There are times when thoughts grow noisier after you close your eyes and sit still. The more you try to look within, the more trapped you can feel. It is also a reminder that sitting meditation does not suit everyone. The Persian Sufi tradition has long followed a different path. It turns, makes sound and breathes together to journey inward.
Sama: practice of emptying out through turning
Sama refers to a ritual in Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, in which practitioners move their bodies while listening to music and poetry to draw closer to God. The Mevlevi order, which follows the 13th-century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, placed sama at the heart of its practice. Practitioners turn endlessly anti-clockwise around one foot, moving towards a state in which the self grows faint. Known as sema in Turkey, the Mevlevi sema ceremony was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
The turning may look like a spectacle, but in practice it is an extremely simple repetition. One palm faces the sky and the other the ground. The gesture signifies allowing what is received from above to flow straight through. After a few turns, there is no longer room to hold on to thoughts. That is usually when the mind begins to quieten.
Zikr: practice of remembering through sound
Zikr means remembrance or recollection in Arabic. It is one of the defining Sufi meditation practices: repeating the name of God or a short prayer aloud. It occupies a similar place to mantras in Hindu traditions and incantations in Buddhism. Refined over centuries and combined with breathing techniques, it became a core practice of Sufi orders.
Repetition is not boredom but a passageway. When the same sound is made continuously, the vocal cords, chest and abdomen vibrate together. The sensation is less like listening to a sound than becoming the sound itself. It has long been said that combining the practice with turning deepens absorption.
Two hours in Mapo: meeting the true self through dance and sound
A workshop offering first-hand experience of both practices will take place at 4pm on Saturday 12 September at Ras Yoga & Indian Dance in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Its title is 'Meeting the True Self through Dance and Sound'. Over two hours, participants will practise turning meditation, sama, followed by zikr using breath and sound.
Finding the meditation that suits you first
The programme includes an assessment of seven meditation types. Developed by the LHS Personal Type Research Institute under the name 'Seven Atma', it examines whether people identify primarily with thought, emotion or the physical body, and guides them towards a practice suited to each individual. The institute describes it as a transpersonal meditation-type assessment. After the assessment, participants will spend time discovering their own personal mantra accompanied by the sound of singing bowls.
Two guides who have travelled between India and Persia
The workshop will be led jointly by Nao and Nuri. Nao is director of the LHS Personal Type Research Institute and completed the coursework for a PhD in philosophy at Banaras Hindu University in India. Nao has practised a range of meditation traditions, including Sufism, Vipassana, Zen and tantra, for more than 20 years. Nuri is director of Ras Indian Dance and a dancer, and studied Sufi dance and meditation culture in Iran and Turkey. Nuri is also a translator of Persian literature who rendered Rumi's 『The Sun Anthology』 into Korean.
There is little to bring. Comfortable clothing that allows free movement is enough, while a wide, long skirt can help with turning. These two hours are open to anyone seeking to confirm their sense of self through the body and sound, beyond trying to understand themselves through the mind.
[Meeting the True Self through Dance and Sound] – Persian Sufi meditation workshop
📅 Saturday 12 September, 4:00–6:00pm
📍 Ras Yoga & Indian Dance, fourth floor, 49 Dokmak-ro 7-gil, Mapo-gu
💳 Participation fee 50,000 won (Hana Bank 287-910107-06-007
🧘 Led by | Nao × Nuri
Tea and snacks provided