All the world is awhirl, in dervish meditation
“Everything is whirling.” The first time that Ahmad Dede Pattisahusiwa heard his master the Grandsheikh Sultan Muhammad Nazim al Haqqani an-Naqshbandi say these words, he did not understand them. It would take him years to see the truth hidden in that deceptively simple teaching. “Our soul is whirling in a completely different dimension, but even here every atom is whirling,” he says. He expands on the idea, pointing to the rotation of the earth itself, that of the moon trapped in orbit around it, and the two spinning around the sun. “Even the Milky Way is turning,” he says. To Pattisahusiwa, all the world is awhirl.
Pattisahusiwa who is in Sri Lanka to teach whirling workshops says he has been teaching this mystic art for over two decades now. Presently the leader of the Haqqani-Mevlevi Sufi Order, he is a teacher of the whirling dervish meditation and is a devoted follower of Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Sufi saint, poet, mystic and scholar. Pattisahusiwa belongs to many cultures and has lived in Indonesia and the Netherlands before settling in the UK where he now lives and works. He has conducted his workshops in many parts of Europe and Asia but this is his first visit to Sri Lanka.
At the heart of his whirling practice is the seeking of the divine. Explaining one of the key tenets of Sufism he says: “In the Sufi way we are not speaking, but we try to listen to our hearts.” He believes this is something that all religions have in common, and that buried under our grasping for material wealth and worldly success, everyone has the spark of the divine, the ability to love unconditionally and fully. “You look to our essence, and you will see all love leads to one unity,” he says.
Though he says his religion acknowledges only one God – Allah – he believes that every religion has something in common which is the belief that every human being is beloved to God. When we look in the mirror, we recognize our reflection is an illusion, similarly the physical body itself is a reflection of our spiritual, secret selves. The goal of the practice is to connect once again with the sacred spirit within. “Nobody needs to learn how to whirl,” he says, “you are already whirling.”
For Pattisahusiwa the act of whirling is a request for connection and love with the divine, but even as the whirler receives this love, he gives it away, freely and joyfully. The notion will resonate with those familiar with the Buddhist practice of Metta Bhavana or loving kindness. This love is his religion’s response to all the turmoil in the world. He says such practices, like honey, are both nourishing to the spirit and profoundly healing. He describes the veils that prevent us from seeing clearly, and says that whirling is a door, an active form of meditation, that allows a pure connection with God. He describes what he feels when he is whirling both as being embraced by a divine presence, and as the self simply melting away.
For those who would like to share this experience, Ahamed Dede Pattisahusiwa will be conducting ‘Whirling Workshops’ today, Sunday, April 24 from 7 p.m – 10 p.m.at the Sports Ministry Auditorium, 9, Philip GunawardanaMawatha, Colombo 7 and on April 29 from 7- 10 p.m. at the Women’s International Hall, 16 Guildford Crescent, Colombo 7. Tickets are available at the counter, at www.ticketslk.com, tickets.lk office. For further details, please contact: Imtiaz: 0777578884, Rasheda: 0777351622, Rose: 0769122778, or religionoflov@gmail.com