No Praise is Due

Say not:
‘But for the Grace of God’
‘Karma’
‘Alhamdullillah’

A flowery prose in shame

Both God and men abdicating free will

In the Design of pain and suffering.

‘Is God a slave to man’s free will?’

A hungry infant asks.

We repeat without thought,

‘But for the grace of God’

‘Karma’

‘Alhamdullilah’

Soothing, self assuring,

Except to the child

I swear by The Forbidden Tree

This Is:

An instinct, an emotion;

An Old love and Hate;

God and Men playing Roulette

Abdicating Free Will

Note: This poem should not be taken literally. There is beauty in being grateful to God provided one understands that the relationship between us and God is a complex one involving each having the freedom and responsibility to act. For instance, in every scripture, God asks us to be good to others- the Grace of God is given through our freedom. In this sense, the injustice is in our choices. For us to give our choices the name of God’s grace without acknowledging our freedom in the result is abdicating our free will.

The reference to the forbidden tree; an old love and hate; both men and God playing roulette is again mystical and ought not to be taken literally.

I Saw the Sacred Be

I saw the Sacred Be,
 
Children descending
 
One by One
 
Like beads in a rosary
 
To pay homage to Life

Only guided by their instinct and love

Without command or scripture.

Marvel

I am damaged beyond repair,

Breathing with an empty heart,

Pumped by God dancing in White Coat.

Dance no more and

Let Me Go

To my own rhythm and rhyme:

I have been dead a long time.

 

I am more than just a beating heart!

Note: This poem was written after I met a paralyzed man. This is not about me but the issues raised in our conversation.

I highly recommend reading this if you have ever wondered about the nature of God in relation to us, and the problem of evil. It is a serious read which I believe provides a unique insight into both our nature and the nature of God and the problem of evil. It is a perspective that cautiously empowers us. Some light Sunday reading (lol)

The Conscience

When I was 16, my philosophy teacher Mwalimu Kassala asked me to ponder on the problem of evil. He presented the problem as Saint Augustine had presented it:

Either God cannot abolish evil or He will not.

If He cannot, He is not All-Powerful;

If He will not, He is not All-Good.

Many years have passed since then, and I think I have finally “solved” the problem of evil- and it is an extremely important question to consider because my solution puts us in the role of creators rather than passive observers.It challenges the fundamental assumptions most human beings have made about God.

The problem with the question and the traditional understanding of God is the assumption that God IS rather than BECOMING and that He is All Powerful, All Merciful, or Both. Truth is often a paradox. My view on the problem of evil, on the nature of God…

View original post 83 more words

The Way to Personal Freedom- 2, Veiled Beauty

I had written this poem a few years ago in a moment of  a spiritual ecstasy and union. It is a feeling of Union and Oneness with Everything.

My love with “It” has been a source of freedom for me. Meditation, knowing oneself, fasting a couple of days a week (or eating less), being awake from dawn to sunrise, all help with this experience. Why is this important? Feel it and you will know.

______

 

I see You in the redness of dawn;

in the virgin sky;

in awakened life at early morn;

in Thunder & Lightening;

in the silence of the Dark Night;

between my shadow and I;

in the glorious moon and the bright stars;

in sounds of raindrops:

In the carelessness of children while they play in

Your Thunder, Lightening and Rain;

In waves on an ocean shore;

In the moving wind;

In hope amidst fear;

In the lust of youth.

My Allah, O Veiled Beauty, yet I see you not in all Your Majesty:

I see the footprint but not the Foot;

the shadow but not the Object.

I am a shadow of the Object. The Sun will set upon me and my shadow will fade into the Dark Night.

All that will remain is You. I will return like a raindrop on the ocean back to its Source.

All will perish except Your Face.

My Allah, let me know You as a Friend and let me subsist Within You for an Eternity.

Let the shadow exist without a shadow: in oneness with You

The Way to Personal Freedom 1

Now who wants be be free? We do.

My hope is to share a few practices which free me.

First, you must know yourself. Be silent for a few minutes every day and listen to yourself. You will be amazed at how much chatter goes on in your brain and what concerns you. You should listen without participating. If you are able to, wake up at dawn, and be with yourself till sunrise! You will be amazed at how your day goes.

Eat less twice a week. This has a profound impact. You will be able to listen to yourself more and develop an appreciation of the Path.

I will stop here. In my own development, I have found that it is useful to practice what I read rather than just reading on.

How is this related to contentment ?

How about social justice?

I must be free from within to have a positive impact and life.

Love is….

Love is

Beauty unveiled by Holy Verses,*

Imperceptible to the Naked Eye,

Practiced by those who know:

God is visible in Filth and

Hidden behind Beautiful faces.

Love is

Not ecstasy at delightful sight;

Photograph curtesy of Jordan Swavely, a photographer residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. http://jordanswavely.com/

Love is

A leper’s hand,

A deformed Child,

Mother Theresa’s embrace.

Let us Love One Another- by: Mother Teresa

Beauty unveiled by Holy Verses,*

Imperceptible by Naked Eye,

Practiced by those who know:

God is visible in filth and

Hidden behind Beautiful faces.

* Mathew, 25: 33-45, Holy Bible. Note: This blog endorses no religion but is supportive of spiritual gems found anywhere, including the Holy Bible.

Freedom to Submit

Free to fly,

Tired of flight;

Ocean beneath,

No land in sight.

Cut your Wings and be Free at last!

Freedom from Freedom

You are free to fly on

Ocean of Dreams

without land in sight.

But if it is freedom you seek,

Tired of flight,

Seek to fly no more.

Cut off your Wings and be Free at last!

Human Being

If I were a Tree

with deep roots,

rich soil,

strong bark standing majestically tall in the Sky:

I would not be grateful.

I would complain that I cannot walk the earth or glide the Sky.

I am a human being.

Devil ain’t so Bad

Banished from His Presence

for a spectacle of Dust;

Banished from His Presence

for a question asked;

Banished from His Presence

for civil disobedience:

I am the Devil.

Devil ain’t so Bad after all.

Life

Death like Fall Colours,
Life like Winter Tree:
Beautiful, Eternal

Why?

Why accept

Crippling poverty?

Inhuman realities ?

A mortgage for 25

to own a house and abandon a home?

Why Patience in the face of  a hungry child

for promise of a change the child may not live to see?

We have submitted to the way things are

and given up our free will.

Our “happy ” lives have been scripted for us.

Illusions Under the Christmas Tree

When all is said and done

in the silence of Night a Voice Speaks:

All Meaning is Created,

Order Imposed:

In the company of millions

We will walk alone to Nothingness.

And if you be lucky

an Illusion of meaning and hope will accompany you to your end.

There is no Santa, Dear Child-

God, even a bigger Lie:

But this truth is not for You.

Never expect a gift beyond what you can create:

Find your gifts under the Christmas Tree.

Note: The poem should not be taken literally. I do “believe” in “God”. These are expressions of experience. I hope and pray that you find your gifts beyond what you yourself can create!

Let Me Dream (Poem by a 9 year old child)

I have a dream that my life will never have a conclusion;

That the wooden doors will never limit me;

That the doves will have a ceaseless flight.

I have a dream that the leaves of a tree will never drift away;

That the owl will never close it’s watchful eyes.

Someday I will realize that I am not in reality,

but until then,

Let me Dream.

Zaynab (9)

Humane!

People suffer in this world,

and we don’t see it.

The poor stay in their huts,

and gaze at the fire that was recently lit.

The starvation of children,

as young as three,

yearn for their dead family.

They are whipped and beat,

for every tear they shed,

then they struggle fall asleep,

in the stone like bed.

Though if we take a minute,

to stand and stare,

we will realize how we are cruel and unfair.

We have thought this world to be a dream,

of fairness and pure sunlight beams.

We realize how blind we have been,

and if we live along with the way the world is,

on the judgement day: We will drown in Sin!

Zaynab (9)

Lost…

I walked to the store,

In longing to buy what I had lost.

Though I found it was not there,

So I ran back in agony.

Then I realized that what I had lost would never come back,

Though that was not up to my deciding.

I walked to the store everyday,

Looking blissfully at the shelf where what I had lost would have been.

One day I got lost too,

And saw my loved ones checking everyday if I was on that shelf,

Though of course I was not.

One day my loved ones got lost as well,

And their loved ones came to see if they were on the shelf.

The I truly did realize that once we were lost once,

We were lost forever.

And that was the circle of life.

Zaynab (9)

The 3rd Alternative- The Way to Happiness

This or that is not the option-

when the answer is this and that.

These days politics is focused on debt reduction at the expense of human dignity. This is the politics of old where a false dilemma is presented. The thinking has to be outside of the box. The problem is fat on the top, not the bottom. Eliminate the fat on the top and you have enough resources for investing in life.

For instance, It is time that our governments at all levels invest in cancer research and cure- if we can invest in war, we can invest in life. While I admire all the fundraising that is done for cancer, it should not be a private, individual affair, any more than building or maintaining highways! Let charity not be an excuse for abdication of a government responsibility. Thus, in my post Poetic Uproar I ask, “When will charity end and justice begin?”

Our economic paradigm is based on a false value- that the central purpose of economic activity is economic wealth. Change that, and you have the 3rd Alternative.

Where is God?

A Bird flew in search of its Wings

as I for God:

How Beautiful the flight,

How futile the search!

Back to this World

I glimpsed behind this Curtain

and saw that there was no Curtain:

My grandma was with me all along.

She said, “Good to see you my Son. Now go back to the world.”

I did not want to:

We spoke without our lips moving,

our hearts under the warmth of the Mother:

Peace and Serenity all around.

“Why leave this bliss?  Why go back to the world? No!”,

I cried like the child I used to be.

But I awoke:

without the curtain or my Beloved.

I had an accident. I was back in this world.

Modern Man of God

I am a modern Man of God,

with Cigar in one  hand and Cross on the other;

Holy Spirit in one and Wine in the other;

Seeking the Holy Spirit in Extreme Sports,

the moments between moments when life is still;

In drugs and music:

I have studied the ways of all religions and practice none:

The old sages knew:

For the constant “high”, what you call peace and God

your companions must be practice, rituals and prayers

under both Sunshine and the Storm.

I am a modern man of God:

My knowledge ends where Wisdom begins.

I want a shortcut to God when there is None.

Pristine Whore

You are a whore to men

women and children too;

Been a lover to beast and man.

Longing to belong we slept with You

in hopes and dreams of today and tomorrow.

In my childhood I gazed upon you with innocent eyes

and a child like heart wishing for things that children do

making me believe I belonged to You and You alone and You were mine.

Now I approach death and realize:

You are a whore from eternity to eternity,

a lover to both young and old,

beast and men: making them believe what they wanted to believe-

filling the void of Longing to Belong.

I approach death knowing that you will have a different lover at your bedside.

But I am not alone in this: many others have passed before me and many more will follow.

The fault is mine: I presumed You to be mine,

an Eternal companion:

Instead You are a whore to every One.

Yet I believe in you still and thank you for this gift which You enjoyed with Me

while I slept with You Longing to Belong.

It is unfair that the faithful companion should die while the whore remains!

Yet You were honest in Your Treachery as I was naive in my love:

You had said it all along: “Everyone will perish except the face of God.”

The illusion of time heals all wounds:

I am sorry for My Anger, My Friend:

I climbed from earth towards heaven gazing at Your Face

and I tumbled and fell to the pith below both Heaven & Earth

where darkness and despair prevails.

I cannot fathom why, my Lord, I hear your voice where darkness is intense

and yet you do not hold my hand and lift me out the pith of darkness and despair?

The Spirit Spoke:

I am caterpillar who wants to be a butterfly:

You are the metamorphosis.

I created You in My Image:

We lift each other out of darkness into Light.

Your joys and pains are mine:

Yet You are Not Me and I am Not You:

I am the First & the Last,

The Living God who, one day,

You will meet with a content soul on the day

when the Object will exist without a shadow:

I, without an Image.

You and I

When I die

do not pray for me

or perform your rites and rituals.

If you must,  Live Well-

Our creation and resurrection are as a Single Soul:

Perchance you may be the bird on whose back I soar to Heaven.

________

Comment:

In Muslim practice, one recites Surah Fatiha for the deceased. What is interesting about this recitation is that it is a prayer for one’s own guidance and there is nothing in it for the deceased.  Why then recite it for the deceased?  I understood the answer to be in Ch 31: verse 28 of the Quran “Your creation and your resurrection are not but as a single soul.”

Happiness

My Salvation is beyond the Garden of Eden

or Noah’s Shore:

It is in Sin and Drowning Itself!

I seek a world

without Pain and Pleasure;

cancer and cure;

God and Devil;

Love and Hate;

Lost Dreams and Hopes;

Beauty and Beast.

But it will never be,

Never Be

while I Am:

I am the the Duality:

My Salvation is beyond the Garden of Eden

or Noah’s Shore:

It is in Sin and Drowning Itself!

Hopeless!

As the night covers this day

and almost all light is gone,

voices become distant and only murmurs and footsteps can be heard-

Lost dreams are remembered and I know:

Death came long before my end.

Fall Leaves Dance Away- By the Poet Child

As the fall mist turns to frost,
Summer mourns at what it lost.
The days of Jumping in the pool
have turned to days of more and more school.
The leaves dance away hand in hand
venturing to a different land

Freedom in sunshine & storm

I went to sleep with longings of yesterday and dreams of tomorrow:

I woke up to the melody of my heart drumming to neither yesterday nor tomorrow.

I realize the freedom of dancing now with today’s beat and drums.

Being free:

Not stitching a clothe for the unknown.

Being alive to each new day’s freedom under sunshine and storm..

What a wondrous thing is Now

Wondrous Life

I wonder whether I am just flesh and blood

decaying with Time:

There is nothing Holy about Life:

A bastard is born every minute to die.

Then I think of my TV remote,

how I click and control with an Invisible Hand,

My Zeppellin playing music with unseen sound waves between my Computer and It:

There may not be a God or Eternity

Yet Life is wondrous and more than I see.

Just perhaps the holiness of life is hidden behind decaying flesh!

Buck over People: The Death of Greek Democracy

Greece backing down from a referendum on economic reforms is a blow to the principle of democracy and an implicit endorsement of the view that the few “elite” know what is best for the majority- the majority are stupid- except that the majority will bear the brunt of the reforms and not the minority!

The Western Democracies have largely supported and encouraged the Greece Government not to have a referendum on the reforms.

Adds new meaning to we are the 99% and the commitment Western governments have to the principle of democracy.

Universal Secrets of the Hajj

For my non-Muslim readers, I have believed in experiencing truth and appreciating truths wherever I find them. “There are as many ways to God as human breaths”, said Prophet Muhammad.  This is just one of many experiences of “It” that all of us have had-the aim of this post is not to promote “one truth” but share the mysticism involved in Hajj:

It is my belief that Hajj is a symbol to hidden and manifest spiritual truths ready to be discovered and guide.

The Symbol of  Circle of Life

The Hajj begins at the Kaaba, a place of worship believed to have been built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ishmael- commonly known as the House of God.   All are dressed in unstitched white clothes. The Muslims are required to circle the Kaaba anti-clockwise

It is symbolic that the journey begins with God at the House of God. Why then depart from it only to return to it after days of journeying away from it? To journey away from the House of God to God Himself.

This is symbolic to me of “Adam and Eve” beginning their journey with God. What is also symbolic is that the approach to the House of God is in circles- I began at the outer edge of the circle slowly making my way towards the House of God.

You need very little- you can carry only very little

Your journeying away from the House of God to God requires you to carry only as much as you can carry. You carry what you need and you figure out how little you need. If you carry more than what you need it becomes a burden to you because the journey is long and tiring through the heat of the dessert sun and its cold nights. Since my Hajj in 2007, I have often wondered whether I have applied this beautiful lesson in my life. How much do I own that ends up owning my “soul”?

Letting go of vanity- a movement to your true self

During Hajj you are not allowed to look at yourself in the mirror. And by the end of the Hajj, when you have walked under the dessert sun, slept with fellow Muslims under a tent, and rested wherever you can, you “forget” yourself and ironically find your true self-you realize how unimportant your looks are and how much you need to look at yourself as both you and other human beings see you-not the cosmetic you, but the real you. This is one of the great blessings of Hajj.

The next stop is at Mount Arafat- the mountain where Adam and Eve received God’s “forgiveness” for approaching the “forbidden tree”. It is also known as the Mountain of Knowledge. What is interesting is that in the Holy Quran, the tree is linked to Adam and Eve becoming conscious of their nakedness and covering themselves with leaves! This is very interesting- 1) it links self-consciousness of the body to a lower state of being (may be this is a connection in not being allowed to look into the mirror) and 2) unconscious nakedness as a higher state.

……to be continued, God willing

Personal Reflection on Hajj-Part 2

This is a follow up to Personal Reflections on Hajj- Part 1. However, if you have no experience with Hajj, you are better off reading Part 2 first and then moving on to Part 1 as this is written for a general audience. It is my belief that Hajj is a symbol to hidden and manifest spiritual truths ready to be discovered and guide. The Symbol of  Circle of Life The Hajj begins at the Kaaba, a place of worship believed to have been built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ishmael- commonly known as the House of God.   All are dressed in unstitched white clothes. The Muslims are required to circle the Kaaba anti-clockwise It is symbolic that the journey begins with God at the House of God. Why then depart from it only to return to it after days of journeying away from it? To journey away from the House of God to God Himself. This is symbolic to me of “Adam and Eve” beginning their journey with God. What is also symbolic is that the approach to the House of God is in circles- I began at the outer edge of the circle slowly making my way towards the House of God. You need very little- you can carry only very little Your journeying away from the House of God to God requires you to carry only as much as you can carry. You carry what you need and you figure out how little you need. If you carry more than what you need it becomes a burden to you because the journey is long and tiring through the heat of the dessert sun and its cold nights. Since my Hajj in 2007, I have often wondered whether I have applied this beautiful lesson in my life. How much do I own that ends up owning my “soul”? Letting go of vanity- a movement to your true self During Hajj you are not allowed to look at yourself in the mirror. And by the end of the Hajj, when you have walked under the dessert sun, slept with fellow Muslims under a tent, and rested wherever you can, you “forget” yourself and ironically find your true self-you realize how unimportant your looks are and how much you need to look at yourself as both you and other human beings see you-not the cosmetic you, but the real you. This is one of the great blessings of Hajj. The next stop is at Mount Arafat- the mountain where Adam and Eve received God’s “forgiveness” for approaching the “forbidden tree”. It is also known as the Mountain of Knowledge. What is interesting is that in the Holy Quran, the tree is linked to Adam and Eve becoming conscious of their nakedness and covering themselves with leaves! This is very interesting- 1) it links self-consciousness of the body to a lower state of being (may be this is a connection in not being allowed to look into the mirror) and 2) unconscious nakedness as a higher state.  Part 3 will be written soon- God Willing.

Photo of Our Foot Print Beneath the Tree of Life

This is a photograph of an uprooted tree at an Island in Ontario, Canada. The roots can be strong but only as good as the soil it grows on. Observe what the roots grew on besides the soil. What “earth” will we leave behind ?

Adbuster Sept/Oct 2011

My Love

I watch my love as we drive down a country road

thinking how 24 years have gone by with a blink of an eye:

Our joys and pains together:

How we held hands when we were 16 in the face of hatred ,

eloped at 20 against the wishes of our parents and community

sleeping in our car in the parking lot of Holiday Inn until the security asked us to leave:

we then only had $50 in our bank and  a Dodge Omni to our name: we could not afford any more.

How we are content at all times yet seeking more,

lovers becoming parents.

“Believe in Life even when dreams turn to ashes:

I am grateful to have seen the birds fly with His Eyes

and drank from the cup of life.

Remember me as the 16 year old.”

Really????

How unauthentic?

Fat bums with tight jeans- frankly, isn’t that uncomfortable?;

A shirt and tie- what is the purpose of a tie?

Lipstick? Painted lips- what is up with that?

Walking with an iPod plugged in- wow!- A universe unto oneself!

Calorie and Carb Count- need to loose weight!!!

Hungry and starving- famine with nothing to eat

Burqas and bikinis- opposite ends of the same extreme!!!

A middle aged man- thinking the world of himself- just look at his walk and subtle gestures-

perhaps because he knows and feels the emptiness inside!

Seeking happiness in wealth-

Being wealthy and seeking happiness in meds:

All this from the same emptiness inside and an

unauthentic life.

Burn everything to the ground so we see ourselves with nothing else:

Just as we are.

Who is God, Who We Are, & The Problem of Evil

When I was 16, my philosophy teacher Mwalimu Kassala asked me to ponder on the problem of evil. He presented the problem as Saint Augustine had presented it:

Either God cannot abolish evil or He will not.

If He cannot, He is not All-Powerful;

If He will not, He is not All-Good.

Many years have passed since then, and I think I have finally “solved” the problem of evil- and it is an extremely important question to consider because my solution puts us in the role of creators rather than passive observers.It challenges the fundamental assumptions most human beings have made about God.

The problem with the question and the traditional understanding of God is the assumption that God IS rather than BECOMING and that He is All Powerful, All Merciful, or Both. Truth is often a paradox. My view on the problem of evil, on the nature of God, and who we are is suggested in the following poems:

 Caterpillar and the Butterfly

Pristine Whore

The Opening

Where is God?

The problem with the traditional understanding of God is that it makes us passive observers who assume that goodness will prevail because of a higher power. I suggest, respectfully, that the outcome should not be assumed: what we do, and how we live, will determine the fate of not only ourselves but “It”.  Individual and Social Justice are paramount to the “creation” of Us and “It.”

Uncoordinated Charity & Injustice

The problem with charity and charitable organizations is like fighting tanks with bows and arrows! You have cancer- no problem- donate to a cancer charity- you have a spinal cord injury- no problem- donate to the Canadian Paraplegic Association-children are dying of starvation in Somalia-no problem, donate to Oxfam- except that the problem is never permanently addressed through systemic changes. While you donate your dollars and cents to diverse organizations who may or may not work together, our society leaves the job of public welfare to its citizens and uses their (tax) money to fund less worthy causes.  I find it difficult to believe that in this day and age we can have satellite communication yet we do not have the science to permit the human mind to communicate with a paralyzed body to move its limbs, or for cancer to be no more, or for children to die of starvation in one part of the world while in another there is a growing epidemic of child obesity!

The poem Charity without Justice addresses the problem of uncoordinated charities..

Moral choices and Economic Realities

Our worlds are organized around social fictions based on partial truths.

The fact is that the economic resources a family has significantly influences the welfare of the members, including children, of that family.  It determines the neighbourhood we live in or do not live in, the school our children go to, whether our children hang out with our ‘equals”, the resources you or the school is able to spend on the education of your children, and how you are viewed by others. Children and individuals from poor families are also more likely to find themselves caught in socially “unacceptable”behaviours.

But we pretend that money has no influence on the moral choices an individual makes. This is a social fiction. The truth is closer to what one Imam Jaffer Sadiq said. He was asked whether we have free will or our fate is destined.  Imam Jaffer Sadiq basically said that both are valid-you are free to stand on one leg, but you will not be able to stand without any legs!

We must not forget this truth as we strive for a better world. Spirituality, religion and good family values are not enough to transform a society into a better one. To sustain the good we need to create an environment that facilitates the right choices. One critical component of that environment is a guarantee to every individual and family of a minimum standard of living consistent with human dignity.

Euthanasia and Sanctity of Life: Are they Opposites?

What if euthanasia was a life affirming act that acknowledged the sanctity of life, and our role as creators, the agents of God’s hands? No one waits for God to stop a bleeding wound if you can stop it yourself. Part of the gift of life is our responsibility to act responsibly towards it. No one waits for God to impregnate- we do that job very well most of the time and have “fun” in the process of creation. Few believe that they need the permission of God to use contraception.

I am not endorsing euthanasia nor am I discussing the legality of it- I simply want to consider the moral and ethical question as to whether the sanctity of life and euthanasia are opposites.  In my poem, The Life Force, I describe how an arched tree that shot its branches towards the sun, affirmed to me that the most evident purpose of life is to live it: we walk to heaven without legs if we must.  At the same time, I cannot ignore the fact that we are  part of God, and at the very least agents of God.  What gives us the moral right, as agents of God, to use our intelligence to heal someone, and at times keep them alive beyond what “pure nature” would have permitted, but not use the same intelligence and responsibility to decide to end suffering?

I can imagine a scenario where someone acknowledges and believes in the sanctity of life, and in God, who may view euthanasia as a responsible act in the progression of life towards the path of life.

Non-Poetic Rant: Institutionalizing Our Relationships

Whatever happened to human relationships? Now we have an institution for everything. Day Care for children, Retirement Residence for our old folks (we put our children in day care and they will eventually put us in old people’s home), Welfare for a neighbour or friend in need and  Facebook for friends.

What we seek most is safety that we have each other in good and bad times. We have surrendered our lives to a cold system.

The Choice

Life now is about Choices but not the Choices:

I have the power to choose between This and That

determined by the Other.

I am bound to both Earth and Heaven.

One day when I will have perished and

You will inherit the earth- if you are happy with

the Choice and the Choices I thought you would like to have,

Do Not Forget: You are the Bird who flies on my back:

You are the freedom I dreamed of.

Our “Creation and Resurrection are as a Single Soul.”

The Life Force

I met an Arched Tree like myself:

 Though broken it shot its branches towards the sun.

The Arched Tree showed me:

 The most evident purpose of life is to live it as our nature dictates,

If we must, we walk to heaven without legs

Moiz Billah

Veiled Beauty

I see You in the redness of dawn;

in the virgin sky;

in awakened life at early morn;

in Thunder & Lightening;

in the silence of the Dark Night;

between my shadow and I;

in the glorious moon and the bright stars;

in sounds of raindrops:

In the carelessness of children while they play in

Your Thunder, Lightening and Rain;

in waves on an ocean shore;

in the moving wind;

in hope amidst fear;

in the lust of youth.

My Allah, O Veiled Beauty, yet I see you not in all Your Majesty:

I see the footprint but not the Foot;

the shadow but not the Object.

I am a shadow of the Object. The Sun will set upon me and my shadow will fade into the Dark Night. All that will remain is You. I will return like a raindrop on the ocean back to its Source.

All will perish except Your Face.

My Allah, let me know You as a Friend and let me subsist Within You for an Eternity.

Let the shadow exist without a shadow: in oneness with You

The Arab Spring

The Arab Spring is Here:

We have taken Destiny in our own Hands,

Questioned the Self-Appointment of Despots and Royalty:

Our Fate is Ours to Make.

My God: Beware- We will soon Question You for your Sins and Omissions;

We will Dis-Appoint you as we have Other Rulers-

Democracy is Here.

God Said, “ I Created you in my Image. Finally you Understand. You took the Shell and emptied My breath. Fulfill your Destiny. Be Gods in Body and Breath as you are Meant to Be.”

Moiz Billah

Love

You wanted me to be a Word,

I became a Book which you had not penned.

My Love: Burn the Book and re-write Your Life.

Be Happy.

Giving Up

You Pretend,

And so will I:

We will walk on the Garden Path that never was.

Moiz Billah

The Darkness Within

I lurk in the Dark,

Waiting to pounce the Life out of Me-

To survive at the cost of Living:

I am the Darwinian Scientification of Life,

Devoid of Sanctity and Sacrifice.

Moiz Billah

Al-Fill: The Greater Jihad

Having tasted “Its” Presence and Whisperings the Union comes to an End;

The elephant within me occupies my heart and pushes aside the Lord of the Worlds.

The memory of the Union remains and the heart longs for It.

I am in battle within myself:

Neither here nor there, obsessed with It but lacking in strength I pray for assistance.

Allah says: “Have you seen how Your Lord dealt with the army of the elephants?”

I say: “Show me. I have an elephant within me. Invade my heart. Trample upon me. Render me like “chewed up straw”.

Moiz

The Thousand Faces of God

I see:

Children- just living in the moment with

the promise of a future;

I remember:

the embrace of my parents,

the joys and pains of my brothers and sisters,

true friends, and

the pursuit of love and lust.

I am:

a husband, father, son, brother, and friend.

Along this journey, I have been part of something Holy and Beautiful. It is as if I have seen the Thousand Faces of God.

Yet I know that I have not seen God: our childhood passes, our youth does not last and our children grow up. This world is a house of endings and everything comes to an end except

our constant gaze towards the Beautiful, wondering “What Now!”.

God has eluded us in Plain Sight.

This is the meaning of the paradox: “He is Manifest and Hidden.”

Born Again

I cannot fit into my Old Shoes:

I have Different Feet now.

I am Born Again.

Moiz Billah

Note: This poem is dedicated to persons who have survived a life changing experience and have to give up their “old self” and find meaning in their new reality.  The metaphor suggests that One’s self is not defined by the shoes one wears (the reality of one’s life) but rather is an invisible, life defining force within you which says, nay screams, “I am Born Again”.

Learn to be dead to be alive

Aligning With Simplicity — Adapting To Island Living

Aligning With Truth

Image Source: http://finewinesandflows.tumblr.com/

I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. I have been a city girl all of my life — all five decades, until recently.

When I returned to the Philippines in 2010, after a four-year sojourn in the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California), I went through culture shock! It didn’t help that the very few friends I had couldn’t relate to what I was experiencing.

Even before I left for the U.S., I already felt disconnected from my friends. I felt disconnected from the people I’ve interacted with and my countrymen in general. And I felt even more disconnected when I returned.

My energies and vibration have shifted. My priorities have changed. I redefined my values and principles.

My purpose and mission have taken (and are taking) a different shape and form.

As I raised my vibrational frequency, my thirst and hunger for material stuff have been significantly

View original post 953 more words

All I have to give…..I give…

By my friend Benjamin

Expressions of my life - An evolution of art.

To measure a day by the time it takes for the sun to set.
Or three hours at a time as I fight these shakes and quakes tis no life to lead.
For is a man not a collection of actions set forth by a reactive set circumstances.
As the papers pile high and the tears well I will not give way to these darkest of days.
For if I am truly to be judged by the things I leave behind.
I give you these small words…. Though my body fails me as my mind grows tired. I will not let fear live in this heart.
I will call from the highest peak and shout with passion for Art lives in this poetish painter. This old soul and knight long forgotten.
So I beg of you, live your life without fear for you are beautiful. Live your days with head…

View original post 31 more words

Fork Over Knives

Since March I have only consumed plant food- no oil, dairy or meat, after reading Dr. Esselstyn’s book ‘Preventing & Reversing Heart Disease ‘ and watching the documentary ‘Fork Over Knives’.

I made this decision for four reasons. First, the book convinced me that there is a correlation between the consumption of dairy and meat with cancer. Second heart disease and host of other medical problems can be avoided and reversed with a plant based diet without oil, meat or dairy.The book had photographs of hearts of patients who had followed the plant based diet and reversed their heart condition. Third, you can eat delicious food without counting calories- the book contains healthy and tasty recipes. Finally, I like the diet because it respects the sanctity of life and causes the least harm. Sometimes a life well lived is the one which causes the least harm even if if does not do the most good!!!

A comment on “A Flowery Prose in Shame”

A comment on A Flowery Prose in Shame:

This poem’s beginning line “Do not say: But for the Grace of God, Karma, Alhamdullilah” should not be taken literally. There is beauty in being grateful to God provided one understands that the relationship between us and God is a complex one involving each having the freedom and responsibility to act. For instance, in every scripture, God asks us to be good to others- the Grace of God is given through our freedom. In this sense, the injustice is in our choices. For us to give our choices the name of God’s grace without acknowledging our freedom in the result is abdicating our free will.

The reference to the forbidden tree; an old love and hate; both men and God playing roulette is again mystical and ought not to be taken literally.

The mornings night, poetish ramblings at dawn

The mornings night, poetish ramblings at dawn.