Sufism

 In popular culture, Sufism is an off branch of Islam because it was initiated by Islamic saints. In reality, it is not only about Islamic influence. Sufism is an amalgamation of many spiritual ideas into one and is a wide perspective beyond one religion or path. It is a way of life through monotheism. Sufism believes in the idea of a personal God; it is a popular saying, " If you don't have a God, find Yours." Your God can be an idea, ideology, path, religion, field of work, place, person, or all of it culminated into one. There is no definite directive to reach God. Like other religious ways, Sufism also has sub-branches, created by the great mystics when they came in contact with different places, cultures and religions. One of the easiest ways of concentration and meditation (the chief practices of spirituality) under the Chishti order is through art and music. Spirituality channels one's faith towards their innermost being, the soul. Sufism is a branch of spirituality that often treats the element of 'God' as one with the self, a lover and a person. This personification of God often leads to the romanticising of him in poems, stories and songs that are now part of the popular culture and literature.

Understanding Love apart from the love for people, attachment, and materialism is difficult. But it is the ultimate Love every soul craves for. Those who say Love is short-term are wrong. Love can never be counted in years. It is eternal. Those who call modern love realistic are wrong. Love is madness. Love is devotion. It is in every poem and music. It is the Muse and the Muser. It is the realm of creativity and imagination. It lives in hearts that worship hope. It was and always will be like a dream, away from the reality of the world. People perish. Love remains. Souls become Love itself. That is the ultimate destination of souls seeking Love. Because Love is the most powerful magic of spirituality.

~ Suranya

Karma

 We have a popular term in the millennial "Karma is a bitch." Now, what is this Karma? Unlike the popular use of the word, in Hinduism, Karma literally translates to "Action". According to science, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Karma too works like that. Whatever good we do comes back to us in the forms we need it to. And the bad we do takes away from us something which was perhaps precious in some other form. It is a concept of people to take the meaning of "You get what you do" in a literal sense. We do not get what we do back exactly the same way. But every action is accounted for by some reaction in a way. Good Karma and Bad Karma are both equally impactful, and they do not nullify each other. Even when you commit one sin, knowingly, and do a thousand other good deeds later, they never take away your sins. Mistakes, on the other hand, are a human nature. We continue to make mistakes until we get things right and learn our lessons. If a mistake unknowingly leads to wrongdoing, doing what comes at you is often less than what would have been if you were aware and yet indulged in such wrongdoing. Wrong, although it depends on a perspective, can always account for harming other living beings, if not for the food chain or protecting yourself, in any form, physically or mentally or disrespecting them in any form of intolerance. To a mystic, who chooses no religion but the science of the soul, spirituality, nothing in this world comes for free. Our good deeds are always rewarded, and bad deeds are punished. We may forget our actions and blame the reaction on fate, but it is always our own Karma. Hence, a mystic never seeks revenge or hates someone. He knows that the person who hurts another willingly will get his punishment from the Universe.

~ Suranya

Drift

Would you care if I told you we were drifting apart?

Slowly, silently and perhaps effortlessly,

We are moving away from each other.

Would you care if I told you, none of us care? 

That we have grown out of love, 

That once seemed like a dream?

How many days, months or years?

Exactly how long is forever? 

For I had written my forever with you, 

Believed in fairytales like faith, 

Wished upon shooting stars, 

Knowing the sciences.

I had written fate with you, 

Deciding on destiny for us against all odds, 

Naive as I was, not knowing, 

That forever could also be a never,

 And upon fate, even time couldn't write over.

~ Suranya

Travel

 The most popular conception is that travel enriches the soul. It is because the more we explore nature - different places, people, culture, and tradition, the more our vision can be widened. We can find out how even contrasting lifestyles or ideologies can be equally right and how there are endless possibilities in the world. Nature, in no two places on this planet, is exactly the same, and that's where the beauty of the flora and fauna lies. With a wider view, more of a bird's eye view of the world, we can understand how nature, in its completely unique and different qualities, still coexist in harmony without losing their elements. A more spiritual reason to travel would be to explore ourselves and people, and places. We often connect to a place or person more than others in strange ways. And while we travel, we find out our preferences a bit more specifically. While the most popular choices lie between seas and mountains, there is perhaps this one place you feel connected to, in ways and reasons unidentified. We cannot explain why, but our heart and mind have these few places with their culture, flavour, view and experience imprinted on our mind forever, even attracting us back to them once in a while. These certain places with their major elements (i.e. wind, water, earth, fire) can act as the catalyst to grow a wider perspective for our mind and soul or act as an inspiration for our art. We may discover stories otherwise unknown to us, or flavours otherwise untasted. Hence, we often discover our 'It' place for life.

~ Suranya

Today

The blue skies are gone, 

The white clouds have faded into black ones.

Now the vision is blurred in grey hues.

The air is claustrophobic.

We shut the doors and windows to it now.

The rains that once were welcome breath 

Now most harmful even to trees.

Heavens turn to hell in ear-deafening gunshots.

Blood soaks the valleys that once nurtured mystics,

They are now a glory of the past.

Mothers and cubs are killed with promises of protection, 

Forests are cut down for industrialisation.

The birds find no holes for their nests.

Men who build monuments of marble 

It could provide not a tiny gap for these poor creatures.

Those houses on the streets, 

Where wine flows free, and sumptuous food is laid,

Where clothes and houses are status symbols, 

Pictures posted for validation,

Dreams are shallow 

And relationships astray.

Selfish, hated, cruel, intolerant, 

Humanity is breathing its last.

Where is the hope we had in the past? 

Is there a Saviour coming on his white horse?

His thunder-like sword to bolt the evil?

Is his bravery and might enough to protect the balance?

Or the World will die a slow death 

Hoping for a miracle never to be?

~ Suranya

Destiny

 We often hear, "What is meant to be always finds a way." And also "Man makes his own destiny." Now, one may think these are contradictory statements. On one hand, we leave our life on faith, astrology, numerology, palmistry and every other possible way that can determine our future. On the other hand, we find it hard to believe that hard work can't change our destiny. Now, the first statement talks of Fate and the second about Destiny. There is a basic difference between Fate and Destiny. Fate is our destination, where we inevitably reach. The predictions, hence, give us such points in our lives, like stoppages for a bus, where we will reach because of Fate. It is predetermined. But how we reach, which road we take and how hard life is, is in our hands. The journey is made through our thoughts, ideas, decisions and actions. Even the smallest of actions can change our destiny and determine bliss or pain. In a broader perspective, we all have the same destiny. All that lives eventually dies. But the souls live on. And our destiny often decides its journey. It is hence important to balance our materialistic and spiritual sides. If we indulge fully in materialism, it hinders the growth of our soul, and if we incline to spirituality, our comfort in life is at stake. So we need to have a clear view of our lives to make or break our destiny.

~ Suranya

Moments

We learn about Past, Present and Future Tenses in school. What has been, what is, and what will be. What creates moments? The word 'moment' in general refers to a short span of time that one remembers because of the good or bad occurrences that may change one's course of life. Moments of the past create memories, and that in the future, create Dreams. It is the decisions and actions of these moments that define the bigger picture of life. The key is in NOW. We often plan ahead and overthink the scenarios so much that it ruins our present. And when things do not go as planned, we regret the entire planning process we wasted our past time in. Hence, both the present and either the future or the past time are wasted. Materialistic planning, like career, money or property investment, is needed, and these plans often work on calculative measures, but planning our future situations only leads to unwanted expectations and disappointment. We should never overthink scenarios and situations beyond our control because, in these cases, mostly the outcomes involve others. We should be grateful for today, and cherish our now in every moment, so that when we look back on the past, we have wonderful memories and lessons, where we learnt and grew into better souls. 

~ Suranya

Paths

 Suppose we are on a road. We come across a crossroad with many pathways. We all know that if we choose one out of two or more roads, it means we shut out the option of using others. Even if all the paths travel to the same destination, we choose the one best suited for us, preferably short and easy. But the natural beauty and struggles of the other paths remain a mystery to us then. Following any faith blindly without understanding its significance is like following one road and shunning the rest. Spirituality is like the heart of faith. It gives us a broader and more tolerant view of all the paths, like a bird's eye view from where we can see and understand all the paths, their lessons and that all lead us to the same destination, with their own sets of norms and rituals and wonderful scientific reasoning behind each faith. This wider perspective of life makes us choose to learn and be aware without choosing a definite path to follow. Because we know, no matter which path we choose, it all leads to the knowledge of the soul, within us. The key to reaching our destination is to understand the questions our souls ask with our instinct and look for the answers. All the paths are open for us to explore and acknowledge as long as we ask the right questions.

~ Suranya

Questions

 Since we were children, we have asked questions about the unknown. We try and learn everything we do not know. We are eager. The unknown attracts our curiosity. But as we grow up, we develop a fear of being vulnerable, use a mask of ego, of knowing everything under the sun, and refuse to accept that we may not know of something relevant. Hence, we stop asking questions. The most common thought is What are the right questions. The answer is simple. Anything you want to know and understand is the right question. It can be as simple as what colour the wall is or as complex as what a soul is. As long as you ask something because you want to know from within, it is the right question. As long as it is not influenced by ideas of making an impression and asking because people expect you to ask the right question, curiosity is not wrong. That is how a soul grows. It is a mystery that directs us to our fate with instinct. What our instincts make us do is always the right choice or an important lesson. The second thought comes to whom to ask. If we find no one satisfying us with their answers, we know that it's not the answer our soul is actually looking for. Hence, we end up asking the Divinity, hoping for an answer, as a last resort. Once we leave it on the Divine faith, it is actually our inner soul that answers us, with the knowledge it already has in the subconscious through the occurrences, thoughts, decisions or actions that follow the question. Our conscious or subconscious mind knows all the answers to the questions we ask and want to discover.

~ Suranya

Time

 WHEN WE SEE THE PRESENT IN THE FUTURE IT IS ACTUALLY THE PAST.

-SURANYA

Bibliophile

How two people read a book is perhaps the same. How they understand it is always different.

~ Suranya

Tum

Mujhe yoon Tumse dur maat karo. 

Kisi aur ke kareeb jane ke liye 

Tumse door hona manzoor nahi mujhe.

- Suranya

Looking for Heaven

 I went in search of heaven.

I looked across all lands.

Hills, seas, snow-clad peaks, 

Deserts and sand.

I looked across concrete jungles, 

And beautiful ruins of the past.

Heaven was far from sight, 

Sad, I stopped at last.

Then You smiled at my attempts.

Held my hand and took me there.

A room full of mirrors.

Thousands of reflections.

Millions of You and I.

You looked at my tanned skin, 

My weary eyes and bags under them.

Wiser I was, yet not awakened.

You held my hand and whispered with a smile

 "There you go, your heaven."

And I looked in deeper to find 

That You and I were one in them.

And enlightened I was for 

I understood Heaven had been in 

Me all along, 

So were You.

~ Suranya