A talk by Camille from a weekend of “Rumi Alive” with friends gathering in Alabama in remembrance in 2007. It opens with Mevlana’s prayer offering from Book IV of the Mathnawi which seems a wonderful prayer to offer in remembrance as we begin a New Year.
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My ancestry led back directly, I discovered, through Deacon John Dyer and his wife, Freelove Williams, and further back to such a strong woman of Spirit whose story I had never known—Mary Dyer, the only woman in the history of the United States of America to be martyred for religious freedom. It was 1660 when she was hung on Boston Common by the Puritans, for promoting freedom of religious conscience. She went to her death with joy, witnessing to Truth, determined to honor the freedom of each soul to discover and relate to the Truth as he or she felt moved by the “Inner Light.” She was a Quaker.
We can be grateful for the possibilities of service that life presents us with. The more we serve the better we feel, especially about ourselves. The mature character does not need, nor expect, to be thanked by others. The chance to serve, which is so good for ourselves, is itself a gift and is its own reward. Maturity is to serve without any expectation, and to be grateful to simply be.
On a recent trip to Turkey led by Shaikh Kabir and Camille Helminski, our group was lucky enough to be invited to the Sefik Can Foundation, under the direction of Nur Artiran, one of Turkey's most respected spiritual teachers. It gave us a valuable insight into Sufism as practised by modern Mevlevis in Turkey.
Sufism is not only the sublime poetry of a Rumi; it is also how we relate to others, how we receive a guest. The work of Sufism is not primarily acquiring information; it is more about clearing the mirror of consciousness. As rich as the treasure of Sufi knowledge is (an immense intellectual heritage), most of us would not have been drawn to this path if we had not encountered its love embodied in human relationships.
The elect of the elect fast by examining their thoughts and preventing their innermost consciousness from paying attention to anything other than God. These are the people of poverty, and their capital and provisions for wayfaring on the path to God are nothingness. . . .
My father [Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi] said, “O Bahauddin, when the seed of my teaching has taken root in your heart, you will understand—reflect deeply on my teaching and really try to absorb it and if you do, felicity will be yours. Know that the body of the prophets, the saints, and their friends will never perish. A seed thrown into the earth may appear to die and disappear, however, at the end of a few days it comes to life and grows into a flourishing tree. In a similar way the body of the prophets and the saints will also come to life again.”
From the very beginning of my own training I was led to ask the question: If Mevlana were alive today, would he teach in the same way that he taught in Konya in the 13th century? So many aspects of his teaching and thought seem strikingly contemporary and this is not merely the result of translations that try to make him appear contemporary. His transcendence of his immediate culture is intrinsic to his message.
The most beloved of people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to His servants. And I see no better benefit for His servants in our times than the goodly word that reminds the human being of his humanness and reminds everyone of their brotherhood in the abode of Adam. This is the message from the East, from the summertime in the winter of Damascus, so what do you have for us?
Kabir has been invited to write for Speaking Tree, The Times of India (over 4 million downloads/month). What is it to be truly human? Just to hold this question is the beginning of transformation. When I first began to ask this question, I assembled a list of attributes that seemed essential: a certain capacity for [...]