Edinburgh Mevlevi Tekke

Da'ud Dede would like us to share on this blog his memories and letter from Father Francis, a Catholic priest he met in 1974. This post was originally shared on the Rumi's Circle blog, which has many interesting articles from the community of Kabir Helminski: https://rumiscircle.com/2014/06/22/a-letter-from-father-francis/ Notes on the Letter In the Spring of 1978 my journeys brought me once again from London to Claymont Court in rural West Virginia, USA, a 90-minute drive from Washington DC. Claymont, a school of  inner work  based upon the teachings of GI Gurdjieff and JG Bennett, was where, exactly two years earlier in 1976, I had accompanied my beloved sheikh and  murshid  of the Mevlevi Sufi order, Suleyman Hayati Dede from Konya, Turkey, following an invitation for him to visit Claymont during his European and North American travels introducing the teachings of the Master Jelalud’din Rumi. Suleyman Hayati Dede, New York City, May 1976 In 1972, through a series of improbab

  Fasting   Rumi, Ghazal 1739, translated by Bahreinian & Helminski     There’s sweetness hidden in this empty belly. The human is like a musical instrument, no more no less.   If the belly of a lute were stuffed with food would any melodies, either high or low, be possible?   But when your belly and brain are burning in Ramadan, with every breath a song arises in your chest.   A thousand veils are burned away with every breath and you race up the stairs in front of you, level upon level, effortlessly.   Empty your stomach and in your need cry out like the ney. Empty your stomach and secrets will flow from your pen.   If you’re constantly filling up your stomach, come the Resurrection an idol occupies your Kaaba, a shaytan in place of a mind.   But from fasting, good qualities rush to support you, helpers of all kinds, nourishers, dependable friends.   Fasting is the magical seal of Solomon. Don’t give that seal to a demon, don’t destroy your homeland.   But if you seem to have los

  This Friday just passed, 19th January, was the annual commemoration of Süleyman Dede, who passed from this world in 1985. Here are his own strikingly fresh words on Divine Rememberance, the sufi practice of zikr: “In order to become human, we need to always be within the Divine Presence – to be aware of God, to hold Him in our hearts. When a human being performs Zikhr, their spirit – their heart starts to open. Their intelligence becomes more refined and more expansive. Their bodies become healthier. A beautiful condition comes about – similar to the one that is brought about by good music. The whole being opens up like a flower, and the Divine Secret – the things you couldn’t understand or know about before – begin to be revealed to you." Süleyman Hayatı Dede, may his Secret abide with God

David Bellak has arranged with the Imam of Annandale St Mosque, Edinburgh, to have Zikr following afternoon Asr prayers about 1440 Friday to pray for all those suffering and lost in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Inşallah there will be a few people coming.

'The moon appears for night travellers - be watchful when the moon is full' - Rumi We come together to awaken, help keep each other awake. Just for a little while even, leaving our ordinary worlds & reference points, creating a brief vision of the extraordinary world of wakefulness. In time that gains magnitude, our ordinary subjective world gradually gives way to seeing the Real. David Bellak

  "The purpose of a story is not to hold your attention, but to put you back doing your work, inner and outer." Shams of Tabriz photo: Suleyman Dede in his house in Konya, early 1970s. By David J Bellak