Let the Beauty We Love Be What We Do

By Valerie Payton - Honolulu Star - Honolulu, HI, U.S.A.
Saturday, October 20, 2007

The Mevlevi Order of America will produce a celebration of the Year of Rumi with the traditional Whirling Ceremony Dec. 7 on Oahu and Dec. 10 on Maui.

Famed Turkish musicians are coming to lend their talents along with whirlers and musicians from Turkey, the United States, Mexico and Palestine.

Jelaluddin Loras, who lives on Maui and in Turkey and is founder of the Mevlevi Order of America, has spent the last quarter-century bringing the teachings of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi to the West.

When asked to distill the modern relevance of Sufism, the Islamic mystical tradition into which Rumi was born, Loras said, "Whatever religion you belong to, whatever color you are, whether man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, you are the most precious diamond of God."

Honolulu Rumi fans quietly celebrated Rumi's birthday Sept. 30 in small gatherings or alone savoring lines like these: "Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

Rumi shows us the "inner secret" of Islam, an experience of Divine Presence that is transcendent, all-pervading and also imminent.

Public celebrations are traditionally held in December, the month of Rumi's death, to celebrate the anniversary of his return to the "Divine Beloved" -- God.

Rumi's poetry has already found a home on our bookshelves, speaking to us in images of love with freshness and immediacy. The Year of Rumi's Whirling Ceremonies in Hawaii, with authentic music and sacred dance, may bring true flavor and aroma to our Western understanding of Rumi.

Valerie Noor Karima Payton is a board member of The All Believers Network, a Honolulu-based interfaith organization. She leads Dances of Universal Peace (also known as Sufi dancing) and with her husband acts as center leader for Honolulu's chapter of the Mevlevi Order of America.

[Picture: Sunset in Hawaii. Photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii].