Conversations with Avant-garde Sages - The Wizard LLC

Conversations with Avant-garde Sages
TRIP: Yes, you said that he was against meditation because he
thought that spiritual practice might often be used like sticking a
plaster over a festering wound.
MUZ MURRAY: Exactly.
TRIP: And yet it's interesting, I find you an interesting cat,
because on the one hand you've tried everything, you've mastered
many of these spiritual practices and yet you're against dogmatic
adherence to anything.
WIZARD: That was kind of like Ramakrishna's MO, he went
through all of the different traditions and reached a Self-discovery
through each and every one of them, and pulling them all together.
MUZ MURRAY: Yes, exactly. That was my interest to participate
in every different type of spiritual culture that I could do. I lived
with the Dervishes in Konya, in Turkey, and learned to chant the
Dervish chants with them, and I taught them Sanskrit Mantras as
well. So I've been with Buddhists, I've been with Chinese, I've
been with Tibetans, Sikhs, every kind of spiritual group that I
could, and squeezed the juice to synthesize the whole of spiritual
life.
TRIP: So you've had so many esoteric, wild esoteric experiences,
would you share what it is like to be in the center of a secret
Whirling Dervish ceremony. You were actually overcome with…
MUZ MURRAY: Yes, I had a very deep spiritual experience when
they pulled me into the circle of dancers, and there was one group
in one corner chanting, "Allah, Allah, Allah", another group
chanting, "A Allah, A Allah, A Allah", and another group chanting,
and other group chanting, and then all chanting (Muz chanting).
And I had syncopated rhythm on top of that with music, and in
that it was like being in the beating heart of the universe, and I felt
I was among the stars and planets with the turning of the
Dervishes. It was quite incredible.
427