AMBA

Music and readings from Turkish mystics, Mystic Music Circle, Zoom group session by Vasanti Jayaswal. Presently conducted on the 3rd Saturdays of the month at 10 am California time. Attendees in other parts of the US and in other countries need to check the corresponding time.
 

Come join us in a spirit of devotion and enjoy the consecrated and healing thoughts, given by the tasavvuf aşıks (mystic poets) of Turkey. Their poems have been rendered into ilahis, songs that cover every struggle, experienced by seekers of the divine. Set to melodies based on makams, classical melodic patterns of Turkey, we see strains of the East and the West flowing gracefully, into a single stream. During the Ottoman period these melodies were employed in clinics to cure the afflicted. Turkish hospitals once again have begun to use these melodies for after surgery recovery. No matter what faith you follow, the messages in these poems are bound to strum vibrations of similar feelings in you.
 

There are no conversations once the program begins and none after it ends. Please feel free to correspond with me via email if you wish. Each session begins with a Tovbe, then Tekbir and Salatul Nebi as rendered in the Mevlevi tradition. After the ilahi segment, Yunus Emre’s favorite prayer is recited followed by a healing zikr of La ilahe illalah, that concludes the program.
 

Participants who wish, may remain in meditation for the remaining time. In these sessions the English translations of the poems will be read by Aisha Morgan. This is followed by Vasanti’s singing often accompanied by the bendir, of the corresponding ilahis. One makam is selected for each month. Brief notes are sent when called for, on the poets, makams and selected subjects, a few days ahead.
 

Aisha Morgan connects with the poetry and music of the Ilahis on many levels. Always interested in languages and music from around the world, Aisha learned a bit of Turkish and came to appreciate the haunting melodies of the Ottoman era. At a deeper level is her connection to the poetry and its glorious recognition of the beloved Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) and the beauty of the values of Islam. In her 20 years of practicing Islam, Aisha has promoted interfaith understanding and appreciates Vasanti and the Ilahi sessions for gathering the spirit of the Divine for people of any and no faith.
 

Vasanti has attended workshops conducted by musicologist Dr. Timucin Cevicoglu. Musicologist Dr. Osman Oksuzoglu provides guidance in the music when needed. She has had the fortune of attending workshops in whirling and zikrs conducted by the late Postneshin Jelaluddin Efendi Loras of Konya, head of the Mevlevi Order of America. Since 2015 Vasanti has conducted Turkish mystical dimension music and poetry sessions in Sonoma County. In India she has organized group sessions and discourses on Turkish Mystic music titled " The Rose and the Nightingale". In 2015 she went on a 27 day, solo pilgrimage to Turkey, where she delved in her passion for sacred music and also in ancient cultural archaeology.
 

Her book “A lotus in love with the Rose” is planned to be completed in 2022. The theme covers how Turkish ashiklars (mystic bard-poets) looked to Nature to help us understand spiritual experiences and states.
 

In her site www.ambahouse.org, of relevant interest under Writings are Mystic Turkey in the Poems Section , Pilgrimage to Turkey in the Journals section and under essays “How I found Yunus Emre”.
 

Vasanti has had extensive training in traditional Classical Indian Vocal Music from age 7 to 20 and has composed music for her choreography in Indian classical and folkdance performances, while directing the Kalamandiram Academy of Arts in Los Angeles, from 1980 to 2003. For more information on her background, current projects and works you may check www.ambahouse.org.