A Loving Atma Namaste!
WHAT IS THE LEGACY OF MEVLANA CELAEDDIN RUMI?
The Whirling Dervishes
The "dance" of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema.
Sema is a part of the inspiration of Mevlana as well as part of the Turkish custom, history, beliefs & culture.
Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind & love to "Perfect."
Turning towards the truth, his growth through love, desert his ego, find the truth & arrive to the "Perfect," then he return from this spiritual journey as a man who reached maturity & a greater perfection, so as to love & to be of service to the whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination of believes, races, classes & nations.
Sema is part of the inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi (1207- 1273) as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs & culture. From a scientific viewpoint we witness that contemporary science definitely confirms that the fundamental condition of our existence is to revolve. There is no object, no being which does not revolve & the shared similarity among beings is the revolution of the electrons, protons and neutrons in the atoms, which constitute the structure of each of them.
As a consequence of this similarity, everything revolves & man carries on his live, his very existence by means of the revolution in the atoms, structural stones of his body, by the revolution of his blood, by his coming from the earth & return to it, by his revolving with earth itself. However, all of these are natural, unconscious revolutions. But man is the possessor of a mind & intelligence which distinguishes him from & makes him superior to other beings. Thus the "whirling dervish" or Semazen causes the mind to participate in the shared similarity & revolution of all other beings…
Otherwise, the Sema ceremony represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind & love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, his growth through love, desert his ego, find the truth & arrive to the "Perfect," then he return from this spiritual journey as a man who reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love & to be of service to the whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination of believes, races, classes & nations.
Sema consists of seven parts.
The first part: The dervish with his headdress (his ego's tombstone), his white skirt (his ego's shroud) is by removing his black cloak spiritually born to the truth, he journeys & advances there.
At the onset & each stop of the Sema, holding his arms crosswise he represent the number one, & testifies to God's unity. While whirling his arms are open, his right hand directed to the skies ready to receive God's beneficence, looking to his left hand turned toward the earth, he turn from right to left around the heart. This is his way of conveying God's spiritual gift to the people upon whom he looks with the eyes of God. Revolving around the heart, from right to left, he embraces all the mankind, all the creation with affection and love… It starts with an eulogy "Nat-I Serif" to the Prophet, who represents love, and all Prophets before him. To praise them is praising God, who created all of them.
The second part is a drum voice, symbolizing God order to the Creation: "Be."
The third part is an instrumental improvisation "taksim" with a reed "ney." It represents the first breath which gives life to everything. The Divine Breath.
The fourth part is the "dervishes" greetings to each other & their thrice repeated circular walk "Devr-i Veled," with the accompaniment of a music called "peshrev." It symbolize the salutation of soul to soul concealed by shapes & bodies.
The fifth part is the Sema (whirling). It consists of four salutes or "Selam"s. At the end of each as in the onset, the dervish testifies by his appearance to God's unity.
• The first salute is man's birth to truth by feeling & mind. His complete conception of the existence of God as Creator & his state of creature.
• The second salute expresses the rapture of man witnessing the splendor of creation, in front of God's greatness & omnipotence.
• The third salute is the transformation of rapture into love & thereby the sacrifice of mind to love. It is a complete submission, it is annihilation of self with in the loved one, it is unity.
This state of ecstasy is the highest grade in Buddhism, defined as "Nirvana" & in Islam "Fenafillah."
However, the highest rank in Islam is the rank of the Prophet, he is called God's servant first & his messenger afterwards.
The aim of Sema is not unbroken ecstasy & loss of conscious thought.
At the termination of this salute, he approves again by his appearance, arms crosswise the Unity of God, consciously & feelingly.
• The forth salute Just as the Prophet ascends till the "Throne" & then returns to his task on earth, the whirling dervish reaching the state of "Fenafillah," return to his task in creation, to his state of subservience following the termination of his spiritual journey & his ascent.
He is a servant of God, of his Books, of his Prophets & all his creation.
At the sixth part Sema ends with a reading of the Quran & specially of the verse from sura Bakara 2, verse 115,
"Unto God belong the East and the West, & whither over ye turn, you are faced with Him.
He is All-Embracing, All-Knowing."
The seventh part is a prayer for the repose of the souls of all Prophets & all believers.
Let there be Universal Patience, Tolerance & Flexibility!
Loving Blessings be with All!
Whirling before their Sufi Master in the twilight ...
Mevlana Celaddiin-i Rumi is a 13th century philosopher and mystic of Islam who is known throughout the world for his exquisite poems and words of wisdom. The name Mevlana connotes to "our master" while Rumi relates to "the land of Rum", or Anatolia, which is where he lived.
Mevlana was a Muslim, but not a Muslim of the orthodox type. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, Mevlana's peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds
