View allAll Photos Tagged Prostrate
as in a trance
no other participant seemed remotely as dramatic
Dondi @ Kalighat, Kolkata
Dondi is a Hindu religious rite or ritual, an act of penance and worship to the Goddess Shitala to keep diseases at bay
It is performed mainly in Kolkata and Bengal, that I’m aware of & at quite a few locations. This particular event is held annually at Kalighat Kali temple area in the peak of summer. Devotees prostrate themselves on the bare ground in prayer, then get up to walk a few steps before prostrating all over again. The journey starts with a dip at the Ganga river banks in Kalighat and terminates about a kilometer away with a fire ritual
Most participants are women and children, with the odd men thrown in
Water is liberally strewn out onto the streets, by water tankers, volunteers and well wishers - by buckets on to the streets and participating devotees just to make this event possible
In a nutshell, www.joydeepmukherjee.com/gallery.php?id=NzE=
The golden rule if you wish to get into the thick of things is to get your foot wear off
needless to say my footwear came off very early on
first time i was witnessing this event, so i did not know the rules or the tricks
next up, is to save your gear from all the splashing water
The upper end of our garden, with its new Upper Terrace, just completed.
Jill is sitting at our new garden table in front of the Valrosa Cabin (workshop). Compare this view with the same area five months earlier. All the visible construction, including the cabin, was done for us by Acer Landscapes. The overall scheme was our own with advice from Acer. The areas of bare soil are new borders waiting to be planted.
NOTE ON THE GARDEN
The garden was very plain and bare when we arrived in 1985. We have been developing the design gradually since then, but not from a single pre-planned conception. Eventually we developed the overall shape, with a 'winding river' effect made by the lawns and path (though this is not seen in this view). The shapes of the rockeries, planting and other features are based on the way a small stream winds between 'interlocking spurs' in hilly terrain. We did all the planting, and I built many of the features. For further history of our garden, see set description for 'OUR BACK GARDEN'
GARDEN DETAILS
(To see garden details better, click on the three dots symbol (●●● meaning 'more') at bottom right of black part of screen > Choose 'View all sizes' > Choose any size larger than the one in black font. Press back button to return. See also notes on picture. However, notes are not retained in downloaded versions of Flickr images.)
Features
- Garden Railway (G-scale) - Lower L is the branching point between the Upper Loop (nearer the camera) and the Middle Section, on the Upper (Railway) Rockery. This is a 45mm gauge G-Scale layout using Märklin-LGB track, parts and rolling stock, with my own garden-sized civil engineering.
- Path (1) - concrete block paving with treated wooden edging, recently (2007) laid by Acer Landscapes. This section (L) is the uppermost part of our main garden path and leads to steps of Valrosa Cabin in background.
- Path (2) - centre foreground, new section of path in reclaimed York stone in 'crazy' style. This connects the new step up to the new Upper Terrace to an older side path which comes along the fence from our Escallonia Arch (out of sight behind us). Step is made of Indian stone and London stock bricks.
- plant containers - on front of terrace, cast in concrete, with medieval-style design, a present from my father a long time ago, here planted with box trees.
- Upper Terrace - centre, concrete block paving with treated wooden edging, just completed by Acer Landscapes.
- Valrosa Cabin workshop - in background L, fully insulated, built for us the previous year by Acer Landscapes.
- Water butt - R, newly installed by Acer Landscapes, for storing rain water from roof of Valrosa Cabin, just behind.
Plants
- Buxus sempervirens - box-trees in the two containers on the terrace, grown from small seedlings and shaped into truncated cones.
- Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey' - fig tree, upper R in corner of terrace. 'Brown Turkey' is the commonly-chosen variety recommended for the British climate for yielding fruit. Tree looks new but is actually about 20 years old and had to be cut back to enable Valrosa Cabin construction in 2007. We planted it c.1990 not long after we arrived in the house. As recommended, we confined the roots with a loose brick surround beneath soil level.
- Juniperus horizontalis - prostrate juniper, L foreground by Upper Loop of Garden Railway.
- Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Conica' - dwarf white spruce, just visible above the juniper, L foreground.
- Trachelospermum jasminoides 'Variegatum' (variegated confederate jasmine), just visible, climbing on fence, lower R.
LOCATION DETAILS
Country: Great Britain: England
City: London
London Borough: Lambeth
District: West Dulwich, SE21
Altitude: 40m
Aspect: View is approx to W. Fence on L faces approx. S.
Photo
© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.
If you would like to use or refer to this image, please link or attribute.
ID: CIMG1594.JPG - Version 2
Signal Platoon Buller Barracks 1976
Some of the personalities: -
Front row
McNiely (prostrate), Snaggs Kelly, Micky Redmond, Dennis Llewellyn, Neil Hodson (prostrate).
Seated row
Willie McBurney, George Young, Martin Whelan, Nelson Bennett (RIP) , Plug Johnston, Charlie Shufflebotham, A/RSO John Simpson RIP, Captain Julian Mellor RSO, Jim Prenderville, (Sigs Corps not identified), Micky McCarthy, (Sigs Corps not identified), Jim Rees, Alan Davidson, Kevin Byles,
Back row
David Buckley (RIP), (Sigs Corps not identified), Alex McWilliams, Steve Egglinton, Pete Mayne, Graeme Schears, Alan Jordan, Paul Gedling, Brian Eager, Kevin Donellan, (a brummie Kevin Southgate), Eddie McLoughlin (RIP), John Donellan R.I.P, Tim Murphy (RIP), Dave Ryan, Jeff Charles, 2 x Signal Corp (unidentified).
Absent through courses in UK: -
Alan Norman (RIP) & Alan Cunningham
O Dearest Allah!
Bless the one before whom trees prostrated and for whom the moon was split and who was purified by You even though You created him pure!
Become a sai'l and ask so you can receive!
إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
He, He, is the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.
Surah At Tur, Verse 28
Tafseer e Jilani
Indeed, Allah Subhanahu…
Huwal Barro: He is Al Mohsin, Kind, Al Makhsoos, The Only Benefactor, Al Munhasir, The Only One who exclusively possesses this quality of Ehsaan, Kindness and Inaam, bestowing blessings…
Ar Rahim: The Most Abundantly Merciful and giving of bounty to the Saileen, the ones who ask, the Mo’mineen, the believers, the Al Mustahiqqeen, the ones deserving, so Allah responds and answers, by His Kindness, our asks of Him. And He fulfills our hopes according to His Immense Generosity and Mercy.
The other day I came across a lecture by Ahmed Javaid Sahib titles Ramadan and Us - www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3TGgRHgkLM. Two things in it struck a chord for me.
One – don’t strain your nafs during Ramadan to the point that come the end, its bursting to sin. Don’t strangle it, he said.
The other thing he said was that the mindset of our society regarding the blessed month, is to curb themselves, out of the sincere desire not to displease Subhanahu but without any yearning to please Him. That attitude then bleeds into the other months and becomes a way of life.
I kept wondering how that dynamic might play out between human beings. Not displease someone but not care if they were happy with me. I guess that would make me selfish as hell for starters. The end result, which would appear fairly soon, would have to reveal itself as indifference. The not displeasing would also be entirely for my sake.
More importantly, if I didn't care about the other's happiness, what was I still doing around them? And why would they want me to be near?
On that note, I was reminded of my first gorgeous video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=kghv8UgeXFA - that ended on the text:
The Prophet Moses (as) was asked, “O Moses! Do you know why I cast My Love upon you?”
“No, my Lord,” he replied.
And The Lord said, “Because you sought My Delight.”
Subhan Allah!
The nafs cannot change. That is its essence. In a sense that is also the essence of the piece. I learnt that very recently after battling it for 11 years straight. I became aware of its ghuroor each time it arose. How it creates illusions that delude me. I saw the illusion and myself wanting to be carried away by it. Sometimes it tricked me with charm, other times with fear and still other, with grief. Nostalgia was its favourite weapon.
In every instance it tried to make me do what is harmful to me out of a sense of being "kind" to me but in fact being a liar. I learnt that through a prayer of the blessed Imam Zain ul Abedin (as) titled: His prayer when yearning for forgiveness.
Whenever two possibilities present themselves to me...my nafs will always choose that which displeases Subhanahu and therefore destroy me.
www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua9-yearning-forgiven...
وَإذَا هَمَمْنَا بِهَمَّيْنِ يُرْضِيكَ أَحَدُهُمَا عَنَّا
wa id'aa hamam-naa biham-may-ni yur-z''eeka ah'aduhumaa annaa
7.When we set out after two concerns, one of which makes You pleased with us
وَيُسْخِطُكَ الآخَرُ عَلَيْنَا ،
wayuskhit'ukal-aaakharu a'lay-naa
8.and the other of which displeases You,
فَمِلْ بِنَا إلَى مَا يُرْضِيْكَ عَنَّا ،
famil binaaa ilaa maa yur-z''eeka a'n-naa
9.incline us toward that which makes You pleased
وَأَوْهِنْ قُوَّتَنَا عَمَّا يُسْخِطُكَ عَلَيْنَا ،
wa aw-hin qoo-watanaa a'm-maa yus-khit'uka a'lay-naa
10.and weaken our strength in that which displeases You!
وَلاَ تُخَلِّ فِي ذلِكَ بَيْنَ نُفُوسِنَا وَاخْتِيَارِهَا
wa laa tukhal-li fee d'alika bay-na nufoosinaa wa akh-teeaarihaa
11.Leave not our nafs, selves, alone to choose in that,
فَإنَّهَا مُخْتَارَةٌ لِلْبَاطِلِ إلاَّ مَا وَفَّقْتَ أَمَّارَةٌ بالسُّوءِ إلاّ مَا رَحِمْتَ
fa in-nahaa mukh-taaratul-lil-baat'ili il-laa maa waf-faq-t am-maaratum-bis-sooo il-laa maa rah'im-t
12.for they choose falsehood except inasmuch as You givest success, and they command to evil except inasmuch as You hast mercy!
They always choose falsehood! He was quoting the Quran and the famous verse of the Prophet Yousuf (as):
وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
"And yet I am not trying to absolve myself.
Indeed, the nafs is a certain inciter of evil,
unless [that] my Lord bestows Mercy. Indeed, my Lord (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
Surah Yusuf, Verse 53
Tafseer e Jilani
The he, Hazrat Yusuf (as) said:
Wa ma ubarri’o: And I do not absolve and do not justify…
Nafsi: my nafs, my self, from furataat, excessiveness and ghafalaat, forgetfulness and shameful thoughts and repulsive deeds according to the demands of the organs of lust and animalistic desires and how can I absolve myself and justify it?
Inna an nafsa: Indeed the nafs, the base self, that has been embodied in the nature of human beings…
La-Ammaarat-un: the forceful commanding of which is by its nature towards …
Bis su’: wrong-doing and fasaad, corruption and its focus upon that whenever it’s free and is its nature…
Illa ma rahima Rabbi: except for the one upon whom is bestowed the Mercy of my Lord i.e. Allah protects that nafs by His Endless Mercy and Affection from its transgressions and the whisperings of Satan towards it.
Inna Rabbi: Indeed my Lord, who has raised me with safeguarding from sin and with virtuousness…
Ghafooran: is All Forgiving of that which has happened from me from the occurences of my nafs…
Raheemun: is All Merciful. He bestows Mercy towards me with His Fazal, Bounty and He preserves me with His Lutf, Kindness, from those things that make me distant from His Kunuf, Protection and His Jawaar, Safety.
I had memorized that prayer but the Imam (as) alerted me to something new. I always uttered the prayer after the fact. He was telling me to see how each situation was a fork in the road. Each moment even. If not to turn the right way, just notice the prompt from within, tilting towards what would render me in a never ending maze.
That prayer is the only way I might reach the second stage of the nafs, Lawamma - the one accusing itself.
Ghaus Pak (ra) explained that there was one reason for the inability of the nafs to transcend itself from it: the nafs Lawamma does understand that the reality of this world is itself an illusion because all nafoos know that but it does not take heed and warning of the truth of Subhanahu's Authority, Control and Power.
I had asked Qari Sahib the difference between Lawamma and Ammara. The latter, he said, was unaware of Subhanahu altogether. Disconnected entirely. Lawamma was aware but had not yet been able to fathom that Reality.
وَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلنَّفْسِ ٱللَّوَّامَةِ ٢
And I swear by the soul self-accusing.
Surah Al Qiyamah, Verse 2
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa la uqsimu: And I take an oath also (other than on the Day of Resurrection)…
Bin nafs al lawamma: the blaming self i.e. so there was no need for such an oath to make appear the nafs lawamma in the realm of corruption because all the nafoos, selves, in the Universe know that the world is nothing but a mirage false and a reflection, disappearing, suspended.
There is no stability in it and no central point for the nafs to base itself in it and the nafs keeps blaming itself (for its own wickedness and inability to go towards being mutma’inna, contented).
Except that this nafs is not taking warning from the Authority of Allah’s One-ness and does not understand that the One-ness is surrounding and controlling everything that is in appearance and hidden and in what is absent and present.
(So if it takes that warning of Allah’s One-ness and Control upon everything) it becomes lawamma, self-accusing, mutma’inna, contented, raadia-tan mardiya, pleased by gaining Subhanahu’s Pleasure, mardiyatun faqeera-tun, after Him being pleased with it, it becomes nothing, and its being nothing is being fani, dissolved and its dissolution is being baqi, everlasting.
And other than this there is nothing in any destiny and end.
The real message to me was surrender. Was it there or not?
Another prayer I had been reading daily since I discovered it showed me that. How surrender was only beautiful, I was mesmerized by it.
“The best” was simply a state of total submission.
أَللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ
al-laahum-ma in-neee as-takheeruka bii'l-mik
1.O God, I ask from You the best in Your knowledge,
فَصَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ وَاقْضِ لِيْ بِالْخِيَرَةِ
fas'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih waq-z''i lee bil-kheearah
2.so bless Muhammad and his Household and decree for me the best!
وَأَلْهِمْنَا مَعْرِفَةَ الاخْتِيَارِ،
wa al-him-naa maa'-rifatalikh-teeaar
3.Inspire us with knowledge to chose the best
وَاجْعَلْ ذَلِكَ ذَرِيعَةً إلَى الرِّضَا
waj-a'l d'alik d'areea'tan ilaa r-riz''aa
4.and make that a means to being pleased
بِمَا قَضَيْتَ لَنَا وَالتَّسْلِيْمِ لِمَا حَكَمْتَ.
bimaa qaz''ay-ta lanaa wat-tas-leemi limaa h'akam-t
5.with what You hast decreed for us and submitting to what You hast decided!
فَأَزِحْ عَنَّا رَيْبَ الارْتِيَابِ،
faazih' a'n-naa ray-balir-teeaab
6.Banish from us the doubt of misgiving
وَأَيِّدْنَا بِيَقِينِ الْمُخْلِصِينَ،
wa ay-yid-naa beeaqeenil-mukh-lis'een
7.and confirm us with the certainty of the sincere!
وَلاَ تَسُمْنَا عَجْزَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ عَمَّا تَخَيَّرْتَ،
wa laa tasum-naa a'j-zal-maa'-rifati a'm-maa takhay-yar-t
8.Visit us not with incapacity to know what You hast chosen,
فَنَغْمِطَ قَدْرَكَ، وَنَكْرَهَ مَوْضِعَ رِضَاكَ،
fanagh-mit'a qad-rak wa nak-raha maw-z''ia' riz''aak
9.lest we despise Your measuring out, dislike the place of Your good pleasure,
وَنَجْنَحَ إلَى الَّتِي هِيَ أَبْعَدُ مِنْ حُسْنِ الْعَاقِبَةِ
wa naj-nah'a ilaal-latee hee ab-a'du min h'us-nil-a'aqibah
10.and incline toward that which is further from good outcome
وَأَقْرَبُ إلَى ضِدِّ الْعَافِيَةِ.
wa aq-rabu ilaa z''id-dil-a'afeeah
11.and nearer to the opposite of well-being!
حَبِّبْ إلَيْنَا مَا نَكْرَهُ مِنْ قَضَائِكَ
h'ab-bib ilay-naa maa nak-rahoo min qaz''aaa-ik
12.Make us love what we dislike in Your decree
وَسَهِّلْ عَلَيْنَا مَا نَسْتَصْعِبُ مِنْ حُكْمِكَ،
wa sah-hil a'lay-naa maa nas-tas'-i'bu min h'uk-mik
13.and make easy for us what we find difficult in Your decision!
وَأَلْهِمْنَـا الانْقِيَـادَ لِمَا أَوْرَدْتَ عَلَيْنَـا مِنْ مَشِيَّتِكَ
wa al-him-naalinqeeaada limaaa aw-rat-ta a'lay-naa mim-mashee-yatik
14.Inspire us to yield to that which You bringest upon us by Your will,
حَتَّى لاَ نُحِبَّ تَأخِيْرَ مَا عَجَّلْتَ،
h'at-taa laa nuh'ib taa-kheera maa a'j-jal-t
15.lest we love the delay of what You hast hastened
وَلاَ تَعْجيْلَ مَا أَخَّرْتَ، وَلا نَكْرَهَ مَا أَحْبَبْتَ،
wa laa taa'-jeela maaa skh-khar-t wa laa nak-raha maaa ah'-bab-t
16.and the hastening of what You hast delayed, dislike what You lovest,
وَلا نَتَخَيَّرَ مَا كَرِهْتَ،
wa laa natakhay-yara maa karih-t
17.and choose what You dislikest!
وَاخْتِمْ لَنَا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْمَدُ عَاقِبةً وَأكْرَمُ مَصِيراً
wakh-tim lanaa bil-latee hee ah'-madu a'aqibah wa ak-ramu mas'eeraa
18.Seal us with that which is most praised in outcome and most generous in issue!
إنَّكَ تُفِيدُ الْكَرِيمَةَ وَتُعْطِي الْجَسِيمَةَ،
in-naka tufeedul-kareemah wa tua'-t'eel-jaseemah
19.Surely You givest generous gain, bestowest the immense,
وَتَفْعَلُ مَا تُرِيدُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْء قَدِيرٌ .
wa taf-a'lu maa tureed wa anta a'laa kul-li shay-in qadeer
20.dost what You wilt, and You art "powerful over everything" (3:26).
www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua33-asking-for-best....
It was so freeing, reading his blessed words. Finally not having to wonder about endless, haunting, “what if” of imkaan, possibilities. Just saying the prayer and waiting, not even that, letting the best happen in its own time.
Subhan Allah!
At the end of the verse Ghaus Pak (ra) prays:
أدركنا بلطفك الخفي يا خفي الألطاف
Make us comprehend by Your Lutf, Kindness, the hidden
Ya, Khafi Al Altaf, O One who bestows kindness secretly!
I knew that secret for me was the duas of Imam Zain ul Abedin (as)!
Apparently the best thing to ask Subhanahu for, Allah says Himself, is aafiya.
قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا سُئِلَ اللَّهُ شَيْئًا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ أَنْ يُسْأَلَ الْعَافِيَةَ
[Ibn Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah said (ﷺ):
“Allah has not been asked for anything more beloved to Him than being asked for Al-`Āfiyah.] - Sunan Tirmazi
The word is complex, hence most translations of the hadith leave it as is. Which is bizarre. So I started reading the blessed Imam's (as) prayer for it:
www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua23-asking-wellbeing...
It started with an extraordinary plea to be enveloped by it entirely, in this world and the Hereafter. Clothe me, wrap me, fortify me, honour me…
أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،
al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih
1.O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,
وَأَلْبِسْنِي عَافِيَتَكَ، وَجَلِّلْنِي عَـافِيَتَكَ،
wa al-bis-nee a'afeeatak wa jal-lil-nee a'afeeatak
2.clothe me in Your well-being, wrap me in Your well-being,
وَحَصِّنِّي بِعَـافِيَتِـكَ، وَأكْـرِمْنِي بِعَافِيَتِكَ،
wa h'as'-s'in-nee bia'afeeatik wa ak-rim-nee bia'afeeatik
3.fortify me through Your well-being, honour me with Your well-being,
وَأغْنِنِي بِعَافِيَتِكَ، وَتَصَدَّقْ عَلَيَّ بِعَافِيَتِكَ،
wa agh-ninee bia'afeeatik wa tas'ad-daq a'lay-ya bia'afeeatik
4.free me from need through Your well-being, donate to me Your well-being,
وَهَبْ لِي عَافِيَتَكَ، وَأَفْرِشْنِي عَافِيَتَكَ،
wa hab lee a'afeeatak wa af-rish-nee a'afeeatak
5.bestow upon me Your well-being, spread out for me Your well-being,
وَأَصْلِحْ لِي عَافِيَتَكَ، وَلا تُفَرِّقْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَافِيَتِكَ
wa as'-lih' lee a'afeeatak wa laa tufar-riq bay-nee wa bay-na a'afeeatika
6.set Your well-being right for me, and separate me not from Your well-being
فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ.
fid-dunyaa wal-akhirah
7.in this world and the next!
أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،
al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih
8.O God, bless Muhammad and his Household
وَعَافِنِي عَافِيَةً كَافِيَةً شَافِيَةً عَالِيَةً نَامِيةً،
wa a'afinee a'afeeatan kaafeeatan shaafeeatan a'aleeatan-naameeah
9.and make me well with a well-being sufficient, healing, sublime, growing,
عَافِيَةً تُوَلِّدُ فِي بَدَنِي الْعَافِيَةَ،
a'afeeatan tuwal-lidu fee badaneel-a'afeeah
10.a well-being that will give birth to well-being in my body,
عَافِيَةَ الدُّنْيَا والآخِرَةِ،
a'afeeatad-dunyaa wal-akhirah
11.a well-being in this world and the next!
But what struck me about the prayer most was how it would free me of those illusions my nafs created endlessly, habitually, around those imkaan, possibilities, which was what Ghaus Pak (ra) defined as Hell.
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِى سَقَرَ ٤٢
What led you into Hell?
قَالُوا۟ لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ ٤٣
They will say, “We were of those who did not pray.”
وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ ٱلْمِسْكِينَ ٤٤
And we did not feed the poor.
وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ ٱلْخَآئِضِينَ ٤٥
And we indulged in vain discussion along with others who did the same.
Surah Al Mudathir, Verse 42-45
Tafseer e Jilani
And they were asked:
Anal Mujrimeen: the wicked ones, (by the ones in Paradise who were) in a state of bewilderment and in disbelief…
Ma salakakum: what led you and made you enter…
Fi saqara: the Hell of possibilities and the fire of exclusion and abandonment?
In other verses it was humiliation deprivation, loss. Of Subhanahu in both worlds, of all love in this one.
Qalu: They said i.e. the Mujrimoon, the wrongdoers, in their answer, Mutahassareena, the ones deeply regretful, Muta’assifeena, the ones grevious…
Lam naku: We were not in the place of trials and the time of gaining admonition, (the world)…
Min al Mussaleen: amongst the ones who established prayer, Al Mutawajjiheena, the ones who were focused upon Al Haqq in the times prescribed for us…
Wa lam naku nut’imul miskeen: and we did not feed the poor according to the requisites of the Command of Allah, kindly and affectionately.
Wa: and more so…
Kunna nakhudu: we used to indulge in idle talk and would begin a false rumour and then disperse it and we gave up the truth and we neglected it…
Ma’al Khaai’deen: with the ones who indulged in such vain activities, Ash Sha’ireena, the ones who started (rumours), Al Muzzawireena, the ones who lied, Al Murrawijeena, circulating them, in enemity and in arrogance.
The other cause of landing in that loveless Hell according to my Master’s (ra) tafaseer was what being Musirr – the one who was insistent and persistent on insolence and stubbornness, selfishness and arrogance.
The most recent appearance of the word had come in the verse where the human being’s greed is described. The Imam had begun his prayer for refuge from hateful things (www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua8-refuge-from-hatef...) with the ask:
أَللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَيَجَـانِ الْحِرْصِ ،
al-laahum-ma in-neee au'wd'u bika min- hayajaanil-h'ir-s'
1.O God, I seek refuge in You from the agitation of craving...
One expression of that endless "craving" is found in Surah Mudathir, Subhanahu says the same about Man. That He gave him wealth in excess and sons that he witnesses and much more, still he says, give me more!
ثُمَّ يَطْمَعُ أَنْ أَزِيدَ ١٥
Then he desires that I (should) add more.
Surah Al Mudathir, Verse 15
Tafseer e Jilani
And with that distinction great and a blessing immense granted for him, he did not thank Us nor did he return towards us ever…
Summa yatma’u: (and) still he desires and hopes…
An azeeda: that I give him more over that which I gave him and granted him from Blessings Grand even though, indeed, he is insistent upon ingratitude and denial of the truth and different types of defiant disobedience and sins.
The most extraordinarily amazing part of the prayer on Aafiya was that not only would it free me, it would free the other appearing in those delusions, the one creating those gnawing possibilities!
أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وآلِهِ
al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih
37.O God, bless Muhammad and his Household
وَمَنْ أَرَادَنِي بِسُوء فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَادْحَرْ عَنِّي مَكْرَهُ،
wa man araadanee bisooo-in faas'-rif-hoo a'n-nee wa ad-h'ar a'n-nee mak-rah
38.and if someone desires ill for me turn him away from me, drive away from me his deception,
وَادْرَأ عَنِّي شَرَّهُ، وَرُدَّ كَيْدَهُ فِي نَحْرِهِ،
wa ad-raa a'n-nee shar-rah wa rud-da kay-dahoo fee nah'-rih
39.avert from me his evil, send his trickery back to his own throat,
وَاجْعَلْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ سَدّاً حَتَّى تُعْمِيَ عَنِّي بَصَرَهُ،
waj-a'l bay-na yaday-hee sad-dana h'at-taa tua'-meea a'n-nee bas'arah
40.and place before him a barricade, so that You mayest blind his eyes toward me,
وَتُصِمَّ عَنْ ذِكْري سَمْعَهُ، وَتُقْفِلَ دُونَ إخْطَارِي قَلْبَهُ،
wa tus'im-ma a'n d'ik-ree sam-a'h wa tuq-fila doona ikh-t'aaree qal-bah
41.deafen his ears toward my mention, lock his heart toward recalling me,
وَتُخْرِسَ عَنَي لِسَانَهُ، وَتَقْمَعَ رَأسَهُ،
wa tukh-risa a'n-nee lisaanah wa taq-maa' raa-sah
42.silence his tongue against me, restrain his head,
They would become blind, deaf and mute to my existence without even knowing it. If there was no sincerity, I would forget them and they would forget me.
The Quran says it is only for the one who takes heed, whose heart at least tries to gain insight of itself, of its states altering, of its truth and lies, of its beauty and its awe.
إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَىٰ لِمَن كَانَ لَهُۥ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى ٱلسَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌۭ ٣٧
Indeed, in that surely, is a reminder for (one) who, has a heart or cared to listen or witness.
Surah Qaf, Verse 37
Tafseer e Jilani
Inna fi dalika: Indeed, in this, the Magnificent Quran, which was sent down upon you, Ya Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who perfects Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon your heart and the hearts of your family by your Lord God)…
La dikra: surely is a reminder, a warning and an admonition and a lesson and an alerting…
Liman kana lahu qalbun: for the one who has a qalb, the station of recognizing Allah, which is perceptive to the altering of its states and the variations of those states in the matter of Al Haqq and its manifestations, jamalia, beautiful and jalalia, inspiring awe, according to the Decrees of His Essence by His Will and Choice and (he also perceives) the Exaltedness of His Names and Attributes…
Au alq as sama’: or he listens i.e. he is from the people of intention truthful and sincere, (free) from the blemish of being known and the carelessness of showing off. He is attentive to the listening of the words of truth (as if) from His Essence…
Wa huwa: and he is at that moment…
Shaheed: (also) a witness, with his qalb in attention, free of thoughts, solid in his intellect, correct in intention, pure in determination.
There was an “or” but being from the people of intent truthful and sincere was next to impossible for the ordinary. But the verse alerted me to the carelessness of showing off. That was probably how I did it!
The first verse of the Surah Al Baqarah following Surah Fateha, which is considered to be the preface of the Book, states simply and clearly. The Quran is only for the one who is conscious at all times of Subhanahu: the Muttaqeen!
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَیۡبَۛ فِیهِۛ هُدࣰى لِّلۡمُتَّقِینَ
That (is) the book no doubt in it, a Guidance for the God-conscious.
Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 2
Lil Muttaqeen: for the ones who safe-guard with compliance to His Commands and avoid what He disallows for their selves from the impurities of sins forbidden with true purification and a reaching towards the real rank and destination.
But it was again the blessed Imam (as), in his prayer for excellence of behaviour that I was obsessed with, who unveiled what that taqwa was. All of mindfulness was related to the behaviour with another human being. All of iit!
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ
allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,
وَحَلِّنِي بِحِلْيَةِ الصَّاِلحِينَ
wa hal-lini bihil-yatis-salihin
adorn me with the adornment of the Saliheen, the ones who reform themselves,
وَأَلْبِسْنِي زِينَةَ المُتَّقِينَ فِي
wa al-bis-ni zinatal-mut-taqina fi
And clothe me in the ornaments of the Muttaqeen through:
بَسْطِ الْعَدْلِ
bas-til-a'd-l
spreading justice,
وَكَظْمِ الْغَيْظِ
wa kazmil-ghayz
restraining rage,
وَإِطْفَاءِ النَّائِرَةِ
wa it-fa-in-na-irah
quenching the flame of hate,
وَضَمِّ أَهْلِ الْفُرْقَةِ
wa zammi ah-lil-fur-qah
bringing together the people of separation,
وَإِصْلاَحِ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ
wa is-lahi dhatil-bayn
correcting discord,
وَإِفْشِاءِ الْعَارِفَةِ
wa if-shia-il-a'arifah
spreading about good behavior,
وَسَتْرِ الْعَائِبَةِ
wa sat-ril-a'a-ibah
covering faults,
وَلِينِ الْعَرِيكَةِ
wa linil-a'rikah
mildness of temper,
وَخَفْضِ الْجَنَاحِ
wa khaf-zil-janah
lowering the wing,
وَحُسْنِ السِّيرَةِ
wa hus-nis-sirah
beauty of conduct,
وَسُكُونِ الرِّيحِ
wa sukunir-rih
gravity of bearing,
وَطِيبِ الْمُخَالَفَةِ
wa tibil-mukhalafah
courteousness in conflict,
وَالسَّبْقِ إِلَى الْفَضِيلَةِ
was-sib-qi ilal-fazilah
precedence in reaching excellence,
وَإِيثَارِ التَّفَضُّلِ
wa itharit-tafaz-zul
preferring/choosing to behave graciously,
وَتَرْكِ التَّعْيِيرِ
wa tar-kit-ta'-yir
refraining from condemnation,
وَالإِفْضَاِل عَلَى غَيْرِ الْمُسْتَحِقِّ
wal-if-zali a'la ghayril-mus-tahiq-q
bestowing bounty on the undeserving,
وَالْقَوْلِ بِالْحَقِّ وَإِنْ عَزَّ
wal-qaw-li bil-haq-qi wa in a'z-z
speaking the truth, though it be painful,
وَاسْتِقْلاَلِ الْخَيْرِ وَإِن كَثُرَ مِن قَوْلِي وَفِعْلِي
was-tiq-lalil-khayri wa in kathura min qaw-li wa fia'-li
making little of the good in my words and deeds, though it be much,
وَاسْتِكْثَارِ الْشَّرِ وَإِن قلَّ مِن قَوْلِي وَفِعْلِي
was-tik-tharish-shari wa in ql-la min qaw-li wa fia'-li
And making much of the evil in my words and deeds, though it be little!
وَأَكْمِلْ ذَلِكَ لِي
wa ak-mil dhalika li
Perfect this for me through
بِدَوَامِ الطَّاعَةِ،
bi-dawamit-ta'h
lasting obedience,
وَلُزُومِ الْجَمَاعَةِ،
wa luzumil-jama'h
holding fast to the community,
وَرَفْضِ أَهْلِ الْبِدَعِ، وَمُسْتَعْمِلِي الرَّأْيِ الْمُخْتَرَعِ
wa raf-zi ah-lil-bidai' wa mus-ta'-milir-ra-yil-mukh-tarai'
And rejecting the people of innovation and those who act in accordance with original opinions.
www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua20-makarem-akhlaq-n...
19 forms of behaviour he prays for to receive mindfulness of his Lord. That is taqwa. In following the Sunnah of the Quran, the order of significance alone was a subject of study itself. First was being just, second controlling anger, then quenching hate, bringing together people of separation…
There was no greater evidence that my relationship with Subhanahu was reflected most truthfully in my relationship with people. And I was revealed to myself in my treatment of them.
Qari Sahib says that worship is obedience plus love. In the Surah Ar Rahman that worship is stated clearly as the reason behind our existence, our time in this world of transience.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ٥٦
I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.
Surah Ad Dhairyaat, Verse 56
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa: And know that indeed, I…
Ma khalaqtu al jinna wal insa: I did not create Jinn and Man and I did not make appear their apparitions and their shadows upon these forms and identities and I did not give them shape upon these shapes amazing and I did not place in them what I placed in them from the jewel of aql, the power to reason and reflect, poured (upon them)…
Illa li-ya’budoon: except to worship Me and recognize Me and become steadfast in My One-ness and the Permanence of My Essence and in My Overall Power and become steadfast in My Worthiness for obedience and worship, complete, without the blemish of shirrk, association and manifestation of another.
I thought about the words of Ghaus Pak (ra). How in the creating, the one thing that was most prominent was the Aql – the organ of reflection. And how the reason for being was in the order of significance. What was possible for us ordinary human beings; ibadat, worship, and mari’fat, knowing Him, recognizing Him.
It was the Imam’s (as) first prayer, the hamd in praise of Allah Subhanahu, that revealed the Desire of The Divine, for He loved to be known.
www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua1-praise-of-god.html
أَلْحَمْدُ للهِ
al-h'am-du lil-lah
1.Praise belongs to God,
الاوَّلِ بِلا أَوَّل كَانَ قَبْلَهُ،
al-aw-wali bilaaa aw-walin kaana qab-lah
2.the First, without a first before Him,
وَ الاخِر بِلاَ آخِر يَكُونُ بَعْدَهُ
wal-aaakhiri bilaaa aaakhiree-yakoonu baa'-dah
3.the Last, without a last behind Him.
،الَّذِي قَصُرَتْ عَنْ رُؤْيَتِهِ أَبْصَارُ النَّاظِرِينَ
al-lad'ee qas'urat a'r-roo-yatiheee ab-s'aarun-naaz'ireen
4.Beholders' eyes fall short of seeing Him,
وَ عَجَزَتْ عَنْ نَعْتِهِ أَوهامُ اَلْوَاصِفِينَ
wa a'jazat a'n-naa'-tiheee aw-haamul-waas'ifeen
5.describers' imaginations are not able to depict Him.
ابْتَدَعَ بِقُدْرَتِهِ الْخَلْقَ اَبتِدَاعَاً،
ib-tadaa' biqud-ratihil-khal-qab-tidaaa'a
6.He originated the creatures through His power with an origination,
وَاخْتَرَعَهُمْ عَلَى مَشِيَّتِهِ اخترَاعاً،
wa akh-tara'hum a'laa mashee-yatiheekh-tiraaa'a
7.He devised them in accordance with His will with a devising.
ثُمَّ سَلَكَ بِهِمْ طَرِيقَ إرَادَتِهِ،
thum-ma salaka bihim t'areeqa iraadatih
8.Then He made them walk on the path of His Desire,
وَبَعَثَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ مَحَبَّتِهِ
wa baa'thahum fee sabeeli mah'ab-batih
9.He sent them out on the way of His Love.
He sent me out on the way of His Love!
The prayer is hard to describe in terms of effect because each heart reads it differently. But the way he described what the purpose of the praise, it was like I was praising Subhanahu for the first time in my life.
Again it was revealed, praising Subhanahu was the opening for any kind of bestowing. Ma’rifa came after again as a grant. That Recognition created gratitude. Without the gratitude any human being was rendered a beast and worse!
وَالْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي لَوْ حَبَسَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ مَعْرِفَةَ
wal-h'am-du lil-laahil-lad'ee law h'abasa a'n i'baadihee maa'-rifata
29.Praise belongs to God, for, had He withheld from His Servants the knowledge
حَمْدِهِ عَلَى مَا أَبْلاَهُمْ مِنْ مِنَنِهِ الْمُتَتَابِعَةِ
h'am-dihee a'laa maaa ab-laahum mim-minanihil-mutataabia'ti
30.to praise Him for the uninterrupted kindnesses with which He has tried them
وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْهِمْ رمِنْ نِعَمِهِ الْمُتَظَاهِرَة
wa as-bagha a'lay-him min-nia'mihee almutaz'aahirah
31.and the manifest favours which He has lavished upon them,
لَتَصرَّفُوا فِي مِنَنِهِ فَلَمْ يَحْمَدُوهُ
latas'ar-rafoo fee minanihee falam yah'-madooh
32.they would have moved about in His Kindnesses without praising Him,
وَتَوَسَّعُوا فِي رِزْقِهِ فَلَمْ يَشْكُرُوهُ،
wa tawas-sau'wa fee riz-qihee falam yash-kurooh
33.and spread themselves out in His Provision without thanking Him.
وَلَوْ كَانُوا كَذلِكَ لَخَرَجُوا مِنْ حُدُودِ الانْسَانِيَّةِ
wa law kaanoo kad'alika lakharajoo min h'udoodil-insaanee-yah
34.Had such been the case, they would have left the bounds of humanity
إلَى حَدِّ الْبَهِيمِيَّةِ،
ilaa h'ad-dil-baheemee-yah
35.for that of beastliness
:فَكَانُوا كَمَا وَصَفَ فِي مُحْكَم كِتَابِهِ
fakaanoo kamaa was'afa fee muh'-kami kitaabihi:
36.and become as He has described in the firm text of His Book:
( إنْ هُمْ إلا كَالانْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ سَبِيلا )
(in hum il-laa kal-an-a'ami bal hum az''al-lu sabeelaa)
37."They are but as the cattle—nay, but they are further astray from the way"! (25:46)
Reading the prayer was like reading the Quran. It was in the same style as the Quran so it was like I was speaking to Subhanahu, expressing praise for Him, in the same style as the Book He had sent.
Ghaus Pak (ra) repeats the concept of capability and capacity being granted by Subhanahu according to His Desire continuously in his tafaseer.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَآءٌۭ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةٌۭ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
O Mankind!
Verily has come to you an instruction from your Lord, and a healing for what (ill) is in your breasts, and guidance and mercy for the believers.
Surah Yunus, Verse 57
Tafseer e Jilani:
Ya Ayyuhan Naas: O you who have forgotten your original purpose and your true abode i.e. Heaven.
Qad Ja’akum: the Quran has come to awaken you and make you aware
Muwaddatun: and admonish you
Min Rabbikum wa shifa ul lima fi sadoor: and cure you of your grudges and heal you of your unhealthy thoughts that are resident in your hearts.
Wa huda-n: And it guides even those who are of exalted status and have arrived before Tauheed.
Wa Rahmatun: And it consists of abundance of mercy which includes specifically
Lil Momineen: the people who are righteous and mindful. So it is upon you to take warning and obey its commands. And ponder upon its secrets and its signs and deeply consider its keys and how it dawns upon you, until you unveil from it according to your capacity and capability to explore it. And Allah is The True Guide towards His Essence for whom He wills from His Servants. He prevails over everything and He is Dominant and Wise.
Other excerpts with the words:
1.Then Allah sends His Mercy upon the nafs in the shape of the qalb, the Seat of Recognition of Allah, according to capability and capacity resulting from obedience. The nafs becomes guided by the blessing of this merciful qalb, learning its etiquettes and becoming joyous.
2.It is the ahadith that which take you, according to your capacity, to the path of One-ness.
3.La Yukallifullaha: The Allah who guides towards Him does not place any burden…Nafsan illa Wusaha: upon any soul more than it can bear i.e. except that which it can bear, according to its capacity and strength and capability, which He set in His Ever-Present Knowledge for this purpose. So this makes clear…
4.Ankaboot/49: Alladina utol ilm: and have been granted Knowledge from Him, which emanates directly from the Knowledge of Allah, and is received by them from His Divine Treasures according to their capacity and ability due to His Bounty and His Favour upon them.
5.Al Fath/29: Wa’ada Allahu: Allah promised, as Al Mutalli’u, The One Aware of Everything about that which is the capability and capacity of His Servants, of their ikhlas, sincerity and their tafweed, entrusting (of their selves and their matters to Him)…Alladina aamano: (He promised) those who attained to faith with complete love and complete of surrender…
And so on…
But the prayers of the Chosen breaks the boundaries of that capacity and capability. I saw that most amazingly again in the prayer for excellence of manners.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-li muhammad
O Allah, bless Muhammad and Muhammad's Household,
وَأَبْدِلْنِي مِنْ بُغْضَةِ أَهْلِ الشَّنَانَ الْمَحَبَّةَ
wa abdil-ni mim bugh-zati ah-lish-shinanil-mahab-bah
and replace for me the animosity of the people of hatred with love,
وَمِنْ حَسَدِ أَهْلِ الْبَغْيِ الْمَوَدَّةَ،
wa min hasadi ah-lil-bagh-yil-mawad-dah
the envy of the people of insolence with affection,
وَمِن ظِنَّةِ أَهْلِ الصَّلاَحِ الثِّقَةَ،
wa min zin-nati ah-lis-salahith-thiqah
the suspicion of the people of righteousness with trust,
وَمِنْ عَدَاوَةِ الأَدْنَيْنَ الْوَلايَةَ،
wa min a'dawatil-ad-naynal-walayah
the enmity of those close with friendship,
وَمِنْ عُقُوقِ ذَوِي الأَرْحَامِ الْمَبَرَّةَ،
wa min u'quqi dhawil-ar-hamil-mabar-rah
the disrespect of womb relatives with devotion,
وَمِنْ خِذْلانِ الأَقْرَبِينَ النُّصْرَةَ،
wa min khidhlanil-aq-rabinan-nus-rah
the abandonment of relatives with help,
وَمِنْ حُبِّ الْمُدَارِينَ تَصْحِيحَ الْمِقَةِ،
wa min hub-bil-mudarina tas-hihal-miqah
the attachment of flatterers with love set right,
وَمِن رَّدِّ الْمُلاَبِسِينَ كَرَمَ الْعِشْرَةِ،
wa mir-rad-dil-mulabisina karamal-i'sh-rah
the rejection of fellows with generous friendliness,
وَمِن مَّرَارَةِ خَوْفِ الظَّالِمِينَ حَلاَوَةَ الأَمنَةَ
wa mim-mararati khaw-fiz-zalimina halawatal-amnah
And the bitterness of the fear of wrongdoers with the sweetness of security!
Then:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ
allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household
وَسَدِّدْنِي لأَنْ
wa sad-did-ni li-an
and point me straight to
أُعَارِضَ مَنْ غَشَّنِي بِالنُّصْحِ،
ua'ariza man ghash-shani bin-nus-h
resist him who is dishonest toward me without counsel,
وَأَجْزِي مَنْ هَجَرَنِي بِالْبِرِّ،
wa aj-ziya man hajarani bil-bir-r
repay him who separates from me with gentle devotion,
وَأُثِيبَ مَنْ حَرَمَنِي بِالْبَذْلِ،
wa uthiba man haramani bil-badhli
reward him who deprives me with free giving,
وَأُكَافِئَ مَن قَطَعَنِي بِالصِّلَةِ،
wa ukafi-a man qata'ni bis-silah
recompense him who cuts me off with joining,
وَأُخَاِلفَ مَنْ اغْتَابَنِي إِلَى حُسْنِ الذِّكْرِ،
wa ukhalifa mangh-tabani ila hus-nidh-dhik-r
oppose him who slanders me with excellent mention,
وَأَنْ أَشْكُرَ الْحَسَنَةَ،
wa an ash-kural-hasanah
give thanks for good,
وَأُغْضِي عَنِ السَّيِّئَةِ
wa ugh-ziya a'nis-say-yiwah
And shut my eyes to evil!
Every single line was a total impossibility for me. Yet here I was asking for it and it could be bestowed just like that.
Recently I had written a most beautiful note to try and raise some money for a friend who is doing work related to the recent floods in Karachi. The letter was a masterpiece, I received emails complimenting its content which had verses of the Quran, ahadith, less well known and illuminating.
I called the friend two weeks later to ask her what she received.
"Nothing," she said without emotion.
"Nothing?" I asked expressing my shock full on.
"Nope, Not a cent."
Embarrassed I hung up and felt rage. I wanted to get my laptop out and write another email starting with the line, "Some of you have so much money its a joke."
Then I remembered something from the Imam's prayer on behaviour again:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ
allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,
فَأَفْتَتِنَ بِحَمْدِ مَنْ أَعْطَانِي،
fa-af-tatina biham-di man a'-tani
And Then I would be tried by praising him who gave to me
وَأُبْتَلي بِذَمِّ مَن مَّنَعَنِي
wa ub-tala bidhammi mam-mana'ni
afflicted with blaming him who held back from me,
وَأَنتَ مِن دُونِهِمْ وَلِيُّ الإِعْطَاءِ وَالْمَنْعِ
wa anta min dunihim wali-yul-ia'-ta-i wal-man-i'
While You— not they— art patron of giving and holding back
What I was judging was not their action but their capacity and capability. Which was granted by Subhanahu. I was resisting His Authority. He was deciding who would be generous when and who would be miserly at which point in their life.
Judgement like showing off is shirrk sagheer, the smaller version of the worst crime, associating something with Allah. The punishment is instant exactly like for arrogance, intense humiliation. That was what I had felt.
But the words, each time I recalled them, because the anger returned again and again, calmed me. You, it said, Subhanahu, You give and hold back so how can I be upset with You?
Instant forgiveness for the ones who weren't granted ability in that moment and a check that it was their spiritual journey and not my place to find flaws in it.
Nothing I could have done on my own would allow for that anger to calm, much less sustain. Nothing! I would only have remained angry in cycles, talking myself down. With the words of the Imam (as) on my lips, it was like he stood before me and my nafs only bowed in surrender.
I had recently heard that cleanliness was the first requisite of prayer, then sadqa. I consider myself a clean person but I started to especially bathe before I read the blessed Imam's (as) prayers.
I had even looked up the hadith on cleanliness because I knew it was something about being half of imaan, faith. Turned out to be much longer:
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الإِيمَانِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ تَمْلأُ الْمِيزَانَ .
وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ تَمْلآنِ –
أَوْ تَمْلأُ – مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
وَالصَّلاَةُ نُورٌ
وَالصَّدَقَةُ بُرْهَانٌ
وَالصَّبْرُ ضِيَاءٌ
وَالْقُرْآنُ حُجَّةٌ لَكَ أَوْ عَلَيْكَ كُلُّ النَّاسِ يَغْدُو فَبَائِعٌ نَفْسَهُ فَمُعْتِقُهَا أَوْ مُوبِقُهَا " .
Abu Malik at-Ash'ari reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
Cleanliness is half of faith and
al-Hamdu Lillah (all praise and gratitude is for Allah alone) fills the scale,
and Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) and al-Hamdu Lillah fill up what is between the heavens and the earth,
and salat, obligatory prayer, is a light, and
charity is attestation (of one's faith) and
patience is a brightness and
the Holy Qur'an is a proof on your behalf or against you.
All men start their day early in the morning
and sell themselves (to Subhanahu through obedience) thereby setting themselves free
or (to Shaitan) destroying themselves.
Sahih Muslim 223
Extraordinary!
So this Ramadan I started my days with a bath, then heading to a shrine to read the prayers, then going for a walk. Satan was chained for the duration of the 30 days. That meant I was only trying to sell myself through obedience.
I would stare at the green of trees thinking about the prayers from Dalail ul Khairaat where it was said the colour came from the ablution water of Nabi Kareem (may all blessings in existence pour upon him and his family in continuously).
I smiled at butterflies of the same kind with their paper thin wings as they flitted over gorgeous flowers of the same kind, yet each one different, greeting them!
I had stopped listening to music but then I started again after the lecture on don't put the nafs through the ringer. Music calms my heart anyway, no it causes elation.
I often played the same track over and over and hear it differently each time:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_DTmIK0Kc4
At least my ears were not being used for fabrication and lies, my own or others'.
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ ۚ
إِنَّ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْبَصَرَ وَٱلْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْـُٔولًۭا ٣٦
And (do) not pursue what not you have of it any knowledge.
Indeed, the hearing, and the sight, and the heart all those will be [about it] questioned.
Surah Al Isra’, Verse 36
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa la taqfo: And do not pursue i.e. do not follow, Ayyohal Mo’min Al Mo’qin, O Believer who is certain, who is the seeker of reaching the rank of Tauheed, Allah’s One-ness…
Ma laysa laka bihi ilm-in: what you do not have of knowledge i.e. what you do not have in relation to your knowledge in it from following (others) or from making guesses yourself because you, on the Day of Judgement, will be asked about your utterances without knowledge and (you will be asked about it) your moving forward because of them with any bodily part or faculty and your saying it forcibly (without knowing) the unseen.
Inna as sam’a: Indeed the ears, (Subhanahu) mentions it first because indeed, what is attached to it is most of what is made up as fabrication and lies…
Wal basara: and the eyes because without doubt the nafs, the self, indulges itself in most of the trials and what creates devastation with the means of seeing…
Wal fua’ad: and the heart which is the root of the rising of lies and delusions…
I even came up with my own darood, which was probably not original given that those who loved him were many and perfected their love. But still, the words had been coming to me often and spring being in the air was making everything feel intoxicating.
Dear Allah, bless the one whose scent gives the flowers its fragrance!
Today is the 10th of Ramadan. The first ashra of Mercy ends and begins the second of Maghfira, when Subhanahu will grant forgiveness. The Imam (as) has 8 prayers on it so I look forward to reading them all. In repeat! The third ashra will then come of Nijaat, refuge from Hell.
From exclusion, deprivation, humiliation, abandonment and loss by way of another’s words and his prayers.
I learnt recently from Sheikh Nurjan (ra) the reason Islam has an Imam in the congregational prayer.
"This is why it doesn't matter whether you are uttering the words or just following the motions silently. Even not doing that and sitting or standing on the side. The Imam is the only one Allah Azzo Jal is looking at. The Imam's prayer is the prayer of the congregation. That is why it is important who is chosen for it.
And your Imam ar Rahma is Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his being the Mercy of the Universe as well as his family). So Allah Azzo Jal is only and only looking at Him."
In that explanation, it made sense to me why the Imam Jafer Sadiq (as) said the supplication is better than the salat, obligatory prayer. For my prayer is distracted and full of deficits. But my dua, when it comes in the words of Imam Zain ul Abedin (as), it was like Subhanahu was hearing me through his voice.
My favourite dua from the Quran is the one I found written outside many a shrine, especially of the Ahl e Beit, in Paradise with the instruction for it to be spoken when entering them:
وَقُل رَّبِّ أَدۡخِلۡنِی مُدۡخَلَ صِدۡقࣲ وَأَخۡرِجۡنِی مُخۡرَجَ صِدۡقࣲ وَٱجۡعَل لِّی مِن لَّدُنكَ سُلۡطَـٰنࣰا نَّصِیرࣰا
And say, "My Lord! Cause me to enter an entrance of truth,
and cause me to an exit of truth
and make for me from near You an authority helping."
Surah Al Isra’, Verse 80
Tafseer e Jilani
O one who is on the path of Allah, O worshipper, and after that you reached towards it, (the station of Maqam e Mahmood), there will not be remaining for you a (higher) rank of completion and guidance but instead you are now completed and are the guided one.
When revelations come to you and permission is granted to you by Subhanahu, you will become a perfect Murshid, guide, for the people with shortcomings, incomplete, interceding for them by the Permission of Allah, for their deliverance from the compulsions of imkaan, possibilities, that lead one to the pitfalls of fire and you will make even them reach the atmosphere of heavens with the ability granted by Allah to you and to them.
Wa: And after your reaching from your striving and your struggling and the different times of waking up at night and your praying during the nights by the ability granted by Allah and the ease He gave you so that you reached the stations exalted and the ranks high …
Qul: say, beseechingly, to your Lord, seeking refuge from Him, focusing towards him as the desirer of the highest standard of capability and being firmly placed in the station which you have reached by His granted ability and His Help…
Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me by different types of Lutf, Kindnesses and Karam, Mercy…
Adkhilni: Make me enter by Your Fazl, Bounty and Jood, Generosity…
Modkhala sidq-in: the entrance of truth and the destination of being settled and it is the Place of Tauheed, One-ness, free of all kinds of additions and excesses and make me be in it forever without fluctuation and without staining…
Wa akhrij-ni: and make me exit the demands of my selfishness and my identity for the atmosphere of dissolution which connects to the honour of ever-lastingness and meeting (The Divine)…
Mukhraja sidq-in: the exit of truth without hesitation and shaking…
Waj’al-i: and assign for me in the moment of my ego quarreling with me, overcoming me with wrongdoing…
Mil ladunka sultan-an: from Your Authority i.e. proven in a way that nothing can overrule it, clearly revealed, witnessed in totality, so it becomes…
Naseera: a helper for the one who helps me against my enemies and frees me from their grip in the moment that they surround me.
And the words will deliver me from the compulsions of imkaan, possibilities, that lead me to the pitfalls of loneliness and make me reach the atmosphere of heavens of knowing and recognizing my Rabb.
Through the ability granted by Allah to me by His Name Al Birr, which only He can raise for me, a Sai'l, whom He promises to answer for He is نَافِذَ الْعِدَةِ naafid'al-i'dah - a Keeper of promises!
It will make me exit the demands of my selfishness and identity that I created in all my years, for my nafs will always quarrel with me, overcoming me with wrongdoing...
وَإيْثَارِ الْبَاطِلِ عَلَى الْحَقِّ وَالإصْرَارِ عَلَى الْمَأثَمِ ،
wa eethaaril-baat'ili a'laal-h'aq wal-is'-raari a'laal-maa-tham
preferring falsehood over truth, persisting in sin
And best of all, grant from His Self, naseera.
Not help, but a helper!
A helper who ends for me like the Imam (as) does in sha Allah the worst of my miseries, internal conflict, with a success beyond my imagination
وَوَفِّقْنِي إِذَا اشْتَكَلَتْ عَلَيَّ الأُمُورُ لأَهْدَاهَا،
wa waf-fiq-ni idhash-takalat a'lay-yal-umuru li-ah-daha
to reach the most guided of affairs when affairs confuse me.
Calling Him by a Name that was not possible in my existence until it came by his way at the end of his hamd:
وَلِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
Walee-yun h'ameed
O Friend, Praiseworthy!
Ameen summa Ameen summa Ameen...
Prostrate annual herb, plant height 1-2 cm x width 10-16 cm, capsule opening a true pore.
The flowers were very tiny and I remember having difficulty photographing these.
18 September 2008
I had already spent an amazing hour photographing gannets on the Saltee Islands and, frankly, I was struggling to think of a shot that would look just a little different to all my other OffShoot colleagues.....
Tell me if I managed to succeed....
A lignotuberous shrub, sometimes prostrate or grows to 1.5 m high. It has yellow flowers Nov to Feb and grows in a variety of soils.
Photo: Jean
Wikipedia Mitchella repens , or Partridge Berry,[1][2][3][4] or Squaw Vine, is the best known plant in the genus Mitchella. It is a creeping prostrate herbaceous woody shrub, occurring in North America and Japan, and belonging to the madder family (Rubiaceae).
Taxonomy
Mitchella repens is one of the many species first described by Carl Linnaeus. Its species name is the Latin adjective repens "creeping". Common names for Mitchella repens include partridge berry (or partridgeberry), squaw berry (or squaw berry), two-eyed berry, running fox, and Noon kie oo nah yeah (in the Mohawk language).
Description
Partridge Berry is an evergreen plant growing as a non-climbing vine, no taller than 6 cm tall with creeping stems 15 to 30 cm long. The evergreen, dark green, shiny leaves are ovate to cordate in shape. The leaves have a pale yellow midrib. The petioles are short, and the leaves are paired oppositely on the stems. Adventitious roots may grow at the nodes;[5] and rooting stems may branch and root repeatedly, producing loose spreading mats.
The small, trumpet-shaped, axillary flowers are produced in pairs, and each flower pair arises from one common calyx which is covered with fine hairs. Each flower has four white petals, one pistil, and four stamens. Partridge Berry is a distylous taxa. The plants have either flowers with long pistils and short stamens (long-styled flowers, called the pin), or have short pistils and long stamens (short-styled flowers, called the thrum).[6] The two style morphs are genetically determined, so the pollen from one morph does not fertilize the other morph, resulting in a form of heteromorphic self-incompatibility.[7]
Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens)
Foliage, inflorescence, and unopened blossom
Berries
The ovaries of the twin flowers fuse, so that there were two flowers for each berry. The two bright red spots on each berry are vestiges of this process. The fruit ripens between July and October, and may persist through the winter. The fruit is a drupe containing up to eight seeds. The fruits are never abundant. They may be part of the diets of several birds, such as Ruffed Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Northern Bobwhite, and Wild turkey. They are also consumed by foxes, White-footed mice, and skunks.[8][9] The foliage is occasionally consumed by White-tailed deer.[10]
The common reproduction is vegetative, with plants forming spreading colonies.[11]
Distribution and habitat
The species is dispersed throughout eastern North America, from south Eastern Canada south to Florida and Texas, and to Guatemala. It is found growing in dry or moist woods, along stream banks and on sandy slopes.
Cultivation and uses
Mitchella repens is cultivated for its ornamental red berries and shiny, bright green foliage.[11] It is grown as a creeping ground cover in shady locations. It is rarely propagated for garden use by way of seeds but cuttings are easy.[12] The plants have been widely collected for Christmas decorations, and over collecting has impacted some local populations negatively.[11] American Indian woman made a tea from the leaves and berries that was consumed during childbirth.[11] The plants are sometimes grown in terrariums.[13] The scarlet berries are edible but rather tasteless, with a faint flavour of wintergreen, resembling cranberries (to which they are not closely related).
The Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometers from Kathmandu next to the village of Pharping. It's one of the main temples in Nepal. Twice every week thousands of people come here to worship the goddess Kali by sacrificing life animals, particularly cockerels and uncastrated male goats.
GODDESS KALI
Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली & Bengali: কালী; IPA: [kɑːliː]), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, or shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga. The name of Kali means black one and force of time; she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. Her earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; and recent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Worshipped throughout India but particularly South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is both geographically and culturally marginal.
ETYMOLOGY
Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time", but also means "black"; hence, Kālī means "the black one" or "beyond time". Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli".
Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"), and Kallie ("black alchemist"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.
Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.
ORIGINS
Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.
According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.
WORSHIP AND MANTRA
Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is
Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा शिवा क्षमा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तुते ॥
(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.
Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā śivā ksamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stutē.)
YANTRA
Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time]. Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art. The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.
BENGALI TRADITION
Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.
The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:
Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]
Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?
Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.
You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.
It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.
To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.
A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.
In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.
In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).
LEGENDS
SLAYER AND RAKTABIJA
In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:
Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.
Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.
DAKSHINA KALI
In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, drunk on the blood of her victims, is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her, and she steps upon his chest. Recognizing Shiva beneath her feet, she calms herself. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.
The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist, and Shiva lies beneath her feet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot
on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.
If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.
One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, and Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest, wherein Kali matches Shiva until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and becomes pacified.
SMASHAN KALI
If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.
MATERNAL KALI
At the time of samundra manthan when amrit came out, along with that came out poison which was going to destroy the world hence on the request of all the gods, Lord Shiva drank it to save the world but as he is beyond death he didn't die but was very much in pain due to the poison effect hence he became a child so that Kali can feed him with her milk which will sooth out the poison effect.
MAHAKALI
Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.
Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.
ICONOGRAPHY
Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.
In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, and three eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.
The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.
In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj", when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"
According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:
My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda;
indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black.
The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark.
This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.
—Sri Ramakrishna
This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.
POPULAR FORM
Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.
She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.
She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.
Kali as the Symbol of Creation , Freedom , Preservation and Destruction
The head that hangs in Kali's hand is a symbol of Ego and the scimitar which she is holding represents power and energy.It is believed that Kali is protecting the human race by that scimitar and also destroying the negativity and ego within human being. The body lying under Kali symbolizes ruination, is actually a form of Shiva. Kali steps her leg on the chest of the body and suppress ruination . Since she is standing on the pure white chest of Lord Shiva who, as pure primal awareness, lays in a passive reclining position, peacefully lies with his eyes half open in a state of bliss. Her hair is long, black and flowing freely depicting Her freedom from convention and the confines of conceptualization. The white teeth which Kali has stands for conscience and her red tongue represents greed. By pressing her white teeth on her tongue Kali refers to control greed.The goddess may appear terrible from outside but every symbol in Kali signifies truth of life. Since the earth was created out of darkness, the dark black color of Kali symbolizes the color from which everything was born. Her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra (gesture of welcome and charity) respectively . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end of ego.
Kali as the Symbol of Mother Nature
The name Kali means Kala or force of time. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, there was only darkness and everything was created from the darkness. The Dark appearance of kali represents the darkness from which everything was born. Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky and ocean water as blue. As she is also the goddess of Preservation Kali is worshiped as mother to preserve the nature.Kali is standing calm on Shiva, her appearance represents the preservation of mother nature. Her free, long and black hair represents nature's freedom from civilization. Under the third eye of kali, the signs of both sun, moon and fire are visible which represent the driving forces of nature.
SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY
In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:
Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.
The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:
Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.
This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana [28] and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.
The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:
The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.
While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.
To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.
From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.
Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.
Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.
DEVELOPMENT
In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.
The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.
Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.
Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.
Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.
A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year. In 1971, Ms. Magazine used an image of Kali, her multiple arms juggling modern tasks, as a symbol of modern womanhood on its inaugural issue.
Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.
KALI IN NEOPAGAN AND NEW AGE PRACTICE
An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[60] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:
A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.
INCARNATIONS OF KALI
Draupadi, Wife of Pandavas, was an avatar of Kali, who born to assist Lord Krishna to destroy arrogant kings of India. There is a temple dedicated to this incarnation at Banni Mata Temple at Himachal Pradesh. The vedic deity Nirriti or the Puranic deity Alakshmi is often considered as incarnations of Kali.
WIKIPEDIA
Prostrate shrub forming mats with light green spine-like foliage to 20cm high and up to 2m across. Flowering December to April.
Restricted to central New South Wales from the Upper Goulburn Valley south through the Blue Mountains and Woronora Plateau and into the Budawang Range.
Habit: flic.kr/p/K3iTAi
Shankhpushpi is a prostrate, spreading, perennial herb commonly found on sandy, dry' rocky ground & waste lands in northern India. It is indicated as "Medhya Rasayana" which means beneficial for Brain & Nervous system.
FloraBase describes it: "Prostrate, mat-forming shrub. Fl. yellow&orange&red&purple, Aug to Oct. Loamy soils or sand. Floodplains, swamp margins, along river banks." florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/16348
Photo: Jean
valeed.hubpages.com/hub/Salaat-Muslim-Prayer
Salaat is the practice of formal Muslim prayer in Islam. A Muslim must pray five times a day, at the stated Salaat times. Before prayer ablution (Wudu) is necessary. Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) said ablution is the key to prayer. In ablution Muslims wash their hands, face and feet, and after the completion of ablution they go to the mosque for offering prayers, where the Imam (prayer leader) faces Makkah and leads the prayers. The men stand in one, two, three or more rows behind him. The prayers consist of reciting passage from the Holy Quran. While praying the Muslims bow before Allah and kneel (sajda ) with the face to the ground. Friday prayers are preceded by a sermon (khutba ) delivered by the Imam.
Accession Number: 1990:1223
Display Title: Kali stands masterfully over Shiva prostrate
Suite Name:
Media & Support: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Creation Date: ca. 1745
Creation Place/Subject: India
State-Province: Himachal Pradesh
Court: Guler
School: Pahari
Display Dimensions: 7 9/32 in. x 4 7/8 in. (18.5 cm x 12.4 cm)
Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection
Label Copy:
If Shiva, the Creator and Destroyer, is united with Shakti, he is able to exert his powers as Lord. If not, the god is unable to stir. Here Shakti is Kali, the Dark Goddess, the Primordial Power. The moment Kali's foot touches Shiva's corpse (Shava) he is instilled with life, and the Cosmos is renewed.
Power & Desire, 04/00
Shivas consort was a Tantric goddess who over centuries of changing myth, has become a gentle and patient wife. At times, her Tantric origins erupt. Here we see her as Ugratara, the roused or furious Tara, a fearsome goddess who carries a chopper, a sword, a lotus, and a cup dripping blood. She is shown in the cremation grounds, trampling the burning corpse of Shiva, while jackals crowd round, eager for remains.
One myth says the goddesss father once insulted his wild and lawless son-in-law. Shiva was unaffected, but his wife was so furious she became the dreadful Tara. The world shook with her enraged dance; to stop her Shiva lay in her path and she trampled him. When she realized she was stepping on her husband, she came to her senses. Philosophically, the image is understood to represent another thought. Shiva combines the male and female
principles in one being. When the energizing female principle is removed from the male principle, the male becomes a corpse, and the woman a wild demoness, who dances on his lifeless body.
VISIONS OF THE GREAT GODDESS
September 2004
This painting of Ugratara may have come from a series of ten mahavidyas, or goddesses of knowledge. These deities are tantric goddesses who each represent a path to transcendental knowledge. Tara, the second mahavidya, comes originally from the Buddhism, and is primarily worshipped for wealth, wisdom and speech. Here as Ugratara (fierce Tara) she is shown in a typical setting-the cremation grounds that bridge the world of the spirits and the living. In texts she is often described as standing upon a recumbent Shiva, who here appears to peacefully admire the splendor of the Goddess.
Marks:
Bibliography:
Repository: The San Diego Museum of Art
after prostrating for months, often years, to come to Lhasa's Jokhang temple, these pilgrims have arrived!
MOUNT KAILASH INNER PARIKRAMA 2010
Mt. Kailash Inner Parikrama (Kora)
Mt. Kailash (6714m), Asia's most sacred mountain, is located in a high and isolated enclave of West Tibet . It is one of three pilgrimages sites in the area, known collectively as Kangri Tsosum. All are said to be at the heart of the ancient Shangshung kingdom, the supposed land of origin of the pre-Buddist Bonpos. Mt Kailash is their sould-mountain, which they also call Yungdrung Gu Tse, the Nine-story Swastika Mountain .
It is a 53-km pilgrim path around Mt. Kailash . It begins and ends at Darchen, a small settlement at the mountain south base and in the process visits four monasteries crosses the high Drolma La Pass (5636m). Three days is perhaps the minimum time required to walk leisurely around the mountain: spend two nights in or near Drira Phuk and Zutrul Phuk Monasteries. If conditions permit, try to stay four or five days, which would allow time for short trips to the inner regions of the area.
Mount Kailash (also Mount kailas; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེKangrinboqê or Gang Rinpoche; simplified Chinese: 冈仁波齐峰,Gāngrénbōqí fēng, Sanskrit: कैलास Kailāsa) is a peak in the Kailas Range (Gangdisê Mountains), which forms part of the Transhimalaya in Tibet. It lies near the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia: the Indus River, the Sutlej River (a major tributary of the Indus River), the Brahmaputra River, and the Karnali River (a tributary of the River Ganga). It is considered a sacred place in four religions: Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism andJainism. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastalin Tibet.
According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailās, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Pārvatī.
According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus.
Every year, thousands make a pilgrimage to Kailash, following a tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of several religions believe that circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The peregrination is made in a clockwise direction by Hindus and Buddhists. Followers of the Jain andBönpo religions circumambulate the mountain in a counterclockwise direction. The path around Mount Kailash is 52 km (32 mi) long.
Some pilgrims believe that the entire walk around Kailash should be made in a single day, which is not considered an easy task. A person in good shape walking fast would take perhaps 15 hours to complete the 52 km trek. Some of the devout do accomplish this feat, little daunted by the uneven terrain, altitude sickness and harsh conditions faced in the process. Indeed, other pilgrims venture a much more demanding regimen, performing body-lengthprostrations over the entire length of the circumambulation: The pilgrim bends down, kneels, prostrates full-length, makes a mark with his fingers, rises to his knees, prays, and then crawls forward on hands and knees to the mark made by his/her fingers before repeating the process. It requires at least four weeks of physical endurance to perform the circumambulation while following this regimen. The mountain is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. A few modern amenities, such as benches, resting places and refreshment kiosks, exist to aid the pilgrims in their devotions. According to all religions that revere the mountain, setting foot on its slopes is a dire sin. It is claimed that many people who ventured to defy the taboo have died in the process[citation needed]. It is a popular belief that the stairways on Mount Kailash lead to heaven.
Following the political and border disturbances across the Chinese-Indian boundary, pilgrimage to the legendary abode of Lord Shiva was stopped from 1954 to 1978. Thereafter, a limited number of Indian pilgrims have been allowed to visit the place, under the supervision of the Chinese and Indian governments either by a lengthy and hazardous trek over the Himalayan terrain, travel by land from Kathmandu or from Lhasa where flights from Kathmandu are available to Lhasa and thereafter travel over the great Tibetan plateau by car. The journey takes four night stops, finally arriving at Darchen at elevation of 4,600 m (15,100 ft), small outpost that swells with pilgrims at certain times of year. Despite its minimal infrastructure, modest guest houses are available for foreign pilgrims, whereas Tibetan pilgrims generally sleep in their own tents. A small regional medical center serving far-western Tibet and funded by the Swiss Ngari Korsum Foundation was built here in 1997.
Walking around the holy mountain—a part of its official park—has to be done on foot, pony or yak, taking some three days of trekking starting from a height of around 15,000 ft (4,600 m) past the Tarboche (flagpole) to cross the Drölma pass 18,200 ft (5,500 m), and encamping for two nights en route. First, near the meadow of Dirapuk gompa, some 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 mi) before the pass and second, after crossing the pass and going downhill as far as possible (viewing Gauri Kund in the distance). By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
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I have never seen this before! I have seen echidnas before, but never lying totally prostrate and in the hot sun!
Today was a hot 33C in Melbourne, before afternoon thunderstorms came to Healesville about 2pm.
Most of the animals were sensibly laying in the shade, avoiding the hot sun. Most - but not this Echidna!
Echidnas are Australia's answer to hedgehogs or porcupines . They are a primitive Marsupial - one of two monotremes.
Echidnas are one of two egg-laying marsupial mammals - monotremes (the other being the platypus).
Echidnas, sometimes also referred to as "spiny anteaters", are the only surviving monotremes apart from the Platypus. The four surviving species, native to New Guinea and Australia, all belong to the Tachyglossidae family. The echidna is named after a monster in ancient Greek mythology.
Echidnas are small mammals that are covered with coarse hair and spines. Superficially they resemble both the anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals like hedgehogs and porcupines. They have snouts which have the functions of both the mouth and nose. Their snouts are elongated and slender. They have very short, strong limbs with large claws and are powerful diggers. Echidnas have a tiny mouth and a toothless jaw. They feed by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and use their long, sticky tongue which protrudes from their snout to collect their prey. The Short-beaked Echidna's diet consists largely of ants and termites, while the Zaglossus species typically eat worms and insect larvae.
A Short-beaked Echidna curled into a ball; the snout is visible on the right.
The four species of echidna, along with the Platypus, are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes. The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg twenty-two days after mating and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes ten days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for forty-five to fifty-five days, at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months.
There are two species of echidnas, one confined to the highlands of New Guinea, and one which lives in Australia and New Guinea.
The smaller species is found throughout Australia, although the animals vary in colour depending on their location. In the northern, hotter regions, echidnas are light brown, but they become darker with thicker hair further south. In Tasmania, they are black. All echidnas have sharp spines covering the back of their short, stocky bodies.
The echidna's snout is between 7 and 8 cm long, and is stiffened to enable the animal to break up logs and termite mounds when searching for food. An echidna's mouth is on the underside of its snout, at the end. This allows the animal to feed easily – especially when suckling. Adult echidnas vary in size, from 35 to 53 cm. Males weigh about 6 kilograms, while females weigh about 4.5 kilograms.
The short, stout limbs of an echidna are well-suited for scratching and digging in the soil. The front feet have five flattened claws which are used to dig forest litter, burrow, and tear open logs and termite mounds. The hind feet point backwards, and help to push soil away when the animal is burrowing. Two of the claws on each back foot are used for grooming. An echidna's tail is short, stubby and hairless underneath.
For most of the year echidnas are solitary animals, although each animal's territory is large and often overlaps with that of other echidnas. During the breeding season they probably use their fine sense of smell to locate one another. Echidnas are usually found among rocks, in hollow logs and in holes among tree roots. During rainy or windy weather they often burrow into the soil or shelter under bushes and tussocks of grass.
Protecting themselves
The echidna looks fearsome enough, but it is a shy animal and would rather retreat than fight if disturbed. When frightened it will curl into a ball, with its snout and legs tucked beneath it and its sharp spines sticking out. It will wedge itself beneath rocks, or burrow straight down into soft soil, to escape predators such as dogs, eagles and dingoes.
With a keen sense of smell, an echidna uses its long, hairless snout to search for food, detect danger and locate other echidnas. Termites are the preferred food, which is why the animal is often called the 'spiny anteater'. After finding food, an echidna catches the prey with its long, sticky tongue. Because it has no teeth, it grinds its food between its tongue and the bottom of its mouth.
In warm areas, echidnas feed during the cooler morning and evening hours, and sleep during the heat of the day. In southern Australia, they often stop eating during the colder months and then eat large amounts during spring.
Being monotremes, echidnas produce young from eggs which are hatched outside their body, in the same way as birds and most reptiles. During the breeding season, a female echidna develops a simple pouch into which she lays a single egg. The egg takes about 10 days to hatch, producing a young animal which measures around 1.45 cm (about the size of a jellybean) and weighs as little as 380 milligrams. The young echidna is carried around in its mother's pouch for about three months, during which the female will sometimes drop it into a burrow for protection.
By the time the infant leaves the pouch, its spines have started to develop, but it still stays close to its mother and continues to suckle milk through specialised pores in the skin inside her pouch. Although they begin to eat termites and ants soon after leaving the pouch, young echidnas are often not fully weaned until they are several months old.
Echidnas have been known to live for as long as 16 years in the wild, but generally their life span is thought to be under 10 years.
Healesville Sanctuary, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
Rubiaceae (madder, bedstraw, or coffee family) » Spermacoce ocymoides
sperm-a-KOH-see -- seed point, referring to the capsule being surrounded by calyx points
ok-kye-MOY-deez -- resembles Ocimum (basil)
commonly known as: basil-like spermacoce, purple-leaved button weed
Native of: Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines; naturalized elsewhere
References: Flowers of India • PIER • Flora of Thailand • NPGS / GRIN
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Lhasa center - Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan Plateau, China,
Local monastery of the gelug pa monks.
Built in 1653.
( We've got two names?
Murunying Ma monastery or Grumi Dratsang monastery)
Pilgrims prostrating at the Temple, Lhasa
In de diverse stromingen van het boeddhisme is de prosternatie een middel om eer te bewijzen aan de Drie Juwelen: de Boeddha, de Dharma (Boeddha's leer) en de Sangha (de gemeenschap van Dharma-beoefenaars).
Bij de volle prosternatie werpen boeddhisten zich plat ter aarde met de armen vooruitgestoken. Zij blijven niet liggen, maar staan meteen weer op voor de volgende prosternatie. In het Tibetaanse boeddhisme prosterneren pelgrims zich tijdens hun bedevaart voortdurend. Zij hopen daarmee een gunstige wedergeboorte te bewerken
www.rkk.nl/katholicisme/encyclopedie/p/prosternatie
Interessant:
Prostrating on the floor, perplexed expression on Evolet's face during a religious ceremony. The watery blue tunic fits her skin tone so well, and bring out her eyes even more.....Evolet is evidently confused as well as bewildered to have to engage in the social events of a group of people so vastly different from her own. Certainly this group of humans are more advanced than mammoth hunters, and have things that is beyond the understanding of Evolet......Pagan religious ceremonies give the newcomer a deep sense of cultural shock....
Prostrate shrub to 30 cm high with reddish 'hairy' buds opening to bright yellow flowers.
Identified as Hibbertia vestita ( Hairy Guinea Flower)
plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&am...
The QLD government site info helped me to identify this List of Wildlife of D'Aguilar National Park
Somerset Trail 13km walk in the Mount Mee section of D'Aguilar National Park
Apiaceae (carrot family) » Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.
ken-TEL-uh -- from Greek centum (hundred) referring to profusely branched prostrate herb
a-see-AT-ee-kuh -- of or from Asia
commonly known as: coinwort, Indian pennywort, Indian water navelwort, pennyweed, spadeleaf • Assamese: বৰ মানিমুনি bar manimuni • Bengali: ব্রহ্মমন্ডূকী brahmamanduki, থানকুনি thanakuni • Dogri: ब्राह्मी बूटी brahmi booti, ghor-sumbi • Gujarati: બ્રાહ્મી brahmi, ખડબ્રાહ્મી khadabrahmi • Hindi: बल्लारि ballari, भेकी bheki, ब्रह्ममण्डूकी brahmamanduki, ब्राह्मी brahmi, खुलखुडी khulakhudi, मण्डूकी manduki • Kannada: ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು brahmi soppu, ಗದ್ದೆ ಬರಗ gadde baraga, ಇಲಿಕಿವಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ilikivi soppu, ಒಂದೆಲಗ ondelaga, ಸರಸ್ವತಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು Saraswati soppu, ತಂಬುಳಿ ಗಿಡ tambuli gida • Konkani: एकपानी ekpani, ¿ उंदरी ? umdri • Malayalam: കുടകം kutakam, കുടഞ്ഞാല് kutannal • Manipuri: পেৰূক peruk • Marathi: ब्राह्मी brahmi, एकपानी ekpani, कारिवणा karivana • Mizo: hnah-bial, lambak • Nepali: ब्रह्मबुटि brahmabuti, घोड टाप्रे ghod-tapre • Oriya: ମଣ୍ଡୂକପର୍ଣ୍ଣୀ mandukaparnni, ମାଣ୍ଡୁକୀ manduki, ମୂଳ ପର୍ଣ୍ଣୀ mula parnni, ସରସ୍ବତୀ Sarasbati, ସୋମ ବଲ୍ଲୀ soma-balli, ଶ୍ରାବଣୀ srabani • Sanskrit: भाण्डि bhandi, भण्डीरी bhandiri, भेकी bheki, मण्डूकपर्णी mandukaparni, मण्डूकी manduki • Tamil: கசப்பி kacappi, மதண்டி matanti, பறுணி paruni, பிண்டீரி pintiri, வல்லாரை vallarai, யோசனவல்லி yocana-valli • Telugu: మండూకపర్ణి mandukaparni, సరస్వతీ ఆకు Sarasvati-aku • Tibetan: man du rag pa rni • Tulu: ತಿಮರೆ timare
Native to: tropical & s Africa, Asia, n Australia, w Pacific; naturalized / cultivated elsewhere
References: Flowers of India • Wikipedia • NPGS / GRIN • ENVIS - FRLHT • DDSA
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SHIP'S FIREMAN INJURED.
ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL. A ship's fireman named Con O'Keefe, aged about 28, from the steamer Tredenham, now in port, was admitted to the district hospital yesterday afternoon, in an unconscious condition. He was suffering from an injury to his head.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230103.2.36
CHARGE OF MURDER.
SHIP'S FIREMAN IN DOCK.
A STARTLING STORY.
INJURED MAN LEFT UNATTENDED.
When John Finnigan, aged 31, a ship's fireman, was charged at the Police Court this morning with having assaulted Con O'Keefe and caused him actual bodily harm, a sensation was caused by Chief Detective McIlveney stating that he would withdraw the charge and substitute one of murder against the accused. The man alleged to have been assaulted, he added, had just died in the Auckland Hospital.
Mr. Allan Moody appeared for the accused, Finnigan, who was remanded until to-morrow. Bail was not applied for.
Both the accused and the dead man were firemen on the steamer Tredenham, which arrived in the Waitemata on December 31, and berthed at the wharf the following day. According to statements made to the police the crew of the Tredenham were given £2 each allowance on New Year's Day, and came ashore at about 1 o'clock. There was some drinking among the men, and it is said that there was an altercation between Finnigan and O'Keefe. It is further alleged that O'Keefe was lying asleep in his bunk at midnight when Finnigan came down into the firemen's quarters and struck the other man and pulled him out of his bunk on to the floor and kicked him on the head and back. Finnigan, it is said, was pulled away from the prostrate man, who was lifted back into his bunk in an unconscious condition.
The extraordinary thing about the tragedy is that the unfortunate man is alleged to have been allowed to lie unconscious in his bunk until the matter came to the ears of the officers at noon on the following day. He was then sent to the hospital in an ambulance, and as he had not recovered consciousness last night, an operation was performed by Dr. Milsom. The patient did not rally, however, and died at about 9 o'clock this morning.
Another peculiar feature about the case is that although the alleged assault took place at midnight on the first, and O'Keefe was admitted to the hospital on the next day, the matter was not reported to the police until one o'clock yesterday. A search was then made for Finnigan, who was arrested in Albert Street by Detective Gourley at about half-past three and charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.
The accused denied all knowledge of the charge when arrested.
The inquest on O'Keefe will be opened at 4 o'clock this afternoon, when evidence of identification will be given. It will then be adjourned until to-morrow morning, when further evidence will be heard in conjunction with the charge of murder to be further pressed against Finnigan.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19230104.2.35
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230105.2.37
MURDER CHARGE.
INQUEST ON O'KEEFE.
TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
When the charge of murder preferred against John Finnigan was mentioned in the Police Court this morning, the Chief Detective asked that the case be set down for hearing this afternoon, when the inquest on the dead man O'Keefe would be resumed. To this Mr. Allan Moody, for the accused, consented.
The charge arises cut of a fracas between firemen on the steamer Tredenham at midnight on Monday last..... The inquest on O'Keefe was opened yesterday afternoon and adjourned until to-morrow after evidence of identification had been given.
Mr. Poynton, S.M., presided this afternoon, when the inquest was resumed, and the charge of murder was heard against Finnigan on the same evidence, and Mr. Allan Moody again appeared on behalf of the accused. Mr. Bagnall appeared for the New Zealand Shipping Co., the agents for the vessel.
Captain ?. O. Evans, master of the Tredenham, was present in Court, with some of his officers and several members of the crew.
There was a large number of seafaring men, apart from the principals, present in Court. Chief Detective Mcllveney was present to prosecute, and early in the proceedings said he would oppose any application for a reduction of the charge to one of manslaughter.
There was produced to the Court a plan of the firemen's fo'c'sle showing the position of the bunk of the deceased.
The accused stood in the dock, calm and at attention.
Dr. Kelman, of the Auckland Hospital, stated that at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday last Con O'Keefe was admitted to the hospital with blood issuing from the mouth, while blood appeared on some of the front teeth, which were loosened. The right ear was darkened, and even and swollen as was the right eye, and the right shoulder was bruised. The patient was unconscious, and his condition becoming worse, an operation was performed on Wednesday night by Dr. Milsom, in the presence of witness, but he did not recover consciousness and died at nine o'clock yesterday morning. When the patient was admitted he was suffering from severe concussion, but developed symptoms of cerebral irritation. Dr. Gilmore made an examination after death, and the cause of death was hemmorhage of the brain.
The accused showed signs of faintness and a glass of water was brought, but he smashed the glass away in attempting to clutch it and fell on his knees to the floor. He soon recovered, however, and was given a chair, where he sat composedly. (Proceeding.)
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19230105.2.19
CHARGED WITH MURDER.
THE TREDENHAM TRAGEDY.
POLICE COURT PROCEEDINGS.
STORY OF BRUTAL ASSAULT.
PARTIAL-COLLAPSE OF ACCUSED.
To answer a charge of murder, John Finnigan, a ship's fireman, late of the steamer Tredenham, stepped into the dock yesterday afternoon at the Police Court. The accused is alleged to have murdered Con. O'Keefe, another fireman of the Tredenham on January 1. The inquest in connection with the fatality was opened the previous day at the morgue, and yesterday was carried on simultaneously with the first part of the proceedings, but the finding was not announced. Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., sat as magistrate and coroner. Mr. Allan Moody appeared for the accused, and Mr. B. D. Bagnall held a watching brief for the New Zealand Shipping Company, the agents for the steamer. Chief-Detective Mcllveney conducted the case for the police.
The accused, a clean-shaven man, 31 years of age, is below the average height, but of powerful build. He was dressed in dark clothes, with a striped cotton shirt, worn open at the neck, and disclosing heavy tatooing on the chest. He entered the dock briskly and without any indication of stress of emotion. During the taking of the medical evidence, in regard to the injuries to the dead man, however, he reeled and nearly fell in the dock. Given water and a chair, he recovered, but sat in the dock with a wan, ashen face, closely following the statements by the witnesses. Detective Gourley, the officer who arrested Finnigan, gave the accused every, attention as he sat in the dock after his partial collapse. Medical Evidence.
Three doctors gave as to O'Keefe's injuries. Dr. R. P. S. Kelman, on the staff of the Auckland Public Hospital said O'Keefe was admitted about 2 p.m. on January 2. He was brought to the hospital in the ambulance and was unconscious and breathing heavily. There was blood about his mouth. On the right side of the head there, were some swelling and bruising. OKeef's condition became progressively worse. An operation was performed by Dr. Milsom in witness's presence about 9 p.m. on January 3, but the patient never regained consciousness and he died at 9.10 a.m. on January 4. When admitted O'Keefe was suffering from severe concussion, and later he showed signs of cerebral irritation. The post-mortem examination, conducted by Dr. Walter Gilmour, at which witness was present, showed the cause of death to be hemorrhage underneath the inner membrane of the brain. The in juries were consistent with a kick on thehead.
Dr. Walter Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland Hospital, gave evidence of the post-mortem, examination he had conducted. After describing the bruising and abrasions, he said there had been an infiltration of blood into the tissues of the skull on the right side over the frontal region. There was no fracture of the skull. There were pin-point hemorrhages and white matter on both frontal lobes. The other organs of the body were healthy. Death, in his opinion, was caused by hemorrhage under the membrane of the brain, and the injury was consistent with a kick on the head.
Dr. D. N. W. Murray said he had re-examined the body, yesterday. The whole of the muscular tissue from a midline of the forehead, right back to two inches behind the right ear was bruised and infiltrated with blood. Death was due, he considered, to hemorrhage of the brain, and the injury was consistent with a kick, blow or fall. The other organs, were all healthy.
Frederick Charles Moore put in a plan of the firemen's forecastle of the Tredenham, showing the position of the banks. OKeefe, occupied a lower bunk at the fore end of the forecastle.
Scene at the Forecastle.
Daniel Murphy, a fireman on the Tredenham, described in detail the happening; in the forecastle on the night O'Keefe is stated to have received his injuries. On January 1, he said, the crew had leave, and witness went ashore at 1 p.m. and returned about: 9 .p.m. in a sober state. He went to his bunk between 10 and 11 o'clock and O'Keefe was then in the forecastle. He was sober, and was sitting on a form alongside his bunk, taking off his boots. After a short conversation O'Keefe “turned in”. Witness did not get to sleep until the early hours; of the morning; he was reading in his bunk.
The accused came on board: about midnight, he was sober, but showed signs of drink. The accused brought some cocoa and some of those in the forecastle partook of it. He heard the accused say, "I'm going along to get, that — O'Keefe." Accused also said, "What right has this fellow to stop in his bunk while I have to go down to work?"
Finnigan went to O'Keefe's bunk. Things then were quiet in the forecastle. Witness heard Finmgan wake up O'Keefe with a punch.
Finnigan told O'Keefe to "get up." Witness heard a few punches. O'Keefe asked,: "What is this for?" To this the accused answered, "I'll let you know what it is for, you dirty —." Finnigan dragged O'keefe from his bunk on to the floor and then gave him more punches. Finnigan was holding O'Keefe by the neck with one hand and punching him with the other.
Kicked and Stamped On.
Mooney and Kirkwood went to separate the men, but before they got to them, witness saw Finnigan kick O'Keefe on the head and body. O'Keefe was lying on the floor in a kind of curled-up position. Finnigan kicked O'Keefe with the toe of his boot on the head, and he lifted his foot and brought the heel down on the side of the man's head.
Mooney and Kirkwood put Finnigan into his bunk and lifted O'Keefe into his. Witness did not leave his bed while Finnigan assaulted O'Keefe. About 8 o'clock the next morning witness was, going to call O'Keefe when somebody said: "You'd better let him sleep it out." O'Keefe then was apparently sleeping. Witness did not see O'Keefe again until he viewed his body on Thursday in the morgue.
Mr. Moody closely cross-examined the witness as to whether he had had any drink on the day in question, and also in regard to his having a black eye. The witness said he had, no liquor on January 1, nor did he bring any drink back to the ship. He had no drink in the forecastle that night. He admitted he received his black eye in a fight, but he was not drunk at the time. He got the black eye from one of his friends, who was drunk.
Arab Fireman a Witness.
Abdul Mahomet, an Arab fireman on the Tredenham, said he. went to his. bunk on January 1 about 8.30 p.m. O'Keefe was sober, but appeared, to have been drinking. He noticed the accused come into the forecastle about 11 o'clock; he could not say whether he had been drinking or not. He saw Finnigan go to O'Keefe's bunk, hit him on the head, and pull him on to the floor.
Finnigan then kicked O'Keefe on the head and face. When O'Keefe's head was down on the floor the accused lifted his foot and brought his heel down on to the side of O'Keefe's head. The accused also kicked him with the toe of his boot.
Afterwards Finnigan said to witness: "What are you looking at me for, you black — ? I'll kill you before I leave the ship."
Cross-examined by Mr. Moody, witness said that the next morning O'Keefe was moving his head about in his bunk, but he did not talk. He did not see O'Keefe hit his head on the side of the bunk.
Michael J. Mooney, another of the Tredenham's firemen; admitted that after going ashore on January 1 he returned to the ship between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Helplessly drunk. About 10 p.m. he was sober again and he went on board the steamer Te Koa. He returned to the Tredenham about 11.30 p.m. He saw Finnigan hit O'Keefe while the latter was asleep.
He saw Finnigan strike O'Keefe in the face after pulling him out of his bunk. Witness then went to get assistance. He went to the far end of the forecastle and was away about three minutes. "When witness and a fireman named Morrison came back O'Keefe was out of his bunk and lying apparently asleep. Witness thought he was suffering from the after effects of beer, Morrison and witness coaxed Finnigan to "turn in,” Finnigan was more or less excited. Another fireman named Kirkwood helped witness to lift O'Keefe, whose face was bleeding, into his bunk.
The Magistrate: You did not think it very serious?
Witness: No, sir.
Continuing, witness said, that the next morning about half-past ten he asked O'Keefe how he was, but the man did not reply. A fireman named Thomason reported the matter to the chief steward, and later he saw O'Keefe taken away from the ship on a stretcher.
Cross-examined, witness said that on the morning after the event he saw that O'Keefe was kicking his legs about and was restless.
William Kirkwood, also a fireman on the Tredenham, stated that Finnigan told him he had been asleep in a horsebox on the wharf on the day of the alleged murder. After relating the part he took in helping to lift O'Keefe into his bunk witness said he told the chief engineer of O'Keefe's condition and the chief engineer and chief steward came into the for'ecastle. Later he met Finnigan in an hotel and he told him he had reported O'Keefe's illness to the chief engineer. He told Finnigan a doctor had been sent for and Finnigan said "That is the right thing to do, he will probably get all right.”
The further hearing of the case was adjourned until Monday.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230106.2.97
MURDER CHARGE.
THE TREDENHAM TRAGEDY.
FIREMEN AND DRINK.
FINNIGAN COMMITTED ON CAPITAL CHARGE.
The inquest on Con O'Keefe and the hearing on the charge of murder against John Finnigan were resumed at the Police Court before Mr. J. W. Poynton S.M.. to-day, when a large crowd of spectators viewed the proceeding. The Chief Detective pressed the charge against the accused, for whom Mr. Allan Moody appeared.
William Kirkwood, fire-man on the Tredenham, was recalled by Mr. Moody, to whom he stated that on the morning after the assault he together with Finnigan and the Arab fireman, got the forecastle breakfast from the galley. He did not see Finnigan go across with food to O'Keefe's bunk. O'Keefe did not wake up in the morning and remained in the bunk until taken ashore at 10 o'clock.
Mr. Milsom gave evidence as to having been called to see O'Keefe at the hospital. The man was in the padded cell, and after examining him and finding some signs of severe cranial injury, as revealed by partial paralysis, witness ordered his removal to No. 1 ward for observation. Next morning an attempt was made to X-ray the injured man, but he was so restless that this was found impossible. The man's condition grew worse and that night witness decided to open his skull to see if anything could be done to relieve him. On the operation being performed, blood rushed out. This gave the patient considerable relief, but it was soon seen that there was also a herorrhage inside the membrane of the brain. For this nothing could be done, and the patient died next morning.
Robert Morrissey said that after the assault in the Tredenham's fo'c'sle, he heard Finnigan say to the prostrate man. “Get up on your feet!" O'Keefe lay still, without speaking. There was blood on his face Witness said to Finnigan next day: '"I thought you would get into trouble last night," to which the accused said nothing. Finnigan was drunk on the afternoon of New Year's Day, but appeared to be sober when he assaulted O'Keefe.
The Chief Detective: Did you know of any ill-feeling between the accused and O'Keefe?—No.
To Mr. Moody: He did not think at the time that O'Keefe was seriously hurt.
Mr. Moody: Finnigan was drunk on New Year's Day?— Yes, he came down to the ship drunk in the afternoon and went away again.
When you pulled him away from O'Keefe he was pretty excited? —Yes.
The Chief Detective: He was not drunk just before the assault? —No.
William Thomason stated that on the morning following the assault, O'Keefe lay in his bunk, moving his arms and legs about. He kicked the blankets off and was very restless. Robert McKenna, a fireman on the steamer Te Koa, gave evidence that he was drinking with other firemen, including Finnigan, on New Year's Day. He went on board the Tredenham that night and witnessed part of the assault. When he saw Finnigan punching O'Keefe after dragging him out of his bunk, he ran for help to the other end of the fo'c'sle. He did not see the kicking, but heard noises as if there was kicking.
Witness said that on Saturday he was locked up for drunkenness and this morning he saw the accused in the prison van. He asked him what he was “up” for, and Finnijjan replied that he was blamed for killing a man. Witness said, “Well. I will have to tell the truth about what I saw in the case.” At the Court Finnigan pointed out Detective Gourley to witness, saying he would have to give evidence.
Mr. Moody: You and Finnigan had been to many hotels on New Year's Day—Yes.
You were pretty tight? — Yes.
And Finnigan was as tight as the rest of you?— Yes.
Do you remember him buying 12 bottles of beer?— Yes, and a bottle of rum, too.
What became of it?—l don't know.
Well, we will assume it went down your throats?— Yes.
Evidence of several of the ship officers was to the effect that they had no knowledge of any ill-feeling between Finnigan and the dead fireman. Detective Gourley gave evidence as to the arrest of the accused, who denied all knowledge of the affair on a charge of having caused actual bodily harm. Accused declared that he had left the ship at 1 o'clock on New Year's day and not returned since Next morning witness informed him in the presence of his solicitor (Mr Moody) that O'Keefe had died and he was to be charged with murder, to which Finnigan replied “It is not my fault.”
Mr Moody asked that the charge be reduced to manslaughter as there was no evidence of any motive, and if the accused had caused the death of the other unfortunate fireman, there was no intention to kill.
The Chief Detective: There is evidence of motive in that accused blamed the other man for laying in his bunk whilst he (Finnigan) had to go to work.
The accused was committed to stand his trial for murder at the Supreme Court. The coroner returned a verdict that death was due to sub-arachnoid hemorhage of the brain, resultant from injuries to the head caused by an assault by one John Finnigan on or about January 1, 1923
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19230108.2.80
ACQUITTED OF MURDER.
GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER.
TEN YEARS' IMPRISONMENT.
THE TREDENHAM TRAGEDY.
A sentence of 10 years' imprisonment was imposed on John Finnigan, aged 32, who was found guilty of manslaughter in i connection with the death of Con O'Keefe, formerly a fireman on the steamer Tredenham. The case was heard before Mr. Justice Stringer and a jury of 12 at the Supreme Court yesterday. The courtroom was crowded, those in attendance being mainly seafaring men. The charge preferred against the accused was that of murder, to which he pleaded not guilty. Mr. V. R. Meredith prosecuted on behalf of the Crown and accused was defended by Mr. Allan Moody. The facts outlined by Mr. Meredith, and supported in evidence, were that deceased and accused were firemen on the steamer Tredenham, which arrived at Auckland on December 31 from New York, at which port Finnigan had joined the ship. On the night of January 1 the accused, who had been drinking during the day, went into the forecastle and struck deceased, who was asleep in his bunk, later pulling deceased out of the bunk and kicking him about the back and head and then bringing his boot down on decease'd's head. The man was put back in his bunk by the other firemen, and next morning, when the officers of the ship became aware that his condition was serious, he was removed to the Auckland Hospital, where he died from hemorrhage of the brain without having regained consciousness.
Mr. Moody elicited from one of the witnesses the fact that the deceased man's head struck the deck as he was pulled out of his bunk.
Addressing the jury, Mr. Moody said it could not be denied that accused assaulted O'Keefe. He had, however, no intention of causing bodily harm, although he probably had some idea of punishing O'Keefe for some fancied grievance. The prisoner had not given evidence on oath for the reason that he could not remember anything about the incident, due no doubt to the state of his mind following the drinking bout of the afternoon. If the jury came to the conclusion, that accused did hot intend to cause serious injury to O'Keefe and brought in a verdict of manslaughter it would not be unreasonable or unjust.
His Honor, after explaining to the jury the distinction between murder and manslaughter, said the facts were not contested except as to the effects of drink from which Finnigan was suffering. His Honor characterised the assault as cowardly and brutal, and said the jury would have to consider whether it had been established that when he inflicted the injuries accused knew that what he was doing was likely to cause death. It was not clear which of the blows caused the hemorrhage. The striking of the deceased's head on the deck as he was pulled out of his bunk might have caused the fatal injury.
After a retirement of 55 minutes the jury returned with a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. Counsel said that Finnigan had been a fireman for many years, and during the war was in the merchant service. He had been in torpedoed ships and had received an injury to his head. The man was living apart from his wife and had one child to support.
Addressing the prisoner, His Honor said: “It is only right to say I fully concur with the verdict of the jury in finding you guilty of the lesser charge. It is impossible, however, to know what your antecedents are, as that can only be gained from your own statements. You have been found guilty of a cowardly and brutal assault on one of your shipmates, resulting in his death. For that it is necessary that I should pass a substantial sentence.
The sentence of the Court is 10 years' imprisonment.
The prisoner heard his sentence announced without any outward sign of emotion or concern.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230210.2.115
Plot 10b: Cornelius (Con) O'Keefe (31) 4/1/1923 – Manslaughter
unmarked grave
This common garden weed is found in every state of the Union and in many foreign countries (Photo courtesy Gerald Klingaman)
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When the faithful prostrate themselves during prayers, they touch their foreheads to ceramic tablets such as the ones seen here.
At the Masjed-e Shah Mosque, Esfahan, Iran.
Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves.
6ft is a little short for most people 7ft or 8 ft is recommended
Regarding prostration pads for the hands - what I use are oven mitts directly purchased from the store - I bought two sets - from Marshall's or Ross Dress for Less. The first pair fit snuggly inside the second pair. The fabric needs to be fairly smooth - oven mitts have padding so they are perfect.
Be careful - work up to it - knees and wrists can be damaged. Don't try to slide on carpet with your barehands you will burn them.
Best wishes for your immediate enlightenment!
Morphy stop prostrating yourself no one wants you if you look like beiber |:U
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Went to go see Ava today and I took my whole hoard with me! It was such a great day QuQ I need to go through more oftennn
Prostrating before the great Stupa, ( a symbol of fully enlightened mind), this vajrayana monk places his hands above his head offering his body, then at the throat area offering his speech, then heart area to offer his mind. The practitioner aspires to, (through cultivation of appropriate skilful means and loving-kindness), dissolve their habitual clouds, (of naive views of reality and conflicting emotions), in order to reveal/realize the sun, (of already existing, full and permanent enlightenment - Buddhahood), so that they might effect the benefit of all sentient beings in the way most appropriate to each one, bringing them too toward that same realization.
The Buddha taught that, from the relative perspective, wisdom and ignorance are co-emergent and have arisen for sentient beings in that manner since, literally, beginningless time. Although this ignorance has always been with us and is therefore exceedingly, habitually tenacious there is the possibility of an end to it. We can wake up.
Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves.