THE ONE AND ONLY ONION - for all believers, all unbelievers... for all of humanity

I like onions. They are a delicious part to any dish, when brown and caramelized, they add a distinct taste to any food you may like to cook. Apart from that, onions when raw are also excellent for detox. I have even read of sick people leaving a peeled onion next to their bed to detox the air in the room. Which is why I am told that you should not eat peeled onions left uncooked too long. They help to purify the air in the room, pantry or even the fridge, so you don't want to go eating the impurities absorbed in that onion.

Infinite Layers. Apart from eating them, I also like to use the onion as a metaphor. For I find that in this journey we call life, as we muddle and blunder our way through the many, many levels of understanding... it brings tears to our eyes sometimes. Just like when we peel the onion. But when we realise that everything we experience in life is entirely connected to the journey to an understanding of ourselves and of God, why... we find that there are infinite layers to this special onion.

Only One. So if you find yourself at one layer of understanding, which may not gel with another person's, so what? If you are both honest and sincere, what matters our differing views? The crucial thing is that we must always remember that this onion we are individually peeling and exploring... it is only one onion. One onion for all believers, for all unbelievers, for all of humanity.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Enjoy that onion...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

APPLES & ARCHERY... of life, love, parenting and cliches

93. Muhammad Mikhail

May he be a servant of God,

A lover of the Prophet,

A  friend of the Angels,

A mureed of the Masters,

A caretaker of the Traditions,

And spring of charity

To all who may come to him in need.

Somewhere far, far down the line,

Perhaps he can also call himself

A son of mine.

That is my prayer for my son.

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

Line of Precedence. Many years ago, when my son was only a baby, I recorded the verses. It sounds fine and properly humble, putting myself and my parental relationship with my Mikhail at the end of a virtuous and noble line beginning with God Almighty. Placing overall protection and education of my offspring upon the grace of God, the Prophet Muhammad (saws) and other divine and holy personages. 

Apples. But now I guess that the prose can be read from an entirely cynical point of view, and that is... I am running away from my responsibility as a father. I am saying this because Mikhail is going to be ten years old in a few weeks time, and to a large degree he has replicated some of my habits and attitude, the good and the not-so-good inclinations that make up my personality. You know the cliche... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Do as I say and not as I do. So in Mikhail's 10th year and his father's 44th year, I am minded to do better this 2014 as a father. Because though I implicitly believe that my importance is so small in the greater scheme of things, but to my little child's eye, I am still the mirror by which he reads this world and lives his life. So on Saturday, I was resolved to follow him for his first traditional archery class, simply because of what he said to me...

"Papa, if archery is so important and a sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet, then why haven't you done it? And if you haven't done it, then why should I do it?!"

Cannot argue with that logic. So yesterday you would have found Mikhail, myself and Heche at the field adjacent to the local community hall. And it was great fun, though the hot Sun baked my brain.

He he he.

Have a beautiful Sunday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

BIG FAT CLOUDS - clouds, kittens and a 9-years old son seeking a restraining order against his mother

Distant Thunder
I hear the rumbling of a distant thunder,
Light is veiled behind a plume of cloud,
But rain is come
The seeker is now the sought
The lover is now the loved
Woe that I was ever in doubt!

Big Fat Clouds... this is the skyscape that was sorely missed by me and my
countrymen during the choking, bitter hazy days a couple of weeks ago when some
parts of Malaysia hit 400 on the API (Air Pollution Index). Back then we saw no
clouds, in fact not even the Sun, as a blanket of smoke blocked our view of the sky...
I felt like the haze descended on my very spirit and felt physically and
spiritually lethargic.

I guess telecommunication towers are a necessary evil in a developing country like
mine, but it does make one hill look the same as the next. 

The clouds drifted so close to the Hermitage in the Sky that I felt like I could
simply lean over the balcony and touch the wispy white water particles. 

I was bewitched by the evening clouds, and I thought I have never seen anything quite as lovely and reassuring as they floated near and around me. The haze and smog was a memory and perhaps a lesson that we ought not to take nature and its manifest beauty for granted. I reckon that is what God wants to remind us of. Don't you?

Before I left from the office, I detoured at the coffee shop beneath my
office. And there was a kitten, wandering around looking about in the
curious way that kittens do. It climbed on my lap and gazed at my face
with that pleading hungry cat's eyes.

Where is the mommy? That is what I would like to know... And I think
it is also asking the same question... "Have you seen my mommy?"

I am actually writing this at the very same coffee shop. But I haven't seen the kitten since that day, I hope it is alright... though doubt shadows my heart. Kittens have such a high mortality rate. *Sigh*

Mikhail (my 9 year old son): Papa... I can't stand doing revision with Mummy!
Me: Why is that? Mikhail: It is worse than school!! She would tell me to read this, do that... and
then she would go to sleep, or watch TV or play on her iPad! 

Mikhail: Do you think I can get a Restraining Order

against Mummy on the Internet?

Me: Hmm... you can try.

I don't know where Mika learned about Restraining Orders! But he has the mechanics of the judicial order correct and said that he wanted to restrain his mother from coming within 100 metres of him.

Setting Sun on the Hermitage. The low clouds have mostly marched
eastwards, and in the distance I could hear thunder. 

Have a pleasant Friday, sunshine. And if you are where the air is fresh and clean, count your blessings with each breath... Allah... Allah... Allah... 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Jack of all trades, Master of none - knowledge and the path of servanthood

1.      The nature of knowledge

All knowledge is contained

In the Ocean of the Lord,

And if perchance, I appear

To name different types of knowledge,

Know that it is merely because

I have taken a cup from the Ocean,

And man, in their foolishness,

Keep asking me,

“What are you talking about?!”

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

Universities have deigned to separate knowledge between faculties - the faculties of medicine, physics, biology, history, law, social sciences, astronomy... and the list goes on and on. And further out into society, we are wont to divide between the physical and the spiritual, the material and the metaphysical.

I suppose it is part of the continuing specialization of mankind's knowledge, and the accepted rule that we cannot be a jack of all trades and a master of none. We must be a master of something. We have to master something...

Right?

The answer is blowing in the wind, as an ancient friend tells me...

Servanthood

To be a master 

Is to be a servant

To acquire knowledge

Is to dispossess yourself of yourself

To understand something

Is to become nothing,

Not even a leaf

Blowing in the wind,

A story with no beginning

With no known ending.

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

Hehehe. Life is full of irony sometimes. 

Have a lovely day, sunshine. May your path take you to the honour of servanthood, an award granted to you that is higher than the highest PHDs available in the divided faculties of our limited human knowledge. For that little prize comes from the treasure trove of the Divine Presence itself.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

OH GOD...! YOU GOT ME! - the arrow, the heavenly website, mikhail and the melodramatic father

My son need not 'score' to win his place in my heart. At his birth God has already scored a bull's eye inside me. It is my life's hope to be worthy of this arrow sent winging its way from Heaven...

Mikhail a.k.a. 'Mini Me'

Well, Mikhail did rather decently for his exams. At his age of 8, it is not necessarily the most important thing in the world to me, but it has certainly elevated my son's self-confidence, which is always a good thing, I doth think. Perhaps more so than any other creature on our planet, the relationship between parent and child is one of the most complex and sincere connection you can have with another human being. He (or she) is genetically and spiritually your own Mini Me.

It is tough being a parent. No training, no proper certification, not even a short internship to prepare us when the stork comes along with the little bundle of joy (which will soon translate into a large bundle of bills and expenses unheard of by the new parent, especially the father). We know we are not very good, and everything devolves into on-the-job training. So our real prayers always is that we don't cause permanent damage to our children. It's a trust thing, you see..

91. I, Wobot

Like a computer,

Every hour, divine programs

Are downloaded from the

Website in the Sky.

But it is when their elders,

Mess about with their codes,

That children become confused,

And they hang, refusing to reboot;

Ctrl, Alt, Del!

Ctrl, Alt, Del!

Have a lovely day, sunshine. And a wonderful Eidul Adha for our Muslim friends... God bless all children.

Damaged? No... my son just has a quirky sense of humour. In fact, if you look closely
enough you can see the fibre optic cable running from the top of his head to
the Heavenly Website upstairs. It is the same for all children.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Gift of a Child - a quiet introspection of a life enriched by children

91. I, Wobot

Like a computer,

Every hour, divine programs

Are downloaded from the

Website in the Sky.

But it is when their elders,

Mess about with their codes,

That children become confused,

And they hang, refusing to reboot;

Ctrl, Alt, Del!

Ctrl, Alt, Del!

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

My Son. This coming Monday, Mikhail is going to the U.S. of A. He will be going with his mother Gina and his Uncle Herman to visit his family on the other side of the world. He will be gone for more than 2 weeks. That is a very long time for me to not have his company.

Mika is gonna make a side visit to 'the happiest place on earth'. But for parents,
isn't wherever their children are, the happiest place on earth already?

My Friend's Son. My colleague Alexander was telling me that his son Eby has also become closer to him. Eby is only 4 years old but he is starting to hang out more with his father, now even refusing to be bathed by his mother. Alex asked, "Why Eby don't want to bath with Mummy?" to which the precocious kid replied, "Eby shy. Mummy girl, Eby boy." He he he. Advance kid.

Err... you bought this game for your 4-year old son?

R-Rated. A month ago, Alex showed me the Grand Theft Auto computer game that he bought online. He said he bought it 'for Eby'. I have played GTA myself a long time ago, and knew it was an R-Rated game with violence, street crimes, gangsters, sex, 'whores' and 'the hood'. So I said, "Err, don't you think the game is a little too mature for Eby?" But Alex had a plan - "Yeah, but I will let him only play the car-driving bit (where your character will be driving a car, van, truck or any vehicle he can steal from some poor sucker in the city streets). He loves car-racing."

But his plans had to be adjusted. For yesterday he shared with me what happened when his boy played the game. "Eby was driving the car when he crashed into a bunch of people on the sidewalk. He actually cried, bro! Eby kill people - he said."

We are sometimes so immunized by the depiction of violence, both real and acted, on TV, the cinema and the internet that we forget just what subtle spirits children actually are. They can have such beautiful and nuanced emotion, untainted by life's more hard experiences and lessons. "So what did you do?" I asked further.

"Well, now I drive the car whenever in the city and take it out to the countryside where there are not so many people about. Then I give Eby the wheels." replied my friend.

He he he.

Children and Education. Sometimes I think life can be hard for children. And we parents haven't really much training to educate them. Oh come on, let's admit it. We have had zero training. So while we ourselves are works-in-progress and undergoing on-the-job training ourselves, we are saddled with another small human being to teach and raise up into a decent man or woman. Good luck with that!

92. I, Wobot II

Children are not beta-versions of you

To be experimented with.

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

But as I have mentioned before, I think our very own life education is only complete when we have to love and care for children, whether it is our very own, our nephews and nieces or even our pupils in the class room. And part of the lesson learned is that we cannot do it alone. For a child is such a precious gift, whose sensitive soul can be moulded (or damaged), that I always found it a relief to have an avenue to ask for help. And that as a man and a father, I have much to fix of myself. So I ask the One God, the Most Helpful Fixer of problems and the Origin of all good lessons, to abide by my son in His Divine Presence, with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), his Companions and Saints, and the countless angelic heralds of God. I have asked this even before Mika breathed his first. And I pray the support shall continue until he breathed his last and forever more.

93. Muhammad Mikhail

May he be a servant of God,

A lover of the Prophet,

A friend of the Angels,

A mureed of the Masters,

A caretaker of the Traditions,

And spring of charity

To all who may come to him in need.

Somewhere far, far down the line,

Perhaps he can also call himself

A son of mine.

That is my prayer for my son.

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

May God abide by the children that is enriching your own life, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Malaysia Merdeka Thoughts 2012 - fear, democratic tyranny, education, neo-colonialism and NGOs

We should always remember. We should respect history and our elders.
And we should learn how old problems can return in a new form.

It is not only... (Merdeka Poem III for 2012)

It is not only independence

That can make a country great,

But the stock of men and women

And their firm sense of rightness,

It is not only liberty

That can make a country good,

But the choice through which

The people enjoy such liberty,

It is not only material wealth

That can make a country rich,

But the respect people hold

To their own tradition and history,

It is not mere tolerance

That can make a country

Of multi-ethnicity live in peace,

But the magnanimity

That people show towards one another

On a day to day basis.

………………………..

Fear in Malaysia 2012. There is a lot of fear out there. In the newspapers, in the blogs and on TV, the mongers of fear repeat the speeches of politicians and preachers and perpetuate a climate of fear. The problem with fear is that if that is the primary thing that motivates your political agenda, it is an easy step to hate, then bigotry and hubris. This is not essentially a Malaysian problem. We are merely symptoms of a greater chronic disease suffered by the international mainstream and alternative news media. A pandemic of fear.

They wore uniforms (they are Germans, after all), but
a lot of common voting folk also thought them swell.

Democratic Tyranny. I am not a fan of either the incumbent government nor opposition parties here. I find both their posturing and vote-chasing distasteful, but then again I do not believe in democracy. I simply see too many people blinded by their own agenda, for that is what democracy is about – fighting for your rights. If it gels with other people’s interest that’s fine, but if it doesn’t, well… tough luck. People often forget that Hitler’s Nazi party came to power in Germany on the backs of a democratic election. Of course they were not actually vanilla in their electoral campaigns, but they won because they were simply more brutal and single-minded than their socialist and communist opponents. And people also forget that when the French King's Bastille was broken into, that so-called symbol of royal oppression, Parisian revolutionaries found only a couple of petty criminals. But the Great Terror that followed the French revolution helped to fill Bastille up with those fortunate few who were lucky enough to escape the bloody Guillotine. Yeah. Democracy. Great.

Education. But what sort? And although I often said before that it is education that firms an enlightened world view, even that is not enough, for education in the modern democratic context often focuses too much on worldly knowledge and material gain. Good education must be based on progressive and scientific ideas but built upon foundations of family, history and Adab (courtly manners and courtesies). In this respect, I believe that the federal government will soon be unveiling its review of the National Education Policy (or has it? I have been missing the news lately). Well, I suspect the single biggest issue which I wish addressed will not be there – the prohibition of any government ministers to send their children to private / international schools. You see, they do not even have the good manners to regard us as people with intelligence. Give the ministers's children 2 weeks in a public national school, and I assure you, sunshine, that the standards and facilities and funding for public education would improve almost immediately. All other options are secondary to this.

World Bank. Their mission is
to eradicate world poverty.
Yeah. Right.

Neo-Colonialism and the NGOs. Non-Governmental Organizations are a necessary check and balance to the executive powers of government. But when we do not have a transparent record of their funding, and when the NGOs patently parrot the Western ideas of human rights, progress and democracy, we have to be a little more concerned. For the progress of the West from colonial overseers to a bastion of equality and freedom is a false story. The West may tolerate a couple of brown, yellow or black leaders as its pin-up poster boy (or girl) for their tolerance and equality ads, but the overwhelming tide of events under the globalization of the economy, corporatist (read none-existent) ethics and the oppressive system of currency and international banking will continue to stoke East and West divide. This is naturally so, because a large segment of people believe that the West is superior to the East. And in a way, they are not wrong, so I don’t blame them for taking measures to protect their overwhelming material and military dominance of the world. But to have our own local NGOs leading the vanguard of this neo-colonialism is unfortunate. The NGOs may think themselves a world away from the corporatist powers of the Halliburtons, Shells and ExxonMobiles, the Morgan Stanleys and the Citibanks, the IMFs and the World Banks, but things are not so black and white in reality. There is a lot of money in CSR (corporate social responsibility), you see. CSR makes behemoth non-human profit-making monsters appear as cuddly as teddy bears, and NGOs needs money, after all. It’s a question of supply and demand, and the graph never lies. And before any politician claims otherwise, they are probably even worse - just see the amount of financial industry and corporatist money pouring into the present American presidential campaign.

These are some of my thoughts about Malaysia today, on it’s 55th birthday (well, for West Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak joined in 16 September 1963 – we really should consider combining both celebrations. It makes sense). There are a lot of challenges out there.

Am I worried? Not really, because my mum and dad taught us not to despair and to always persevere. In the cosmic scale, no human (or djinn) conspiracy can overcome the Plan of God and His Beloved Prophet. So Happy Merdeka Day and do not be discouraged! Have faith!

If you have a little faith (and a good camera) like Shamel, even you can defy gravity.
Happy Merdeka Day!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Ultra Intangibles - the beautiful happy way inspired by the Guiding Spirit

Boy: What is humility?
Angel: It is something that you cannot possess
but possesses you. It is a tricky subtle affair.
Good luck to you mortals!

161. The Ultra Intangibles

As the Ultra Intangibles,

Humility and faith are possessions

That abandon you the instant

You think you have them.

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

It is good to have knowledge but better to have Adab (courtly courtesies). We are all trying to get through college and university for that paper qualification. But if we do not score marks for good manners, well... it is really too bad.

But even before that, we need humility as the cornerstone of etiquette and courtesies. In my life I have met some whose humility is already a part of their existence. But God, in His infinite Mercy, has veiled them from their own spiritual station, and when one mentions this, they would inevitably (and sincerely) say, "Me? Humble? Are you kidding me?"

They are blessed. For humility and faith is not their possession, rather that they are possessed by the Guiding Spirit of God, Muhammad Habibullah(pbuh). And they are free of hate, envy and hubris, and they are happy.

But perhaps the greatest ultra intangible is our life. So certain are we
in the possession of our existence or the existence of another whom we love,
only to one day find such life returned to He from
Whom all Life and Love originates. al fatiha

Have a lovely Sunday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Lord, The Shepherd and the Sheep

The Lord, The Shepherd and the Sheep

I was alone with my sheep,

In the high cliffs by the sea,

The fire was slowly dying,

Its embers glowing like rubies,

The dogs were resting quietly

And all was deathly silent...

When suddenly, feeling so lonely,

I asked nobody in particular,

“Oh Lord… will only the sheep

And my dogs keep me company?

If I die here, who will wash me

Pray over me and bury me?”

Not long thereafter

I heard an answer,

“Do not worry, I will keep you company…

And If you are to die now,

I shall send My angels to wash your body,

Pray over you and bury you

With honour and mercy.”

………………………………..

It appears that when God wants to appoint a Prophet, one of the more common qualification is - "Must have experience herding sheep." Many prophets, at one time or the other, were shepherds. This experience in handling sheep and goat are useful because they are one of the most difficult animals to care for. They will get up trees and refuse to come down until they have had their fill of the succulent leaves. When you are not watching they will climb right up to a precipice and get stuck, expecting you to rescue them. Often the sheep would innocently wander into a wolf's territory. They will eat whatever they want and sometimes get sick with over-eating the berries. In other words, they are almost as difficult to handle as Mankind. I bet Prophets of old would look over their human flock and reminisce about their youthful days, out for weeks on end with the sheepkind, and thinking "Oh boy... to think I thought that was difficult!"

No Shepherd? No problem! No pesky dogs? No problem!
Waaait a minute... is that wolves I hear?

Going back to the old traditional ways of our ancestors, some of my friends have started rearing a couple of cows and dozens of goats in their land. It is not an easy job. Feeding them and mucking out early in the morning, while the rest of us are just getting up. Checking for diseases and having to crouch in the daily back-breaking chore of milking. But they do not complain and appear to enjoy working with the animals. 

As Muhammad Habibullah (saw) is the Seal of the Prophets, there are no more prophets expected in the future. But I am told that the Veterinary Science is not exactly an area that young people are falling over themselves to study. So perhaps the Universities and Colleges should advertise their farming courses this way - "Qualify yourself as a Prophet! Study Sheep/Goat care, breeding and rearing!"

Hehehe.

'Tis a lovely Sunday and in a couple of hours time, my mother's Tahlil (traditional prayers for the deceased) will begin, and thereafter we shall have a nice lunch. If you are around Bukit Damansara, sunshine, do drop in.

Well, here is Arbayah herself, almost 30 years ago, with her own precious flock of sheep.
Alas, my mother won't be around for her tahlil (obviously). But we will not allow
this tiny technical detail to deter us from connecting with her living memories.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

He Left Us Able, Ready and Steady -The Prince Part 11

The nature and timing of Shaykh Raja Ashman ibni Sultan Azlan Shah's (Ku Ash) passing took all who loved him by surprise. As the phone calls, sms-es and emails were bouncing about on that fateful early Friday morning, his family, friends, followers and groupies’ hearts were transfixed with a numbing sensation… “What the…???”

But a week has passed now. A week to mourn, to think and reflect. Last night, after the 7th tahlil for Ku Ash at his house, an ancient soul (whom Ku Ash once jokingly called the Techno-Awliya) sat with me for a spiritual post-mortem and his observations struck a chord in me. Perhaps it will strike a chord in you…

The Musings of aTechno-Awliya

“Oh, Taufiq!” he said, “What a rare gift that Ku Ash exited this world perfectly!” I asked him what he meant by that remark, and this was his reply.

“Don’t you see? The Prophet, the circle of saints and Cyprus-based Saint-in-Chief that Ku Ash was associated with had all this planned out, bro! To each obsessive and tiny detail!” He said earnestly. “Nothing was left to chance. The stars and all celestial objects were in their perfect alignment. The day and the hour of his egress perfectly planned. But most important of all, we have all been taught what we need to know, and we are perfectly poised to continue our life without Ku Ash physically being with us.”

He paused to drink his Coca-Cola.

“He has done his job, bro, and his time to go was already pre-determined by God. I mean he even left us with pictures of him doing his last dzikr with his followers just mere hours before his passing. Come on, man… don’t you see it already? Everything that happened or did not happen were all arranged for his perfect exit. If you were there that night at his last dzikr, or if you were not, it does not matter. It does not matter anymore that you were not able to salam and kiss his living hand for the last time. That is just details, my friend! For everything was pre-ordained for a good ending. If he had passed away one second sooner, his job would not have been completed yet, and if he had passed away one second later, it would have been an overkill! Everything in this cosmos works and moves in its measured quantity and time… the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and the Shaykhs.”

We were interrupted by a few more Naqshbandis joining our table, then he continued.

al-fatihah

“Yes laaa, we will have our personal tests and challenges in our lives. But it would be wrong to worry ‘Oh no, Ku Ash is not here anymore… What will I do?’ I think we have the answers to all our life’s problems nicely packaged for us already. The only underlying question is whether we have the patience and adab (courtly courtesies and good manners) to accept the gift.”

He finished his Coke, then he shook my hand and left. “What an optimistic lunatic.” I mused, as I gazed at his retreating back.

But now in hindsight, with a fresh day beckoning for my attention, I think I agree with him. So I will stop regretting what has or had not happened, what I did not do, and what I did imperfectly. Despite our woe-what-a-miserable-sinner-I-am feeling that we ALL have, Ku Ash has in truth left us all able, ready and steady.

Make this Friday a wonderful day, sunshine, and the beginning of the rest of your life. You are ready. 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will Show the Way

Quantum Mechanics & The Dice - predictability, probability, Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr and other odds and ends......

Einstein, Heisenberg and Bohr

When you think you know enough you look for Predictability.

When you think you don’t know enough you look for Probability.

When you think you know nothing you look for Divinity.

Quantum Mechanics.

According to Heisenberg’s theory of Quantum Mechanics, the nature of things alters by the very act of observation by someone. At the level of sub-atomic particles, Heisenberg suggests that it is impossible to determine a particle’s position and speed, because the mere observation of the particles radically affects their behavior. But I knew this for the longest time…

The Women Sub-particle – The nature of a young woman changes if she is observed by a man. All sorts of questions and thoughts pass through her – She blushes and fidgets, thinking “I must be hot!”, or wondering “Is he going to talk to me or not? What is taking him so long?” The nature of woman changes even more if she is observed by another woman – “Why is she staring at me? Is she looking at my shoes now? “Oh my God! Do I have a tear somewhere?” “Do I know her?” “Is she judging me???”

The Men in prayers Sub-particle – The nature of man changes if he is observed in prayers. It is a subtler change compared to women, less obvious and almost unconscious. The posture straightens, the head lowers more in modesty and the eyelids tremble in ostentatious piety. Hehehe. It happens to the best of us sometimes. We want to be humble of course, but end up appearing to be humble. Not the same thing.

The Dice Quarrel

Okay, enough jokes, back to the serious stuffs. Einstein was terribly unhappy with the messy-probability idea of Heisenberg because for him, accuracy and predictability was the natural and elegant form of the processes of nature. So if we cannot predict the weather or the fall of a dice, it is simply because we do not know enough about the factors that affect such events. As Einstein famously commented on the improbability of the improbability theory of the Universe – “God does not play dice!” One day, Niels Bohr (another proponent of Quantum Mechanics) was heard to have retorted, “Stop telling God what to do with His dice!”

An Interesting Postscript - I talked to Heche and Fifi over lunch about Quantum Mechanics, and they laughed over the Dice Quarrel. Later Fifi dropped us off at the office, and as we were about to alight the steps what did I notice but a dice on an empty parking space. The improbability of it! But it DID happen. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Towards God and towards us. God is not asking all of us to be superhuman geniuses. He has given us the intellect that we might use it, and He has given us a heart and conscience, that we might direct our intellect in the best direction. And what is the best direction? I think that direction points towards Him. And in a contradictory and quantum mechanical way, I think it also points towards us.

Something to ponder over, sunshine.

Wa min Allah at-taufiq

Footnote: I got all these interesting information from a wonderful BBC documentary on Einstein. Click Here if you are interested.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Wisdom of Not Knowing - When Nothing is More than Everything

The Wisdom of Not Knowing -

When Nothing is More than Everything

Do not let your knowledge

Get in the way of your learning, my son.

Do not let your understanding

Get in the way of your experimenting, my son.

Do not let your opinions

Get in the way of your inspirations!

Never say “I know.”, my son.

Say “I don’t know

And I am here to learn

And to be guided."

Never say “I will lead,”

Say instead, “I am here to listen

And to obey.”

This is an important lesson, my son;

Once you know nothing, you are nothing -

Then see how the Sun and the Rain comes and goes

At your beck and call.

For you have given yourself to nothingness and

Into the embrace of our One Lord, God,

You have given your all…

You have given your all…

Then,

Give more of your all…

Give more of your all…

For don’t you know?

Once you are nothing,

You become bigger than everything.

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

I try not to give knowledge to my son. Who am I after all? Am I so knowledgeable that I can condescend to pour knowledge into my son's mind? My school grades were pretty average, and my spiritual grades? Oh dear. I am too embarrassed to share with you!

We parents are not treasure troves of knowledge after all. We are merely stores of happy and painful lessons from our own lives. We cannot teach our children True Knowledge, but hopefully, we may yet be a lesson for them to the Path of True Knowledge - 

Parent to Child

When it comes to True Knowledge, my child,

I cannot dictate, I can only share. 

And I cannot command you, I can only advise...

Seek the Path!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way