Incinerate the Temple of Your Wants

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 16 September 2022 Laga Dee Aag Maine Apni Chaahaton Ko / Ab Angare Bachein Ya Raakh, Fikr Nahin Roshan Tabib (I set fire to my desires/ whether embers remain or ashes, I'm least bothered) The Persian mystic Jami broke his fast during the month of Ramzan. He was eating a few dates. Seeing him eat dates and nothing else, one man asked him, "Don't you feel hungry after the day-long fast?" Jami replied. “I’ve hunger for god, not for food or anything so quotidian." So very true! We must put an end to this undesirable instinct to hoard. Because, the impulse increases to a wish, the wish to a desire and the desire to an uncontrollable longing. By the way, it won't be wide off the mark to mention Iftar or Futoor (from فطور, fuṭūr, 'breakfast') to contextualise hoarding, albeit of a different kind. When the Rozadaar (though not all) literally pounce upon mouth-watering food after breaking the day-long fast to relish the evening meal of sumptuous food, isn't it a different kind of hoarding and stuffing your tummy with food? Doesn't the value of a stern and rigorous fast diminish with the cravings for gorging on Chapli Kabaab, mutton-korma, Murgh Musallam, Kaleji and Bheja fry, Firni and whatnots? Don't the genuine pangs of hunger, thirst and a sharper sense of spirituality get diluted when you devour a 6-course meal like someone famished? If we ever sit and ponder, we'll realize that we're all chasing elusive and will-o'-the-wisp pleasures, which like the sands, slip out of the fist surreptitiously and imperceptibly. How much do we need to live with contentment? Yet, the needs keep increasing to swallow us ultimately. Ghalib aptly said, 'Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi Ke Har Khwahish Pe Dam Nikle / Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan Lekin Phir Bhi Kam Nikle ' (There're so many desires that I continuously die for them/ Yet, it appears that I'm still not fully satiated and will never be). There's a beautiful old song from the movie Moti Mahal (1952, Music: Hansraj Behl). It was soulfully sung by Rafi , " Jayega Jab Yahaan Se Kuchh Bhi Na Paas Hoga, Do Gaz Kafan Ka Tukda Tera Libaas Hoga " (While leaving the world, you'll have nothing, only the two yards of shred for the coffin will be your apparel). But the question is, do we ever think that one day we all shall have to go with nothing on person? We're abject slaves to our desires and longings. This is nothing, but 'mental thralldom'. As long as the desires reside in us, we're like yoked animals. There's a poignant paragraph in Albert Camus' The Rebel: “It’s the desire that leads you to a shrine. Kill it and all shrines will collapse. Only the shrine of your existence will remain, as nothing is more sacred and divine than your own unadulterated self." So, incinerate the temple of your wants, for when it's destroyed, you'll have an unimpeded view of the vast, unbounded sky of pure desirelessness. Socrates summed it up, ' Having the fewest desires, I'm nearest to god.' ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/incinerate-temple-wants/d/127960 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism