The Sufi Movement in Canada presently includes some 70 friends and members involved in centres in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Salmon Arm and Vancouver. It is affiated with the Sufi Movement International which has active organizations in many countries around the world.

Inayat Khan, the founder of the Sufi Movement, was born in Baroda, India on July 5, 1882. He was a famous musician when he left India with his cousin and brother in 1910, travelling in the West to bring to the world the harmony of the music of India and the Sufi Message of spiritual liberty.

Inayat Khan traveled widely in America and Europe from 1910 until 1920, when he set up a residence in France and focused on summer schools, classes and lectures. In this uniquely western form of Sufism, there are no barriers of race, creed or religion, it is not a religion, but rather a way of life that enhances and fulfills every religion. As Inayat Khan said, "The Sufi sees the truth in every religion."

Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat-Khan became the spiritual guide for Rocky Mountain Sufi Camp and it is a direct result of his work and ongoing support that the Sufi Movement in Canada exists today. In 1988 Hidayat Inayat-Khan assumed the role of Representative General of the International Sufi Movement and Pir-o-Murshid of its Inner School.

Canadian Sufis at Sorrento Camp, 2003

In the late 1970s, Shamcher Beorse became an important link to Inayat Khan's teachings for a group of interested Canadians. He had been a friend and student of Inayat Khan and was a modern mystic. In writing about Shamcher, Nirtan Carol-Ann Sokoloff describes him as "the ideal of what a contemporary western mystic can be - an activist, an artist, a spiritual guide - working in all realms, the scientific, the literary, the political and the spiritual."

Shamcher intiated the idea for Rocky Mountain Sufi Camp at Lake O'hara in the Canadian Rockies. In 1983, the Sufi Movement in Canada was created to help organize the interest in Sufism that this annual gathering had generated. Shamcher also encouraged contact with the composer and Sufi teacher, Hidayat Inayat-Khan, the youngest son of Inayat Khan.

There is a lovely site hosted by Sufia Carol Sill which presents Shamcher's life and his gift to his many friends.

The link is:

http://www.shamcher.org/