The Mystic Sufis
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Jelaluddin Rumi was born in present day Afghanistan in 1207 to a family of high social standing. His father was a well-respected judge (or jurist) and also known as the "Sultans of Scholars" in religion (if I understand my research correctly). His mother was the daughter of the ruler of Behl. The Mogul invasion forced his family to leave the land where they had been living for several generations, and as a result, he witnessed horrible things throughout his childhood, including a massacre sponsored by the Khwarizm King wanting to expand his territory (present day Uzbekistan). After living in several cities, including Bagdhad and Damascus, his family settled in Konya when Mevlana was twenty-two. He enrolled at the medrese (Islamic theological school, equivalent to present day universities) and began to study science and religion.
Two years later, his father died. With his father's passing, many people looked to Mevlana as his sole heir. By this time, Mevlana was already a distinguished lecturer in his own rite. He continued to study for the next decade to be an alim (professor) and at age 34 became an orthodox professor on religion and philosophy. He lectured, wrote books, and developed a following of disciples. At this time, he felt music and poetry were distractions and to be avoided. He also taught his followers, numbering over 10,000 at this time, to use logic over emotions.
In 1244, at age 37, he met a wandering dervish named Shams of Tabriz. There are a few stories telling of this meeting. One is that Mevlana meets Shams on his mule while he (Shams) is heading to Konya. Many of Shams' disciples are following him on foot. Shams asks Mevlana some questions mystic in nature, of which Mevlana is blown away. Following this, they spend forty days together, from which Mevlana is changed forever. Another story follows as such: Mevlana is lecturing one day, and Shams enters the room. Pointing to a stack of books, he asks the professor, "What is this?" The professor answers with great annoyance, "You don't know."He continues lecturing, and soon the stack of books catches on fire. Mevlana demands to know, "What is this?" Shams answers the same, "You don't know." Mevlana runs out looking for Shams, but is left lost and confused.
After meeting Shams of Tabriz, Mevlana abandoned all prestige and knowledge he had built up to that time. Shams inspired a spiritual awakening to which Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a person." Shortly thereafter, Shams died and Rumi was devastated. He tried to find Shams again through prayer, and it was at this time that he began writing poetry. His most marvelous book, written at age 38, is Masnavi, consisting of more than 25,000 verses was a quest to find Shams. Originally in Persian, it has been translated into many languages and has inspired millions. In his poetry, he often uses words such as drunk, wine, gamble, and burn, words often associated with sin in most world religions. He uses them to talk about being drunk with Allah, or burning with love. When your heart is burning with love, he says, you are fully alive, full of compassion for everyone.
His name has a lot of meaning. The title "Mevlana" means "our master". "Jalal" (majesty) plus "din" (religion) equals "Majesty of Religion". He founded the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes, also known as the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. While turning, they give themselves to Allah completely, mentally and physically, full of love. The turning, called Sema, is done in a space considered to represent the universe. A small circle in the center is the the pole and axis upon which everything depends. The floor is equivalent to the equator of Earth, seperating the two hemispheres. Singing and dancing is done by candlelight, and the circle dancing is done with arms extended just above the shoulders. The right palm faces up towards heaven, while the left palm faces down towards the world. The heart acts as a bridge between the two. The left foot is fixed while the right foot turns the body. The Internet isn’t working well at the moment, so to quote my friend in Ankara, “Whirling is being the way you were meant to be. Stars, the moon, the sun, people around the Kabe, everything is on the correct path as they are meant to be.” The moon whirls around Earth because there is an attraction. The dervishes whirl because they are attracted to Allah. They “fall in the fire” of God’s love and cook from “raw” to “burned”.
The dancing is set to Mevlana’s favorite instrument, the ney, which is what you are listening to now. He wrote a poem about it, called The Complaint of the Ney. The material used to make it was chopped from its land, beloved God, and is crying to be reunited with the beloved.
However, music need not be present for one to dance and attempt unity with God. It has been written that one day Mevlana was walking past a goldsmith’s shop and was pulled into spiritual ecstacy by the pounding sound of the hammer.
To close, here are some words of Mevlana on dancing.
'Dance where you can break yourself to pieces and totally abandon your worldly passion. Real men dance and whirl on the battlefield; they dance in their own blood. When they give themselves up, they clap their hands; when they leave behind the imperfections of the self, they dance. Their minstrels play music from within; and whole oceans of passion, foam on the crest of their waves.'
"Dancing is not getting up any time painlessly like a speck of dust blown around in the wind. Dancing is when you rise above both worlds, tearing your heart to pieces and giving up your soul."
If you would like to read more about Mevlana, click on any of these links.
Jelaluddin Rumi was born in present day Afghanistan in 1207 to a family of high social standing. His father was a well-respected judge (or jurist) and also known as the "Sultans of Scholars" in religion (if I understand my research correctly). His mother was the daughter of the ruler of Behl. The Mogul invasion forced his family to leave the land where they had been living for several generations, and as a result, he witnessed horrible things throughout his childhood, including a massacre sponsored by the Khwarizm King wanting to expand his territory (present day Uzbekistan). After living in several cities, including Bagdhad and Damascus, his family settled in Konya when Mevlana was twenty-two. He enrolled at the medrese (Islamic theological school, equivalent to present day universities) and began to study science and religion.
Two years later, his father died. With his father's passing, many people looked to Mevlana as his sole heir. By this time, Mevlana was already a distinguished lecturer in his own rite. He continued to study for the next decade to be an alim (professor) and at age 34 became an orthodox professor on religion and philosophy. He lectured, wrote books, and developed a following of disciples. At this time, he felt music and poetry were distractions and to be avoided. He also taught his followers, numbering over 10,000 at this time, to use logic over emotions.
In 1244, at age 37, he met a wandering dervish named Shams of Tabriz. There are a few stories telling of this meeting. One is that Mevlana meets Shams on his mule while he (Shams) is heading to Konya. Many of Shams' disciples are following him on foot. Shams asks Mevlana some questions mystic in nature, of which Mevlana is blown away. Following this, they spend forty days together, from which Mevlana is changed forever. Another story follows as such: Mevlana is lecturing one day, and Shams enters the room. Pointing to a stack of books, he asks the professor, "What is this?" The professor answers with great annoyance, "You don't know."He continues lecturing, and soon the stack of books catches on fire. Mevlana demands to know, "What is this?" Shams answers the same, "You don't know." Mevlana runs out looking for Shams, but is left lost and confused.
After meeting Shams of Tabriz, Mevlana abandoned all prestige and knowledge he had built up to that time. Shams inspired a spiritual awakening to which Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a person." Shortly thereafter, Shams died and Rumi was devastated. He tried to find Shams again through prayer, and it was at this time that he began writing poetry. His most marvelous book, written at age 38, is Masnavi, consisting of more than 25,000 verses was a quest to find Shams. Originally in Persian, it has been translated into many languages and has inspired millions. In his poetry, he often uses words such as drunk, wine, gamble, and burn, words often associated with sin in most world religions. He uses them to talk about being drunk with Allah, or burning with love. When your heart is burning with love, he says, you are fully alive, full of compassion for everyone.
His name has a lot of meaning. The title "Mevlana" means "our master". "Jalal" (majesty) plus "din" (religion) equals "Majesty of Religion". He founded the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes, also known as the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. While turning, they give themselves to Allah completely, mentally and physically, full of love. The turning, called Sema, is done in a space considered to represent the universe. A small circle in the center is the the pole and axis upon which everything depends. The floor is equivalent to the equator of Earth, seperating the two hemispheres. Singing and dancing is done by candlelight, and the circle dancing is done with arms extended just above the shoulders. The right palm faces up towards heaven, while the left palm faces down towards the world. The heart acts as a bridge between the two. The left foot is fixed while the right foot turns the body. The Internet isn’t working well at the moment, so to quote my friend in Ankara, “Whirling is being the way you were meant to be. Stars, the moon, the sun, people around the Kabe, everything is on the correct path as they are meant to be.” The moon whirls around Earth because there is an attraction. The dervishes whirl because they are attracted to Allah. They “fall in the fire” of God’s love and cook from “raw” to “burned”.
The dancing is set to Mevlana’s favorite instrument, the ney, which is what you are listening to now. He wrote a poem about it, called The Complaint of the Ney. The material used to make it was chopped from its land, beloved God, and is crying to be reunited with the beloved.
However, music need not be present for one to dance and attempt unity with God. It has been written that one day Mevlana was walking past a goldsmith’s shop and was pulled into spiritual ecstacy by the pounding sound of the hammer.
To close, here are some words of Mevlana on dancing.
'Dance where you can break yourself to pieces and totally abandon your worldly passion. Real men dance and whirl on the battlefield; they dance in their own blood. When they give themselves up, they clap their hands; when they leave behind the imperfections of the self, they dance. Their minstrels play music from within; and whole oceans of passion, foam on the crest of their waves.'
"Dancing is not getting up any time painlessly like a speck of dust blown around in the wind. Dancing is when you rise above both worlds, tearing your heart to pieces and giving up your soul."
If you would like to read more about Mevlana, click on any of these links.
posted by nicole @ 9:16 AM
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