The Purpose of Life in an Hour and a Half

Source: sandala.org

By: Hamza Yusuf

Given the choice, I would rather read a book than listen to a lecture. Books are wonderful companions: they offer their opinions, and if you disagree, they don’t seem to mind. I can reread when I find difficulty with what is written, and the book doesn’t think I’m stupid or get annoyed that I’m asking it to repeat itself, sometimes again and again. From a great author, I can acquire in a few hours what took him or her a lifetime of reflection and insight to realize. Despite that, on occasion, I have heard lectures that have moved me deeply. Recently, someone sent me a lecture insisting that I watch it. It was by an American convert to Islam (I don’t like the word “revert,” as we don’t revert to Islam; we convert – unless one was a Muslim, left it, and then returned), Dr. Jeffrey Lang, about the purpose of life. I found this lecture to be the most powerful I have ever heard from an American Muslim.

Afke van Rijn and Dutch Delegation Less Than Honest During CEDR Review (Video)

The Roberson Report
Medea Media 2015©

The Barometer of Islamic Society

Source: blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com

By: Abdul-Baseer

In many countries, a yearly address is given to highlight the current status of society such as the State of the Union address delivered annually by the President of the USA.  These addresses tend to focus on economics as economics is the largest factor in voting and politics, as though money is not a measure of happiness in life, it correlates with political satisfaction.  Yet, as Muslims striving in the cause of Allah , we should have our own criterion to determine if our society is in a positive state or in a decline.  We should not depend on rulers or mass media which are not always honest or may be under coercive measures and far from independent, to avoid bias or false perceptions.

15 Things To Start Doing For Yourself

By: Joe Martino

Source: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/07/18/15-things-to-start-doing-for-yourself/

Start Spending Time With The “Right” People – Spend time with people you enjoy -who bring you up instead of push you down. Sure there are always lessons we can learn from others but you don’t need to continue hanging around with and associating with people who you know bring in an offsetting vibe. Learn what you need to from them about yourself and move on. I have found that the longer I let things linger with people simply because I feel I’m supposed to never let them bother me, the worse a situation gets as I’m not taking care of myself. You can’t change others, so focus on you and spend time with those who resonate with you the most.

Start Loving & Being Nicer To Yourself – Think about how you speak to yourself sometimes – how does it sound? What do you say? Unless you are already great at self talk and have a solid connection to the love that you are, it’s likely you say some nasty things to yourself. Whether it be about your appearance, performance on something or your ability to do something you want to do, it’s easy for us to tear ourselves down. Now imagine someone else was saying all those things to you instead. Would it be nice of that person? Of course not. So why do we choose to not be nice to ourselves? Learning to love ourselves and cut out the nasty talk is so important. Be sure to be aware of what you are saying to yourself. >

Start Being Fully Honest With Yourself  – Being fully honest with yourself is so important as we can get caught up in convincing ourselves that various things don’t bother us or aren’t a challenge for us. We even be guilty to avoid admitting certain characteristics about the current version of ourselves. Honesty is needed in every aspect of our lives whether it’s with other people, ourselves, our work and so on. The more honest we are, the more we can grow from our experiences and keep things simple. You learn a lot about yourself when you are honest.

Start Facing Your Challenges Head On – We always want our problems or challenges to just go away. But most of the time it isn’t quite that simple. We need to take some sort of action steps. Choose to do something about the challenges you face as opposed to letting them linger and simply complaining about them. We have the choice and control, it’s time to embrace that power. If it helps, choose one problem or challenge you face right now, and write out some things you can do to get it moving forward.

Start Listening To Your Own Inner Voice – Whether you want to call it your inner voice, your heart, gut feelings, intuition, soul, higher self, higher perspective or any other name you give to the real YOU that is beyond your mind, listening to that voice a little more often makes a big difference in your life. It’s YOU! It’s there to guide you, show you your passions and what paths make the most sense for you at any given moment. The more you listen to it means the less you listen to the mind which can often over analyze or bring emotional patterns into your decisions. Listening to your inner voice is following your heart.

Start Living In The NOW – This was one of the most powerful things for me to implement in my life. I’m not saying I’m always in the now as certainly I get stuck thinking about the past or future in ways that cause suffering, but using this tool as much as possible is huge. Everything you have or are is all happening right now and you only have the now. Even in a future moment it is still the now. When you pay attention to what is happening now you give your whole self to what you are doing and that brings much peace and joy. The past or future can be used as a reference to make adjustments in the now, but avoid fretting or worrying about either. The dwelling will only cause suffering. There is much beauty happening now that you won’t want to miss.

Start Valuing What Your “Mistakes” Teach You – I don’t believe there are mistakes in life. Simply, we make choices and they play out experiences. Deep down we have an understanding of what is right and wrong and we live by that. When it comes to smaller choices where we make decisions and they end up in less favorable outcomes, there is a lot to learn from them. Taking risks sometimes results in a stumble or a fall, but this will teach you so much about yourself and the journey you make through each experience. We focus so much on the end goal and how it came to be defined rather than all we learned along the way. There are no mistakes. Value what you learn from every journey.

Start Being Yourself Completely – You are an awesome unique individual, no matter what anyone says. Embracing that is often so difficult because we have social pressures as well as ideas of ourselves (often based on social pressures) that get in the way of us being real. Deep down we all know who we are, what we love and how we want to be, it’s just a matter of getting used to being that when we have gotten used to putting something else “on” for so long. It can be scary for sure, we are putting ourselves out there and if people don’t accept us it can hurt. But the truth is, you will be amazed at how much people love you and are appreciative of what you resonate when you are truly being yourself. People can feel when others aren’t embracing their true selves and this is what usually creates interesting experiences.

Start Enjoying & Appreciating What You Already Have – Sometimes we get caught up in chasing things like money and other material possessions. While these things are not bad to experience or have, it’s important not to get stuck in the idea that “I will be happy once I get these things.” Too often we are waiting around for the “best” situation to play out for us, all the while missing out on the experiences that are right in front of us. Where we have food, shelter, friends, family and life. We also can get caught up in comparing ourselves to others and what they have. Before you go to bed, mid day or even when you wake up, remember all that you have and this will help to keep you out of the chase for more. After all, when you finally get the things you desire, won’t the mind just look for more if we let it?

Start Being Accountable & Creating Your Own Joy – When we look outside ourselves to create joy or peace in our lives we basically give up our own power in doing so. The truth is, you already have all it takes to feel great in your life and sometimes it’s about taking the action to make that the case. In our culture most of the time we assume that happiness will come from others and from things and when we get everything in line we will be OK -Let’s break this habit and start by finding the power inside each of us to begin creating joy now.

Start Helping People Around You – Regardless of what society may suggest is the case, we are all in this together and connected to one another. Caring about people and assisting them in their own journey, in whatever form that comes in, is a great way to connect with others and use your unique skills. On top of that you create a sharing relationship with those people so that exchanges can continue down the road. You aren’t doing it to get something in return, but rather to extend love outwards only to see it come back in whatever form it does.

Start Accepting Things Even If They Aren’t Perfect – Really, what is perfect? Sometimes we have a tough time accepting things when they aren’t perfect, but perfection is simply an idea your mind created. We can get caught up in things in our world not appearing exactly as we wish to see them, but much of it is us learning to be at peace with how things unfold. We can only take actions on things we have control over. This isn’t to say you need to settle for everything, but rather, don’t obsess over the small details and instead be at peace with where things are at in this moment.

Start Paying Attention to How You Feel About Things – Often times we might feel a particular way about something but we don’t take it seriously or voice it because we don’t understand it or don’t want to share it with others. How you feel deep down about something is important and we should certainly value that. Social pressures don’t outweigh how you feel inside about something so feel free to understand that feeling and own it versus burying it. Often we can hide these feelings inside only to later realize many others felt the same about something but didn’t say anything because they were all afraid as well. Your voice and heart can impact others. Don’t be afraid to speak.

Start Focusing On The Possibilities Of Things vs Them Not Working Out – Have you ever heard the idea that if you believe it, it will happen? Now of course this isn’t quite the full story, but believing in possibility has a big impact on not only your own effort and motivation around something but also how others will perceive it. If you want to do something in your life, believe you can do it and avoid thinking negatively about the outcome. “This would never happen to me.” Or “Good things never happen to me.” This type of self talk and lack of believing in self can quickly kill what you are trying to achieve in life. Focus on what you want to happen and how you want to go about it. Focusing on the “negative” won’t do much but make the whole situation feel “negative.”

An honest Israeli Jew tells the Real Truth about Israel (Video)

 Miko Peled was born in Jersusalem into a famous and influential Israeli Zionist family. His father was a famous General in the Israeli Army, of which Miko also served his time. When Miko’s niece was killed by Palestinian suicide bombers, you may have expected the family to put Palestinians at fault, but surprisingly they blamed the state of Israel, and their violent torturing and persecution for driving people to such sadness that they would take their own lives. Through his father’s deep knowledge of the Israeli war of terror, together with his own research, Miko Peled ruins the myths surrounding the Israel and Palestine situation, and delivers a truth so damning that many Jews and Israel supporters will not be able to bear it. He reveals facts such as the original expelled Jews are not the ones returning, and they are not their descendants either, covers the double standards regarding the right of return, which doesn’t apply to Palestinians, and dispels the myth that there has been a conflict for ages by producing proof that it was peaceful up until 1947 when Israel launched their illegal attacks.

You must be a warrior of the truth, you must dispel illusion, so that the honest truth can reign supreme in your world.

 You must be a warrior of the truth, you must dispel illusion, so that the honest truth can reign supreme in your world.
 Usted debe ser un guerrero de la verdad, se debe disipar la ilusión, para que la verdad honesta puede reinar en su mundo.
 U moet een krijger van de waarheid zijn, moet je illusie te verdrijven, zodat de eerlijke waarheid opperste kan regeren in jullie wereld.
 Vous devez être un guerrier de la vérité, vous devez dissiper l’illusion, de sorte que la vérité honnête peut régner dans votre monde.
 Sie müssen ein Krieger der Wahrheit zu sein, müssen Sie Illusion zu zerstreuen, so dass die ehrliche Wahrheit kann höchsten in Ihrer Welt zu herrschen.
 Nín bìxū shì zhēnlǐ de zhànshì, nǐ bìxū dǎxiāo huànxiǎng, shǐ chéngshí de zhēnxiàng kěyǐ zài nǐ de shìjiè li zhìgāowúshàng de tǒngzhì.
 Du måste vara en krigare av sanningen, måste du skingra illusionen, så att den ärliga sanningen kan vara allenarådande i din värld.
 Vy dolzhny byt’ voinom istiny , neobkhodimo razveyat’ illyuziyu , tak chto chistaya pravda mozhet bezrazdel’no vlastvovat’ v vashem mire.
 Dürüst gerçek dünyanda yüce saltanat böylece gerçeğin bir savaşçı olmalı, sen, illüzyon gidermek gerekir.
 Devi essere un guerriero della verità, è necessario dissipare un’illusione, perché la verità onesta può regnare supremo nel vostro mondo.
 Anda harus menjadi pejuang kebenaran, Anda harus menghilangkan ilusi, sehingga kebenaran yang jujur ​​dapat memerintah tertinggi di dunia Anda.

Instead of complaining about the fast diminishing number of honest, kind, sincere, upright people in the world, I should strive to be one.

 Instead of complaining about the fast diminishing number of honest, kind, sincere, upright people in the world, I should strive to be one.
 En lugar de quejarse de la disminución del número rápido de honesto, amable, sincero, personas íntegras en el mundo, me esfuerzo por ser uno.
 In plaats van klagen over het snel afnemende aantal eerlijk, vriendelijk, oprecht, rechtschapen mensen in de wereld, zou ik ernaar streven om een te zijn.
 Au lieu de se plaindre de la diminution du nombre de rapide honnêtes, aimables, sincères, honnêtes gens dans le monde, je m’efforce d’être un.
 Statt zu klagen über die immer knapper Anzahl der ehrlich, freundlich, aufrichtig, aufrecht Menschen in der Welt, sollte ich danach streben, einer zu sein.
 Ér bùshì bàoyuàn chéngshí, shànliáng, zhēnchéng, zhèngzhí de rén zài shìjiè shàng de xùnsù jiǎnshǎo duōshǎo, wǒ yīnggāi nǔlì zuò dào de.
 I stället för att klaga på det snabba minskande antalet ärliga, vänliga, ärlig, hederlig människor i världen, skulle jag sträva efter att vara en.
 Vmesto togo, chtoby zhalovat’sya na bystro umen’sheniyu chisla chestnyy, dobryy , iskrenniy, vertikal’nykh lyudey v mire , ya dolzhen stremit’sya byt’ odnim.
 Bunun yerine dünyada dürüst, nazik, samimi, dik insanların hızla azalan sayıda şikayet, ben biri olmak için gayret göstermelisiniz.
 Invece di lamentarsi diminuzione del numero veloce oneste, gentili, sinceri, giusti nel mondo, dovrei sforzo di essere uno.
 Daripada mengeluh tentang berkurangnya jumlah cepat jujur, baik, tulus, orang yang jujur ​​di dunia, saya harus berusaha untuk menjadi satu.

Being open and honest is the water that nurtures the tree of love and keeps it from drying out and becoming brittle.

 Being open and honest is the water that nurtures the tree of love and keeps it from drying out and becoming brittle.
 Ser abierto y honesto es el agua que nutre el árbol del amor y evita que se seque y se vuelva quebradizo.
 Open en eerlijk is het water dat de boom van de liefde voedt en houdt het tegen uitdrogen en broos.
 Être ouvert et honnête est l’eau qui nourrit l’arbre de l’amour et l’empêche de se dessécher et devenir cassant.
 Offen und ehrlich ist das Wasser, das den Baum der Liebe pflegt und hält sie vor dem Austrocknen und spröde.
 Zuòwéi gōngkāi hé chéngshí shì yùnyù àiqíng de shù, bìng cóng gānzào hé biàn cuì bǎochí tā de shuǐ.
 Att vara öppen och ärlig är det vatten som vårdar trädet av kärlek och håller den från att torka ut och blir sprött.
 Byt’ otkrytym i chestnym yavlyayetsya voda, kotoraya pitayet derevo lyubvi i derzhit yego ot vysykhaniya i stanovitsya khrupkim.
 Açık ve dürüst olmanın sevgi ağacı besler ve kurumasını ve kırılgan hale gelen tutar sudur.
 Essere aperti e onesti è l’acqua che alimenta l’albero di amore e mantiene dalla disidratazione e diventando fragile.
 Bersikap terbuka dan jujur ​​adalah air yang memelihara pohon cinta dan menyimpannya mengering dan menjadi rapuh.

A few words can ruin an honest relationship between friends and family and it can also mend issues depending on how they are said.

 A few words can ruin an honest relationship between friends and family and it can also mend issues depending on how they are said.
 Algunas palabras pueden arruinar una relación honesta entre amigos y familiares y también puede reparar los problemas en función de cómo se dice.
 Een paar woorden kan een eerlijke relatie tussen vrienden en familie ruïneren en het kan ook problemen herstellen, afhankelijk van hoe ze worden gezegd.
 Quelques mots peuvent ruiner une relation honnête entre les amis et la famille et il peut également réparer les problèmes en fonction de la façon dont ils sont dits.
 Ein paar Worte können eine ehrliche Beziehung zwischen Freunden und Familie zu ruinieren und es kann auch Probleme je nachdem, wie man sagt, sie zu flicken.
 Jǐ jù huà jiù kěyǐ huǐ diào péngyǒu hé jiārén zhī jiān de zhēnchéng de guānxì, tóngshí yě kěyǐ gēnjù tāmen shì rúhé shuō bǔ wèntí.
 Några ord kan förstöra en ärlig relation mellan vänner och familj och det kan också laga problem beroende på hur de sägs.
 Neskol’ko slov mozhet razrushit’ chestnyye otnosheniya mezhdu druz’yami i sem’yey , a takzhe mozhet ispravit’ problemy v zavisimosti ot togo, kak oni skazali.
 Birkaç kelime arkadaşlar ve aile arasında dürüst bir ilişki berbat edebilirsiniz ve aynı zamanda dediler nasıl bağlı sorunları düzeltmeye olabilir.
 Poche parole possono rovinare un rapporto onesto tra amici e parenti e si può anche riparare i problemi a seconda di come si dice.
 Beberapa kata dapat merusak hubungan yang jujur ​​antara teman-teman dan keluarga dan juga dapat memperbaiki masalah tergantung pada bagaimana mereka dikatakan.