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| Rumi's mausoleum in Konya |
For us, brought up in Western culture, it is hard to understand. What
do you mean – presence? Surely the most important thing is
doctrine, isn't it? Dervishes gather to listen to their master
because they want to learn what the master has to day. This is
obvious, isn't it?
Well, it isn't.
In
the 13th
century in the town of Konya in central Turkey one of the most famous
sufi masters in history held his lectures. He was known as Maulana
Rumi. Some of the dervishes who came to listen to him noted down his
lectures and they survived centuries in manuscripts. Rumi was not
economical with words, he was one of the most prolific poets of all
time and of any language. Big fat volumes of his poetry are nowadays
translated into many languages. He is now the most popular poet in
America and as a result there are funds for scholars who want to
research his writings. The lectures in manuscript have been
discovered and several times translated into English. I read one of
those translations and in the beginning of Chapter 2 I found this::
“Someone
says: "Our Master does not utter a word." Rumi answers:
Well, it was the idea of me that brought you to my presence. This
thought of me did not speak with you saying, "How are things
with you?" The inner image without words drew you here. If the
reality of me draws you without you to another place, what is so
wonderful with words? Words are the shadow of reality, a mere branch
of reality. Since the shadow draws, how much more the reality! Words
are a pretext”
This
would suggest that the lectures to which the dervishes come are just
a pretext for them to be in their masters presence. The title which
the dervishes use for their master – hadhrat,
which means 'presence' – would confirm that suggestion. The very
presence of the master causes blessings to flow upon the dervishes.
However, the sufi whose presence causes the blessings to come down
does not have to be famous. He could be an anonymous dervish in the
crowd, a cobbler or a basket maker. Rumi would say that the fame is
only a pretext. Fame is superficial and really comes by chance. Rumi
himself is a proof that fame is a matter of chance.
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| Wax figures of dervishes in a museum |
Before
the 20th
century he was only famous in two countries – in Persia and in
Turkey. In Persia, because his big fat volumes are written in
Persian, he is one of the greatest poets of that language, the
Persian equivalent of Chaucer. In Iran today he is known as Maulana
Jalaluddin Balkhi because he was born in the city of Balkh, in modern
Afghanistan. His books used to be copied in beautiful calligraphy,
single poems written in a special calligraphy created for this
purpose were hung on walls like pictures, music was created to them
and they were sung with accompaniment of orchestras. It is so even
now – mediaeval Persian poetry often provides lyrics for classical
music of Iran.
In Turkey he is famous for different reasons. His poetry was written
in a language foreign there but he is also considered a founder of
the order of the Whirling Dervishes. This is probably the most
popular dervish order in Turkey, which would mean that for Turks he
is an equivalent of somebody like St. Benedict rather than Chaucer.
Strictly speaking Rumi was not the actual founder, it was his closest
disciples who who organised the order formally, but Rumi was their
inspiration and it was he who started the practice of whirling. They
say that when he was whirling in the lecture hall his Muse came to
him and cried out his poems, which were immediately penned down by
his disciples. For us a situation where a lecturer whirls during a
lecture seems a bit odd but iw didn't seem odd to his disciples; they
decided it was a practice worth preserving and carry on this practice
even today. The order is called Mevleviya from the title of the
master, who in modern Turkish is called Mevlana Celaledin Rumi. In
the Ottoman empire this order was quite influential, they say that
even some sultans were among the dervishes. In Persia other orders
were influential, these orders did not practice whirling, although
they did meditate upon the texts of the masters.
They say that even some sultans were among the dervishes. The last of
the sultans is supposed to have earned his living by making baskets,
which one of his servants sold at the bazaar. This sounds incredible
to our Western ears, doesn't it? They say thet the last sultan ate
only those products which the servant bought having sold the baskets.
The Turkish revolutionaries of that era claimed that he didn't manage
the affairs of state properly, so they abolished the monarchy and
created the republic. They decided that the country should appear
European and as a part of this plan all dervish monasteries were
closed. What does anyone need this funny whirling for? In Europe they
don't do things like this.
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| Tekke in Galata in Istambus |
Well,
if some American enthusiasts want to come to Konya and look for signs
of Rumi, they can go to the museum. They can buy a ticket and see the
tomb of the great poet. They can see the tekke,
or the place where the dervishes used to whirl. They can see the
monastery where wax figures of dervishes are exhibited and everything
is described in detail. The figures of dervishes wear tall hats,
those of the shaikhs wear also green turbans around those hats.
Everything is explained – how a novice had to sit for three days in
the kitchen and watch the life of the monastery, how he had to go
through a very hard novitiate, how he learned to whirl and play the
flute, and so on. In the museum shop the tourist can buy a tee shirt
with a picture of a dervish or a CD with flute music.
Interestingly, most of those who come to the museum, buy tickets and
enter the sanctuary with the tomb of Maulana are not American
tourists but Turks from the countryside, old ladies covered from top
to bottom as the Prophet prescribed, old men with white moustaches,
they don't come here to ogle but to pray. They come here because this
is the tomb of Maulana, he is PRESENT in this place. What is
important for the dervishes is the presence. Is he dead? For the
dervishes death is just one of events in a biography. Not the most
important of those events.
Nevertheless the Western tourists like to see exotic spectacles like
the whirling of he dervishes. Monasteries have been closed but
dervishes practised in secret. They must have been doing so because
when the authorities allowed for the whirling session to be performed
for the tourists – there where dervishes who could do it. It is a
strange situation because for the dervishes the show is just a
pretext, what is important is the presence. The very presence of
dervishes causes the blessings to come down on those gathered even
though they came to see a show. What's more – the dervish whose
presence causes the blessings to come down does not need to be known
to everybody. He may be an anonymous dervish in a crowd, a cobbler or
a basket maker.
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| A wax figure of a whirling dervish |
Here is one more quotation from the book of Rumi's discourses:
A worthy man once shut himself up for a forty days discipline,
seeking after a particular object. A voice came to him, saying: 'Such
a lofty object will never be attained by a forty days discipline.
Abandon your discipline so that the regard of a great saint may fall
upon you and your object will be realised.'
'Where shall I find the great one?' the man asked.
'In the congregational mosque' came the answer.
'In such a throng of people how shall I recognise which man he
is?' he enquired.
“Go'
he was told, 'and he will recognise you and gaze upon you. The sign
that his regard has fallen upon you will be that the pitcher will
drop from your hand and you will become unconscious. Then you will
know that he has gazed upon you.'
He acted accordingly. He filled the pitcher with water and went
round the congregation in the mosque like a water-carrier. He was
wandering between the ranks of the worshippers when he suddenly was
seized with ecstasy. He uttered a loud cry and the pitcher fell from
his hand. He remained in a corner of the mosque unconscious. All the
people departed. When he came to his senses he saw that he was alone.
He did not see there that spiritual king who had gazed upon him but
he had gained his object.
You can get my book of translation from Rumi:
