Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Way of the Sufi.

The way of the Sufi is the way of the Heart. He calls God his Beloved and in this quest for the Beloved everything else is negated or has no attraction for him. He travels the spiritual path, Tariqat, purifying himself for the time when he and The Beloved are one. The goal is Fanaa, the state of the self having passed away in God.
He first empties himself of all negatives qualities and desires. Then he polishes away the tarnish of the self and attachment to it. Adorning the self with Divine attributes; the attributes of Truth; comes next. Then, finally the self passes away and only the Beloved remains.
The Sufi reaches the center....
The mystical Path of the Sufi has ritualistic music and dance as important elements. The music; usually the beutiful poems of Sufi poets like Rumi; set to music; are always about searching for the Beloved and the ache of the seperation.
The ritualistic dance is one of great ecstacy. The Sema ceremony; the ceremony of ritualistic dance is popular among the Mevlavi order; founded by the followers of the Sufi poet and mystic, Jalal Ud Din Mohammed Rumi. They are famed as the Whirling Dervishes.

This takes you to a Sema ceremony

Listen to a Sufi Qawwali

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