A Dervish is simply a person dedicated to following his heart andliving his life for the Love of the Creator alone. Dervish meansthreshold, the one who helps people step over the threshold and enterthrough the doors of Love. It also means being humble and helpingothers in the journey to their destination. Dervish music reflects boththe physical and spiritual journey of the mind and body. Mantricchanting is also a crucial part of Sufi meditation called zikir andliterally means rememberance, recollection and calling the name of God."God is Most Great" (Allahu Akbar), is repeated over and over, oftenlinked with bodily movement or breathing. Repetition of rhythm andmelody creates a meditational space that, when accompanied by chanting,becomes the central point of Sufi music. Sound is universal. Everyperson hears, sleeps and is born with the sound of the heartbeat. Thesound of the bender (framed drum) is close to the sound of the heart,whose beat continuously measures life. human breathing becomes musicalwhen it is made conscious, invoking God's beautiful names. The music ofthe zikir (dervish ceremony of rememberence) is symbolic of the voiceof creation, symbolized by chanting and whispering Allah repeatedly.

Asdescribed in Holy Qur'an, at the beginning there was nothing, then Godsaid "Be" and everything came into existence. Sufis believe thateverything was created by sound. Sound is simply a vibration, as isLife itself. When our body and soul are harmonized with the vibrationof the universe, then we are truly filled with the overwhelming,positive energy - Peace. The beat of the bender represents theimportance of Life, while the dervish's voice brings the influence ofthe spiritual world into Life. The Sufi dervish focuses on the absolutenature of the world which is continually created and dies in everybreath we take. Physical and spiritual bodies become one single sourceof self. Awareness of the Absolute moves back and forth in a patternsimilar to the rhythmic waves of the breath in meditation. This leavesone in harmony with the movement from existence to non-existence withevery breath he takes.

Sufi musicians sing beautiful gazels(vocal improvisations) about their master's life and death as well asprayers for inner peace, happiness and love. In Sufi belief, death isregarded as waking from a dream. The Sufi master, Mevlana JeladdiniRumi, considered the occasion of death to be his marriage night withGod/Allah - the night that lover and beloved became one.