Sunday, January 21, 2007 @ 2.00 PM, at Living Arts Centre (Canon Digital Studio), 4141 Living Arts Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA  

The whole idea of mental exercises is to start a process of self analysis and examine deeply imbedded ideas and beliefs in a conscious and rational manner. The writer has been motivated to dig out the dark recesses of entrenched feelings and rudimentary innate knowledge, and put them on the table, to share with people who usually look at things from an angle of enquiry and a questioning perspective.

It is rather difficult to doff the garb one has been used to for so long. Old habits die hard, but, for progress and development to proceed ideas should evolve to match the change accompanying the passage of time. Evolution of thought leads to progress, and a balanced evolution is necessary for a durable effect. Balanced evolution is brought about by incorporating experiences and time tested ideas of the past into the practice of the present. This may eventually bear fruit in the future. A new age perspective is needed for the examination of even the axioms of the past. There is no need to tamper with them as they are for all time. Yet their dimensions can be grasped differently and they can be understood in the context of the present situation, giving a new perspective to the existing scenario and a new glow to the future.

It is hoped that these Essays will be read with an open mind and be given calm and diligent thought before discard and rejection. Since each essay was written independently there may be repetition or duplication of some ideas, yet each has a topic of its own. The overall emphasis is on the universal mode of evolution in all aspects of life. This is the central and underlying idea of the essays.

The initial target audience is all those who have started thinking about religion and religiosity and specially Islam since 9/11. Those young, newly migrated Muslims, who may have had to grapple with some sort of a cultural shock in a foreign land. Having faced it they begin to question their deep seated beliefs and fears. The effect on different individual is different, some become reactionaries and fundamentalists; some lose all interest in religious thought and some take a non caring attitude towards spirituality. The only way to handle such a situation is to re-examine one’s ideas in a rational manner, and in the light of the present conditions. Readers looking for a different approach to Islam and religion in general will, perhaps find the essays interesting and cajoling. As learning is a two way street it is hoped that an interaction can be established between various groups. A free and honest feedback, from any quarter, will always be welcome and encouraged.

Gone are the times when one could live in isolated compartments. Globalization has made it imperative to examine and understand others’ point of view in an atmosphere of accommodation and tolerance. Each one of us has to first see our own ideas in the present light, and then adjust them to match the change accompanying the inevitable evolution of the triad of the Mind, Body and Soul.



Ziauddin Ahmed
tidylink@Yahoo.com