I laughed, "You know what happened, this morning?"
"I'm listening!" The Ustad replied.
"I went to the tandoor (Bakery) for buy naan. There were customers before me, so I had to wait. Sitting on the front steps, two elderly men discussed politics, passionately. Both of them talked, simultaneously. Although it sounded more like an argument than a leisurely chatter, the people there watched the argument like some sort of comedy show. One of the men lost his temper and called the late Benazir Bhutto a name and the other man responded by punching him in the face. And, then, there was a freestyle wrestling. I guess the wrestling of old men was so rare that instead of stopping them, the small crowd started cheering them. I was getting late for college so I couldn't wait for the result of the match. All day, I kept thinking about the political arguments of those elderly men. If they were young men, I would blame the enthusiasm of the young age, and forget the event. They were retired men and belonged to a small tribe that had no influence in local, provincial and national politics, whatsoever. If it was a pleasure-chatter, it would make sense but fighting for something, they had no role made no sense to me...."
"I also have a neighbor who stops me, each time he sees me and breaks the news that never happened. " Ustand laughed. "But his news and analyses are very interesting, full of surprises!"
From bypass, I could see all sorts of flags. Usually, it was the brown-clouds (polluted air) that covered parts of the city that caught my attention but that day, I especially noticed the assortments of the flags.
"I think, politics is more potent opium than religion!" I commented.
"Even if had the power to ban on religion and politics, people find other means to argue!" Ustad responded, "Most of the time, it is not religion or politics that creates conflicts but men's self-love. Politics and religions become tools of expressions for those self-loves..."
I thought, Ustad was also "breaking a news", so,
"But there are people who sacrifice themselves for their religions and political parties?" I disagreed.
"Let me explain!" Ustad smiled.
"I'm listening!"
"Unlike most of the animals, humans give birth to the "immature" babies that are dependent on their parents for everything. When they grow up, while they strive all their lives, they remain dependent on others and the process of growing up never cease. You can imagine that humans never become "mature" and that's the reason for humans addiction to the idea of perfection, maturity or becoming no.1. Basically, humans know that they never achieve perfection, so, they seek it through other means, like a connection with a perfect being (God) via a "true" religion, or a best political system or finest culture or becoming no. 1 this and that. You know what I mean..."
"Yes, I got your point!" I replied, "But are you suggesting that narcissism is a byproduct of social life?"
"What I meant was that humans have an innate desire for liberation from imperfection or maturity and all the affiliations like religion or politics or other stuffs are mere expressions of it, whether, they realize it or not. Some may claim they love God or a saint or an ideology or things like that, but in fact, these all are expressions of the desire to be true, good or things like that..."
"Please don't mind!" I told Ustad, "but I find reductionist perspectives of things not beautiful."
"Well, then, your God is not beautiful!" Ustad laughed.
"Does it matter?" I laughed, too.
"God is the ultimate reductionist!"
"I also have a neighbor who stops me, each time he sees me and breaks the news that never happened. " Ustand laughed. "But his news and analyses are very interesting, full of surprises!"
From bypass, I could see all sorts of flags. Usually, it was the brown-clouds (polluted air) that covered parts of the city that caught my attention but that day, I especially noticed the assortments of the flags.
"I think, politics is more potent opium than religion!" I commented.
"Even if had the power to ban on religion and politics, people find other means to argue!" Ustad responded, "Most of the time, it is not religion or politics that creates conflicts but men's self-love. Politics and religions become tools of expressions for those self-loves..."
I thought, Ustad was also "breaking a news", so,
"But there are people who sacrifice themselves for their religions and political parties?" I disagreed.
"Let me explain!" Ustad smiled.
"I'm listening!"
"Unlike most of the animals, humans give birth to the "immature" babies that are dependent on their parents for everything. When they grow up, while they strive all their lives, they remain dependent on others and the process of growing up never cease. You can imagine that humans never become "mature" and that's the reason for humans addiction to the idea of perfection, maturity or becoming no.1. Basically, humans know that they never achieve perfection, so, they seek it through other means, like a connection with a perfect being (God) via a "true" religion, or a best political system or finest culture or becoming no. 1 this and that. You know what I mean..."
"Yes, I got your point!" I replied, "But are you suggesting that narcissism is a byproduct of social life?"
"What I meant was that humans have an innate desire for liberation from imperfection or maturity and all the affiliations like religion or politics or other stuffs are mere expressions of it, whether, they realize it or not. Some may claim they love God or a saint or an ideology or things like that, but in fact, these all are expressions of the desire to be true, good or things like that..."
"Please don't mind!" I told Ustad, "but I find reductionist perspectives of things not beautiful."
"Well, then, your God is not beautiful!" Ustad laughed.
"Does it matter?" I laughed, too.
"God is the ultimate reductionist!"
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