Monday, May 15, 2006

Exclusive right to "Truth"

Message of my class over the weekend was "Let there be no compulsion in religion" and I made sure to drill this in all my student's heads very well. I must admit, lots of what I teach my kids is not something I have known for a long time either, I learn as I go. And it's the best feeling in the world to know that your personal belief matches your religious belief.

I asked my kids if they thought our religion believed in "Exlusivism" and most of them confidently said yes. I don't blame them, ofcourse they think that they've got an eclusive right on Truth because they haven't been told otherwise. Then I brought in the idea of "Inclusivism" and all of the sudden they felt more comfortable thinking that this makes more sense and again majority agreed on the idea of inclusivism. And then I introduced to them the idea of "Pluralism" and I gotta admit that I felt a little discomfort and even disappointment from the class when it was revealed to them that No, they don't have an exlusive right to "The Truth" if there's such a thing.

I don't know if the disappointment was because they lost what they thought they had or because their personal belief didn't match with their religious belief. Either way, I am honored to be a part of their journey to self discovery.

Om like the Islamic blog site Islamicate

Thursday, May 11, 2006

When I woke up..

After a night filled with music from Pixies, I went to bed knowing it would be difficult to wake up in an hour but my extreme exhaustion and my strong faith to be able to wake myself up was convincing enough. My faith didn't let me down, I did wake up. Several times. First it was at the Airport for the farewell of a friend. Next to say my goodbye to the favorites. Then at the international house of pancakes. Then outside of a country store sweating like a pig. Next time I found myself in a prison, not a prison but a replica in a prison museum. I woke up again in a shower this time to freshen up just so I can go to sleep without having to wake up again. My sleep was filled with a beautiful lie.

Om likes the Pixies

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Escape

Morning drive, hands down is the high point of my day everyday. Being in my car for over an hour in the morning feels like being in a twilight zone, where I am unaware of anything outside of that piece of metal and glass. I have driven down those roads so much that I need not to pay attention to signs, signals and traffic. My radio usually jumps between BBC news channel, morning show with Rod Ryan, local news and weather channel and a cd of my choice. While lost in those radio waves and the thoughts of my own, nothing can touch me, not the guy flicking at me for cutting him off, not the minor accident that is backing everyone up, and not even the slow drivers in the left most lane. Sometime those lame games like "make yo mama curse" make me crack up, that old song "Last Kiss" by pearl jam almost gives me teary eyes, hearing about poverty in Africa and riots in Kashmir rages me. But all these emotions take me away from me. I have everything on mind except for "my life" and that escape I figured is what I enjoy the most. I can't do that in any other part of my day.

Om listens to NPR

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Before 30 (another neverending blog)

I must I must I must write it down.

1- Sky dive atleast once. (Done!)
2- Learn another language.
3- Learn to play an instrument.
4- Learn to cook atleast one cuisine.
5- Learn to swim (*sigh*)
6- Get my Masters.

that's it for now.

Godot's got it goin on...

He really does and I don't get it. Loosing hair line, average looks, history of drug and alcohol use, and living with the parents but despite of all that he's the ladies man. Ok, let's list his cool points: umm... cool car, nice house, Educated, good taste in music, adventurous, confident, interesting to hang out with, nice clothes, classy personality, easy to get along and those weird yet cool eyewear... Oh I get it.

Om enjoyed reading Waiting for Godot