As I am slowly moving towards the end of a journey (you may probably learn in next post - what's this journey), I would like to list down the important lessons that I learnt(learning) in my life through various incidents, experiences, sources, art, literature, philosophies, mysticism, psychology, science, abstractness, falsehood, deception, grief, hunger, illness, patriotism, rebellion, wealth, temptations, pride, arrogance, envy, ignorance, power, fear, culture, language, parents and my extended human, animal and plant families .. here's an attempt to paint them with images and quotes for you to reflect and agree or disagree ..
1. On Existence (On Ego & Soul)
“I can't believe, I'm simply not existing because it doesn't seem true, and I would just be lying to myself.“
"My soul is my guide, for my soul is of that abode
Seek your proofs, but don't turn your face from it."
"Do not ask, Where is God?
Rather ask, Where am I?"
"All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there."
"I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God's."
2. On Knowledge (On Intuition & Intellect)
“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”
3. On Mistakes (On Lessons & Wisdom)
"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from."
"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."
“Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given.”
"The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue - so, the most important lessons lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn."
"Who are the learned? Those who practice what they know."
4. On Evil (On Choice & Consequences)
"We stopped checking for monsters under our bed and we realized they were inside of us?"
"The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks
is a minor hero
compared to the lion who overcomes himself."
"Thou does not know evil till thou knowst good: (only) from (one) contrary is it possible to discern (the other) contrary, 0 youth!"
"All evil qualities—oppression, hatred, envy, greed, mercilessness, pride—when they are within yourself, they bring no pain. When you see them in another, then you shy away and feel the pain."
"God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one."
“…whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. "
5. On Love (On Need & Greed)
"One should not confuse true love with the feeling felt for members of the opposite sex. Such love, although sometimes transformed into true love, is deficient, temporary, and has no inherent value unless he desireth for his neighbour that which he desireth for himself."
"And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it
would not fill this emptiness(greed)."
"You know what love is?
It is all kindness, generosity.
Disharmony prevails when
You confuse lust with love, while
The distance between the two
Is endless."
"The lover’s ailment is different from all ailments; Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries."
6. On Struggle (On Purpose & Goals)
"The angel is saved by knowledge, The beast by brute ignorance;
Midway between and struggling Such a predicament is man's!"
“Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.”
"The intelligent desire self-control;
children want candy."
"Speak truth, even in the face of a tyrant."
"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self."
7. On Freedom (On Oppression & Responsibility)
"Knowing your enemy is winning half the battle"
"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."
"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."
"The undisciplined person doesn’t wrong himself alone–
but sets fire to the whole world."
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us."
"Lawless are they that make their wills their law."
"If you do not feel ashamed of anything, then you can do whatever your desires want."
8. On Submission (On Liberation & Peace)
"The worldly comforts are not for me. I am like a traveler, who takes a rest under a tree in the shade and then goes on his way."
"Let God be the ruler over your hearts, not the duniya (world)"
"Do you want to enter paradise?
To walk the path of Truth
You need the grace of God.
We all face death in the end.
But on the way, be careful
Never to hurt a human heart!"
"People who attach their identity & happiness to things of the material, who are happy when their relationship is going good, or when their work is going good, or when their financial status is good, they will be among the losers. A submitter's happiness is attached to Divine. And the Divine is eternal, That is why a submitter always says 'I seek refuge in God' to whatever good or bad things that happen to them"
"Forgiveness is a creative act, a true gift, that changes us from prisoners of the past to liberated people at peace with our memories"
"True devotion is for itself:
~ "All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds."
1. On Existence (On Ego & Soul)
“I can't believe, I'm simply not existing because it doesn't seem true, and I would just be lying to myself.“
"My soul is my guide, for my soul is of that abode
I will not speak of the earthly, I am of the unknown."
"I did not come here on my own accord, nor will I thus leave.
He who brought me here, shall return me to my very own." "I did not come here on my own accord, nor will I thus leave.
"The sun itself is proof the sun exists!
Seek your proofs, but don't turn your face from it."
"Do not ask, Where is God?
Rather ask, Where am I?"
"All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there."
"I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God's."
2. On Knowledge (On Intuition & Intellect)
“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”
"Given that true reality (haqiqat) is obscured by forms and appearances, as we have seen, an epistemological question is inevitable: how reliable are intellect and logic as a means of discovering and knowing the real? Can we humans reach certainty about our knowledge and our beliefs? "
"Knowledge that is acquired
is not like this.
Those who have it worry if
audiences like it or not.
It's a bait for popularity.
Disputational knowing wants customers.
It has no soul.
"Knowledge that is acquired
is not like this.
Those who have it worry if
audiences like it or not.
It's a bait for popularity.
Disputational knowing wants customers.
It has no soul.
The only real customer is God.
Chew quietly
your sweet sugarcane God-Love, and stay
playfully childish.”
Chew quietly
your sweet sugarcane God-Love, and stay
playfully childish.”
"Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:
every success depends upon focusing the heart.Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft,
wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?"
every success depends upon focusing the heart.Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft,
wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?"
3. On Mistakes (On Lessons & Wisdom)
"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from."
"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."
“Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given.”
"The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue - so, the most important lessons lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn."
"Who are the learned? Those who practice what they know."
4. On Evil (On Choice & Consequences)
"We stopped checking for monsters under our bed and we realized they were inside of us?"
"The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks
is a minor hero
compared to the lion who overcomes himself."
"Thou does not know evil till thou knowst good: (only) from (one) contrary is it possible to discern (the other) contrary, 0 youth!"
"All evil qualities—oppression, hatred, envy, greed, mercilessness, pride—when they are within yourself, they bring no pain. When you see them in another, then you shy away and feel the pain."
"God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one."
“…whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. "
5. On Love (On Need & Greed)
"One should not confuse true love with the feeling felt for members of the opposite sex. Such love, although sometimes transformed into true love, is deficient, temporary, and has no inherent value unless he desireth for his neighbour that which he desireth for himself."
"And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it
would not fill this emptiness(greed)."
"You know what love is?
It is all kindness, generosity.
Disharmony prevails when
You confuse lust with love, while
The distance between the two
Is endless."
"The lover’s ailment is different from all ailments; Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries."
6. On Struggle (On Purpose & Goals)
"The angel is saved by knowledge, The beast by brute ignorance;
Midway between and struggling Such a predicament is man's!"
“Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.”
"The intelligent desire self-control;
children want candy."
"Speak truth, even in the face of a tyrant."
"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self."
7. On Freedom (On Oppression & Responsibility)
"Knowing your enemy is winning half the battle"
"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."
"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."
"The undisciplined person doesn’t wrong himself alone–
but sets fire to the whole world."
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us."
"Lawless are they that make their wills their law."
"If you do not feel ashamed of anything, then you can do whatever your desires want."
8. On Submission (On Liberation & Peace)
"Let God be the ruler over your hearts, not the duniya (world)"
"Do you want to enter paradise?
To walk the path of Truth
You need the grace of God.
We all face death in the end.
But on the way, be careful
Never to hurt a human heart!"
"People who attach their identity & happiness to things of the material, who are happy when their relationship is going good, or when their work is going good, or when their financial status is good, they will be among the losers. A submitter's happiness is attached to Divine. And the Divine is eternal, That is why a submitter always says 'I seek refuge in God' to whatever good or bad things that happen to them"
"Forgiveness is a creative act, a true gift, that changes us from prisoners of the past to liberated people at peace with our memories"
"True devotion is for itself:
~ "All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds."
