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Just as the
planets revolve around the sun, the Murshid's consciousness
revolve in the All Pervading Divine Light. The disciples of
Prophet Mohammad go around the sacred Kaaba in Mecca practising
Zikr. The disciples of Param Atman circumambulate the temple
and perform this holy whirling ritual. The circular dance
of the Sufisis called Sama. Sama is an act of devotion, undertaken
in the presence of the Murshid. Real music arouses emotions
and the right kind of music acts in a way that it creates
the necessary arousal for the divine thereby aiding the process
of contemplation on the Divine. This illumination is the Divine
illumination of Marifat. Muhabbat permeates our consciousness
only when our self discipline is strong for it is said those
aspirants who develop self control understand the feelings
of other human beings and are sensitive to their needs. In
Sama the Sufi's consciousness is flooded with Divine ecstasy
and joy begins to permeate from the consciousness. For perfecting
Fikr(concentration on the Divine) and Zikr(remembrance on
the Divine), Muraqaba is undertaken in Khilvat to harness
the senses of perception. The purposes of Music in Sama is
to help stimulate the love for the Divine so that Kundalini
can be invoked to flood the Sahasrara where the torrential
downpour of ecstacy of a million climaxes floods the consciousness
of the aspirant. This is the attainment of the spiritual puberty
and from now on the aspirant's meditation has become ripe.
The aspirant should take care here by redoubling their efforts.
Sama requires intense devotion ever striving for the purity
of consciousness acheived through the practice of Ashgal with
the grace of the Murshid. Care has to be taken to cross the
bridge over Nafsi as when the sensual desires instead of being
harnessed are supressed , in the heat of passion it may be
difficult to regulate the sensual urge as is the case in all
the night discotheques of the world. Khwaja says that Fikr
is the rosary, Zikr are its beads, Muraqaba its harp and the
Muhabba. The purpose of Music in Sama is to help stimulate
the love for the Divine so that Kundalini can be invoked to
flood the Sahasrara where the torrential downpour of ecstacy
of a million climaxes floods the cosciousness of the aspirant.
This is the attainment of the spiritual puberty and from snow
on the aspirant's meditation has become ripe. The aspirant
should take care here by reduobling their efforts.Sama requires
intense devotion ever striving for the purity of consciousness
acheived through the practice of Ashgal with the grace of
the Murshid.Care has to be taken to cross the bridge over
Nafsi(Svadhistana Chakra) as when the sensual desires instead
of being harnessed are supressed, in the heat of passion it
may be difficult to regulate the sensual urge as is the case
in all night discotheques of the world. Khwaja says that Fikr
is the rosary,Zikr are its breads,Muraqaba its harp and the
Muhabbat for the Divine, its threads. Thus one's consciousness
is a song within. It is only when the desire of the aspirant
is satisfied by the descent of the nectar of Immortality that
the aspirant is able to channelise their thoughts seeking
Marifat(para-normal union with the Divine). In Sama 9-15 murids(aspirants)
sit in Khilvat attempting withdrawl of their senses and contemplates
on the Divine. The Murshid(spiritual mentor) invites all the
assembled murids to raise their hands in prayer and the Murshid
chants: "To thee O God glory! To thee O God praise! Thou art
the most Merciful of the merciful, Mercy O God mercy. We have
come to your enterance, Grant us admittance. We seek refuge,
Grant us protection. Fill us with your love O Majestic Lord
Include us in the fellowship of your servants, Record our
names among the servants you love. There is none worthy of
service than thee llluminate our hearts with your love Save
us from fears and anxieties Let our eyes behold your beauty.
Glorified and exalted are thee O Lord We do love thee O Lord
Gladden us with thy grace and guidance. After the prayer,
the dervishes approach the Murshid one by one,salute him with
a gesture of hand and begin to dance. Every dervish advances
slowly,turning on the left heel, till they form one circle.
Their arms are open or raised but their eyes are closed. All
visualise to hold the beauty of the beloved God. The dance
may continue for an hour or two, during which time Zikr to
the sound of music is played. Every dervish tries to search
for inward purity and tranquility in the Sama. Khwaja says
that for those disciples engaged in the love of God, Sama
is an aid for perfection, but for those filled with the lust
of desire the result is a disaster. Whose Sama is constant
and sincere, ever present in their heart is the All Pervading.
Reza Arasteb mentioned that one of the most interesting machanism
for drawing the attention of the lover towards their beloved
was a five step dance that revealed the total outlook of the
Sufis towards the process of the communion relationship. The
dance started with meditation,intense concenteration on one
self so that one could empty oneself of idle thoughts, re-sensitise
oneself and gain the state of naturalness. However, this was
not enough, the Sufi's know that regaining of naturalness
must occur through action. The dance served this purpose.
In dancing the seeker took steps and moved his closed palm
towards his chest(first act), then he took a step again and
opened his palm and moved his hand towards the ground, symbolising
that he was released from the self(second act). In the second
step, the sufi raised his hand towards heaven symbolising
the nature of God, manifested in religion as everything coming
from him(third act). In the fourth act,the seeker moved his
hands over his head in such a way that palms faced the sky,symbolising
that the human being does not know the nature of God.In the
fifth act, the seeker pointed his right hand finger towards
his object of desire, symbolising that all that exists is
thou in thou(All Pervading). The seeker performed the dance
with great concenteration on his object of desire, often symbolised
in the guide or the perfect disciple or his earthly beloved
Murshid. The Sufi saints introduced music and dervish dance(Halqal)
in khanqahs, the holy shrine of the sufis. Sufi mystic Jalaludin
Rumi on hearing about the death of his friend Hamsa, a flute
player, went to his house with some of his disciples and addressed
the dead body "My dear friend Hamsa arise!" Hamsa's soul re-entered
the physical body and for days and nights the festival of
sufi music and dervish dance was kept at his house. When the
mystic Rumi left Hamsa's house, the soul of Hamsa also departed
from the body of Hamsa.Sufi Saint Sai Sanchal Shah was very
fond of sufi music and darvish dance,once,some mislead disciples
of God came to Sai Sanchal Shah to discuss the ban on music
and were overawed when to their surprise they found that in
the hutment of the Master the music instruments were playing
by themselves. Sometimes Christ, sometimes Moses myself; sometimes
as Pharao I have ruled and issued orders; sometimes as Mansur,sometimes
as Shamas al-Haqq I have invited troubles on my head; Sometimes
as Darius,sometimes as Alexander I have overrun domians;Sometimes
Ayaz,sometimes Mahmood,sometimes a slave I have called myself;
Sometimes as Laila,sometimes as Majnun I have wailed in the
lanes; Sometimes as Zulaikha,sometimes as Yusuf, sometimes
as the Emperor of Egypt I have appeared; Sometimes Rama-Sita,sometimes
Lakshman,sometimes I have also been Ravana; Sometimes I have
preached a lot(like a Mulla) sometimes I have dilated on Mystery;
Presently I have come here assumins the name of Sachal and
sung many a song of spirit. Sufi mystic Amir Khusru, disciple
of the Sufi saint,Chistia silsila Hazrat Nizamudin Aulia of
Dehli was a great musician of his time. He introduced many
innovations in music. His songs and pahelies with their mass
appeal have remained popular to this day.Amir Khusru has also
introduced Qawaali, which is the most popular musical concert
in sufi Khanqahs(known as dargahs/asthans now a days). The
chistiya order of Sufis uses music as the source of inspiration.
Murshid Khusru instituted the listening of music or Qawali
mehfil which takes place regularly at the tombs of Sufi saints
and at the gathering of Sufis.
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