We began in northern Cyprus in a small village called Lefke. The village is unassuming enough, looks like any village really with it's geographical flavour, the main one being orange groves... lots of orange groves. Yet thousands of people pass through Lefke regularly to visit the dergah - a centre where anyone is welcome and can live for free, usually associated with Sufi Muslims. This dergah is probably the most popular one in the west as it is the home of Shaykh Nazim. Spiritually minded people are attracted to his house from all over the world. In 9 days we met Turks, Cypriots, Pakistanis, Tunisians, Egyptians, Sri Lankans, Germans, Russians, Uzbekis, French, Italian, Spanish, Austrians, people from Texas, New Jersey, New York and Argentina and of course a few Brits! And it was relatively quiet while we were there! Many people who were there did not have much funds to travel, it was more of a pilgrimmage for which they were prepared to spend a considerable portion of their wealth. Muhammad Habibi, an Argentinian musician who I had the pleasure to jam with mentioned, "I don't like travelling for pleasure. I live in a beautiful place with a river. I only travel for work and for God, and this place is the best kind of place to travel to." Having just finished a tour of Europe, he decided to fly to Cyprus from Athens as it is much easier to reach than from Argentina.
Having settled down I met a local perfume maker (the Texan) called Abdur Rauf. For a few days I was working on helping him create an essential oil from local oranges by the process of distillation. He was want to waffle on a bit - it's a well known character trait - but i learnt quite a bit about the distillation process which involves passing steam through a substance and condensing it back down to a liquid. It was the first bit of agriculture on the trip and i was well content picking oranges under the shade of the grove. While it was physically demanding I somehow felt complete, united back with the earth from which my body came. In the city it is easy to forget where our sustenance comes from. As our surroundings affect our being, we slowly re-define ourselves the more time we spend away from nature. Part of the purpose of this trip is to re program ourselves to our original state, to reclaim our heritage.
While the agriculture connected me with my body there was much activity which brought contentment to my spirit. I am travelling with my drum and i was fortunate to encounter a few fellow musicians who shared the same purpose as me with their music. With his broken English Muhammad the Argentinian articulated his thoughts much more succinctly than I could. "Music is an instrument with which we can achieve something together, like a walking stick is an instrument to help someone walk. When we play for sound we play for ego, music about the experience is higher." Unity is greatest when united in purpose. For example, i may play in harmony with fellow musicians but if they are playing for worship and i am playing for fame then we remain separate. In another conversation with Salah ud Din, a Belgian / Italian who had been at the dergah for 18 months, I expounded my feelings about drumming, "Drumming and rhythm are from the body. They resonate with our physical being as we are taught that Adam was created from sounding clay. Wind instruments relate to the spirit as we are taught that God breathed His Spirit into Adam, they resonate with our higher selves. Melody is 'high', rhythm is 'low', and both elements constitute our total being. When combined the effect is a profound sense of unity. The self extends into shared consciousness, the lines between 'me' and 'you' become blurred. It was extra special to see our dear friend Noah sit down to listen, he knew what was happening. Ironically, people in the room next door were arguing while we were playing.
my computer wont let me link sound into this blog, check the next blog for sound recordings
There were others too - Nur ud Din the personal trainer who I trained with every morning, Iltaf the ex-accountant who is now a stand up comedian and hypnotherapist and is training to become a nutritionist.
It was interesting to learn from Mandeep how the women live. They have their own guest house run by Samia who initially came for 15 days and 15 years later is still there! Every morning they cook a huge healthy breakfast, Mondays are cleaning day, they have beds, mattresses and washed sheets. Men on the other hand have a scraggy pile of sleeping bags they fight over every night. No organisation with food, if someone is feeling generous they will cook a big portion for everyone. Cleaning is done by the same people everyday while most men sit around not helping out!
What can I say about Lefke? It is such a rich and intense experience being there. The more time spent there leads to increasing transformation and the simple lifestyle ensures the transformation is of the heart. Shaykh Nazim has spent his entire life working on his spiritual development and ennobling the people around him, making us realise our essential dignity as human beings. At over 90 years old he is physically weakening and was in hospital when we left. May God grant him a quick recovery and healthy long life.
