After receiving a response on a comment on an advertised post recently I decided to answer it - and this large article came out.
(That's not like you at all Monty... haha)
Anyways,
I decided to post it here as an article for all to ready. Enjoy.
Their comment:
Sufi music originated in Lands like Turkey with Islamic backgrounds ? Musicians like AR Rehman n others have based many of their songs on Sufi music founded in Sufism if I am right.
In response to this mention in Ram's bio:
🎼 Ram is an Indian Sufi and classical musician hailing from Karnal in North India near New Delhi. Having taught and played music for over 20 years his love for music as a pathway to unity with God is evident in his practice. Ram has had many teachers over the years - one notable of which was the late Ustad Sabri Khan 🎻 who took Ram under his wing for over a decade. Ram has performed all over India and taught vocal workshops internationally including in Moscow and regional Russia. Major influences include devotional poetry of enlightened mystics such as Saint Kabir Das and Saint Raidas. He has a deep passion in singing a range of transcendental poetry, Sufi songs, mantras and devotional songs. It is Ram's strong belief that music can be one of the many paths to the ultimate spiritual goal - transcendence 💫 🧘♂️ Sufi orders in India, like in Turkiye, take God as their beloved in place of a lover in human form and they express this love with music, dance and poetry.
The comment denoted that Sufism was Islamic in origin and wasn't entirely sure of our use of the word in conjunction with Indian Classical Music and Indian Sufism. Here is my response:
Sufism does certainly draw roots from Islamic culture, dating back to Zoroastrianism but it also is heavily embedded within Sikh culture. The core of it remains the same - a dedication to a craft in the name of the divine as a vehicle for oneness with the divine (as one with the divine, as opposed to a separation from the divine - a difference in dogma which was in part responsible for Dervish and Sufi persecution by conventional religion including Islam during the middle ages). There is a large crossover in culture throughout Sufism. It has many sects specializing in different artforms from the span of India to the old ottoman empire - present day Turkiye holds the larger part of this ancient empire. Sufism's influence and spread also spanned to parts of Africa.
Long story short, Sufism is much broader than many think and is not solely related to Islamic culture and Islamic mysticism as its interpretation and usage as a vehicle for oneness with the divine attracted many interpretations. Supply lines, shipping and trade-routes most certainly were partially responsible for this ambiguity - that and the traveling pariah status of the Dervish - those interesting teachers throughout the ages who stood against conventional society remaining steadfast in truth.
I hope that provides a good explanation of the concept of Sufism (which is difficult to define) and also the way in which we relate to it here.
Often individuals will look at one Sufi sect or look at the Whirling Dervish dance for example and define that as Sufism without considering the ideology of Sufism spans cultures, nations and peoples.
Wikipedia is limited in its scope and understanding on this subject to solely an Islamic perspective.
Sufism - from my perspective, is a state of being - as opposed to a definable belief system within history. It has historical references yes, but also - it is growing and expanding as a non-dogmatic concept and ideology incorporating the divine oneness within everything.
There are aspects of this within all religion. One purer form of this can be found within Taoism and the reference to the Tao. Also, Brahamin as the cream in the milk is relatable here from the Upanishads. We could find references in almost all religions to the all accessible divine force within and as everything.
Accessing the divine portion of the mind which pertains to higher thought is a pathway possible through the study of ancient traditional wisdom including divine holy music forms like Raga and Makam (these musics also have crossovers, a discussion for another time).
One sect in Sufism that I read about when I was in Turkiye for a 114 day Sema of non-stop whirling and music - hailed music in itself as a divine form with need of no outside doctrine. That in the study and embodiment of the principles inherent within the forms of music and sound within music - is found the divine principles and the divine is accessible through this - alone.
Of course, if I spoke these words a few hundred years ago - I would be beheaded. So much of culture was dependent on control of the population by keeping the divine separate from the individual - isolating the individual self from the eternal and ever-flowing power source of divine nature around and within everything - accessible by all in any moment.
Excuse the long reply and the bunch of edits - it is a subject close to my heart.
Wishing you the best in your onward journey in the process of self-realisation.
Regards,
Monty