Satan the Parasite

There happen to be three kinds of actions:

1. Those intended at self gain.

2. Those intended at other's gain.

3. Those intended at meeting God's expectations.

Allah Subhana Wa Ta Aala (God most high): says in the holy Quran
" And then there are men who spend their lives seeking the pleasures of Allah,

And Allah is Most merciful to it's devotees"

When I say God, what do you understand ?

God is a very broad concept when kept in the perspective of the contemporary seeker. The word narrow has come to display negative connotations in our times as it displays a lack of acceptance of the other view (or the other's view!), but what do you do with your focus when you are sure to be on the right path, when the fallacies of the other view are blatantly visible ?

Do you continue hypocritically accepting their views and call yourself 'tolerant' ?,

or do you close your eyes to the self destruction of a fellow human? , who's probably a friend too.

We forget that ideally, all actions with a clear goal are focussed and all those with an unclear direction are safely enacted in a broad manner - in a manner that is tolerant of other ways.

{God has been most aptly, crisply, clearly described in the compilation of his characteristics as described by the Asma-Al-Husna (the most beautiful names) http://sufism.org/foundations/ninety-nine-names) }

So if a striver of truth performs intends to follow the right path,

what should his intentions be inclined at ? ... to answer this one must choose among the three types of actions mentioned at the beginning.

The One Golden Thought!

Allah's apostle Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said that - the right of God on Man is that the Almighty is worshiped and no partners are associated with him. On the other hand, the Right of Man over God ! is that if man follows this (Tawhid), then he's never punished.

I have always been on the lookout for one golden thought.

One – because I’m human and cannot handle more than one thought at a time.

Now, what is a golden thought?By golden thought I mean one thought that if kept in mind all the time, prevails over all other thoughts and self justifies its existence. The answer follows:

“What is the one – activity - that - I can do – now - which will benefit - me - and others?”

One – 

• Because it is best to do one thing at a time, do it well and be in the now, to do it well.

Activity – 

• This may include both action and inaction based on the discretion of the thinker.

I can do –

• These include activities within your “circle of influence (concept by Stephen R Covey in his bestselling selfhelp book “7 habits of highly effective people”).
• There’s no point planning to do things that you cannot do, and no point worrying about it.

Now – 

• as you or I become perfect at this, probably we can extend the thought to the future. But for now I’d like to keep my suggestion simple and easy. So think of what you can do now and don’t get entangled in future forecasts until you are very sure about them.

Me –

• The activity should benefit me because I’m giving an input and as any other system in the world I deserve an output to benefit me.
• My mind would help me further if it thinks that the result of the activity can help me out.
• If I get a good output it will further add to the nobility of my golden thought and feed it to nurture it.

Others –

• I don’t want to be selfish because it is immoral.
• It also goes against the benefit of others around me who could be my friends, family, neighbors or those with whom I deal with.
• I might be cunning enough to crack a win-loose (I win you loose) deal but the next time others would be willing to interact/deal with me.
• Looking for only self benefit is a thought with the premise that the world is small, it’s resources too limited for all of us – let’s not have such a pessimistic and narrow thinking.
• Above all, Allah loves those who love and help others with good intentions.

Believe in Allah and his messenger.
Hold on to the One Golden Thought with good intentions and noble desires
God willing - you would be able to achieve your goal successfully and effectively.

-       Mohammed Shiraz Naushir

They Tell me ...

Photography is an art,

the photographer tries to tell us something in every shot,

I don't know who shot this pic...

but here's what he told me!! :)

The world's my teacher, it speaks in ways, mostly unsaid and sometimes spoken ...

Mirrors are brittle,

They tell me, not to be like the true man !

For he gets Shattered for Reflecting the ugly truth of a stained heart.

Glasses are fragile,

They tell me, not to have the tongue of a child !

For it must Pay for telling that which is Held in the heart.

Lights enlighten,

They tell me, not to shimmer like the moonlit river !

For lights Reveal the dark secrets of an inebriated soul.

May I me be like the wine in the glass then ?!

For it holds the pain of fresh Grapes now restrained for years,

For it is as Bitter as the nostalgia it erupts,

For it's very Purpose of existence is as Lost as the drunkard himself.

Shall I be like the wine ?, I ask them!

And Enlighten only the surface but not the core,

And Reveal nothing but red blood darkness,

And Refect nothing but the desires of a hedonist's evening ?

I hope not, I hope to hold on, and amidst my petty quarrel...

may the righteous ones survive.

Love or Lust

So what is this emotion??? Asked Mannu, a teenager to himself ... tucked away comfortably under a razai in a cold and dark night of Delhi. The clock had struck thrice, and he had been trying to sleep for quite some time now... But Priya's thoughts won't let him !!

"What is this new weird feeling at the pit of my stomach! ... " he asked to himself again.

"Why do I flutter at her sight, why do I fumble at her slightest glance, why is it that her passing by casually in the school corridor can give my heart a run for it's money! ??? And What the Hell is this new weird feeling at the pit of my stomach again !! ... "

And so he went mumbling again and again. Till the moon got tired of him and let the Sun hear him out.

Given the fact the very few of us have ever found the answer... Mannu's questions are understandable.

It's Valentine's Day again, as I write this. It should not be too difficult to guess the theme of the passage. I wonder if St. Valentine ever wrote something to guide us to an answer ? Only then would I consider naming a day after him and making the whole humanity sit up the at the corner of their seats to get the slightest hint of getting a valentine -worthwhile. So, coming to the point ... my question is this ...

Can we get something to tell Love from Lust, Affection from Attraction or pleasure from satisfaction ?

I will just try to answer.

I had identified two kinds of forces, one is the force of attraction, other being the force of repulsion. Attraction, Lust , pleasure... all can be said to generate the forces of attraction.

Forces of repulsion do nothing more than destruction.

I would call Love beyond simple mechanics!

It is when two masses exert a gravitational force on each other. Like the Earth and her Moon, like the Sun and his Mercury... Like Saturn and it's rings. They revolve around each other, perpetually, timelessly... with no past and no future.

Two things that come together and Create completeness.

Aristotle, I doubt ever understood Love. Being the author of something as unromantic as the "Theory of Logic" can't help.

I doubt if Logic could ever come to understand love, he's locked in his calculations... while she's beyond maths.

I've noticed that whenever I fell in love, I gave more and got less in calculable terms. When I gave a box of chocolates to the little girl downstairs... I lost 80 bucks.

When I gave earrings to my first Love ... It had burnt a hole in my pocket! Then there's my Dad... who lets me pay the phone bill, not because he finds it difficult to operate his new laptop to pay online. But simply because he knows that by Letting me give a bit, I get the fulfillment of a lifetime. Maybe my sweetheart knew that I felt all my toil and hardwork at office had found a reason. Probably the little girl Noora knew little, how cute she is when she swings by the curtain of her door and asks if I've remembered to get her her cadbury on my way back from office.

But, I want you to know that every time I spend time, money and effort ... in what looks like a no return transaction - I grow by eons!

I'm filled to the brim with satisfaction, filled to the nose with Affection, and I'm Drowned in Love!! :)

So, I guess Love is to give something, and get more than the whole world in return, for free, for sure!!

So, Go on Mannu !! :) try it... give that rose to Priya tomorrow.

I'm not sure if it'll be a yes or a no.

What I know for Sure - every time you'd recall your dare years down the line-

you'll have some pride,

A smile and

A Great Story to Tell.

The Fire of Love

Beware! Don't allow yourself to do

what you know is wrong, relying on the thought,

"Later I will repent and ask God's forgiveness."

True repentance flashes inside and rains tears.

Such lightning and clouds are needed.

Without the lightning of the heart

and the rain storms of the eyes,

how shall the fire of Divine wrath be calmed?

How shall the greenery grow

and fountains of clear water pour forth?

Rumi, Mathnawi II:1652-1656, tr. Helminski

The Silence of a Thousand words

The silence of a thousand words

A thousand words are displayed in the stroke of a brush,

A thousand pictures flashed on the reading of a word,

A thousand books are written on the stroke of a chord.

It is in this way that art forms indulge…

In a display of child-like frivolity,

they tease but never fight;

Compliment but don’t compete,

For they all exist to convey the one message which is long forgotten…

And the artist knows that they show—

How to create beauty in diversity,

How to unite difference,

How to potray serenity in the difference of opinions,

How to create the magic of the rainbow…

using some raindrops and a star;

Sadly, Man, the owner and creator of all art forms…

never learned this from his own brain child,

fought and competed and differed,

didn't care if he had to beg, borrow or break for it.

Peace please, period.