“My Place is placeless, my trace is traceless.” Thus spoke Maulana Rumi. I migrates from one place to another, put upon an identity upon identity, a mask upon mask but to what end? Perhaps because there are so many things that one has to reconcile, perhaps because there are so many things that one finds revolting, one just wants to find out who one is. Thus is the question of identity. Who are we or even what are we? One can run but one cannot run from oneself forever. There is a time when one has to sit down and listen to myself. Thus spoke Maulana Rumi.

Suppose you know the definitions of all substances

and their derivatives,
what good is this to you?
Know the true definition of yourself.
That is indispensable.
Then, when you know your own definition, flee from it,
that you may attain to the One who cannot be defined,
O sifter of the dust.

(Source: Raza Rumi’s Blog)

 

A man who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him.

Modern fundamentalism is not an obsession with God, it is an obsession with law. Religion in the eyes of most fundamentalists is a normative, enforceable moral code, not the society of God on earth. Personal spiritual experience suggests a direct connection with the divine, one not subject to the oversight of self-appointed moral guardians. Fundamentalists would love to live in a world where miracles occur only to the stuffily pious, and not to malcontents like me.

Mamek Khadem is an Iranian-American aritist with an excellent voice and equally excellent music accopanying her vocals. I went to one of her concerts recently and found it to be very captivating. Mamek was trained in the Classical Persian Music tradition but her music incorporates folk melodies not only from Iran but from Greece, Turkey and Armenia as well as Western influences. The lyrics are in Farsi but one can still enjoy her music even if one does not userstand the language. She recently came out with a new album Justajo which I highly recommend. 

Official SIte: http://www.mamak-khadem.com/