Truth is truth, whatever its source. Since 9/11 there has been some wild stuff said about Islam and Muslims, dangerous when digested by the ill-informed. There is too much misunderstanding about the Middle East by Westerners and there is too much misunderstanding about Westerners in the Middle East. Both situations are dangerous. Reality consists of […]
Tag Archives: United States
Combating The Herd Mentality
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about the difference between the slave mentality and the master mentality, arguing that the masses display a herd mentality dictated largely by prevailing views of the relationship of the individual to society. This is the essence of the slave mentality and stands in sharp contrast to the mentality of the Ubermensch (“Superman”), […]
Combating the enslavement of the American people
by Dr. Rick Staggenborg Like many great movies, the Matrix lays out a reality most of us do not recognize at an intellectual level but sense at a visceral one. The problem is that it portrays those who control it as too powerful to fight, even with the power that full Enlightenment brings. In the […]
Sufism and the human qualities
Sufism has been an essential part of the Islamic tradition from its origin, that is, from the time that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad in the seventh century. Let me simply say that the Qur’an itself employs a series of words that designate the primary concerns of the Sufi teachers over the centuries. These […]
Terrence Malick’s Film Adds a Dose of Sincerity to the Festivities
CANNES, France — In “The Tree of Life,” a cosmic head movie of the most ambitious order, Terrence Malick reaches high, his ecstatic camera and thoughts soaring. Shown on Monday morning at a press screening at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with pre-emptive, harshly insistent boos and a vigorous rejoinder of […]
An Interview with President Jimmy Carter
Amazon.com Review The crowning achievement of Jimmy Carter’s presidency was the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, and he has continued his public and private diplomacy ever since, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his decades of work for peace, human rights, and international development. He has been a tireless author since […]
Rumi:There is neither Islam nor Disbelief in this place
O Friend! we are near you in friendship,
Wherever you set foot, we prostrate ourselves like earth.
How is it permissible, in the religion of love,
That we should see your Creation and neglect to see You?
EBRU: The art of marbling paper
That Friend brought me up with great care and attention;
He sewed me a garment from skin and veins.
The body is like a cloak and my heart in it like a mystic,
The world is like a monastery and He is my Guide.
Seek knowledge which unravels mysteries
Before your life comes to close
Give up that non-existence which looks like existence,
Seek that Existence which looks like non-existence!
There is a world outside Islam and Disbelief,
We are enamoured of the atmosphere therein.
The mystic lays down his head when he reaches there.
There is neither Islam nor Disbelief in this place.
Whenever I prostrate my head He is the one to whom I bow;
In six directions or outside the six, he is the one I worship.
The garden, the rose, the nightingale, music and the beauteous maiden
Are a mere excuse and He alone is the real object.
From Divani Shams, Translation by Afzal Iqbal
Muzaffer Ozak: The essence of God is love and the Sufi path is a path of love
BIOGRAPHY Muzaffer Ozak Hz. was born in Istanbul in 1916. (d.1985) He was educated by a succession of wise and learned who instructed him in all branches of the Islamic tradition. He became Muezzin and eventually Imam to many of the mosques of Istanbul. He later retired from the office of Imam and preached the […]
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