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| Rumi and His Life
 The great poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, greatly known and beloved around the world for his beautiful, mystical poetry, was born in 1207, in Balkh (a historical city in Central Asia). His father, Baha’ ad-Din Walad, was a Sufi, a Muslim mystic, and religious scholar.
With the pending Mongol invasion, Walad took his family Westward, visiting several cities and also completing the pilgrimage (hajj) in Mecca, on their way to Turkey.Rumi’s family eventually settled in Konya, Turkey, where Rumi married and spent the last forty years of his life. Inheriting his father’s spiritual heritage, Rumi spent years studying with master teachers to become a Muslim scholar; eventually his studies lead him to grow more deeply in his faith and to become a Sufi. However, his meeting in 1244 with the mysterious Sufi, Shams al-Din Tabrizi, so profoundly struck a chord in Rumi’s poetic soul and set him on the path to becoming the visionary poet of divine love and illumination. During his life time, Rumi composed his peerless works (e.g. Mathnawi) and received the inspiration for the sacred music and dervishes. Rumi’s work in Konya profoundly affected both the literary and spiritual landscapes of the Turkish and Persian worlds. Today, seven centuries later, Rumi’s works, unbounded by conventional lines of faith, continue to inspire, enlighten, and illuminate many souls around the world, transcending all cultural and religious lines. For more info UNESCO Year of Rumi (2007)  2007 is announced as the “Year of Rumi” by UNESCO to recognize this greatly known and beloved mystical poet and spiritual master.
Today, more than seven centuries later, Rumi’s works, unbound by conventional lines of faith, continue to inspire, enlighten, and illuminate souls around the world, transcending all cultural and religious lines. | | Sema Ritual  The performance of our Sufis (or semazen) is called a Sema.
The Sema ritual is a form of Sufi dance and was born out of Rumi’s inspiration. In the Sema, semazens, who are also called “whirling dervishes,” whirl—not to self-induce a trance, as some believe, but rather to reflect our universal truth, that everything in our existence revolves: electrons, moons, planets, entire galaxies; we humans live by the circulation of the blood in our bodies, by the cycle of the seasons, and by the stages of our lives; we come from the earth and we return to it.
We humans have been created with love in order to love. In Rumi’s words, “All loves are a bridge to divine love. Yet, those who have not had a taste of it do not know!” We invite you to share,through the semazen’s performance, in Rumi’s saying divine love. The semazens, intentionally and vision of divine love consciously participate with the shared revolving of their fellow semazen. By revolving in harmony with all things in nature —with the smallest cells and with the largest planets and stars— the semazen testifies to the existence and the majesty, gives thanks to, and prays to the Creator. In doing so, the semazen confirms the words of the Qur’an (64:1): “Whatever is in the heavens and on earth declares the praises and glory of God. The Sema unites the three fundamental components of human nature: the mind (knowledge and thought), the heart (expressions of feelings, poetry, and music), and the body (activating life by whirling). Turning towards the truth, semazens grow through love to transcend ego and meet truth. The ceremony represents our spiritual journey, an ascent, by means of intelligence and love, towards “divine perfection.” In the symbolism of the Sema ritual, the semazen’s wool hat represents the tombstone of the ego; the wide, white skirt represents the ego’s shroud. By removing the black cloak, the semazen is spiritually reborn to God’s truth. At the beginning of the Sema, by holding their arms crosswise, the semazen appears to represent the one, thus testifying to God’s unity. While whirling, arms are open: the right arm is directed to the sky, ready to receive God’s beneficence; the left hand, upon which the semazen gazes, is turned towards the earth. The semazen conveys God’s spiritual gift to those who are witnessing the Sema. Revolving from right to left around the heart, the semazen
embraces all humanity with love. | |
| Who are the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi?
 The Konya Turkish Sufi Music Society (KTSMS) is a Turkish dance troupe who performs the traditional Sema, a dance inspired by the mystical poetry of Rumi – a well-known 13th Centrury Sufi poet who lived and taught in modern-day Turkey. The society was founded by the Turkish Ministry of Culture in 1990 with the purpose of performing, exploring and introducing Turkish Sufi Music. In order to introduce Sufi culture to the world, KTSMS has organized concerts internationally in the United States, Australia, India, Pakistan, Cyprus, Egypt, Morocco, England, France, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bahrain, Sudan, Oman, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy and Syria. KSTMS will perform in several cities in US during their tour between Aug 11th and Aug 20th, including the Turkish World Festival in Chicago, IL on August 15-16, 2009. Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Tahir Akyurek, generously donated for and organized the travel of Whirling Dervishes to US. Who are the Sufis? Sufis are generally viewed as the mystics of the Islamic faith. Sufi poetry, whose themes express love of creation, tolerance, and peace thorough the love and worship of God, has a broad cross-cultural and inter-religious appeal that has not diminished over the centuries. The dance of the Whirling Dervishes, which is also called Semazen, expresses the Sufi poetry’s thematic elements as dance, rather than as verse. Rumi’s work continues to have broad appeal; for the last decade, Rumi’s poetry has been the number one best-selling poet in the United States. The order of the Whirling Dervishes is one branch of the broad Sufi Tradition. Sufism espouses an interpretation of Islam that focuses on love, tolerance, worship of God, community development, and personal development through self-discipline and responsibility. These universal themes are very much relevant to the social and political realities of today. The ritual dance performed by the Whirling Dervishes has come to symbolize these values in the hearts and minds of millions throughout the world.
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