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.

An Apology

There is an old saying...

To err is human, to forgive, divine.

Forgiveness is an action that carries with it a great deal of meaning, a great deal of thought as well as some measure of divinity. When an individual errs, makes a mistake or needs to be forgiven, that person has done something which is human. We all err from time to time, we all make mistakes, and we all need to be forgiven... Now the other end of the equation, the forgiveness is what interests me.

When we are given the opportunity to forgive another person for their mistakes, we are given a great deal of power. Having the right to forgive someone is a powerful drive, it places the "ball" in the victim's court. It shifts the power balance so that the wronged becomes the one who can further perpetuate wrong, or who can make things right again.

This means that forgiveness has a great deal of power indeed. When a person is able to truly forgive another for any mistakes that were made, the victim ends the cycle of errors that makes up what has thus far composed our existence as humans. We continually make errors, and we continually seek forgiveness for these errors... Traditionally, we have found this forgiveness within organized religion, or within spiritual pursuits, or from our fellow humans.

When God gave us the power to live, to think, to reason - we received a multitude of gifts that accompany these basic building blocks. The ability to reason and think have enabled us to overcome many of our physical limitations... if you look back only a few thousand years, how many people would have lived lengthy lives without perfect sight? Nowadays many people live long lives even with terrible eyesight. This is not because the importance of vision has decreased over the past millenia, but rather because we have become able to use our other gifts to overcome a previous limitation.

Forgiveness is the same way. We are limited in ability, in our physical and spiritual lives. However, we have been granted the ability to overcome our limitations. Because when we truly forgive another... we gain forgiveness for ourselves.

We all do make mistakes, and when another person asks us for our forgivness, we are given a power that only God can truly delegate... and he has delegated it to us.

This may be why many victims of crime take so long to heal... because the power to forgive has not been given to them... if someone wrongs you, and they do not ask for your forgiveness... the power remains with them... The sins of their actions also remain with them, the spiritual burden also remains with them... but by remaining unrepentant, the victim loses their ability to touch the divine aspect of their existence.

So, remember to forgive others... if they ask for your forgiveness... It's what God would do.

Anger

A wise person once told me that all anger finds its roots in fear... (I may have also heard this from Star Wars - Yoda - but that is another story).

The more I think about this, the more I agree with it. Fear is an irrational emotion, much like anger. Fear debilitates an individual, much like anger. Fear is based in love... much like anger.

Love?

When I think of fear, I think of what causes my fear... A person can be afraid of many things, spiders, heights, other people, death, clowns and many more. All of these fears are intrinsically rooted in a few basic fears, fearing loss of life, fearing loss of control, fearing pain and harm and fearing loss of love.

These basic fears (and I am sure there are others I cannot think of right now) are the roots of all specific fears. One fears spiders and snakes because evolutionarily speaking these creatures posed a threat to human life due to their potentially venomous nature. One fears heights, the unknown and other people because these pose situations where control is no longer within the grasp of the one experiencing the fear. People fear coming to the Dentist because they fear the pain that they mentally believe they will experience during their visits. People fear harm to those they love because they don't wish to lose the bonds that they have created with others.

All of these basic fears tie back to love. We fear the loss of life because we have come to love living. Life has become important to us because it is all we know (in this way, this fear falls into the category of control). While we are alive, we have control over our destinies, after death... who knows?

Fear of losing control ties into our love for our intellect. We are all vain to some extent, because we can be. We have the ability to chose any path we wish over the course of our lives. Our ability to manipulate our surroundings is unparalleled... however, when we are shown the limits of our intellect, this great gift that is ours... we become uncomfortable, we become defensive, we become afraid.

Fear of pain and harm once again ties back to our concept of control, but harm is something that truly terrifies many people. Most people if asked would rather die a quick painless death then live in pain for a prolonged period of time. This fear of pain is a dramatic one for us because it links to two things we love. Our intellects and our lives. Pain debilitates a person, it drives a person crazy, it is a subjective feeling that each of us experiences differently, because our minds are the source of pain. Another source of pain, emotional pain is even more obviously linked to love. We feel pain because we love, we love because we feel pain.

Fear of losing love is perhaps the most obvious fear to link to love. When a mother refuses to let her child out of her sight for a moment... it is because she is scared of harm befalling the one she loves. When a child insists on sleeping with their blanket every night, a part of the reason is because they are frightened that when they wake up, the blanket will no longer be there.

These basic fears are closely tied to anger. When a person gets angry, it is almost always a direct response to a fear being realized. When a couple argues, it is often because one feels threatened by something the other said. When a father yells at his child for arriving home late, it is usually because he was worried that they would not get home safely. When a child yells at their parents, it is often because the child wishes to have more autonomy, more control over their lives and their affairs.

At the end of the day, anger, fear - these negative emotions... are all rooted in a positive emotion, in love.

We would not feel angry or afraid if we did not love, if we did not cherish our lives, the people within our lives, the material possessions we have, our intellects and our souls.

Maybe that's how the universe works? Maybe there exists a God who is completely good (positive), however, when looked at in a certain manner, it can be viewed as a negative.

Love, the strongest of emotions, leads to bad and good, yet, love itself is good.
God is good, yet God created a world and a universe with a great deal of bad within it... it's all in the angle with which one looks at it.
So, what's your angle?