Light within Light Institute

She is the spiritual leader (Sheikha) of the Nur Ashki Yerráhi Sufi Order in Mexico City. She has practiced the Islamic Sufi path for the past 30 years under the guidance of various masters of the Halveti Jerrahi Order, based in Istanbul, Turkey, and in 1995 received the caliphate or permission to transmit the light of this spiritual lineage as a formal representative of the Order and head of communities of dervishes. Since then, she has been invited to represent Islam in international organizations such as Religions for Peace, United Religions Initiative and Peacemaker Circle International and, at the regional level, she represents Islam in the Interfaith Council of Mexico and the Circle of Peacemakers. She is currently in the service of Sheikha Fariha Fatima al Yerráhi, head of the Nur Ashki al Yerráhi Order based in New York City.

In 1984 he began studying the Advaita Vedanta tradition with Swami Aseshananda of the Sri Ramakrishna Order, based in India, in order to gain insight into an arcane Eastern perspective of non-dual philosophy. He has made pilgrimages in both traditions, to the cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, as well as to Calcutta and other sacred cities in India.

In 1992, at the initiative of Orthodox Rabbi Abraham Bartfeld of the Ashkenazi Community of Mexico, she founded the first Interreligious Council of Mexico, made up of the most prominent official representatives of the sacred traditions present in the country. She was the first Director of the Executive Council of this interreligious body and is currently a member of its Board of Directors, having the representative Directorate of Islam.

In 2000 she founded the Light on Light Institute, which soon became the centre of the interfaith movement in Mexico City. At the Institute's Study Centre, interested people of all descriptions have studied the various sacred traditions spoken by experienced practitioners or by citizens of various religious universes and actively promotes appreciation for the diversity of the various traditional cosmologies. This institution concentrated efforts on promoting a culture of Peace based on the appreciation of diversity, being interested in models of social action based on spirituality to address the problems of the most disadvantaged groups in Latin America. With Roshi Bernie Glassman, she was trained in the 'Five Energies' organisational model, and the 'Listening Circle' tools, and the sociocratic organisational model. From this effort was born the Circle of Peacemakers of Mexico, an informal group of practitioners from the various spiritual universes with an interest in social service based on spirituality.

She was trained in the Nonviolent Communication methodology from 2001 to 2004 by trainer Rita Herzog of the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC). She is a trainer in Nonviolent Communication and has given intensive workshops, courses, and conferences at the national (Dept. of Transpersonal Development at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Universidad Intercontinental, and Consejo Nacional para Prevención la Discriminación) and international levels (World Religions Conference, Tokyo, 2006; Peacemaker Community Int’l, Jerusalem, 2001; Mevlana Int’l Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey, 2007), and has offered consultations since 2002 to various types of educational institutions (Mexico City University).

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, she studied Clinical Psychology at the University of Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, from 1976 to 1980. For the past 30 years she has lived outside her native country. She worked for 17 years as a journalist, first in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then, starting in 1982, as an international news correspondent for several American newspapers and television channels, covering the cities of New York and Washington, and later the Caribbean and Central America. In 1987 she opened the News Bureau in Mexico City for the Univision Network.

In 2006 she continued her studies in Psychology and received professional training from the German therapist Bert Hellinger in Systemic therapy, and professional certification from various national and international specialized institutions such as Domus Cudec, Hellinger Sciencia, the Institute of Systemic and Transgenerational Studies of Mexico, the Bert Hellinger Institute of Argentina and the Institute of Systemic Solutions.

She is a therapist and founder of Luz Sistémica Consulting of the Luz sobre Luz A.C. Institute, which offers different tools for personal development and brief therapy such as Family Constellations and Transgenerational Systemic Therapy, the Sociogenogram, Appreciative Listening, and Non-Violent Communication. This diversity of methodological resources in the art of healing allows us to offer comprehensive and effective care for conflict resolution, for the emotional healing of conflicts that frequently produce symptoms and physiological ailments and prevent the full development of the individual. She currently offers private individual, couple, and family consultations, group or individual Family Constellations, and consulting and training in personal development.