Thursday 14 October 2010
Saturday 9 October 2010
Inspirations and Creative Thoughts: Reading on Krishna - the embodiment of Divine Love and Wisdom
Krishna, upon him be peace, is a central spiritual figure of many traditions of Hinduism. He appears in both Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita. Most probably he appeared in earthly realm about five thousands years ago in Mathura, ancient India.Here is selected excerpts on understanding the personality of Krishna and his wisdom from two enlightened masters, Sufi Inayat Khan and Osho.
Sufi Inayat Khan writes: The life of Krishna is an ideal. It gives the picture of the life of a perfect man. The real meaning of the word Krishna is God. The man who was identified with that name was the God-conscious one who fulfilled his message in the period in which he was destined to give it.
... latter part of Krishna's life has two very important aspects. One aspect teaches us that life is a continual battle and the earth is the battlefield where every soul has to struggle, and the one who wants to own the kingdom of the earth must be well acquainted with the law of warfare. In the battle of life man's position is most difficult. He has to fight on two fronts at the same time: one enemy is himself, and the other is before him.
The battle of each individual has a different character; it depends upon a man's particular grade of evolution. Therefore every person's battle in life is different, and of a peculiar character. No one in the world is exempt from that battle; only, one is more prepared for it while the other is perhaps ignorant of the law of warfare. And in the success of this battle lies the fulfillment of life. The Bhagavad-Gita, the Song Celestial, from the beginning to end is a teaching on the law of life's warfare.
The other aspect of Krishna's life shows that every soul is striving to attain God – not God, as Judge or King, but as the Beloved. Every soul seeks God, the God of love, in the form it is capable of imagining, and thus the story of Krishna and the Gopis signifies God and the various souls seeking perfection.
Excerpt only. There is much more what Inayat Khan speaks of Krishna and interprets his life. read the complete article here.
Excerpt from “Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy” by Osho: Krishna is so unique. He is not at all serious or sad, not in tears. By and large, the chief characteristic of a religious person has been that he is somber, serious and sad looking – like one vanquished in the battle of life, like a renegade from life. In the long line of such sages it is Krishna alone who comes dancing, singing and laughing.Every religion, upto now, has divided life into two parts, and while they accept one part they deny the other. Krishna alone accepts the whole of life. And he accepts it not in any selected dimension but in all its dimensions. About him it is said he was born laughing. Only a joyful and laughing humanity can accept Krishna.
Krishna is against repression. He alone does not choose he accepts life unconditionally. He does not shun love; being a man he does not run away from women. As one who has known and experienced God, he alone does not turn his face from war. He is full of love and compassion, and yet he has the courage to accepts and fight a war. His heart is utterly non-violent, yet he plunges into the fire and fury of violence when it becomes unavoidable. He accepts the nectar, and yet he is not afraid of the poison.
We describe the life of Krishna as his leela, his play-acting, because Krishna is not serious at all. Krishna’s life accepts no limitations. Krishna is free, limitlessly free. And this freedom, this vastness of Krishna stems from his experience of self-knowledge. It is the ultimate fruit of his enlightenment.
There is no such point in the cosmos where nature ends and God begins. It is nature itself that, through a subtle process of dissolution, turns into God, and it is God Himself Who, through a subtle process of manifestation, turns into nature. Nature is manifest God, and God is unmanifest nature. And that is what adwait means, what the principle of One without the other means. We can understand Krishna only if we clearly understand this concept of adwait, that only One is – One without the other.
The e-book version is available at www.osho.com
More Reading materials
:: Sufi Master Inayat Khan's interpretation of Krishna
:: Osho, the radical thinker's take on Krishna
:: Teachings of Krishna
:: Lord Krishna
Note: while reading the life of Krishna, time and time again it came to my mind, how parallel and similar is the life of the Last Messenger of God, Muhammad and that of Krishna, upon them be bliss of God. Specially while reading 'Krishna's heart is utterly non-violent, yet he plunges into the fire and fury of violence when it becomes unavoidable.' ... more sharing of that thought God willing in the next post, Krishna and Muhammad.
Source: http://www.mysticsaint.info/2007/05/reading-on-krishna-embodiment-of-divine.html
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Islam is Not the Enemy, Ignorance is by Lindsay Mitchell
July 10, 2010 by Lindsay Mitchell
Today, in my personal quest to begin connecting with more online communities of caring people who want to positively impact the world, I joined the site Care2.org. Excited to begin searching for groups and causes to get involved with, I looked over some of the recently posted petitions.
(Most of the groups, people, and petitions on Care2.org are truly wonderful- nothing like what I am about to describe- but my reaction to this particular posting was too strong for me to ignore.)
Sadly, rather than finding a meaningful cause to sign on with, my eye was first drawn to a rather alarming petition title: “Stop Islam.” I couldn’t ignore it, I was too curious and taken aback. So I clicked on it, hoping to find some kind of reasonable explanation for such a bizarre title.
But my hopes were dashed, and my shock was only intensified by the description of the petition:“Islam is a religion of hatred for all nations. In most countries around the world sharia law is imposed. I call upon the UN to put a stop to this and to remove Islam from the world. Christians are suffering greatly in the middle east. Their homes and churches are destroyed by Muslims. If you’re a Muslim please leave Islam. The more people who resist this horrible religion will see a change in the world.”
First of all, to ban an entire religion would not only be logistically impossible, it would be a gross violation of human rights and religious freedom—not to mention hypocritical. How can one defend the rights of one religious group (Christians) while at the same time advocating to deny the rights of another (Islam)? I wondered to myself, “Who would sign such a ridiculous, uneducated, pointless petition?”
Well, apparently someone like the person who added this comment: “They are a sexist, barbaric, dogmatic religion. They say they are a religion of peace, but try only to force their ways on others and bring war to those who do not agree. Look what horror’s they bring to their own women and children. Child rapes, child brides, stonings, lashings, they just rounded up 60,000 pet dogs and slaughtered them as dirty. They are souless! Stop them before they come to your community.”
So there I was, hoping to connect with people interested in making the world a better, more peaceful place, only to be confronted by bigotry, hypocrisy and a complete lack of understanding.
I have studied Islam and the Qur’an, and it is an incredibly rich and beautiful religion. The problem is not with Islam or Muslims, but rather with extremists and fundamentalists in Islam—or any other religion for that matter.
As Howard Handelman explains in The Challenge of Third World Development, “the mere fact of peoples being ‘Islamic’ [has been confused] with that of their adhering to beliefs and policies that are…’Islamist’ or ‘fundamentalist.’ It has been assumed…that most Muslims seek to impose a political program supposedly derived from their religion. The fact that most Muslims are not supporters of Islamist movements is obscured.”
Furthermore, many people, especially in the West, are “unaware of a long tradition of liberal theology within Islam that has advocated religious tolerance, progress for women, and democratic values” (Handelman, 59).
Yet in the West, and the United States in particular, we are rarely shown this side of Islam, leading to widely held misconceptions about the religion and its followers. Cynthia Boaz provides an excellent analysis of this issue in her article “Separating Church and Hate: Irrationality and Anti-Muslim Stereotyping.”
The article addresses three common misconceptions about Islam: (1) that Islam is a religion of violence, (2) that Islam calls for the oppression of women, and (3) that Moderate Muslims enable radicals by tolerating their behavior.
Throughout history, people have used religion as a tool for political power and oppression. For every case of Islam being used to justify war and killing, I assure you there are as many in the case of Christianity (have we forgotten about the Crusades?), and many other religions as well (even Buddhism).
As for the oppression of women, one could site just as many verses from the Bible as the Qur’an that have been interpreted (many would say wrongly) to state that women are inferior to men.
As for the third misconception, consider this: “Although the story was never covered in mainstream American media, after 9/11, there was a major fatwa (religious decree) issued by five of the world’s most prominent Muslim leaders and scholars which gave permission to American Muslims to fight in Afghanistan on behalf of the United States and against their Muslim Afghani counterparts” (Boaz).
Furthermore, it must also be noted that the religion of Islam itself is far from the only cause of fundamentalism and terrorism in the Middle East. As Handelman explains, “the indignities of colonialism and then neocolonialism, resentment against Israel and the West, and a feeling of failed development have all contributed to that region’s religious revival” (70).
Additionally, many young people growing up in these countries are drawn to extremist groups simply because they see no other options in life. In Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson writes, “I’ve learned that terror doesn’t happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren’t being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.”
Islam is not the enemy. The true enemies—war, poverty, and lack of education and economic opportunities—are the ultimate source of hatred and extremism.
Perhaps if we focused our efforts more on solving these deeply rooted societal problems, rather than making sweeping judgments about a religion and region of the world most of us know little about, we might actually begin to move toward peace.
And so I leave you with the words of the oh-so-wise Dalai Lama:
“Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.”
Source:
"The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." -Albert Einstein
Radical Islam vs. Islam by David Forte
Editorial
September 2001
by: David Forte
Islamic radicals hijacked airplanes to attack and undermine the West. They killed thousands of innocents without a single moral qualm. But their enmity is not just directed against us. They also mean to hijack Islam itself and to destroy 13 centuries of Islamic civilization. We are not in a war between two civilizations. We are fighting an enemy of two civilizations.
Osama bin Laden has a strikingly simple and violent conception of the world. It is bipolar. Taking his lead from ancient Islamic legalists who wrote when the world knew nothing but empires, bin Laden divides the earth into the dar al-Islam (the realm of Islam) and the dar al-harb (the realm of war). Between the two there is unceasing conflict.
But for bin Laden, the dar al-Islam is no longer the realm of Islam, or as is sometimes translated, the realm of peace. In common with many Islamic radicals, bin Laden believes that the Islamic world has fallen into perfidy and apostasy. He makes civil war on Islam as much as he makes international conflict with the United States.
He targets moderate Islamic leaders like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, former Pakistani President Benizir Bhutto, and Jordan King (then Prince) Abdullah. He has no respect for the Saudi government because it permits the stationing of Western troops, contrary to his view of the ancient Shari’a’s prohibition of non-Muslims living on the holy soil of Arabia.
Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals claim they represent ancient Islam. It is true that they do represent one tradition in Islam, but it is a tradition that Islam early on rejected as opposed to the universal message of its Prophet. In the earliest centuries of Islam, a great civil war was fought over who should be the successor to Muhammad. The battle was between the partisans of the assassinated third Caliph, Uthmann, and those who supported the fourth Caliph, ’Ali. This was the conflict that ultimately led to the division between Sunni and Shi’a Islam. But there was a moment when a truce and an arbitration promised a possible peaceful resolution to the conflict.
One group was adamantly opposed to any arbitration and any compromise. Later called the Kharajites, this sect believed that only God could determine who should be the proper successor, and God would let his will be known in battle. The Kharajites withdrew and made war on both factions. They held that any person who strayed from the perfect practice of Islam was ipso facto an apostate and could be killed. And they believed that only they had the true notion of what Islam required. They applied their doctrine with a ferocity against both the developing Sunni and Shi’a traditions of Islam, even assassinating ’Ali. Their tactics were frightfully violent, and it took centuries before they were put down.
Today, radicals like bin Laden replicate that ancient sect that threatened to destroy Islamic civilization at its inception. They copy that sect that stood against what came to be a civilization known in its time for its learning, science, openness and toleration. They engage in tactics that are far beyond what is acceptable in the Islamic moral tradition. They insult the vast multitudes of Muslims who abhor such actions.
Partly because of the timidity of the West, these radicals have gained influence. Some regimes protect them. Some apparently even sponsor them. . Many leaders in the West, bereft of and often hostile to their own Christian roots, have patronizingly assumed that radical violence was an essential part of the Islamic faith. Our own weak responses have helped to legitimate those whom Islam fought so earnestly to rid itself of at its beginning. If we have respect for ourselves, if we have respect for Islam, we can no longer tolerate the evil they represent. Two civilizations hang in the balance.
David F. Forte is a Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland, Ohio and the author of Islamic Studies: Classical and Contemporary Applications. He is an Adjunct Fellow of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio.
Source: http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/forte/01/islam.html
September 2001
by: David Forte
Islamic radicals hijacked airplanes to attack and undermine the West. They killed thousands of innocents without a single moral qualm. But their enmity is not just directed against us. They also mean to hijack Islam itself and to destroy 13 centuries of Islamic civilization. We are not in a war between two civilizations. We are fighting an enemy of two civilizations.
Osama bin Laden has a strikingly simple and violent conception of the world. It is bipolar. Taking his lead from ancient Islamic legalists who wrote when the world knew nothing but empires, bin Laden divides the earth into the dar al-Islam (the realm of Islam) and the dar al-harb (the realm of war). Between the two there is unceasing conflict.
But for bin Laden, the dar al-Islam is no longer the realm of Islam, or as is sometimes translated, the realm of peace. In common with many Islamic radicals, bin Laden believes that the Islamic world has fallen into perfidy and apostasy. He makes civil war on Islam as much as he makes international conflict with the United States.
He targets moderate Islamic leaders like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, former Pakistani President Benizir Bhutto, and Jordan King (then Prince) Abdullah. He has no respect for the Saudi government because it permits the stationing of Western troops, contrary to his view of the ancient Shari’a’s prohibition of non-Muslims living on the holy soil of Arabia.
Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals claim they represent ancient Islam. It is true that they do represent one tradition in Islam, but it is a tradition that Islam early on rejected as opposed to the universal message of its Prophet. In the earliest centuries of Islam, a great civil war was fought over who should be the successor to Muhammad. The battle was between the partisans of the assassinated third Caliph, Uthmann, and those who supported the fourth Caliph, ’Ali. This was the conflict that ultimately led to the division between Sunni and Shi’a Islam. But there was a moment when a truce and an arbitration promised a possible peaceful resolution to the conflict.
One group was adamantly opposed to any arbitration and any compromise. Later called the Kharajites, this sect believed that only God could determine who should be the proper successor, and God would let his will be known in battle. The Kharajites withdrew and made war on both factions. They held that any person who strayed from the perfect practice of Islam was ipso facto an apostate and could be killed. And they believed that only they had the true notion of what Islam required. They applied their doctrine with a ferocity against both the developing Sunni and Shi’a traditions of Islam, even assassinating ’Ali. Their tactics were frightfully violent, and it took centuries before they were put down.
Today, radicals like bin Laden replicate that ancient sect that threatened to destroy Islamic civilization at its inception. They copy that sect that stood against what came to be a civilization known in its time for its learning, science, openness and toleration. They engage in tactics that are far beyond what is acceptable in the Islamic moral tradition. They insult the vast multitudes of Muslims who abhor such actions.
Partly because of the timidity of the West, these radicals have gained influence. Some regimes protect them. Some apparently even sponsor them. . Many leaders in the West, bereft of and often hostile to their own Christian roots, have patronizingly assumed that radical violence was an essential part of the Islamic faith. Our own weak responses have helped to legitimate those whom Islam fought so earnestly to rid itself of at its beginning. If we have respect for ourselves, if we have respect for Islam, we can no longer tolerate the evil they represent. Two civilizations hang in the balance.
David F. Forte is a Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland, Ohio and the author of Islamic Studies: Classical and Contemporary Applications. He is an Adjunct Fellow of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio.
Source: http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/forte/01/islam.html
Saturday 14 August 2010
Einstein's Universe: the scientist, the man, the musician - physicsworld.com
Einstein's Universe: the scientist, the man, the musician - physicsworld.com
Albert Einstein was the kind of physicist that you don't really find anymore – making so many remarkable contributions to so many different areas of physics.
But in addition to his scientific achievements, a lot is made about Einstein's colourful personal life, not least his lifelong passion for music.
Sharing this passion is particle physicist Brian Foster of the University of Oxford who has teamed up with the British musician Jack Liebeck to create a special show about Einstein. Currently touring the UK, "Einstein's Universe" involves a special lecture, interspersed with classical music, which explores Einstein's legacy to physics and the role music played in his life.
In this exclusive video report for physicsworld.com, I caught up with the pair on the day of a recent performance at St George's concert hall in Bristol, UK.
Albert Einstein was the kind of physicist that you don't really find anymore – making so many remarkable contributions to so many different areas of physics.
But in addition to his scientific achievements, a lot is made about Einstein's colourful personal life, not least his lifelong passion for music.
Sharing this passion is particle physicist Brian Foster of the University of Oxford who has teamed up with the British musician Jack Liebeck to create a special show about Einstein. Currently touring the UK, "Einstein's Universe" involves a special lecture, interspersed with classical music, which explores Einstein's legacy to physics and the role music played in his life.
In this exclusive video report for physicsworld.com, I caught up with the pair on the day of a recent performance at St George's concert hall in Bristol, UK.
Mawlid Milad Celebratation Birthday allowed in Islam ! Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri
Blogger's view: This video about the birthday of Prophet Muhammad can be used as an interfaith dialogue for global peace. Imagine a special global day dedicated to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's Birtdhay called Mawlid of Muhammad(as).
Jesus in the Eyes of the Sufis by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh
Jesus in the Eyes of the Sufis by by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh
The hermitage of Jesus Is the Sufi's table spread;
Take heed, O sick one, Never forsake this doorway.
-- Rumi
Muhammad gets a makeover - The Globe and Mail
Muhammad gets a makeover - The Globe and Mail
While some believe the best way to repair Islam’s image is to reform the religion itself, Ms. Aly said the foundation is not interested in debating hardliners. “We haven’t entered into any dialogue with extremists, because we reject any extremism and we reject violence along with our fellow Britons, because they’re against the values of Islam or against the prophetic values.”
While some believe the best way to repair Islam’s image is to reform the religion itself, Ms. Aly said the foundation is not interested in debating hardliners. “We haven’t entered into any dialogue with extremists, because we reject any extremism and we reject violence along with our fellow Britons, because they’re against the values of Islam or against the prophetic values.”
Muslim cleric holds 'anti-terror camps' - CNN.com
Muslim cleric holds 'anti-terror camps' - CNN.com
The peaceful people are always silent. They don't create news."
--Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri , Muslim cleric
The peaceful people are always silent. They don't create news."
--Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri , Muslim cleric
Muslims around the world: Your thoughts on what Islam means today - CNN.com
Muslims around the world: Your thoughts on what Islam means today - CNN.com
(CNN) -- "We have a very big responsibility to show the true meaning and the true essence of Islam." That's what it means to be Muslim today, according to Nashwa Zakharia, a PR director from the United Arab Emirates.
(CNN) -- "We have a very big responsibility to show the true meaning and the true essence of Islam." That's what it means to be Muslim today, according to Nashwa Zakharia, a PR director from the United Arab Emirates.
Shaykh Moulay Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi
Shaykh Moulay Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi
Look! This Is Love: Poems of Rumi.
“The day I've died, my pall is moving on -
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me: "Oh woe, how awful!"
You fall in devil's snare - woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial -
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave -
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf "Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in Where- no-place!”
Schimmel, Annemarie. Look! This Is Love: Poems of Rumi.
Boston, Mass.: Shambhala Publications, 1991.
Look! This Is Love: Poems of Rumi.
“The day I've died, my pall is moving on -
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me: "Oh woe, how awful!"
You fall in devil's snare - woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial -
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave -
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf "Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in Where- no-place!”
Schimmel, Annemarie. Look! This Is Love: Poems of Rumi.
Boston, Mass.: Shambhala Publications, 1991.
Shaykh Sidi Hamza el Qadiri el Boutchichi - Women & Sufism
Shaykh Sidi Hamza el Qadiri el Boutchichi - Women & Sufism
"In love, nothing exists between breast and Breast. Speech is born out of longing, True description from the real taste. The one who tastes, knows; The one who explains, lies. How can you describe the true form of Something In whose presence you are blotted out? And in whose being you still exist? And who lives as a sign for your journey?"
"In love, nothing exists between breast and Breast. Speech is born out of longing, True description from the real taste. The one who tastes, knows; The one who explains, lies. How can you describe the true form of Something In whose presence you are blotted out? And in whose being you still exist? And who lives as a sign for your journey?"
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