The Story of the Eagle

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, Not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life.
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes.
It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.
Let’s change to make a change!!!

When it rains, most birds head for shelter;

the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain,

starts flying above the cloud. ...

"...know that often through delay are gifts received"

Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved;
But hasten to that banquet which your Lord’s bequeathed.
And when a thing for which you ask is slow to come,
Then know that often through delay are gifts received.
Find solace in privation and respect its due,
For only by contentment is the heart relieved.
And know that when the trials of life have rendered you
Despairing of all hope, and of all joy bereaved,
Then shake yourself and rouse yourself from heedlessness,
And make pure hope a meadow that you never leave.
Your Maker’s gifts take subtle and uncounted forms.
How fine the fabric of the world His hands have weaved.
The journey done, they came to the water of life,
And all the caravan drank deep, their thirst relieved.
Far be it from the host to leave them thirsty there,
His spring pours forth all generosity received.
My Lord, my trust in all Your purposes is strong,
That trust is now my shield; I’m safe, and undeceived.
All those who hope for grace from You will feel Your rain;
Too generous are You to leave my branch unleaved.
May blessings rest upon the loved one, Muhammad {pbuh} ,
Who’s been my means to high degrees since I believed.
He is my fortress and my handhold, so my soul,
Hold fast, and travel to a joy still unconceived.

- Ali bin Husayn al-Habshi (translated by Abdal Hakim Murad)

3 Ways to Practice Patience at work (from Care2 website)

The following is an article on Care2 website that i felt was worthy of sharing :)

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I sometimes think that Zen students and entrepreneurs are the most patient, and at the same time the least patient, people. Zen students spend long hours, days, and years, sitting, facing a wall, expecting nothing. Entrepreneurs spend a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money planning and working without knowing the results of their efforts. While Zen students and entrepreneurs exhibit great patience they are equally impatient when it comes to accepting anything less than perfection.

Basho, a Zen poet, wrote:

Fleas, lice

The horse pissing

Near my pillow

This poem describes the rawness of Basho’s life and his ability to describe things just the way they are. My poem for today could be something like:

Email not working

Employees out sick

Little accomplished

Our lives at work are filled with difficulty. People are late for meetings. Our ideas are not met with enthusiasm. Computers crash, restart, and crash again. Other people don’t meet our expectations. Our overnight package is lost. Relationships become impossible. Cash shortages are threatening, and businesses fail. Patience requires that we fully and directly face our difficulties, that we embrace and learn from situations and from our feelings about them. Owning and transforming our pain and disappointment can be a tremendous challenge, as well as a tremendous gift.

Patience is what connects the entrepreneurial spirit required in business with facing the truth of what is actually required in Zen practice. It takes patience to face the truth of where we are in our work lives. The truth may include the pain of not meeting expectations, a variety of messy and challenging situations facing us each day, as well the possibilities of transformation and great accomplishment.

Zen describes several kinds of patience that can be practiced at work: acceptance of difficulty and hardship, not acting hastily, and acceptance of what is true. Let’s explore these.

Acceptance of difficulty. Our lives at work can be transformed when we completely accept that difficulty is to be expected and cannot be avoided. This doesn’t mean we take the negative attitude of “what will go wrong today?” Instead, we just pay attention to our own state of mind. We make our best effort. We meet each situation as it arises.

Not acting hastily. Given how difficult, unpredictable, and stressful our work lives can be, it is easy to respond quickly and impatiently. In difficult situations, just stop, think, and look more carefully at what really is the cause of the difficulty. When your computer crashes you can get upset and yell at whoever is in charge of your computer systems. Or, when your computer crashes, what if you just stop, take a breath, and notice your breathing, notice what is around you.

Acceptance of what is true. Most of our impatience comes from our wanting things to be different from what they are. Our overnight package did not arrive overnight. This is just true. There is nothing we can do to change what is. We can take actions to expedite the package’s delivery, but this action includes accepting what is difficult, not acting hastily, and accepting what is true.

Some questions:

When are you patient and when you are impatient at work?

What is most difficult for you at work?

What part of this difficulty do you create?

How can you transform this difficulty?

Adapted from Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration.

Marc Lesser is CEO of ZBA Associates LLC, a company providing executive coaching, leadership development consulting, and keynote speaking services to businesses and non-profits. He is a developer and instructor of Google’s Search Inside Yourself program. Marc was the founder and former CEO of Brush Dance publishing. Marc is a Zen teacher with an MBA degree; a former resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is the author of Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration.

Fifty years of a bitter-sweet union

They did it! Fifty long years of trudging along the marital path, of putting up with one another, of biting their tongue and being patient when the tendency was to just yell out at the other, of reminding themselves the bigger picture meant holding the fabric of the family together and staying together. 


Mom and dad celebrated their 50th anniversary this past weekend (June 2011) and I felt a glowing sense of pride and pleasure as I celebrated it with them. 


Their request had been simple - just a simple chaat* outing at East Coast Park. So we packed 2 flasks of chai, grabbed two picnic mats, some of my traveller-friendly cups, and off we went to the beach. We packed our own chai because the one served in public places is so sweet and if you say 'no sugar', it's so bland and bitter. So to satiate mom and dad's chai desire, we made it at home and off we went. I was blessed to have a car in those days and with God's grace, managed to find a parking spot close to the beach area so mom needn't walk for miles. 

I had invited my cousin Sarim along and he was then newly arrived in Singapore.  So it was fun! Sarim and I went to buy all the chaat samaan from nearby Komala Vilas. And as the beach became crowded, we dug into it and had a small family circle enjoying the sunset and the evening. As dusk overtook everyone's agenda, it was mesmerising to be at the beach and watch planes take off from Changi in the distance or ships on the horizon. Lovely evening light. Kids were flying their kites and several malay and indian families were coming out of the sea after casual play in the water.


Mom and dad, I'm so proud of you two. Despite all the difficulties we have all faced as a family, you have shown by example that patience, love, acceptance are powerful tools that hold the family together. Much more than Phds, career successes or money. I remain forever grateful to your persistence at life and its challenges. May we all learn a lesson or two from your example :) Ameen. 


May you always have health, wealth (of iman and daily existence), and rewards always and always. May all your duas be accepted and my love remains with you always. 


Thank you for your dedication and sacrifice!
Much love from your daughter     


*Chaat - a collection of South-Asian snacks often eaten at late afternoon tea time.

Visions of Sham (Greater Syria)

I'm reminded of my trip to Syria (done in 2008), several times... often when I'm lost in my consciousness and out of the blue, the scenes would play themselves out, as if a button has been pressed. I had gone to Syria with a group of people gathered between the NUS Middle East & North Africa Society and the Al-Markaz Arabic Language school. I had attended a sufi music event at the Arab Association (a place I hardly step into) and was given a flier by a girl about this upcoming trip. While waiting for the music program to start, I was intrigued by this flier in my hand and the incredibly attractive cost for the 2 week trip (S$2250) including flights, shared accommodation and 2 meals a day! Even though it was with a group of people I did not know, the thought of 'when would I ever get to go to Syria' kept coming into my mind and I made a mental note to email the contact soon as I got home to see if they had any more places available.  


With all luck, there was space and i joined this eager-beaver crowd of mainly 20somethings on what probably remains one of my most memorable trips. 

Below are some notes i took while on our group bus and as we traversed through different terrains in our 2 weeks there. 


"There is a certain truth that seems deep rooted in these (pre)-Abrahamic lands, a truth that speaks to you. You may not even know what it is but it speaks to you. The mesmerizing landscapes evoke a chord that may have laid dormant for a while and as you traverse through the desert, you witness the sights, sounds, smells, and are subjected to an exercise that definitely 'wakes up' the soul. 

We go through our lives feeding our minds and bodies, inadvertently forgetting or neglecting the soul. The nourishment for which is often aroused when it visits ancient lands strewn liberally with a universal historical heritage spanning centuries of livelihoods and existence. 

The faint sounds of qasidah which is humbling and touching -- Allahu-allahu-allahu-Allah (the incantation that goes up in pitch) and then Allahu-allahu-allahu-Allah (Going down in pitch) -- resonates with the temporarily forgotten chords residing deep within the heart. Now awakened ofcourse on no effort of mine; just by visual sights that awakens and speaks to the soul. Amazing. 
Credits to the handsome voice of Yusuf Islam telling us about the beauty of 'badru alaina' (the full moon appears up on us).


We visit the Castle of the Knights, locally known as Crac de Chevaliers and are amazed by the sturdy and overbearing architecture of centuries past. We become like little kids on a school trip examining the crevices, curves and texture of the columns, walls, fort platforms and wonder how war was carried out in the days of the past. We do this all in silence as each has their own mind working away trying to figure out meaning from what we saw. 


In our two weeks putting up near the Old City, we would frequent Ammara Souq* for food, and to buy things and to see the life of the locals. It led to Umayyad Mosque and the Al-Hamidiyah Souq. We visited the maqams (tombs) of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives, of Hazrat Bilal the famous first muezzin (the one who calls others to Prayer), of the Prophet's cousins, second cousins etc. 


We witness the marked site which reminds us of the Karbala Tragedy where in memory of the 19 heads which were sent back to the Muslims, there are 19 prayer skull-caps with Arabic inscriptions sewed into them. They are arranged in a neat display and looking at it, you are transformed to a time on how they must have been at the time of the Karbala Tragedy. It sends a chill through us. 


An image that stayed in our minds is the one outside Sayyida Ruqaiyah's Mosque. Everyday, we would see groups of shia muslims standing outside giving duas and observing a mini matam (breast-beating) sometimes. The women would be in all-black burqas and there were always more women and than men visible at this maqam. This is the site where the infant of Hazrat Husain was killed in the Karbala Tragedy and more information is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyidah_Ruqayya_Mosque


The visit to the black and white tiled Khalid bin Walid's tomb inside the mosque was another visual treat. The mosque was beautiful and the asymmetrical designs left us speechless. Beautiful clean outdoor courtyards where you could easily imagine the spill over of the ummah (congregation/followers) praying during prayer times and doves in conversation and flight creating a stunning scene.  


An interesting encounter that i witnessed in this mosque was when I was about to pray, there was a lady praying such that the tomb was right in front of her. It was purposely situated right at the back of the mosque so that people would not pray behind the tomb. A mosque official pointed her out to me as she was in prayer and I was about to begin mine and I wondered what he was doing in the ladies section so I was a bit alert in case the curtain barrier was being removed etc. But he just pointed towards her, shaking his head and when I let out an unintentional sigh, he briefly laughed and kept shaking his head. The point was, prayer is offered to God, not tombs but people have colluded the practice over the years, especially in countries where mosques house the tombs. If a person without Islamic understanding were to witness the lady praying exactly behind the tomb, they may think ancestor worship is condoned in Islam. 


Tombs are places for the dead where we give fatiha (short prayer used for several occasions). Prayer to God is in a mosque but without obstruction preferably; not in front of tombs.   
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At the Souq...
What pleased me when I went to the souqs was the kind of respectful looks we received as we walked through the marketplace. Not cheap, not leary, not trying to thrust a sale down your throat. I felt if this was because not many international tourists came to Damascus, majority were from the Saudi and Gulf states. So the shopkeepers were not money minded.  


Palmyra was another stunning place we went to - ruins dating back to 1st and 2nd Century A.D. The stories that accompany the structures were vivid and alive. For a comprehensive reading on this heritage site, please refer to http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23 "


There were so many other experiences but I can't list them all here. The kind people we met, the hospitality we experienced, the simplicity we witnessed and the purity of the souls in places which provide little entertainment, were all rich experiences for us. I am so thankful to the invite I received to go to the Arab Association for the sufi programme (Prof Syed Farid Alattas) and to the girl who thrust the flier in my hand and to the organisers who fit me in - so I was able to make this trip. SubhanAllah - you all were part of making this journey for me. Thank you. 


 * souq is a reference to a marketplace
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Some pics can be viewed at
http://picasaweb.google.com/fmukri/SyriaTheSights02# and 
http://picasaweb.google.com/fmukri/SyriaTheLocals# and http://picasaweb.google.com/fmukri/SyriaTheSuakuVisitors#