Hamid Entezam

The holy Quran makes a sweeping statement about “suffering”: “Truly, God created man in travail.” (90:4). This is a sobering pronouncement from our Creator: pain and anguish go hand in hand with living in the natural world. However, Rumi sees “meaning” and spiritual value in suffering. Suffering can be transformed into growth. In fact, both Rumi and the Buddha agree that suffering and enlightenment are closely related. In this presentation, we will discuss what the Quran and Rumi say about suffering.

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Spiritual teachers in all religious traditions say that- suffering is an unavoidable part of life. This is a tough pill to swallow for citizens of the modern world, whom are raised to believe that they are entitled to happiness: if you work hard and abide by the rules, you are guaranteed to enjoy a pleasant life. Yet, we can clearly see that suffering visits everyone around us- regardless of their state or status in life. Buddhism arguably has the most comprehensive and systematic teachings on the subject of “suffering”. The Buddha said: “all I teach is suffering and the end of suffering.”  In this presentation, we will explore the Buddha’s teachings on how to cope with suffering in life.

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The rise of Sufism in early Islam coincided with the height of the Dark Ages in Europe. At a time when Europe was plagued by the Inquisition, and the Christian Church burnt people alive at the stake for heresy, Muslim Sufis taught tolerance and respect for “other” faiths. Contemporary Muslim societies have a rich tradition of tolerance in their own history to draw inspiration from. In this presentation, we will discuss real life stories of early Sufi masters and how they practiced tolerance in their daily lives.

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Rumi teaches that “love” is a “healer”: it heals the most devastating disease that can afflict our character- selfishness. Love purges all character flaws and moral defects. Rumi says:

“Anyone whose garment is rent by a mighty love, is purged of covetousness and all defect.
Hail, O’ Love, that bring us good gain- you are the healer of all our ills.
You are the remedy for our pride and vainglory; you are our Plato and our Galen!”

In this presentation, we will discuss Rumi’s teachings on the cure for selfishness, and offer some practical tips to fight selfishness.

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In the Islamic tradition, selfishness (or egoism) is considered the “mother of all vices”. Vices such as greed, envy and arrogance are essentially different faces of  selfishness. This means that one does not have to treat his many vices individually; if he treats his selfishness, all his moral imperfections will fade away! In this presentation, we will draw upon Rumi’s wisdom to learn about selfishness and its various forms / faces.

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Throughout the ages, spiritual traditions have maintained that “ego” is a major obstacle to soul development and God realization. But, there is much more to “ego” than what we typically understand as “selfishness”. At its core, “ego” is an “idea” (mental image) formed around the fundamental question: “who am I?”.  The ego-idea involves how the individual defines herself and what she identifies with. In turn, the ego-idea will heavily influence her  feelings, thoughts, choices and actions. In this presentation, we will examine “ego” as false perception of “self” by drawing upon Rumi’s transformative encounter with his mentor, Shams.

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According to Islam’s oral tradition, the Prophet Mohammad said: die before you die. As Rumi puts it, this is not a death that takes you to a grave, but a death that transforms you and leads you to “light”. In modern language, this is the death of “ego”, which would create a new person in […]

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The Night of Power (ليلة القدر) is the climax of the holy month of Ramadan. Before he was chosen as a Messenger of God, the Prophet Mohammad practiced solitude in the Cave of Hira in the outskirts of Mecca. He performed meditation, contemplation and austerities for long periods of time. All that preparation bore fruit; one night, an extra-ordinary power appeared to him. He saw the world in a fundamentally different way. He vividly saw that the entire universe submits to the Lord and praises His Glory. The Night of Power transformed Mohammad and ushered in his mission. Is the experience of the Night of Power unique to the Prophet Mohammad? Can we also experience a Night of Power of our own? In this lecture, we will examine this question and what the Night of Power has meant to Muslim mystics such as Rumi.

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‘Surrender’ is the bedrock of Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). They all invite their followers to surrender to God. Surrender is far more than obedience, acceptance of theological beliefs and observance of formal religious practices. Surrender is about “control”: who controls our life and behavior? When we surrender to God, we take control away from the “ego” (lower self) that confines us- makes us feel “special” and superior to everyone else, and creates tension in our heart and with the outside world. Surrender will impact the person’s whole existence: heart, mind and soul. In this presentation, I will discuss 5 major signs one has surrendered to God.

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Before the 20th century, the terms ‘spiritual’ and ‘religious’ were perceived to be synonymous. If someone aspired to lead a spiritual life, she would join a religious tradition. In the modern West, however, there is a shift in people’s attitudes towards religion, one of which is the separation of spirituality from religion. A growing number of people consider themselves spiritual, but not religious. They want a connection with God and are interested in daily moral behavior that fosters such a connection. Yet, they do not affiliate with any organized religion such as Islam and Christianity. The ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ (SBNR) movement in modern West has peculiar resemblances to another spiritual movement in early Islam that ultimately led to the creation of Sufism (a spiritual tradition which Rumi belongs to). This lecture examines the similarities and differences between the modern-day SBNR and Islamic Sufism.

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