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Whirling Dervishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Mevlevi Order or the Mevleviye are a Sufi order founded by the
followers of the Persian Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi in 1273 in Konya
present day Turkey; also known as The Whirling Dervishes, sometimes
called the Howling Dervishes or the Dancing Dervishes due to their
famous practice of whirling as a form of meditation. (The Dervish are
members of Sufi wandering ascetic religious Tarika or
"confraternities", known for their extreme poverty and austerity.)
The Mevlevi, or
Mevleviye, one of the most well-known of the Sufi orders, was founded
in 1273 by Rumi's followers after his death, particularly his son,
Sultan Veled Celebi. The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe
that union with God can be attained in a dance and music ceremony
called sema.
Sema represents a
mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to
"Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love,
deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives to the "Perfect." He then
returns from this spiritual journey as a man who has reached maturity
and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the
whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination as to
belief, race, class or national origin.
The Mevlevi were a
well established Sufi Order in the Ottoman Empire, and many of the
members of the Order served in various official positions of the
Caliphate. The centre for the Mevlevi order is in Konya, in Turkey,
where Rumi is buried. There is also a Mevlevi monastery or durgah in
Istanbul, near the Galata Tower, where the sema ceremony is performed
and accessible to the public. The Mevlevi Order is also linked to other
Dervish orders such as the Kadiris (founded in 1165), the Rifais
(founded in 1182) and the Kalenderis.
The Mevlevi Order
was outlawed in Turkey at the dawn of the secular revolution by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk in 1923. In the 1950s, the Turkish government, realizing
that The Whirling Dervishes had value as a tourist attraction, began
allowing the Whirling Dervishes to perform annuallly in Konya on the
Urs of Mevlana, December 17, the anniversary of Rumi's death. In 1974,
they were allowed to come to the West. They performed in France, for
the Pope, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and other venues in the
US and Canada under the direction of the late Mevlevi Shaikh Suleyman
Hayati Dede.
The practice of Sufi
whirling, a whirling meditation, originated among the ancient Indian
Sufis (and is still practiced by modern Turkish Dervishes). It is
claimed what the ancients in the Vedas meant by the Churning of the
Ocean using the mount Meru (Merudanda means spinal cord in Sanskrit) is
spinning using the spinal cord as a base.
Sufi whirling is a
stimulating meditation, based on an ancient and forceful technique. The
basic meditational practice is to whirl with open eyes, just like small
children twirling. The meditator's whole body becomes a top, moving,
spinning like a top, moving. Experts recommend refraining from food or
drink for three hours before whirling, and to wear loose clothing and
have bare feet. Sufi whirling is divided into two stages: whirling and
resting (unwhirling). There is no fixed time for the whirling—it can go
on for hours or even days as did Rumi—but it is suggested that
practitioners continue for at least an hour to get fully into the
feeling of the energy whirlpool.
Sufi whirlers begin
with hands crossed onto shoulders and may return their hands to this
position if they feel dizzy. They rotate on their left feet in short
twists, using the right foot to drive their bodies around the left
foot. The left foot is like an anchor to the ground, so that if the
whirler loses his or her balance, he or she can think of their left
foot, direct attention towards it and regain balance back.
Alternatively, they could learn Kathak Dancing.
The whirling is done
on the spot in an anticlockwise direction, with the right arm held
high, palm upwards, and the left arm held low, palm downwards. People
who feel discomfort from whirling anti-clockwise can change to
clockwise. The body of the whirler is meant to be soft with eyes open,
but unfocused so that images become blurred and flowing. For the first
15 minutes, rotate slowly. Then gradually build up speed over the next
30 minutes, the whirling takes over and the whirler ideally becomes a
whirlpool of energy--the periphery a storm of movement but the witness
at the centre still. Practitioners suggest that an additional energy
kick is made possible holding up one hand high another low below your
waist facing...a true gateway for energy to pass through you.
When the whirler is
whirling so fast that he or she cannot remain upright, his or her body
will fall by itself. The whirler does not consciously make the fall a
decision or attempt to arrange the landing in advance; if his or her
body is soft he or she should land softly—and the earth will absorb the
energy. If the idea of letting oneself fall is too much for the
practitioner then the whirler should allow his or herself to slow down
very slowly. If the whirler has been whirling for an hour then the
process of slowing down might take some time—even 10 minutes or more.
Once the whirler has
fallen, the second part of the meditation starts—the unwhirling. The
whirler rolls onto his or her stomach immediately so that his or her
bare navel is in contact with the earth. If anybody feels strong
discomfort lying this way, he should lie on his back. The practitioner
feels his or her body blending into the earth, like a small child
pressed to his mother's breasts. Eyes remain closed and the whirler
remains passive and silent for at least 15 minutes. After the
meditation whirlers try to be as quiet and inactive as possible.
Some people may feel
nauseous during the whirling meditation, but this feeling should
disappear within two or three days. Whirlers should discontinue the
meditation if it persists.
External link
DankPhotos.com: Whirling Dervishes: The Search for Spirituality
Whirling Dervishes USA
Whirling Dervishes - Istanbul
RUMI uk website
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