Pure Heart and Happy New Year

This is New Year's Eve here in Singapore. I wish all of you a very Blessed Happy New Year.

On this very blessed moment let us ask our Beloved Lord one thing, O Lord purify our Heart.

As Jesus said, Blessed are pure in heart, for they shall see God.

So, O Lord deny us not Your Glorious Face and make our Heart Pure.

With Your Will, let the next year be a blessed year in which every day, every moment You purify our Heart. The pure heart which was a gift from You - which with denial to Your Signs, ignorance, ungratefulness and unmindfulness we lost over the days, let us work to return to that purity which is our original essence. Amen.

Pin It Now!

A Wayfarer's Journey

On the path (we call life) we often come across people who shows us new directions. Wayfarer (its her blogging name) is one such sweet enlightened person whom i met while blogging. In her blog she mentions beautifully her coming to the truth. A Wayfarer's Journey is the footprints of her journey of search.

Read her own story here: Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Pin It Now!

The Best Gift

John Moore in his blog writes something very beautiful. The theme is about what best gift can you offer to someone. Let me quote ...

The Best Gift

The best gift you can give any one is of yourself.

Give your time and energy for someone you love or care about.

When you give of yourself, be there totally.

Do not wish you were somewhere else while on this mission,

or you will corrupt your gift.

Pin It Now!

Path is already made for you

Goodbye Flickr
Originally uploaded by BidWiya.

"In a small affair or in a big affair, first consult yourself and find out if there is any conflict in your own being about anything you want to do.

And when you find no conflict there, then feel sure that a path is already made for you. You have but to open your eyes and take a step forward, and the other step will be led by God."

~ Saying of Inayat Khan.
Pin It Now!

The Alchemy of Happiness

Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) deeply influence my thoughts. I have no hesitation to admit that my personal realization matches very much with this great Sufi Master from India who presented the Sufi Message directly for the first time in the West. This is an article by him which i love to share here with you.

The Alchemy of Happiness

THE SOUL in Sanskrit, in the terms of the Vedanta, is called Atman which means happiness or bliss itself. It is not that happiness belongs to the soul; it is that the soul itself is happiness. Today we often confuse happiness with pleasure; but pleasure is only an illusion, a shadow of happiness; and in this delusion man may pass his whole life, seeking after pleasure and never finding satisfaction. There is a Hindu saying that man looks for pleasure and finds pain. Every pleasure seems happiness in outward appearance; it promises happiness, for it is the shadow of happiness, but just as the shadow of a person is not the person though representing his form, so pleasure represents happiness but is not happiness in reality.

...

A person may follow a religion and yet not come to the realization of truth. But of what use is his religion to him if he is not happy? Religion does not mean depression and sadness. The spirit of religion should give happiness. God is happy. He is the perfection of love, harmony, and beauty. A religious person should be happier than one who is not religious.

...

After the heart is warmed by the divine element which is love, the next stage is the love of God. But the love of God alone is not sufficient; knowledge of God is also necessary. It is the absence of the knowledge of God which makes a man leave his religion, for there is a limit to man's patience. Knowledge of God strengthens man's belief in God, throws light on the individual and on life. Things become clear; every leaf on a tree becomes as a page of a holy book to one whose eyes are open to the knowledge of God.

Read the complete article here. Ref: www.wahiduddin.net

:: Brief bio of Inayat Khan. More About Inayat Khan. Wikipedia resource on Inayat Khan.

Pin It Now!

Mercy of God prevails over His wrath

Caught them!
Originally uploaded by solea.

When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my wrath.

:: Saying of Prophet Muhammad.

Credit: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/
Pin It Now!

Beg for Love

Consider this burning, and those who
burn, as gifts from the Friend.

Nothing to learn.
Too much has already been said.

When you read a single page from
the silent book of your heart,
you will laugh at all this chattering,
all this pretentious learning.


- Abu-Said Abil-Kheir (967 - 1049) Pin It Now!

ChristActually

I was walking through the corridor and came across this title in a poster posted by catholic society of our university on christmas occasion. The name really struck me. Its so beautiful : Christ Actually. The name and the color they used (red and white) was most probably inspired by the movie, Love Actually.

The name reminded me how little we know about the actual teachings and the true face of Jesus Christ. And at the same time, so much misunderstandaing and wrong understanding surrounds him, even in the so called christian west. If you really want to understand what i meant by it, you have to read something about the early christianity, the history of early christian church, Gnostic Gospels, Gospel of Mary Magdalene and also Dead Sea Scrolls.

Pin It Now!

The world, my brother! will abide with none : Sadi

The world, my brother! will abide with none,

By the world's Maker let thy heart be won.

Rely not, nor repose on this world's gain,

For many a son like thee she has reared and slain.

What matters, when the spirit seeks to fly,

If on a throne or on bare earth we die?

- Composed in 1258 by Sa'di (1207 ? - 1291)

ABOUT Sadi: Sheikh Muslihu'd-Din, known as Sadi, was descended from Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. Although Sadi was born and died in Shiraz, Persia (Iran), during his life he travelled extensively. He is said to have travelled for thirty years throughout the Islamic world. Iran has filled the centuries with some of the world's finest poets, but Iranians consider Sadi to be one of the greatest.

Historians often divide his life into three parts. His first twenty-five years he spent studying in various countries, going to university at Baghdad. During the next thirty years he travelled widely, to India in the east and as far west as Syria. He made his pilgrimage to Mecca fourteen times. Finally, Sadi returned to Shiraz where he devoted himself to writing and to teaching. Sadi was a disciple of the Sufi master Sheikh Shahabud-Din Sahrawardi. Sadi's two best known works are the Bustan (the Garden), composed entirely in verse, and the Gulistan (the Rose Garden), in both prose and verse. He was particularly known for the wry wit he injected into his poems. Sadi is probably the first Persian poet to have been translated into European languages. A German version of the Gulistan appeared in 1654. Sadi's tomb can be seen in the town of Shiraz. Lines from Sadi's poems are still commonly used in conversations by Iranians today.

Poem Credit :: Also visit this link for the translation of Sa'di's one of the best work The Gulistan, or Rose Garden

:: Other Poems by Sadi

Pin It Now!

Back from Malaysia

I'm just back from Malyasia after holidaying at some really nice places. We sent to Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Penang.

Among all the places Langkawi was the best. Its a collection of more than 100 islands and the beaches and waterfalls inside the jungles are breathtaking. God willing, I will be posting the pictures very soon (including some travel tips). Thanks a lot for all your good wishes.

Pin It Now!

Using Picture or Image

Writing from Penang, an island of Malaysia in the north west side.

I just saw one comment from a friend of mine about posting picture, specially picture of a prophet (Jesus Christ in previous post). Those who are not familiar with Islamic view, in orthodox islamic teachings, images of any living animal or person is very much discouraged and prohibited (same as Judaism). Influenced by this view, many practicing muslims regard picture as something very much a taboo. People took it so seriously that after the invention of photography many muslims refused to take picture (and some still do).

Now there needs to be some clarifications. And its completely on my personal understanding. I'm NOT an expert on Islam nor a scholar. But everybody has certain realization at some points. So i'm expressing mine here. You may like it, hate it or just ignore it all together.

We have to analyze the context of such idea of despising pictures. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had to fight very had to remove the pagan influence of the original monotheistic religion of Abraham. At that time (fifth century) Arab Peninsula were very much influenced by pagan gods and rituals that heavily used idols and images of imaginary gods. So amidst that kind of influence, Prophet Muhammad had to prohibit images, and it was just because of associating man made deities with One God. It was infact an attempt to re-establish the Ten Commandments given to mankind by God. So Prophet prohibited all images and idols. Also he prohibited to draw picture of living beings. And the whole idea was to prevent people to go back into darkness of pagan idol worship.

At the same time what happened to the follower of Jesus Christ also allarmed the Last Prophet of God. Instead of following the Ten Commandments, some follower of Jesus Christ under the influence of pagan religion of Roman Empire started building statues and images of Jesus Christ, as well as that of Mary to worship them. It was a very fundamental problem that was in contradiction to original Judio-Christian teachings. The ascribing of Divinity to Jesus Christ came through such idolizing process.

Because of such pheonomena, Prophet Muhammad forbade drawing any picture of himself so that people don't start worshiping the Prophet instead of worshiping God. Thus one will never find a picture of Prophet Muhammad drawn although his coming was more than 500 years after Jesus Christ. Also muslims don't hang any picture of any prophets since that is against the teachings of Islam and also against the Ten Commandments.

Remember the Ten commandments where it says,

3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing ...

Now we must understand that the use of image was prohibited to prevent people from blaspheming. And if one use image for the sake of clarity, for beautification; I think that problem doesn't come into play. In that context use of image is fine. It gives strong visual signals and information which is conducive to understanding and knowledge.

We must see the bigger picture and able to realize the true meaning of the teachings. Sometime narrowing down and limiting the real meaning of the teachings make us fall into serious errors and lead to divisions.

Pin It Now!

Small kindness for them who hold the kingdom of heaven in their heart

Beloved Friends,
Christmas is here ! But please be mindful and don’t indulge yourself into ever growing mentality of consumerism and materialistic culture.

On this blessed occasion of Jesus Christ’s coming to our world let us do something which will make him truly joyful. Its not buying unnecessary expensive things which we don’t really need. Instead of making our society and home a market place (just as in the days of Jesus, people turned the holy temples of God into market place and Jesus himself drove them out. Which symbolizes the shunning of materialism) … let us celebrate this Christmas in some true giving spirit.

We all know how much Jesus loved children (and i know you also do!). Jesus said, "Let the Children come to Me and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as them, Amen. I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a Child will not enter it.

Also we read, Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18: 2-6, from New International version).

Let me introduce an organization which works for the less fortunate children in war and natural calamity stricken areas. Its name is Small Kindness and they are doing very wonderful works around the world. Perhaps one of the best organization i know of that works to benefit the poor and children for real. The chairman of this organization is former pop singer Cat Stevens who dedicated his life into such humble work.

Let us open our heart and mind and donate for the less fortunate children who hold the kingdom of heaven in their heart. Let us donate (be it very little or more) in the name of God as well as remembering Jesus Christ and his love for children.

Please visit small kindness website to know their activities and then decide for yourself. A small kindness from your part is a very big life changing factor for a less fortunate child. Lets see if we can love our neighbors across the world as we love ourselves. Otherwise whats the use of such knowledge of scripture and holy books? And what to answer on the Final Judgement before God? May Father in Heaven bless our intentions and accept our efforts. Amen.

:: Small Kindness website. Click here for your share of small kindness.

Tag: Christmas , Jesus, Small Kindness, Donate, God, Love

Pin It Now!

Merry Christmas

I am off to Malaysia for a short holiday trip tonight. I have so many things to do in the coming days that i wanted to take a break from daily life with this trip. I would love to read some interesting books during this trip as well.

God willing & with your best wishes i might try to post some experiences of mine from Malaysia. Lets see how it goes. I am hoping to visit: Lengkawi, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and if time permit one or two other places.

Wish you all a wonderful Merry Christmas.

Pin It Now!

Sound keeps coming

New Mexican Sun Flower
Originally uploaded by Jennifer Esperanza.

The Temple Bell stops,
But the Sound Keeps
Coming Out,
Of The Flower.
Pin It Now!

Miracle of the physical heart

Almost universally, religious and spiritual traditions have always stressed the importance of the condition of the heart. Although the heart meant here is metaphysical heart, yet the physical heart is no short of mysticism.

Let me mention something here from the book Purification of the Heart, which i'm reading now.

:: The physical heart beats about 100,000 times a day, pumping two gallons of blood per minute and over 100 gallons per hour. If one were to attempt to carry 100 gallons of water (whose density is lighter than blood) from one place to another, it would be an exhausting task. Yet the human heart does this every hour of every day for an entire lifetime without respite.

:: The vascular system transporting life-giving blood is over 60,000 miles long - more than two times the circumference of the earth.

:: Heart starts beating before the brain is fully fashioned, that is without the benefit of a fully formed central nervous system. The nervous system doesn't initiate the beat of the heart, and that is actually self-initiated, or, as we would say, it is initiated by God. When all of its connections to the brain are severed, it even continues to beat.

:: There are over 40,000 neurons in the heart. While the brain sends messages to the heart, the heart also sends message to the brain. Scientists are still unveiling secrets of physical heart and its working.

Image credit: Pasieka / Science Photo

Pin It Now!

Reading now :: Purification of the Heart

Right now reading this book, Purification of the Heart by Hamza Yusuf. Its a translation and commentry of Imam al-Mawlud's book Matharat al-Qulub. The book is really nice and i was long searching for such a book.

In sufi tradition purification of the heart is an ancient spiritual science. It's significance is very great. As Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God"

Also in Quran we find, "On the day of Judgement no one is safe but the one who returs to God with a pure heart"

I would like to recommend you all to read this book as well. Surely it will be a book worth reading. There are some scientifc fact mentioned about the human heart in the book which sounds completely like metaphysics and very fascinating. I will post about it in the next post.

Pin It Now!

Om Mani Padme Hum and its Esoteric meaning

The Six-Syllabled Mantra ‘ OM MANI PADME HUM ’ is the heart mantra of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattvas (the Ultimate Buddha) and the essence of the Buddhas. its very difficult to translate, but literal translation means, hail to the jewel in the lotus.

Gen Rinpoche's definition: The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching (of Buddha). When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?

The ESOTERIC MEANING:

The Theosophist and Mystic H.P.Blavatsky writers, "Om Mani Padma Hum," means simply "Oh the Jewel of the Lotus,"

Esoterically it signifies "Oh my God within me."

Yes; there is God in each human being, for man was, and will re-become, God.

The sentence points to the indissoluble union between Man and the Universe.

For the Lotus is the universal symbol of Kosmos as the absolute totality, and the Jewel is Spiritual Man or God.

Avalokiteshvara - "The on-looking Lord": In the exoteric interpretation, he is Padmapani (the lotus bearer and the lotus born) inTibet, the first divine ancestor of the Tibetans, the complete incarnationor Avatar of Avalokiteswara; but in esoteric philosophy Avaloki, the"on-looker", is the Higher Self, while Padmapani is the Higher Ego or Manas.

The mystic formula "Om mani padme hum" is specially used to invoke their joint help. While popular fancy claims for Avalokiteswara many incarnationson earth, and sees in him, not very wrongly, the spiritual guide of every believer, the esoteric interpretation sees in him the LOGOS, both celestial and human. (TG) Agni Yoga.

[ THE SECRET DOCTRINE -VOLUME -3- by H.P.Blavatsky - The Seven Hierarchies (Page 475) ]

The mantra refers to those primal Light within each of us, Buddhist call it The Buddha Nature, non - dualistic state of mind and clear vision.

Ref: http://www.khandro.net/deity_Avalokiteshvara.htm

http://www.purifymind.com/Om9.htm

http://www.kmspks.org/events/evt_om.htm

# Related: Om Mani Padme Hum: a sufic interpretation Pin It Now!

O Mind

Upon Closer Inspection....
Originally uploaded by Kaddy.

O mind why you wander so much?

What message do you have in your wandering away?

Are you trying to say that you belongs to me not?

Or are you trying to teach me separation?

Come back to me or,
take me with you.
Pin It Now!

Removing the camp pictures

Dear visitors,

i was requrested by the YMCA camp authority about removing the camp pictures from my blog. Some of the parents of the participants are not comfortable with the picture published on the blog (we have diverse range of thoughts and opinions and we should respect that, shouldn't we?).

So with apologies and respecting their sentiment, i have removed the pictures from the blog. Bleesings!

Pin It Now!

Conversation with the Inner Master

The world is
Originally uploaded by Dovaneh.

Taking me beside the shore,
The Master asked:
Here is a book and here is the sea.
Which one you choose?

I looked down at my heart,
And my heart whispered: sea.
So i whispered back to my master,
'Sea'.

He said congratulations.
Never make yourself limited by limited knowledge,
But seek knowledge among the signs in nature.

The pages of the book will finish, and
It’s value will come to an end.

But the flow of the sea will never cease,
The waves are infinite.

(c) MysticSaint. Singapore Pin It Now!

Be generous like river

الشتيتين
Originally uploaded by Dovaneh.

A friend of God must be generous like a river. We all get water from the river to quench our thirst. It does not discriminate whether we are good or bad or whether we are a relation or a stranger.

- Saying of Mu'inuddin Chishti

Credit:www.wahiduddin.net/sufi/muinuddin_sayings.htm
Pin It Now!

Camp experience

I promised the readers to share my experience in the YMCA camp. It was a short camp with intellectually challenged people, mostly young. I would like to mention few of my reflections from the camp here:

:: It was more learning experience for the volunteers as compared to what we could give the beneficiaries back. They live in their world 365 days a year with all their challenges whereas we only tried to help them in just 2 days of those 365 days. Very little we could do and it was such a small effort. So it was mostly our learning from them rather than the other way.

:: The participants were full of life. Interestingly when i saw them cheerful and always similing often it came to my mind that they live more in a blissful world than we do (who claim to be normal). The joy they discover out of very small things we often fail to realize or neglect day in day out.

:: Some of them are really challenging (specially those with Autism) and at times i was feeling for their parents. How difficult times they have to go through managing their children and how painful it is for them when they find their dear children challenged in many ways in life.

:: I was befriended with a little boy of 12 or 13 years old. His name is Jiang Ker. He is suffering from Down's Syndrome. The boy is really cute. He speaks very little, but seems to understand almost everything. He has difficulty with speaking. In short period of time he became very popular among many other volunteers as well, out of his magical charm. I met the parents of the Jiang Ker and i felt how proud her mother is with her child. This really touched me to the core.

:: Today, one day after my coming back from the camp... while i was walking on my university corridor i realized how big impact has been made on my mind. When i was looking at people's face as if i was expecting the faces of the participants of the camp. They seems to be well rooted inside.

:: I like to extend my prayers for all the little ones, innocent pure souls who came to the camp. I wish they recover soon, and may God in His infinite grace bless their life. I pray for their parents who with utmost patience caring for them, giving their unparallel love to them. May God bless the parents as well as their special ones. Amen.

Pin It Now!

Dive deep

Face Acupunture Treatment
Originally uploaded by Jennifer Esperanza.

Come and face the inner.
Its more challenging to face the inner than the outer.

The inner is not inside, its everywhere. Its an illusion to think its only inside.

The inner is the most intimate than your think.

Thats why when you need to feel it,
you close your eyes in an effort to shut the outer.

(c) MysticSaint. NUS, Singapore.
Pin It Now!

Rememberance from Quranic Wisdom

(The righteous are those) who feed the poor, the orphan …

for the love of God, saying:

'We feed you for the sake of God alone;

we seek from you neither reward nor thanks.'

- The Holy Quran, 76:8-9

What is very beautiful about this verse is that the pure intention has been made clear here. It describes the characteristics of righteous behavior that one should help not to recieve thanks nor rewards, but to help for the sake of God alone.

This attitude is very important. Otherwise we may find ourselves caught in the attachment of selfish and self-centered help that seeks reward in terms of publicity, outward thanking and showiness.

:: Read the Holy Quran's English translation here. Pin It Now!

Following the bliss

When you follow your bliss,

the Whole Universe conspire to be
on your side.

The Divine open the doors for you.
And how does that
opening of doors occur?

You start to meet people,
who open the doors for you.

You start to meet the souls,
who lead you

to your higher destiny.

So my friend, follow your bliss

and don't be afraid.

:: Sadiq :: Singapore :: Dec, 2005

Pin It Now!

OSHO on "Sufis-of-the-New-Age"

Sufism is not concerned with knowledge. Its whole concern is love, intense, passionate love: how to fall in love with the whole, how to be in tune with the whole, how to bridge the distance between the creation and the creator. The so-called organized religions of the world teach a kind of duality, that the creator is separate from the creation, that the creator is higher than the creation, it has to be renounced. Sufi's don't renounce, they rejoice. And that's what I am teaching you here: Rejoice! My sannyas is a way of rejoicing, not a way of renunciation.

Rumi has said:
If you are not one with the Beloved,

Seek!

And if you are in union,

Rejoice!

...

I am initiating you into the ways of love . . .One needs to be in such love that one is ready to risk all. That love is called ishq. You have all known muhabbah, the so-called ordinary love, which is just an emotion, a sentiment, superficial. One day you are in love, another day you are in hate. One day you love the person and you are ready to die for the person, and another day you are ready to kill the same person. One moment you are so nice, so beautiful, another moment you are so nasty, so ugly to the same person.

This is not ishq, ishq has depht. Ishq, passionate love for God, is not of the personality. It is of the essence. It comes from your center; from the very ground of your being it arises and possesses you. It is not within your control; on the contrary, you are in its control. Yes, you are drunk and you are mad.

Sufis have found ways and methods of how to create ishq. That is the whole Sufi alchemy: how to create ishq in you, how to create such a passion that you can ride on the wave of it and reach to the Ultimate.

Wherever the wild ones meet, the mad ones meet, wherever there is simplicity and love, and wherever there is prayer, zikr, remembrance of God, this miracle happens. You may not be able to see it. It is happening. I am not just teaching you about God. I am not interested in giving you knowledge about God. I am sharing my God with you; it is a sharing. I want to challenge your God which is asleep inside you, to provoke it. And that is the work Sufis have been doing down the ages: provoking the potential into the actual.

~ Osho

THE SECRET

11 october 1978

Ref: http://www.wajid.nl/sufisofthenewage.htm

Pin It Now!

Sorry state

Hello everyone, i'm back and i messed up my blogger template (i was trying to edit something ... and it went crazysomehow). LESSON learned:: backup your blog template and backup the archives as well. (i was quite depressed about it, but again thanks God that the blog itself is ok).

The camp was fine, i will talk about the experience soon. But before that i want to restore my blog's condition. Pls give me some time.

By the day, do u know some good, 'free to download' blog template or skin site? Thanks a lot for your comments. Pin It Now!

Taking time off

Beloved friends,
i'm going to volunteer for a camp for metally challenged people. It will be a 2 day camp starting from today evening. So i may not be posting for next 2 days.

This camp will be having mostly young people with intellectual disability, people with down's syndrome, Schizophrenia and Autism. God willing, i wish to share my experiences from the camp in the upcoming days. See you then !

Do keep your beautiful comments coming. I would love to read all the comments (delivered to my mail box) when i come back. Blessings !!

Pin It Now!

The other side of the coin

The other side of the coin
is rusting.
But they still have their hope.
What are we going to do about it?

Pls watch this wonderful presentation by Ekin Caglar who dare to dream to make poverty history. The presentation is really an eye opener. It shows the neglected face of the humanity.

Click here to view.

Credit: http://www.ekincaglar.com

Tag: Poverty, Hunger, Africa , Humanity

Pin It Now!

4 Sufi Haiku

Alone with The Alone

Take away everything and
Let me be alone with The Alone.
~

Veiling and unveiling
Veiling and unveiling of God
Is like inbreath and outbreath.

It happens all the time,
Yet we fail to realize.
~

Be still and know
The veils were lifeted
in my stillness.

And the identity of Him and mine
was made known.
~

Poverty of the Heart
I have nothing
and I want nothing.

Take away my existence
to merge in You as well.
~

(c) Sadiq M. Alam. MysticSaint
Dated : 13 Dec, 2005 ; 15 Oct, 2005 ; 15 Dec, 2005; 15 Dec, 2005.

:: Haiku is one of the most important mode of Japanese poem.

Pin It Now!

A talk on Christianity, Trinity, nature of God and Islam

This is a video talk by a former Texan protestant preacher on his view on Christianity, Trinity, Islam and his own life's experience. May be, God willing it may clear some of the islamophobia and misconception of Islam.

It nicely sums up some of the typical ignorance about Islam in the west, as well as some background of comparitive theology of Bible and Quran. At differnet times many visitors in my blog wanted to know more about Islam and what is the fundamental diff. between Christianity and Islam, so i thought this video might help you view the faith from a Christian perpective. Surely God guides whom He wills. May He guide us all who is now visiting this blog. Amen.

:: Watch the video here. on Quick time , Windows Media or Real player.

Ref site: More video talks by Yusuf Estes ::

Pin It Now!

Not my will, but Thine, be done

prayer
Originally uploaded by najme.

If He wants separation, and I want union,
I must give up what I want to fulfill His wishes.

The experience of separation kindles the fires of longing.
Longing to go Home,
longing to be in the company of friends,
longing to bask in His light and Know what is Real....to know no fear, our place, who we are and why we are here...

I surrender all this and every breath to His Will.
There is nothing more important than loving each other
and surrendering our petty will to His.

He is the One who gives us breath. We belong to Him and He has every right to do with us as He wills.

:: Credit to my dear friend Carolyn, excerpt from her beautiful email to me

:: Note: Not my will, but Thine, be done is a very famous prayer of Jesus (peace) which symbolizes the 'surrender to Divine Will' (interestingly, which in arabic means Islam). Watch this video on salvation as well.

. Love Thine Enemies

Tag: Prayer, Spirituality , Gnosis, Sufi, Lord, Surrender Pin It Now!

Space and Motion

Space and Motion :: A very beautiful site on Metaphysics, Theology, Philosophy and Science. A lot of food for thoughts.

Also read, Theology of Albert Einstein and Metaphysics Ideas

Ref:: http://www.spaceandmotion.com/ Pin It Now!

Prophet Muhammad foretold in Testament?

This has been one of my favorite topic of research, the prophecy of the Final Prophet Muhammad in Old and New Testament ... infact my interest in comparative religion almost started with this philosophy that in fact the 3 great monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have the same divine source and they are very much inter-connected with grand Divine continuity.

There has been very detail research by scholars, from both muslim and non-muslim background about the prophecy of the Final Prophet. I'm sure many Christians, Jews and even Muslims will find it very interesting.

The following links focus on the issue in summary. Pls go here, Link 0 :: Link1. :: Link2 :: Link3

Pls read them with open mind and heart. Feel free to comment if you need further information.

Tag: Religion, Muhammad, Mohammad, Testament, Islam, Bible, Prophecy, Inter-faith, Christianity, Judaism Pin It Now!

2 Links

I would love to present two interesting links to the readers.

1. Sheilax's first time in a mosque @ singapore.
The author writes very beautifully her experience in her blog, Higher Criticism. Read the post.

2. Sacred Astronomy by Zaytuna Institiute, USA. This site talks about a beautiful science of Islam and its revival. Pin It Now!

Wisdom of Muhammad

:: The ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr

:: Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded.

- Prophet and Last Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him

Read more wisdoms here.

Pin It Now!

The outward and the inward

There are a lot of outward practices in all religion or faith system.

But the Mystics or the Sufis say, every outward form has a meaning that runs deep. This is because everything is from the One and the underlying Unity runs through everything. (may be that is the secret of the Theory of Everything, which physicists & scientists are looking desperately)

Sometime with our pseudo-intellect we condemn some of the outward practices in conventional religions. But we often do that without understanding the inner teachings, meaning or importance. It will be a big mistake if we neglect the outward all together. After all we are formless souls manifested in outward forms. As long as we are in this world we can not ignore outwards.

I have seen many people at one point of time start to 'think' they know enough and they all together start to condemn the outwards practices and forms. Examples can be given of many islamic practices which pseudo-intellects start to think 'only outward' and disregard them. This mentality comes from our ego to prove (and make blind) ourselves superior than ordinary faithful. And it should be carefully looked into whenever that tendency grows in us.

There is no doubt that every outward practices in all religion or faiths have its enlightening effect on the practioner. And The One knows the best.

Pin It Now!

The pearl

A single drop of rain fell from a cloud in the sky

But was filled with shame when it saw the sea so wide.

'Next to the sea then,

who am I?

If the sea exists, then how can I?'

While looking down on itself

With the eyes of contempt,

An oyster in its shell,

Took it in for nourishment.

And so it was, that its fate was sealed by this event,

And it became a famous pearl to adore a king's head.

Having descended to the depths,

It was now exalted to the heights.

On the portal of non existence it went knocking,

Until it finally was transformed into being.

--- by Sadi, the persian poet ---

:: Credit: http://www.zensufi.com/stories/sadi1.html

Pin It Now!

The symbology of the Pharisees

There is no need to be spiritual.

It is far far more important to be a good human being, than to be spiritual. And more importantly to sound or show spirituality, is one of the most damaging thing one can do to supply fuel to his or her ego.

In the gnostic teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him), the pharisees are symbolized as the ego who show up spirituality. And you will find time and time again Jesus speaks against them. He condemn the pharisees who became full of dogmas, rituals and false showing of righteouness.

As Jesus says, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven". Mathew 5:20

"The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of gnosis. "Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle." (Gospel of Thomas)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity."

For is a list of 68 blesmishes of the Nafs (or carnal ego), pls go here.

Note: Those who are not familiar about Pharisees, they were the Jewish priests, law makers or rabbis. Jesus came at the time when Judaism was corrupted by these priests. Eventually they became so blind in religion and extremist in very limited parts of The Law (plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The Messiah when He was in their very midst. Interestingly many people miss out that fact that it was Jesus who was sent when Judaism was corrupted, Mosaic laws were distorted and Jesus's main mission was to remind the mankind the real teachings of God.

Similarly when Jesus's teachings were corrupted and man made doctrines were added one after another to the original teachings, at that time (610 AD, the time of first divine revelation) Prophet Muhammad was sent as a messenger who restored the real Jesus and his image. At the time of Prophet Muhammad original teachings of Jesus has already been distorted to a serious extent. The true Gospels were hidden, the gospels written by the true and direct disciples of Jesus were no longer valued by the controlling church councils.

Pin It Now!

Night and Rain

My friend Tempest writes a wonderful comment in an earlier post, "I love the nights and the peacefulness they bring…its like…it feels as though the whole world is asleep apart from you.

Its like there is a blessing within the night, but not many people can comprehend what its all about, it’s a blanket of rest for those who want ot rest and it’s a blanket of stillness for those who want to stay awake and be alone.

Its so quiet and all one can hear is the sound of nature itself calling. Just to stand outside in the rain, and to feel each drop of rain hit against your face, to feel each rain drop trickle down, it starts off as a drop and then unites with the others to become a puddle to reflect in. Rain, its only water coming down from the sky, but for the simple minded it can provide so much tranquillity.

People often complain about the rain, about the wetness, I pity those people they miss out on much, they do not understand the secrets which lie within nature."

I think Tempest wrote something very beautifully about the night and it reminded me some verses of Quran. Ponder on these beautiful verses from Quran that says about the mystical dimension of Night::

And He it is Who maketh night a covering for you, and sleep repose, and maketh day a resurrection. Quran, 025.047

Most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day ... are signs (of Allah's Sovereignty) for people who are mindful. Quran 002.164

Allah it is Who hath appointed for you night that ye may rest therein, and day for seeing. Lo! Allah is a Lord of bounty for mankind, yet most of mankind give not thanks. Quran 040.061

It is Allah Who alternates the Night and the Day: verily in these things is an instructive example for those who have vision! Quran 024.044

He merges Night into Day, and He merges Day into Night; and He has full knowledge of the secrets of hearts. Quran 057.006

We have made the Night and the Day as two (of Our) Signs: the Sign of the Night have We obscured, while the Sign of the Day We have made to enlighten you; that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and that ye may know the number and count of the years: all things have We explained in detail. Quran 017.012

Ref:: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

Pin It Now!

Sufism and Gnosticism

Homoplasmate is a forum for the discussion of Gnostic Christianity and Mysticism. The author Jesse writes a nice post about Sufism and Gnosticism. Its quite thoughtful. Some excerpt of the post:

"The key to the religious revelation afforded by Sufism is their understanding of the identity of the human being. Human beings, they assert, are earthly in status and animalistic by nature, but divine in origin. In every person, a remnant of this divine nature sleeps waiting to be discovered.

The normal person does not see the divine within themselves, but seek it externally and so believe that the nature of God must be external. The Sufi however redefines their idea of God to include themselves, concluding that since they are created of God, they must share his identity. The human’s individual soul is an offshoot, or manifestation of, God’s eternal soul. Everything in the universe shares this soul:

Everything which is found in the cosmos is to be found in the soul; equally everything in the soul is in the cosmos. Because of this fact, he who masters his soul most certainly masters the cosmos, just as he who is dominated by his soul is certainly dominated by the whole cosmos. Reinterpreting the search for God from a search for something external to a search within, the Sufi master “finds within himself all that he had sought outwardly, for being united with God he is separate from nothing.”

This revelation brings about both a drastic reinterpretation of the universe, seeing it through the lens of the knowledge that all is God, and a drastic reinterpretation of the Sufi’s own self. The Sufis refer to a thusly enlightened person as a Universal or perfect person."

Read the complete post here.

Pin It Now!

A Rose for you

Originally uploaded by Umaru Idi-Catteau.

Let me present this Red Rose, to all of you who is visiting my blog today.

I love to know who is visiting my blog. The only way i can know is when you write a comment. So pls drop a comment in the comment section if you visit but never commented before. Just saying hello as a comment is fine.


“A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world.”
- Leo F. Buscaglia quotes

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.” - Anonymous

“The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.” - Anonymous

Quote Credit

Pin It Now!

Mystic

God is a Mystic,
and who knows His plans in advance?

God is the Ultimate Mystic,
who can truly know Him, but Himself?

God loves mystery,
thus among His creation He plays
with endless mysteries.

And thats why it is mysticism
that takes you near to Him.
and helps one to realize His nature.


Sadiq. Singapore. 8 Dec, 2005 Pin It Now!

Harmony of moon, clouds and rain : (Diary)

Dover, Singapore. Its 1:55 am in the middle of the night and its raining really sweet and heavy. I love rain. Specially when it rains at the late hours of the night.

I open up the door and go out to the balcony. I wanted to watch the rain in the pure moonlight. But alas! Living in a modern city has its disadvantages. This invasion of artificial light everywhere really takes out the mysterious beauty of the pure moonlight at night. Sometime i wish i could ask the city authority to turn off *all the lights* on full moon so that all could enjoy the heavenly beauty.

I wish I could live away from this modern city, somewhere at countryside in a hut perhaps. Just enough shelter. Then could watch this beautiful rain in the middle of the night under the moonlight. I could hear the sound of every drops of rain.

Wish i could see the song of harmony between moon, clouds and rain drops from my imaginary little hut.

Will you join with me to watch the rain in the hut of my dreamland?

Pin It Now!

Open the Love Window

There is some kiss we want

with our whole lives,

the touch of Spirit on the body.

Sea water begs the pearl to break its shell.

And the lily, how passionately

it needs some wild Darling!

At night, I open the window

and ask the moon to come

and press its face into mine.

Breathe into me.

Close the language-door,

and open the love-window.

The moon won't use the door,

only the window.

- Rumi, the 13th Century Sufi Mystic and Poet. One of the most loved poet in America as well.

Image Credit. :: Ref: Belifenet article on Rumi

Tag: Spirituality, Sufism, Rumi, Love, Sufi.

Pin It Now!

How can you die without knowing who you are?

I was watching this wonderful talk by Adyashanti. He was talking about a lady who was suffering from cancer, about to die ... who one day awaken and told her self .. "I do not know who I'm. How can I die without knowing who I'm?"

And the whole world stops for her to let her know who she really was. And after she had her realization and awakened to the Truth, she died with that wisdom.

:: Watch the video talk by Adyashanti here (What do you reall want is the title of the talk in the site). Ref: www.adyashanti.org

Pin It Now!

Trivial

Mutant...
Originally uploaded by sonia10.

When you die my friend,
It doesn't matter what kind of bathroom you had.
It won't matter whether you have watched the latest movie or you drived the latest model of the car.

When you meet your light at the end of the tunnel, all that matters will be whether you have lived consciously or not. Whether you lived your life fully or not, did you love with all your heart is all that matters.

So my friend,
Follow your bliss and don't be afraid. Have faith and appreciate the wonderful & magical life.
Pin It Now!

Adyashanti - a blessed soul

Adyashanti from California, have a lot of identity that can be associated with him. He is an inspirational teacher, author, zen practitioner. But above all he is a blessed soul present in our very time. His name, "Adyashanti" means primordial peace.

Adyashanti dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti.

The author of Emptiness Dancing, The Impact of Awakening, and My Secret is Silence, Adyashanti offers spontaneous and direct nondual teachings that have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages.

However, Adya says, "If you filter my words through any tradition or '-ism', you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond—awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that."

A native of Northern California, Adyashanti lives with his wife, Annie, and teaches extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also travels to teach in other areas of the United States and Canada.

Ref: http://www.adyashanti.org/. Visit his website for teachings, his talks and videos.

Pin It Now!

Returning to Innocence by realizing the Oneness

In the previous post, i wrote a poem about returning back to our Original Innocence.

But how we do it? I was listening to this talk by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. He is a (sufi) mystic and a dream worker. His talks are really inspiring. The title of this talk is Awareness of Oneness. I think the topic will give you a good hint how to go back to the Reality and how to claim innocence not only for us, but also for our living earth. The journey is not necessarily personal, it can be collective. We can enlighten not alone, but together.

Lets spread our wings together
and fly back to the Real.
Let us return to the original image,
The very image of God
like which we are created.

Awareness of Oneness, a beautiful lecture by Sufi Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee.

Right click on the above link, select Save Target As... and click. Listen to it when download is complete. Its in mp3 audio format.

For more of the talks by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, visit here.
Ref: http://www.goldensufi.org, http://www.workingwithoneness.org Pin It Now!

Innocence

Look into the eyes.
They say eye is the mirror of the soul.
You see the innocence, don't you?

This very innocence was inside you also.
With time you confuse your innocence, but they are never lost.

Return to your innocence and rediscover the beauty inside you again.

Behold, inside you lies the whole mystery of the Universe!


Sadiq. Singapore. 3rd Dec, 2005 Pin It Now!

Reflection of God inside

Prophet Idris (peace be on him) could spoke by all stars. He asked the moon "Why your brightness sometimes is few and sometimes is much?"

The moon said: "my color is black and I am flat and smooth and I have no light! but when I am placed in front of the sun, the amount that I position in front of the sun, it shine to me similar the objects in the mirror. Then I was in front of the sun totally and face to face, my light become complete."

Idris asked him"How much you are friend and nearness with the sun?"

The moon said: 'When I was in front of the sun totally and I look at myself , I saw the sun because the sample of sun's light is evident in me. I am ready for receive his light. So if I look at myself I see the sun perfectly." and the moon continue: "didn't you see when a mirror is placed in front of the sun, sun's picture forming in it? If the mirror had eye and look at itself, it saw the sun although it is iron (or glass). it's proclaiming "I'm sun" because in itself it didn't see anything other than the sun.

If it is placed in front of God and declare "i'm God" we shouldn't complaint it!

Section 9 of "Language of ants" by Sheikh Shihaboddin Sohravardi,

Translator: Esmaeel Radpour. Thanks to Esmaeel for sharing this story with me. Image credit.

Pin It Now!

Reading now: The Spirit of Zen

The philiosophy of Zen is very interesting to me. I am very much inclined to mysticism, metaphysics and among them Sufi philosophy attracts me most. I see a very close relationship between the Spirit of Sufi and of Zen.

Sufism tells its the essence of religion and it is beyond the form we call religion. Zen also have the similar approach. It transcend beyond conventional Buddhism. I have just gathered this book THE SPIRIT OF ZEN by Alan W. Watts, from Singapore Theosophical Society and it seems very nice.

Here i wish to quote about 'what Zen really is' from this book.

Zen has no exact equivalent in English. It is a Japanese word dervied from Chinese Ch'an which is again from Sanskrit Dhyana. In Yoga psychology, Dhyana is a high state of consciousness in which man finds union with the Ultimate Reality of the universe.

Thus if Zen is to be translated the nearest equivalent would be 'Enlightenment', but even so Zen is ont only Enlightenment; it is also teh way to its attainment.

From the start Zen dispenses with all forms of theorization, doctrinal instruction and life less formality; these are treated as mere symbols of wisdom, and Zen is founded on practice and on an intimate, personal experience of the reality to which most forms of religion and philosophy cmoe no nearer than intellectual or emotional description.

In a certain sense Zen is feeling life instead of feelings something about life.

Tag: Zen, Spirituality, Buddhism, Sufism.

Pin It Now!

Why muslims pray everyday?

1.
Muslims (meaning, who submits to the Divine) are commanded by God to pray five times a day. And to the surprise of non-muslims, all faithful muslims do that 365 days a year, everyday. Sometime non-muslims wonder, why so many times? Are these folks crazy or what?

There are thousand reasons why muslims pray five times a day. I can go on with a very long list, but i would like to just mention some very common sense reasons. One from Buddhist perspective another from Christian (or you can say mystical perspective).

The mystical perspective: When you are in love, don't you have this longing to call your beloved time and time again? Perhaps you wish to see or talk to him/her hundreds times if you are away from him/her. This experience is very common to all human heart who is in love.

All religion teaches you to love God, the Supreme Being. And muslims don't just say that, but in action do what love demands. Thats why they hasten to their Beloved time and time again, contemplate on the Divine. That is the secret of praying numerous time a day. From mystical point of view, God is the ultimate Lover and you communicate to your Beloved by your prayer. What else son of Adam have but prayer to communicate with Him?

Remember the verse: "...to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul"(Deuteronomy 11:13)

The Buddhist perspective: Buddha taught the great importance of mindfulness. It is prayer at set times are great tool to meditate and to have a mindful life. We often are too must swept away with our materialist day to day affairs. Muslims when they pray at prescribed time, they again come back to their soul, come back to their origin. It is a collective, mindful meditation that helps you not to forget who you are and where you belong. The art of mindfulness is applied very practically in regular prayer and meditation.

Now you may ask, pray regularly is ok. But isn't praying five times a day is too much? The simple answer is no, its not too much. Billions of muslims on earth do that. And even when they participate in this modern lifestyle.

There is a provision in Islam that you can combine your mid day prayers together and night prayers together. So, practically it come down to pray (or meditate) 3 times a day. So if you are scheduled very tight because of busy work you can pray thrice. First, before sunrise. then at the middle of the day and after sunset or at night.

By doing so among other blessings what happen is that you get a clear and peaceful mind. By praying before sunrise, you start your day early. In the middle of the day you take time out to pray and you help yourself to free yourself from the work stress. By praying at end of the day you complete the cyle and cool down your stresses.

Even in this twenty first century the medical and psychology experts are suggesting to take time out during work and to do regular meditation. Islam being the final message to humanity established this practice for modern man.

And in Original Judaism prayer was also prescribed 3 times a day. Jesus (peace be upon him) also used to pray 3 times everyday respecting the laws. It is only Pauline Christinity that downplayed the significance of prayer. When Islam came after original message of Jesus was corrupted, Islam prescribed prayer 5 times a day but at the same time gave opportunity to observe it in 3 times.

2.
one night a man was crying:
Allah! Allah!

his lips grew sweet with the praising,
until a cynic said, 'so!
I have heard you calling out,
but have you ever gotten any response?'

the man had no answer for that.

he quit praying
and fell into a confused sleep,
where he dreamed.
he saw khidr, the guide of souls
in a thick green foliage.

- 'why did you stop praising?'

'because I never heard anything back.'

- 'this longing you express - is the return message.
the grief you cry out from
draws you toward union.
your pure sadness that wants help
is the secret cup.

listen to the moan of a dog for its master,
that whining is the connection.

listen to the moan of a dog for its master,
that whining is the connection.'

there are love dogs
no one knows the names of,
give your life to be one of them!

- Coleman Bark's rendition of 13th century sufi mystic Rumi's poetry (details)

Tag: Religion, Spiritual, Mystic, Prayer, Islam, Judaism, Christian Pin It Now!

What word did Jesus use to call God?

I have noticed with deep pain in heart that in the west there is a campaign to market the falsehood that muslims pray to a different God other than the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.

And it helps them to propagate that lie since muslims use the word, "Allah" to mean God which is unknown to many westerner. And many fanatic 'so called religious leaders' say Allah is different than God. There is a common misunderstanding about this name among non-muslims.

Let me try to clear the misconception about it by finding what word Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) used exactly to mean God?

In the Semitic language of Aramaic that Jesus spoke, the Aramaic name that is translated as God in the European bible was actually Alaha. Indeed, Allah of the Qur'an and Alaha of Jesus are the same One. The name God is a relatively new, and perhaps unfortunate, European invention that has been the source of much misunderstanding, fear and hatred.

The English word "God" was, of course, unknown to Jesus. The word "God" comes from the German word "goot" which means the "good one." When Jesus spoke of "God" he employed the word "ALAHA," just as the Hebrew speaking people spoke of ALOHIM and Aramaic speakers call the Good One ALLAH.

All three of these Semitic Names for the One God share the root "AL." Unfortunately, there is no exact translation for "AL." The closest would be to "refer to one's very breath, to one's very heartbeat."

This is the reason for the famous verse in the Koran (Qur'an):
Allah is near to each of us: closer than the very jugular vein.

And muslims perfer to use the word Allah because it is the most pure word that can be given to the Divine Being since it can not be made plural and don't have any gender bias. Entymologically you can not find a more suitable word in all human language that can be used to call One True God.

For details pls visit the following links:

Ref: http://wahiduddin.net/views/unity1.htm, All faith

Pin It Now!