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I do know, as much as one can "know" about this.

"Whirling cervishes" were not trying to navigate the earthly plane,
spherical or otherwise.  I quote from a website: 'The Whirling Dervishes
trace their origin to the 13th century Ottoman Empire. The Dervishes, also
known as the Mevlevi Order, are Sufis, a spiritual offshoot of Islam.'  The
physical movement, gyrating dance and other practices produce one of the
types of meditative trance.  Like Buddhism, this group is navigating the
inner plane, the mind.  There is a huge debate going on right now about the
relationship between religion and neurophysiology.  I imagine that is not a
course this list wants to explore, but please, say so and I will give y9ou
more.

BTW, inner navigation is difficult.  One can't write a log or draw on a
chart, which doesn't exist anyway.  Transmittal of practice is tough.  Are
you sure you are doing it correctly yourself?  You can only start the
journey and hope for the best.

John Kabel
London, Ontario

Bruce Stark penned the query:

> In regard to the puzzle Herbert has set for us (and in the same spirit, I
> think) does anyone know where the whirling dervishes were trying to go?
>
> Herbert wrote: "On a spheroidal earth, if you proceed on a rhumb line with
> constant speed, you
> will arrive at a pole after a finite time. You won't be able to stop your
> vessel
> at this very moment, because of your inertia. This raises the puzzling
> question: Where will you be a second after you will have passed through the
> pole?"
>
> Bruce

   

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