“Come, come, whoever you are, come again!”
On the evening of September 6th, the famous words of Rumi came alive at the Pacifica Institute Hall in Sunnyvale. The invitation had been closed a week before and the room was overflowing with attendees. Having read the article about this event in the San Francisco Examiner*, fans of Kabir Helminski were among the crowd. The theme of the night was “Traveling the Way of Mevlana in America”.
Kabir Helminski has been a follower of Sufism for nearly 30 years since his first trip to Turkey in 1980. He did not speak a word of Turkish, then, neither did his host family speak any English. Yet, despite the language barrier, they came to understand one another. As in the words of Mr. Helminski, “The heart needs no translation”.
Furthering his studies in Sufism, in 1980 Mr. Helminski became a student of late Shaikh Suleyman Hayati Dede, and was trained in the Mevlevi order. Ten years later, Kabir Helminski was appointed Shaikh of the Mevlevi Sufis by Dr. Celalettin Celebi, the head of the Mevlevi order at the time. Since then, Shaikh Helminski has translated a variety of important volumes of Sufi literature to English, including the works of Rumi.
During his stay in Turkey, Helminski came to experience an atmosphere of tangible love and he felt like he was being tuned. This love was real. He kept reminding himself that it might be possible to bring this new concept and experience of love back to US. He decided to dedicate his life to achieve that purpose and gradually assimilated some of the knowledge of love that is found in Rumi’s teachings. Rumi always appreciates the beauty of any form of love. He sees any form of love as a stepping stone to a higher love.
While conversing with a shaikh, Mr. Helminski asked the shaykh how he decided whether someone had what it takes to make the journey of Sufism. The answer was remarkable, the Shaikh replied .I ask them what they love and if they love something, anything with devotion, they have what it takes, because that love can be transformed into a higher love for Truth.**
During his speech, Mr. Helminski informed the audience about dervish training. A dervish must complete 1001 consecutive days of training to master adab(manners) and patience. A typical day consists of daily prayers, short periods of meditation, Quran recitation, and learning a useful trade to sustain the dervish’s life. Dervishes who have special talents in arts would be trained in painting, music, etc. A dervish in training could leave the tekke (dervish complex) during the day to take care of daily errands. However, he must return before the nightly prayer. If he failed to return on time, the dervish would restart his training from day 1 again. Even if it was the 1001st night, he would have to go back and restart his training.
Even though no one word is enough to capture the meaning of “adab”, it can be translated as “manners, etiquette and thoughtfulness”. It is what stands out the most in Sufi teachings. It leads to good character in the individuals, unity and coherence in the society. Adab should be reflected in every aspect of a dervish’s life which includes dressing, eating, speaking, welcoming guests, etc. It is exercised in the form of sensitivity, courtesy, humility, respect-even for inanimate objects, and voluntary act for others. For example, it is usual to see a dervish voluntarily cleaning the soles of the shoes at the entrance of tekke (dervish complex), and aligning them for everybody. The language used by dervishes also transforms in the process to reflect adab: A dervish never “puts out” a candle but rather he “puts it into rest”. Nor would he “close a door” but would “cover it”. Also, a dervish who masters adab has difficulty using the word “I” since it is deemed to be ego centric. Instead he prefers other phrases that express humility to refer to himself, like “this poor person”. This is what a dervish would try to master during his days of training.
Mr. Helminski ended the evening by reciting poems of Rumi. He also sang a hymn from Yunus Emre (a prominent dervish and poet) playing the traditional Turkish string instrument “saz”, accompanied by his wife, Camille Helminski, who played the traditional drum.
After a short Q&A session, a gift was presented to Mr. Helminski by Pacifica Institute as a symbol of appreciation. The calligraphy on the gift meant “Light upon Light” in Arabic. Later, participants had a chance to talk with him personally around the stage during the book signing process.
Shaikh Kabir Helminski “travels in the way of Rumi” now in Santa Cruz, California, where he resides and trains the next generation of Sufis.