서구문화에 나타난 수피즘 세마(Sema)예식 연구와 신학적 해석

Abstract

This paper discusses on the sema ceremony of Sufism, musical methods and components, and its theological reflection. Sufism has been known as the esoteric dimension of Islam and its ultimate purpose is to convey direct knowledge and experience of the eternal, God. To engage in the discussion on sema ritual, this paper lays out the introduction of the sema explaining the Sufi order of Mevlana and its founder, Rumi. Mevlana order dominated in spiritual life of Turkey and many other parts of the Ottoman world up to the beginning of the twentieth century and still survives despite having been banned in the 1920s. Traditionally, orthodox muslims does not allow musical instruments and relevant components, but it was Rumi who finally brought the extensive use of music, bodily movements, and passionate whirling dance during the sema ceremony. The sound of Sufi music is made by the breath of hu coming from the divine love, which has to be one with God. Without breath the human being is no longer alive. In the sema, music has never been an entertainment or a distraction, but is a mediation that reminds one of a state of being. Sema is the spiritual expression of God, divine love. For Sufis, divine love means to die to one's self (fana) and to be revived in the Beloved(baqa). And the whirling dance can be interpreted as the dance of the cosmic harmony and the central Sun of Divine Love. It also means re-enacting death and resurrecting of the cosmic Self that turns out to be the ultimate unity with God, the world of tawhid in Sufi term. The main purpose of this paper is to present that sema is not an incidental or chance hearing of music, but a mode of worship which leads into the holistic spiritual concert embracing poems, music, prayer, meditation, whirling dance, and a trance-like state of contemplative ecstasy. This paper is intended to offer theological implications of sema in the light of the undoubted relevance of music, poems, dance, and spiritual transformation. More than that, it arises from a notion that dialogue between various ways of being human and becoming divine might enrich all who have pursuits in a new mode of spirituality of divine love.