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of great joy, because the truth from the two different spiritual traditions becomes
even more true because of that meeting. The languages used to communicate is
the universal language of the Heart, where one is spiritually mirrored in the other,
the ideal to which the people of this time strives for, at the beginning of the 21
st
century.
The problem with the Other, the one not a part of our nation, religion, state,
race, gender, party, family, class, tribe, in other words the problems of people as a
result of othering of any sort, is a subject of research of xenology, a new academic
discipline from the 1980s. In global politics, always someone is labeled as bad, evil,
ugly, someone to project yoyr hatred and ignorance upon. But as the once General
director of UNESCO, Federico Mayor has said, “The Other is everyone among us”,
the step towards understanding the Other, a step initiated by intelligence (not by
politicians, nationalists or egoists) is a bright spot in the future of mankind. This
alongside ecology and feminism, (as well as spirituality) are the most progressive
movements, which I hope will have a bigger effect of the actions of man.
Today, globally, the Islamic fundamentalists – terrorists, are the Big Evil, The
Other (As the Reds during the Cold War) to whom all hatred, frustration and
ignorance is projected. Of course, the primitivism of some Islamic tribes is a great
evil, without question. And their threat in the form of discrimination of all kinds,
the twisting of religious doctrine, as well as terrorism and a “vengeance” towards
the West is a reality, that can’t be denied. But threats in the form of primitivism and
perversion are everywhere, even in developed societies.
On a local, Balkan level we have typical examples of not understanding the
Other. For example, Macedonia and Greece. Both countries consider the Other
to be the enemy, the one who is to blame for everything. I think that this is
more present in politics abd in the younger generation, which has been raised,
indoctrinated that way (as well as the older generations the were victims of crimes).
At the heart of the problem is the Other (the Macedonian minority) which was
exiled, and had their property taken away. The bridge needs to be built between
the artists and academics of both sides. Then this can be spread to other segments
of both societies for reconciliation can happen. Isn’t it true that countries who have
been great enemies in the Second World War like Germany and Poland, Germany
and France have reconciled since?! Why can’t we? To accept and forgive the evils
of the other side is a wisdom that many that many peoples have realized. This is
the root of the problem and the name is the consequence. To resolve the problem
with the name is to resolve the problem with the Other. But, I have a feeling that
we have the mentality of the Middle East. We resolve problems difficultly, because
we are more emotional than rational (this is why the more national peoples move
forward, while we are stuck in place).
The allusion of the spiritual mirror, the Other as My Mirror is sung by Rumi.
Become a mirror, says Rumi. When the people in charge would be spiritual like
him, and not politicians, people will become mirrors and the inner light would
be reflected upon each other. To be fair, in recent times there is a cosmopolitan
trend in politics. But I believe that that is but a mask. It is a fact that politics
and cosmopolitism don’t go hand in hand. When one rules the other dies and
vice versa (if one politician changes this, I will change my attitude). The battle is
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towards ignorance, stupidity, barbarism and everything that comes from these. It
can be said, that the modern man, has no option, but to advance spiritually and to
overcome his problems by awakening himself.
For me the Sufis, then and now, are people who don’t belong only to the Muslim
religion. They are a powerful army of warriors defending the Truth, with a shield
of Love and a sword of Light (or the opposite). And as it is in the Bhagavad Gita,
two powerful armies gather at the field of Kurukshetra, powerful warriors in lavish
armor armed for battle, that is the picture I have for the Sufis. The battlefield of
Kurukshetra is a metaphorical field in which the battle to transform consciousness
is waged, where God Krishna explains yoga to Arjuna, to defeat ignorance with
knowledge, to win a victory for Truth, that is how the Sufis, have this battlefield
in their Heart and are always victorious. When young people are raised in war,
not educated or ill-educated, understand this literally, and not metaphorically, that
gives rize to fanaticism and fatalism, the source of problems. That is why the cure
can be found in education, good education, in a victory over ignorance, dogmatism
in narrow-mindedness.
THE DERVISHES AS A PART OF THE RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL SIDE OF
LIFE IN SKOPJE. At less than 2 km from the center of Skopje, right next to the
Yahya Pasha Mosque is the rufujasko tekke, founded in the distant 1818 where
the Skopje dervish order, lead by their spiritual leader Sheh Erol, performed his
rituals. It is said that in their sould the hold the tradition of the prophet Abraham
– the grandfather of both Christians and Muslims. The Dervish accept three holy
books – the Old and New testament from the Bible and the Quran as a s spiritual
continuation to the other two. They appear with much controversy in the 7
th
century, and behind the curtain of Islam their teachings hide an eclectic cradle of
the praislamic religions and a universal spirituality. To us, because of our ignorance,
they are more well known as exhibitionists, as people who stab themselves with
knives as well as swallowers of fire. In reality these people are a part of the religious
and cultural charm of the capital city of Macedonia. With the meeting of Sheh Erol
– the spiritual leader of the dervish in this tekke we refreshed that history and we
cleared the dust from our eyes, accumulated by our urban everyday life.
We knocked on the green metal door at the beginning of the tekke with a
query. The last few days we agreed to be present at his ritual and take pictures of
him. I wasn’t able to talk to the sheh during that day. Will the ritual be performed?
It was a relief when I saw a light in his house. He met us in his yard where a few
ducks were roaming around. The ritual will be performed. We took off our shoes
and entered the tekke. The hall lead to one heated room where on the floor sat
a few dervishes. After the initial introduction and after we drank the Turkish tea
we moved into another room where the ritual will be performed. Alongside the
portrait of the protector of the dervishes Imam Alija on the wall, our attention was
drawn by the few ritualistic items – a few daggers, teeth and Arabic tarabukas. The
number of dervishes in the room was continuously rising. Some of the present,
before the start od the dervish ceremony-zakr, started to performjacinamas – the
afternoon prayer, mandatory for all Muslims under Sharia law. Then the prayer
entered and Sheh Erol entered dressed in black cloth with a black turban on his