Conscious Existence: Refuting Fear and Living in The Moment

There is a constant stream of LOVE being transmitted throughout the universe.

LOVE has the power to transform our lives.

As humans, we were entrusted with thoughts, emotions, and innovation. Looking at the history of man and invention, it would be an understatement to say that it has worked out really well for us. However, we cannot get lost in our inventions, whether they are of a physical, intellectual, or emotional nature.

Yes, we invent, that’s what we do. We are architects of our environment and our thoughts. We build pyramids and skyscrapers, and we theorize all day long. Our curiosity has uplifted us above the rest of the animal kingdom. We are nation builders and knowledge seekers.

The homo-sapiens are sounding pretty magnificent right about now. We are animals of mass discovery; a quality fueled by necessity and a longing desire to do bigger and better things every generation. In the same breath, we must also consider the downside to being such intellectually evolutionary creatures. I would say it can be summed up pretty easy: we think too much.

Our minds are in constant toil, living in the mistakes of our past and the aspirations of the future. It could be a strong argument that our intellectual superiority comes along with the risk of not living in the here and now.

Take a bear for instance; the bear forages for berries, swipes fish from the stream, protects their young and hibernates all winter. Oh yes, and we must not forget, the bear will almost inevitably procreate given the right environmental factors. The bottom line is that a bear is going to be a bear no matter what, living a life of complete submission to the natural order of the universe.

Do we submit?

Our intellectual capacity can and will hinder us if we allow it, which many of us do because to live a conscious life actually takes quite a bit of concentrated energy directed at that goal. Meditation is one of the age-old methods of reconnecting with the universe and living in the now. However, many of us find it very difficult to quiet the mind and surrender the spirit to nothingness.

Islamically, Muslims are supposed to live life knowing that ALLAH is IN CHARGE. If one really internalizes this notion, obsessing over past mishaps or future goals would not be an option. Perhaps more importantly, living in a state of fear would not be an option either. But, we are only human right? We were created with both intuition and aspiration. The key is to focus more on the intuition, therefore living in a true state of God-Consciousness.

When we are God-conscience, we are open to receive the love of the universe. LOVE: It is in the vibrations of the wind and the circulation of chlorophyll in the leaves. The love runs fluid through our veins and fuels the beating of our hearts: We are all connected. Being open to receive the love is the biggest gift we can give ourselves.

How do we do that?

Call it the whisperings of the shaytan or call it mind-chatter: it is the gook that plagues us, keeping us out of our own existence. Quiet that. It’s like when we make the intention before a prayer; we must intentionally be present. We must desire to want to receive love, happiness and gratitude. 

The beauty of living in the present is that we have removed the gook that weighed us down, so now we are freed up to accomplish our goals step-by-step, not missing a beat, and the rewards of our hard work will be not in the completion, but in the process itself.

Do You Praise Your Lord When Your Feet Hurt?

It is true that wealth is a test. It’s like when we get that promotion and we start acting like our socks don’t stink. We start riding on high horses; clobbering anyone in the way of our rose-petaled path. And worse of all is when we dare to to claim that our good fortune is all of our own doing. May Allah protect us from that ungratefulness! Make us humble when we are blessed with the riches of this world! Ameen!

While all of that may be true, I must confess that it really is not that hard to pull up to the masjid in a drop-top cream-colored Bentley coupe, drop a bean in the sadaqa box and make salat shoulder to shoulder with the ummah in custom made threads, looking like you just hopped off the money train!

However, it is hard to to catch three buses with three grumpy kids, feet hurting from a long week at work, coming to the masjid on Sunday for ta’leem because bossman not trying to hear nothing about getting off early on Fridays for jummah prayer! But you throw on them dusty worn out threads, tearing on the seems and frayed on the edges, hoping it will looks like you just trying to be stylishly tattered. Then when you finally get off that third bus, you have to walk up a steep hill in ninety degree heat pushing a brokedown stroller and dragging the other two tagalongs, determined to make it to the masjid because you are trying to instill in them the importance of striving for the deen.

Alas, you have arrived at Allah’s House. You slide off your dusty shoes and the first step onto the lush green carpet is like a dream. The cushiony fibers welcome your sore feet, relieving pressure from your throbbing bunions and painful corns. A week of hurried walking and standing in unfit footwear all day long has taken it’s toll on your undeserving hooves.

When everyone lines up for the afternoon prayer, you tightly hold in your arms and legs quietly praying no one will take a whiff of your sweaty odorous body; the parts that could not be remedied by wudu. Allahu Akbar... Looking down, it’s evident the holes in your socks have widened during your travels, now revealing those tired dogs- those poor mistreated feet, covered in ash and soars from years of living life in the hard lane...

... But you made it! All praises are due to your Lord! You made it to this place of worship just in time to make prayer with the congregation. And suddenly life doesn't seem so bad, if only for the two hours you spend amongst the believers. Now you have the energy and the faith to make it through another week. Alhamdulillah!

You empty your wallet into the sadaqa box; only a few singles and some change, but the feeling you get from knowing you are contributing to your community is immeasurable. You will not allow throbbing feet and empty pockets to be your story. Your story is that of a righteous believer, striving to make good in this life- striving for peace and success- the kind of success that can’t be bought with dollar bills. No, the success you strive for will follow you into the grave and will make your existence here on earth worth the walk up that hill!

So the question remains my sisters and brothers, Will you praise your Lord when your feet hurt? Will you praise Him when you pockets are flat and your car is broke down? Will you praise God amidst calamity and death? Don’t let the test come before you can answer this question. SAY YES NOW JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU ARE BLESSED.

Worthy Investments: What Are We Doing!?

I was trying to think of something clever to say to open up this article. But in the hopes of not causing misinterpretation or confusion, I’ll give it to you straight: What you spend your MONEY, TIME, and ENERGY on says a lot about YOU!!

I know, the formula seems simple enough. But if it’s so simple, why do we spend so much time complaining about what we don’t have, chasing what we think we need, and praying for what we want, yet our actions don’t reflect the words that slush from our mouths.

There are a lot of people in this world who would love to be rich. But, the truth is, if you were not born into a wealthy situation, it will take endless lots of time, effort, and ingenuity to climb the staircase to affluence. Do you have what it takes?

May women say they want a good man, but if you even slightly believe in the laws of attraction, you know that you must step your game up to be the best woman you can be and your good man will be attracted to you a like a refrigerator magnet. Same to the brothers looking for a quality woman!

You see, it’s about investing. If you decide to invest most of your time, energy and money in your children, you will most likely end up with highly educated, well-rounded children who value those things of which you invested: family and education. However, it will do of you no use to keep hoping and praying for children who value these things if you invest all of your time and energy trying to get rich or chasing the opposite sex.

And that brings me to perhaps the biggest part of this whole expedition: SACRIFICE. Are you willing to sacrifice relationships, social-life and sleep to achieve your goals? Then you must ask: are your sacrifices in vain? Are you sacrificing time with your children to have a better social life? Are you sacrificing volunteering in the community so you can shop ‘til you drop? Are you sacrificing your marriage to achieve wealth and prosperity?

I’m not going to sit here and tell you what you should be doing with your money, time and energy. But I will share this with you: one night as I was hitting the books hard -  Environmental Science – and boy I was really studying hard, trying to get that A. Then it dawned on me, when was the last time I devoting this must time and effort into worshipping Allah? Come on now, like when was the last time I drank a 5-Hour Energy shot so I could stay up reading Qur’an? Ummm… So why do I keep praying for Allah to give me stronger iman (faith)? Why do I keep praying for His mercy?

But don’t stop praying, oh no, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING, keep meditating, and keep reflecting! The time is now  to take a serious look at how we our spending our most valuable assets: TIME + ENERGY + MONEY. Let’s get serious and be real with ourselves: What do we really want out of life? What steps are we taking to to make our dreams become reality?

 **Let’s make better investments in Ourselves, Our Families and Our Communities**

And ALLAh SWT says this in Surah Asr:

By the Time! Man is surely in loss, except those who believed and did good works, and exhorted one another to Truth, and exhorted one another to patience.

So I guess the real question is: What is your definition of success??? Maybe for Part II . . .

 

The Thing About White Supremacy

The thing about white seupremacy is that it is  much farther reaching than most of us are willing to accept. In fact, it wrecks our brains to even fathom the possibilities, the outcomes, and the history of white supremacy. This could be a book, yeah there are many books on the subject already; books that go mostly untouched and unheard of from most people, especially my generation Xers, Yers and millinias.  

White Supremacy got Black people so twisted in the game that we think the most lowly insult ever attributed to our people is a term of endearment: nigga. White Supremacy got Muslim men the world over requesting “a fair-skinned wife.” White Supremacy got Indians spending $450 million per year on skin bleaching cream. It got women the world over praying that their child is light so that they may have a better life.

White Supremacy got us talking about how black is evil and white is pure – yes we still thinking and talking like this in 2013! Got little black girls who used to love their fluffy cottony hair looking at it with sudden disdain because their mommas complain and gripe while combing out their nappy hair, “Dang girl, your hair is too thick, too tight. I can’t wait to run a straightening comb through this stuff. You ain’t get this from my side of the family!”  Then she looks up at the television and sees Beyonce rocking that long blonde wig, swinging it in circles while the crowd ooohs and ahhhs. Then the little girl bows her head in shame as her stomach turns, feeling the seeds of self-hatred sprouting within her.

The thing about white supremacy is that is ain’t just about White people. It’s an ideology; a thought process. If a Mexican refuses service to a black man because of his skin color, can we call it white supremacy? Hell yeah! The most successful thing white supremacy has done is that it trained us to hate ourselves and hate anyone else who is different; different from white.

Since September 11, 2001, Muslims have really been feeling the heat. Especially immigrant Muslims. Before 9/11 they did quite fine just blending into the backdrop of our multicultural country. But after 9/11 white supremacy reared it’s ugly head. You see, the blueprint for hate has already been written, so all we need to do is dig it up whenever we feel fearful. Because that’s what it’s all about right? You heard the Tea Party loud and clear, “WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!” They are scared as hell, and they should be. If total domination and supremacy over all is their sole goal, then yes, they can foresee their enevitable demise in a country and world that is becoming more Hispanic, more Asian, more Black, more Muslim, and more accepting of peoples differences.

But they still got that good ole' white supremacy blueprint to fall back on. And as long as a black woman only thinks she’s beautiful with her hair straight, and refer’s to herslf as “Celie” and “a slave” when her hair is in her natural God-given state.  As long as nigga is a term of endearment. As long as we are fearful of black men- especially the dark ones - especially the ones who are in groups - especially the ones who don’t say “how high?” when the master says “jump.” Yes… as long as all of that is still ingrained in us, white supremacy is still running the show.

As Celie from The Colored Purple said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

 Arm yourselves with knowledge.... The truth shall set us free!