Soul Sings Malayalam

July 9, 2008 at 4:46 pm (Mysticism, Poetry)
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I am not Malayali, and I do not speak Malayalam
Yet I am singing with the mystics in this tongue
These words, Mind does not understand
But Soul dances to the tune of mystery!

They show us maps, borders, and dividers
Grasp a hold of your sanity, they say!
China does not need the tongue of Senegal
Egyptians do not sing Japanese!
The Pashtun does not read in Hebrew!
Mongolians do not understand Lebanese
What purpose do you have in this song?

Ya insaan (O humankind), with your prejudices
No wonder you do not see the Soul’s gift of colors
Deaf to the music, you dwell in your prison
Walled off from beauty in your ethno-centricism

O Soul, the Mind says you are mad
But all you want is to dance freely in the wind
And tonight, the Song of the Soul is Malayali
And so I sing:

He kuruvaani kiliyae-aeee!
Kuruvaani kiliyae!

Kukkuru kurukuru koovik kurugik kunnimanaththai
Ooyal aadi kooduvagukkik koottu vilikkunnae
Maaran ninnaik koogik kurugik koottu vilikkunnae-aeeee!

~ Broken Mystic~

(Malayalam lyrics from “Jiya Jale” by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar)

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Away with Separation

June 19, 2008 at 4:45 pm (Mysticism, Poetry)
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This is an old poem I wrote a few years ago. I felt like sharing it here. It was written for no one in particular, just for my fellow companions in this world. I’ve written this many times before, but we live in a world where there is more individuality and less community. It is important to establish independence, but at the same time, we shouldn’t feel that relying on our friends and Loved ones is a bad thing. On the contrary, we were created as social beings; we are all on this journey together and we need each other.

A Vision of the Universe awakens the Soul
Life soars, dives, spins, and rolls
Discover how small we are
Yet how precious at the same time

Sparkling dust reveals splendid gems
Leave your world behind
And pass through the Rose Portal
For it is Love from which you stem

Your world is of duality
People of colors, races, and genders divided
Ours is a world of unity
It is here where you feel alive!

Here, we do not say black or white
Here, we do not argue and fight
Here, we celebrate diversity
How wonderfully this delights the King!

Do not crush Flowers by saying “man” or “woman”
We believe in no such division!
The Prophet preached we are One
Fill your heart with this Truth and witness Divine union

After challenges, Lovers rest in arms, young
They listen to the mourning violin
And how it longs for the reward of patience
They are reminded of music they once strummed

By the Heavenly Rivers, they will marry
They will merge into a single Spirit
This is your destiny too, dear companions
To here, the Angels will carry

Beyond this Glorious Universe, we transcend
We can discover its blessed Secrets
Take my hand, I beg you, friend
And pass through this Portal with me

Let us become One

~ Broken Mystic~

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Rebirth

May 27, 2008 at 5:30 am (Poetry)
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I gaze upon the lonely sea
Shadowed by the gloomy clouds
And haunted by forgotten whispers
Through the fog, I set sail into mystery

Love has hovered over me
Waiting for me to submit to its will
Tear through me now, I say
Bring me shipwreck and drown this misery

Let me plummet into the heart of the ocean
Soak the map, slash the sails, crush the mast
Pierce through the wreck with Your Light
Only in Your Sea can the Seeker breathe

Pull me deeper
Until I am nothing
No name, no label, no face
Without want, without fear

Can you hear Bilal on his minaret?
La ilahaaaaa! Il Allaaaaah!
There is no god but God
Listen and be reborn to euphoria

I say:

Emerge – Star Light
Bloom once again – Sky Garden
Launch into Infinity – Wingless Flight
Sing among Angels – Song Bird

Charging out of the hail storm of mystery
Beauty whistles through the sky
A thousand sonnets are sung, a million stars are lit
Listen to your heart – it pounds at the gates of ever-lasting beauty!

Catch the rain of rose petals
Whirl like a fearless cyclone
You are Alpha and Omega
Fire and Water, Flower and Stone

How long will you let the laws govern your life?
Your wings are bleeding and you don’t even know!
The wind blows – turn, look around
Flowers bloom, birds over your head
The music plays – over here!
Unseen Angels by your side – Open your eyes!

O Human, you belong in the Heavens!
Impossibility is all you say
While Beloved is calling your name
A million times, over and over again

I will dance upon a cloud
And then dive into the heart of Beloved
I will spin away from time and space
And lose myself in the portal of grace

I am the Symphony
I am the bow, the string, the trombone
The flute, the santur, the sitar, the tabla
The wailing voice, the Gregorian chant, the mystic ecstasy

I am the bass, the electric guitar
The Buddhist throat singer, the ancient rhythms
The sky, the sea; I am the Earth
The soil, the seed, I am rebirth

I will be murdered a thousand times
Split in half, or in a million pieces
I will rise from the ashes by Merciful Divine
In endless new ways

Like Sohni and Mahiwal, Love is tragedy
Two Lovers drowned at sea
Like Sohni and Mahiwal, Love is forever
Death is the curtain to Eternity

Like Muhammad, step out of darkness
And upon every turn of your head
Only see the Face of Love
Follow it’s Radiance – the way of Transcendence

And in this new song
I am calling out to the Universe in longing:

Rooh mein bharde aagini!
(Fill my Soul with Fire!)
Fill my Life Saga with nothing but Love
Nothing but Love

~ Broken Mystic ~

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Celestial Beauty

February 21, 2008 at 10:33 pm (Mysticism)
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Last night, I got a chance to gaze upon the total lunar eclipse. It was incredibly beautiful, subhann’Allah, and very soothing too. I brought my video camera outside too and got some nice footage of it.

Isn’t it amazing how something you see on the outer world makes you reflect deeply on the inside? Just seeing the Earth’s shadow on the moon was somewhat frightening and yet humbling at the same time. Frightening because it reminds us of how small we really are in the Universe, and humbling because of how Great God is. I’ve always had a fascination of outer space exactly for these reasons, and also because human beings make such a big deal about the smallest things that they don’t take the time to recognize what is right in front of them.

Life is so precious when you let your eyes and mind get lost in the wonder of the stars. One of these days, I want to buy a decent telescope so that I can explore more of God’s Universe. When I was younger, I was fascinated by the thousands of galaxies that exist, and not surprisingly, I even thought about whether or not there was life on other planets. I suppose none of us know the real answer to this question, but I remember when I was reading the Qur’an, I noticed how we say: “Alhamdullilah ‘Rabil ‘ala meen,” which translates as “Praise be to God, the Lord of all the Worlds.” The term “Worlds” stood out to me because it’s plural, not singular. To me, this refers to the Heavens, the Earth, and the rest of the expanding Universe. Think about all the planets and stars and moons that exist out there, and then reflect on your own life and evaluate how you’re living. With so much meaning and beauty that exists all around us and beyond us, is it really worth it to place so much more emphasis over the spiritual?

Everyone has duties in this world — we have to apply for jobs, support ourselves financially, support our families, raise our children, etc. — but often times, we get so stressed out, angry, impatient, and frustrated with how things are that looking at the sky or moon doesn’t mean anything to us anymore. We can create a balance between our life obligations and our spirituality. I know it’s not easy, especially when it seems that negativity occupies your mind more than anything positive.

I felt comforted looking at the moon. Comforted because I know we’re all being taken care of. In the hands of a Creator who Created something so magnificent, how can we say that we are not in good hands? There was just one thing missing from my gazing upon the moon last night. I know He knows what it is. And I know He listens to prayers in all of our hearts. Insha’Allah.

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Avicenna and The Floating Man (or Woman)

February 16, 2008 at 9:49 pm (History, Mysticism)
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Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdallah ibn Sina was one of the great Muslim scientists and thinkers during the Islamic Golden Age in the 11th Century. He was known as Ibn Sina in the Muslim world, and “Avicenna” in Europe when his works were later translated into Latin. Though he exercised his skills at mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy, he was mainly known for his developments and discoveries in medicine. It’s interesting to note how this 11th century Persian Muslim and physician believed that the only way to understand the functioning of the human body was through scientific testing and observation. He felt that theories contained no value unless proven. He also believed that tuberculosis was infectious, while the Europeans rejected this belief for about 400 years; Avicenna was eventually proven right hundreds of years later by European physicians and scientists.

 

One new fascinating aspect that I recently learned about Avicenna is how his work touched upon ideas that were later developed by Carl Jung and Norman Cousins. As author Michael H. Morgan writes, “[Avicenna’s] theories about the mind will prove remarkably prescient, finding expression some 900 years later in modern psychology as well as science fiction.” One of Avicenna’s most famous philosophical theories describes the human mind-body connection and how a person has awareness of his/her own existence despite not knowing his/her surroundings or environment. In his “Floating Man” argument, Avicenna writes:

 

“Imagine, a man floating in a room with zero sensory input, no sound, no gravity, no sensation of any kind, floating in complete darkness, no sensation even of his own body because no part of his body touches any other part — say the man was created this way, would he be capable of thought? Can the human mind have thoughts without any external sensory input? If so, what would this man be thinking? Would the floating man have awareness of anything?”

 

Avicenna answers: “Yes, even though the man has no awareness of his environment, or anything external to himself, he would at least be aware of his own existence.” It’s interesting to note how this idea is a precursor to Rene Descartes’s famous philosophical statement: “I think, therefore I am.”

 

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my own existence and questioning what reality is. These existential thoughts are notorious for being looped-thoughts, i.e. it just keeps leading you back to where you started in the first place, until you just eventually go insane. But mysticism is different from existentialism because it emphasizes more on ideas that encourage us to reflect upon our self, who we are, where we are, and where we are going. I’m sure we’ve all thought strange things like “what if all of this is a dream?” or “what if nothing is real at all?” We get caught up in these questions that we almost become numb to feeling the Beauty that exists in our reality. This is one of the many reasons why I believe that if there is no Love, then reality is false. Without the heart being open and receptive to Love, reality is one big lie, one cannot see the Sun, smell the flowers, or hear the music. He may be breathing and thinking, but is he alive?

 

Like Avicenna’s floating man, we may be aware of our existence, but how many of us are cherishing the Beauties that Allah has created for all of us? People rush to school, rush to meet deadlines, rush to work, get stuck in rush hour every day, come home and eat, and then go to sleep, only to wake up the next morning and repeat the same process over again. Are these beings really alive if they have no knowledge of who they are, what their purpose is, and how to establish a relationship with God? By no fault of our own, we humans live in such a chaotic, operatic, and busy world. We try to say our prayers, we try to stay mindful, but those external forces tend to obstruct us from getting closer to our dreams. In the Holy Qur’an, God speaks of the Divine Signs and how there are always around us, and they not only exist in every Created thing, but also in the Unseen World — the World of Feeling. But what happens when someone finds that Great Love that we all long for, and then loses it to mystery? Does he/she fall only to rise up again, or does he/she become like the floating man: hanging in darkness, unaware of his surroundings, and trying to find his/her self again?

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