Khalid Latif – speaks about meditation in Muslim traditi

Khalid Latif
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The speaker discusses the importance of the idea of reflection, contemplation, and mindfulness in Islam. They emphasize that actions are not just the deed of the person, but the intentions of the person. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of using secshions to amplify and enhance understanding of the experience of the heart, and the need for a state of spiritual growth and excellence to reach a full potential.

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			I'm standing, by the way.
		
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			So
		
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			I think as I mentioned before, none of
		
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			our faiths actually have ownership over these values
		
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			or practices. But
		
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			the emphasis that is placed within our traditions
		
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			respectively, I think speaks very
		
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			well to the importance of these practices
		
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			and how we can actually utilize this as
		
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			a means to really build shared narrative.
		
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			For us in Islam,
		
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			the idea
		
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			of reflection,
		
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			contemplation,
		
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			mindfulness,
		
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			seeking solitude to better
		
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			Muhammad gets his initial revelation, it's after he
		
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			has had
		
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			a
		
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			real kind of relationship built with just seeking
		
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			solitude.
		
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			What our tradition tells us is that when
		
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			the initial revelation comes,
		
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			he is
		
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			sitting in solitude contemplating,
		
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			in the cave and isolation and seclusion from
		
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			society
		
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			so that he can understand how it really
		
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			functions, but more importantly, what his role is
		
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			within it.
		
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			And I think as our tradition develops on
		
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			a theological legislative level,
		
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			the idea of how the spirit
		
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			and its relationship with the mind and the
		
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			body,
		
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			is really emphasized is one that's quite fascinating.
		
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			One of the foundational narrations in our tradition
		
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			says that actions are by their intentions.
		
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			Right? That it's not simply the deed that
		
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			you do, but you
		
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			understand why you're doing it in the first
		
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			place. Right? What is your intentionality?
		
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			What is the motivation behind it? What is
		
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			really found present within that deed and decision?
		
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			Are you even cognizant of that?
		
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			And the second narration that I think is
		
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			important to understand, complementing that, says that
		
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			indeed in your being, there is a morsel
		
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			of flesh.
		
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			That if it is good, your entire body
		
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			will be good, your entire being will be
		
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			good. And if it is not good, if
		
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			it's not said aright, then your entire being
		
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			will not be said aright.
		
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			Indeed, it is your heart.
		
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			What Islam emphasizes is this constant battle
		
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			between
		
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			the serving of the ego
		
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			versus
		
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			the
		
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			presence of your heart.
		
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			And I think it's important to understand
		
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			as a starting point, especially in the city
		
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			that we live in, because much of the
		
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			time we're moving and we're going without necessarily
		
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			really understanding where it is where we're going
		
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			or why it is we're doing what we're
		
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			doing and we ourselves are not present in
		
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			our own actions.
		
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			We become a little bit more mechanical
		
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			and ritualistic,
		
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			but
		
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			it doesn't necessarily
		
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			penetrate our internal
		
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			and we're totally just satisfied by a pursuit
		
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			of the external. Does it make sense? Mhmm.
		
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			And I think what Islam says, at least
		
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			to me, is that you want to not
		
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			necessarily
		
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			chase after the material of this world and
		
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			let that be your pursuit,
		
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			but it places
		
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			a consciousness in the framing of the next
		
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			world so that you're not really living through
		
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			an egocentric
		
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			worldview.
		
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			And as you start to understand a little
		
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			bit more about the I that is uniquely
		
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			you, you move away from this egocentricity
		
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			towards a worldview that's god centric that never
		
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			puts you in front of somebody else. It's
		
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			not even necessarily about us, but it's always
		
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			about the other.
		
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			It's about what someone else will gain as
		
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			opposed to what you will lose or where
		
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			someone else will benefit rather than where you
		
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			will feel detriment.
		
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			And I think what it seeks to battle
		
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			is a simple satiation of your stomach
		
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			and it focuses more so on satisfying your
		
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			soul,
		
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			not chasing after something that will give you
		
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			complacency
		
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			or short lived satisfaction,
		
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			but movement towards something that will render you
		
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			contentment. You wanna feel good not just in
		
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			the moment, but you wanna feel good all
		
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			the time.
		
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			And I think the last point that I
		
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			would say is that it's not meant to
		
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			be self serving. It's interesting how we can
		
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			go almost in a full circle and land
		
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			at the point that we're trying to avoid
		
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			through practice that's meant to actually enhance our
		
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			understanding.
		
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			I think a lot of the time when
		
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			we turn to spiritual retreat or seclusion or
		
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			whatever you wanna call it, it ends up
		
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			not really being retreat, but it ends up
		
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			being an escape from reality.
		
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			And what Islam says is that you wanna
		
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			utilize those seclusions, you wanna use those retreats,
		
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			or even those pilgrimages as an understanding that
		
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			they themselves are not the sole process or
		
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			journey of your heart, but your heart is
		
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			in a constant state of journey, and those
		
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			are means by which you can amplify them.
		
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			But if you make those things that are
		
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			escapes from reality rather than means by which
		
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			you enhance your understanding of it, then you're
		
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			not taking from it everything that you fully
		
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			can.
		
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			If I get to a place where I'm
		
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			so attuned with myself and I'm instead of
		
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			in such a state of consciousness,
		
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			it has to be able to render within
		
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			me an ability to do something for somebody
		
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			else.
		
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			I'm not meant to just be in a
		
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			place where I have now found an internal
		
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			peace that replaces chaos within,
		
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			but now that growth internal
		
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			is meant to bring benefit to the world
		
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			external.
		
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			And so when I find synergies between the
		
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			2, it's when I start to really reach
		
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			a state of spiritual growth and excellence
		
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			that is actually as meaningful and reaching its
		
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			full potential as it as it possibly could.