The month of Ramadan is flying by fast as we approach the last ten holiest days. Personally, I had to skip quite a few due to health issues, but did keep with my extra day and night prayers, studies of spiritual texts and fasting from Netflix and Prime and other entertainment.
I have also kept up with my non-profit work in the areas of dialogue, interfaith relations, conflict resolution and transformation, through which I continue to learn about the convergence of spiritual wisdom traditions and quantum sciences. As Ken Wilber had predicted, the “Marriage of Sense and Soul” is underway. In Islam, it had never been separated as in the secular West, and belatedly we Muslims in the West are discovering that thanks to the work of so many teachers, such as Hamza Yusuf, Hakim Abdul Murad, Sufi teachers, etc. All religions or traditions are more about the heart than the mind or body, and if we could just agree on this “religion of the heart” we would have more peace.
“If any Muslim comes out of Ramadan without gaining forgiveness and goodness, he is among those who are at loss.” This quote came across my prayer app today, and I relished it. Forgiveness and goodness. Another friend posted this: “What else could come out of good but good? “. The word goodness is so simple yet so complex, for it can have many meanings: mercy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, giving, etc. One does not have to agree on a definition, but one has to feel it. It could be a small act or a big act, but one knows when one is doing good, and certainly others feel it too especially if they are impacted by the act of goodness. What is most amazing is that the field of goodness is non-local (a quantum science term), which means a goodness here could return in another form of goodness from over there, meaning a different person, situation, etc. Here again, spiritual traditions and new sciences agree about non-locality, which is the opposite of transactional worldview.
There are so many ways to do good, and we increase it deliberately in Ramadan, hopefully raising our level each year as we go into this monthly retreat. In a troubled world, where violence is lighting up the whole planet to the point of pain and sadness overload for those of us who “feel globally,” a specific form of doing good is something I am focusing on and that is the act of “healing”. How can we heal a heart, a soul, a person that is within our reach and influence? Every drop of healing will create a large healing field in which peace can arise. It may take a thousand years, but why not start now.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and easy rest of Ramadan and may your prayers be answered as we end this beautiful month with the opportunity to reflect, forgive and do good.
Be First to Comment