Heart Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

 Ouyang Xun 635: Tang Dynasty

Zhao Mengfu 1254-1322: Yuan Dynasty 

This one has nothing to do with Islamic teachings. It's simple name is only Heart Sutra. It is lord Buddha's teaching to his disciple, Shariputra. I just found that the calligraphy is very nice but I did not have time to practice calligraphy. I tried to translate few wisdom from Imam Shafi'ie rahimahullah as well as other Imams in Chinese. It's only for my personal use and a tribute to all Imams. Just think that it would be beneficial in the future. 

What is Heart Sutra? 

It is a discourse of lord Buddha Gautama with his disciple known as Brahman Shariputra. In this sense I talk about lord Buddha as a teacher or guru among teachers, a historical figure and not some kind of golden idol as what would be understood by some brothers or sisters. It talks about the experience of liberation of the the enlightened being of compassion known as the lord who looks down resulted from the insight gained while engaged in deep meditation to awake the faculty of wisdom. This insight refers to basic emptiness of all phenomena, five senses of human existence known as panchaskandha. 

Panchaskandha are............................

1. Rupa - form

2. Vedanaa - feeling

3. Samskara - volitions

4. Sammjhna - perceptions

5. Vignyaana - consciousness

This is my experience as a Buddhist boy. I learned to shut all of perceptions through this Sutra when I encounter something which I do not know or never experienced. It is also influencing me until today and I do not know whether it is sinful or not because it is not easy for a revert to totally forget previous experience. I am also afraid if my faith is not really a faith because the God would surely condemn me into the torments. I am already tormented in the world and I wish the hereafter would be peaceful abode for me. I only regard lord Buddha as a teacher when I revert to Islam by heart but I do not come to the extent of regarding him as a prophet or messenger of the God because it is never mentioned in the Glorious Quran and Sunnah. This sutra taught everyone to avoid speculation so I do not really like to speculate. 

The volitions refer to what we badly want or desired. It teaches to leave everything behind or release desires because it causes us pain in term of psychological. My ex-colleague, Amir also told me about psychological problem would lead to physical health being deteriorated because he also experienced that. Yesterday, I talked with him through text messages while silently tears flowing down my eyes in the library researching for thesis. He told me to create something nice in my mind if I feel annoyed. Create anything that would make us happy even if we have no nice experience and stop looking at what we do not like or makes us suffocate. 

It suddenly brought me to the memory of reciting this sutra. I began to think that what I am trapped now is related to volitions which causes me pain. However, as a Muslim we must also remember the God is with us and that His divine pre-destiny is apart of His wisdom. We must be confidence in His sudden assistance and pray to Him without feeling tired of His Mercy. Perhaps this sutra is a precaution to avoid from pain. I would elaborate it longer until the Aryasthanga Marg (Noble Path) and Chattwari Ariyasattiyani (Four Noble Truths) if I linger more in this topic, hehehe. So, this is some general knowledge for fellow brothers and sisters in faith. May the God bless my brothers and sisters in faith and in humanity.   

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!

100 Words Praise to Honor Sage Muhammad s.a.w

Assalaamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullah!

While doing some boring reading on my research topic, I managed to clicking here and there in the search engine on Muslim news since my research is about Muslim in British Isle but I stumbled at a website which is called the Muslim Observer and founded this 100 words praise honoring sage Muhammad s.a.w. It is claimed by someone from Taiwan as issued by the emperor Hongwu of the Ming dynasty around 13th C. 

 

Since the creation of the universe,

Heaven has already appointed.

As a great saint preaching the faith,

in the West he was born.

To receive the holy scripture,

with thirty part book,

as a guidance for all creatures,

King of kings,

leader of holy ones,

Through divine support,

protecting his nation,

with five times daily prayers,

silently hope for peace.

With heart toward Allah,

empowering the poor ones.

Save them from calamity,

sees through the unseen.

Pulling souls and spirits,

away from wrongdoings.

Mercy to the world,

walking the ancient crowned Path.

May evil being vanquished by the One,

pure and true teaching.

Muhammad, the noble precious one.

The picture in the site shows that the poem was erected around 2004 in a mosque in northern China. I don't really care on what is the religious status of this emperor because it's just a name or whether he is the one who produced this poem. Many believe that emperor Hongwu is a Buddhist or a Taoist. 

However, Hongwu was just a peasant who became an emperor and modern China has no feudal system, hahaa. Many people never declare what is their religion. The name of the religion is not important in the statement in documents compared to our faith, practices, sincerity, and devotion toward Him.

This poem seems quite nice for a person who is not creative like me. It also has philosophical values. There was also a Sultanate in Southern China called as Pingnan Guo which was located in Western Yunnan established in Qing dynasty by Yang Xiu or Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman. It was there for about 16 years before the sultan was beheaded by central power in Beijing.  

Anyway, this poem is some excerpts from our exploration of China's empire history. It was a land full with mysticism and attracting the attention of Europeans to explore it since previous centuries. Of course ancient China is different from nowadays China. World is evolving and it will evolve until the Resurrection.  

Salawat on the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w and his companions and his family. Sealed with prayers for peace, mercy, and love on brothers and sisters in faith, amin!!!