My visit to mysterious tribes

In a book of the founder of the Theosophical movement, Madame Blavadski called ‘Mysterious Tribes’ (in fact it is a book in German) I read about two curious tribes the Kurumbula’s and the Toda’s. They live, according to the book, in the Nilgiri’s in the South of India. The region is taboo for visitors. Of course, when the British still ruled India, an adventurous Englishman did not care about the taboo and even was all too eager to organise an expedition to this area. The people who carried his luggage became very afraid when they came near this forbidden region. It was said that you had to pay with your life when you entered it. There were tales of gods…

Decline and fall of the Roman Empire

A short time ago the month of Moharram, which marks the start of the New Year according to Islam, has begun. In the past I have been in Ajmer, India when Moharram started and I think back with mixed feelings to it as it was a difficult time for me. In the India where I was Sunni and Shia Islam are not two separate worlds. On the dargah of Khwaja Sahab there is for some time no qawwali. Because I followed everything in a Sufi khaneqah with its stressing of the importance of ‘Ali you can understand that Muharram is an important month. People remember the sad fate of Husain, the grandson of the prophet, who became a martyr in…

In the darkness I was given the water of life

Sa’di has written: “I have travelled in many lands, I have visited many peoples and plucked an ear of corn from every cornfield, for it is better to go barefoot than to wear tight boots, better to endure the hardships of travel than to stay at home… And I would add: with every returning spring one needs must choose a new love – for last year’s calendar, my friend, is of no use today!” Sufis have travelled a lot. For them travelling is a spiritual practice. Here is an account of such a travel. A Chishti shaykh made a travel and arrived in the house of one of his mureeds. A small ceremony was taking place starting with the recitation…