Sufism and Rumi

Radical Love

What do you think this term means?

Radical Love

• The path of love is made up of seekers who are in it for God’s own heart
• How we have to love God’s own people (those around us)
• People whose heart breaks vs. people whose heart breaks open

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-Omid Safi

Love

• The word “Love,” that most divine of qualities, has become flat, ubiquitous, and, ironically, cheap.
• The Muslim mystics speak of is something more fiery, fierce, and alchemical. It is a love that by their own reckoning constantly spills over again and again, overflowing whatever cup seeks to contain it. It is for that reason that here I have rendered it as the path of radical love.

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• -Walter DeGruyter

Mystic

• a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.
• "A mystic is a person who has a direct experience of the sacred, unmediated by conventional religious rituals or intermediaries," Mirabai Starr, author of Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, tells OprahMag.com.

Sufism-Peace, Love, Tolerance

• Mystical, spiritual form of Islam
• Not interested in material goods
• About finding God within oneself
• Meditation and chanting
• Music
• Active physical meditation (The Whirling Dervishes)

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Rumi

• “We talk about Rumi as if he is Mount Everest standing alone. If we take a more humble approach, we will see that Everest does not stand alone, it is part of the Himalayas, there is a whole mountain range that is propping up, holding, making space for, supporting, and pushing Everest onto ever higher heights. Mawlana Rumi is grounded and anchored in a tradition of love that goes all the way back to the Prophet, comes through Imam Ali and through an unfolding of 500 years of love mystics.”-Omid Safi

Rumi -Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi 

• 13th century (1207-1273) Muslim poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic is regarded as one of the greatest Sufi spiritual masters and poets.
• Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance as a path to reach God.

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“What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest.”- Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks

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Whirling Dervishes

Whirling Dervishes

• While whirling, his arms are open: his right arm is directed to the sky, ready to receive god’s love and goodness; his left hand is turned toward the earth.
• Each individual Dervish spins from right to left (counterclockwise) using his own heart as a pivot point.
• The Dervish will rotate slowly at first, picking up speed as the music intensifies until the group of Dervishes is all whirling in a fast-paced frenzy with their white gowns spinning.

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• Question- What elements of “radical love” do you see in the whirling dervishes video?

The Guest House

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This being human is a guest house.�Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,�some momentary awareness comes�as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!�Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,�who violently sweep your house�empty of its furniture,�still, treat each guest honorably.�He may be clearing you out�for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,�meet them at the door laughing,�and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,�because each has been sent�as a guide from beyond.

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Questions

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• How does this poem reflect “radical love?” At whom is this radical love directed?
• What is the extended metaphor running throughout the poem?
• What does he think we should do with dark thoughts and shame? How do you interpret this?
• How does the perspective reflected in this piece apply to your current life?
• How can one treat each guest as though it is a guide?

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• The Khalifa said to Laila, "Art thou really she�For whom Majnun lost his head and went distracted?�Thou art not fairer than many other fair ones."�She replied, "Be silent; thou art not Majnun!"�If thou hadst Majnun's eyes,�The two worlds would be within thy view.�Thou art in thy senses, but Majnun is beside himself.�In love to be wide awake is treason.�The more a man is awake, the more he sleeps (to love);�His (critical) wakefulness is worse than slumbering.�Our wakefulness fetters our spirits,�Then our souls are a prey to divers whims,�Thoughts of loss and gain and fears of misery.�They retain not purity, nor dignity, nor lustre,�Nor aspiration to soar heavenwards.�That one is really sleeping who hankers after each whim�And holds parley with each fancy.

In Popular Culture

Rumi is often quoted in memes, gifs, tattoos etc. without acknowledgment of the deeply spiritual roots of Islam being at the core of his work.

Cultural Appropriation

According to Dictionary.com, cultural appropriation is “the adoption, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers from subcultures or minority communities into mainstream culture by people with a relatively privileged status.

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Question: Rumi’s poetry is widely popular and often, universal. Is the widespread use of his work in popular culture appropriation? Why or why not?

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