tranquilart

Asalamalaikum all - Greetings and Salutations of Peace from the depths of my heart and my camels' soul ;)

I have been to Mecca today!!!

Honest!

... well almost... OK so it was Icelands not Bin Dawood that I visited! Serious, there is a certain section where the fruit and dairy products are that are bang-on replicas of Bin Dawood! I think its like another dimension or realm ... not physically ... perhaps spiritually?
(Bin Dawood is a shopping market in Mecca, opposite the Grand Mosque. Icelands is a supermarket in UK)

Its happened to me many times - its a bit like a deja-vu but alot more stranger, if that makes sense? There have been many instances in the past 18 months since we returned from the Hajj where I have felt that I am not in the physical place that I physically am in! ..some neat examples may help illustrate my point...

Our city centre has recently been redeveloped.. during development work last year the bus would go over huge humps on the road - making the passengers feel very jumpy. This reminded me of the noble camel journey to Medina :) which was one bumpy ride!

Staying with Medina and our city centre - recently marbley flooring has been added... and it looks like the scene from Medina shopping suite :)

The classics are:

:) doing wudu with cold water -> reminds me of doing wudu at Mina

:) the feeling of the suns' warmth on my face -> like the sunshine in Arafaat

:) whenever I see a Malaysian -> reminds me of the Malay / Indonesian pilgrims

:) waiting in long cues at Christmas

:) seeing the crowds on Saturday shopping hours

:) seeing crowds of Muslim men or women

:) smelling the musk often worn by Muslims

I remember once taking a lift from an Iranian colleague at work. She deliberately took a route which meant driving under an underpass. She asked me what this reminded me of... I didn't say anything. She told me she often drove beneath this underpass to remind her of the trek to Mina :)
(if one walks to the city of Mina, they must go under various tunnels ie underpasses)


I suppose it depends on how "I" is defined. If I is a physical entity like a lampost or door-knob then I did not go to Mecca. But if I is to have a spiritual 'component' which shares its being and existence then I did go to Mecca.

We have all sat and pondered about our actuality and at times even thought that we are merely compositions of various physiological processes. A fine network of blood vessels and organs wrapped in sheets of epidermis keeping everything secure within.

And many have then realised that we are actually not.

We do have a strong spiritual aspect to our existence; an aspect of us which has celestial traces where our origins lie. Origins that are eternal and to where the return will inevitably be. For as I have stated in my previous post; no matter what tradition one adheres to they must 'go'.

Perhaps our spirits enjoy the 'wondering' whilst our body is neatly presented on the surface of the world? .. perhaps I is somewhere other than where I thinks I is? .. and perhaps is the only way I will celebrate in the celestial traces of the origin?

May God Almighty help us recognise and awaken our spiritual consciousness - for without this awakening we simply are a network of fine physiological processes.

Peace & Prayers
Wasalam

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