Journeys
of a Sufi Musician
by Kudsi Erguner; Trans. Annette Courtenay
Mayers
Saqi Books, London, UK, 2005
142 pp., with CD , illus. Paper, $26.95
ISBN: 0863565476.
Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)
harle@dodo.com.au
This little book is like a lotus flower.
Beautiful and unsullied it grows out of,
and rises above, the mud. Whilst spirituality
and Sufism are central themes, Kudsi Erguners
feet are firmly planted in the mud of
realitylife. He is a musician,
composer, author, teacher and an ambassador
with a passion for sharing his Turkish,
Islamic heritage with the rest of the
world. This he does by way of the universal
language of music, specifically, traditional
style Sufi music featuring the ney.
The ney (meaning reed) is a rather
simple flute instrument traditionally
made from a reed and played vertically,
somewhat like a clarinet. The sound of
the ney is a "direct expression
of the one who breathes", it is considered
sacred and an essential instrument of
the Sufis.
Sufisms relationship with Islam
could be thought of a little like Zens
relationship with Buddhism. It grows out
of the tradition, in a sense transcending
that tradition. Sufism, like Zen has no
intermediaries, does not rely on authoritarian
dogma, and opens the practitioner to the
timeless while living firmly in the here
and now. Consequently, Sufism has suffered
the same fate as many other mysticisms
of all traditions, being seen as heretical,
a threat to the established religion and,
of course, to the State.
Kudsi was born in 1952. He refers to this
as his first apocalypse. A decade or so
prior to this, the Turkish government,
in an effort to become more Westernised
banned all traditional music! Sufism was
also banned, and the Sufi brotherhoods
were forced to go underground and meet
in secret. Journeys of a Sufi Musician
is the fascinating story of Kudsis
upbringing in Turkey, his travels abroad,
his relationship with the strict tradition
of Muslim values, and his desire to keep
alive many of these values that no longer
exist, especially in many Western cultures.
There are those who accuse Kudsi of betraying
his traditional roots and values because
of his occasional connection with modern
Western show-biz. To this he replies,
"
if one wishes for these traditions
to be lasting, one must learn to share
them; to relate to other values coming
from different cultures" (p. 105). Because
he believes so strongly in his heritage
and practices it from the heart, he has
no fear of losing it or corrupting it.
The recent and current global terrorist
attacks have brought the Islamic religion
of Muslims to the attention of millions
of people who, prior to this phenomena,
were simply ignorant regarding Islam.
Now these same people are both ignorant
and frightened of Muslims. If for no other
reason, this book is important because
it will help Westerners understand and
appreciate that Islam shares the same
pro-human, pro-life values as Christianity.
And that these terrorist activities are
the work of fanatical, fundamentalists,
not mainstream traditional Muslims. The
terrorists bombs kill Christians,
Muslims, and atheists equally and indiscriminately.
There is deep wisdom within the covers
of this book; much of this is expressed
in wonderful stories told by sages and
masters of various traditions. Chapter
Fifteen, The Fountain of Separation
is one such parable that gave me great
pleasure and insight. In a sense, the
whole book is like a parable that highlights
the way that the best qualities of human
beings are brought out through faith,
love and, musiceven when such
people have little by way of material
possessions and have been oppressed by
absurd political regimes.
Journeys of a Sufi Musician is
an easy, pleasurable read and will appeal
to those interested in all sorts of music
(especially World Music), musicianship,
and, of course, Sufism. The book has a
small number of archival photographs of
Sufis and dervishes, some include the
author with various dignitaries such as
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It comes with a
music CD that contains some very rare
tracks of traditional Sufi and ney
music. I feel the book will also appeal
to all those readers who like a well-told
story, steeped in factual history with
a gentle personal touch.