A Moment of Silence

Jun 03

Posted by: Meta4Life in: Politics, Spirituality

The headline read: Suicide bomber kills 10 at Sufi Muslim gathering.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Sufi Muslims north of Baghdad, killing 10 people in the latest attack by Iraqi insurgents on religious sects they disapprove of, officials said on Friday.

The bomber detonated his explosives on Thursday evening in a house near the town of Balad as Sufis gathered for a religious ceremony, Interior Ministry officials said.

Sufis follow a form of Islamic mysticism that stresses the need for a personal experience of God. Some conservative Muslims consider them emotional or even heretical.

Islamic or otherwise, mystics are my people. Both the ignorant and the cynical say that those Sufis are now getting their “personal experience of God.” To the ignorant and the cynical, I respond: You’re missing the point.

And though the article went on for eleven more paragraphs, only the first three out of the fourteen dealt with the subject of the headline. The rest rehashed a lot of old (dis)information about the so-called “religious strife” between Sunnis and Shi’ites that, if you believe the article’s author, rages almost continually amongst the Iraqi people.

To get something closer to the truth, I recommend Baghdad Burning, a blog written by an Iraqi woman who calls herself “riverbend” and who, when electricity allows, reveals to us how Iraqis truly feel about Iraq, religion, sectarianism, and the American invasion.

In any event, I observe a moment of silence for my Sufi brothers and sisters whose bodies lie dead from a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad yesterday. May their spirits whirl free in an ever-growing spiral of peace.

In their honor, here are some words from mystics, Sufi and otherwise:

O soul, before the world was
I longed for thee:
and I still long for thee, and thou for me.

Therefore, when our two desires unite,
Love shall be fulfilled.
–Mechtild of Magdeburg

All of life is speaking, in spite of its apparent silence. –Hazrat Inayat Khan

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence. Flow down and down in always widening rings of being. –Rumi

What is the difference
Between your Existence
And that of a Saint?

The Saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the Saint is now continually
Tripping over joy
And Bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”

Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.
–Hafiz

If a man wants to be sure of his road, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark. –St. John of the Cross

I carry a torch in one hand
And a bucket of water in the other:
With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven
And put out the flames of Hell
So that no one worships God
for fear of hell
or greed of heaven.
–Rabia

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.

Think of it… always.
– Mahatma Gandhi