Sunday, January 23, 2011

Mother Teresa my Mentor

Mother Teresa represents "service to God through serving his humanity" she is one of my mentors and I think about her frequently. I was intrigued by her statement, "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus."

I have wanted to say, “I am an Indian by birth, an American by citizenship, Muslim in spirit (meaning not a separate entity in relation to other faiths, but a miniscule part of the universal energy that dissolves in creation). As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the whole humanity " Kaifi Azmi the Urdu/Hindi poet wrote about Pundit Jawaharlal Lal Nehru that has lingered in me forever... "My koi jism nahin jo jalado ge mujhe... (From the song Meri Awaaz suno, pyaar ka raaz suno) I am not a physical being, a body that can be cremated and be done with it; my soul is amidst you wishing the very best for you.

I am still struggling to say the same thing that can be as clear as crystal as Mother Teresa... one of these days....

I posted the above in face book, within an hour, 20 likes and over 15 comments poured in… As usual, my Muslim friends bring their point of view and I share the larger point as well.

Mike Ghouse
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John Dayal she changed so many lives
the world view of so many
made me pro life

 
Khalid Ahmed I wonder on the Day of Judgment if God will look at ""service to God through serving his humanity" or at associating partners with him, i.e. saying he was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? According to Islamic belief, the first question asked of us in the grave is not what you did on earth, it will be who is your Lord and do you attribute partners to him.

Muhammad Ismail Arif she served the cause of humanity irrespective of caste, color & creed...deserved to be respected by all of us :-)

Pushkar Sinha As a young TV reporter, I had covered her last journey in Calcutta. It seemed entire Calcutta had lost someone close. Even the phoolwalas, thliwalas were crying.

Mike Ghouse  we have a choice to be between literal to essence... all of us fall somewhere in between, and it works for whateverver you believe. God does not change with our beliefs be it Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish or a Buddhist beliief. ...

For a Christian who believes in the trinity, that belief aligns his soul to the submission of that idea and it works perfectly for him or her, as Islam works for Muslims or Hinduism works for Hindus. My belief in Islam is not based on negating other people's beliefs or not valuing other people's faith. All faiths are designed to bring peace and balance to an individual and what surrounds one; life and matter.

Your opinion is dear to you as mine is dear to me, together we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God given uniqueness of each other - for creating peaceful existence; some thing the creator wants.

Khalid Ahmed - Mike, do you ever speak as a Muslim or do you always try to wear a multi-religious hat? Damn !!

Mike Ghouse, I am a Muslim, to be a Muslim is to be a part of God's creation and NOT stand out and away from other beliefs, but be a part of the whole. Yes, I do speak as a Muslim, as a part of the universe and part of creation.

Khalid Ahmed I don’t doubt that you are a Muslim , nor do I have a right to question it. You views are always on the border, perhaps you are just not well studied in Islam and that's cool.

Mike Ghouse ?- Khalid, I don't claim that I am well versed in Islam, however, I am pleased to be a consistent and dedicated student of Islam. I do believe that I have understood the essences of Islam to the point of full comfort and Islam is about subscribing to and creating cohesive societies for the well being all humanity. Islam is subscribing to an orderly, just and peaceful society. That is my belief.

Khalid Ahmed May we all be blessed with better understanding.

Mike Ghouse Mother Teresa's work is what God wants us to do, that is what Jesus, Moses, Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha, Zarathustra, Abraham, Mahavira, Guru Nanak, Bahaullah, Confucius and 124,000 0ther peace makers wanted us to do.

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