posted July 07, 2016 08:00 AM            

Thanks, v2t!

If I'm the mom (and by the way I get grouchy like a mom sometimes, LOL) ....then mirage must be the angel?

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Originally posted by Randall:
Yes, you are always the first to unselfishly give of yourself to lift someone up and spread positivity--even when you are feeling down yourself. You are a Light and shining example who represents her religion by showing.

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True

v2t,

The best compliment I can think to give you is to say, you are YOURSELF. Totally unique and brave about it. If only the world could be filled with people who knew how to do that!! And were as interesting as you!!

*Hugs* all around

posted July 07, 2016 01:46 PM              

You couldn't have paid me a better compliment Faith, but you know that!

gem mars-gem mars baby (..even tho this isn't really a mars moment)

posted July 08, 2016 04:59 PM            

Hope everyone is well.

v2t,

My favorite from your set is the last one, from Africa...their voices are gentler and easier for me to relate to. Some of the other music sounds...hard? Impenetrable? I'm such a novice there is almost no point in commenting, but I'm wondering if you know what I mean, and what that represents to you.

edit - I guess I'm curious about the background, purpose and all that.

posted July 08, 2016 05:03 PM            

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnuwyeO7FeM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MztK1bXbhIA

That's kinda like chanting? slightly

Oh and THIS is chanting...same soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O86lYE_brQQ

posted July 09, 2016 12:46 AM              

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Originally posted by mirage29:
Venus2tinkerbell

I had the chance to FULLY watch each video.. thank you sooo much. I really enjoyed them.

The first video... (Halvet-i- Ussaki) I wish I understood the lyrics! *Heart*

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In each of the videos they are repeating the same phrase La illaha illa 'llah, and then someone else is reciting Qur'an, or an ilahi which is traditional praises and blessings on the prophet and his family.

La illaha illa 'llah- which literally means there is no god but God. But here is a much better explanation (an example of what gets lost in translation):

"La ilaha illa 'llah" is the essence of the matter, a simple but profound summary of the "Knowledge of God". It is the essence (and practice) of the annihilation of falsehood. It is both a statement of Divine Truth, and a lesson on how to know it. It means that there IS ONLY Allah, and demonstrates that the quickest way to "know" the Unity is to deny all else.

"La" means no, nothing, negating of what follows, indicating the negation of and implying the illusory nature of the seeming existence of whatever it is referring to, (which, paradoxically, must first "exist" (in the mind) in order to be negated, denied, refused, diminished to zero relative significance).

"Ilaha" is an intensely interesting word, worthy of deep consideration. It means god (little 'g' intended), deity, worthy of worship, deification, edification, respect, subordination, following, service, attendance, consideration. In a word, just about anything that comes from our (individual) minds (mindset, way of thinking), and anything we might care about (our cares), or believe "exists".

"La ilaha" can therefore mean "nothing exists", i. e. nothing is worthy of consideration except that which stands by itself and is not in need of consideration. And how do we isolate that Being? By eliminating from our consciousness (mind) all that can be eliminated, even and including all mental concepts (of God), until there is only pure existence itself, pulsing through our bodies and flowing through our veins.

The indication is that the "Knowing" of God is based on the negation of all else. In practice, that negation is based on an exclusive affirmation of The Only Possible Permanent Reality, God Alone. Once the "Knowing" is known, it stands alone and sufficient. There is no more negation necessary or even possible, and everything becomes an affirmation of the Truth in Reality.

In Sufism, the word "annihilation" refers to the mind (giving no credence to). There is no denial of the outward existence, only the negation of any reality other than the Only True Reality (That which is left when all else is gone). Look how even the basest tyrants act according to this law, seeking to physically destroy their enemies and succeeding only at self-ruin. Nevertheless the principle is the same - arriving at the truth by a process of elimination.

"Illa" means only, but, if not, except.

"'llah" means Allah, Al-lah! (Arabic) The One. The Conscious Oneness. The Unity. The Divine, The Beyond-Comprehension. The Self-Aware, Who Comprehends All. Existing, Knowing, Seeing, Hearing, Speaking, Willing, The Source of Power. Perfection in and of Itself. Greater than which there is none. Who remains when all else is gone.

This Existence must be both intellectually grasped and physically realized. The Divine "Does" Itself. The full embodiment of the Reality of this Truth is the object in "Quest". Knowing it in our minds may be easy but convincing our bodies takes practice, including verbal affirmations and physical negations. This practice transforms this knowing from a concept to a reality.

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It is quite aesthetically beautiful... musically, and visually magnificent. They were so generous to tape their service and share this with others.

At one point I was aware of how they seemed to be arranged like a giant Heart, pulsing like One Heartbeat (before marker 7:00). At marker 7, a person on our left began singing 'solo'... Did he depart from regular script of prayers and begin (what we would call in Pentecostal circles) 'singing in the spirit' (spontaneous-inspired praying of prayers that the holy spirit would feed through the channeling-person)? Or was that planned?

So Beautiful, so delicious......

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I love when people use the word delicious that way

In America we Muslims know about the Holy Ghost- Amen?

Many Muslims are converts whose roots are in the southern churches, and I have seen the Spirit in our dhikr circles. Now the Shaikh is from Stolac, Bosna (Bosnia). He comes from a long line of shaikhs and sufis- practicing for centuries. Unlike our circles where people are mostly healing and coming to peace, the longer standing more disciplined hulkas (gatherings) are for making carpets fly. Their breathing practices and movements allow them to sit longer in the presence of the Spirit, and allow it to carry them higher and higher.

I think this video is more representative of the shaikhs traditional dhikr circles. I don't think the man who breaks from the group is channeling the Holy Spirit in the way we are accustomed to seeing. He is leading the ilahi (the praises being sung alongside the chanting), and he does kind of freestyle there for a minute. I've seen it before. I would describe what he is doing as crying out in love.

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At the end of that video, the 5 men in the center resembled (to me) a starfish... Very mystical, indeed.

I have a love for the Jewish people, and they too form circles within circles and dance and worship.

I noticed the movements... geared toward creating Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs). Drumming was AWESOME (I used to attend (native American style) drumming circles, and omg, that 'lift' which comes through those drums is incredibly amazing--- who needs artificial ASCs through chemicals???? when you can drum your way there, naturally).

I noticed the 'rocking' back and forth, constantly... This reminds me of the Healing that comes through a form of Traeger body work. They rock the body. Now, maybe that's a stretch for some (oh! pun), but if we are all the individual cells, learning to let go under God's Beautiful Direction, then 'maybeeeee' it makes Mystical sense, perhaps?

Certainly, Holotropic Breathing is occurring, which is also another Breath and Healing modality.

(humor) Religion can be good for your health, in MORE than just the 'faith' aspect of it. (In Pentecostal worship services, some of these look like they do Aerobic exercise with all the dancing and jumping around... haha)

Certainly, even mystically again, all those movements are very much like energy batteries, summoning vortexes, then dispersing.

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So many great points. Yes, I do believe that physical movements and breath impact your spiritual health. It all starts with breath, which is actually Divine breath since we believe God blew his own breath into Adam, giving him life.

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V2K... If you are the young woman in the jeans??, then I'm the one next to her (and YOU)!

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Awesome! She's amazing and so are you! We have a couple women like her in our community- the backbone of the community.

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... I enjoyed that sooo much. The women were singing in musical organum (harmononics of Perfect 4ths and 5ths; parallel Fifths). In ancient and medieval music, certain chord sounds were known to create vibratory overtones... and some of these were considered entirely Holy. Architectures were built around these to enhance those soundings.

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Thank you for sharing that. I didn't know. But there are times when all I want to is that dhikr and I don't know why..now I do

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Certainly too, there are LAYERS of Consciousness that certain practices access. It can be surprising 'where' you find such things....

Years ago, I had gone to a free lecture on the History of Disney and Disneyworld/Land. This is pretty obscure, but, the creative-staff would gather to play a certain game with each other that was designed to help the group learn to think and move together like one (as in the automatic movements of schools of fish--- and I saw this too, in each of the videos... it applies)?

The game was eastern. Name began with letter X or a J... (my notes are ~somewhere). It utilized thumbing a rhythm and use of sticks (if I'm remembering correctly). It allows (using my words) one to be looking THROUGH the mind's eye at the same time as regular seeing the sticks.

There's a LAYER that is sooooo PLAIN and vast, that can be tapped or the group-consciousness can somehow be inserted-into-- where you can pick up on what Spirit is saying next, AND allows people to DO 'that direction'. I have had some really ~surreal experiences in Intercessory Prayers at various church services throughout my life. It is INCREDIBLE what 'a group' can tap-into, and CLEARLY CLEARLY see.

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I felt soooo comfortable with your first and the last videos. I could see myself inserted energetically in both....

There are MANY Facets to the One God, Many Expressions energetically. I know that when I view some kinds of chants, I feel terrified and afraid. With others I feel a sense of journey and Oneness, true comradery.

I tried to analyze what that difference could be, or mean. ... I like to think and wonder about past-lives sometimes.... Maybe I have some associations that weren't positive in nature.

OR, I can sense the various Personalities of GOD, and His Character, in various modalities.

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Yes, Faith mentioned noticing the difference between the first/last and the others. Ill talk more about it in response to her

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As a child, I grew up within the RCatholic church.... And I was quite the Mystic, even as a small child.

There was something that happened to me, that is very telling, though....

STORY..... ~6 or 7 years old
I lived in a colder climate area of the USA. It was Autumn weather.... I was swinging-and-singing my Heart out, (which was my custom-- Whenever the motion of the swing back-and-forth, and the feeling the wind was sensed around my little head and hands, I would feel soooo exhilarated, and break out in songs).

This particular moment, involved a line of Beautiful Pine Trees, with the Sun setting and the tops of these trees with all the deep brilliant colors and the edgy-line of demarcations between the trees and the sky were especially-Inspiring to me. I swung and sung my heart out from all the Beauty that was there. I was having soul-experience with God.

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and I was there with you

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I was wearing a skirt. My flesh in the coldness got very slippery, and on one of my extreme swings, my fanny slipped off the metal seat-swing, and I fell off. In the meantime, the swing went retro (haha), and came and hit me behind my neck and lower head.

My mother had seen the whole thing through her kitchen window, and she ran outside, wagging her finger at me saying "See that?? You must have done something wrong, and GOD is punishing you!!!" (She didn't come to pick me up, find out if I was okay. She was telling ME, that God was punishing someone who was just feeling Love for Him.)

I remember putting my little hands in fists, and standing with fists on my hips, telling HER, that "Well! if THAT'S the way YOUR God is, then I don't want ANY parts of him!!"

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good for you and your precious little heart!
That's why I just adore children. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...

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Omg, I can laugh at that now! And my mother confided to me (as an adult) that she knew she was going to have to take another tact with me when it came to God. She didn't want to turn me off to God... But I remembered that smack to the back of my head ~more!, I guess. LOL.

Later on in life, I was in Bible School, studying the Names of God. There's an aspect of God named for the type of God my Mom tried to attach me to... I had a mystical experience in prayer for around 5 hours straight (which seemed only 10 minutes long). I made my submission to this aspect of God. ALL aspects of God are HOLY. We might not feel comfortable with all the facets, but these must be honored too.

When you've Given your Life to Him, you submit to the WHOLE of Him. .... And He Corrects His Children. (And I am His ~Humble Servant... I can do nothing apart from Him.)

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Ameen ya rabbil alameen (Amen!)

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I'm glad that happened, because the Imprint is there for me to examine.... I SEE and Experience 'How Beautiful God is', and how His Presence is imbued in Everything. In the Air around the Molecules and IN the Molecules... haha. It's ALL God. And God is ALL!....

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Yes! The molecules! Science is scripture.

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God, He is sooo Beautiful...

(music) O God Beautiful (Yogananda chant, 78 RPM old recording of him singing) [2:40] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEeOTb2IeDs

(music) My Eyes Were Made To See Thy Beauty Everywhere (Yogananda's words in song) [3:18] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZhhmOwK7Tk

.... *StarHeart* ........... *Rainbow*

(music) Breathe (Micheal W. Smith, lyrics) [6:32] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-0EgzOWkvc

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posted July 10, 2016 06:20 PM            

Oh!!! ~just TELL me about that autocorrect! Laughing... It autocorrects things AFTER they got posted too!!! Like, when you go back to edit something, it can CHANGE a word without you realizing it.

I give you MUCH Understanding with that, and hope that you have detected word-changes in mine that weren't intended. ~freaky slipchoices, as you had indicated before. It's not OUR slip, though.... Don't 'own' it.

posted July 10, 2016 10:58 PM              

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Originally posted by Randall:
I had to turn mine off.

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posted July 11, 2016 12:10 AM              

that's the description below this video, Traditions Sufi Women -dhikr

posted July 11, 2016 12:55 AM              

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Originally posted by Faith:

Hope everyone is well.

v2t,

My favorite from your set is the last one, from Africa...their voices are gentler and easier for me to relate to. Some of the other music sounds...hard? Impenetrable? I'm such a novice there is almost no point in commenting, but I'm wondering if you know what I mean, and what that represents to you.

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I always appreciate your observations, and the way you are able to put words to my thoughts without trying or even knowing. Don't hesitate to contribute..

Rumi said,“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.”

Faith, if the second video is of Chechens then we are looking at people who have been at war for many years. I don't know if they are fighters and preparing to do battle against the Russians (I suppose), or if this is just a typical dhikr circle. The energy, however does not surprise me. If the hearts of the peaceful are yearning, the hearts of the violent, victims of violence, and oppressed are screaming. Maybe the physical movements of the body need to match the frenzy in the heart, and this is the knowledge their shaikhs are working with..

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edit - I guess I'm curious about the background, purpose and all that.

As I listened a while it did have a slightly mind-altering affect, pretty quickly. Maybe just because the transiting moon is hitting my luminaries, and I'm impressionable at this time.

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posted July 11, 2016 02:47 AM            

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Originally posted by venus2tinkerbell:

our names are separating us

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^ Sheikh Hassan Dyck.... A Beautiful Man, and funny!

posted January 17, 2017 09:02 AM            

Say your chants