Lucy Schneider at 269/381-6290, x 310 to reserve space and mention that you are there for the Godlas Seminar.  Mention also if you are willing to share your room with someone you may not know. PLEASE make arrangements for lodging with Sister Lucy.  The Transformations Center email address is: retreats@transformationscenter.org   For further room and facility information and directions see: www.transformationscenter.org .

Those coming from out of town may want to arrive Friday night and should make those arrangements with Sister Lucy Schneider.   Vegetarian meals can be reserved in advance for dinner and breakfast at low cost. Commuters welcome! Transportation to the Transformation Center is located close to the airport, close to freeways; information about public transportation can be obtained at METRO TRANSIT, 269-337-8222 or on the web: www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/metro.php