On Faith

I agree to disagree with his opinion - but indeed a strong argument against religions and faiths fron a scientific mind.

 

Karen Armstrong says

 

Krishna / Sufism

I have one Indian friend who loves religious mythologies. Over the weekend, I was invited to his place as his wife makes the best vegetarian dishes and sweets. He said an interesting thing:

"Krishna should be defined as a Sufi."

A different take on Abraham's story

 

Islam and lunar calender

Yesterday someone said this beautiful thing. It may not be all true, but it makes sense. 

"Founders of early Islam purposely chose the lunar calendar for its rites and rituals, giving the message that this is a religion that should be practiced in all seasons. By following the lunar calendar, all events such as Ramadhan, Eid, Haj, and other events fall every year at different times."

Easter and full moon

 Pardon my ignorance but I just learned that:

"Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the first full moon (Paschal Full Moon) after the vernal equinox."

The vernal equinox is the equinox in spring, on about March 20/21 in the northern hemisphere and September 22 in the southern hemisphere. This is when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length.

This mystifies me due to my perpetual fascination with full moons. 

On Bertrand Russell's quote

Although I disagree with Bertrand Russell's following observation, but it also tells me that Islam's extreme amalgamation with real/practical life is validated. On a personal note, I think Bertrand Russel is referring to political Islam after Mohammad's death, and not to the real Quranic Islam which values are nearer to other Abrahamic religions and Buddhism.

“Among religions, Bolshevism is to be reckoned with Mohammedanism rather than with Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are primarily personal religions, with mystical doctrines and a love of contemplation. Mohammedanism and Bolshevism are practical, social, unspiritual, concerned to win the empire of this world. Their founders would not have resisted the third of the temptations in the wilderness. What Mohammedanism did for the Arabs, Bolshevism may do for the Russians. As Ali went down before the politicians who only rallied to the Prophet after his success, so the genuine Communists may go down before those who are now rallying to the ranks of the Bolsheviks. If so, Asiatic empire with all its pomps and splendors may well be the next stage of development, and Communism may seem, in historical retrospect, as small a part of Bolshevism as abstinence from alcohol is of Mohammedanism." 

 ―Bertrand Russell, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism (1920), Part I, The Present Condition of Russia, IX. International Policy, page, 106

Religions and Real-Estate

When we travel, we meet interesting people with interesting background. A couple of nights ago, I was sitting at a coffee shop - enjoying my favorite cappuccino. (Unfortunately, I only enjoy coffee if I am away from the USA).

As I was minding my book and my leisure time, I met a person who joined my table. This individual was a professional accountant and an auditor, who specialized in accounting for churches and religious institutions (never heard of it). He said an interesting thing:

"Religions are the biggest real estate mafia in this world."

Now pondering on this statement for the last two days, I have no concrete answer - and tend to agree with it.

On Bhagavad Gita and Sufism

Received the following email on one of our previous posts On sufism  (here)

"Aap ka blog kabhi kabhi parhta hun. I am not very religious and like to read about various religions. Ultimately, they all have the same messages and, indeed, the same message of divine light. When I read your post on Sufism, I recalled our Hindu religion's sacred book 'Bhagavad Gita,' which is a chronicle of teaching, conversation, and spiritual experiences of Arjun and his master lord Krishna. He slowly learns to connect our worldly affairs with divinity and elevate his soul via various meditations and yogas like karma-yoga and dhyana-yoga. 

Bhagavad Gita is divided into eighteen chapters, and the eleventh chapter is dedicated to Arjun's experience of divine light, which you described as happening in 'nanoseconds.'

And the final chapter may shock you as it asks for total submission to the divine. I found the same message in Islam, to submit to the will of God. I think sajda in all prayers of Islam attest to the same philosophy, And as much as I have read, the whole of Sufism revolves around submission (correct me if I am wrong).

Keep writing.

A****"

*

Aashura: The Jewish Connection!

(link to full article at the end)

"...........

The story goes as follows: When the Prophet arrived in Yasreb ( present day Madina), he saw Jewish people observing fast on the tenth of the month. He inquired and was told that Jews observed that day for the deliverance of their people from Pharaoh by fasting for one day. Prophet declared that as Muslims were closer to Moses then the then-day Jews, Muslims would observe fasting for two days. So the tradition of fasting for those two days started. In the second year of Hijri, the Ramzan fasting became obligatory and thus the Aashura fasting became optional. ....

Here is what I could gather. The Jewish tradition of celebrating the freedom from Pharaoh is Passover, and that is in the month of Nisan, the first month the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month or eighth of the civil year. The Passover is celebrated on the 15th and not on the 10th of that month. They eat unleavened bread and there is celebration with wine, four cups to be precise. There is no fasting except for the first born, as they may have been dead in Pharaoh's Egypt.

 The tradition which coincides with fasting is Yum Kippur. It is on the tenth day of Tishrei, the first month of the civil year. Jews observe fast on that day, 25 hours to be precise. But it does not coincide with the deliverance from Pharaoh's terror. It is a day to repent sins and relates to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. However the day is the same day when Moses received the second of his tablets of Ten Commandments.

 I tried to get old calendar dates. Muslim sources claim that Prophet entered Madina on July 16th, 622. This was the beginning of a new month, perhaps a month or two after Muharram. That is how the Hijri calendar was started ; backdated to that day during the time of the second caliph Umar. This date coincides with the first of Av, the fifth month of the Hebrew year 4382. The day of Yum Kippur came two months later in September or so.

...............the most likely Jewish holiday Prophet Muhammad noticed was Yum Kippur and not Passover. The story fits nicely with Yum Kippur: fasting, solemn affair, the tenth day of the first month of the year. Perhaps it was not Passover, where there is celebration and is on the fifteenth of the month. Moreover Passover is always in the Spring, and not in the month of July or soon after. ............. A day to reflect and reconcile."

Link :::: http://ghareebkhana.blogspot.com/2017/10/aashura-jewish-connection.html?m=1

On Hafiz Jalandhri's "Krishan kanaiya"

I think following article is an important read for all the students of urdu literature.

When the man who wrote Pakistan's national anthem saw the divine in Hindu god Krishna

"...I want to share a very unique Urdu poem: Krishn Kanhaiya. This nazm is by Hafeez Jalandhari.
.... As its title suggests, Krishn Kanhaiya is a poem about the Hindu god Krishna. Today, the mere idea of a Muslim poet writing about a Hindu deity raises all sorts of emotions among different groups in South Asia: surprise, joy, curiosity, suspicion, anger.

 However, there is much more depth to Krishn Kanhaiya than meets the eye. This is no ordinary devotional poem. Jalandhari, ever a politically-minded thinker and writer, draws upon the mythology and persona of Krishna in order to produce a poem that is simultaneously devotional and political in nature..."

Link: https://www.dawn.com/news/1354704

Aik Sentiment

Hair and Spirituality!

(aaj bhi jab bimar hota hun to amma kehti hain baal katwa lo)

In Study of religions, you will find 2 trends when it comes to hair. One set of ritualists believe to shave their head fully like Thai monks. This comes from the belief that if you keep your head bald you divert your energy inward and channel it for spiritual enlightenment

OR they do believe to grow or never cut the hair, like our sikh community (I just love them). This comes from the belief that as you grow your hair, you spread the inner energy outward, and your communal power get strong with spiritual strength.

I found these 2 contrasting views very interesting.

You will be surprise to know that there is a website dedicated to history and mythology of hair http://thehistoryofthehairsworld.com/