Sama
Second Sundays, March – May 2023
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EST (New York); 6:30 – 7:30 pm CET (Paris)
Dervishes are those among Sufis who adopt a certain method of progressing through the spiritual path . . . They are dreamers and lovers of God; they worship God in nature, especially in human nature. Among the many ways of spiritual development, they have one way which is called Sama’, which is listening to music. They . . . make themselves as a medium of resonance of the music they hear. Therefore, music touches them differently from any other person, music touches the depth of their being. Moved by music, they manifest different conditions, termed by Sufis hal, which means “condition.” Anyone among them who is moved by spirit may manifest the ecstasy, which is called wajd, in the form of tears, sighs, or in dance . . . the bliss of the dervish is understood by very few. But something that one can learn from this is the theory of the whole process of their spiritual development. By making God their Beloved and by seeing God in the sublimity of nature, they create the presence of God. . . By the help of concentration, poetry, and music, joy and pain both are felt more deeply. Therefore, God becomes living, God’s presence is before the dervish in all moods. In the Sama’, their musical ceremony, when once the dervish’s pain had an outlet in some form or other, the condition that follows is that of deeper insight into life. — Hazrat Inayat Khan, Music
This semester we explore Celestial Sama; you are invited to listen deeply in harmony with the whirling of the planets, the solar system, and each atom in turn. Come and let your soul be fed. All are welcome, to listen deeply, to turn internally or externally.
- March 12th—Jupiter with Ali Razmi and The Coltrane Church
- April 9th—Mercury with Nawal Mlanao
- May 14th—Celestial Sama with Michael Harrison
Sessions are from 12:30 – 1:30 pm New York Time, 6:30 – 7:30 pm Central Europe Time.
All are welcome to attend. This program is open and free to the public; come to all or any parts of the series. Recordings of each class can be found on the Inayatiyya Vimeo page.
Donations in support of music programming are always welcome.
If you have questions about Music, or about this series, please email us at music@inayatiyya.org.
…the listening which is the pure essence of worship. — Pir Zia Inayat Khan, from following Sama Invocation recording
Speakers
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Nawal MlanaoNawal Mlanao is the great granddaughter of Sufi Cheikh Al Maarouf from the Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa, in the Indian Ocean. Her music mixes Comorian rhythms with bantu polyphony, Indo-Arabian-Persian sounds and Sufi chanting into an acoustic roots-based fusion. While living in Paris, she is working to preserve and protect Comorian culture. centrenawali.org
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Ali RazmiAli Razmi is originally from Iran, where he earned a master’s degree in music from The Art University of Tehran. Living in Vancouver, BC, Ali now tries to forget his background to fully become a Sufi musician.
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Sarmad Michael HarrisonSarmad Michael Harrison is a composer and pianist who forges a new approach to composition by blending classical music traditions of Europe and North India, and by utilizing just intonation (the ancient system of tuning based on pure harmonic proportions). He is a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, Terry Riley, La Monte Young, and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. Harrison received his Masters in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music and is the recipient of Guggenheim and NYFA Artist Fellowships. His music has been commissioned and recorded by leading performers including Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, Alarm Will Sound, and Cello Octet Amsterdam. Revelation, his critically acclaimed work for piano in his own tuning system, was selected among the Best Classical Recordings of the Year by The New York Times and Boston Globe. Harrison seeks expressions of universality via the physics of sound – music that brings one into a state of concentrated listening as a meditative and even mind-altering experience. His recent album Seven Sacred Names is based on the Sufi teachings of the Seven Leading Names. Harrison has been an initiate in the Inayatiyya since 1977.
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Archbishop Franzo Wayne KingArchbishop Franzo Wayne King is co-founder of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. Established in 1969 in the San Francisco Bay area, the Coltrane Church encourages its members to find spirituality through Coltrane’s music and wisdom. In addition to its weekly Sunday services and monthly meditations, the Coltrane Church runs a food pantry, has sponsored numerous community outreach events, and hosts a radio show on San Francisco’s KPOO-FM.
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Mother Marina KingMother Marina King is co-founder of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. Established in 1969 in the San Francisco Bay area, the Coltrane Church encourages its members to find spirituality through Coltrane’s music and wisdom. In addition to its weekly Sunday services and monthly meditations, the Coltrane Church runs a food pantry, has sponsored numerous community outreach events, and hosts a radio show on San Francisco’s KPOO-FM.
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Rev. Wanika StephensRev. Wanika Stephens is a Pastor, Rector, Interfaith Chaplain, Ordained Minister and proponent of Coltrane Consciousness for the global community. She is also the host of the Uplift! broadcast on Radio KPOO 89.5FM, and a graduate of the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Seminary in Berkeley CA. Pastor Wanika also serves as Chaplain Resident at Marin General Hospital, and as a volunteer chaplain for the SFPD. Pastor Wanika remains active in the fight for social justice and human rights. Currently, she is working on her Masters of Theology at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
