Ignorance Is Bliss!!!

Was talking to a friend just last night on how our mind at times becomes a curse for us. How it creates complications & doubts. And that may be ignorance is actually a bliss. Now I personally believe that ignorance is an even bigger curse. Using your mind is not bad actually. Thinking is not bad rather over-thinking things is the problem.

There is probably a balance between ignorance & over-thinking. A student who frets about his grades too much isn't doing himself any favors, neither is a student who just doesn't care about them at all. Grades are important but what is more important is the willingness to learn & gain mastery over something. That is the sort of balance I am talking about here.

What is also important is the fact that ignorance & over-thinking are actually not related to our minds. Both of them might well be manifestations psychiatric or nervous issues. Or may be it is a matter of choice. In fact it really is. Just as we have the choice of having our opinions (as long as they don't affect others negatively) similarly we possess the choice of ignorance & over-thinking. It is due to the fact that our ignorance & over-thinking are related to our selves only & it is only us who get affected positively or negatively by them.

Doubt!!!

Funny how this works. At times you feel very clear about all the aspects of your life. You are clear about your stance on morality. You are clear about what you define as success. You are clear about the goals of your life. You are clear about the people you trust. You are clear about the concept of love. You might not have plans for the future but you do have a prioroty list in mind for things that are important to you in your life. You also have a set of principles that govern how you spend your life. You might not necessarily be doing as you wished, but you atleast have an idea of what you should be doing!!!! Doubt however does come back to haunt you & leave you shatterd!!!!

How does a man feel when the principles he has trusted for the greater part of his life get questionned? When he is merciless;y deemed to have been wrong this entire time!!! When he cannot find any logical reasoning for his actions. When all he is left with is beleif!!!!

Criticism should only be of things where a person's decisions are affecting others in a bad way. However if we see a person destroying his own life because of his principles then we should let him do so only if the person in question is willing to take the responsibilty of his actions upon himself. Pepople who want to follow their unique principles must in turn face the consequences all by themslves. The only way to overcome your doubts is to face the consequences of your beleifs. Personally, I am not a fan of abondoning your quest in the middle. Go all the way & see for yorself the results of your beleifs, whether good or bad. The journey itself is what will bring you closer to your true self!!!

Programmed Children!!!

Parents work hard their entire life for their children to have a good life. Children in turn must respect the sacrifices of their parents & take care of them. There is no arguing about this. But what I find astounding is that certain parents view their children as a computer program. They can enter all the personality traits in the program & get the appropriate type of child they want!!! That is what I am aginst in this post.

It is the duty of children to respect their parents & work hard in their lives in order to make their parents proud. But when parents impose on their children to have a certain type of personality, this issue gets complicated. A child must have the freedom to decide the type of clothes he wants to wear, the kind of hair style he wants, the music he wants to listen, the movies he wants to watch, the places to visit, the career he wants to persue, the person he wants to marry etc. All such things should be left to the person himself. Where parents try to work on external features of their child's personality, it is the inside that gets neglected. Parents should give priority to developing their child into a good human being & then just let him be what he wants to be. Too many times have I heard parents criticize their children's dress code, their hair & their likes & dislikes in general. Parents must learn how to give their children a certain pat on the back.

Children on the other hand must understand reponsibility. Freedom without responsibility is useless. PArents SHould give their children a free reign to do what they want to. But children must listen to their parent's advice. They must pay for the consequences of any bad choice they make on their own. Chuildren who demand freedom but come crying back to their parents if something goes wromg don't deserve freedom. Freedom with responsibility is my point here!!!!!

The Unique Self!!!

Strange thing this. Most people try to stand out. To appear different. To find a uniqueness about themselves. Most of us try to do this consciously. But in doing so, we create a false version of our self, one after the other. We make ourselves unique just by importing a few traits from other personalities. In a way, we lie to ourselves & become something we actually are not.

the best way to be unique is to find your true self. To explore your inner self instead of forcing certain traits into your personality just for the sake of being different. But finding your true self & then being comfortable with it is not easy. One has to get rid of his/her complexes in order to do that. One has to be brvae enough to exhibit his/her true self to the world as well. One thing to keep in mind is that in exporing your unique self, you cannot affect others in an adverse manner.

This aspect is significant because of the fact that many poeple confuse themsleves by adding things to their personalities just because that is what they see aroun them. Many consciously do different & strabge things just to stand out. Many have no idea about their true self but insist on leeting others know how diferent they are jsut to please their ego. many know their unique self & their true path but decline to exhibit it in fornt the world & create a different verison of themselves for the outer world to the one they know they really are. All such conflicts give rise to a confused society & in our case, a confued nation.

Strong Voices!!!

Music most certainally has a life of its own. It inevtiably seeps into your soul. Our region of the world has been fortunaate enough to be blessed with a rich array of sufi music. We all know about the 'kallam' of peple like Baba Bulley Shah, baba Ghulaam Fareed, Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai, Allama Iqbaal, Faiz etc. But there have also been a few very inspiring voices that have sung this kalaam in a heavenly manner. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Reshma, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sayeen Zahoor, Masooma Anwar, Javed Bashir etc.

There is something outworldly about these voices. In a dark isolated corner, you can listen to them & feel a connection. There most certainally is a soothing effect. Their beauty is that they even make melancholy feel peaceful. Most of us, no matter what our materialistic ambitions are, long for some time away from the hassle of this world. This is where these voices come into play. Unless you consciously try not to like them, these voices certainally have a universal appeal.

The point I wanted to make here is that there are many ways to finidng inner peace & this is one of them. But you have to listen to these voices with hoinesty. If you don't desire inner peace, you would not feel anything at all. We can feel if we want to feel. And for those who do, they would know what I am talking about. Sufi musiic in these strong voices is one of the 'chaalu qalbz'

Judgmental!!!

So when is it fair to judge people? When does advise cross into the territory of judgment?

You see the trifles around this world. So many conflicts take place around us because of our impulse to judge others. Rarely in front of the person being judged & mostly behind their back, we pass our judgments at them being wrong in some way. At times we feel obliged to do so because we feel that is is our moral duty to advise people if they are wrong. Sometimes we do it just to put them in their place.

So when is it right to cast a judgment? I believe that in cases where a person's action is directly affecting others in a bad way it is right to be judgmental. For example, theft should be renounced, unjust killing should be renounced, corruption should be renounced etc. The thing is that for all such cases formal laws are already in place so there is a definite distinction between the right & the wrong. Similarly, it is right to be judgmental against people who disrespect others.

However if we look around honestly then it would be clear that we judge people in situations which are not related to anyone else but the person himself. We judge people's fashions. We judge people's ambitions. We judge people's socializing abilities. We judge people from their success. We judge their clothing. We judge their relationships. We judge their profession. We judge everything that should not be judged.

I just hope I stop judging others & start judging myself.

The Loss Of Patience

No matter how much I try to get into the spiritual side of this life I cannot escape the material side. And my work is all I have for this materialistic world. I can do my work & that is it. Nothing more nothing less. But why do I feel unhappy & stressed out when something goes wrong?

THe answer to this question I know!!! It is due to the lack of patience!! But why am I not patient? Why do I get frustrated?

To me it is a result of the fear we have of failiure. And that fear comes form the love we have for the comforts of this world. It is nothing wrong to have lofty ambitions & to desire a better quality of life. But one should always understand that all this does not come easily. Not everything will go according to plan. But all of this is what me & you know. So whats the point of this blog?

The point is that patience is a habbit. You have to work on it. And ultimately it is related to spiritua;ity. If you have achieved inner peace you can aquire patience. Hence materialism itself is dependant on spirituality!!!!