Chronic Chronicles:
Dear Digory,
Sorry, I let you down again, yea I am a 'chicken'. How was your weekend? I spent mine reading Into the Wardrobe by David C. Downing, catching a play by a disabled Japanese-Korean artist and watching the 'hyped-up' Memoirs of a Geisha (guess it's hard to escape Hollywood's allure).
Reading Downing, I discovered that C.S. Lewis was a close friend of Tolkien (LOTR) and that he was a professor in medieval and renaissance lit at Oxford and Cambridge. There was a passage that stood out, and I quote:
"In the chronicles, courage does not mean immunity from fear; it is overcoming fear. ... "Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do." In all the Narnia stories, the protagonists have to set aside their fears in order to do what has to be done. This is more an act of moral courage than physical courage. As Lewis noted in The Screwtape Letters, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point .... A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky." (2005, 103)
Taihen was a disturbing yet moving performance which made me feel so shallow about my own pre-occupation with physical appearance - 'bad hair day', 'bare, no make-up face', 'wrong clothes', etc. It also made me hang my head in shame for my own 'disability' to overcome my fears and doubts, to open up and be sensitive and flexible to other people's ways, wants and needs.
Memoirs of the Geisha moved me in the way that Amy Tan's novels like Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife (chick lit) did: "Thank God I was born, raised and educated in 'the best of times'"/"Those were certainly the BAD old days" when young girls were sold into bondage, had to sell their virginity (misuage?) to the highest bidder to free themselves from the bond, had to sing, dance, entertain and serve men who can afford to pay for their services or artistic skills, and wait for that generous/beneficiant male 'donor' to provide financial security (that sort of sound familiar, hahah). I do wish to put end to this 'correspondence', don't you?
Chooz,
Polly/Lucy/Jewel
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The path to destruction
(by Kalimullah Hassan, NST, Opinion 19, 22/01/06, that picked up Wong Sulong's New Year resolutions)
I found yesterday's column articulated my angst (and others' too) very well:
" ... the culture of envy, jealousy and hatred has seeped in so much into society that it has become unbearable.
... if they were innovative and originated ideas and became successful, then their enterprise would not be acknowledged.
... If they fail, then the hate-mongers will applaud.
... The safest bet among the three options - succeed, fail or go overseas - would, of course, be to expand abroad.
... Rita Mae Brown's philosophy: "About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won't like you at all."
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Phenomenal Women:
Powems by Rabi'atulAdawiyah -
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 AD) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.
Rabi'a held that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.
Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?"
"By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
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?
Rabia al-Adawiyya
~~
I have two ways of loving You:
A selfish one
And another way that is worthy of You.
In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone.
In that other love, You lift the veil
And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton
~~
The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.
This is a disease no doctor can cure.
Only Union with the Friend can cure it.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
I have made You the Companion of my heart.
But my body is available to those who desire its company,
And my body is friendly toward its guest,
But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.
My Beloved is alone with me there, always.
I have found nothing in all the worlds
That could match His love,
This love that harrows the sands of my desert.
If I come to die of desire
And my Beloved is still not satisfied,
I would live in eternal despair.
To abandon all that He has fashioned
And hold in the palm of my hand
Certain proof that He loves me---
That is the name and the goal of my search.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
O Lord,
If tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell,
I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away.
O Lord,
Whatever share of this world
You could give to me,
Give it to Your enemies;
Whatever share of the next world
You want to give to me,
Give it to Your friends.
You are enough for me.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship You for Yourself alone
Then grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Soul Food/Growth:
Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-73) saint and mystic, inspiration for the Mevlevi Order of the whirling dervishes, highly revered for the great Mathnawi which is a majestic tribute to the depth of spiritual life.
The Jesus of your spirit is inside you now.
Ask that one for help, but don't ask for body-things...
Don't ask Moses for provisions
that you can get from Pharaoh.
Don't worry so much about livelihood.
Your livelihood will turn out as it should.
Be constantly occupied instead
with listening to God.
Rumi, Mathnawi II:450-454
~~
Listen for the stream
that tells you one thing.
Die on this bank.
Begin in me
the way of rivers with the sea.
Rumi - Coleman Barks - from "Say I Am You"
~~
You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So- I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.
- Jalaluddin Rumi
~~
Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
The only rule is, Suffer the pain.
Your desire must be disciplined,
and what you want to happen
in time, sacrificed.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.
By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.
I'm sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheikhs and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.
Rumi - 'The Love Poems of Rumi' - Deepak Chopra & Fereydoun Kia
~~
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quiteness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
The Morning Wind Spreads
The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in,
that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.
Rumi - 'The Essential Rumi' - Coleman Barks
~~
Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that's why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;
but when I choose,
I spring up from those under its sway.
I am like a high-flying bird,
and thought is a gnat:
how should a gnat overpower me?
Rumi - Mathnawi II, 3559-3561 - 'Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance' - Camille and Kabir Helminski
~~
I wonder
from these thousand of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I will pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.
Rumi - "Hidden Music" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I,
With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.
The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us;
We shall show them the Moon itself, thou and I.
Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy,
Joyful and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in ‘Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.
Jelaluddin Rumi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"
Rumi - "Whispers of the Beloved" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
My heart tells me it is distressed with Him,
but I can only laugh at such pretended injuries.
Be fair, You who are the Glory of the just.
You, Soul, free of "we" and "I,"
subtle spirit within each man and woman.
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Where is this "we" and this "I"?
By the side of the Beloved.
You made this "we" and this "I"
in order that you might play
this game of courtship with Yourself,
that all "you's" and "I's" might become one soul
and finally drown in the Beloved.
All this is true. Come!
You who are the Creative Word: Be
You, so far beyond description.
Is it possible for the bodily eyes to see You?
Can thought comprehend Your laughter or grief?
Tell me now, can it possibly see You at all?
Such a heart has only borrowed things to live with.
The garden of love is green without limit
and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy.
Love is beyond either condition:
without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.
Rumi - Mathnawi I, 1779-1794 - The Rumi Collection - Kabir Helminski
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Guidance
The following translations are examples of what the Qur'an tells us about guidance from the One:
It is true thou wilt not be able to guide everyone whom thou lovest: but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance.
---- 28:56
Nay the wrong-doers (merely) fellow their own lusts being devoid of knowledge. But who will guide those whom Allah leaves astray? To them there will be no helpers.
----- 30:29
and those whom Allah leaves to stray no one can guide
.... 13:33
If Allah so willed He could make you all one people: but He leaves straying whom He pleases and He guides whom He pleases: but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions.
---- 16:93
Is he then to whom the evil of his conduct is made alluring so that he looks upon it as good (equal to one who is rightly guided)? For Allah leaves to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So let not thy soul go out in (vainly) sighing after them: for Allah knows well all that they do!
---- 35:8
Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light.
---- 24:35
Allah is the Guide of those who believe to the Straight Way.
--- 22:54
Allah hath (now) revealed the fairest of statements, a Scripture consistent, (wherein promises of reward are) paired (with threats of punishment), whereat doth creep the flesh of those who fear their Lord, so that their flesh and their hearts soften to Allah's reminder. Such is Allah's guidance, where with He guideth whom He will. And him whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide.
---- 39:23
We sent an apostle except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people in order to make (things) clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power Full of Wisdom.
---- 14:4
To such as Allah rejects from His guidance there can be no guide; He will leave them in their trespasses wandering in distraction.
--- 7:186
Whom Allah doth guide he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance such are the persons who perish.
---- 7:178
As for those who believe in Allah, and hold fast unto Him, them He will cause to enter into His mercy and grace, and will guide them unto Him by a straight road.
---- 4:176
36 ....He whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide.
37 And he whom Allah guideth, for him there can be no misleader.
---- 39:36-37
Those whom Allah (in His Plan) willeth to guide He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying He maketh their breast close and constricted as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe.
----- 6:125
Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful message in the form of a Book consistent with itself (Yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah's praises. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides therewith whom He pleases but such as Allah leaves to stray can have none to guide.
---- 39:23
It is he whom Allah guides that is on true guidance; but he whom He leaves astray for such wilt thou find no protector besides Him.
----- 17:97
Then seest thou such a one as takes as his god his own vain desire? Allah has knowing (him as such) left him astray and sealed His hearing and his heart (and understanding) and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah (has withdrawn Guidance)? Will ye not then receive admonition?
----- 45:23
No kind of calamity can occur except by the leave of Allah: and if anyone believes in Allah (Allah) guides his heart (aright): for Allah knows all things.
---- 64:11
Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him).
---- 42:13
36 Is not Allah enough for His servant? But they try to frighten thee with other (gods) besides him! For such as Allah leaves to stray there can be no guide.
37 And such as Allah doth guide there can be none to lead astray is not Allah Exalted in Power (able to enforce His Will) Lord of Retribution?
---- 39:36-37
71... Say: "Allah's guidance is the (only) guidance and we have been directed to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds;
72 "To establish regular prayers and to fear Allah; for it is to him that we shall be gathered together."
---- 6:71-72
For Allah guides whom He will to a path that is straight.
---- 2:213
How shall Allah guide those who reject faith after they accepted it and bore witness that the Apostle was true and that clear signs had come unto them? But Allah guides not a people unjust.
----3:86
It is he whom Allah guides that is on true guidance; but he whom He leaves astray for such wilt thou find no protector besides Him
---- 17:97
We have indeed sent down Signs that make things manifest: and Allah guides whom He wills to a way that is straight.
---- 24:46
But if they hearken not to thee know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts devoid of guidance from Allah? For Allah guides not people given to wrongdoing.
----28:50
It is true thou wilt not be able to guide everyone whom thou lovest: but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance.
---- 28:56
Evil is the similitude of people who falsify the Signs of Allah: and Allah guides not people who do wrong
---- 62:5
11 No kind of calamity can occur except by the leave of Allah: and if anyone believes in Allah (Allah) guides his heart (aright): for Allah knows all things.
---- 64:11
51 It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration of from behind a veil or by the sending of a Messenger to reveal with Allah's permission what Allah wills: for He is Most High Most Wise.
52 And thus have We by Our command sent inspiration to thee: thou knowest not (before) what was Revelation and what was Faith; but We have made the (Qur'an) a Light wherewith We guide such of Our servants as We will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the Straight Way
53 The Way of Allah to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth: Behold (how) all affairs tend towards Allah!
----- 42:51-53
78 Verily thy Lord will decide between them by His Decree: and He is Exalted in Might All-Knowing.
79 So put thy trust in Allah: for thou art on (the Path of) manifest Truth.
80 Truly thou canst not cause the Dead to listen nor canst thou cause the Deaf to hear the call (especially) when they turn back in retreat.
81 Nor canst thou be a guide to the Blind (to prevent them) from straying; only those wilt thou get to listen who believe in Our Signs and they will bow in Islam.
----- 27:78-81
There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever rejects Satan (and what he calls to) and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handhold, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 2:256
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welcome to blogoshpere!
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