About us: a forum for monotheists, and discussion of Islam based on The Quran
Started by 357, January 11, 2013, 10:49:34 AM
Quote from: good logic on January 12, 2013, 09:45:43 AMWe must decide to accept or not to accept. The reality, the truth, God is everywhere, whatever we decide. The truth will never deviate or change.Peace.
Quote from: Zulf on January 12, 2013, 09:06:08 AMBad?Who says death and suffering is bad in itself? Perhaps they are tools for our learning. Allah says he will test us through loss of wealth and lives. We are very quick to decide what is good and bad, and then we define God and reality, and the rationality and probability of God's existence based on our first decisions and definitions of good and bad.If this life is just a play and a dream then why is death something bad? Doesn't Allah ask rhetorically in AQ that if we are so sure about ourselves and salvation, then we should wish for death.Purpose and sufferingThis natural world is what it is. It's neither good nor bad. When something happens to us, either we think it is useless, OR we see that it can serve a purpose. Something happening to us can help us move closer toward Allah, or it can be an excuse for us to move deeper into rejection (resistance to reality), or we'll just keep straying around. It is OUR choice. WE react. Circumstances are neutral, and our reaction to them give us an experience of suffering or joy.We have to decide whether we think Allah and life is unfair, or not. If Allah and life is not unfair in our mind, then we realize that anything that happens to us is an opportunity to ponder reality and an opening for us to grow. WE decide what to do. Allah gives us opportunity after opportunity. We'll always reap what we sow, but we are not stuck... all it takes to turn around the ship is to change our thinking, intention and perspective. This is where it starts. We should understand WHY and HOW things happen, and not only focus on WHAT happens.We we experience pain and suffering, is that a sign that God is unfair, or that God doesn't exist? What sort of logic is that? Why do we think that we are some princesses that should be pampered and only have joy? What a delusion and failure to see the purpose of life. Are things only ok and good if there is no pain? How simplistic!If suffering happens to us, it is of-course painful, but is it BAD? Isn't 'bad' only that which leads away from truth, reality and Allah? And that which determines if it leads TO Allah or FROM Allah, is us. We are not victims of life. If we think so, it means that we don't understand life and it's purpose. But, what about rape victims and child abuse... we'll, there are plenty of people who have suffered these nasty crimes, and have come out stronger with a power and passion to help other deal with unpleasant experiences. Does the existence of e.g. rape and child abuse naturally translate as 'there is no God', or 'God is unfair'? Well, it depends on how we see it, and it's not an easy thing, but can we use our emotional experiences as a ground to determine whether "God" exists or not? Who says life was supposed to be easy? Our deluded mind and ego did. Life is obviously NOT easy. There's no doubt about that. So, our mind and ego has already decided upon what reality and life SHOULD be like. Is it reasonable? Our minds can not even let us communicate in a kind and civilized manner in forums on internet... so how can we trust our ego to determine the existence of Allah? As if Allah is some external thing, something separate that may or may not exist, some component. I prefer to see it like this: Does Allah exist?I think, therefor Allah must exist. Or, I exist, therefore Allah must exist. It's not more difficult than that. It's a matter of definition. Is Allah a separate thing, or is everything/creation a result of Allah?.. by definition. Seeing the light beam, should we engage in intellectual debates on whether or not there is a light source, or should we realize that the beam by natural necessity exists because of a source. Is a light beam without a light source reasonable, logical, scientific and realistic? Atheists seem think so.ImagesActually, it all boils down to our image of God. It is actually this image that we accept or reject. That's why we should desperately desire, crave and strive for open 'eyes' and minds that can let us see reality and truth more and more. We wouldn't want to make the mistake of rejecting God on the basis of a faulty image of God that one rightly would reject. It's wise not to rush to conclusions. It's wise to be soft and open, not hard and fast, so we can let the light of reality trickle in, drop by drop, slowly and steadily breaking off the hardened and rock-like resistance and blindness from our hearts and minds. An attitude of acceptance and salam will be necessary.WorkOpening our eyes is a long and tedious process. We are never 'done'. If we think we are done, and know it all, then we are just fooling ourselves. We have to work on it. We need to make this our number one aim and direction in life. Why else are we in this world, if not to get to know Allah and reality, to work our way home. Is there some other purpose? If we don't help ourselves first, how can we be useful instruments of help to others? This physical world won't matter a sh*t in the end. It'll all perish. What's left? Our growth and progress towards Allah will be left. That's all we'll ever have.Perhaps I drifted off-topic..Peace!