Rumi (1207–1273) was a poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance as a path for reaching God. For him, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form called Sama, Sama represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to the Perfect One. In this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth and arrives at the Perfect. The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey, with greater maturity, to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination with regard to beliefs, races, classes and nations. Rumi describes the universal message of love:

The lover’s cause is separate from all other causes
Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries

More than 800 years after his birth, he has been called the most popular poet in America today.

Turkish refreshments and conversation follow the event.

$15 at the door, $10 in advance. Reserve by email to rsvp@tccwestchester.org.