Dervishes to reveal mystical side of Islam

Bergen.com ^ | October 20, 2007 | JOHN CHADWICK

[Coleus]

A Grand Whirling Dervishes Ceremony in Konya, Turkey, last December. The Dervishes say they whirl to achieve a state of communication with God. They take their inspiration from Rumi, a 13th-century mystic poet and Muslim scholar. Photo courtesy of the Interfaith Dialog Center.

They spin in place for nearly an hour -- an act of spiritual devotion and a physical marvel that leaves audiences entranced. On Sunday, the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi will bring their mystical, mesmerizing ritual to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The performance, which includes music, chanting and twirling, will give North Jersey residents a taste of a 700-year-old Sufi Islamic tradition that has appealed to people across faiths and continents.

Sufism is the mystical tradition in Islam -- a movement rejected by some Muslims, such as the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect in Saudi Arabia, but one that has influenced generations of religious seekers in the West. "Sufism has had this great appeal in the West that's similar to Buddhism and yoga and other non-European religious traditions," said Peter Awn, a religion professor at Columbia University. "Those mystical traditions and spiritual practices have the ability to develop a life of their own." The performance is sponsored by the Interfaith Dialog Center, a Turkish Muslim group in Carlstadt that is working to build bridges locally between Islam and other faiths. North Jersey pastors and Christian seminary students are expected to attend.

"From the little I read, it seems like a fascinating mix of dance, meditation and an almost trancelike state that's induced," said the Rev. Donald Pitches of the First Presbyterian Church of Carlstadt.

Several dozen students and faculty from Drew University are expected to attend, said Maxine Clarke Beach, the dean of the university's theological school. "We want our students to have a body of knowledge of the other world religions," Beach said. "When we really understand the depth of other traditions and experiences, it helps us understand our own depth." The dervishes, from Konya, Turkey, date to the 13th century and were inspired by the poet and mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Their performances reflect an unfolding spiritual journey, which begins with the dervishes removing their black cloaks to symbolize rebirth into the truth. The spinning isn't aimed at reaching a state of spiritual ecstasy, but is meant to pay tribute to God by emulating the natural revolution that takes place in the universe, from atoms and molecules to the earth revolving around the sun.

"The whirling dervish intentionally and consciously participates in the shared revolution of other beings," according to a statement on the dervishes' Web site, whirlingdervishes.org   The dervishes wear tall hats to symbolize the ego's tomb and white skirts to symbolize the ego's shroud.  Levent Koc, the executive director of the interfaith center, said he hopes the performance draws more attention to Rumi, who he said is a major but underappreciated spiritual figure. "His message of love and tolerance is still valid for our age," Koc said. The performance begins at 7 p.m. For more information, check njpac.org

[sinanju]

There are so many variations on the Sufi dance trance/meditation besides the one beloved of the music video directors (Madonna, Kate Bush).

There was a PBS thingy on the Iranian Kurds where they doff their whatchamacallits and toss their scraggly mops back and forth whilst chanting.

[camerakid400]

The Sufis are very peaceful. They just interviewed the Sufi Sheik Mohammed Kabbani on the Islam vs. Islamists documentary tonight on fox. He has actually warned the govt in about the radical mosques in the US way before 9/11

[docbnj]

It makes them dizzy, which they think is a spiritual thing.

I have noticed that young children will do the same thing: I call such kids “spin freaks,” because it is analogous to using drugs to obtain an unnatural state of perception.

At least the Dervishes don’t go around murdering people like some other devotees of the RoP.

[theymakemesick]

"We want our students to have a body of knowledge of the other world religions," Beach said.

If you want to learn about other "religions", watching them dance doesn't work. Read their teachings.

[Eva]

Ah, the Whirling Dervishes. I’m sure that my dog was a Whirling Dervish in an earlier incarnation.

[doc1019]

A mystical side to idiocy … who would have thunk it.

[knuthom]

Sufism is the mystical tradition in Islam -- a movement rejected by some Muslims, such as the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect in Saudi Arabia

Rejected by the Wahhabi sect in Saudi Arabia? That is a point in their favor.

[Racehorse]

I call such kids “spin freaks,” because it is analogous to using drugs to obtain an unnatural state of perception.

I don't understand.

If the state of perception comes solely from within -- not induced by chemicals or external stimuli -- what is unnatual about it?

Or, did you really mean something like, "abnormal?"

[claudiustg]

When in doubt
Run in circles
Scream and shout.

[ElectronVolt]

[from atoms and molecules...]

I don't want to destroy Dervish faith, but there isn't any spinning or rotation in atoms or molecules. For 80-some years we've known electrons don't orbit the nucleus like little planets. Electrons have a "spin" property but they don't actually spin. Molecules just bump against each other.

[kb2614]

So, the Sufi's are Greatful Dead fans?? ;-) Obscure reference to some fans who used to follow the Greatful Dead around and, well, spin at there concerts. I guess that made the Greatful Dead muslims. :-)

[onedoug]

They just get dizzy.

[x_plus_one]

Inducing unclean spirits to share your brain has obvious drawbacks.

[dr_lew]

Electrons do orbit the nucleus like little planets. It’s just that planets that little reveal the quantum nature of orbits, which is obscured on the macroscopic scale.

Also, molecules do rotate, as revealed by their “rotational spectra” generated by changes in their rotational state.

As to electrons having spin but not actually spinning, you might as well say they have mass, but don’t actually exist.

Of course, the idea of atomic orbits is modern, and I have to assume the mention of them in the description of the dervishes is a modern gloss.

[SF South Park Republican]

The Sufis are very cool. They are mystics and so transcend the narrowness of their own traditions to go to the core of everything in God. They see through human bullshit and religious bullshit. Including the bullshit of people who say “I’m a Sufi”

The greatest Sufi was the poet Jalal ad-din Rumi (1207 - 1273). He has for years now been the best-selling poet in America. He was the friend of everyone and Jews and Christians flocked to his funeral.

Here’s a sample of his poetry:

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

[Racehorse]

Inducing unclean spirits to share your brain has obvious drawbacks.

My question asked about the state of perception of the children docnj calls "spinning freaks," because of their behavior.

Are you claiming those children induce unclean spirits to share their brains? If so, how many spins does it take? How do you know the spirits are unclean?

[mkjessup]

If the ‘spirits’ (demonic entities) do not confess and proclaim that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is the One and only Son of God, they are definitely unclean.

Islam is a satanic death cult in all it’s forms. Death is manifested by the more ‘radical’ cult members by suicide bombings and terrorist activities. Or in the case of so-called ‘peaceful’ Muslims, death occurs after the physical body dies, when they discover that ‘allah’ and/or ‘mohammed’ can’t get them into the Kingdom of Heaven, only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that, thus they face spiritual death.

As for ‘how many spins does it take’, most likely:

ONE.

[Rome2000]

Big deal.

There are plenty of homeless in Newark whirling about in a drunken stupor all of the time.

[Racehorse]

How do you know the children docnj observed are possessed? Because they enjoy spinning like tops?