🔻 Religion isn’t bitter.
🔻 Life’s nature is such that there is some bitterness in it.
👉🏼 Destiny (15)
🔸There are bitter realities in this world from which religion rescues a person to some extent. #Religion isn’t bitter. It’s life’s nature that there is some bitterness in it. God has mentioned this bitterness, “Certainly We have created man to be in distress.” [Qur’an 90:4]
🔸In Letter no. 31 in Nahj al-Balaghah, #ImamAli (as), addressed his young son and described 14 features of youthhood, mostly referring to the bitterness of life. “[This letter is] from a mortal father… to a son who yearns for that which will not be achieved, is treading the path of those who have gone, is subject to ailments, is caught up in the days, is a target of hardships…”
🔸Religion tells a person, “Give me your hand so that I may release you from these #hardships a little and cause your bitterness to be #fruitful. Now that you pray, when you tolerate your problems and hardships, you will gain light. Even if you weren’t praying, you would have had to tolerate hardships but without gaining any light.
🔸Paying attention to this fact that God is #testing us is very useful for a person’s spirit. It doesn’t let a person become weighed down by useless and superfluous happiness, sorrows, fears, and anxieties. It removes grudges from a person’s heart and brings comfort. It also corrects a person’s relationship with God and eliminates arrogance. Of course, it also causes a person to become fearful and anxious with respect to God a little. But afterwards, affection is created in a person’s heart and he becomes dependent on God. This is because he now understands he isn’t so independent. Thus, he will supplicate and rely on God even more.
🔸Whoever fears being tested should follow this advice of Imam Ali (as), “If you fear something, throw yourself into it, because your fear is greater than the action itself.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, wisdom no. 175] After starting that action, you will see it wasn’t as frightening as you had thought. Once you have entered into the middle of a test, you will feel relieved.
#AliRezaPanahian
#Most_Determining_Factor
#Destiny
âś… @PanahianEN
🔻 Life’s nature is such that there is some bitterness in it.
👉🏼 Destiny (15)
🔸There are bitter realities in this world from which religion rescues a person to some extent. #Religion isn’t bitter. It’s life’s nature that there is some bitterness in it. God has mentioned this bitterness, “Certainly We have created man to be in distress.” [Qur’an 90:4]
🔸In Letter no. 31 in Nahj al-Balaghah, #ImamAli (as), addressed his young son and described 14 features of youthhood, mostly referring to the bitterness of life. “[This letter is] from a mortal father… to a son who yearns for that which will not be achieved, is treading the path of those who have gone, is subject to ailments, is caught up in the days, is a target of hardships…”
🔸Religion tells a person, “Give me your hand so that I may release you from these #hardships a little and cause your bitterness to be #fruitful. Now that you pray, when you tolerate your problems and hardships, you will gain light. Even if you weren’t praying, you would have had to tolerate hardships but without gaining any light.
🔸Paying attention to this fact that God is #testing us is very useful for a person’s spirit. It doesn’t let a person become weighed down by useless and superfluous happiness, sorrows, fears, and anxieties. It removes grudges from a person’s heart and brings comfort. It also corrects a person’s relationship with God and eliminates arrogance. Of course, it also causes a person to become fearful and anxious with respect to God a little. But afterwards, affection is created in a person’s heart and he becomes dependent on God. This is because he now understands he isn’t so independent. Thus, he will supplicate and rely on God even more.
🔸Whoever fears being tested should follow this advice of Imam Ali (as), “If you fear something, throw yourself into it, because your fear is greater than the action itself.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, wisdom no. 175] After starting that action, you will see it wasn’t as frightening as you had thought. Once you have entered into the middle of a test, you will feel relieved.
#AliRezaPanahian
#Most_Determining_Factor
#Destiny
âś… @PanahianEN
🔲 We can change our likings by controlling our mind.
🔲 If we don’t think about bad likings, they’ll get weaker. If we think about good likings, they’ll get stronger.
👉🏼 #ControllingMyMind (7)
➖Many people get annoyed when #religion tells them, "Don’t pursue bad interests," because they don’t have the strength to oppose their own interests. They are upset by religion’s command to "do good," because they’re not interested in doing good.
But religion says something even more important than this. It says, "Change your #interests,” or weaken bad interests and strengthen good ones.
➖Unlike animals, human beings "can change all their interests.” People can become interested in death, stop being attached to this world, and eliminate their jealousy and arrogance. God tells us, "Change your interests gradually. First plan and manage, then move forward." Western culture says, "Follow your interests!" But following interests without changing or managing them brings weakness.
➖There are 2 ways to change interests. One is our actions and behavior, especially if done continuously. The second is controlling our mind. We strengthen our interest in any subject we think and pay attention to. Don’t think about bad likings, & they’ll get weaker. Think about good likings, & they’ll get stronger. Imam Ali (as) said, “Whoever thinks much about enjoyments will be defeated.” [Ghurar al-Hikam, trad. no. 8,564]
➖Don’t pay attention to some things for even a moment, let alone think about them. Don’t even be aware of them. Mind management means controlling some of our awareness. Some knowledge is even forbidden, like hearing gossip. “A believer only uses his ears for gaining beneficial knowledge.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon no. 193] This is mind control.
➖The worst sins are committed in the mind. An example is hypocrisy. As soon as hypocritical thoughts come to your mind, that good deed is abolished! Arrogance and selfishness are even worse. The Messenger of God (s) said, “Sinning is better than avoiding sinning but becoming arrogant.” [Kafi, vol. 2, p. 313]. Arrogance is in the mind. It means looking only at your own effort and not at how many blessings God has given you.
âś… @PanahianEN
🔲 If we don’t think about bad likings, they’ll get weaker. If we think about good likings, they’ll get stronger.
👉🏼 #ControllingMyMind (7)
➖Many people get annoyed when #religion tells them, "Don’t pursue bad interests," because they don’t have the strength to oppose their own interests. They are upset by religion’s command to "do good," because they’re not interested in doing good.
But religion says something even more important than this. It says, "Change your #interests,” or weaken bad interests and strengthen good ones.
➖Unlike animals, human beings "can change all their interests.” People can become interested in death, stop being attached to this world, and eliminate their jealousy and arrogance. God tells us, "Change your interests gradually. First plan and manage, then move forward." Western culture says, "Follow your interests!" But following interests without changing or managing them brings weakness.
➖There are 2 ways to change interests. One is our actions and behavior, especially if done continuously. The second is controlling our mind. We strengthen our interest in any subject we think and pay attention to. Don’t think about bad likings, & they’ll get weaker. Think about good likings, & they’ll get stronger. Imam Ali (as) said, “Whoever thinks much about enjoyments will be defeated.” [Ghurar al-Hikam, trad. no. 8,564]
➖Don’t pay attention to some things for even a moment, let alone think about them. Don’t even be aware of them. Mind management means controlling some of our awareness. Some knowledge is even forbidden, like hearing gossip. “A believer only uses his ears for gaining beneficial knowledge.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon no. 193] This is mind control.
➖The worst sins are committed in the mind. An example is hypocrisy. As soon as hypocritical thoughts come to your mind, that good deed is abolished! Arrogance and selfishness are even worse. The Messenger of God (s) said, “Sinning is better than avoiding sinning but becoming arrogant.” [Kafi, vol. 2, p. 313]. Arrogance is in the mind. It means looking only at your own effort and not at how many blessings God has given you.
âś… @PanahianEN
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