The Whirling Dervishes Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
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. Perhaps the most intriguing description of "Whirling Dervishes" is to be found in P.D.Ouspensky's "A New Model of the Universe" - he saw one of the original ceremonies before the Turkish government outlawed the practice circa 1920.
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.
See also: Sufi whirlingThe Basics of Sufi Whirling