Muzaffar Ali
Alchemy of smile
A smile wields the greatest power over human beings. But to reach that smile you have to be guided by a divine power and be cleansed of all your self-interest. The smile has to be pure and innocent. The smile should not ask anything of anyone. It should be a smile of acceptance and surrender, of giving and gratitude.
A sense of space
All cultures and societies are inherently evolved on a sense of space — an expanse in which they breathe in and out and experience their sense of oneness with the power of creation. There is in every human a part that connects with the vastness of the universe — its rivers and oceans, mountains and snow, wind, rain and sunshine.
Live like a poet
The continuum of life requires an authentic touch with heritage and culture from time to time.
Even today when we need a renaissance, we need to look back 1,000 years and look a hundred years ahead. It is from here our relook begins, it is from this position that we need to reinvent ourselves. The starting point is an idea.
Idea within an idea
The dynamics of living emerge from finding an idea within an idea. The force of life is all about rethinking, reinvention and repositioning that idea. It is out of the old that the new is born. So when we lose that thread, we don’t know how to begin and how to go forward.
Rise above base instincts
We are continually being put to test — many times in our life, many times in the day.
A Sufi in a maze
Muhammad Iqbal, one of the greatest poets of the sub-continent, wrote in his diary, “Nations are born in the hearts of poets and die in the hands of politicians.”
The essence of a conducive social environment is to ensure that we do not let the spirit of the regenerative force of a culture dry up. It is to have in place such systems that despite political changes and upheavals the social order is not rocked. When we talk of government of the people, for the people and by the people, we are positioning people in a place of prime importance, both as participants and beneficiaries.
Miracles of breath
Modern inorganic living leads to an unnatural way of life. It is mechanical, strenuous and stressful.
Renewable energy
Living is receiving and directing energy. Energy is a very fine channelling of a delicate thought process through disciplined human application on a regular basis. It can change the world. Energy is all about determination and will power. Through the power of your will you can achieve the impossible.
Alchemy of corruption
The enemy lies within us. Mara in Buddhism, Shaitan in Islam and Satan in Christianity are all angels close to God, and hold the power to sway God’s creation, often irreversibly. Therefore, the one who is closest to the truth is not only most susceptible to being corrupted, but also most capable of corrupting others. This is the genesis of all evil in every religion. How do we see through this negativity and the poison spreading within us? How do we cleanse?
Cinema of the soul
Cinema has become a part of our lives and we watch everything that is heavily publicised — good, bad and the ugly. In the larger interest of humanity cinema has to be taken to its highest end. There must be a burning desire and a commitment to share a particular passion with the world. Good is a loosely used word, its potential limited to just an acceptable level of goodness.
