This course will investigate the connections between music and mysticism in qawwali- Sufi devotional music of India and Pakistan, and the Bhakti traditions in India, including kirtan singing and Saiva-Siddhanta philosophy. We will also read deeply on the mantras and philosophy used by the Balinese puppeteer or dalang and the Saiva or Buddha priests in Bali, Indonesia. Finally, we will consider the mystical traditions of Iran, with a particular focus on Persian Sufi poetry (ghazal) and music practices such as zikr, the reciting or recollection of God's name. We will contemplate the poetry of the great mystic poets Rumi and Hafiz, and end with Taoist thought in the Tao Te Ching.