Çilingir Sofrası 27 / La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi (with English subtitles)

0:00Çilingir Sofrası 27 / La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi ***Translated by Prof.Dr.Nükhet Kardam***

0:02We just couldn’t get to India. They are not letting us in! Sinan: I wonder if the Himalayas are too high?

0:08We couldn’t go past Tibet. Sinan: We can build a tunnel and go through

0:14Why not, we are revolutionaries just like Ataturk

0:17Let’s begin,

0:18Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Ya Fattah, Ya Rezzak, Ya Hayyul Kayyum, Ya Allah

0:22So now we are at Indian Çilingir Sofrası.

0:26We'll look for Indian wisdom for sure.

0:29We have talked about its art,

0:32but we will also talk about its wisdom, as we have in other traditions

0:37So we can’t have knowledge by just relying on our memory as that could lead to mistakes

0:44Thoughts are like projects and do not allow for mistakes

0:50We need to have documents to back our claims

0:54Serhan: We saw what happened in the past earthquake (in Turkiye) when mistakes were allowed

0:59So knowledge, in the path to wisdom (Irfaniyet) is like raw material

1:09Thoughts can be likened to projects

1:13And Implementation requires expertise

1:19But the ‘touch’ or the mode or style of implementation is what we would call art

1:26Art is spiritual

1:27For example,

1:29let’s say I am building a house.

1:31I want to make sure I have the requisite knowledge

1:34The materials I use must be sturdy, such as stones or bricks

1:39I have to turn sand into glass in order to use it. There is sand in nature

1:46It exists in nature as raw material

1:51You can take sand and turn it into glass and use it

1:55That’s fine.

1:58What is glass?

1:58You want to construct a window

1:59and you don’t want too much light so you might have a smaller window or a bigger window if you want more light

2:03But I can put lead and glass pieces together,

2:12which we call stained glass

2:13That’s a style, a language

2:16In that case, it is not just about whether light comes through or not

2:23So I can use the raw materials (data) and design a project and build a house

2:38Everyone can build a house

2:41What is needed in a house? To entertain guests, you need a living room

2:44You need a bedroom to sleep, or a kitchen to cook in

2:50If you want to sit outside, you need a balcony

2:55That means, we need a house according to our functions

3:00So such a project could be implemented by anyone who has the requisite knowledge

3:04But then take a look at

3:09the Church built by Gaudi

3:12In Barcelona

3:16called the Church of Sacred Family

3:21It is a cathedral,

3:23I went to see it and lost my mind

3:32How could he have built such a cathedral in the 1800s?

3:36How did he visualize it?

3:40While I am talking about it,

3:41perhaps Can could help us by showing a photo of this cathedral

3:45Or perhaps a short video so everyone could watch

3:49And they would be just as amazed as I was

3:52That’s a style,

3:54there is Gaudi there, there is his signature

3:58Do you know the story of how he built it?

4:00We still have not gone to India!

4:03Is it Can’s joke on us?

4:08We can’t go past Barcelona for some reason

4:12So the pope of the time calls

4:17all the cardinals together and says

4:24People don’t come to church as they used to

4:28Fewer people are coming to church

4:32Sinan: They are not attracted

4:34So the pope asks them to find out why and report to him

4:36Cardinals say that people are ignorant,

4:40they don’t recognize God and the pope receives their report

4:45The pope is clever

4:48He then calls on the political leaders and asks them the same question;

4:57They say maybe young people are not coming to church,

5:00we only see older people

5:02We have not been able to attract the younger generation. They respond by saying they don’t know the answer

5:11You would know better, we are not in a position to understand the reasons

5:18The pope starts thinking,

5:20and finally he asks to see the artists

5:24The artists arrive and he asks them the same question

5:30They say, you know best, we will do whatever you say

5:36So just when Pope decides that there seems to be no solution

5:42One of the artists steps forward, his name is Gaudi

5:48He says it is easy

5:50What, how come it is easy? Come here and tell me

5:56Gaudi says: I will build you such a cathedral, such a cathedral that let alone attracting people inside,

6:00people will be reluctant to leave

6:06I can do this.

6:09The pope says tell me how, how will you do it?

6:10I can’t explain but I can do it

6:15Sinan: That’s because the pope doesn’t have the same kind of imagination that he does

6:18Apparently, a rich person wanted to build a cathedral in his name

6:23But then he died, and the cathedral never got built

6:27The pope instructs Gaudi to build his cathedral there

6:31Gaudi starts the project

6:37And he chooses artists

6:41Who can contribute without destroying the originality of the structure

6:48Instructs them to build specific areas of the church

6:55Everyone creates something original but

6:59Without destroying the originality of the whole

7:04and this was not a mechanical process but an organic one

7:08When you enter this church, you feel like you have entered into something live, like a body

7:15No other cathedral has such a characteristic

7:18You can see human fibers, amazing!

7:24Gaudi himself built the entrance to the church

7:33But at a young age, he died,

7:37hit by a tram as he was stepping backwards to view the church he built

7:44This is so surprising that there was such traffic in Barcelona at that time;

7:52it is not New York, or Istanbul

8:00Sinan: That’s very strange

8:02There is something strange there

8:04but I don’t want to go into it now

8:06This is continuing for more than hundred years,

8:12it is continuing to be built, it is not finished

8:17I went there personally and witnessed

8:21what Gaudi had promised the pope actually took place

8:24When it is closing time

8:27Like in museums,

8:29people have to be warned to leave the church

8:33But they don’t want to leave

8:37What is it that attracts them?

8:39Is someone giving a sermon? No

8:43But noone wants to leave

8:47See, that’s art for you

8:50God manifests in art

8:56The Bible is an art form made of words

8:59The Qur’an is like a poem but is not a poem

9:05Has designs but is not a design, has metaphors but is not a novel

9:09Has concepts but is not a philosophy

9:12It is an open book

9:13It is an ocean,

9:15you are the one who will decide what fish to catch.

9:20There is a story about a hunter.

9:23Christ says to his disciples that he will turn them into human hunters

9:27They say they fish but Christ says, I will make you into hunters for humans

9:32When you start hunting humans,

9:37when you reach maturity,

9:39then you can hunt for pearls and corals

9:42Sinan: That was our first title

9:45It is still our name, we have secret names

9:51Sinan: Those who want to hear will hear them

9:54We see that Gaudi’s art was born out of wisdom;

10:02The wisdom is manifested through art

10:08Words fly away but art stays Writings stay, buildings stay

10:16Flying is related to spirit, that means words are ethereal

10:28So Wisdom is ethereal and can only be caught by listening to the person who is uttering the word

10:36And having an ear ready to hear and understand

10:40Sinan: That’s why so many Ilahis have been composed and went from one tongue to another and ended up staying with us

10:44So ‘meyhane’ is ‘meşk’ where the word is received by ready ears, otherwise you can find words everywhere

10:49They ask me whether I can tell them anything different about Indian wisdom

10:53that is not already in the books

10:55Have you discovered something else? Or have you seen something in your dream?

10:58I say no,

11:00but with the raw materials I find in nature, I will build a house;

11:05I will have a style of my own

11:07and you will see it;

11:08if I can build a cathedral like Gaudi’s

11:12Then you won’t be able to leave that cathedral, you will sleep right there

11:17If I can’t do that,

11:19it means I am not an artist

11:21If I am away from art, I am away from myself, that means I am away from God

11:25That means His finger is not touching you anymore.

11:28Why not?

11:30Because of the prevalence of ego, because of arrogance

11:32You might say, I know better

11:35I say, okay, let’s see!

11:39Sinan: you will be unplugged and then what will you do?

11:41No one is unplugging us

11:43Noone is giving us anything or taking away anything

11:51We are pretending to be innocent by repeating all of this

11:56We say we didn’t do anything, whereas it is all about you,

12:01you are responsible, your destiny is up to you

12:05Allah calls on you through you, through your own abilities

12:12Nobody is to blame

12:14Or there is need to reward anyone

12:17Okay, is there anyone who is going to let us in (to India)?

12:20Who can give us permission?

12:27We are going to enter antique Indian wisdom

12:32That means we need to ask for permission

12:34Krishna, Krishna Hare Krishna

12:43Are we going to enter? We got waylaid in the mountains

12:48We are waiting, we want Krishna to attract us, to welcome us

12:54Krishna Krishna Hare Krishna

13:00Hristos Hristos

13:02Continue

13:05Hallelujah, Hallelujah

13:08Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

13:18I don’t mean that we should say it many times

13:24Look at the photo,

13:26neither male nor female,

13:28Hermaphrodite

13:30Blue skinned, blue blooded

13:36Krishna

13:39Why Hermaphrodite

13:41or

13:42genderless?

13:44We come to Christ and he is the same,

13:46genderless,

13:49they say he got married to Mary Magdalene and had children,

13:53the stories of Dan Brown,

13:56allright, this is art.

13:59But he is ‘hünsa’

14:01which means he doesn’t have bodily functions

14:07Because Christ is spirit (ruhullah)

14:12He is devoid of bodily functions

14:20To those people who want to see spirit on earth,

14:24Christs says, it is me, look at me

14:26See me, see the Truth

14:29People say: you have a body just like us, how come?

14:33But that body doesn’t have desire,

14:37like a baby

14:39They ask me how to recognise a real murshid

14:43We know, we have seen a real murshid

14:49Such a person is like a baby,

14:56innocent

14:57Believes in everything you say

15:00You might say I can deceive him easily

15:02Yes, but you actually end up deceiving yourself

15:04He is like a mirror, you end up deceiving yourself

15:08and you end up taking yourself by the ear and throwing yourself out;

15:12he believes you with such innocence

15:14and says: is that right? Really?

15:18You might think he doesn’t know anything

15:21We assume that a murshid must know everything,

15:24we are the ones who give him titles

15:31I might say, he already knows my thoughts

15:35So I begin with, as you know…but if he knows already

15:38Then why are you talking?

15:41Why aren’t you silent?

15:43That’s a lie.

15:45You really want him to listen to you

15:48He says, go on and speak!

15:51We have all kinds of pretenses

15:55You get in front of the mirror and you can pretend,

16:01what do you see?

16:03Yourself

16:07Do you like what you see in the mirror?

16:10Do you love yourself?

16:12Or do you laugh at her/him?

16:14Do you make fun of her or him?

16:16Whatever you choose, that is you!

16:20We call someone a murshid,

16:23he or she would never call him/herself that

16:26We call Prophet Muhammed a completed human being,

16:30he calls himself "el-fakru fahrî"

16:34I pride myself on my poverty.

16:37What crown are you going to put on my head?

16:39Is there a crown called ‘murshid’ and you want to put it on my head?

16:44I'm telling you that I pride myself on my poverty.

16:51I don’t have a self

16:53God works through me

16:55And you are trying to put a crown to God.

16:58Murshid, Murshid-i Kamil, that kind of titles.

17:02You want to kneel down in front of a what/who?

17:05You want to really kneel down in front of your own imagination, of the nonsense you have invented

17:09You don’t see the Reality.

17:11If you saw Reality, compliments would stop

17:13Words would stop, you would become silent

17:21We assign titles to people

17:27They sometimes compliment me too

17:33I am sure it happens to you as well,

17:35they say: you are so wonderful, I admire you so much, etc.

17:40What if they said the opposite? They might say:

17:43Your talk didn’t make any sense! You are not worth anything!

17:46Someone who admires you today could put you down tomorrow

17:49Someone who gives you titles can also send you to exile

17:57If you fall for compliments

18:01You will be exiled, you have rejected your ‘Rab’ and turned to idols

18:06Become friends with people but don’t turn them into idols

18:15Don’t fall for their compliments,

18:17Wait my chair is talking too

18:21In competition

18:25We haven't made it to India yet.

18:27Sinan: We are inside

18:29And Krishna accepted and welcomed us

18:35Sinan: it wasn’t easy to pass through the Himalayas

18:39Polish up those glasses.

18:42Allah Allah

18:44Çilingir Sofrası 27 / La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi ***Translated by Prof.Dr.Nükhet Kardam***