Is it enough?

I wonder... is it enough to be good?

Being a "good person" is something that is difficult in today's world. It is quite hard to consistently act in a manner which can be construed by the majority of people as "good" (there will always be some people whose personal interests lie opposite the "good" of the majority, so it is truly impossible to please everyone). But, having said this, it is not exceptionally difficult to be a "good person" the majority of the time.

I personally believe that all of us have more goodness than not within us. This may be idealistic, but based on personal experience, I feel that the majority of people want to do what they perceive as being "good" in the majority of cases. The difference lies in where the common good lies, vs. the individual.

So, I do not feel as though being a good person is an incredibly difficult feat, I feel that most of us already do act in a "good" manner in most situations.

So, assuming that my previous, potentially idealistic assumption of human nature is correct...is it enough to be good?

What does it mean to live in our world? I believe that there must be some purpose to our existence here on this Earth... many would say that the purpose is to eventually go to heaven... To those individuals I would ask if it is enough to be good?

Heaven is a conceptual "place" where a soul would travel to if it has lived a "good life"... Is that the only purpose of our existence here on this Earth? To be good people, help others, live fulfilled lives and eventually die and have a part of our essence travel to heaven?

Even if heaven is filled with joys I cannot at this time fathom... it still seems an empty prize for a task that is not exceedingly difficult. Rather, I feel we should strive not to exchange the prison of our souls from the body to a heavenly one... we should each strive for a truth... something deeper that lies beyond.

Why are we here? Is it enough to simply be good? Or is there more to this life?

For some reason, I cannot accept the fact that life could have such a simple goal... that the entire purpose of creation is to live within a subjective framework of "good" and "bad" and through living within this framework to obtain a reward which seems to be quite limited in it's scope.

Why say yes to heaven, when the true goal is a truth that lies beyond it? The truth of why we are truly here.

The Day of Judgment

One of the most common questions I get asked deals with the Day of Judgment.

Now, many people believe that one day there will come a day of reckoning for each of us, when each and every one of us will have to account for our actions. The difference stems from what is literal and what is not literal.

No one truly knows what the term Day of Judgment really means, it is talked about in the Qur'an as being the end of all days, and many philosophers and theologists have attempted to decipher the truth behind what this term means.

Theories behind what it refers to include it being a literal day where the world as we know it will cease to exist and God will judge each individual whether they are presently alive or dead based on their deeds. Other theories state that there are multiple forms of the Day of Judgment, each of us lives through this every day of our lives, we are judged every day by our conduct, we are judged when we die and we are judged when our species will eventually die. Yet another perspective states that the Day of Judgment is a metaphor in it's entirety. Actions are constantly accounted for, however, the Day of Judgment as a physical day does not happen...

All of these probably have some truth to them, but no one can really know what will happen or what this phrase refers to.

I believe that accountability is an important aspect of being human. I feel that we must answer for the wrongs we have done and be acknowledged for the good we have done. However, my perception of God must also play a role in my personal understanding of the Day of Judgment. When I think of God, I think of an entity beyond anything the human mind can conceive... as such, God is beyond the concept of time.

When I think of a Day of Judgment, I feel that there are 2 perspectives... from the human perspective, when we are judged for our actions (whether it be at the end of each day, or at the end of our lives, or at some other time interval), that "time" when we are judged would be the Day of Judgment... from the perspective of the Almighty, the concept of a single day would be irrelevant. God is in all places and times. The God who exists today is the exact same God from millenia ago and will be the same in millenia to come.

I would venture to say that the concept of a Day of Judgment would be flawed because it would be isolated to a Day, when God, who is doing the judging, lies beyond time.

Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, I guess only time will tell.

Healing

They say that time heals everything.

Yes, it does... but how and why?

When we feel physical pain, as long as we have not lost our life, limbs or anything else irretrievably, we find that over time, our bodies heal by themselves. We have a remarkable capacity to recover from physical wounds because of the design of our bodies.

So, time does result in the healing of most physical wounds, but what about non-physical ones?

When we suffer a mental, emotional or spiritual hurt, does time heal this as well? If so, how?

The obvious answer that most of us can attest to is that yes, time does heal all hurts, even those that are not physical to some extent. Now this does not mean that emotional trauma disappears, even after many years. But, over time the pain that we felt when the physical, emotional, mental or spiritual harm was initially inflicted on us, declines.

Why would this be?

When I think of spiritual, mental and emotional states, the one thing that I see that they all have in common (at least in my limited material experience) is that all of these states relate to the mind. All experiences that lie in this world are experienced through our minds. To some level, all experience is a mental exercise. How can one possibly heal the mind? It is such a complex structure, not one that can be fixed easily...

The one double edged sword that each of us has been granted, the one recovery granted to each of our minds is our ability to forget.

We are not omniscient, we do not know everything and this is for the best. Being limited enables us to actually forget things. Forget pain, forget hurt, forget betrayal, forget our own faults and, ironically... our own limitations.

This is the one escape granted to each of us. Over time, we are given the ability to forget some things. We can sublimate our pain and move on because we slowly forget... Now, if we have lost a loved one, that does not mean that we forget our loved one, far from it. Rather, we do tend to forget our daily interactions with our loved one. We slowly don't miss them quite as much. We slowly move on. We slowly forget little quirks of theirs. We will never (God Willing) truly forget the essence of those we love, but we will forget the details.

Many thought experiments look at what it would be like to have knowledge of everything... I feel that it would be terrible to live as a human while having omniscience as God does. To never be able to truly forget pain. To never be able to move forward and progress... to never truly need to. God in His infinite mercy has given us the gift of forgetting. We can never be perfect, and that is truly an amazing gift.

Adam and Eve

I have learnt throughout my life that there is no conflict between religion and science. In fact, I have been taught that science when properly applied and interpreted is simply another facet of faith, and I sincerely believe this.

But then I hear many "theologists" and "religious individuals" talking about Adam and Eve and how Evolution couldn't have happened. On the other side of the debate stand individuals such as Bill Nye (The Science Guy), and a relatively massive pile of information... so there has to be a conflict right? Only one can prevail!!!

Not quite...

In Islam, our holy book, the Qur'an talks about Hazrat Adam (AS) and Bibi Hawa (Eve - AS), however it also mentions that God speaks to Mankind in parables and allegories, for God is the Knower of all things... So, here is my completely flawed, terribly biased attempt at understanding how, maybe, just maybe there is a way to believe in both a scientific principle as central as Evolution, and believe in the way the Holy books speak of it.

Of course, this requires a disclaimer - there is really no proof of anything I will write, if it offends you, I apologize. My perspective on this may (and likely will) change over the days, months and years, and when I am an older person, this may not hold true to me anymore. Additionally, I realize there are many things written that may contradict this, but it is simply a different way of looking at an issue, I personally believe that you cannot "sandbox" a concept as powerful and vast as Religion within something as limited as Science, so really science can only be one lens through which a person can view religion, but not the only one - however, it is the one that we see most often at odds with belief, so this is my attempt to tackle this.

Science tells us that mankind evolved from a common ancestor with apes and chimpanzees. At one point in time, there was a differentiation that occurred... almost an "AHA" moment, where suddenly a species had changed enough from that common ancestor that it could be called what we know today as "mankind." At one point in time, perhaps there was a single individual, who became cognizant, who became self aware. For the first time in our history there was a part of creation capable of naming itself... Adam.

So far, it could be plausible, God created mankind and the world, and man was created from a clot and formed essentially of base materials (clay of course could also be a metaphor referring to the ability to mould the intellect).

The next part of the narrative where God commands Adam and Eve not to partake of the forbidden fruit and they are tricked into it through the work of the Devil can also be interpreted in many ways. I have always considered that the greatest gift and the greatest curse we have been given has been our intellect. Our sense of awareness allows us to name things, allows us to communicate, pray and love. However, it can also lead to poor decisions, willfulness, anger, hatred, violence, catastrophic power and pride. For this reason, I have often chosen to interpret the devil as a metaphor for the intellect or, more specifically, the nafs al-amarra or the negative aspects of the intellect. Perhaps the garden of paradise that Adam and Eve lived in was a metaphorical garden within the mind. A sheltered place where their innocence as the first cognizant human beings could be expressed. Perhaps when Adam and Eve began to first ponder the nature and existence of God (the forbidden fruit that completely innocent beings cannot partake of), God chose to let them question. God allowed Adam and Eve to be free of the Garden of Paradise, a Garden that was a beautiful place, however, also a prison for their intellects. A place where they would be eternally happy, yet never truly living to their full potential.

Maybe, maybe not... but it's one possible way to think about creation. I personally refuse to believe that Science and Religion disagree completely on things as important as the creation of mankind. Maybe it's a poor compromise, but I feel it's a step in the right direction towards truly understanding religion and it's child, science.

What I have learned

With the passing of my father comes a time of reflection, of thankfulness and of peace.

Through this I have realized that I have learned a great deal from a great man.

When my father was alive, I remember loving him fiercely, being protective of him almost as one would be protective of their own child, and just as parents are wont to do, I had completely ignored all the lessons my father was teaching me as I helped take care of him.

There are 3 things, 3 lessons that have really stood out for me in my time of reflection.

My father taught me to love. I already knew how to love of course, but through needing my help, through giving me his rare but beautiful smiles, through treating me differently than the rest of the world, I knew that I was very important to him and this of course meant that he was very important to me. Love means many things to many people, but for me, love is truly manifest when you are willing and able to do anything for the betterment of another, when you would give anything to make another smile, when you would fight against anything or anyone else to protect someone. That to me makes up a small part of what it means to love. I truly understood that thanks to my father.

My father taught me patience. Many times he would need to express himself but would be unable to, many times the specific word(s) he was looking for would remain just off the tip of his tongue. Many times, he would simply be cranky... My love for him helped me to endure these... this was truly an amazing way to learn to be patient... by listening to someone you love. Most of us love someone else deeply, but most of us are too preoccupied with our own desires, wants and needs to really listen to those whom we love. I was blessed, I was forced to listen to someone whom I loved, if I didn't listen and stay patient, I would have never understood anything he wished to say. Eventually, listening became a bit more of a habit, and I sincerely hope I can keep on listening through every relationship I have.

The final and most important lesson my father taught me was in humility. My father truly taught me to be humble, but unfortunately, this essential lesson has been more firmly learned only after his passing. Humility is among the most important traits we possess as humans, it is a characteristic that allows us to love, to be spiritual. It keeps us from vanity and allows us to be honest. If I were to be completely honest, I have never truly been a humble person. I have always felt different, and this uniqueness over the years has tended to express itself through pride. My deepest thanks have always gone to God for the many gifts I have received, but I always recognized that in my heart of hearts I was never truly humble. I understood that what I have in my life is not purely my own doing, I have always known that without the love of God, I would be nothing... but this is not all it takes to be truly humble. To be humble, one must acknowledge the impact other human beings have on ones spiritual and material growth. To be truly humble, one's heart must understand that life is not permanent and that everyone leaves unfinished business when they pass. To be truly humble can be depressing... because it means that one must let go of ones identity, abilities and beliefs. Through this, a person can realize the truth. When my father passed away, I realized that the events in my life that I thought were of my own doing, were often linked directly to the actions of my family. When I thought I was on my own, I almost always had many others with me. When I believed that I worked hard to achieve something, often my parents worked even harder than I did to help me to achieve. I was never alone, I have never done anything truly independently... and in this lies the greatest of truths. We are individually, both insignificant and the most significant being in all of creation... at the same time.

Thank you Dad.

Selfish Tears

When one we love passes away, we cry...

Why?

Even looking at it from a non-religious standpoint, we don't cry for the deceased. We have no idea what happens to that individual after they die. We can say that we believe they go to heaven, or we know that they are "One with God" or "at peace"...  but in reality, very few people, if any are gifted with the knowledge of exactly what lies after death...

So, what are we crying for?

We cry because that person will no longer share in our lives, that person will no longer make up a portion of our life story. We cry because we must live through a present and a future without them.

We cry because we are selfish...

The person who passes away and has tears shed for them, was such an amazing, AMAZING person, that regardless of faults, pain caused knowingly or unknowingly to others... that person has inspired sadness. That person has given the world gifts that will be sorely missed now that they are gone.

Those selfish tears are all that we are left with... and memories.

I remember my father as a strong man, and as a weak man. I remember him as being many things, angry, sad, happy, but I cry not because of the things I remember about him, I cry because of the gifts he has given me that I cannot recall. I cry because of the moral values he has instilled in every fibre of my being. I cry because my children and grandchildren (if I am given the grace of God to have any) will not have the privilege and opportunity to ever meet a man who has changed so many lives.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad once said, "Paradise lies at the feet of mothers"... for me, I saw Paradise whenever my father smiled.

Thankfulness

I wonder on the nature of being thankful...

One of the most important prayers that I urge others to recite is one dealing with thanking God for all that we have. Nothing that we have in our lives would exist if not for the mercy and kindness of the Big Guy. There are many reasons that thankfulness is encouraged, it emphasizes humility, spiritual growth, understanding of the self and a host of other positives. Through being thankful for what one has, one truly appreciates what one does have and can look past what one does not have. In this way, being thankful is a way in which the trap of the material world can be overcome.

So, for all of these reasons, I personally give thanks and encourage others to give thanks. There are many things that we can appreciate in our lives, our health, wealth, bodies, homes, families, friends, communities, the fact that we are alive in a beautiful vibrant world. That new toy or material object that brings us so much joy.

But one aspect of thankfulness that exists in my own life is one I seem to constantly overlook. Thankfulness towards those around me, my family, friends and loved ones.

By saying this, I do not mean to say that being thankful to God for all that He has given is lessened in any way, however, over the course of our everyday lives, there are so many people that give so much to help us out. Be it intentionally or unintentionally, the impact of others around us is immense. We are social beings, so social contact moulds who we are. Be it a brother who sacrifices time, money and energy in small or large ways, be it another sibling who acts simply as an example of what we can be or wish to be. Be it a father or a mother who give so much time and energy towards raising us and keeping us fed and entertained. Be it a friend or significant other who gives of their time to help you. People around us deserve to be thanked. Even for those who do not appreciate significantly what others around them do, there are lessons to be learned from what others have done or have not done, and for these lessons, if not anything else, we should give our thanks.

Giving thanks to others in our lives can take many forms, the obvious way to thank another person would be to tell them, however, if that individual has given you something intangible, it is difficult to thank them. As logical beings, we need to have reasons for events, we do not appreciate intangibles and coincidences. So, another way to thank those around you would be to include them in your prayers.

When giving a prayer of thanks to the Almighty, add a word of thanks for those who have touched you. They may never hear it, but when you say those words of thanks, you gain so much benefit. This ritual of thanking others will also result in truly realizing and appreciating some of the things that are done for you without you even realizing.

Words have great power, God taught mankind with words, we pass on knowledge using them, but we can also use these same words to strengthen our own faith and our relationships with others around us. For by growing as physical creatures, we also grow spiritually.

Thank you.

Language

An influential thinker on the topic of religion and the holy in the first half of the twentieth century was a man named Rudolph Otto. He wrote extensively on the topic of what is "holy" and what constitutes a conception of the Divine. His specific writings (the little I have had the privilege of reading thus far) are very interesting indeed, however, today I wanted to focus on how he wrote...

During his writing about religion, Otto was forced to use words that are familiar to the audience. Words such as "dread," and "majesty," and, "gracious." However, these words when used to describe the religious experience, or when used as descriptors for the Divine fall short of truly being descriptive, rather, these words are used in our common vernacular to describe common phenomena. In Otto's work he at times resorts to using Greek or Latin words for key concepts, as these words serve to impart a sense of uniqueness to the concepts they express...

And here we have the crux of it.

Revelation has been delivered to mankind many times throughout the ages, many people have received the "word of God," in many ways, and these words have been passed on to others in many ways. If we look at an example such as the Holy Qur'an, we see that the language used within the holy book differs from common, spoken Arabic. This unique language is a part of what imparts sacredness to the words. In my previous posts, I have attempted to "describe" qualities of God, or at least to turn concepts relating to the Divine and to the Sacred into language that I feel can be easily understood by most people. However, I have also been told that by doing so, something about what I am doing seems almost sacrilegious.

Language is so important, it is the way in which we communicate to each other, and it is the way in which we attempt to commune with the Divine or the Sacred. However, the type of language we use is very important as well. Sometimes things are done for a reason beyond what we can hope to understand. Why was the Holy Book of Islam, a religion with 1.6 billion adherents around the world, revealed in a language that only a small fraction can understand or read? Further, even amongst those who claim Arabic as their mother tongue, many are unable to navigate the archaic linguistic nuances found within the Qur'an.

The true answer will always be a mystery, but the sense of sacredness found within those words which we do not encounter in our common parlance undoubtedly plays a part. This is also partly why rituals are so important in the religious experience. Rituals and ceremonies impart a sense of "special-ness" a unique air about them... This is not something that happens in our mundane life, rather it is something that is reserved for times when we wish to communicate with the Sacred, these rituals, these forms of languages are to only be used in special situations, and by making the situation surrounding the religious experience special, we in turn make everything associated with the experience special as well.

Once again, this is another quite sad attempt at bringing the Sacred, the Divine into a form of language that can easily be understood, but the true message is deeper, the true message behind anything that communicates the sacred is tied to not only what is said, but how it is said.

Beauty

I saw one of the most wondrous sights of my life today.

As I drove along a road, near my home, I saw a small pond. This "pond" was made of rain water and snow that had melted by the road (actually, highway) and a small body of water had formed. So truly, it was a small body of pretty dirty, probably muddy water. Yet, it captivated me.

The slow moving ripples along the surface. The small wind-stirred waves that made the entire pool look as though it were made up of thousands of tiny mountains and valleys. But mostly, the reflection of the sky in the water. The many shades of blue were spectacular. Cerulean, azure, sky blue, a royal shade. Every type of blue I have ever seen or imagined was captured in that water.

And then I realized, that the water was not beautiful, rather, the sky was.

The sky had incredible colours and variety today, mostly in anticipation of a coming summer storm. The vast magnitude of the sky, the many colours and beauties it contained were fortuitously reflected back at a perfect angle for me to have a perfect moment of beauty.

This happens often in our lives as well. We often see someone who is beautiful, or something that captures our imaginations, our hearts and we see that object or individual and we know that it is special. However, what we see as beauty, be it internal or external, is often simply a reflection of something greater.

I am sure if I return to that pool tomorrow and take a very close look at the water, I will see many imperfections and possibly I will not see the same beauty I saw today. In fact, if it is a rainy day, I may even think the sky that was the source of the beauty looks quite drab. However, what has been seen cannot be unseen. The moment I had, that moment of pure beauty remains.

Maybe this is how God is? Maybe God shows us glimpses of His beauty in our daily lives, but never enough beauty to fully satisfy us. Maybe, even if we look at what we believe to be the source of beauty, we still may not continually see what we wish to see... because true beauty is not meant to last forever. True beauty is a concept which we can only experience for a short moment, for it serves as a small taste, a reminder that we are in the end meant to keep searching.

Ways to prostrate

The famous poet Rumi once wrote (and I am paraphrasing... it's translated from Persian anyways, so I'm sure I won't botch it too badly), that there are hundreds of ways to prostrate, hundreds of ways to bow in prayer...

I was thinking about that, and I realized that it's true in a very devious way.

Every individual has their own conception of what the Divine is... even those who choose not to recognize any form of a Divine presence at all, still choose to conceive of Divinity as non-existent.

So, even a complete atheist recognizes that there could be a Divine presence, but they are choosing to follow a set of facts, evidence and beliefs that imply that there is no Divinity.

In this recognition of the possibility of Divinity, we see a deep seated expression of humility.

Even the most staunch believer or disbeliever in God will have to acknowledge that at the end of the day, we do not know. One who does not believe in God would have to say that nothing is completely certain, and they cannot disprove God's existence (the null hypothesis cannot be fulfilled), even if hundreds of pieces of anecdotal evidence point towards their set of beliefs. Conversely, a believer, even one who is completely staunch in their beliefs would have to agree that they can never comprehend God. God is far beyond the human psyche, God extends past what any individual mind can conceive, therefore, one can believe in God, but one cannot rule out the possibility of God not existing, simply because God cannot be conceived of by the human mind... therefore, anything pertaining to the existence of God, would also be beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

with me so far?

Thinkers from the era of the Fatimids (a Muslim Dynasty that ruled Egypt and area extending from North Africa to Sindh about a thousand years ago) worried about this contradiction as to the human definition of God. How could the human mind think on God without a definition? How could God be defined with the limits of language? Could God be proven?

Ultimately they settled on a simple definition called the Theory of Double Negation. It states that, God is Not a thing (i.e. does not exist), and (that's the inclusive and for my logic speaking friends) God is Not Not a thing.

That was the best that the brightest minds of the world could come up with.

Looking at this and going back to the beginning we see that humility abounds in this.

If we cannot prove or disprove God's existence, then the existence of the concept of God serves it's own purpose. It shows us that we are NOT infallible, that we are not perfect, that with some things we will never have all the answers.

If we don't have all the answers, then isn't that the perfect expression of humility? The simple concept of God, acts as a shield against our own pride. We cannot prove or disprove God, we can never truly know. Just as we can know the position of an electron but not it's speed (and vice versa), similarly, we won't know about God.

So, what if we're wrong? What if there is no God and we believe? ... well, as long as each faith tradition is lived fully and truly and one recognizes the importance and sacredness of human life and ethical living... it doesn't hurt to bow down in any way that we see fit.

And the other way? What if there is a God and we don't believe? ... well, if God is truly as merciful as He claims to be, I'm sure He won't mind us using the gift He gave us, our intellect in a way that we see fit.

Just as long as we think about it.

Optimism

I feel a need to write something to differentiate two very different things.

I often hear of individuals who choose to believe the best of others, who choose to believe that whatever happens, does for a good reason and in the end the eventual outcome of all events will be positive. I also usually hear these same people referred to as "naive" or as "innocent." I don't believe it.

A naive individual is one who is ignorant. Naivete implies that one does not know, does not understand the truth of the world. An innocent person, likewise remains enclosed within a bubble where all is good.

I do not believe the majority of people who believe firmly in their positive overview of the world are like this at all... Rather, I would argue that most people know that believing in the good over the bad results many times in disappointment.

Having an idealized perspective of the world is one that is difficult to hold, it requires a truly thinking and intelligent person to willingly forgo their own instincts, overlook that voice of cynicism and believe. Really, truly believe in another person.

I believe that this perspective of the world is not naivete, rather it is optimism. When one is optimistic, one knows that there is a 70% chance that they will get ripped off or that a negative outcome will occur. However, there is also that 30% chance that humanity is worth believing in, that people are trustworthy. This form of optimism seems foolish when looked at in this light, but it runs deeper.

When one truly believes in humanity, when one has faith in their fellow creatures, that person is treating us as an all-merciful God would. Through faith in mankind, faith in God is strengthened... and that "optimism" becomes something more, it becomes prayer.

Money

I often get asked, "Why does God need the money?"

It's a pretty good question. I mean, an all-merciful, all-powerful, all-knowing, infinite entity... requests money from those who are believers?

Call it tithe, call it zakat, call it dasond, or maal-e-wajibaat... at the end of the day, the result is the same. We are told that we need to give, to our fellow human beings, to the upkeep of our places of worship, to a specific individual or organization, or whatever the specific religious denomination may designate. So, why does God care? Why would not just ask for us to be charitable, why ask for a specific amount / percentage of our earnings as is the case in many religions?

I personally do not see it as a matter of charity. Charity is expected of believers, as an aspect of their faith, however specific money that is asked for such as tithe, zakat, dasond, etc... these are all not meant as acts of charity in my perspective.

Yes, charity is an eventual outcome of these specific ways of giving, but, these specific, required acts of giving are different. These specific acts of giving are specifically requested by God, and when I think of God, I think of Love.

Love is expressed in many ways, but the most poignant way in which one can express love... is to sacrifice. To give something of value.

What is the one thing that each of us has that is most valuable?

Our time.

So, how does one go about sacrificing one's time to God? Volunteering is one way, working within and for one's community or faith is another, but yet another extremely effective way is to give money.

When I think of money, I don't see what I can / could purchase with that money, when I think of money and amounts, I think of how much of my time it takes to earn that money. Before I buy an expensive, luxury item (okay, you've got me there, I don't buy many, if any expensive, luxury items... but just play along for a bit) I think of the hours of work I have to put into making enough to pay off the cost of said item.

Money = time. No matter who you are, it takes at least that one variable for you to make money... time.
When we are asked to give a portion of our earnings to God, or in the name of God, we are sacrificing the time it takes to earn that percentage of our income. If we give 10% of our income, 10% of the time that we spend working every single day of our lives is actually spent in service to God. The time becomes sacred, that time becomes prayer.

Only God can give us time, and when we sacrifice this precious gift back to Him, we are sharing in the essence of love that is the Divine.

Prayer

I have trouble praying sometimes... actually a lot of the time!

It's an odd admission coming from someone who spends a considerable amount of his free time thinking about religious and spiritual matters, but to be honest, a lot of the time I simply cannot concentrate. When I close my eyes, I think about my day, I think about work, I think about the new gadget or car that has caught my fancy, and the train of thoughts just goes from there.

This led me to examine what specifically I want to get out of my personal prayers. I found that I was becoming a veritable master at reciting a string of prayers perfectly while thinking about my day at work, but was this what I wanted out of my prayers? For that matter, what exactly was I supposed to "get" from my daily prayers anyways? Would prayer on a daily basis somehow connect me with the Almighty? Would these prayers inculcate a sense of peace within me? Was the purpose of recitation of daily prayers one that I did not fully understand yet?

So, I began to analyze the process - physically, the act of praying involves a few things for me, I close my eyes, I recite prayers silently or out loud and I repeat the same words again and again a set number of times.

It's so easy to get lost doing something like that. Ideal conditions for daydreaming! Especially living in a world where we have such little time to just sit and think... is it any wonder that the temptation to let one's mind wander is so strong?

However, I was missing a part of the equation... Sure the physical action of praying may be conducive to producing daydreams, but it also produces a stillness, a calmness in the body. The counterpoint must be the stillness of the mind! But how to achieve this stillness?

I began to experiment with the concept of intention. Intention in prayer, during prayer. I know the meanings of my prayers, but what if the meaning is not enough? So, at the expense of focusing on the meaning of what I was saying, I began to try to focus on the intention behind the prayer.

Maybe when we are silently offering a prayer of thanks, the important aspect of the prayer does not lie solely within the actions or words that are said, but rather in the feeling of thanks being foremost in the mind of the supplicant? When I began to offer up prayers, I began to experiment with expressing my intention in as vivid a manner as I could. When offering thanks, I actively began to think of things I was thankful for. When asking for forgiveness I began to think of things I had done that may be wrong.

Although it isn't a perfect solution, I can say that it works to some extent... Although I now believe that a prayer should be an action that captures all the aspects of human life, the mind, the body and the soul, in a state of stillness and peace. That isn't to say that any prayer, even one recited completely by rote, is not relevant. Far from it, all prayers bring peace, but peace of the body and mind can be easier to achieve than peace of the soul but as Albus Dumbledore once said, "we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy."

Service

Service to mankind is something that many of us are encouraged to do. I would argue that at times, we are driven by ourselves to work for the benefit of others... but what is true service?

When I think of service, I think of selflessness. I think of working for the benefit of others, regardless of the net benefit or gain that you receive.

This, however also means that the principle of service supercedes the audience receiving that service... what does this mean? It means that even when one hates the individuals one is expected to help, even if the crowd one is serving is bigger or smaller than expected, even if it means that you have to deal with a situation that is unpleasant or unwanted... the true principles behind serving others needs to be foremost in the mind of the individual who wishes to serve.

The principles behind service lie in the root of being a human being. As a human, we are all gifted with the ability to be altruistic. We can work purely for the benefit of others, not for any personal gain at all. I believe that this principle plays an important role in what we view as service. Other entities in creation do not often work for the benefit of others if it is detrimental to them... however, as human beings, as creatures that have a spark of intellect, we are able to work for others, even when that hurts us.

Service also brings with it the basic principle of humility. When we serve others, we serve God... we serve God as He appears in that other individual... what do I mean by this? Service to mankind, is truly service to God. When we see an individual who is struggling, when we see someone that needs help, most people want to help that needy person. I would propose that the desire to help another, particularly in their time of need, may derive it's impetus from evolutionary grounds (working in a joint social environment does drive that sort of behavior), however, the lengths to which we can go to help another in need can be astounding. People can sell all of their belongings, give away everything - simply to help strangers.

What could this be, but humility? Knowledge that we live as simple creatures, and we will die as simple creatures. The only thing that we can put on this Earth that will last, are our actions and deeds.

Service, in this way, is the truest expression of humility there is, for when we serve, we are bowing ourselves to God, because we see God in everything and everyone we serve.

By the Book

There was once a man who was chosen by God. Chosen to receive a message, and given the mission to transmit this message. The first word that Allah revealed to the holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) was IQRA. A word that carries multiple meanings. However, the 2 commonly cited meanings are to "read" or to "recite". God states further that He has taught man, using words/books, taught man what he knew not...

So, books, language and speech come from God.

These words that you are reading, originate from God. Now, a discerning person will of course state that everything does come from God, everything has it's origins in God. I wonder though... if these words come from God, if everything comes from God, and everything will return to God and in fact, nothing is ever separate from God...

Then did I play any part in writing this?

Of course I did, that's the true paradox here and it is a paradox that has been created by us. If I did not play a role in writing this page, then I am exempt from blame for any errors made on it. That is a tempting thought isn't it? Whatever you do, you are truly blameless. You cannot be held accountable for doing anything

That's also incredibly dangerous, but isn't it true?

No, it isn't. It cannot be.

I was playing a video game, where everything is made as realistically as possible, an entire world, created so that one can live within it. The only thing was that characters are driven to make unethical choices in order to progress quickly. If you live within your current ethical guidelines, you'll be stuck and won't truly get to enjoy the many pleasures of the world... and your reward? Absolutely none.

If our world played the same way, I may agree that we truly are not accountable.

However, it doesn't. Those who cheat do wind up ahead many times, those who make unethical choices do gain more toys it seems at times. However, the opposite is also true. Living a good, ethical life carries so many rewards. Living a life filled with goodness, doing good for others, living for others and serving others brings so much joy and happiness.

If there was truly no accountability for our actions, there would also be no rewards for them. Being good to others would not bring joy. Service for the weak would not elevate some deep, innate part of the self. Waking up at 3 in the morning to meditate would not benefit the self and would only steal precious hours of sleep.

We are given rewards while we live on this world, so that we become aware of some of the proofs of God's existence. It can be argued that these bits of joy, happiness are actually from our evolutionary history where altruism and working for the good of the community was encouraged to further survival... and this is likely true, but doesn't it seem like an awfully convenient situation?

I don't really believe in coincidences, I choose instead to believe in a benevolent, invisible, all-powerful force that guides and nurtures everything that is good within me and within others.

After all is said and done, I think I'll go by the book on this one.

Charity

Giving is a great thing, when we give we feel amazing!

A big part of this is rooted in our motivation for giving. Most of us willingly give to causes or individuals that we feel "deserve" it, or those who truly, "need" it. I put the above in quotation marks because my personal definitions of "deserve" and "need" will no doubt differ from yours, some would say that that new Louis Vuitton bag is a need, others would say drinking water is a need... you get the picture.

As I was saying, the motivation for giving... We are motivated by our perception of requirement. If we believe someone needs something, we are likely to give and to help them. Most of us want to help others, we just differ in our definitions of how best to help and when help is truly needed or desired.

However, there are a few problems with the above. If we don't see that an individual or a group needs help, they often get overlooked. Look at the poorest members of our societies in North America, they are often completely overlooked. We have beggars in the streets, we have children who must skip meals. Even more poignantly, look at those in other countries... Oftentimes, we fail to see need and requirement in our own streets... how could we possibly see it on the other side of the world?

The Persian poet Saadi once wrote,

The children of Adam are limbs of each other

Having been created of one essence.

When the calamity of time afflicts one limb

The other limbs cannot remain at rest.

If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others

You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man".

Charity is a way that we have to express humanity, it is a way in which we can share what we have with other parts of our whole... we are not truly individuals, we are a collective. When one part of the collective feels pain, the entire body should... but it doesn't. Our ability to communicate with each other, to share our pain seems diminished. Nowadays, we have the ability to communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, anytime... however our ABILITY to communicate seems to have vanished. We are able to hold meaningful monologues, we can even dialogue with others... but expressing emotion? Expressing love? These things aren't the same.

Expressing emotions in our society today has become very commercialized... Do you love her? Then buy her a ring or flowers! That's the best way to show it. Are you happy for another? Get them a spa package. Appreciate your mother? Buy her this set of knives.

Charity is becoming the same... I met a woman today who asked for food... but if you truly looked into her eyes, she needed hope.

Don't let charity be a simple handout to make yourself feel better. Don't let the opportunity to give be overshadowed by the benefit you receive. Each of us is a part of a whole, so give and give freely and happily. It is food for the soul.