Once Upon a Time in America

12. It is ok
It is good to be lost sometimes,
For otherwise,
You would not be found.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, a handsome white-bearded Shaykh was giving a talk at a community centre (if I recall correctly). In his talk (it’s never a speech, you know) he said he noticed outside the hall a ‘Lost & Found’ board on the wall. He commented that your life is a journey (nothing new here), and here you strive to find your bearings, to read the maps properly, and where possible (and fated), you will receive direct guidance from such people who have been appointed for your welfare.

OUR LORD, THE SAVIOR. But despite the best of efforts we often find ourselves lost. You made a mistake but this is okay says the Shaykh. For it is okay to be lost, to become the innocent babe in the woods once again, to be marooned in an unchartered island in the Bermuda Triangle. Because in this perfect storm, God and the Good will come to our rescue. Otherwise how will God be known as The Savior? Yes… it is good to be lost sometimes. If only to find that our God has not, and has never actually forgotten us.

SPIRITUAL TRAUMA CENTER. We also come to hurt because we get distracted desiring something other than the Lord’s pleasure. We want a new car, we want a new wife, we want to win the lottery, we want to be promoted… but even in our spiritual journey we can lose focus – we get mesmerized by magic-laser light shows, we are fooled by people’s praise, we forget our aim, and become fixated with the view along the sacred highway… we don’t see the Deer of God crossing the road and a moment later… *BANG!* The deer goes flying through your windshield and you are in a Saint John’s ambulance heading for the Spiritual Trauma Center. And there… lying on the operating table, suddenly a bright light appears and a voice asks you…”Dear boy, what have you done with yourself?”

“Master… is that You?” I replied.

“Well, I am not Colonel Sanders, old chum.” Then he continued, “You are hurt.”

“I know…*Ouch*… but it’s worth it.” I answered, wincing through the pain.

“Really? How so?”

I cannot but smile, “Because you came for me.”

Then the Master smiled an even wider grin, “Oh no, you silly-billy. It was I who called for you.”

…………….

Have a lovely day, sunshine. May we be lost and rescued by our Lord, the Savior.

Pax Taufiqa.

A True but Wobbly Path, Saying Sorry and a Distinguished Order

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If you are an aspirant on the mystical path, being sorry and saying sorry is a habit you must cultivate. In the last chapter entitled 'Candy from the Ahad Candy Store' (circa Jan 2010), I wrote this following missive post one of my many, many mistakes...
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56. My Sorry

My sorry means

I am sorry until

You forgive me.

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I found that my earliest use of the word in a much earlier writing, waaay back in early 2004 (Chapter 1, the Dam.SunSun.Ana) . And this was what I recorded...

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63. The sorry lot of God
Do you remember where we were once before?
Lost and sinning, a worm in an apple’s core
A candle with no light, lying broken upon the floor
What were our lives, to be worth living for?

Do you remember what we were once, my friend?
A smile swiftly lost, snatched by fate’s thieving hand
A joy-short lived, as butter melts in a pan
Such were we, my friend
Till he came and took our hand
And said…

It will be alright, ya faisal
Everything will be great, ya shamsul
Don’t worry too much, ya hafidz
Its going to be cool, ya saiful

Ya Maulana, ya Maulana, ya Saidi!
Who moved your heart to take in these bumbling fools?

We who were left behind, when everyone else have been chosen
We, the sorry lot of God, messing with boats upon His Ocean.

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So, I would like to dedicate this posting to my four boat-mates. I still see them all and they have not changed one bit (well, maybe a little bit fatter and a little less hair). They are still bumbling and messing with boats in God's Ocean. And I wouldn't want them to change. Not for anything. The Order to which they are affliated is called the Distinguished Order... No doubt distinguished by the foolishness of its members that the Masters must manage on a daily basis. Wise Men Say... Only Fools Rush In.... (UB40 version)

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A toast, then my pet. To all our friends and bosom companions. May their heart forever be light, and their path ahead however wobbly still be true.

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Pax Taufiqa.

God is Eternal/Internal, and a 6-year old question that I have not answered

Association III
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We can teach you,
To heal the lameness of your limbs,
The blindness of your hearts,
The deafness of your ears,
And tame the obstinacy of your mind.

We can teach you,
To read signs and signposts,
Maps and compasses,
Omens and ciphers,
Books and letters,
That continuously whisper;
This way, o’ Seeker, this way!

Yea, all these we can teach you, and more.

But o’ acolytes of your own image,
Apostles of your private idols,
Are you willing to listen and learn?
Are you willing to listen and obey?
……….

For the past 2 years I have been having my morning coffee in the Chinese Kopitiam (restaurant) downstairs of my office. I always sit at the tables in the back lane so as to avoid the hot morning sun. One day, I noticed a graffiti scrawled on the column exactly in front of where I was sitting. I looked closer and thus I read…

My guess is as good as yours. Did the person intend to write ‘God is Eternal’? Or is the message suppose to read ‘God is Internal’? Was the writer male or female? Was he/she perhaps drunk? (My neighbourhood is famous for its watering holes)

If you wish to plumb down into mass phobia, you may ask why is the second ‘E’ facing backwards and the ‘A’ upside down. Is this some Masonic device (feel free to replace ‘Masonic’ with another favourite devilish secret society), full of diabolical meaning and ill-intention? Or perhaps it is merely an indictment of the quality of edoocasyen in our skools?

Being the optimist, I am prepared to take the words as candies for me. A little reminder from the Benevolent Fate that in the most unlikely of places you may find signs…

...That continuously whisper;
This way, o’ Seeker, this way!

And being the sort of man who finds great happiness in sharing (especially when it costs him nothing whatsoever), I want to share my prose and candies with you this morning.

Bon appetit!

Footnote: ‘Association III’ is from chapter 2, ‘The Dam.Munir.Ana’ (circa Nov 2004). I met a wise man that year, and he did ask of me, are you willing to listen and obey?

6 years on, I have still not replied him.

Practice makes the Perfect Swing, Revelation or Evolution, Hubris, God the All-Excuse, Planet Xylophone and Bill Maher

ACTUALLY, I think practice doesn’t make perfect. I believe that practice increases the chances of achieving moments of perfection. If you are a golfer, don't you wonder sometimes, “Whaoo… look at that ball go! But heck… How did I do that?" To this question I propose a solution, and here it goes…

PERFECTION is granted by God as His reward for all your hard work and dedication. Moving on from the perfect swing metaphor, who do you think suggested the perfect bridge in your musical composition, who do you think dropped the big hint about that algorithm in your perfect mathematical equation, who guided your gaze to the herb needed to make your soup just perfect, and who really made that perfect day you spent on the beach with your lover?

AND THE ANSWER IS ALLAH. Well, Yes and No. It doesn’t matter if you call it/him Jesus, Buddha, Ram, Fate, Happenstances or simply a Lucky Break. The fact is you are already cool in my books because you have recognized that really, perfection that is constant is unattainable, and that by practicing, we are only helping to increase our chance of hitting the jackpot. And that, my friends, is what we call humility (or at least ‘being realistic with your chances’).

REVELATION OR EVOLUTION? TO-MAY-TO OR TO-MAH-TO? The only difference is that people who believe in God believe that the brief moment of your perfect golf swing is just one glorious moment God is sharing with you from his Infinite Ocean of Glorious Moments. And really, He doesn’t have to share it with you, He doesn’t need to recognize your efforts, but He does anyway because simply, He loves you regardless of whether you call him Allah, Yehovah, Shiva, Crom, Fate, Chance or Spacegod from Planet Xylophone. Think about it.

The problem atheists have with God is really not because of God or religion, but how ‘believers’ end up using Him as THE validation for all their greed, bigotry, arrogance, violence, ignorance and apathy. The ‘believers’ have hijacked God to be not God the Almighty, but God the All-Excuse for their own stupidity and degeneracy.

So if you believe in God, then please… just try to be nice. Have some good manners to your neighbours… Follow your conscience, and don’t be goaded by your hubris that somehow, God made you better than the person sitting next to you in the bus. And ultimately, be patient and merciful. And not in that condescending way that ‘believers’ end up being sometimes. Be nice. And mean it.

STOP BEING SO CONDESCENDING. Whether we believe in God or not, whether we call God Christ, Allah, Yehovah, Ram, Ra or Spacegod, please stop being condescending or patronizing to one another. Stop saying ‘No, it’s not that I look down on you, I WAS ONCE LIKE YOU, but now that I have found Darwin / Jesus / Muhammad / Ra, I want to help you’ because really, such statement drips of hubris. Bill Maher, that ridiculous but painfully honest comedian/host atheist made me see this. So Bill, thank you.

And thank you too for dropping by, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Your Name is ....

When sunlight grows dim,
And shadows creep closer,

As truth becomes weak,
And lies get bolder,

When the horde of my enemy,
Hiding in the valley,
Count their victories,
Against me.

A dispatch,
Returning from the front,
Brings terrible news,
To the mutinous crew,
Saying;

“We have been doubly deceived!
He still lives.
And he is not who he says he is!”

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

A little explanation about the prose - It was recorded in August 2004 and is a regular mystic-centric hobnob about man, his struggle with his ego, and the final salvation which is secured by the man leading a sort of double existence - for we believe that our soul has been divided, to exist before the Divine Presence, and only a small ray of our light is inhabiting our body to struggle through life's many twists and turns. Foremost in our life struggle is the unending fight to tame our ego - ergo that bit about "the horde of my enemy...". But ultimately, in the finality of Time, God has to win, His Prophet has to win. That is the assurance sanctified by our soul continuing to be in the Divine Presence. For however often our ego may triumph over our conscience ("count their victories against me..."), it is nay but a small part of our soul - the name(s) of whom is kept secret by the Keepers of Names. So how can the Ego and the Enemy ever win if they do not even know who they are contesting against? - "he is not who he says he is..."

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There are still Keepers wandering the earth, who have your names in their keeping. Safe and secure from your own vagaries and indiscretions. But perhaps you already know at least one of your original names... How fortunate are you! Happy Birthday!

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But be careful too! Because however happy the ending, you and I, we are still stuck here, and we need to complete our respective journey well... My friend, If you go by the high road, I shall to follow you.

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Love,

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TK.

My Secret Foolish Ambition

It is a secret ambition

Of my life to become

More and more foolish,

And by God,

How I am succeeding!

(No. 86, from chapter entitled "Just Between You and Me", Feb 2009)

I don't want to be so foolish. But I cannot help it. Doing foolish things, and thinking the most ridiculous of thoughts, and writing them down (like right now) appears to be fated for me. Many times, I have found myself at the corner of the classroom, commanded to quietly contemplate the errors of my ways. But often too, I would hear a whisper in my ears, comforting me and saying, "Don't worry, Taufiq. If you are a fool, and if you are a sinner, you are still my fool and my sinner."

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Between streaks of tears that were running down my cheek, I would then smile. But I am also careful not to let teacher see me smiling. It would be misinterpreted.