Clash of Religions - 2



OMG! How they have grown!

What is going to happen to Messir, (Egypt) was the main topic of conversation at one of my nieces engagement ceremony and everyone sitting around the table had their opinion and concerns. Yesterday being Friday the Imam was in tears when he spoke of the fate of Muslims in the troubled countries of the Middle east like Syria and Egypt and I was moved. Yes indeed it is a worrying and sad situation that is being faced by those embroiled in the power struggles and the collateral damages that has caused untold misery among the inhabitants of the affected countries. What indeed is happening to our fellow human beings that life has become the price of a bullet or a bash in the head, where even the houses of the Lord is no more a refuge from being slaughtered by your fellow men. Whatever the reasons it is beyond redemption and the end just does not justify the means by a long shot.

 It is irrelevant if you are a Muslim or not but the fact that so much pain and suffering is being extolled upon mankind by his fellow man is just too extreme to be ignored by humanity and what good is the United NNations in these situations, a collective body that is suppose to police the nations of the world in times of dire need? This is becoming the nadir of human existence where the values of human life is no better than the price of a bullet and the victims are innocent bystanders whose only care about life is that they can raise their children in peace and harmony. The world has started to spin out of control and is gathering its momentum with every new episodes of violence and destruction all in the name of power to rule, to dominate to exploit; mankind is getting sicker by the day that we need a remedy and need it yesterday.
Where do we turn in these times of darkness and how have we abandoned sanity in choosing the way of ignorance and pain? Is God taking a nap? Or is this His way of religious cleansing? Humanity has become oblivious or so it seems to the turmoils that is railroading human consciousness into oblivion replacing it with such wanton disregard for the quality of being human. Cruelty and brutality is the norm whenever there is a need for a change and the laws of Manu, the laws of the Torah Zabur and Engel, the laws of the the Quran is as good as defunct and only the laws of beast is being put into action; an eye for ten pairs of eyes. Blood flows down the drains of despair and gloom while the machines of war skyrockets in production and booming in business. Where dear Lord, where o where will it all leads on to.
Even as I am typing this entry into my Blog I am over hearing a sermon from a neighboring cubicle on the facts of Shia' and how the very intention of Shia' is to destroy Islam from its roots; a total wipe out of Islam as taught by the the Prophet of Allah. I wonder at the same time what would the Shia' Imams would be accusing of the Sunnis and will it ever find an end to this feud that started off with the struggle for power after the death of the Prophet; who shall lead Islam. It used to be and perhaps still is that the Jews were the accursed race out to destroy Islam from the face of the earth at all cost, but now it seems the opposing sectarian beliefs between two main sects in Islam between Sunni and Shia' is becoming an even more critical cause for the rift and disintegration of the Muslim world. it is finding its way into Malaysia. Can there ever be a dialogue between these two sects where common sense would prevail over dogmatism? Can there ever be a reconciliation between the two such that Muslims can look at one another and not becomes unhinged by dogmatism and extremism. Why have Muslims become so rigid and unforgiving of one another's belief towards the One God; just as they should towards the Jews vice versa. What do we hope to win at the end of the day? Heaven for me and not you simple because you are wrong in your perceptions even if you are an exemplary individual as a human being?
You are the follower of the teachings of Moses, and I am a follower of the teachings of Jesus, while he is a follower of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad and all these three prophets professes the same same One God but no, it is not good enough, you have to obey the teachings of My Prophet, He was impeccable in his teachings says the Jews and the Christians and the Muslims. We have yet to listen to what the Buddhists and the Hindus has to say about how right their beliefs and faith is. The fact that beliefs and faith is influenced by the Race, Culture and the Environment has ceased to be a justification as to why one is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Taoist or a Christian. No doubt that rain falls equally as water all over this planet but what grows from the rain soaked fertile grounds is being determined by the nature of the earth where the rain had fallen; it is Nature's law. In the desert area a different kind of vegetation would flourish compared to the tropical rain forest environment and the areas where there is mostly snow and cold the vegetation differs from that which would exist in the coastal areas of stretches of continents. God is like a shower that just pours over all forms of life and what transpires out of this showers is subjected to the human spirit that has evolved through ccenturies of human evolution. From the cave dwellers to the cro magnon to the neanderthals to the hunters and gatherers of the Nile valley, to the constructions of the pyramids and to the erection of the Great wall; we have evolved into who we are influenced each and everyone by his surroundings, his fellow man, his social gatherings his own friends and relatives. It is more than naive to assume that we can make everyone on this planet adhere to our own faith and belief systems. Religion not unlike music is food for the souls and each souls has its taste for religion just as in like music. Just as music is a matter of personal taste and so is religion is a matter of personal choice catering to the well being of one's soul.
God scattered mankind in every form of creed and racial denomination such that we will come together in Him and not otherwise find ourselves at logger head as to who is closer to Him is his faith or belief. Many  wars have been fought and untold myriads of lives have been lost simply because "my God is greater than yours." This is one of the three illnesses that man suffers from as i have often mentioned in my ramblings; Ignorance. The failure to understand, the refusal to thoroughly investigate and scrutinize our human frailties and flaws the result of our mind and egoic domination in dealing with our fellow man. Right Understanding is the first of the Buddha's Eightfold Path, Ways towards the liberation of the human spirit from the bondage of Ignorance: Who am I?