Understanding Rumi

Maulana Rumi said, "Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged".

Being a student of Pluralism, understanding the essence of creation, existence, life and matter is my constant search, and my understanding is that every piece of matter (stone, ground, and mountain) is created with a built in balance (peace) and self balancing mechanism. Then every religion (Christian, Zoroastrian....) teaches one to attain a balance within and with what surrounds him/her; life and matter.

Rumi had reached the universal level of consciousness that all of us aspire, where the distinction between you and what surround you is embedded in awareness. In Hinduism the word is Brahma, when you reach that level of consciousness, there is no more you and God, it is all one cosmic energy. I suppose Jesus may have meant the same when he said follow me or when Qur’aan says surrender to the will of the creator.

Thanks to my face book friend Habib M. Akhtar from prompting me to write.

Mike Ghouse speaks on Pluralism and Islam and offers pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day. His work can be found in 22 blogs and two websites listed at www.mikeghouse.net

Unity church of Louisville, Kentucky

The service at Unity Church in Louisville was beautiful. I loved the songs and hymns that praise the lord and treat every human as God‘s creation.

This city amazes me with the amount of interfaith work it is blessed with. I was there to talk with Pastor Susan to invite her to the Unity day in Louisville. We are in our 6th year in Dallas, Texas. God willing we will hold the unity day in Dallas, and Louisville this year.

The Church used to be a synagogue until they sold the place to build it in another location. The star of David is pinned on the zenith of the dome and looks good. It reminded me of the palaces in India in Fatehpur Sikri and somewhere near Agra, where King Akbar held regular interfaith meetings between Christians, Jews, Hindus, Jains, Buddhist and Muslims at that time. Indeed, for the first time, the Hindu holy books were translated from Sanskrit to Farsi and then to English. His buildings have all the religious symbols on them, and one of these days, I am going to pull those pictures I have taken and post on the facebook.

I would encourage people to learn about other faiths, it will strengthen your own faith knowing that all religions were committed to bring peace to individuals and creating a social balance in the society.

Please visit www.UnityDayUSA.com

Muslim Ceremony in a Synagogue

This evening I attended the "Ameen" ceremony; a celebration when a Muslim boy or a girl completes reading the Quraan for the first time. The event was held in cultrual center of a Synagogue. I loved this harmony. We need more of these every where in all combinations. Aftab and Farzina's son Zain, Friends of Yasmeen in Louisville, KY.



A few Facebook Comments:

Uzma Hashmi Its a heartfelt event for all of us. Congratulations to Zain's parents.

Carol Covington Mason What encouraging progress, Mike! The dream of Dara Shikoh may come true someday!

Rehana Matri Qur'an says that houses of worship are for Allah alone. So jewish people believe as muslim people believe, that there is only one God. And jewish people were given the book of Moses before this. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to know that an event like this has been celebrated in the cultural center of a synagogue.

Halima Krausen Wonderful news!

Carol Covington Mason Unification of and respect for all religions under one God.

Carol Covington Mason I am with you all the way, Mike!

Rosanne Dourado great news Mike - it's time for something like this. I'm curious though - Islamic thought accepts that Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the same God. Would this ceremony ever be allowed to take place in the cultural centre of a n...on-Abrahamic religious place for example, a mandir, gurdwahra, vihara or Baha'i building?

Vanja Krupa WONDERFUL !!!
Very inspiring and encouraging news ! Thank you Mike G.

Mike Ghouse Rosanne, I don't see why it cannot be done.

However, sensitivity needs to be applied. In case of a Jain or a Hindu Temple, meat dishes cannot be served, if it is all veggie, then I suppose it should be ok. In case of Jewish or Muslim plac...e of worship, an Icon representing God is not kosher; it may be the case with other traditions.

However there are rare incidents of denial. Some 15 years ago, in Lisbon, Portugal a Catholic priest gave the key to a Hindu couple for their Weddings, and the priest was fired on that - as the Hindu couple placed a Ganesh icon at the altar as they normally do. I took up the protest as both parties had assumed wedding as they do normally without realizing the difference. I got quite a few threatening calls from the members of diocese in California for standing up for the Hindu wedding.

I was able to set up interfaith prayers in a Mosque in Dallas, where all religious leaders chanted their sacred hymns, one or two guys jumped on me but backed off. If the majority speaks up, good things will happen.

Mosque - U.S. should stand on moral high ground

Who are the folks opposing or supporting the Mosque near Ground Zero? The revelations are as clear as the day light, while the religious leaders are speaking boldly for freedom and co-existence, the right wing politicians have gone berserk and hanging on to tiny branches to save their political careers.

Published at Washington Post http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/07/on_mosque_us_should_stand_on_moral_high_ground.html

Moderate Republicans need to speak up

It is time for the moderate Republicans to speak up and wrestle out party leadership from the right wingers for survival. As Americans, our loyalty ought to be for our system of checks and balances. It is in the interest of sustainable and just policies to have each house run by Republicans and Democrats respectively. Most mistakes by our government have occurred when all the three branches of government were run by the same party. Monopoly in governance leads the other to resort to divisive politics.

Continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/07/moderate-republicans-need-to-speak-up.html

No Sharia in America

American Muslims have placed their trust in the American justice system and will continue to oppose the Public Sharia laws as they are currently applied in many places across the globe. I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one, to stand up against it. The Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and does not want to have Public aspect of Sharia law here in America. A majority of Muslims (Moderates/Middle path that the Prophet suggested) will feel comfortable with this piece. However, a few need some time to absorb this, that is the way with the ultra-conservatives in any religion.

Sharia in its simplest form is a how-to manual based on the Qur'an and the Hadith (Prophet Muhammad's sayings). It is a human effort to understand the concept of justice enshrined in the Qur'an for day-to-day living. American Muslims have placed their trust in the American justice system and will continue to oppose the Public Sharia laws as they are currently applied in many places across the globe. I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one, to stand up against it. The Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and does not want to have

Sharia law not in America.

Full Article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/sharia-law-not-in-america_b_653250.html

Empowerment of Women on Radio 1220

EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN was the topic I was invited to talk about on AM Radio 1220 in Fort Worth, Texas. It was nice to share about respecting every one's space and offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. My host, Lubna Ashraf is an anthropologist by training and has been serving communities with passion. S...he had great questions to follow through and I hope the program answered the questions women had about empowerment at home and work. As always callers enhance the conversations.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 9:00 - 10:30 AM.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism, Civil Societies, peace and Islam and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day; a frequent guest on the media. His work can be found in three websites and 22 blogs listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

Further activity in July

Several Articles were written, but did not get posted this month
here are a few;

Sharia Law: Not in America
published at Huffington post

Yes to Mosque -US to stand on Moral High grounds
Published at Washington Post

Parliament of World’s religions summit in 2014.
Published at several places, including the comments section of Dallas Morning News

INTERFAITH?

Draw Muhammad Day - A Muslim Cartoonist

Evangelical Atheists?

Islamic terror is real, as is Jewish and Christian...

Is a mosque at Ground Zero religious freedom too f...
I was at Fox News, Sean Hannity show

Zoroaster, Prophet of Zoroastrianism

Bottom line prayers (wishes)

Muslim acts of heroism during Holocaust

Happy Imamat day to HH The Aga Khan
Published several places particularly the Isamili magazines

Unity Day USA - 6th Annual Event

We are pleased to invite you to Unity Day USA; a purposeful event to bring Americans together. The idea for Unity Day USA was first conceived on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and took its current form on Sunday, September 11, 2005. We cannot let things happen and drift into the abyss of incoherence. It is an initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America.

Continued: http://911unitydayusa.blogspot.com/
Mike Ghouse

Women; changing the society

- Dear Aishah,

Let’s begin this;

1. A movement ought to be encouraged among women; it begins with a few on this discussion group and grows one at a time. They consciously need to imbue those values in their children that they would like to see in their men, so when they grow up, they will be respecting their family members, their daughters and their spouses.

2. Raise children doing the work at home without gendering it. My kids are raised with value for things to do at home, there is no such thing as man's job or woman's work in their mind set, and they also respect every religion without bias.

3. Mother has more influence on children than fathers, and that is why they call it mother tongue and never father's tongue. All mothers can consciously instill values of equality in their boys, and delete values of subserviency in their girls.

4. Two generations of conscious work, will change the world. But we have to remember, there will be always bad men no matter what religion they follow or what kind of raising they have, all we can do is reduce the number of such rascals through education and social pressures.

India has a lousy dowry system, even though it is outlawed, the practice has not faded away yet - the Hindu women are doused in kerosene and set to fire, the Muslim women are beaten up by their respective mother in laws. Not to gloat, American Men have killed more of their partners/ spouse in rage of fit than those combined in India and we hear about Arab women going through utter helplessness. All of us are guilty. Oppression of women or the weak or the minorities depletes the spiritual balance in a society. To have a society that is guilt free and well balanced, all humans must be respected for their god given uniqueness.

Women have come a long way since the day Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) liberated women from the shackles of men, where a woman was no more a chattel, she is on her own, she can own her properties and even given the freedom to do the opposite – do divorce men without guilt, as it was religiously sanctioned.

Think about the women that Prophet Muhammad said are the women to look up to? I would term it Model women like Asiya, Marryam Fatima….and others. None of them were social conformers, they broke away form the norms of the society to establish their own identity and assert their own being. Aishah, Roop, Sumbul and friends we need to highlight those values. A few men have opposed me for saying this, they do not want to highlight the very thing that the Prophet Admired, that is the Sunnah we need to follow.