Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Image of the Path

A friend was talking about the book Life of Pi.  He was surprised to find a few chapters of the book dedicated to the main character's (Pi) encounters with the religion of Islam.  He had found it interesting how the man who was introducing the faith to Pi was telling him that God was everywhere and was resembeled in everything.  My friend thought I had a similar vision toward things around me to which I made no claim.  He also said that one wont find similar sentiment toward God in Christianity.
Since this discussion, I cannot stop but wonder, how is it that this is not the image of the path in the eyes of an ordinary person?
An ordinary person for whom the media is the main source of information wont see anything but savage and opression in Islam.  I was thinking how even in the movie Life of Pi, Pi's contemplation in Hinduism and his encounter with Christianity was vividly shown, but the story about his encounter with the muslem old man who eventually allured him to accept Islam was completely cut short to only a few seconds.  Perhaps the producer was concerned with the public reaction if he stayed true to the book and showed the beauty Pi had seen in the path.
"We Prayed together and we practiced dhikr, the recitation of the ninety-nine revealed names of God.  He was a hafiz, one who knows the Qur'an by heart, and he sang it in a slow, simple chant.  My Arabic was never very good, but I loved its sound.  The guttural eruptions and long flowing vowels rolled just beneath my comprehension like a beautiful book.  I gazed into this brook for long spells of time.  It was not wide, just one man's voice, but it was as deep as the universe."
There is beauty in the world.

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