Jan 15, 2010 Posted by arif in Spirituality | 6 comments

Timeless Sufic Excerpts

I so love Sufic Tales and Poems. These are words that have been born in a realm other than ours and tease us as to what lies beyond. Reading these sayings provides one with a delectable taste of the spiritual pleasures that a Sufi experiences. One of the best Sufic books I’ve come across is Essential Sufism. I share with you below a few quotes from the book, with the hope that it’ll help me internalise these into practices.

O My Lord, if I worship You from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship You from hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake, do not withhold from me Your Eternal Beauty. ~ Rabia
(This prayer is a modification of an original prayer by Hadhrat Ali (AS))

Act as if there were no one on earth but you and no one in Heaven but God. ~ al Antaki

As long as your lower self rules your heart, you will never lose your love of this world. – Traditional

If you treat your lower self with affection, you will never by saved from it. ~ Traditional

Those who are dead to their lower selves are alive with God. ~ Traditional

Those who are controlled by the lower self must serve it; those who control thee lower self serve others. ~ Traditional

The lower self is like a theif who sneakes into your house at night to steal whatever is valuable and worthwhile. You cannot fight this thief directly, because it will mirror whatever force you bring against it. If you have a gun, the theif will also have a gun. If you have a knife, the thief will have a knife as well. To struggle with the thief is to invite disaster. So, what can you do? The only practical solution is to turn on the light. The thief, who is a coward at heart, will then run out. How do we turn on the light? Through thepractice of remembrance, awareness, and heefulness. ~ Sheikh Tosun Bayrak

A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey. ~ Traditional
( I LOVE this quote! )

Each faculty of our delights in that for which it was created;
lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance,
the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonious sounds.
The highest function of the soul is the perception of truth. ~ al-Ghazzali

If words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart,
but if they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears. ~ al-Shurawardi

Jesus (upon whom be peace!) saw the world revealed in the form of an ugly old hag. He asked her how many husbands she had possessed; she replied that they were countless. he asked whether they had died or been divorced; she said that she had slain them all. “I marvel,” he said, “at the fools who see what you have done to others, and still desire you.” ~ al-Ghazzali

Jan 6, 2010 Posted by Mohammed Ali in Sufi Comics | 2 comments

Sufi Comics: The Blind Astronomer

This comic was adapted from one of Khalil Gibran’s short stories. Human beings have a tendency is to identify themselves with their thoughts, feelings and emotions, ending up creating a false self image of themselves to define who they are.

If we can meditate at our inner Universe like an astronomer, we will find ourselves separate from our mind, thoughts and emotions. Thereby allowing us to pick and choose the appropriate response to a situation rather than having the situation dictate our response.

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Nov 18, 2009 Posted by arif in Spirituality | 0 comments

On Enlightenment

“Before Enlightenment, Chop Wood, Carry Water. After Enlightenment, Chop Wood, Carry Water.” - Ancient Zen Wisdom, from Mastery by George Leonard.

Oct 27, 2009 Posted by Mohammed Ali in Sufi Comics | 6 comments

Sufi Comics: How and Where is God?

This time’s comic is done in color. It is a dialog Imam Ridha has with an Atheist. This is just an excerpt, the actual discussion is much longer.

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Oct 27, 2009 Posted by arif in Reviews, Spirituality | 1 comment

A few Quotes from Tuesday’s with Morrie

I read this bestseller quite some time back, after Ali informed me that it’s audiobook has been quite a hit on iTunes. Although not a spiritual classic and not a book that I would strongly recommend, a part of me is glad that I have completed it. Below are a sprinkling of quotes from the book that I placed in my Intention Journal. I felt like sharing them with you.

“When you learn how to die, you learn how to live”

“Well the truth is if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time-then you might not be as ambitious as you are.”

“The things you spend so much time on-all this work you do-might not seem as important. You might have to make room for some more spititual things.”

Spiritual things?

“You hate that word, don’t you? ‘Spiritual.’ You think it’s touchy-feely stuff.”

“Mitch,” he said, laughing along, “even I don’t know what ‘spiritual development’ really means. But I do know we’re deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted.”