In the contemplation of reality people often conclude that the best action is inaction, and they become stilted in their actions. They become frozen in their movement. They’re over-whelmed by existence and their place in it. They’re over-whelmed by the difficulties they see in the world. They’re over-whelmed by the pain that they see everywhere […]
In Genesis, Jacob climbs a ladder to heaven to get to the angels, the angel that he then wrestles with. To get to the second floor of a house, you have to go up steps. Or if you’re going through the window, you need a ladder on the outside. But there’s a downstairs and an upstairs.
In the world of commerce, most companies that are industrial, that produce things, have a section of the company that’s called R & D or research and development. And some pay more attention to research and development than others. They have larger budgets for research and development than others do. And what is the
I’m sure that most of you at one time or another have gone to see a play. And you picked a date that it was playing, you bought tickets, and then you sat in the audience. And you watched the performance. I’m sure you’re also aware of the fact that if you went the next
Unless we are born in and raised in the presence of a holy community and under the guidance of a sheikh, we develop a set of ideas and standards other than the holy ones, other than the ones that take you to reality. And over time as we are growing up and reach young adulthood
In the seventies and the late sixties, a lot of people were talking about having transcending experiences. And even now people talk about wanting transcending experiences, trying to put themselves in a position to have a transcending experience. Well, what does that mean, to have a transcending experience? Well, what most people think of it
Often when people talk about the world and what’s happened in it, they talk about the time of recorded history and the time before recorded history. The history of the world is a big part of what we learn. We learn history in schools from the time we’re little to the time we go to
People who maintain an orthodoxy in their personal action and by that I mean they follow a certain code of right and wrong, a certain code of morality, who are true adherents to that code, will not alter their adherence to that code because of circumstances, will not alter their adherence to that code because
The divine commands came as a resonance, and then that resonance became words. And then those words were said sometimes through the mouths of Prophets. And then those words were written down by scribes. And then they became scriptures. And then people read them. When I first met my teacher, he said, “Stop reading books,
Gifts are constantly given by Allah. His generosity has no bounds, and He gives His gifts in many different ways. One of the ways is that He sent Prophets to the earth and gave these Prophets certain experiences and certain knowledge. And these Prophets then shared these experiences and this knowledge with men. The ones
