Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Guru Arjan Dev and Mian Mir: A Tale of Love and Friendship between two Sufi masters

by Navid Zaidi Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) was the fifth Guru of the Sikh faith that flourished in the Punjab region of India from the sixteenth century onwards. Hazrat Mian Mir (1550-1635) was a famous Muslim Sufi saint who resided … Continue reading

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Finding Balance

by Navid Zaidi Developing a flexible approach to living is instrumental in helping us cope with everyday problems. ‘Balance’ becomes a key element of a happy life. A balanced and skilful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, is … Continue reading

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A Bit of Truth

by Modaser Shah In his interesting, even entertaining, albeit difficult-to-read book titled LESS THAN NOTHING, Slavoj Žižek ascribes the following quote to Winston Churchill: “Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry … Continue reading

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What is Sufism? Part 5: The Word (Kalma)

by Navid Zaidi The soul, after leaving the body, mind and senses, comes in contact with the Ultimate Reality in the form of an unstruck melody. Sufi saints have called this unstruck melody, the Word or Kalma. The Word is … Continue reading

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Finding Light in the Dark

by Modaser Shah “We feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered, the problems of life remain completely untouched. Of course, there are then no questions left, and this itself is the answer,” said Wittgenstein, and what … Continue reading

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No Pain, No Gain?

by Modaser Shah Ghalib, the well-known Urdu poet, in one of his ghazals says: In the dream my thoughts were involved with you; when I woke up, I found neither loss nor gain. “The belief that a deeper connection is … Continue reading

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The Delicate Secret: Relationship of Humans, God and Universe

by Navid Zaidi کیہہ کردا نی کیہہ کردا نی کوئی پچھو کھاں دلبر کیہہ کردا وچ مسیت نماز گزاریں،بت خانے جا وڑدا آپ اکو کئی لکھ گھراں دے،مالک ایہہ گھر گھر دا اکے گھر وچ وسدیاں رسدیاں،نہیں ہوندا وچ پردا … Continue reading

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Characteristics of the Mystic Experience

by Navid Zaidi One way of establishing connection with Reality is through sense-perception. The other way is through direct association with that Reality as it reveals within the soul. Sense-perception must be supplemented by what the Quran calls Fuad or Qalb, meaning … Continue reading

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Does Eternal Life Belong to Those Who Live in the Present?

by Modaser Shah “Eternal life belongs to those who live in the present,” Wittgenstein, in Tractatus, quoted in Less Than Nothing by Slavoj Žižek. Some random associations: This sounds more like a koan than a philosopher’s proposition, hence the meaning … Continue reading

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Evolution of the Self: The Qur’anic Viewpoint

by Navid Zaidi Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how life progressed through stages leading to the development of humans. But what about the future of individual human life? Has life reached its climax in the humans or are we going … Continue reading

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