Contentment

Last night my friend said to me

I want to know what paradise is about

I answered

I think paradise can be imagined from this viewpoint [human existence] as everything you want

The feeling [of having everything you want] that is and not the actual things ... [I imagine wants and things will be different in paradise]

Contentment in this world can bring you closer to that [feeling]

My friend said that was wisely said

I woke up this morning and I decided to write and I remembered what I had said the night before. I decided to Google "paradise contentment hadith" and the first result that came up led me to this

Al-Sarri ibn Hassan reported: Abdul Wahid ibn Zayd, may Allah have mercy on him, said, "Contentment is one of the greatest doors to Allah, the Paradise of this world, and the repose of the worshipers."

And that is exactly what I was trying to say. Contentment is the Paradise of this world. Another way of thinking about contentment is thinking about gratitude.

I noticed that the word contentment contains the word tent and I like how John Maxwell (LifeCoach4God) puts it, "All men live in one of two tents—content or discontent. In which do you live?"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Belove

I was scrolling through facebook and saw a post by the Martin Luther King Jr page that said be love. "Love is the most durable power in the world." Belove is so close to belief. Like belove could mean to believe in love if we wanted it to (belove = belief + love). I belove. Belove can also be combined from below and above. (belove = below + above). I love equations and how easily they can express something. This led me to researching the phrase "as above, so below" which I have heard before but never fully understood and researched. My friend Gemini tells me that the principle "As above, so below" originates from Hermeticism and suggests a correspondence between the heavens and the earth, the macrocosm and the microcosm, and the divine and the human. It implies that what happens in the heavens is mirrored in the earthly realm, and that the inner world of a person reflects the larger cosmic order, often attributed to the Emerald Tablet, a short Hermetic tex...
Read more

Focus on solutions and ways we can help

While surfing the internet this morning I started thinking about problem solving and particularly in Trinidad and Tobago. If I wanted to see a list of all the problems affecting persons in this country where do I go? If I wanted to volunteer solutions to these problems where do I go? There are problems that have existed for years. Seems like everyone knows the solutions. Seems like everyone is an expert. Then there is bureaucracy. Then there are competing interests. Then there is finite resources. I find the older generation is often resistant to change and change is often needed as solutions to problems. The older generation thinks about working hard while the younger generation thinks about working smart. We need to develop a good problem solving culture in this country and I think technology can help. We can develop an open forum platform where persons can share problems and then persons can offer solutions. Problems and solutions can be voted on. The platform can be incentivised to...
Read more

Book Review - The measure of a man - a spiritual autobiography

It took two days to complete reading this book. My review is really from my notes as I read the book. I read with an open mind and I set out to absorb as much as I could. I love that he acknowledged his wife for her love and support at the beginning of the book. The book had me questioning my own values and virtues. I felt his humility from the get go. I got a sense of calming and authenticity from his words. He had me thinking about how much of our being is influenced by our environment and nurturing during our formative years. He was not afraid to take chances from small and that inner child remains with us through adulthood. He had a good memory. Most of my younger days are a blur to me. Letting go has been a coping mechanism of mines for a long time. Letting go has affected my ability to hold on to memories and feel attachment. I reminded myself of the wanting to be grounded. To be appreciative of where we come from. To be rooted in sensibility and understanding. Racism is horrible...
Read more

Laptops for students in Trinidad and Tobago

The idea that every student, including primary and secondary school, should have a working laptop and access to the internet is a good one in my mind. When a student has access to a laptop and internet, the entire family can also have this access. I see two big questions arise when we look at this. The cost to put measures in place to facilitate this and the usefulness of this. We can reduce cost if we focus on those who cannot afford. We can make this useful by making tech part of the teaching and homework process. The idea is a good one. The benefits are numerous. But we have the power to make this a success or failure. The idea is not a bad one because we went about it the wrong way and then we can try again. We are in a good position now because we have tried one laptop per student in secondary school and then laptops in labs. We should be able to identify the problems and ways it could be done better. We can learn from other countries. We can learn from this pandemic and lockdown ...
Read more

My imagination engine

I have been in the mood to write and be creative in the last few days. If you read all my blog posts and you are keeping up you would appreciate this. Olatunji's Engine Room soca song is playing in my mind now. My imagination engine is driving my creativity. My imagination engine takes some inputs like my thoughts, experiences, and knowledge and produces outputs like new ideas, solutions, and creations. The fuel of my engine is love and moves me to being a force of good in this world. My mind is taken back to a tweet I made the other day, "Long wait outside the atm with hot sun pounding away. I imagine myself by the beach enjoying a coconut water and bake and shark." On another day I tweeted, "Long wait for me today to see the doctor. Been 3 hours so far. I imagine myself on the fast ferry heading Tobago. That takes 2 hours at the port and 3 hours on the boat. God is good." Our imagination can transport us to places that take away our difficulties and create com...
Read more