A Thoughtful Sitting

March 11, '09.

Today's experience with a serious and thoughtful sitting, unlike any silly, futile chit-chat between retarded "buddies", forces me to pen down the thoughts I could gather from the participants who were dying to be self-critical. Thoughts so rudimentary, so practical that I wish to keep them somewhere in the backyard of my human memory, and more to share them and spread. Today was a beginning of a new day in my quest of my Self. A quest to find 'meaning' in this otherwise, apparently, haphazard life in which to question the very disorder of it. We have formed a little society, headed by a sociology teacher, who speaks of his own science nothing more than a thin layer of ice over an iceberg! And he is very true. Because the very purpose of this informal sitting group is to penetrate the symbols of life. Thus, owing to this serious aim, the whole base of the group's medium of expression tends to be of metaphysical nature, which is very profound. Here's the problem for us. Metaphysics is the supreme science, as S. H. Nasr says. Therefore, it requires a lot of spiritual preparation to open up our intelligence, in order to know the existence and the nature of reality. Metaphysics never weds itself to clever thinking, it weds to a pure heart and to the intelligence whose functioning is proper and receptive to this supreme science.

This realization has still to dawn upon the imagination of many in our group. However, some took a brave start today and found themselves giving a voice to their own ongoing journeys, sometimes forgotten and in places like these, revisited. And one such voice triumphed in my eyes, no matter how poorly.

"What is life?," when asked the gentleman replies, "I used to ponder on this. And I concluded after observing the ever absence of jinns in the present scheme of this universe. Then I pondered on why humans were created in place of jinns? We know that they were very violent and enmity always prevailed among their communities. And that among jinns there was no peace and love conceivable. God hoped from this man that he would maintain peace among themselves. He would know what angels never knew. That he would love his fellow beings. I don't think there's a hell." He finishes presenting his views on the purpose of life here, although most of the time we were much preoccupied by the very question of purpose's possibility in human life. A view so real and persistent, I can never think why I never thought of it. A strict Muslim may call the last part of the conversion a blasphemy, and he or she may. But the existence of peace and love as a purpose of human beings is as much real to me as I am.