waiting on the world to change

John Mayer is tight.

the golden rule of life

“Treat others as you would like to be treated” That is the GOLDEN RULE OF LIFE which is found in the scriptures of the major faiths -in different words but with the same Divine message.

Islam: No one of you is a believer, until you desire for your neighbor that which you desire for yourself.

Buddhism: Treat all creatures as you would like to be treated.

Confucianism: What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others.

Hinduism: This is the essence of morality: Do not do to others which if done to you would cause you pain.

Christianity: Whatever you wish that others do to you, do so to them -this is the sum of (God’s) laws and (the teachings of) the prophets.

Sikhism: Do as you desire goodness for yourself, as you cannot expect tasty fruits if you sow thorny trees.

Baha’i Faith: If your eyes be turned towards justice choose for your neighbor that which you would choose for yourself.

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor -that is the basic law, all the rest is commentary.

why hate speech is bad

Follow this line of reasoning:

People are different. A combination of one’s ethnic background, gender, age, religion, citizenship, economic class, and/or educational level will create a new innate outlook and perception. The more combinations there are, the more diverse the society is. Thus, new ideas spawn from these combinations. What is the purpose of free speech? Why have it? To encourage growth and progression in a society by allowing the flourishing of new ideas to be communicated.

Hate speech is a product of a great disliking for someone or a group of individuals. Any ad hominem  attacks on any such group is an attack on the ideas they can bring to the table and the liberties they are honored. Hate speech is an appeal to the society at large; that a particular group does not belong in said society and should be removed along with their potential contributions to the marketplace of ideas. Hate speech therefore inhibits the encouragement of creative thought. If free speech and liberty are to be upheld and protected, hate speech or slanderous speech does not belong within its realm. In fact, not only is it damaging, but it impedes the advancement of society. Countless times throughout history he have combated our insensitivities, biases, and hatred towards races, religions, and sexes. Every time they resurface it should raise a flag that our society is moving backwards. Either we overcome our bigotries or surrender to them.

on world peace

Ernesto “Che” Guevara said, “Let me say at the risk of sounding ridiculous that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” The very model for which we perceive the world has become void of instances of love but filled with rigidity and firmness. We have compartmentalized our existence and our very identities by drawing boundaries along religion, gender, ethnicity, social class, or education. We choose to be kings in our own self-created worlds, because we refuse to be servants in someone else’s. This adoption of isolationism reaffirms absolutism of ideology within self-described circles. When these “bubble worlds” collide, the clash gives birth to the very evils plaguing this planet; racism, intolerance, sexism, a false sense of pride and self-righteousness, injustice, poverty, and apathy towards animals and the environment to name a few. If it does not affect us in our isolated bubble world, it is of no concern to us. We who have been blessed with opportunity, blessed with even the most basic necessities for living have chosen to detach ourselves from a world of calamity, pain, and suffering. Nothing is connected. World peace is impossible in this mindset. But if we could break down these walls that divide us, then world peace is possible. If we can transcend the aforementioned man-made dividing factors and remind ourselves that we are all human; that what we want and love for others is what we want for ourselves, then world peace is possible. If we could extend and recreate our compassion and love for the things that matter to us on an individual level back to God, humanity, and His creation, then world peace is definitely possible. We must then all struggle to get reconnected.

business adage

Today my boss told me this. Apparently, it sums me up. And we are both alright with that.

“Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission”

–original source unknown

nikki giovanni’s convocation address

Nikki Giovanni, one of my favorite contemporary poets is also a professor of writing and literature at Virginia Tech. The transcript of her convocation address following the school’s tragic massacre can be found here.

improv theatre: life lessons

There are a couple of things that come to mind when we hear of improv theatre. We obviously think of unscripted acting. Sometimes we think of people being totally goofy. We also unfortunately think of the TV show “Who’s Line is it anyway?”

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I joined an improv class back in November of 2006 and the following is what I took back. It might sound like a self-help audio tape, but please, bear with me, there is a point to this.

1. Improv is about creating a meaningful scene out of nothing. To do so takes positive energy and initiative. Such is life?

When you think about it, our lives are one big improv act. Not movies. There are no scripts, no rehearsals, no retakes, no editing. Just jump in and go. It just happens to be that when we are put in a position to intentionally create something out of nothing, our minds go blank. So how do you create a scene? From Wikipedia:

In order for an improvised scene to be successful, the actors involved must work together responsively to define the parameters and action of the scene, in a process of co-creation. With each spoken word or action in the scene, an actor makes an offer, meaning that he or she defines some element of the reality of the scene. This might include giving another character a name, identifying a relationship, location, or using mime to define the physical environment. These activities are also known as endowment. It is the responsibility of the other actors to accept the offers that their fellow performers make; to not do so is known as blocking, which usually prevents the scene from developing. Some performers may deliberately block (or otherwise break out of character) for comedic effect — this is known as gagging — but this generally prevents the scene from advancing and is frowned upon by many improvisers. Accepting an offer is usually accompanied by adding a new offer, often building on the earlier one; this is a process improvisers refer to as “Yes, And…” and is considered the cornerstone of improvisational technique. (improvisational theatre)

Lets say you are having a get-together at your house. Don’t you want to plan a party with people who will positively contribute to its success? “Yes and I will be in charge of the decorations. Yes and I will order the pizzas. Yes and I will be the DJ!” Thats how you throw a party. Not with negative energy folks who nit-pick at everything that could go possibly go awry. So it is important to be responsive and open to suggestions. Give your partner something to work with.

2. There is a strong emphasis to not only make your teammates look good, but better than you. Be humble and supportive.

A common misconception of improv acting is that you have to be naturally funny to participate. Not true. Its not about showing-off that you are funnier than your teammates, but that you are the most cooperative and accommodating to creating a scene. As a result, improv really conditions the mind to be natural and to be yourself. Its better to be obvious with your statements just like you would in a regular conversation. Giving your partner something to work with builds layer upon layer for a complete scene. Consider the two scenarios:

Mother: “Did you finish up all of your homework Milton?”
Son: fidgeting, eyes looking around nervously “Sure did mom.”
Mother: “Hmmm. Milton I got a call from your teacher Ms. Swansberg this afternoon and she said that you haven’t been in school for the past three days. Can you explain yourself young man?”

versus

Mother: “Did you finish up all of your homework Milton?”
Son: “Homework? There’s no time for homework! THERES AN ARMY OF MUTANT ZOMBIE PLATYPUS INVADING US FROM OUTER SPACE! RUN! RUN FOR YOU LIVES AHHHHHHHH!”

You could continue the scene, but its less obvious where to take it. No scene can be created by one character trying to be the stand-out actor/actress, so it is important that partners listen to each other, pay attention to body language, tone of voice, and be sensitive to emotional response. Just like you would work out problems with people in real life, all the above are important skills to do so. It is also a huge test of humility and self-restraint to not steal the show away from your teammates even if one thinks that his/her teammates are awful. (I’m speaking generally) You have to work together and take credit collectively.

3. It is so much fun! Balance is important.

Unraveling the mind and escaping from the norm of everyday life and being around people who want to just let loose and be totally nuts is very refreshing. I didn’t realize how rigid my mind had become until I took the class. The day-to-day drudgery of working life can become routine quickly, and that routine becomes a whirlpool really quickly if there is no break in the current. Just like any muscle in the human body, the mind has to be challenged and sharped regularly. Improv is a great exercise to stretch that creative muscle!

One of the last scenes I did in the class was with myself and two other people playing the role of 18th century Victorian women having tea. (I didn’t know this before but apparently I can be a very convincing 18th century Victorian woman.)

Partner 1: “Oh Gertrude! I am so exhausted after all the croquet!”
Me: “As am I! Goodness! So Jane, did you enjoy the croquet this afternoon?”
Partner 2: “Uhhh yes the croquet was delicious when you dunk it in the tea!”
Me and Partner 1 start laughing. Like 18th century Victorian women of course; we had to stay in character. Wrist slaps and everything.
Me: without thinking “Oh Jane dear, you are a riot! Its no wonder you are popular with the boys at the polo club. Yes, in fact the croquet WAS delicious! snickering to Partner 1 Although I prefer mine with a lemon squeeze.”
Partner 1: “Jane, some kidney pie? Poor thing, you’re so thin! Doesn’t Gertrude feed you?”
Me: “Perhaps she would like some more….croquet!” More laughing but now converted into a pompous and arrogant giggle

So instead of pointing out that Partner 2 made a mistake, I just went along with it, and we begin to see something new about the personality of characters Partner 1 and myself; that they are arrogant jerks. And Partner 2 might be an innocent, charming, Cinderella-eqsue girl. We had to be sensitive to what was going on to build on the scene further in order to pull it off. Then it looks like we were all in on the blunder (that croquet is not crumpets although it is amongst the Dutch) on purpose! So we all looked good. Nothing in the scene was historically accurate, (Croquet did not come until the 20th century) but we committed to it and stuck with it. Was definitely more fun this way.

I know this probably sounded like a very convincing advertisement to go join an improv class. Join one if you like, I just think that a lot of times we participate in activities and we only pay attention to the activity itself rather than their benefits for us. I could have said, “Yeah I took an improv class and I learned the following acting techniques.” I personally have no aspirations of becoming an actor, so naturally I went deeper to only discover what value I could extract from it. Indeed there is truth to be found in the most obscure places.

a muslim is….[student]

A very wise teacher had a class of ten students. His students were all very intelligent, but there was one student whom he loved the most. This student happened to be an orphan. All the other students felt upset because they knew that the teacher loved this one student more than any of them so they complained to their parents. The parents of the students then came back to the teacher and asked him, “Why don’t you love our children as much as you love him? It’s not fair that you give him more love and attention than our children.” The teacher replied, “Come back tomorrow and I will tell you why I love him the most.”

So the next day, all ten students were in the class; nine of them with their parents. The teacher had brought ten chickens in ten cages; one for each student. “I will give each of you a chicken,” he said. “Your goal is to hide the chicken where no one can possibly see it or find it. Whoever does the best job will be my best student.” So the students ran over the village to find a good place to hide their chicken. And they came back one by one. The teacher asked one student, “Where did you hide your chicken?” The student replied, “Oh you would be so proud of me, I wrapped the chicken is cloth and hid it underneath my bed!” Another student replied “I put the chicken in a basket and then in a box under a stack of books!”

Nine of the students hid their chickens, but the one student still had the chicken in his hand. All of the students laughed at him, “You lose! You lose! We win! We win!” And the teacher asked him, “Ibn Khaldoun, why are you still holding the chicken in your hand? All of the other students hid their chickens.” The orphan replied, “No matter where I thought to go, Allah would always know where the chicken was. I’m sorry teacher but I could not find a suitable place where I could hide the chicken and He could not see it.” He quietly returned the chicken to his teacher. The teacher smiled. “This is why I love this student the most.”

God is everywhere, from the throne of the heavenly bodies to the blood in our eyes,

I am the first to admit that I am so far from where I want to be spiritually, but imagine the glowing behavior and positive attitude of a person who lives with God at their side,

That person is a Muslim.

–appears in Tadhkirat al-Auliya’ (Memorial of the Saints)

a muslim is….[cake]

Imagine that you love chocolate cake. But not just any chocolate cake, it’s a very special and famously delicious one that your mom makes on very rare occasions.

Lucky you, today just so happens to be one of those days! And your mom packed it for you in your lunch box. Off to school you go.

At lunch time, you pull out your lunch box and the chocolate cake. You can’t wait to sink your teeth into it!

The students to your left and right turn to you. The student in front of you turns around to you. The student behind you is looking over your shoulder. They are all hungrily eyeing the cake. No one made lunch for them today.

If you cut the cake in to four pieces and give it to your four classmates even leaving none for yourself,

the cake that your mother packed for you and just for you,

the cake you love and were really looking forward to eating and enjoying all for only yourself,

but you get more satisfaction out of watching them all happily eat the cake,

That person is a Muslim.

–author unknown

a muslim is….[about]

I hear really great stories all the time that illustrate the good character of people. And I want to be able to document them and keep them somewhere so other people can check them out as well as myself.

So I have started this ‘series’ called “A Muslim is…” If someone were to ask you about Islam, and who a Muslim is, how would you answer them?

Personally, I think stories work the best so if you have a story that illustrates who a Muslim is, then please share with us!