Ya Hazreti Mevlana--Haq Dost!
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Dervish literally means doorway and is thought to be an entrance from the material world to the spiritual world. In the Mevlevi Order, founded by the Persian mystic Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi in the 13th century lies the origin of the Mevlevi Sema. The Sema is a prayer in which the dervish can become open to receive the energy of god. For this to occur, one must empty oneself of the self. The intention is to be a vessel, over flowing with love for humanity and all of creation. The dervish humbly asks forgiveness and bows.
The “Whirling Dervish” is more than simply a lover of Rumi, more than someone ecstatically turning to God. The Dervish seeks to be in submission, and seeks discipline, following his or her teacher’s guidance, and all the teachers preceding them, all the way back through a ‘golden chain’ which leads ultimately to God. Aziz Abbatiello was raised in an American Mevlevi family, as he started to walk the path of the mystics following in the tradition of the Sufi, he longed to turn Sema with the dervishes, he waited in service for several years before he was formally admitted into study of the Turn, and trained with Postneshin Jelaluddin Loras, Pir of the Mevlevi Order of America. He was initiated as Semazen in 1996, and has made Sema with several Sufi groups in America and abroad. He has traveled the world in pursuit of spiritual experience, and participates in many global peace, traditional & new music, and interfaith events. Aziz seeks to embody the experience of union with the Divine, with his feet rooted deep in faith. He is a carpenter by trade, specializing in fine woodworking. “Everything in the universe is turning; the planets around their Sun, the Earth on its axis, the electrons around the atom. We copy what the universe does, turning from that point: the Secret Place in the Heart. Turn-- and the Universe opens.” |