| Meditating to Mozart |
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| Steven Henson | |||
| Tuesday, 11 April 2006 | |||
 Most of us on the path of personal development will appreciate the importance of meditation. In essence meditation can be defined as concentrated thought 'without an object' - that is the deliberate act of raising the intensity of our consciousness without attaching ourselves to any particular form or thought. So where does meditating to Mozart fit in? The 'Mozart effect' has been well documented. The harmony created by Mozart's music is known to have positive effects on everything from small babies to milking cows. What is less well known is the inspiration behind Mozart's greatest masterpiece, his Requiem, and the profound influence of the great Persian mystic Jalaludin Rumi. Rumi is to the Turkish and Arabic speaking worlds what Shakespeare is to England and very much more. Rumi was established as a man of great spiritual wisdom when his life was transformed upon meeting a previously unknown dervish, Shams-i-Tabriz, who threw away Rumi's entire mystical library and inducted him into the religion of Love. Love, in mystical terms is the response to, or you can equally say movement of, Beauty. Love of Beauty is the cause of creation and to appreciate and love Beauty, in and beyond form, is to align oneself with the cause of creation and become free. Thus is the religion of Love that Rumi was about to enter, and such is the religion of Love that Rumi was to teach so eloquently for the rest of his life. Under the guidance and influence of Shams, Rumi drowned himself in contemplation of the Ocean of Divine Beauty, the world of Completeness and Oneness, and re-emerged into this (our) world, 40 days after the death of Shams-i-Tabrizi, as a transformed man. He put on new clothes and started to dance by turning in a manner symbolic of his re-union with the Source - celebrating the joy and dignity of being human in the most profound sense. Rumi also began writing majestic works of mystical love poetry; such as his monumental Mathnawi which contains more than 25,000 rhyming couplets, and many others, all intended to invite us to re-discover our essential identity and join in the passionate dance of Being that Rumi found alive deep within the human soul. In time Rumi's spontaneous dance was formalised into a celebration, performed by his students on the anniversary of his death, on what Rumi himself called his 'nuptial' night. It is known today as the Turning ceremony of the Mevlevi (or Whirling) dervishes, though in Turkish its proper name is the 'Sema' - a word derived from Arabic which means 'hearing, listening' or 'being receptive to'. Accompanying this ceremony is the music of the reed pipe. A soulful instrument which, in Rumi's poetry, symbolises the alive heart which yearns to return to the Universe of Completeness, its home, and the most extraordinary vocals which, together, transport listeners from mundane everyday feelings to the essence of Rumi's passion. Rumi's extraordinary mystical poetry, and his inspired vision so aptly set out in the Turning ceremony, made a deep impression on western thought. He is known to have influenced Dante, widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in Christendom, Chaucer, and many other serious thinkers of his age. In turn Dante had a very significant influence on Titian, the leading painter of the Venetian school in the 16th century - and Titian's paintings deeply impressed Mozart - which brings us to Mozart's great masterpiece. The story goes that Mozart was at the very height of his creative genius when an unknown man arrived at his house to commission a Requiem. Mozart is alleged to have realised it was his own Requiem that he was about to write in precognition of his death. Unfortunately Mozart did die before this work could be completed but he left sufficient notes and had ample discussion with his pupils that, with great creative courage, it was finally completed and bought into being. The completed work is a masterful piece full of deep sentiment, a celebration of the Mercy of God and the wonderment of human life. But Mozart's genius does not simply end here. With his keen eye for meaning and sensitive ear for harmony Mozart, deeply inspired by the same source that Dante and Titian drew from, set about creating a western counterpart to Rumi's Turning, characterised by Mozart's own joyous expressiveness and sensitive tonal qualities. It is Mozart's finest work and a fitting tribute to Rumi's mystical genius. To meditate to Mozart's Requiem is therefore to invoke the same spirit that inspired Rumi. It is to celebrate the joy of being and align oneself with the cause of creation. Everyone is capable of benefiting from this type of meditation which, with sincere application and self-discipline, awakens that same sense of wonder and heartfelt response to Beauty that both Mozart and Rumi so generously expressed in this world.
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