God's Divine Devices & Denominations - love's proxy on Earth

Even in the darkest labyrinth, Love can light your path.

Divine Device and Denomination

O' Love, be with me always

And leave me not alone with myself

And my capricious ego.

And if I cannot see You, O' Love...

Then let me rest in the goodwill of my friends,

Let me sit beneath the shade of my family tree,

Let me seek solace in the company of good deeds

And good thoughts of my kin past, present and future,

Let me take comfort in the kindness of a stranger,

Let me be happy in the smile of a kindly acquaintance,

Let me be guided by the wise and inspired master,

Let me be guarded in the wisdom of those with patience,

Let me take shelter in you, o’ God, o’ Prophet,

In whatever divine device and denomination

You have chosen to express

Your Love, Mercy and

Compassion.

..................

This is how I normally fall from the
peak into the valley.

I do not know about you, but I myself have never ever seen God. Oh, I have heard a lot about Him, and like most controversial personalities, there are those who adore Him (most believers) and there are those who abhor Him (such as they are). Neither of both groups have actually seen God, yet they hold very strong and passionate views about Him.

I would like to confess that I adore God 24/7, but my feelings towards Him are sometimes ambivalent, and has its peaks and valleys. Sometimes the peaks appear to reach so high that I can imagine hearing Angels and Saints singing His praise. At other times my valleys are so far down that I can almost smell the crackling black flames of Hades. It does not smell good.

So I am stuck with this world and the proxies of Divine devices and denomination - they can be people and events, things which strike my heart as bearing some beautiful favour and grace from God. Mostly they are my family and friends, but goodness can (and has) come from strangers and unexpected sources. Help and assistance can come from a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist or a Jew. Even an Atheist and Agnostic, funnily enough. God has so much to give you that He will use all necessary means to get to you. So if a stranger knocks on the door of your heart, do not be afraid. Give the greetings of peace and invite the stranger in.

Give the greetings of peace and invite the stranger in.

Have a lovely Monday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Hackers, Reverse-Anonymity and Bragging Rights - A Study of the Recent Denial-of-Service attack on Govt Sites from the Perspectives of the Human Ego

This was the headlines in our local newspaper, The Sun on 21st June 2011. For you see, a group of hackers had recently launched a cyber attack on the Malaysian Government sites.

Yesterday, 23rd June 2011, another local newspaper, The Star had this report…

“A hacker group known as Anonymous had threatened the government websites and on June 16, the sites were hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack, causing them to crash.
Some 200 websites, both government and others, were affected.
Since then, another threat has been posted online and this time the website of the Prime Minister's Office is the target”

And it was also reported that the government had taken steps to ensure that its sites would be "resilient to any kind of cyber attacks, even if the attack is announced in advance or a surprise attack."

Hmm. I am just thinking...

Firstly, the objectives of the hackers are never clear. And their real motivation is a secret known only to themselves. Ironically calling themselves ‘Anonymous’, they can be anyone and organized by any person. They work in the peripherals of the cyberworld. But I fear that they are not afraid of losing their anonymity. Like other reactionary subcultures(and let’s face it - men generally), hackers often thrive on publicity and ‘street’ credibility - the much sought bragging rights and being part of a gang. The alternative, being a mundane and anonymous is arsenic to the ego…

190. Mundane
The thought of finding pleasure in the mundane,
The thought that you might be mundane,
Is almost too much for your ego to bear.

In a world where everyone craves a name,
Anonymity is arsenic.


When you have been attacked by hackers, especially on an ostensibly political / ideological reasons, then you react publicly saying, “Oh yeah?! Try that again if you dare!” Well, aren’t you waving a red flag at the bull?

This reminds me of an old prose…

185. Poor Company
The wounded ego and the gloating ego
Make a terrible pair at your dinner table,
All they do is talk about themselves
Unaware you are even there.

I do not know if the hackers will take the bait. But no doubt, even if they don’t bite now, they will keep the cyber challenge in the back of their mind, waiting, at any moment in the near or far future to test their skills against the Malaysian government claims of invulnerability.


Dear Hackers… Well, maybe you have leveled whatever you are doing with your conscience. Maybe there is very strong reasons which impel you to hack the Government websites. But really, why bother? And that 'V for Vendetta' facemask? You must really design your own logo if you want to impress me with your anarchist credentials.

Dear Cyber Security dudes… I am not suggesting you should ignore the threat. Indeed as the security custodian of the websites you should enhance your security system. But to respond publicly in this way… I think you are just walking into another fight. And for the hackers, they live by this single proven belief – What is made by man, can be unmade by man. And they are right. No matter how amazing is your multi layer defenses, no matter how perfect your secured zones, false trails and digital firewalls may be, it will never last.

That is the reality of things. And as always, people forget about the powerful influence that the ego has, and do not bother to address the problem from the ego perspective. So we fall into the ego vs ego trap, and we waste our time fighting an unnecessary battle.

Who says you cannot apply the ego-soul study in mysticism into real life events? This is so, because often man’s action confounds common sense. Don’t you see?

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Red Heifer and Red Sulphur, Grand Nature and Beautiful Gesture - the Jihad, the Ego and You

14. And a Quiet Day it was
I set sail on Mercy’s Ocean,
And a quiet day it was,
With nets spun of golden thread,
And the wind behind us,
We headed west.

Fear would have filled me
As blackness rose to greet us,
Until my look-out cried,
“Look to the stern!”
And I glanced back to see
That we had the Sun in tow
Like a kite in the sky.



.
The above prose is what you may call a GRAND prose. Befitting perhaps for a mystic commencing his quest for the holy grail, the red sulphur and maybe even the red heifer.

THE GRAND JIHAD. But really, that great struggle, that GRANDEST OF JIHAD (Jihad ul-Akbar) is not very grand really. Certainly not in the way dreamt by arm-chair generals and warrior priests…

6. War
The war with the Ego is not the clash of great armies,
It is a war of small firefights and drive-by shootings.
And if the absence of a great battle disappoints you
Verily, the first skirmish is already lost!

MUNDANE DAILY STRUGGLE. It is the daily struggle between your heart and your ego, between your mind and your nafs (desires)… Should I have that extra teaspoon of sugar? It’s a Saturday anyways, I am sure no handicap would be wanting the parking space!... I could pay him today, but really, the bank is so far away. Oh never mind, I will just do it tomorrow… or maybe the day after that. So you see, really mundane and boring struggle. The path is not intended for those desiring recognition. Each strand of hair on your body must desire the opposite... anonymity, silence and nothingness, and without pretensions... (The way is not easy. Whoever said it was?)

2. Permission To Be Good, Ya Sayeedi! II
If you desire to make grand gestures,
Join an opera company.

Here, it is toil!
Mundane grind!
Day after day after day!

Allah! Rasulullah!
Give us joy
In our anonymity,
Though the world
May call us
Boring old farts!

BUT BEAUTY… has its own reasons and passions. And to deny the beauty of the path is also to deny an essence of the journey. And God has never attracted mankind with the ugly and deceitful, which is repugnant to us. Always He has sent someone of beautiful passions, to speak words of beauty and call upon us to do beautiful deeds of charity and love. This is the way of all faiths. A prose was recorded of such a man...

4. The Roadbuilder
I build roads,
Not walls.
For my message
Is peace,
Not war.

I grow roses
Not weeds,
For my message
Is beauty,
Not deceit.

SO I BELIEVE THAT…. there shall always be a place for beauty in the path. Such beauty may be grand and awe-inspiring, such as the Sun in a sinner's poem. But other beauty may be manifested more subtly, like the shy smile of your young niece. Or the sight of your son making friends with a stray cat.

Have a nice Monday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

If you are curious for related postings on jihad just search 'jihad' in the searchbox on top right corner. There are about 8 previous write-ups.
Poems - And a Quiet Day it was is from Chapter 23 entitled ‘My Lord has Answered me’ (Mar 2007) War is from Chapter 19 entitled ‘Tiramesu’ (circa 2006)
The Roadbuilder is from Chapter 17 entitled ‘East of Albion’ (circa January 2006)
Permission To Be Good, Ya Sayeedi! II is from Chapter 5 entitled ‘The Profane & the Profound’ (circa September 2004)

Nameless and Anonymous

Were I good,
Rest assured
I would not be writing.

I would be silent,
Nameless and anonymous
As a raindrop.

...............................................

This is a prose entitled 'Take me not as a master' recorded circa 2007. It is an important note for me, for it clearly illustrates my predicament. It is easier to write, but much more harder to do. The 'nameless and anonymous' bit comes as nothing new in Muslim lore, and was said many times before by scripture worthies like Abu Bakar, the Prophet's shadow and Mary, blessed mother of Jesus.

I am not of such ilk. Rather, I look to others, my parents, my family and friends, and in them, I see the virtue of simply being good. Nice. Not desiring to change the world, but merely to better themselves. But perhaps, by changing ourselves, we change the world. And there lies another perfume scented from an ocean of sweetness that I cannot comprehend, but daily it laps on the shore of my heart... Ah, how nice it feels to be in love.

Thank you all, for allowing me to share a little in your perfume. It is intoxicating, and more beautiful than anonymity.

Salams, and Godbless.