ZAYTUN

by
Ijtba

This is the age of knowledge and information.

Every day, hour, minute and every second our minds are being flooded with loads of letters, pictures and sounds.
From Metro to Sun, from FM radios to STV and iPlayer and from iPods to iPhones, we are getting tremendous amount of data,
but believe me most of it is just a spam or junk.

It has nothing to do with the entertainment, infotainment or any kind of soothing effects on us.
The only purpose is to keep us happy in our illusions- our so called comfort zones.

Their only purpose is the “total mind control”.

Here I narrate a story for you.

It’s the story of a scientific experiment on monkeys.
Monkeys love bananas as we love stories:)

Don’t be bothered it would not be as dry as it sounds and I am not gonna perform it here as well.
I am keeping it brief……
Scientists kept four monkeys in a lone room and put some bananas on a ladder. But when monkeys tried to climb ladder to get bananas – they showered them with cold water.

No monkey was allowed to climb the ladder.
After few futile efforts they gave up and even if a monkey tried to get the bananas – the rest of the monkeys would beat him. So the things got settled down.

After a while no one was daring to eat bananas.
Now, scientists replaced one monkey.

As soon he saw bananas he tried to get them but was broken down badly by the fellow three monkeys. He tried couple of time but was severally beaten by the rest.

They replaced another monkey- tried to climb the ladder to get bananas.
But was beaten by the rest of monkeys.

Interestingly the monkey who never knew that climbing the ladder would result in showering of cold water was also beating the new monkey.

They kept on replacing them and the result was the same. All the four monkeys were replaced but they were not going after the bananas anymore rather would beat anyone if one tried to.

Without knowing why they were doing this!

Their ancestors knew why; but the rest were performing just a ritual- without questioning it…

This is happening with most of us, in fact all.

Irrespective of creed and culture, countries and continents, whether we are religious or not, political or a-political, knowledgeable or ignorant; our approach has transformed into a ritualistic one.

Our eyes are open but we cannot see, our ears are sound but we cannot hear.

We move but cannot travel; cannot travel to the destiny where were initially bound to.
We have brutally wronged ourselves.

The only way of regaining our lost pride is through thinking independently.

So whats the independent thinking; but first a side note or comment; in early modern Europe a practice was started called
witch-hunt.
You might have heard about it.
In this practice, women with so called mysterious activities were caught and burnt alive.

Hundreds of thousands lives were lost!

Actually these women were not doing anything superficial-but just had started questioning rituals and habitual practices.

In fact they were the independent thinkers.

The society wasn’t capable of answering their queries so they responded by quarantining them.

Beware! This can be the price of independent thinking.

But someone would say, it’s rather easy to think than wink or blink, some say if they think, their brain would shrink.
But literally it’s as easy as drink:)

Isn’t the insult of our intellect, that someone else would decide rather dictate;
What we should wear? What we should eat and what to drink?

I am talking specifically about the fashion.

Whether media, cricket or football, the opportunists craft heroes and celebrities for us and then drive us crazy to wear, eat and live like them.

Result; we lose our all belongings and they get all the bounties.

So I advise myself first and then to all to live a conscious and independent life.

Because; it is the conscious which distinguishes human from other creatures.

By thinking and acting independently, we can stand higher than the angels,
doing otherwise can throw us below the animals and stones.

Thanks for listening and not climbing the ladder:) — consciously!

The (faithful) slaves of the Beneficent are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish ones address them answer: Peace.[25-63]

And who spend the night before their Lord, prostrate and standing.[25-64]

And they who say: O our Lord! turn away from us the punishment of hell, surely the punishment thereof is a lasting.[25-65]

And they who when they spend, are neither extravagant nor parsimonious, and (keep) between these the just mean.[25-66]

And they who do not call upon another god with God and do not slay the soul, which God has forbidden except in the requirements of justice, and (who) do not commit fornication and he who does this shall find a requital of sin.[25-67]

And they who do not bear witness to what is false, and when they pass by what is vain, they pass by nobly.[25-68]

And they who, when reminded of the communications of their Lord, do not fall down thereat deaf and blind.[25-69]

And they who say: O our Lord! grant us in our wives and our offspring the joy of our eyes, and make us guides to those who guard (against evil).[25-70]

These shall be rewarded with high places because they were patient, and shall be met therein with greetings and salutations. Abiding therein; goodly the abode and the resting-place.[25-71]

by Ahmed Haneef

Some of the great Islamic philosophers have said that love is the relationship we have with those things that contribute to the maintenance and completion of our existence. When we experience or meet such things we don’t like to be separated from them and we feel a great need for them in our lives. This attachment is what we call love.Thus we ?nd ourselves loving food, loving wealth, loving power, the opposite sex, etc., all of which contribute to the maintenance and completion of our existence.We also love beauty because it is perfection of being, and since perfection is the goal we seek, we love perfection. The highest beauty and perfection is that of Allah. He is the source of our existence and its completion. For these reasons we love and SHOULD love Allah.

But why does Allah love us? Why SHOULD He love us? His existence is not in need of any aintenance or completion for He is the most perfect and the most beautiful. Allah loves us because He is the origin of love and love itself so, like everything else; all love goes back to Him. His love springs from that aspect of Himself that is His very mercy and generosity and is encapsulated in the famous hadith that says: `I was a Hidden Treasure and I loved to be known, so I created the creation so I would be known.`

This love `to be known` springs from His knowledge of Himself as a Treasure. A treasure is something that has three prominent characteristics: it is a thing of great beauty, its value is very high, and it is something that enriches the ?nder. With respect to Allah, these three characteristics are in?nite and immeasurable. Therefore, Allah loving to be known is Allah loving to share Himself and to give the joy of knowing Himself to others. This comes from nothing but His over?owing Mercy where Allah, the Self Suf?cient creates creation as the object for His mercy and kindness.Only a knower can know, so the phrase ‘to be known’ is a passive verbal phrase that implies a knower. Thus, Allah saying that he loves to be known can be understood to mean He loves to be known by one who knows Him.

The word used in the hadith we translate as ‘to be known’ is (u‘raf) from the verb ‘arafa. This word means to get knowledge, but in a special way. Whereas the usual method to get knowledge is through the mental faculties and the senses, and by study and research, to become an ‘arif is different. Knowledge in Irfan is based on two principles, ?rst, the fact that man is a microcosm of external reality and that all things, even Allah, can be known by knowing oneself, “he who knows himself, knows his Lord”. And secondly, true knowledge is, as many hadith say, a light shone into the heart, so arriving at this kind of knowledge requires polishing the heart through purifying it to know the true reality of the object of knowledge. In this way the heart itself could perceive and re?ect that reality through direct illumination.

This form of knowledge is called irfan.

Purifying the heart means obeying Allah in seeking what is lawful and permissible and avoiding what is unlawful and prohibited. It means not only avoiding the impermissible but growing to dislike it. It also involves following the advice and teachings of the Holy Prophet and the Imams (as) in the area of recommended acts of worship, perfecting ones ethical conduct, offering supplications, etc.

The relationship between purifying the heart and securing Allah’s love can be seen in the following hadith narrated by Imam Sadiq (as) quoting the Prophet (s) who said:

Allah the Glorious and the Mighty said, ‘There is nothing that the servant can do to approach Me that is more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him. Indeed he draws close to Me by performing extra acts of worship until I love him and when I love him I become his ear by which he hears, his eye by which he sees, his tongue by which he speaks and his hand by which he grasps. When he calls upon Me, I will answer him and when he requests of Me I will give to him. There is nothing I will hesitate in doing than hesitating in the death of a believer. He dislikes death and I dislike upsetting him.

Love is nothing but the disappearance of the lover into the beloved and the psychological absorption in the latter. It is a kind of death of the individuality and subsistence in an intense identification with the beloved. The more powerful and complete the other, and the more beautiful and perfect he or she is, the more their otherness disappears and the more completely the lover identifies with the beloved. The hadith describes Allah’s action when the beloved is the believer and He is the Lover. He becomes the believer by taking over all those aspects of the believer’s self that are essential to his individuality: the ears and eyes which are the most important organs for interfacing with the world and acquiring information, and his tongue and hands by which he acts upon the world based upon his knowledge. This is the meaning of annihilation of the self in God or fanaa in Arabic. These narrations make us aware of Allah’s love for us. When we are aware of this love we will be encouraged to seek it with sincerity, and strive above and beyond what we are obligated to do to get close to Him. If we do this we will find that love, and in finding it we will become His beloved and He will be our closest Friend, who will guide us in all aspects of our lives and answer ALL our prayers.

DIVINE EXPECTATION OF THE SINNER’S RETURN

Allah says in a hadith qudsi: `My mercy takes precedence over My wrath”. One of the Divine Names of Allah is Al Ghafoor, the Forgiver. Many scholars define such Divine Names of Allah like Creator, Provider and Forgiver, as the divine Names or Attributes of Action. Divine Attributes of Action relate to the outward actions of God. For example, one of the Names of Allah is the Creator, but He can only be known as the Creator by His act of creation. If He did not create, that Name would have no meaning. The Name of the Forgiver, also, requires the existence of a creature that could sin and then ask for forgiveness, if such a creature did not exist, the Name, `Forgiver` would not be realized. Therefore these Names call for the creation of the objects of their action.

So Imam Baqir (as) is quoted to have said that if mankind couldn’t sin Allah would have created a being that could.The realization of the Name, therefore, calls for the existence of that act that would bring about this realization and this is what is termed Allah’s pleasure, or happiness. It is not that Allah changes state, that at one moment He was unhappy and another moment He was pleased. No, His pleasure and displeasure are really states of potential existence that are brought into actuality by the conduct of the person who will be affected. So, the behaviour of someone could catalyze a chain of events that could result in the emergence of the felicity or wretchedness of that individual. This felicity, we call His pleasure, and this wretchedness we call His anger. We should not underestimate the reality of Allah’s love and pleasure by saying that since these states are different to our OWN experiences of love and pleasure, they are not as real. For in the hierarchy of being things that are abstract on lower levels are more real, even assuming forms in a higher world. In this world, love is invisible and abstract; it is only felt subjectively and escapes description. But in the higher realms love is of a higher reality and could be known and perceived collectively.

Allah’s love is divine and transcendent and it is more truly real and intense than what we experience or could even imagine. This is what these narrations indicate to us, that our love and expectations are only shadows compared to His love and expectation. The Divine readiness to forgive and Allah’s patience and care for us represent the nature of this Name in its readiness to forgive us our sins because in forgiving sins, the Divine Name of the Forgiver becomes actualized. This readiness to forgive and to welcome the sinner back to Him in love is represented in the following hadith:

`Allah revealed to David (as) ‘O David! if those who have turned away from Me (only) knew how much I wait for them, and how much I care for them and how eager I am for them to abandon their acts of disobedience, they would die out of desire for Me and their joints would rupture out of love for Me. O David! (if) this is My desire for those who turn away from Me, how would My desire be for those who turn towards Me? O David! The servant needs Me most when he feels he doesn’t need Me, I am most merciful to the servant when he has turned away from Me and the highest status the servant achieves is when he returns to Me.` We also have the same idea in the following hadith as well:

`O Jesus! How expectant and desirous am I when people, while steeped in negligence, do not (seek to) return (to Me).`

Both hadith say something quite interesting; that when the servant is steeped in forgetfulness and sin Allah is very desirous and expectant for his return to Him. This is re?ected in Allah being more merciful towards him and elevating the spiritual status of the servant when he DOES repent and turns back to Allah. Allah says in another hadith Qudsi,“He who seeks Me would definitely find Me. He who finds Me would definitely know Me. He who knows Me would definitely love Me.The religion of Islam is the path revealed by which we could get to love Allah, this love is achieved through the knowledge of Him, HE is the object of this knowledge. And when we know Him we would automatically love Him, because He is the Most Beautiful of the beautiful and the Most Perfect of the perfect. This knowledge is acquired on many levels, on the level of the intellect, which is re?ected in the scholastic or theological knowledge about Him, and on the level of the heart which is the direct and unmediated knowledge of Him. This knowledge of the heart is achieved through adjusting our being and conforming our wills to the laws and rules He has prescribed and following the sunnah of His Prophet. We CAN know Allah, to the extent of our human capacity. All we need is to be sincere in seeking this knowledge and Allah would remove the veils between us and Him and let us see His exquisite reality.

These narrations tell us that we should be aware of Allah’s divine expectation for us to return to Him. This awareness would encourage us to repent for our sins and ardently seek His Face and when we do so we will de?nitely not be disappointed for He is in?nitely desirous of our return.

“There exists only one truth in the world and that is the knowledge of self. He who knows himself, knows God and all others. He who does not know himself, does not know anything. In this world there exist one force, one freedom and one justice, and that force is that of ruling over oneself. In this world there exists only one virtue, and that is the virtue of liking others as much as one likes oneself. In other words, we should look upon others as we look upon ourselves. All other questions are imaginary and non-existing”.

(Introduction to My Religion, 1959)

In the beginning was sound, Yet we complicate the original
meaning of the words – forgetting our root,
deaf to the sound. Forget that the whole
point of our “uni-verse” is to bring us
towards the oneness

This sound is the source of all manifestation….The knower
of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the
whole universe. Who is not listening?

All the world is sound and anything that vibrates reacts to vibrations.
At times we put out a signal unaware of its unique imprint
and shocked when it returns to us as a harsh reflection,
sometimes misunderstood by all.

across the universe

Sometimes we are on different frequencies, or have
static in the atmosphere hindering our communication.
Yet, we feel and want for the same things – oneness,
connection, fulfillment, athomeness, joy, open arms and
unconditional love.

What is the answer? What is the question?
To be free to be who we are and free enough
to accept others the same way, no matter what
the radar bounces back? Or to keep the same
frequency back and forth, back and forth -
even though boredom sets in, never changing the station?

Or to be quiet, communicate only through
feelings, symbols, telepathy, negating the
voice that was given us for expression?

As we forge our way through the
brush and rock, swamp and smooth sailing
in life, we can feel some relief knowing
we are perfect in our imperfection; for
true perfection is static and dead.

Each of us is a note in the sound,
singing our own song; sometimes in
unison with others, sometimes solo.
Joy, anger, fear, hurt, forgiveness, love, passion
and compassion, expressing all the colors we are.
Let’s not deny the god that we are.

And within this symphony, cacophany of
sound, there is harmony, and one song emerges
between us all. And the song is Love.

All religions have some basic rules that define what is good conduct and what kind of conduct should be avoided. In Buddhism, the most important rules are the Five Precepts. These have been passed down from the Buddha himself. The following characteristics or basic principles are same in all Abrahamic Religions , Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

1. No killing Respect for life
2. No stealing Respect for others’ property
3. No sexual misconduct Respect for our pure nature
4. No lying Respect for honesty
5. No intoxicants Respect for a clear mind

No killing

The Buddha said, “Life is dear to all beings. They have the right to live the same as we do.” We should respect all life and not kill anything. Killing ants and mosquitoes is also breaking this precept. We should have an attitude of loving-kindness towards all beings, wishing them to be happy and free from harm. Taking care of the earth, its rivers and air is included. One way that many Buddhists follow this precept is by being vegetarian.

No stealing

If we steal from another, we steal from ourselves. Instead, we should learn to give and take care of things that belong to our family, to the school, or to the public.

No sexual misconduct

Proper conduct shows respect for oneself and others. Our bodies are gifts from our parents, so we should protect them from harm. Young people should especially keep their natures pure and develop their virtue. It is up to them to make the world a better place to live. In happy families, the husband and wife both respect each other.

No lying

Being honest brings peace into the world. When there is a misunderstanding, the best thing is to talk it over. This precept includes no gossip, no back-biting, no harsh words and no idle speech.

No intoxicants

The fifth precept is based on keeping a clear mind and a healthy body. One day, when the Buddha was speaking the Dharma for the assembly, a young drunkard staggered into the room. He tripped over some monks who were sitting on the floor and started cursing loudly. His breath reeked of alcohol and filled the air with a sickening stench. Mumbling to himself, he reeled out the door.

Everyone was astonished at his rude behavior, but the Buddha remained calm. “Great assembly!” he spoke, “Take a look at this man! He will certainly lose his wealth and good name. His body will grow weak and sickly. Day and night, he will quarrel with his family and friends until they abandon him. The worst thing is that he will lose his wisdom and become stupid.”

Little by little, one can learn to follow these precepts. If one sometimes forgets them, one can start all over again. Following the precepts is a lifetime job. If one kills or hurts someone’s feelings by mistake, that is breaking the precepts, but it was not done on purpose.

Refhttp://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm

THE CRUCIFIXION OF KINDNESS BY GILAD ATZMON
THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010 AT 8:07AM GILAD ATZMON

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/the-crucifixion-of-kindness-by-gilad-atzmon.html

Panic is detected in Israel. Strategic affairs minister, Moshe Boogi Ya’alon who served as acting PM during last week’s massacre in the high seas said yesterday that “someone failed to prepare a standard operating procedure.” A senior IDF official was quick to respond “If there wasn’t a standard operating procedure, why didn’t he make sure there was one. He was the acting prime minister and it was his responsibility.” War criminal Tzipi Livni is also unhappy with the Government for failing to take responsibility. Two days ago she led a no confidence vote in the Israeli Knesset.

Seemingly the Israelis are starting to blame each other. This may look like a positive move, however, not a single Israeli is yet to ask for forgiveness. Seemingly no one in Israel grasps the scale of the atrocity in the high seas. No one in Israel comprehends the level of outrage amongst the nations. Israelis, are instead concerned with their Hasbara failure, their military operational mistakes and so on. Up until now, they fail to see that in the high seas, they have managed to kill Christ again.

Killing Christ is realised symbolically as an assault on goodness, a crime against kindness and innocence. The cold blooded slaughter of peace activists in international waters has a very similar effect. It is an assault on compassion, righteousness and humanism. It is an attack on everything Christianity and Islam happen to value. As much as Israelis, Zionists and Neocons are insisting on spreading the deceptive myth of a Judeo-Christian alliance, it is this last Israeli crime that made it clear that the Jewish State shares nothing with humanism, Christianity or Islam. Israel in fact stands against any recognised Western value.

Though the contemporary Israeli has no ethnic or biological lineage to the ancient Israelites, the merciless ideology repeats itself. Since, the Zionist project defines itself as a revival of the Biblical Israelite nation, it shouldn’t take us by surprise that the lethal Biblical ideology also comes to life. It is implemented daily against Palestinian women, children, elders and now against an international humanitarian convoy.

If we want to understand what happened to the Palestinian solidarity movement last week, we could start by elaborating on a mass shift of consciousness. This goes beyond politics, psychology or sociology, it is actually a spiritual metaphysical shift. As I have been predicting for many years, we now start to see hope and liberation through the Palestinians and their righteous struggle. We understand that the Palestinians are at the forefront of the battle against evil. And we obviously stand behind them as one person. Interestingly enough, politicians are way behind. They still fail to notice the rapidly emerging worldwide public awareness that something is deeply sick in the Israeli society and its lobbies around the world. Our politicians will probably join us later, when their Zionist money runs out.

By equating Christ’s murder with last week’s massacre in the high seas, we can then understand the total failure of the Israeli Hasbara machine. Instead of standing up and admitting that something went horribly wrong at sea, Israeli officials reverted to the usual spin. The Turkish activists had become ‘Jew haters’, ‘Al-Qaeda terrorists’, and the Mavi Marmara had become a ‘Boat of Hate’. This tactic is unfortunately too familiar. It has been employed by Rabbinical Judaism for two thousand years, especially against the memory of Christ.

I guess that Christians and Muslims will be shocked and outraged to find out that Yesh’u, the Hebrew name for Jesus, is an abbreviation that corresponds to the “May his name and memory be blotted out”*, an expression used for deceased enemies of the Jewish people like Hitler and Stalin. In the Hebraic culture, Jesus, the kindest of all people, the son of God, is regarded as the ultimate enemy. If Jesus is cornered with Hitler, it shouldn’t surprise us that Hasbara officials insist to stick Peace activists with Al-Qaeda. Seemingly, in the modern Israelite philosophy one becomes a Yesh’u hate figure once hit by an Israeli bullet.

The Judaic hatred towards Jesus, as reflected by the Hebraic abbreviation Yesh’u is pretty revealing in the context of the latest Israeli massacre. Rather than accepting its crime and genuinely repenting, Israel attempted to portray the Turkish martyrs as the ultimate Jewish enemies. Seemingly, this attempt failed completely. The Free Gaza flotilla is now making it into a symbol of hope and compassion. Israel, on the other hand shoved itself into a corner. This is a tragic prophecy that fulfilled itself. Israel will never recover, it simply can’t.

This video from the International Solidarity Movement calls for emergency protests at Israeli embassies, consulates and visa offices and asks concerned citizens of the US to contact the White House, the State Department and your Congressional reps imploring them to demand a thorough investigation of the attack by a credible third party.

Since June, 2009, the Free Gaza movement has been writing to governments and non-governmental agencies around the world expressing opposition to Israel’s continued blockade of the people of Gaza. Now, the group is calling for a massive letter-writing campaign. There are three templates you use to base your own missives on. One is a call to governments and non-governmental agencies. The second one is to UN officials (in this case, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), and the third one is tailored to send to specific government officials.

Director: Corey Ogilvie | Genre: Documentary | Produced In: 2008

Synopsis: In this age of anger, vengeance & war, is peace possible? The gory bloodshed and loss of innumerable human lives all around, people are announcing their fatigue and the wish to imagine the world of peace & respect for human life. In February 2003, over 50 million people from across 800 cities marched to Vancouver condemning the Iraq War, though, ironically, could not stop Invasion of Iraq. This film explores various issues & viewpoints that discusses the failure of the initiative, and contemplates on ‘peace’ – as an ideology, an action and a way for the world future.

Think Peace: Portrait of a 21st Century Movem…