The Human Cohesion Project — 14 Apr 2021
#TheHumanCohesionProject
Today is celebrated as the new year (Vishu) in the state of Kerala in south India where my parents come from. It also happened to be the day of inauguration of a new season of exploration of a community I belong in, called pūrṇam Café. It is a community of people who meet, study together and cross-pollinate dreams, songs, questions and insights through various media including movies, art, essays, and of course, people. We began with a most sublime vocal concert by Sangeetha Sriram and Balakrishnan Raghavan to honour all the various festivals, both Hindu and Muslim, that we are currently celebrating. One piece that took my heart away was a beautiful rendition of this song titled Allah written by the celebrated Tamil poet and reformer Bharatiyar.
It reminded of the aspiration that is India (the sub-continent, not the country). It always sought to be a melting pot of cultures, all melding into a civilization that aspires towards the higher, spiritual human potential. The contemporary state of India is of course very different. For me, that is all the more reason to do this work, to seek to reconnect with the shared human ideal that can propel the species and the planet forward together, with the rest of life.
My practice of the Shahada grounded this intention again for me:
Lā ʾIlāha ʾIllā Allah — I bear witness that you (my highest potential) are my guiding light, that I grow towards.
Muḥammadun Rasūl Allah — I, an individual life form with a name given by my culture (Mohammed, a cat, a plant…), serve only you, my guiding light. I exist as your messenger, one that conveys your existence.
How did you experience faith today — your own and that of others around you (of course, faith is not about religion at all)?
Ramadan Kareem. May our faith in our highest potential melt away the fears that divide us.
#RukminiIyer #ExultSolutions #peacebuilding #interfaith #religion #Islam
