And so, we are invited to go back to the inner self. The presence of the other speaks to me. It speaks to my intellect, to my heart and to my emotions: I therefore have to take the time to listen to how I listen to them. This journey to within the self and to the encounter with the other is the basic lesson of all spiritualities and religions. It is a way of directing the attention of human beings to their conduct and behaviour, and of making them examine causes of their actions, controlled or otherwise. The teachings of Hinduism place great emphasis on the inner dispositions which make ‘good life’ a balanced life. We must comprehend both the moral prescriptions that apply to all of use and those that are more specific to the stages and states of moral evolution (varnasharanadharma), and then identify their inner causes, which are also both collective (dharma) and quite individual (karma). Whilst everyone, Hindu or non-Hindhu, shares with others an essential Self (atman) that exists beyond their imprisoned ego, every karma gives birth to a unique, individual psychological and moral disposition (swabhava) that the individual consciousness must apprehend and understand if it is to reform and improve itself. It is that quest, that reform and that inner liberation that will make it possible, after the necessary work on oneself to transcend the ego, to go towards the other. We must master ourselves and transcend the blind dispositions of the ego before we can grasp the principle of universal causality: the difference between roads, paths, minds and colours can then be understood from within through the disposition of the heart and the mind as they master the illusions and potential blindness of the emotions.
The parable of the blind men and the elephant, which we also find in the Buddhist tradition, reveals this same truth: when he touches some part of the elephant, each blind man believes he can describe the whole animal and is in possession of the whole truth. A superficial interpretation might lead us to believe that the important thing about this parable has to do with the fact that it teaches us that no one is in possession of the whole truth and that the ways are many. In fact, it also teaches us something else: men are blind, or have been blinded, and the problem of their relationship with truth and diversity has to do with their inner blindness. Only through fundamental introspection can they hope to reach the essential truth about the elephant and about points of view. What matters is not what the other is, or what the other tells me, but what, in me, prevents me from seeing, hearing, understanding and recognizing the other for what he is. What the other reveals about my problems, my deafness and my blindness, is what matters. The encounter with the other, and recognition of the other, are not the outcome of an intellectual approach, but of an initiation into the inner self, of introspection or a journey into the self that should allow me to reconcile and harmonize the dimensions of my being: my consciousness and my heart, my mind, and my emotions. More importantly, my rejection of the other reveals the blindness that is within me: on the periphery of the ‘ego’, the other is an accidental threat; at the heart of the quest, the other is a positive necessity.
This was the intuition of Socrates and his teachings about temperance. Whilst philosophy can lead us to the truth, it is also an exercise in mastering the self and its passions, a quest for the inner peace that alone can, in the long term, bring social and political peace. Indeed, according to Socrates, it is the philosophers who should be in charge of the affairs of the polis: by the time they have reached the age of fifty, their quest is well under way, and their initiation into the secrets of the soul and the dangers of innermost passions enables them to enter public life in all serenity. It is in The Republic that Plato develops part of his reflections on the inner self, and it is no coincidence that we find Aristotle’s introduction to purification and catharsis not only in The Poetics but also in his account of The Politics. Art, and public performances of music and plays are collective instruments or social mirrors that refer us back to ourselves, our introspection and to the moral imperatives to transcend blind passions, and unhealthy fears and emotions . Aristotle’s catharsis is an anti-populism: it teaches us and calls upon us to cultivate attitudes that are quite the opposite to those induced the populist discourses that are now undermining us. The former refer us to ourselves – profoundly and demandingly – so that we can acquire the wisdom we need to open up to the other in wisdom; the latter give us a superficial and frightening image of others in order to turn us in on ourselves in a closed and selfish way.
The same teaching is present in the three monotheistic religions. The presence of God, the Creator of all things and all men, is an appeal to the individual consciousness: all moral teachings are in fact meaningful only because they demand that we work upon ourselves, upon our behaviour, our feelings, our emotions and our fears. From Hinduism to the monotheisms and through Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the common message is that we are all, naturally and potentially, inclined to reject the other, and to be intolerant and racist. Left to our own devices and our raw emotions, we can be deaf, blind, dogmatic, closed and xenophobic: we are not born open-minded, respectful and pluralist. We become so through personal effort, education, self-mastery and knowledge. As we have said, faith means confidence, a state of peace and balance and being at ease with ourselves. The quest for that inner peace is regarded as one of the preconditions for a serene relationship with the other and with differences. The universal message we find in the maxim ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’ is an ideal that reveals three dimensions: first, it is indeed a question of love, or a disposition of the heart; second, love for the other means paying special attention to a love for oneself (‘as thyself’) which must be experienced, and deepened, as an invitation to look outwards, and not as a prison; and lastly, loving ourselves and finding inner peace is an implicit precondition for loving and welcoming others into the peace of our hearts. This is a love story. It is also a story about consciousness and demands: it is about knowing ourselves, recognizing our darkest natural temptations and going in search of our hearts’ noblest aspirations. The price for serene, respectful encounter with the other is the engagement in an encounter with oneself. When the Quran demonstrates that God wills a universal plurality (‘We have made you into nations and tribes’) recalls the meaning of excellence in mastering and managing it: ‘the noblest among you is the most deeply conscious of God [the most pious]’ (49:13). This is the universal message of all philosophies, spiritual traditions and religions. They call upon us to examine our conscience, to work upon ourselves, and never to forget the need for trust and love, in oneself, of oneself, and in others.
“To love oneself is the start of a lifelong romance” Oscar Wilde. I’ve been sick, with these thoughts so thought to buck up and provide some.
So I’m wondering why call it the other? Besides being antagonizing, “the Other” doesn’t tell me anything about who I am engaging within me, it’s an empty phrase, doesn’t invoke any emotion or thought in me, doesn’t provide an insight into who or what I am dealing with, except the negative. Our inner voice is the most important voice, I explain this in the 6th para, so might I recommend calling it The Calling, or The Audible Torch or My Soul’s Voice Within Me –exactly how you have described in your thought provoking article, from an intellectual, spiritual, political and soulful perspective, so there is delightful scope in getting to know more the rest of the dimensions. I would like to know more of this other’s heart, personality, experiences, philosophies, opinions, mind and intellect. Is it just like me in these dimensions too? And the best part of this love story is that we have our whole lives to explore, for the start of any phase doesn’t inhibit the precious phases already in motion…this is ofcourse my choice, my perspective, which I own. You have your own which you must share. The rest have their own which have no control on mine. Mine is only influenced by Siratal Mustakheem. It’s quite exciting to note how this shapes in the years to come iA
Regarding love and trust, when we identify the need to give love more than to receive love, to be more trustworthy than to trust, we become larger than life, larger than anything or anyone around us and I think life becomes more meaningful, independent, liberating from the need or dependence on others for intangible yet most important aspects of our lives. Yes, to receive love and trust of people is lovely & wonderful too, we should welcome all the love offered, we need it too, but this love becomes like a crutch in life. Personally, I’ve learnt to rely upon my own love for myself, my love & trust for my inner voice and a deep unconditional love for God, which is directional of all loves and liaisons in our collective lives. This is the type of sail that has kept me afloat in difficult times and causes the least amount of pain when some ships sink.
I highlight this (tad bit melodramatic lol 😀 ) because this as the only pillar of strength (even when surrounded by everyone or all in this world) that will never fail an individual, i.e. willfully fail, and thus which brings us to the fundamental, inescapable, must have, important magnitude & amplitude of all the points that you highlighted in why and how to engage, listen, pay attention and spend our precious time with our inner voices to become one with it. This is resting on the foundations of peace within oneself which has it’s root in tawwakal Allalah, trusting God.
And somehow I have reservations to say I trust God in a positive manner, let me explain…I totally trust God and His Will will be done, but will His Will be goody goody for me? sometimes I’m not sure but it will be good for His Plan, I’m just serving His Purpose, good or bad in my personal view is immaterial as I’m a servant, so I just have to do the bidding, as much as I may want to take a dive from His Ship into the ocean to run away (which happens to be His ocean too tada! There isn’t an escape for the tired lol 😀 ), I know I will have to get back up on His Ship (life-raft being lowered, thankful, I could drown 😉 ) so I know I need to work on this part of trusting God with the promise of smooth sailing in this life, which ultimately is the way to earn a ticket to His Paradise. Anyways, important point being we need to hold on to the rope of God, so as to be shown the Siratel Mustakheem.
Which brings me to the important point – the other voice is just not the other voice, it could be Wahyun, inspiration from God. In surah Al-Shura 42:50-52 it is mentioned that God communicates with His creation through His Wahyun, inspiration in heart and mind sent by God. And this is the voice we identify as our inner voice, the voice of the soul talking to us. When we hear this voice, like you mentioned, we absolutely must listen to it and answer to it. We must not ignore it. This is the way to Siratal Mustakheem. When we hush up this voice, that’s when we start losing our way, our soul, our ethics, our integrity, our communication with God and thereby loose the correct path towards prosperity.
In simpler terms our conscious is subverted or killed in this mad race of life, right and wrong become blurred, anything and everything becomes acceptable, it’s open season lol 😀 got to keep the flame within us alive. Thus listening to the voice within us means being held accountable. I hope I made sense.
also, random vague thoughts – just as tad bit vague as our subject matter ha 🙂 – it’s so exciting to think from the perspective of a new surprise arrival, but i have no clue about the form or objective of the mission. And if something does happen, how will the laws, the policies, the procedures of the grave, the procedures of the transit, the answers to God etc etc, how will these be impacted or any impact at all? ofcourse this is a shot in the dark, but this is colossal change management endeavor 🙂 i.e. if something new is coming up. If it’s just delivery of next generation, then too happy & excited & grateful for this too. Maybe i dint clear the training and could be dropped from the recruitment plan? maybe i don’t have the chops? (although “bring it on” has always been me slogan 😉 ) maybe it’s just wahyun for my siratal mustakheem of not much significance. but atleast it’s my siratal mutakheem and that’s colossal enough for me! there is still time to pray and beg, maybe i can get all the goodies from another route, as you mentioned in the article? maybe the precondition if any can be lifted? lol 🙂 maybe this is just a bribe for the siratal mustakheem? ha 😉 the path to closeness to God, for proprietary access should be free from mortal dependencies eh? random thoughts of wandering mind.
sorry, i dint mean to say this article is vague, it’s perfect and apt. i was being vague.
Thank you, Djazak’Allah for being a brother in Islam, this is a liberation for me.
Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is there for me in every reality, IN THIS LIFE ON EARTH.
correction, my definition and understanding of Wahyun is incorrect, it cannot be contextualized within the voice of the subconscious. however the inner voice of an individual should be considered. disregard my previous comment about the terminology used.
My recent readings reveal it’s specific to revelations or communication of God to Prophets. I wonder if wahyun is the same as receiving information to know and see about people’s information, secrets, happenings and things without anybody explicit telling, just automatically knowing and then confirming through actuality. I wonder if Wahyun is also direction received on recurring autopilot, riding through hatred i.e. negative emotions, yet there is no compulsion in religion. All this is very confusing. always shyed away from over-confidence in anything, some visions are too beautiful to be shared for they may never come true. but my god, this is huge and scary. initially i thought this maybe a fluke of nature, but this has been consistent for a couple of decades, there is an inner force stronger and bigger than me. but how is this different from the many off-shoots that islam has already seen? Ahmedi’s or the so many others that claimed to be prophets, i dont believe in them, Muhammad AS i believe in as the last prophet, however I’m just formulating again and again of all the years of experience and things seen. it’s shockingly & stunningly similar. maybe this is just serving as a reminder, a warning or proof of what happened 1500 years ago… and what if there no one to understand when something happens…saudi’s may not like it, there could be bans imposed lol 😀 will get rough, its just forward thinking into decades to come, already seen some stuff together with some aspects, not sure if it will come true. tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone, but my mind, eyes and heart sure paint a lovely picture on autopilot through thick and thin 🙂 and he is still MIA except for one visit. my god! to a regular isolated person i would sound totally nuts!
experiences ditto to Noah and Muhammad AS. I dint know this or could not relate to these guys AS because I dint know my history well, even though i was religious and well schooled in the Book, readings, memorizations, prayers, pillars, practicing etc etc, but when i started reading up, it was shocking to note that it’s not a fluke of nature, its been a sustained consistent methodology in theology since the dawn of time. I dint know jesus walked on water, or even the concept of it, my dreams taught me that, i wasn’t even thinking of Jesus so i wondered how he showed up in such a glorious dream. a totally uninfluenced mind is capable of generating facts about theology history and present day world. scary and stunning. Moses had a speech impediment in early life, i struggled with communication in a certain form too. Pegasus appeared twice without any influence on my mind from Greek theology or any other influence…i just appreciated as a nice dream and googled about it 3 days later out of curiosity. but i’ve always taken care to not jump the gun. who knows about the span of life or purport. its surreal. maybe i have years and years of waiting for something to happen.
i’m cool though, got this in control ha 😀
I know me. Allah (S.B.T.) knows me. By nature I trust others no matter how strange they may sometimes be. It has been a great misfortune that some others have been evil strangers towards me, that while they put on a facade to be trusted, they in fact created mistrust. They think to absolutely know me (which they cannot) just because I am open, sincere and talkative. I have been harmed with “treatment”/medicinal emprisonment by others. It has altered my state of being to such an extent that I cannot be engaged in the world as me. These others thought it necessary to medicate me because they noticed something different in a person, and this may confirm the gravity of the situation of mistrust that exists amongst people. To have to be chronically medicated means it seems no one trusts me in life. The hard part is that I do not completely trust me being “treated” because a sickness has been instilled in me. Paradoxically I have been mistreated. Suspicions and paranoia breed because others broke into my solitary and happy existence making my life not my own. The fact of the matter is that the reality has to be realised by the practice of the Islamic-way-of-life. Reading The Message, The Qur’an, learning and praying sincerely (with full body and mind) paves the way towards healing: The reality of Allah (S.B.T.) is opened. If others don’t share this truth with me and dramatise my natural condition by “treating” me, well then there is a problem. I cannot even find me and focus on The Will of Allah (S.B.T.) with this “treatment”. To “treat” me by subdueing me is evading the whole purpose of real treatment because there is avoidance of being confronted with the truth about me given a natural condition. I have felt isolated by the surroundings, not fully being actively me in this life. It is strange that others who have control and power know what I am about. No one really knows me. To know me, one would have to really reach out to me in life, and, for example set me free from this “treatment”. No one does.
I have some consolations for me in life about others. Firstly, I thank Brother Tariq for being there, living for The Love of Allah (S.B.T.), having a sincere heart, and following in The Footsteps of The Prophet (p.b.u.h.). It is also a consolation that once you turn to Allah (S.B.T.) sincerely you become a witness to all that you encounter with others in life. It is also a consolation that once you have an enemy, with whom you may have a healthy fight, ironically enough there is truth and trust between you. You really need an enemy to know who is really dangerous considering that others may just want to finish you off.
And ofcourse… together in this to consider international implications are applicable across God’s earth to every living being. To continue on this line of thought as a proactive theoretical perspective of management, for now as a precursor to actuality what ever it might be, Vatican will probably say “hallelujah! the Muslims are at it again, they got another one” haha, nervous to think what Jerusalem will say maybe will just yawn lol southeast asia as a hub of Hinduism will probably have a luke warm reaction since they are slow to catch on the happenings in the west (in my view), or there maybe riots, or maybe all religions will collectively pass a fatwa of banishments or death sentences (shudder shudder!) Buddhism will be peacefully welcoming and perhaps ISIS will hopefully no longer exist then but would like to ask them and every radical, incorrect, brutal, self-idolizing regime “whose your daddy now?! ” haha just joking about the various angles; corporate world will still chug along with rolling-out the latest technologies where people worship and yearn for Technologies, iProducts, Money and Fame more than anything in today’s world. So lets take on the world in some years shall we?! haha or maybe scopes will be defined of the project, wouldn’t want to place the cart infront of the horses ha. Wishful thinking to want more in actuality, in mind and heart it’s beautiful. Horrible to think or say that, not to be such a brute. Besides the initial shock and surreal-ness, lets launch a major initiative of preparations. Till now it has been intense corporate education and people management with ofcourse personal focus on religion, spirituality and politics, things just got exciting on a whole new plain! And here we are…goody? Ready, Set… haha