Saturday, March 7, 2009

More Dhikr, Less Fikr

Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth -- don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.
-Aesop

Have you ever had the experience where you had so much to do that you didn't do anything?

If you have, then you've experience what I now dub "the fikr syndrome". As Sheikh Nuh says, our society has triumphed the mind over all other aspects of the human condition. Science is exalted over all other disciplines, and top scientist are now forming the new priesthood of the Church of Science.

But in reality, intelligence and rational thought are only two of the many gifts that we have been given. There are other, less acceptable qualities to our modern civilization that are perhaps more important, such as compassion, empathy, and trust. Certainly, in a world where the relationships between people are fracturing, where conflicts are escalating, where simple truths are convoluted through the lens of desire, it is no longer easy to consciously let go and trust.

Traditionally, when people would apprentice themselves to a master in order to learn his or her art, they knew that in order to learn, they had to hand over control to their master. Especially in the spiritual disciplines (for me, that includes martial arts), disciples were sometimes asked to do things that they thought were impossible or perhaps even wrong-but the master sees things that the student cannot see.

So for those who have the fikr syndrome, trust he who was sent to us with the truth (SA) and just remember the One. Although I certainly am not able to do it very well, the few times I have tried it I have felt a lot better and a lot less stressed. I think for university students it is especially important to never lose sight of the big picture in our quest for excellence. If we cannot enjoy the best moments of our lives because we are stressed out, what are we really achieving?

And remember the two truths that will set you free:

All things that live must die.

Death is the morning of life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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It's awesome, and don't think your *colossal work will go unrecognized!!

*Your first post, in the comments