Like a Glitch in the Matrix…Part III

Part I
Part II

When I first began to lay out my thoughts in the sequence you see, I thought that the solution was simple. Become a hermit-y scholar, and spend my days in wilderness somewhere, engaged only in worship, reflection, meditation, and study. I would only work as much as I needed to be able to meet my needs. Why not? Except that such a decision is, in its essence, running away. A man posed this question to one of the Imams (as), and the response given was that it is better for man to live in society than alone (my apologies - I don't have a reference. I'll look for one). It is too easy to be a saint in isolation, and a lot harder to be one around people. Yet such is the challenge, for good things don't come easy.

So. Living in this world, which I now begin to see as an illusion. I can't run away from it. How, then to conduct myself?

Only one way.

As an agent of Allah, with one (or both) eyes on the Day of Judgement.

To be continued. Duas always welcome

Like a Glitch in the Matrix…Part II

Part I

My apologies if in my previous post I sounded too mystical, or knowing more than what I do. That was not my intention. If our knowledge can be represented by a circle, then as what we know increases, and the circle expands, then so does its circumference, which would then represent our awareness of what we don't know, or the border between our knowledge, and our ignorance. Truly, the more you know, the more [you become aware of what] you don't know.

Anyway - so, we've established that I'm beginning to feel like this world is illusory.

Now what?

Well, a clarification, to start with. I'm not saying that our senses deceive us. What we see, touch and feel, taste, hear, smell is real enough. The mistake is in thinking that the physical world that our senses give us access to is the only one. There is more to this life. Much, much more. There is a spiritual dimension to this life, and the soul will live on even after the body withers and dies. Obviously, as a Muslim I should know this already, but I get distracted enough. And the illusion and associated distractions are very pretty, very well made, though I really shouldn't hide behind that as an excuse, nor do I plan to.

Given the illusory nature of the world, however, do I really want to spend my life focused on the wrong things? Clearly, there are things that are important, and there are things that are not important. Soulless, materialistic acquisition of shiny toys, spending time in petty disputes and squabbles, enjoying the pleasures of this life perhaps a little too much…can all go under one column.

But what goes in the other column? Well, us. The life we lead, and the choices we make. What is very, very real are our actions, as they affect both our current and next lives, and these have to be chosen very carefully, and very deliberately.

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To be continued. Duas always welcome.