For the past year, five times a day I have heard the muezzin (caller to prayer) shout from the minarets of mosques,"Allah Akbar!": God is big. The muezzin goes on to sing, "There is only one God and Mohammed is his prophet." This ritual goes on for many minutes with many repeats and musical improvisation, depending on the town or city or the muezzin's taste.
Sometimes the call to prayer has been quite musical; other times, it has seemed as if there was a contest going on to see who could sound the most tortured and out of tune. In large cities, all of the mosques (which could be something like 20 mosques) start the call all at once or just a few seconds behind one another so it creates quite a chilling effect. It sounds as if the whole city is moaning. And I found it quite beautiful.
I have come to appreciate this ritual every day and I think I will actually miss it. I have even made recordings of various "Allah Akbar"s in various cities I visited to demonstrate how different they are. The one I recorded in Sanliurfa was the most musical and emotional. It sent chills up my spine.
But now, as I head back to the US, I will be entering a different realm of spirituality. As part of my cultural readjustment, my mother has offered to treat me to a Zen Buddhist meditation retreat up in the Rocky Mountains with Thitch Nhat Hanh. Although there is a fair amount of discipline involved, like a 5:30 AM wake-up call for meditation, I have a hunch that centering myself in this way is just what I need to soothe the state I am currently in: a state of having virtually no patience and waning energy. So within a few days of arriving back in the US, I will be headed to this retreat- some might say, quite an interesting contrast to a year of being surrounded by Islam.
Being surrounded by Islam for so long has stirred a new interest in religion and spirituality for me but it has also tired me of it in some ways, too. For that reason, also, spending time in quiet (and definitely in the mountains!) to reflect and process will be ideal. I hope to come back to Portland a peaceful, patient person. :)
