Eight Ramadan Lessons for All Spiritual Seekers

Friends, I'm not the biggest fan of Beliefnet.com, but every once in a while they post something that is very useful. I'm going to share one of them with you now.

You may be aware that we are in the lunar month of Ramadan for Muslims throughout the world. This is a month during which from sunrise to sunset Muslims fast from food and beverage. It is a challenging time, but a cleansing time. Here a wise Muslim spiritual master shares with his fellow religionists some sound and compassion advice about how to benefit from this stark period of time. His column also contains advice that can be beneficial to those who practice other religions...or no religion. Perhaps the most challenging advice is to avoid a spiritual letdown. What do you think?

Eight Ramadan Lessons for All Spiritual Seekers
by Dilshad D. Ali, Islam Editor

Ramadan , the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is special to Muslims as a holy period dedicated to fasting, self-purification, and spiritual attainment. Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or just a spiritual seeker, you can probably appreciate the goals of Ramadan : a whole-body awareness of God and a humble thankfulness for whatever blessings He has granted.

Achieving those goals is a challenge for anyone. But after 20 years of fasting, I've learned some valuable lessons to simplify and spiritualize the Ramadan experience--and how to keep that special feeling alive throughout the year--lessons that can help anyone make their life a little more spiritual and uncomplicated. So check out these tips, whether you're a Muslim who's been fasting for years, or just someone looking for more depth in your spiritual life.

Take the Remembrance of God Inward

For Muslims:

Do dhikr (reciting short du'as, or supplications) silently while you're driving, waiting in line somewhere, or doing endless household tasks. Keep a thasbi (the equivalent of a Muslim rosary) in your purse or pocket and use it to count off du'as (prayers).

For all:

Spending whatever downtime you have to remember God or peacefully meditate is a great idea for everyone. Thousands of hours go by every year in our work commutes and in chauffeuring our kids around. Why not try to use that time to quiet our minds, remind ourselves of a higher being, and appreciate what we've been given?

Appreciate Technology, Then Tune It Out

For Muslims: In past Ramadans I always went on a sort of technology crash diet--television, music, inane web surfing, and movies were all self-banned for 30 days. All the extra time was designated for reading Qur'an, praying, and reconnecting with my family. Well, crash diets never work in the long term.

So the better thing to do is to use technology wisely: Use your email to stay in contact with friends and family, get the news from television and the Internet, and use your ipod to listen to Qur'anic prayers. And when basic needs have been met, turn the technology off and take the extra time to pray and reconnect.

For all:

Use the technology to do what you need to do for work and family. But then, instead of spending hours surfing the web or TV channels, fight the urge and tune out. Discover your family, and discover meditation and prayer. You can start slow--cut out an hour of web surfing (or one TV program) every week and build up.

Share Meals Together as a Family

For Muslims:

Having iftar (the fast-breaking meal at sunset) as a family should be easier this Ramadan. Muslims follow a lunar calendar, which moves Ramadan back 10 days earlier each year. This year most iftars will be after 7 p.m., late enough for the family to be home together. Breaking the fast with the family is a great opportunity to appreciate one another's holy efforts and discuss spiritual topics.

For all:

The family dinner is a concept hammered home by family and social organizations. Even some television stations, like Nickelodeon, show spots advising us to "Make time for the family table." A weekly or bi-weekly family dinner is a great time to reconnect, to learn about each other, and to discuss a designated list of topics that are of interest to your family.

Do New Types of Charity

For Muslims:

After becoming a parent, I used to get discouraged that I couldn't properly do those things recommended to Muslims during Ramadan: Go for tarawih prayers or read the entire Qur'an. But my mom and mother-in-law gave me sound insight: Everything you do for the comfort of your family is charity and a way of worshipping God.

That being said, Ramadan is a great time to try new acts of charity and goodness: Put aside a can of food a day and donate it all when the month is up. Cook a few dishes and take them to your mosque for those who come there to have iftar.

For all:

Recognizing the things you do for family and friends as acts of goodness that are acknowledged by God is a great step toward achieving inner spirituality. But do take a step out of your comfort zone to tackle one small charitable project each month, whether it's donating a little money each day to your favorite charity or taking charge of your office's annual volunteer project.

Get to Your House of Worship and Find Community

For Muslims:

About the only time most Muslim-Americans go to the mosque is for Friday prayers or for Sunday school. During Ramadan, why not make the mosque an integral part of worship? Go there for as many tarawih prayers as you can, especially the end ones when the Qur'an is being completed. Pick one day a week and go to your mosque for iftar. It's amazing how good we feel to see others fasting and striving as much as we are.

For all:

If you are religious, try visiting your church , synagogue , or temple outside of regular worship services. You may meet different people and take part in different experiences that can replenish your spiritual well. If you don't favor any particular house of worship, designate some spot--a park or your backyard at sunset--where you feel some calm, and visit it with family or friends, free of mental distractions, and with a focus on each other.

Realize That Faith and Worldly Life Go Hand-in-Hand

For Muslims:

During Ramadan some Muslims indulge in spiritual extremes--they may try to shutdown all "worldly" aspects of life, like watching TV or playing with kids, and replace it with all spiritually related activities. But man cannot exist on prayer alone. Yes, Ramadan is the month when Muslims are told that God stops the devil from harassing us, and our prayers are more powerful. But though we must ramp up our spiritual practices, we need to keep up our everyday routines.

For all:

Finding and maintaining a balance between spiritual pursuits and life practices is always a good idea. Resolving to remember God more or to be spiritual in other ways can be a soulful way to center ourselves. But I've found that only trained holy persons or gurus can be spiritual or religious-minded 100 percent of the time. The rest of us should make time for worldly and spiritual practices.

Don't Wait for Ramadan to Get More Spiritual

For Muslims:

Imam Zaid Shakir has a popular video about preparing for Ramadan as if you're training for a big race. You can't just stand at the starting line and then all of a sudden run the spiritual race. Start by fasting on Mondays and Thursdays in Shaban (the month preceding Ramadan) as prescribed by hadith (verified sayings of Prophet Muhammad). Want to read the entire Qur'an in Ramadan? Then before Ramadan, put aside 15 minutes each day to read the Qur'an.

For all:

If you want to become more spiritual, pray more, practice your religion more closely, or read religious scripture more, working up to it will help you attain your goal and maintain it in the long run. Starting any new practice (or giving something up in small increments) will help you gain a taste for it and work it into your regular routine. Going full blast or cold turkey is rarely the best way.

Avoid a Spiritual Letdown

For Muslims:

One of the biggest Ramadan problems is what happens immediately afterward. Muslims are consumed with fasting and prayer. Then Ramadan ends and we resume the mantle of our everyday flawed lives. What we should be doing is keeping some of our good Ramadan habits throughout the year.

So be sure to engage in a cool-down period afterwards with an eye toward maintaining some of your Ramadan practices. Try fasting one day a week. Resolve to keep up a charitable practice. Read the Qur'an for five minutes daily. A little bit goes a long way.

For all:

At some point you're probably going to work towards a big goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you're going to kick smoking. So you'll go all-out to achieve that goal. But once it's done, avoid the letdown. It's so easy to go back to old habits once a goal is accomplished. Instead, focus on small ways to maintain that momentum. Making life-altering changes is great. But it's how we manage small, daily changes that make the real, long-term difference.

Whirling Dervishes: Dancing Our Way to Peace

At the first of August I was in Istanbul as part of an interfaith excursion. On the last night of the trip I pulled my way loose from the group to attend a Sufi Music concert and Whiling Dervishes Ceremony in the old part of the city not far from the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

That night I wasn't sure what I was going to encounter. I guess I thought I would witness frantic spinning (like the speedy motion of a top). Instead I witnessed an elegant turning that seemed in some ways to be as slow and elegant as the rotation of the earth on its axis.

The ceremony was deeply meaningful. Here is the text from that night's printed program. It explains the meaning of the ceremony I witnessed. But first, a word of caution. if you decide to try whiling, be very careful. The Mevlevis who whirl practice whirling for years under the guidance of a trained master. If you don't know how to whirl properly, you may find yourself crashing into something or falling.


The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony

Mevleviye are known for their famous practice of whirling dances. At their dancing ceremonies, or Sema, a particular musical repertoire called ayin is played. This is based on four sections of both vocal and instrumental compositions using contrasting rhythmic cycles and is performed by at least one singer, a flute-player (neyzen), a kettledrummer and a cymbal player. The oldest musical compositions stem from the mid-sixteenth century combining Persian and Turkish musical traditions. The repertoire was continuously broadened, and the first notations were made from the early twentieth century onwards.

Dancers would receive 1,001 days of reclusive training within the mevlevihane, a sort ofcloister, where they learnt about ethics, codes of behaviour and beliefs by living a practice of prayer, religious music, poetry and dance. After this training, they remained members of the order but went back to their work and families, combining spiritualism with civic life.

Following a recommended fast of several hours, the whirlers begin to rotate on their left feet in short twists, using the right foot to drive their bodies around the left foot. The body of the whirler is meant to be supple with eyes open, but unfocused so that images become blurred and flowing. The Sema takes place in a large circular-shaped room that is part of the mevlevihane building.

As a result of secularisation policies, all mevlevihane were closed in 1925. In the 1950s, the Turkish government, began allowing the Whirling Dervishes to perform annually 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 Pope Paul VI, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and other venues in the United States and Canada - under the direction of the late Mevlevi Shaikh Suleyman Hayati Dede. Many practitioners kept their tradition alive in private gatherings, and thirty years later, the Turkish government began to allow performances again, though only in public. From the 1990s, restrictions were eased and private groups re-emerged who try to re-establish the original spiritual and intimate character of the Sema ceremony.

The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony is proclamated as an INTANGIBLE WORLD HERITAGE in Traditional performing art social practices themes by UNESCO in October 2005.

Sema: Human Being in the Universal Movement

Text by Dr. Celaleddin Celebi, illustrations by Ingrid Schaar «Dr. Celebi's other writings»
Sema is part of the inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi (1207- 1273) as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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 and intelligence which distinguishes him from and makes him superior to other beings. Thus the "whirling dervish" or Semazen causes the mind to participate in the shared similarity and revolution of all other beings... Otherwise, the Sema ceremony represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, his growth through love, desert his ego, find the truth and 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 and to be of service to the whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination of believes, races, classes and 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 and advances there. At the onset and each stop of the Sema, holding his arms crosswise he represent the number one, and 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 and 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 and 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 and mind. His complete conception of the existence of God as Creator and his state of creature.

The second salute expresses the rapture of man witnessing the splendor of creation, in front of God's greatness and omnipotence.

The third salute

is the transformation of rapture into love and 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" and in Islam "Fenafillah." However, the highest rank in Islam is the rank of the Prophet, he is called God's servant first and his messenger afterwards. The aim of Sema is not unbroken ecstasy and loss of conscious thought. At the termination of this salute, he approves again by his appearance, arms crosswise the Unity of God, consciously and feelingly.

The forth salute

Just as the Prophet ascends till the "Throne" and 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 and his ascent. He is a servant of God, of his Books, of his Prophets and all his creation.

The sixth part

Sema ends with a reading of the Quran and specially of the verse from sura Bakara 2, verse 115, "Unto God belong the East and the West, and 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 and all believers.
Posted by Terry Taylor at 12:47 PM 0 comments
Labels: mevlevi, rumi, sema ceremonty., whirling dervishes

What is dialogue?

I returned from a week-long visit to Alaska yesterday and was handed an invitation to attend a conference in Qatar (on the Saudi pennisula) in October on the topic of "Interfaith Dialogue". In July I was part of a seven person delegation that visited Turkey to promote interfaith dialogue.

The word dialogue is bandied around a great deal, but I rarely am able to pin down those using this term to an exact definition of this word. For some it means just having conversation. For others it seems to mean interacting with people who are not regularly part of our social circle. And for still others it means bringing together for quiet conversation people who usually shout at each other.

I remember talking to someone who is an expert of dialogue some years ago and hearing a definition that I found very powerful.

The source might have been Michael Toms, the host of the Public Radio program called "New Dimensions," but I honestly don't remember.

In any case, the definition that I remember hearing contrasted dialgue with conversation. When we are engaged in a conversation or discussion with someone,more often than not we are not really listening to the other person. When the other person is taling we are forming in our mind the response to what is being said. In dialogue we learn to listen deeply, recognizing our own assumptions, allowing time to reflect, and using the interaction as an opportunity to learn and understand.

I found a web site for something called the dialogue group that contains some very useful information. Here's some of what the Group has to say about dialogue. (A link to the web site appears at the end of this post.)

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF DIALOGUE

Skill Building Blocks and Guidelines for Dialogue

The building blocks and behavioral guidelines outlined below are concepts that form a scaffolding for Dialogue. Like the scaffolding used in construction to aid in the initial stages of building, they are meant to help provide an environment conducive to unfolding the dialogical process.


Rather than a set of rules, you might think of them as reminders of the level of attention which lies at the core of Dialogue. Attention to our thinking, our feelings, our communication, assumptions and judgments. Attention to the unfolding meaning of the group, the spirit of inquiry and the pauses for reflection that lead to learning and understanding.


Held lightly, these guidelines and building blocks will help you enter into Dialogue. Held too firmly, they will trap you in just one more structure and limiting system. Dialogue is a living process and requires the willingness of all participants to be open to letting go of the known in order to discover new perspectives and understanding. As one writer so eloquently put it, "We must be prepared in each moment to give up (our ideas of) who we are to discover all we may become. "


So, by all means use these guidelines to help you begin your exploration of Dialogue, and in each moment, be prepared to release them and let your attention guide you to the next level of learning.


FOUR SKILL BUILDING BLOCKS


Suspension of Judgment

Of all the building blocks, suspension of judgment is the foundation for Dialogue, and perhaps, the most challenging. Our normal way of thinking divides, organizes and labels. Because our egos become identified with how we think things are we often find ourselves defending our positions against those of others. This makes it difficult for us to stay open to new and alternative views of reality. It is hard to listen when we are engaged in a heated battle about "who's right and who's wrong!"


When we learn to suspend judgment, to "hold our positions more lightly", we open the door to see others' points of view. It is not that we do away with our judgments and opinions - this would be impossible. We simply create a space between our judgment and our reaction, and thus open a door for listening.


Suspending judgment is also a key to building a climate of trust and safety. As we learn that we will not be "judged" wrong for our opinions, we feel freer to express ourselves. The atmosphere becomes more open and truthful.


Assumption Identification

Identify means "to recognize, to pick out from your surroundings, to feel one with." Assumptions are "those things which are assumed or thought to be". So to identify assumptions is to recognize, or identify, that which we think is so.


It is probably obvious to most of us that our assumptions play a large role in how we evaluate our environment, the decisions we make and how we behave. Yet, it is just this aspect of our thinking that we consistently overlook when we seek to solve problems, resolve conflicts, or create synergy among diverse people.


Why do we overlook the obvious? David Bohm would say because our "assumptions are transparent to us". They are such a built-in part of our seeing apparatus that we do not even know they are there. We look right through them.


Our failure to look at underlying belief systems can lead to disappointing results. When we examine the underlying assumptions behind our decisions and actions we reach to the causal level of problem solving. We are able to identify where there are disconnects in our strategies and take more effective actions.


By learning how to identify our assumptions, we can also explore differences with others, work to build common ground and consensus, and get to the bottom of core misunderstandings and differences.


Listening: Key to Perception

Take a minute, right now, to ask yourself for your personal definition of listening. Think about that activities you identify with listening? How do you know you are listening? Being listened to? What does listening feel like? How could your listening be enhanced?


The way we listen, has a lot to do with our capacity to learn and build quality relationships with others. When we are able to suspend judgment and listen to diverse perspectives we expand and deepen our world view. It is the act of listening that allows for integration and synthesis of new insights and possibilities. When we listen deeply we are willing to be influenced by and learn from others.


In Dialogue, listening also involves developing our ability to perceive the meaning arising both at the individual level and within the group. What assumptions are we hearing, which ones are shared? Listening for shared meaning informs us about the culture we live in, and presents us with the opportunity to make choices about our decisions and actions (rather than moving unconsciously, on auto-pilot).).


Inquiry and Reflection

Inquiry and refection are about learning how to ask questions with the intention of gaining additional insight and perspective. Through this process we dig deeply into matters that concern us and create breakthroughs in our ability to solve problems.


Inquiry elicits information. Reflection permits the inspection of information and the perception of relationships. The combination of reflection and inquiry enables us to learn, to think creatively, and to build on past experience (versus simply repeating the same patterns over and over again).


By learning how to ask questions that lead to new levels of understanding we accelerate our collective learning. Such questions often begin with "I wonder...", "what if....", "what does xxx mean to you?" As we ask these questions and listen, we gain greater awareness into our own and others' thinking processes and the issues that separate and unit us.


By creating pauses to reflect, we learn to work with silence and slow down the rate of conversation. We become able to identify assumptions and reactive patterns and open the door for new ideas and possibilities.


Interlocking Building Blocks: Weaving the Dialogue

Each of the building blocks is an integral part of the Dialogue. They are living parts, which, like the organs of our bodies, constantly work to support the form they are part of. In each moment, the building blocks weave both the context within which the Dialogue unfolds and act as catalysts to support the unfolding itself. The more consciously we use them, the more they help us to enter into and sustain the Dialogue.


And, all the skills are interrelated. For example, as we begin to draw aside the curtains of our judgments, we develop the capacity to speak and listen without the automatic coloring of past thought patterns. We become less reactive, more aware of the assumptions through which we filter our observations. Choosing to suspend these assumptions, we may experiment with expanding the horizons of our perceptions, increasing the number of points of view available to us. By creating space to reflect on what we are perceiving, seeking the next level of inquiry, opening up our senses and listening deeply, with the intention to discover and understand we enter into Dialogue.


BEHAVIORS THAT SUPPORT DIALOGUE


Suspension of judgement when listening and speaking. When we listen and suspend judgment we open the door to expanded understanding. When we speak without judgment we open the door for others to listen to us.


Respect for differences. Our respect is grounded in the belief that everyone has an essential contribution to make and is to be honored for the perspective which only they can bring.


Role and status suspension. Again, in dialogue, all participants and their contributions are absolutely essential to developing an integrated whole view. No one perspective is more important than any other Dialogue is about power with, versus power over or power under.


Balancing inquiry and advocacy. In dialogue we inquire to discover and understand others perspectives and ideas and we advocate to offer our own for consideration. The intention is to bring forth and make visible assumptions, relationships and gain new insight and understanding.


We often tend to advocate to convince others of our positions Therefore a good place to start with this guideline is to practice bringing more inquiry into the conversation.


Focus on learning. Our intention is to learn to from each other, to expand our view and understanding, versus evaluate and determine who has the "best" view.


When we are focused on learning we tend to ask more questions, try new things. We are willing to disclose our thinking so that we can see both what is working for us and what we might want to change. We want to hear from all parties so that we can gain the advantage of differing perspectives.

Here's a link to the web site for "The Dialogue Group"

http://www.thedialoguegrouponline.com/whatsdialogue.html

Struggling with culture vs. military might

After visiting the Jewish Museum on Thursday we had a wonderful light lunch at a restaurant famous for its baklava, including types filled with meat and cheese, little socially acceptable White Castles (with flair).

The owner showed us a pan of baklava measuring 2 by 3 feet that had been doctored by chefs into a portrait of President Barack Obama. After lunch our van carried us to a famous military museum on the Golden Horn. At the museum we were to hear a concert by a military band dressed in Ottoman-style uniforms.

I wasn’t sure why this visit was on the agenda for a trip that extolled the virtues of peaceful coexistence.

Well, I had adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude about this stop on our tour until I waited and saw.

We de-vaned in front of a huge cannon of WWI vintage that I am sure was designed to shoot a shell 15 or 20 miles. Our leaders hurried us along. We were running late and the concert was about to begin. The concert hall was at the opposite end of the museum from the entrance. We were told we could visit the museum’s exhibits after the concert. As we rushed along to see the band, we passed room after room of implements of destruction. Everything from arrows to massive machine guns. All designed for one purpose: killing human beings.

A day later I asked one of our leaders why we had been taken to this venue. He confirmed my suspicion that this was not an effort to celebrate the military but rather an attempt to make sure that we had a full experience of Turkish culture.

But as we arrived in the 1,000 seat concert hall I was deeply troubled by what it would mean for me (someone who self identifies as a Quaker) to be part of a tour of weapons on exhibit. I finally turned to Kenan and told him that I meant no disrespect, but that when the concert was over I would not be part of the tour; I would wait outside the museum’s entrance for the rest of the group.
So, an hour later when the music had stopped and the band had marched away, I marched myself to the entrance and sat outside in the sun, just a few feet from the Goliath sized cannon I mentioned above.

As I waited for the group I pondered the contrast between the museum and the tomb of the Sufi poet, Rumi that we had visited two days earlier. Rumi extolled the virtues of living together in peace. He knew no enemies.

As I compared the two venues I took heart in the fact that the military museum was visited on the day we were there by perhaps a few hundred people (including a couple of school groups).

The tomb of Rumi and the adjoining museum on the other hand were swarming with people the day we were there. Thousands of people. A constant stream of Muslims, Christians, and persons of many religions.

I think it would make Rumi smile to know that many more people looked at his resting place than gazed at machine guns and cannons that. I have a feeling Fetullah Gulen would smile a little too.