Let us have Sufi music.

 

The Sufi tradition to approach the reality, God,

Through the heart, through devotion –

It is theistic rather than atheistic.

And they have very beautiful music,

Because it is all heart –

Full of pathos.

It is to put you in a certain attitude,

A state of feeling,

And through that feeling,

To arrive at contemplation in God.

So here it is not emptiness,

Rather the fullness of feeling,

That leads you to the Reality.

The music will create feelings in you –

And the attitude.

You begin with the attitude of prayer.

 

Sufis are constantly remembering.

They use the word ‘zikr’,

It means to remember.

Constantly remembering God from the heart.

They do not use the word Reality.

They use the word God.

It is a personal relationship they create with the Reality.

You are welcome to come and dance,

You have to reach the heart.

You can reach through the music,

Through the rhythm of your movements,

Offering yourself unto God.

 

So before we begin,

We will have five minutes of centering ourselves.

So that we are ready to offer,

The whole of ourselves to the Reality, God.

It is like when you prepare yourself for your date –

A date with the Beloved.

You prepare yourself so well then,

So too we prepare ourselves now,

Through centering ourselves,

Outwardly and inwardly.

In that way we offer appreciation

To the Reality, to God.

 

So take deep breaths.

Bring your attention to the breath.

You have to reach into your hearts.

You have to prepare yourselves,

So that you are centered,

Gather all your energies.

You gather yourself –

This is what we do with our breathing exercises,

All our exercises,

All our techniques,

All our kriyas.

Even in your sitting,

You are gathering yourself,

Becoming whole and complete.

We will continue to speak this again and again,

So we are reminded again and again,

So that we remember again and again.

 

A seeker is constantly seeking and remembering.

Then that moment comes,

When finding starts to happen,

And then the journey is one of joy and ease and swift.

Until such time it is all investment,

In terms of your energies,

In terms of your time,

In terms of your life.

And a seeker gladly invests,

For the returns are phenomenal.

 

And yet for the Sufi to love God is unconditional.

He seeks no return.

For him love is enough,

The love of the Beloved,

The love to love the Beloved is enough.

To have the opportunity to love,

Is enough for the Sufi.

He seeks no other return.

He knows only giving,

Giving of his life in love.

This is how the Sufi approaches the Reality.

It is the love of Radha for Krishna.

And there is no two,

There is only one.

A Sufi in his dance,

In his music,

Is totally merged in the other,

His Beloved.

He dissolves his self,

In the Self of the Beloved,

In God,

Through his music,

Through his movements,

Through his dance,

Through his love.

 

So bring yourself to your breath,

So that you may centre yourself,

So that you may prepare yourself for the Beloved,

And prepare yourself well.

It is in your attitude,

It is in your commitment,

It is in your faith,

To what degree you prepare yourself.

 

Strong breaths to centre yourself.

For five minutes we do this.

You can work with your breath,

While I continue to talk and instruct.

You can carry on with what you have to do.

Then we will have the music.

Remember to keep a certain attitude and feeling,

Even with breathing.

You are preparing to feel for God,

Because as a Sufi,

One is constantly remembering God.

So five minutes for you to prepare yourself,

Before we begin the music.

Then you are welcome to get up and dance.

But with the objective of reaching into your heart,

To become one with the Beloved,

With God Who dwells in your heart,

And abides in all and everywhere.

 

 

Remember through your breathing,

While preparing yourself.

You are remembering the Beloved,

Remembering God.

At the end of five minutes,

We will bow in prayer,

Before the music commences.

 

The attitude is important.

It is all part of the preparation.

An attitude of prayer,

An attitude of surrender.

It is an attitude of faith,

That you will reach through your love the Beloved.

It is to awaken this love in your heart,

That we shall play the music.

It is to awaken this one-centeredness in yourself,

And to evoke the feeling towards God,

That we shall play the music.

 

(Breathing)

 

You are centered.

We will begin the music.

But before we do so,

You are in prayer with your head bowed to Reality, to God.

It is the Sufi way,

For it requires you in surrender.

And when you bow,

You bow completely,

Body, mind and soul.

 

(Music begins)

 

Usually the music of the Sufis is full of pathos.

It touches the heart.

There is even melancholy,

The emotions of the heart.

They turn the emotions Godward.

Through the emotions,

They reach out to God.

They dance to music,

Or remain deep in contemplation.

 

Through the music, turn to God.

 

For the Sufi there is no one and nothing,

Between him and God,

And the music and his love are the link.

Then within the compass of God,

Come all things and all people,

And all relationships.

You are all alone in yourself,

Reaching out.

There is no other,

Except the Beloved.

Be complete in that,

Be total in that.

The music will touch your heart –

The pathos and the music.

There is melancholy,

Use those feelings and reach into your heart.

Remembering God.

 

If the music touches your heart,

It will make you weep,

It will bring tears to your eyes.

That is the offering you make to God, to Reality.

You have made contact.

You have become complete and total,

In your turning to and remembering God.

It will melt your heart.

It will soften you up.

This is surrendering.

This is the Sufi way.

This is the way of the devotee.

This is the way of love.

Using those feelings and emotions,

You remain turned to God.

It softens your being.

It is the merging.

 

Feel your hearts.

And through the silence,

Remember,

Reach to God in your being.

The Sufi even in silence,

Is always remembering,

Is always in ‘zikr’.

 

We will continue to alternate between silence and music.

At times through the music you remember,

And at times through the silence,

You reach and remember.

 

So we will again have the music and again the silence.

Through the music,

You evoke those feelings and connect.

And in the silence,

You continue to remember through those feelings and remain.

 

(Music begins)

 

The words are ‘Tere bin kaise lage jiya’,

How can I be at peace without you?

How can I live without you?

 

Allah-o-Akbar.

God is Great.

 

 

Arya Vihar 

1 February 2000