One long day in Konya, reached here at 7 AM. By 8:30 AM soup and by 9 at the tomb of Rumi. Then by 10 out the door met a French film crew on the venture of the host named Negar – an young Iranian French lady here to make a movie on “why people come to the Mevlana (name of ‘Rumi’ in Turkish) festival” and/or “who is Mevlana to each of them.” Captivated by my Iranian half, Negar keeps pitching me cultural ‘Iranian insider’ balls I cannot hit back.

Went to the tomb of Shams Tabrizi, Rumi’s master and friend and there met a beautiful 19 year old Iranian girl named Goli (meaning ‘flower-like’) there for a week’s pilgrimage with her family. Got her phone number on her mom’s initiative to call when I reach Iran. Went to Aladin Hill which marks the center of town and outside the old mosque there met some boys looking to recruit me to speak with their high school class. I did and for two hours entertained 200 of the most curious 15-year-olds. All gushing with goodwill and enthusiasm, many of the girls obviously smitten and the social queens among them wishing for a show of special consideration (not given!).

Picked up my ticket for the Sema (whirling Dervish worship) ceremony, found a good hotel, had a showdown with the smelly-footed hotel man I left my bags with who tried to force me to stay at his dingy place. Took a nap, ate, and went to the Sema ceremony. Felt it was much less authentic than the group I had seen perform in Istambul at the Galata Hill tomb. The performance here in Konya was put on by the Turkish government (which since the 1920s has enthusiastically persecuted any remaining dervish groups as ‘illegal cult organizations’) in a large indoor basketball court at the university (no ambiance). At the Sema ceremony I met up with Negar and crew and we went afterwards to their hotel, drank tea with a man hanging out in the lobby who discussed and quoted Rumi and hafez with us while doffing a more than casual “I know more than you can ever know” attitude of the vain.

At two AM I returned to my hotel to be immediately swallowed into a wonderful group of annual Turkish Mevlana Fest pilgrims from Bodrum on the Agean (the one among them named Abdul is the man). They kindly invited me to sit down for Turkish breakfast with them at 3 AM. Until 4 AM I talked with Abdul and he showed himself to be the repository of much wisdom, I am not qualified to hold his shoes. Nice feeling after having been bored for so long. Here are my notes on the main points (I am obviously severely limited by my ability to grasp what he was saying):

- Like the starlight we see in the heaveens of stars long since extinguished, this universe and its realities are just the dying light or the afterglow of a fire that went out long ago.
- All energy eminates from God or “higheer conciousness” or “the Big Bang” (call it what you like); both positive and negative. Follow upstream any of the energy chains to the source and God will be there.
- We all have God inside us, our souls aare like receivers and God is like a satellite transmitting down to all of us.
- All knowledge and wishom is inside us,, look for it there. External situations only occurr as God sends us coded messages that we may reveal and understand ourselves.
- The mind is only what our conciousnesss uses until it reaches a certain level of development – thereafter it is free of the prison.
- Like an airport when the plance takes off, the mind is left on the tarmac when a person’s conciousness takes off. The conciousness that never leaves the airport will eventually become bored.