Dance of Shiva

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11546.html -  a fantastic story of a sort of a farmer co-operative without the bureaucratic hassles of a co-operative - famers are using a 2002 amendment in the Companies Act to their advantage and formed a Pvt Ltd company run co-operatively, replete with Directors, CEO, others to their advantage - and are loving owning a company.

I’ve written to the journalist wo wrote this story to help us get in touch with the NGOs which helped these farmers come together and manage the leagal maze. We’d like to setup something similar in Delhi, starting with Microfinance operations for the community of people living on the fringe of our urban society - helps at homes, car cleaners, chowkidars, aayahs, others.

I wrote this to a person who I came in touch on Ryze.

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Dear Dr. Alam,

It seems you wanted to connect with me. My apologies on not being able to call you up, inspite of my intention to do so. Work has been quite pressing last few weeks.

Just got a chance to get online to read your posts in the god-talk network, which I have posted at the end of this message for your reference.

Having read the same, I am sorry to say it is very dissappointing that this comes from a PhD holder. I’ve wanted to sit and meet you and try and question your thinking and beliefs for quite sometime now. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to get this discussion on my list of priorities. Anyway, for now, I am going to take you head on.

Firstly, the use of the word Allah, as a preference of over using God, itself has deep root in your thinking, which I believe is the root cause of Islamic fundamentalism. During my visits to several countries I’ve (and so have my relatives observed this) noticed car bumber stickers and wall hangings saying "There is no God but Allah". This reference to God in one particular language (Arabic) and refusing existence of the same spiritual force, in any other language, is an example of extreme fundamentalism. I am afraid, inspite of using His references as ‘Allah/God’ your references of God as Allah in an earlier post, and in this as well, shout out of the same fundamentalism.

Secondly, does Allah command? This judgmental God/Allah is someone who does not appeal to me at all. There are many more beautiful definitions or experiences of God which have been talked about in books and by different spiritual messengers who have been born and continue to be born.

This brings me to another point. In your belief, all messengers stopped after Muhhammad. This is a very sad state of thinking. The topic of the discussion where you posted this message was "Pagan Christ", a book written by someone, and having read a review by another person, I observed the key message being that "any human being could become the Christ; christdom existed as a latent energy in all humanity, and the church worked to suppress this truth about christ’s message".

This is completely consitent with all Indian faiths. Kabir and Sai Baba, both inspite of being muslims, are reverred as God himself in our country by Hindus and Muslims (although there are more Hindus who have adopted Sai Baba than Muslims; Muslims have infact ignored him and his message). I had a discussion with a muslim girl colleague of mine, who differentiated between Muhammad and say Sai Baba (or Guru Nanak, Satya Sai Baba, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Eckhardt Tolle, others) as being ‘the chosen one’ and ‘Pir’. This is the problem with Islam. You reject anyway that this massive humanity can raise itself to Godhood, and the last human being who did so, was Muhammad himself.

Going by such fundamentalism, and while I have not read the Quran, it seems it even says if you are not a muslim, then you cannot go to heaven.

Did Gandhi go to heaven?

Also, where is this heaven?

Thirdly, you mention "…only submission to the communications of the commands of Allah is the most virtuous…". I have a different version of ’submission’. You version maybe of subservience; my version is called ’surrender’. To understand ’surrender’, you’ll have to dwell in a lot of Vedantic reading. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s, ‘Celebrating Silence’ is a good place to start.

I would highly recommend that to open your mind a bit, you read a non-Indian, non-Hindu writer - Neale Donald Walsch - and his triology - "Conversations with God - I, II, III". If you read it with a questioning mind, rather than a "subservient" mind, you will rise to a new level of spiritual consciousness. This is the best service to Allah/God that you could offer.

No one made Adam; no ones a sinner; we’re just here to experience - this endless cycle creation and destruction; the Big Bang and the eventual collapse of the universe will go on cyclical in this eternal game; You are here to experience yourself as Krishna. Krishna was again a human form, who was self-realised about his divinity. Then there are others like us who have a chance to do so in this human form - raise our consciousness to that of Muhammad, or Jesus, or Guru Nanak, or Buddha, or Al-Hallaj, or Rumi, or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, or Eckhardt Tolle, or Andrew Cohen, or Ramana Maharishi, or Bahaullah, or Sai Baba, or Kabir, or Neale Donald Walsch, or Dr. Jaya Row, the list is endless.

Someone said "there are more spiritually self-realised people in India than probably the whole world put together". You’ve been born here for a reason. Be a seeker. For that you need to question all your beliefs and your premises. Even from the mere purpose of leading a healthy mental and emotional life, I think it is good to question, and discover Truth yourself. If you die not discovering it, my belief says you will get another chance, and another birth (also this is not merely belief now; there is a stream of medicine in Hynotherapy becoming extremely popular, and within it is a sub-stream of past-life regression; it maybe a good idea to read some material on that; there is a book called "road Less Travelled", by a leading psychiatrist of USA, and he mentions a premise in human evolution has to be the cycle of re-birth).

You have written "…n my quest for enlightenment…". Well, if you have the right spirit, experience enlightenment, not by subservience, but by questioning, finding, exploring. In India, ou have an opportunity to do so, like no other country.

God (or the Universal Force) instilled this quality to ‘question and think’ in us. Subservience is the worst form of disrespect to the Almighty.

Regards,
Rahul

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Dear Jack and Debra,

The main premise in all sects of Christianity is that Jesus is the Son of God

This is what is wrong as per the communications in Qur’an.As a Muslim/obedient one to the commands of Allah/God,Jesus Peace be on him was a messenger of Allah.This has been pointed out in the commands of Allah to Muhammad.Those who consider Jesus as son of Allah, are falling in a polytheistic trap and pious Christians never understood him as a son but a messenger.

and was sent down to teach of God’s love, His Plan, and His Ways, and to save us from our sin through his Crucifiction.

This is a false idea that he died for our sins.He was sinned by many in his times and those who sinned are accountabel to their sins. Allah will grant mercy to those He will.The birth of Jesus was like to the birth of Adam,who was created from clay.

Please read Qur’an and we will learn more as only submission to the communications of the commands of Allah is the most virtuous.

I have stated in previous posts that a great reference for many is Kenneth C. Davis’s "Don’t Know Much About the Bible". It goes into great detail regarding each section of the Bible and clarifies many of the questions we Christians have about it’s passages and their meanings. Some other great books that have helped me in my quest for enlightenment are:

Dear Jack and Debra,

I would like to also suggest reading from Maurice Bucaulle book on Quran,Bible and Science.

Please forgive me for being upfront.

I would have liked to write in more detail.
Seeking guidance for all and praying for the repvilege to all for seeking guidance from Allah.

I sent this to Mrs. Nafisa Ali. Let’s hope we can get this initiative going.  

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To,
Chairperson
Children’s Film Society, India
Mumbai.

Dear Mrs. Nafisa Ali Sodhi,

We are a software company, but with a deep sense of purpose of why we are in business. As part of our agenda to work with underprivileged children living on the edges of urban society, we’re funding a small school in Vasant Kunj, being run by Col. (Retd.) Ramakrishna and other volunteers from our locality. We’ve got 50 children with daily attendance of 30-40 children, who study in the small Resident’s Welfare Association (RWA) office (unfortunately the RWA has a very narrow mindset and does not allow us to use the big Community Centre available to it for the school’s activities). Children are from both Hindu and Muslim families. The school is free for these children. Uniforms are also donated each year by other volunteers.

The school is free, and has been running since 1996. Children from Class III to Class VIII are studying here. While the school is offers non-formal education, the classes held and the teaching is better than the government schools these children (irregularly) attend. We’ve got a permanent teacher now, as well conducting classes from 3:30pm to 6:30 pm in the RWA Office, Sector-A, Pocket-C, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

We’re also looking to tie-up with Art of Living’s Sanskar programme, running for urban middle-class children in Vasant Kunj, and offer the same programme to children in this school. The minor additional funds required for conducting this programme, will also be taken care of by my company. The Sanskar programme is once a week ongoing activity, for children between age group 7-12 years, and teaches them, Yoga, Breathing, education in ethics, religious integration, respect of parents, good conduct, inspirational talks, sanskrit shlokas and their meanings, daily routine for a healthy living, etc.

As part of enhancing wholesome education to this group, we plan to show them films on environment, girl child, education, religion and spirituality, religious integration, activism, and other inspirational topics, which will help them become better people. We intend to show films on environment, which we have purchased from Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, available at typically, Rs.750/- per CD. Unfortunately, very few of these films are made with children in mind, and address very serious environmental issues, ideally meant for adult village folk.

I was looking at your website, and the costs for screening films is running into Rs.7000/- and above. This will be very difficult for us to afford. Hence, this email - to ask you if it is possible to screen films for these children in our volunteer-run school to start with, at lower costs? I am certain that once we start, this filming activity will spread like wild-fire, attracting more students to the school and better attendance as well.

Can we somehow work with you at much lower costs for screening these films?

Looking forward to a positive response from you.

Thank you.