Kabir Edmund Helminski and Camille Helminski, founders and directors of the Threshold Society, have been working within the Mevlevi tradition of Sufism for about twenty years. Kabir is the author/translator of three books of Sufi poetry, and Kabir and Camille have collaborated on two collections, Rumi: Daylight and Jewels of Remembrance, 365 Selections from the Wisdom of Rumi. Kabir's Living Presence, A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self, was published in 1992 by Jeremy Tarcher/Putnam Publishing Group. His new collection of essays, The Knowing Heart, was published by Shambhala in August 1999.  

Kabir began his Mevlevi training as a student of the late Shaikh Suleyman Loras. In 1990 he was subsequently appointed a Shaikh by the late Dr. Celaleddin Celebi of Istanbul, Turkey, head of the Mevlevi Tariqa (Order) and twenty-first generation descendant of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi. Under Kabir's direction The Mevlevi Order is working to apply traditional Sufi principles to the conditions of contemporary life.








In addition to her work with Kabir, Camille has also collaborated with Refik Algan on a translation of Ahmet Hilmi's classic, Awakened Dreams. She is currently at work on a book on women in Sufism.

Kabir and Camille are closely associated with Sufi teachers from other tariqats in Turkey and Syria, all of whom are committed to integrating the classical methods with modern needs