Why The Sufis Whirl ~ By Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Let the body-mind dance the rhythm of the Heart! Spiritual awakening need not arise only through the depth of misery, years of meditation, inquiry or scriptural study. All valuable of course, but why must it always be such a serious affair? After all, who is the enforcer?

Free of attachment, why not allow the body's passion for movement such as whirling, ecstatic dancing or ecstatic anything? As presence, you will notice a subtle shift of attention to inner quiescence that is whole, complete and still, even as the body moves.

In this, divided thinking dissolves into the unity of the body-mind. While the body responds to the music and the pull of forces, conscious breathing naturally and effortlessly draws attention to the "inner" body. Suddenly, we become aware of the core stillness that is both the silence of the universe and the open window to the divine.

In 1986, I was an operator of aerobics studios in the Northwest. My life seemed as “normal” as any other human being. While I was teaching the class, thinking was not an option, when in concentration on breath and rhythm. Often in class, everything would slip into slow motion and an uncommon serenity and ecstasy would come to the forefront. Just beyond that thin veil-like trance, the divine is courting "you" from within.

One extraordinary day during aerobics, I became aware of a sacred synergy that was far greater than the dancing community that I loved so dearly. It seemed like I was sensing some ethereal, new dimension. I became intensely alert and without cause, I was radically whisked from time and space altogether.

I disappeared so deeply within the body that earthly experience vanished into the divine mystery. When I became conscious, the body was somehow far above and still enthralled in the joy of dancing. I was no longer sourced in the body and the idea of “Katie” had shattered. I realized that I am the pure awareness that is purely being-consciousness-bliss. Neither thought, nor emotion, nor body is the Essence that I am and yet they are absolutely inseparable.

It took twelve years to fully integrate as the Totality. Pure being burned every trace of illusion as it arose. In fact, the aerobics studio literally burned down in the great fire of Truth! Today, I am neither in this world, nor not of it.

While the divided mind could wonder how this could possibly be appealing, we realize the undeniable truth that we are divine. The natural world is perceived within the intelligence of the Awake Heart. This extraordinary beauty is permeating all that you see and all that you cannot see. Whether with form or without, there is only the Essence that I am. We appreciate an overwhelming fulfillment, while perfect peace and wise love prevail.

However, there can be no pathway to what you already are. One could say that the time-space activity, or no activity, within the dream-mirror is almost inconsequential. Who are you prior to all experience?

Be present with what is consistently everywhere that you are and the miracle emerges on its own accord.

The Sufis who whirl, like planets around the sun, turn dance into a form of mystical prayer or movement meditation to realize the blissful stillness that they genuinely are. In this, what can Hafiz do but Forever Dance?

Katie Davis Website, Author, Awake Joy www.katiedavis.org