Comments on: There are those who practice and then again, those who practice

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 16 May 2011 02:01:09 +0000

Thank you for such a clear analysis of an everyday experience that certainly I can relate to and I think, also, most other people. I have had similar experiences, but would not be able to put into words describing it and analyzing it in terms of putting our practical work into practice.

Also, to Ali Tinat (Zoghi), thank you. Your analyses that you provide and the way you break the thoughts into separate paragraphs really, really helps me to understand better and enables me to hold my attention for easy reading and comprehension.

Please know that I feel that I truly benefit from your comments on every subject matter you respond to and provide information with your analyses.

By: mariam

mariam — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:45:16 +0000

The “crash” was a great lesson. I have been in that situation many times and missed the point that when god is connecting with me I should communicate back and realize this is a message.

By: Ali Tinat(Zoghi).

Ali Tinat(Zoghi). — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:02:01 +0000

Ada, I find your concerns in terms of Practicing on the basis of our daily lives a very important facet of spirituality that I’m sure concerns us all. However, and having Ostad Elahi’s guidelines as a criteria to weigh things against, I would like to add the following:

I. According to Ostad Elahi, one must practice spirituality according to one’s own capacity and within his/her own framework of daily responsibilities.

II. Spiritual good deeds and altruism is not based on a quantified format but rather quality plus intentions. A rich person offering one percent of his/her wealth to charity in the amount of €1 million can easily equate a poor one’s one percent being a mere €10. Extrapolating from the same analogy, and hectic as you are, this means 1 minute of your listening time is worth as much as 10 minutes of mine, most likely.

III. The tasks we take upon ourselves should also start from small and minute, on a step by step coordinated effort; prior to the taking of the gigantic ones. This is the law of true practice in any form -being dance, various arts, or acquiring knowledge.

IV. One might be practicing altruism and combating one’s “Imperious Self” without being fully aware of it. For instance, if your have read this far, you’ve already practiced being a good listener!Lol

By: SAEO

SAEO — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:45:47 +0000

This explanation was wonderful. A very helpful and practical article that will be extremely beneficial to me in analyzing my level of spiritual practice.

By: Mat

Mat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:11:56 +0000

@Ralph

Ralph, I just have to add on thing to Zulu’s reply on your question and that’s the “experience”. One, can not find the difference between Ostad’s teaching with the rest, unless s/he experiences for her/himself. Once, we begin to study the concept of his philosophy, struggle to educate ourselves with those principles, that’s when we have taken the first step to realize the core of his teachings which changes the world and it’s spectrum around us.

By: Love for the Beloved

Love for the Beloved — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:20:19 +0000

Beautiful explanation Zulu.
On a side note: all these all articles are a blessing, thank you so much.

By: Zulu

Zulu — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:16:38 +0000

Ralph, I think you raised an excellent question. I am not sure if I have the answer, but I would like to give it a try!
I don’t think one could consider Ostad Elahi’s philosophy as a “another religion.” I am quite convinced that any person from any religion can follow his teachings without contradicting their religion. It is clear from his works that Ostad Elahi believed all religions to be derived from the same Source. According to him: “When you view all envoys and saints as True and no longer differentiate between religions, you have entered the realm of mysticism.” I take this as an invitation to seek for a higher level of awareness, reaching out for the essence of religion, rather than limiting ourselves with religious practices or rituals that may not necessarily be appropriate for our times. He also believes that spirituality should be compatible with time and place. People of our time are different from the people of the past and therefore the way they practice spirituality should be different. As a result, he introduces concepts such as the “Medicine of the Soul”, the “Imperious Self”, “Education of Thought”, etc.
I find Ostad Elahi’s teaching to be comprehensive and cohesive; that’s what makes it unique to me. I find it alive, up to date and efficient; it challenges me to my limits and pushes me out of my comfort zone; and it is very rich. Well, I suspect most of the points I mentioned are very subjective and it is only through some kind of practice that one can gain a deeper undertsanding… Also, I don’t believe that Ostad Elahi’s teachings are the only path to the Source: one shall seek the path that one is more compatible with.

By: Mat

Mat — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:33:46 +0000

The “crash” experience is so true. When one decides to practice, by paying attention to the source in any situation, s/he will be aided. In this example if the third person had not shown up, God knows where the friendly chat would be ended! In fact he was a savior.

By: Ralph rodriguez

Ralph rodriguez — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:37:17 +0000

Thank you for your clarifications. I am just wondering whether this so called Ostad Elahi’s practices are really different than other types of practices in other religions. They all follow certain regulations to improve the virtues – based on their defined regulations- and they all ask their believer to obey some sort of rules and so on.
Sincerely

By: Zulu

Zulu — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:53:41 +0000

I have been pondering on both experiences for some time. I totally understand the essence and purpose of the experiences that show the existence of a strong desire within us that solely thinks of its own interest. Especially, with the first experience, it is very clear that the person was experiencing a feeling of jealousy toward the newcomer. And, we all know such feelings are detrimental and negative. But the second example is not as clear as the first. I see more legitimacy in it. In the first example by acting on one’s negative feelings, we are trampling on someone else’s rights, and as a result we will be accountable for it. But I don’t see the second example the same way. The “crash” example is neither unethical nor illegitimate. The two friends had planned for such meeting for a long time and they wanted to be left alone. And just by seeing an acquaintance, we can’t decide on our own to invite him/her to our table without the consent of the other party. What if our friend doesn’t agree and by imposing the presence of our acquaintance we are infringing on his/her right? But I understand the point that the person should not feel agitated by seeing a minor threat that might ruin his/her plans. We should demonstrate flexibility in our lives to certain extent and be prepared that sometimes things won’t go as we have planned. Or, in some cases be able to yield our feelings and desires in favor of others.
For instance, I have an experience I would like to share that is related to a similar “inner agitation”:
I was chatting with a close friend of mine on the internet. It has been a while since we had talked and we weren’t able to find a time to chat recently. So I was very enthusiastic to find him available to chat. After five minutes, someone rang my doorbell repeatedly as if in a hurry. I asked my friend to wait a minute. There was my neighbor at the door. They were about to leave for a short trip and was asking if I could feed their dog and walk him for the weekend! I said, I surely can do it but my neighbor wanted me to go to their house to give me the instructions. And yes, my neighbor wanted me to go right away!
At the onset I was somewhat irritated and thought to myself “how selfish of my neighbor.” Obviously, they had planned for this trip before and could have contacted me earlier to arrange some time that works for both of us. But then I told myself that this could be a great opportunity to help someone. So despite my inner agitation, I cut my chat with my friend short and went with the neighbor.