The Whirling Dervishes

Many people who come to Turkey see what is called the 'Whirling Dervishes' which is a sight particular to Turkey. All I knew about them is that they are followers of Sufi Islam, which is the mystical branch of Islam. I decided to find out more.

Turns out that the Dervishes are followers of the philosopher known as Rumi in the West (his full name is Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, but he is more commonly known to the Turkish people as Mevlevi or Mawlawi). Rumi was a Persian philosopher who lived in 13^th century. Though he was born somewhere in Persia, in modern day Tajikistan, his family moved and, after performing the Hajj*, finally came to rest in Konya, in modern day Turkey, the capital of the Ottoman Empire at the time. “Rumi”, actually refers to where he lived, which had been under the control of the Roman Empire (Rome – Rum – Rumi). So to call him 'Rumi' would be like calling someone from Florida 'The Floridian'. Sort of like the Spanish/Greek painter El Greco (literally, "the Greek") was known by that nickname instead of his given name.

Though he wrote in Persian, his influence is felt very profoundly in Anatolia (Anatolia being the area of Turkey in Asia) and in Turkey in general. His songs are sung as lullabies, his quotes are used to admonish children when they misbehave, and his grave is a great pilgrimage sight for Sufis.

Much like Martin Luther in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Rumi believed that a person did not need an intermediary to commune with god. He believed that organized religion actually hindered the spiritual development of a person. And like Martin Luther, he was not too popular with many of the authorities of his religion.

He famously said: “God's truth is lost on the men of orthodoxy. Mystics refuse to turn life into forgery. God's truth is an ocean and the dogma, a ship. Most people don't leave that ship to plunge in that sea. At the threshold of truth, the dogma held them back at that door. All came in sight but they could not see.”

This basically means that though a dogma is useful for navigating the world, if you learn to think for yourself and connect with the world on your own terms (metaphorically learning to swim), the dogma is only holding you back.

He wasn't a prophet, as Muslims maintain that Mohammad was the last prophet, but merely a philosopher who interpreted Islam in his own way.

So where does the whirling come in? You ask. The Mawlawi Sufi Order came into being after Rumi's death, started by his descendants. The dance comes from his philosophies – he had one foot rooted in Islam and one foot dancing through all the nations where Islam was present. The whirling is a kind of meditative practice. With one hand they take from God and with the other they give to the people and vise versa. It reminds me of the Bhakti movement in Hinduism where they believe that by the sheer amount of devotion you show to God – demonstrated visibly by singing and dancing more or less constantly – you will achieve salvation

The Mawlawi Sufi order was outlawed by Ataturk in an effort to secularize the state of Turkey and remains so today, though the religious ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes is now recreated for tourists, and a handful of the old monasteries of the order are now cropping up in Istanbul and other major cities.

It’s a tricky subject. On the one hand, the Sufis were the least detrimental – in my opinion – to a secular rule with their moderate views and religious tolerance. But on the other hand, Ataturk wanted to create a cohesive state and the sect was a potentially divisive element. Either way, what you see nowadays performing for tourists are just dancers.

But one of Rumi's famous quotes was: 'dwell not in the past, be the child of tomorrow'. The world turns and destroys but as long as you have joy in your heart you are able to make your garden again. Though his religious traditions have been ostensibly reduced to entertainment for tourists, I don't think he would be angry. The true faithful still continue their ceremonies in private and the world is fascinated by the mystery of the Whirling Dervishes.

* the Hajj is the holy pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are supposed to perform in their life if it is at all possible.

Of Imperialistic Churches, Cosmologies and Strange Coincidences

I was invited to go to church with one of my co-workers. Well, she's actually a student at the school but she also helps out with lunch and that sort of thing so I consider her one of my co-workers. She spent the last three years in Jordon with her Uncle and speaks English very well because she went to the international school there. Her deepest desire is to get the hell out of Korea.

So, we went to her church and they started off with a lot of rock-esque hymns sung by an American girl. When the pastor (Pastor Bob) got up to speak, it was more like a battle plan than a sermon. The pastor gave us all these statistics about the 10-40 window (ten percent of landmass that houses 40 percent of the world's population). He had diagrams first about how most of the people in this window were not Christians (or as he said, 'unevangelized'. sort of like 'un-immunized'). He didn't overtly diss other religions so I was okay until the next slide that was the same map except with GNP per capita superimposed over it.

He didn't come out and say it but it was clear that he was making a connection between people's religion and their economic status. This was when the sermon turned for me from interesting to annoying. Pastor Bob went on to explain how Korea's reason for being in this 10-40 window (as the sole 'evangelized' country) was to convert the rest of Asia and North Africa. He told us how to identify a non-believer and how to go about getting them to talk to Jesus - i.e. ask them to coffee then start preaching the word of god to them.

I can't figure out if this Mandate of Heaven notion about Korea being in the 10-40 window for a reason comes from Western ideals or if its a homegrown thing. I haven't ever been to an English speaking church in America so I can't judge if the same attitude is common there. As far as Greek Orthodoxy is concerned, its more of a tradition than a religion - its a solid, everyday part of life and people don't go around trying to convert people who don't want to be converted. Its sort of like an semi-exclusive club in that way - you wanna be Greek Orthodox? Okay, but first you have to learn the secret handshake.

There are so many things I could say about this sermon - that correlation doesn't mean causation; that the reason most of these countries are poor and underdeveloped is because of people trying to tell them what's best for them and then taking advantage of them; that, generally, people don't appreciate finding out that an overture of friendship was actually a cheap ploy to get them to come to church; and that adopting a doctrine of live and let live is closer to the spirit of the Bible than this imperialistic religious colonization.

I'm not against religions in general. On the contrary, I think they serve a very important Anthropological purpose.

In my environmental Ethics class in college we talked a lot about religion as it applies to the environment and our current energy problems and one theory stuck with me. It says that when people don't have a cosmology (mostly, this just means a religion) they are less able to fit themselves in the world as a whole. They don't know why they are here, they don't understand what they should be doing. Some people say that there is no such thing as a moral code without a religion (which I think is complete ridiculousness, but none the less furthers the theory).

People who don't have a cosmology (refers more exactly to knowing where you come from, what is waiting for you at the end of life, and what you should be doing with your life) feel their life is useless, or that there is something missing. To fill this whole they consume. They fill their lives with things that they think will make it better - iPhones, 13 cars, countless amazon purchases, etc. That's why so many people have such credit card debt: because they consume pathologically. This is not to say that people who have iPhones, credit card debt, or buy things from amazon are all without cosmology, just that it could explain why there is so much of this sort of thing in America.

And in this instance, I suppose cosmology can mean any number of things. If you believe your purpose in life is to work for this company that you feel strongly is doing good things, or that you are raising kids to be productive members of society and well-adjusted individuals - separate from some divine force - that, too, is a kind of cosmology.

It's just a theory, but its an interesting one.

It just occurred to me that there is a tie in there with online games. When you don't have the means to buy these kinds of things, you can go online to places like World of Warcraft and spend all your time obtaining special items and outfits - swords, armor, potions, spells, etc - and completing quests. This fills your need to consume while giving you a sense of achievement without actually spending anything but time. You achieve status and wealth in a way that is visible and tangible to not only you but others in your online society.

Ne-Hyeung, my friend who took me to church, and I spent a while after the service talking about it (she said she almost fell asleep) and her mom dropped me off at my apartment, with a lot of baked goods she bought me and a whole bag of kumquats. I'm not sure where that came from but it was a nice gesture anyway.

On a rather strange note, I found out that my music teacher from first grade (in Nairobi) goes to this church. This is beyond weird. My only conclusion is that the world is a very very very small place.

EDIT: This is way too awesome not to share. They're plotting their revolution. I can feel it. Whose side are you on?