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| AHYMSIN Newsletter, Issue - June 2013 | |||||
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Davood Azad Speaks through Music at SRSG“The Universal Language of Love and Unity for all Mankind”  Davood Azad, a prominent master of Iranian classical music and Azeri folk music, recently performed at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama. “No Trance, No Dance” by Swami Veda Bharati and the following “That Beautiful Night” by Joanne Sullivan (Divya) tell us of this enthralling performance and the richness of the culture from which it arose. No Trance, No Danceby Swami Veda BharatiOn 14th June this month (2013), Davod Azad, a white-bearded wise Sufi singer from Iran visited my Ashram in Rishikesh. As I have been on a five year vow of silence, I could not give a welcome speech. If I were speaking, I would have made the following presentation as an introduction. Traveling in 1969, in Tehran, (at that time my pre-sanyasa name was Usharbudh Arya) I used a guided tour bus. The name of the company brightly written on the bus front was ARYA EXPRESS. Then on, whenever I did slide shows of my travels, I started with the picture of that bus! I went to a travel agent to book my next flight. There were no seats available. He took my name and the hotel phone number. Looked at my name and exclaimed: ARYA? Oh, there is a seat available. One of the titles of the kings of Iran (even Muslim like the Shah) has been ARYA-MIHIR, sun of the Aryas. The official airline of the neighbouring Afghanistan is Afghan Ariana (that is, Aryana) Airlines. All this goes back to the legendary land of Arya-Vez as taught in the Zoroastrian tradition, sister to the Vedic tradition where it is Aryavartta.   According to the Bible, it was King Cyrus of Iran who freed the Jews from the captivity in Babylonia. He also helped finance the re-building of the Temple of the Jews. One of the earliest examples of union of faiths. Iran is the land of Zarathushtra (not the word as used by Nietzsche). Then came Alexander of Macedonia who destroyed everything Zoroastrian, turned monuments, sacred fire temples and palaces to ruins. It took several centuries for the followers of Avesta (the Zoroastrian scripture) to recover and revive. I read some Avestan because of its similarity to Vedic language and have initiated many Parsis (as the Zoroastrians are known in India) in Mumbai with Avestan mantras. Avesta says:
Avestan developed into Pahlavi which then developed into modern Farsi (Persian). Then came Islam. The Zoroastrian tradition was practically wiped out. A few Zoroastrians took refuge with the Hindu kings in India and flourished and today are the leading industrialists, scientists and have been leading politicians in India. A small number of Zoroastrians survived in Iran and still have their sacred Fire Temple. But no culture vanishes entirely; it, dying, gives a part of its spirit to the new supplanting tradition. Zoroastrian (more accurately, the Mazda-yasnian -- they who perform sacraments to Ahur Mazda, the Lord of Light) tradition left its subtle mark on the Islam that developed in Iran (more of that at some other time but with care!). For example the word ‘namaz’ is of Pahlavi origin. So the spiritual streak of Iran never died out. It became the cradle of Sufi tradition. Think of Sufis, think of Iran and the neighbouring Afghanistan in both of which countries the Sufis are now being suppressed, less so in the new post-Taliban Afghanistan, more so in Iran. Think also of many Republics of Russia and the ex-Soviet empire where the Sufis were persecuted, but survive to this day. When I mentioned this to my Gurudeva Swami Rama, he replied in a determined voice: “NO, THEY CANNOT BE EXTINGUISHED.” Think also of parts of Turkey that are contiguous to Iran; think of Konya, the seat of Sufi tradition where Sufi trances that become dances are still taught and where is the sacred burial place of Rumi. In the West today they call them Sufi dances; they are actually Sufi trances. Without trance there is no Sufi dance. So, Iran is where Zarathushtra was born. Where Agni was venerated. From where Mitra (Roman Mithras) migrated (whom we remember in the sun salutation mantra "MITRAAYA NAMAH"). It is the land of Sufis like Omar Khayyam, Rumi, Bastami, Hallaj, Al-Ghazali, Saadi, Hafez and Shams and many more in the galaxy of shining Sufi stars --- oh, when will I read them all? .   Forget the English translations of their verses! Read in the original. I have compared the F. Scott Fitzgerald's translation of the Ruba'íyat of Omar Khayyam with the original - it is the difference between looking at stars in the clear night and in the day! It is this rich tradition that Davood Azad represents while creating also the fusion of Bach and Rumi. He has presented me his CD which is banned in Iran. How the present regimes are intent on impoverishing their people culturally but the Sufis still hold their ground in small circles. (More later about how Sufi tradition survived in ex-Soviet Russia).  Tonight I am missing my 'jigri dost and biradar' (my 'friend of the liver' and my brother), Ahmad Shah Maduddi, the leading Sufi of Afghanistan. He is direct descendant of the founder of the Chishti Order of the Sufis and affectionately does not let go of my hand when we are together. It is my dream some day to visit him at his khanqah (Sufi Ashram) in Herat, Afghanistan. (By the way, in Arabic and Persian traditions liver has the place that the heart has in Indo-European metaphors. In that tradition, many diseases, including those of heart, originate in the liver). Janaab Davod Azad, May I add you to my short list of jigri dosts? Khush Aaamdeed (Welcome!).
That Beautiful Nightby Joanne Sullivan (Divya)“That beautiful night.” Medhawati expresses what we feel and what remains with us after hearing the music flow through Davood Azad, as he wove worlds on the setar, the 4-stringed Persian lute and lit up the night with his singing. The whole sky opened up the following day with the monsoons! Davood Azad, a renowned Sufi musician, graced us with his presence at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama on 12th June 2013. He sat cross-legged on stage in the Meditation Hall in an elegant plain white shirt and khaki pants. He seemed like a man who could make himself at home almost anywhere in any century. He welcomed us quite naturally into the world of Sufi music as if we were old friends on the path, together once again. To him, Sufi singing is nothing less than a joyous call to God. The searing hot days have turned inside out with heavy rains. Lightning flashed above the blue-grey Himalayan foothills out the dining hall window after morning meditation today. Come see the monsoons! “I am drunk! You are insane! Who is going to take us home?!” comes the translation of words written by Rumi, the 13th century mystic, drunk with God. Sufi singer Davood Azad is originally from Iran. The name “Azād” means “free.” Its origins are Middle Persian/Parthian. It also appears in the Indo-Iranian languages of Persian, Kurdish, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Davood was born in the northwestern city of Urmia which some say is also the birthplace of Zarathustra (Zoroaster), though some would dispute this. He plays many instruments and on this night he also played a mysterious solar orb of a drum - perhaps a daf, or a ghaval—a handheld sacred drum nearly two feet in diameter and round with small metal rings suspended inside its frame. The sounds were amazing. Swami Veda was in attendance that evening, sometimes smiling in visible delight and sometimes drawn inward, eyes shut. Dena Merriam, founder of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, also joined us. The music of Davood Azad knocked on doors that may be opening lifetimes hence when one has long forgotten the concert of that evening. It was as if he had been called here. Mr. Azad is a master at fusion of the ancient and modern---from many styles of traditional Persian music to Bach to the Blues. He is also the first Iranian to lecture at Oxford University on Iranian music and its diverse forms. His official website [http://www.Davoodazad.com/en] tells us that his “music speaks the universal language of Love and Unity for all mankind.” Indeed it would seem so. “His musical source is from the classical Iranian modal system (Dastgah) and the traditional (regional) Maqam musical form….[He] “has performed in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Australia, India as well as Iran with over 300 performances worldwide at international festivals such as Istanbul International Music festival, BBC Proms, Music Village (Sacred Voices), Sir John Taverners festival, Folk festival of Hungary, World in Nord Festival (Norway), and Art in Action Festival (Oxford)…. His The Divan of Rumi & Bach album was the first Iranian fusion with Western classical music and was performed at many international venues and radio stations such as Radio Kulture House in Vienna, Austria.” In 2005, one could often hear traditional music from all along the ancient Silk Road coming from Swami Veda’s Cottage 8. In those days, he would often stay up into the wee hours, composing verse or doing other work as he listened to the music. He had asked me to find the music of many lands along the Silk Road. I knew that he was about to go to mainland China for the first time in this lifetime. But I had no idea that he would steep himself in that music with a quiet intensity as he did while he worked into the night in his cottage. The music was striking in its authenticity, like Smithsonian Folkways recordings of Music from the Oasis towns of Central Asia or The Kirghiz Komuz of Turkestan. Renowned musicians played Iran’s and many other countries’ ancient instruments that I never knew existed but Swamiji seemed to know them well. Swami Veda was already familiar with the diverse Silk Road cultures, including that of Iran, through books, music and perhaps other life experiences. As many of you know, Swami Veda has a profound regard for the ancient cultures and art forms of many nations. Dr. Arya, Swami Veda in his life before renunciation, held a doctorate from The Netherlands in Ethnomusicology. The visit of Davood Azad was facilitated by Dena Merriam of the USA, founder of The Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW). Interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural sharing is a part of this work. At the invitation of GWIP in 2010, SRSG also hosted "A Sufi-Yogi Dialogue: Coming to the One through the Many," when eminent Sufis and yogis came together to enhance mutual understanding. It was one of numerous conferences organized by GWIP. Some of the leaders from that gathering have formed meaningful bonds and have met several times since then. Swami Veda has participated in a number of conferences and dialogues sponsored by the GWIP. For over 50 years, Swami Veda Bharati has worked to promote peace, interfaith and cross-cultural understanding in his worldwide lectures, writings and in countless other endeavors. June 12th was also the eve of the 40-day practice given by Swami Veda Bharati which culminates on Guru Purnima. An auspicious beginning. I am fortunate to enjoy sacred music and dance. I know the taste. It is sufficiently alive in me to know that I am forgetting something. And we hear the call of the unknown Sufi in words that are often attributed to Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273): Come, come, whoever you are, Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving! Come and yet again, come! Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times, It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Here in Rishikesh, though the night was steamy hot, Mr. Azad played to a full house in rapt attention. The insects had an extravaganza though no one seemed to mind. And the next day opened up into brilliant thunderstorms that left everything fresh, cool and sparkling. Editor’s Note:You can listen to some of Davood Azad’s music here. His name is also sometimes spelled as Davod Azad or Davoud Azad. The Divan of Rumi and Bach can be downloaded as an MP3 at Amazon, iTunes and other websites. For more about the Global Peace Initiative of Women: http://www.gpiw.org/ We invite you to read their report A Sufi-Yogi Dialogue: Coming to the One through the Many (click on title). Guidelines for the Spiritual Festival, the 40 day practice before Guru Purnima: http://ahymsin.org/main/practice/the-spiritual-festival-2013.html Even if you have not started on 13th June, it is possible to start after you read this. In addition, we invite you to read (click on title):
To read about Sufi Whirling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_whirling Pictures courtesy of Michelle Kinsey
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