Good Deeds

What is a good deed? I ask this because I was recently stumped by a good question. If a person tells the truth, are they performing a good deed? It's an interesting proposition... if you lie, you are doing something bad (usually), or committing a sin so to speak. However, what about the truth? We are beholden to tell the truth, but is there benefit to be gained from telling it? I would argue yes, but not in the way that one would expect.

The term good deed implies that one is doing something out of the ordinary (almost like saying one is going out of their way to do good). Like rescuing a cat from a tree, or helping an elderly person who is having difficulty to cross the road. Doing something trivial that one should be doing anyways does not merit the status of being a "good deed," in common parlance. I think this is where we as a society become beholden to flaws in our language. In English, there is no appropriate way to combine the concepts of responsibility and the common good with daily actions an individual takes (or in the likely even that there is such a way, it is beyond my current grasp of the language). The problem really comes in when we combine Good with Deed. Either term is fine by itself, but the combination opens up the proverbial "can of worms." Good is a subjective principle to an extent. Everyone is good by their own terms - however a deed is an action. So the term good deed combines the subjective - that which can be perceived as good, with the objective - that which can be done / performed. In a society full of liars, telling the truth could be perceived as the greatest of good deeds with a lie being considered normal (not a bad deed), however in our modern society where being truthful is expected of another, a lie can have a shocking effect. Knowing someone has lied to you can bring you anger, can embarrass you or cause you to feel distant from that individual. Once again this is societal... without the subconscious effect our "good society" has on us, we wouldn't view the world with this perspective.

So telling the truth is not really a "good deed," from my Canadian context because the term good deed is defined by the society around me, through my own interpretation (and for me at least it doesn't). However, I would argue that the avoidance of sin or a bad deed is also a good deed. Either way, it's a moot point. At the end it must be remembered that good and bad are not measured in a quantifiable manner... I do not believe that I will be judged based on a point system that will say - 131 good, 129 bad... ok, better than not. If this was the case, the measurement of good vs bad would truly have meaning. Lying may even prove to be the only good action that can be performed in a certain situation. In reality, all one can do is behave in the most ethical manner that one knows how to. Live, love, laugh and sing - know that whatever you do, at least to thyself be true.

Searching for the True Self

What are you searching for?

Everyone looks for something in their lives. Whether we go on a perpetual quest for love (the REAL kind, you know in the movies?!), for money, for spiritual satisfaction. Whether we are looking to find ourselves, a purpose, a job, a meal, a life. Everyone's always looking, searching and occasionally, if we're lucky - finding. What do we look for, and why?

A Persian Poet named Hafiz speaks of search in his poetry. Throughout his life he was searching for his beloved - God. In his poetry, Hafiz refers to the world and things in the world as reflections of God, kind of like how the moon reflects the light of the Sun. The Moon is incredibly beautiful, but the reason we see beauty in the moon is because of the Sun. In this way, things in the world are a reflection of the divine.

Looking at it from this perspective, we are searching in the material world, but we search for reflections of the spiritual. When we look at beauty in another human being, we are seeing a reflection of the beauty that is God. When we feel love for another, we are feeling a shadow of the love that is God. When we search for happiness, we often find only a reflection of true happiness. That's a bit sad to think of. The reason we will only find reflections and shadows is because our mind and sense of consciousness work together to enable us to interact with the world. This means that the mind uses consciousness as a medium with which to interact - it acts as the intermediary between the exoteric and the esoteric. So the flaw is in the medium... the mind is an esoteric entity, but the conscious mind is one that is forever trapped in the exoteric. Finding the truth is a true challenge, but hey, as I've said for many years, "How can you ever find yourself if you don't get lost?"

Best of luck in the search

Miracle Messenger

I was asked an interesting question by a student of mine. He asked, "Where have the messengers, prophets, miracle workers gone? I always hear stories told from the past of all these magical occurrences, but nothing today. Why?"

Taking into account the mythopoetic aspect of any historical story, it really makes you think. We can always assume that Adam (A.S.) didn't eat the apple, or that Noah (A.S.) didn't REALLY have an Ark. We can always assume that Abraham (A.S.) didn't even try to sacrifice his child, that Moses (A.S.) didn't actually part the Red Sea, that Jesus (A.S.) didn't walk on water, that Prophet Muhammed (A.S.) didn't actually meet with God. Where would that leave faith and belief? That's the point actually... if in today's world I saw a person who was able to perform miracles, who was able to heal others with a touch, walk on water, part oceans with a prayer, what would I say? I would ask, "Wow... so what's the trick?"

We look for tricks and techniques in today's world, because if another can do it... so can we! This cynicism means that faith can be overshadowed. It is in my life at least and that's quite a sad proposition. If we let go of our cynicism for a minute and assume that a Saint from the past was here, alive among us today... would they necessarily reveal what they can do? I don't believe that they would. The stories of the past, the miracles of the past are never about self-promotion, they aren't about selfish actions. Miracles of the past would have been a way to express devotion, a way to express humility, and to act as a memorable example for generations and civilizations to come.

Today we still speak of actions that may or may not have been performed by those of millennia past. That says something about what was achieved. If I was to part the red sea today, I would make the media headlines and be remembered... for a week? A month or a year maybe? Look at the tremendous destruction wrought in Haiti in January. How many of us still think of and pray for those people?

Maybe miracles do exist, maybe they don't, maybe they did exist, maybe they didn't. I for one, choose to believe. It is my sincere hope and prayer that all of you will always pick faith over cynicism.

The Gift to Choose

Choice is a gift...

The human mind is a powerful tool that has been granted to us, that lets us make choices. In our everyday lives we can make good and bad choices, and we can assign a value of good or bad to each of our choices as these qualifiers are very subjective. However, at the end, it's all our choice. Other created beings such as animals and plants don't have the same degree of choice that we do - now it may be argued that some animals can definitely distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, I would agree to an extent, but I do not believe that animals can make a choice between following a path in life to the same extent you or I can. This means that we can choose to do good, and this choice is what places us at a higher spiritual level than other entities.

Choice is important indeed, however the holiest of people, throughout history have invariably chosen "good" over "evil". So, to be a holy or spiritually high human being, do you really have a choice? If you want to be good, then you do not really have a choice in whether you do good things or bad things. So doesn't this lack of choice reduce your spiritual status?

There are many possible answers, I would propose that the truly spiritually high and uplifted individuals of our world still do have a choice. They choose to give up their right to choose. They choose to leave their decisions in the hands of the higher power that they serve. They choose to serve. They choose to overlook temptation and always do what is "good".

As a human being, whenever I do anything that benefits another, whenever I perform a "good" deed I almost invariably feel a small rush of pleasure and happiness that I have done the right thing. This happiness acts as a small reward for doing what is right, and it also acts as incentive to continually do what is right. If attaining spiritual heights is the goal, I believe it will be essential to do good, not because it has any personal benefit at all... but simply because doing good things, is the only way that you can possibly conceive of doing anything. Sublimation of one's own sense of self is one way that I feel we can eventually become closer to God. Not an easy thing... and not one that many people will agree with - but that's the purpose of faith and belief in an intellectual tradition like Islam. To argue and disagree until a workable answer has been reached.

What do you think?

-Rahim

Light of God

What is light?

Is it a real entity? Is it something that you can touch, feel, experience, interact with?

Why ask this question?

Well, light is seen in many contexts, in the Qu'ran, there are many references to light, whether it be referring to guidance (Imamat), or to deeper matters (Surah Nur - where it says Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth). When people die, a common saying is that you see a "bright light." Science tells us that all matter is made up of Energy, and we all know the famous equation - E = mc^2
Energy = mass times the speed of light squared

So all matter is made up of energy, and energy is light... and Allah or God is the light of the heavens and the earth... it's enough to make you really think about where one can really find God.

Many holy individuals throughout the ages have recommended meditation as the way to "find God"... What is meditation? It usually entails - sitting, eyes closed, mind focused / unfocused... so it's essentially closing off the rest of the world and taking a moment to really think about who and what you are. Each of us is a precious part of creation, everything that exists is - look inside for the light... whatever "the light" may be to you. All I can tell you is that it's worth searching for and I sincerely believe it will be worth finding.

-Rahim