Reclaiming Our True Character

By Moin Qazi, New Age Islam 11 September 2023 Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. – Abraham Lincoln There was once a great spiritual master. Seekers from far would flock to him in search of enlightenment. One student was allowed to leave after a very short stay. The master was satisfied that the pupil had attained the necessary spiritual elevation. The initiate, endorsed as the newly anointed spiritual master, departed. Some of the inmates at the seminary were amazed at such an early discharge given to a raw and new initiate. One such initiate was courageous enough to ask the master why this gesture occurred. “The stick was dry, and it caught fire quickly,” was the master’s repartee. Nobody can be given physical evidence of this radical ecstatic transformation that several seekers undergo because it can be perceived only by those with a foretaste for it. A moist matchstick does not ignite even by repeated rubbing. It simply snaps. But a dry one enflames even with a gentle rub. A pure, clear heart, unstained by worldly dross, is like the dry, inflammable matchstick. Even the greying embers that have lost their cruel redness can kindle the fire in such a heart. But the heart of a worldly man, soaked in lust, is like a moist matchstick. In such cases, the illumination occurs spontaneously as the soul experiences a unique celestial experience of the heart, opening out like a lotus. For the initiates, this was one of the most comforting revelations of their life. Man is now mired in greed, envy, and selfishness. He lives in a sick and ailing world. We all acknowledge and believe in common human values. We are one at the core of our humanity. We all value the worth of human life. We all agree that poverty is a sickness, injustice cannot be tolerated, and there should not be any distinction by way of gender, colour, religion, age, or status. We all say there ought to be harmonious coexistence. Yet look at how people are chafing at each other’s throats. Man lives in great opulence and has surrounded himself with the most sophisticated gadgets to build a world as dazzling as that of Aladdin and his genies. But loneliness and despair still keep troubling him. We are the most comfortable generation ever on the planet, but we certainly cannot claim to be a blissful or loving generation. It is a crazy world in which people know the truth yet are so distanced from it. There isn’t one place where we do not have strife, and injustices are not rife. There isn’t one place where people are not mature enough to understand everyday human values; that truthfulness is good, justice is good, charity is good, giving life is good, and respecting others is good. Everybody agrees, and yet they are out to finish each other off. You can’t get one group of people that do not point the finger at the other one and say, “We are better than you.” It doesn’t make sense if we make progress externally when we are overlaid internally by hatred, jealousy and violence. We live in a century that has l given us a maximum of choices but a minimum of meaning. The human mind has become fragile and fragmented. It needs healing, which is possible if we develop the light in all of us yet has been shadowed. Humans are meaning-seeking animals. We need to tap into the wellsprings of faith to spark our minds to fix the world for our needs instead of trying to improve ourselves for this world. Therein lies our salvation. We must not forget that our true nature is otherworldly; we shouldn’t get too engrossed in the world to lose our true nature. G.K. Chesterton very poignantly describes this society more aptly: “These are peoples that have lost the power of astonishment at their actions. When they give birth to a fantastic fashion or a foolish law, they do not start or stare at the monster they have brought forth. These nations are in danger of going off their heads en-masse, of becoming one vast vision of nonsense.” ----- Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book, Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance sector for almost four decades. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/reclaiming-true-character/d/130649 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