Ode to The Holy Month of Ramadan.

A the Month of Ramadan is here! The holy month where the gates of heaven is flung open and that of hell is on lock down: I am still  trying to come to grip as to the meaning and ramification of this. It is the month where all sins of the past may be erased if the right offerings of prayers and devotion are being made and the right intention is being manifested towards the All Mighty, The Lord of Creation. This is the month whereby one's faith and devotion is being put to the grind, physically, mentally and spiritually. It is the Month of months whereby Islam came into being with the bestowing of the Holy Scripture of the Quran to humanity from the Lord of Mercy via His Prophet (PBH) Muhammad the Messenger. It is the Month where mankind is reminded of the suffering and transcendence of life, the beauty and frailty of life, the grandiose and impermanence of life that we live in this our allotted time on this plane of existence. It is during this month that mankind is asked to look deep within and discover for himself that which is real and that which is not, that which is everlasting and that which is not and that which is enlightening and that which is not; it is the Month where man is left to his own devices and free from any external influences good or evil in the performance of his spiritual path as the evil is under lock down.

For the faithful, the believers and the ignorant and non believers alike, the Month of Ramadan will have an effect in one way or another. It is not just a matter of whether you fast of you don't, not whether you perform your prayers or you don't, is is more of a wake up call towards the realization of what it is to be a human being, to be in the fellowship of man, to be chosen ones among the rest of sentient beings inhabiting this planet. To fully understand and accept this station of being a warden, a caretaker, a vicegerent, a Khalifah on this planet. To thos who often ask of themselves, what is the purpose of one's life or who am I or what a I, the answers is in how seriously one observe the obligations of this Holy Month, how one spend the time in introspection and deep meditation over the spiritual development and understanding of who one is in the over all scheme of existence. If half a billion Muslims devote themselves in the fulfillment of the rites of the Month of Ramadan, imagine how much spiritual energy and consciousness is being generated throughout the planet in the form of prayers and healing and there are more than half a billion of Muslims in this world; this in essence is the Beauty and Purpose of the Month of Ramadan...WallahuAlam! ... as the Muslim says, only The Lord knows...AllahuAkhbar!

It is not an easy thing to try to fully grasp the significance of a religious practice untill one has fully put it to practice. Whether it is Yoga or a Pooja ritual, a prayer performed five times a day, or the burning of paper money for the ancestors at the grave site or carrying a crucifix or a kavadi as a penance along a designated route. A religious practice is meant to create a collective discipline for a religious group or sect where everyone is required if not mandated to be participating in. To not be doing it would place a person as a non believer or one who is disobedient towards his religion and often subject to punishment or rejection, ostracized from the group. This is the nature of religions if you observe the precepts accordingly you are lifetime member and destined for the future awards if not in this life, in the afterlife and if you fail to than you are faced with the hell realms of one kind or another. In all these man is given the free will to choose his own destiny. He is said to make his own choice in living his life accordingly given with what he has been allotted with in a lifespan. This is my shallow understanding of the whole matter as I am sure much better explanations are out there from great religious minds. 

I am an eclectic  

1. PHILOSOPHY

   denoting or belonging to a class of ancient philosophers who did not belong to or found any recognized school of thought but selected doctrines from various schools of thought.

noun

1. a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

    Throughout most of my life I have tried to live according to how or what I interpret life to be according to what I perceive, believe or have faith in. I was once told in a dream I had some 40 years ago while staying in Central City Colorado as a guest to an elderly artist Mr.Angelo Di Benedetto in his studio residence. I woke up while still hearing someone in my dream shouting in my ear, "You are an ecletic!" I wrote the word down immediately not knowing how it was spelt but simply ;Eklektik and at breakfast I showed it to Angelo and he explained the word to me. I will never forget this experience and I have written about it in the past in this Blog an so for a more detailed look at the story look back to my earlier postings. It was a wake up call for me as I pondered upon the significance of this dream and its implications; there was and is no doubt that I have lived my life as an eclectic; I picked and choose the best of all possibilities as my choice of believe or faith.