Live In the Present Moment: A Sufi Way to Productive Living

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 1 September 2022 “Live in this moment for, future is uncertain The moment gone by, will never return What's going to happen is beyond your ken Enjoy life as you never know, when's your turn " Omar Khayyam, translated into English by the author “Our existence hinges on this very moment Enjoy it or else, you'll repent” Jami (Molla Cami in Turkey), Translated From Dari by the Author Representative Image ---- A man went to a mystic and asked him to suggest a simple solution to his constant fears and apprehensions. The mystic asked the man, what troubled him? The man said that he was always scared that he would lose his job, his wife would leave him and his children wouldn't look after him when he would grow old. The sage was amused to hear the imaginary fears of the man and told him that all his fears and apprehensions were imaginary and concocted. Not a single fear came true as yet, still he was tense. ‘Don’t cook up baseless fears and spoil your today for an unseen tomorrow,' the mystic advised the man. We're all like this man: Scared of a tomorrow that we've not yet seen. Most of our fears are on our mind and we swell them up by continuously brooding over them. We indeed spoil the joys of today by thinking too much on tomorrow's imaginary worries. Psychologists are of the view that very few worries and problems in life are actual worries and problems. Many times, the problems we expect to befall, never take place. Always thinking of future worries produces negativity. It's extreme pessimism and when the mind gets used to such unfounded worries that have not yet happened, we invite them to strike us! Worries, happiness, sorrows and all emotions are on our mind. We make them happen because of the way we think. If we start thinking that our offspring will not look after us, our attitude towards them will be rather casual and negative and this will influence our kids' attitude towards us in the long run. Eventually, they too won't look after their parents because their parents didn't treat them well! Our baseless worries and assumptions made us behave with our children the way we thought as to how they would behave in future. So, stop worrying about the fears that've no base and don't make them happen by thinking too deeply about them. Rumi's master Fariduddin Attar pithily said, ' Fear of tomorrow brings sorrow/ don’t kill your today with this arrow. ' Yet another educative, but blood-curdling Sufi story comes to my mind. Mansur-Al-Hallaj was condemned to death by unpeeling the skin. The judge told him, " Mansur, your skin would be peeled off tomorrow for your audacious proclamation of An-al-Haq (I'm the Truth, equivalent of Aham Brahmasmi of the Eastern Consciousness). So, brace yourself. “Mansur was tried for the alleged blasphemy. He calmly replied, “Why to wait unnecessarily till tomorrow? Excoriate me right now so that I can be one with my Maker without delay." Al-Hallaj was hacked to pieces at that very moment. This macabre parable is used by all Sufis who don't want to wait to meet the almighty. In today's parlance of behavioural psychology, this is known as ' that precise psychological moment.' Every moment is a meeting moment for them (Sufis). Tomorrow doesn't exist for a Sufi. It (tomorrow) indeed doesn't exist for an evolved soul. So, why should an evolved and emancipated individual worry? We all should have the attitude of this Urdu poet: Ab Aage Jo Bhi Ho Anjaam Dekha Jayega/ Khuda Taraash Liya Aur Bandagi Kar Lee (Let anything happen in future/ I've sculpted god and worshipped it). ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/present-moment-sufi-way-productive-living/d/127852 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism