The Vision of a Better Person: siječnja 2016

SEAD ADANALIĆ

THE VISION OF A BETTER PERSON

Faith and Universal Values

I pray the Divine Creator for us to be the ones who think

and become enlightened through knowledge and truth,

who are right and humane people

taking others’ hearts by means of our tenderness and goodness.

PREFACE

I survived a terrible war caused by the obnoxious nationalists

and waged by the worst possible people -

haters, criminals, killers and rapists.

In the post-war period I have continued to live

in the society with the disturbed state of mind.

That experience has changed my character, my soul.

I was thinking a lot about people and their relationships,

about communities, authorities, social systems,

religion, life principles and meaning.

I reached the conclusions and got the ideas

which became the base for creating my vision for better world.

Technological evolution in last decades

has enabled people to communicate globally, without limitations,

to transfer their information, know-how, thoughts,

ideas and visions directly, one-to-one,

so giving countless possibilities for spreading the good

on one hand and the evil on the other hand.

The thoughts I presented here are

about a man’s need to have the Guide,

about the mission of believing in the Creator,

the universal human values and a better life grounded on them,

about sabur (patience) or active peace as a desired state of soul

and about a man’s need to change to be better.

If at least one reader thinks about my words

and accepts a new value in his life

I will take it as my success

and at least a small contribution

in my struggle for the goodness and love.

Let the Divine Creator show us the Right way!

Sead Adanalić

GUIDE

People do not become better

even after one thousand year long

evolution of science and civilization.

Always, from its birthday,

a young human being has been in need

for the Guide in order to become

a good person with the best possible

human characteristics.

It is hard to realize that

education is not a guarantee

for a man to be a better person and

that educated people are not closer to benevolence,

rightness and humaneness.

The truth is there have always been

a lot of educated but bad people around.

What is the way to bring up a good man?

How can we spread goodness among people?

What are the universal human values?

They are benevolence,

rightness,

nobility,

compassion,

honesty,

perseverance,

responsibility,

truthfulness,

solidarity …

What is the Guide to show us

the right way to be good and to love,

the Guide for a reasonable person,

for our growing up and for the whole life.

Because the devil has been always present

around us and we should resist him.

People are very inclined to bad actions

and irresponsible behavior at their own expense

caused by their hypocrisy, intrigues, greediness,

criminal actions,

gambling,

using drugs,

lust,

trafficking,

waging wars….

As a result there are unhappy people,

scattered families and disordered communities.

On the other hand, there is a man

with a soul full of peace and love,

a harmonious family,

a rightful and prosperous community.

How is it possible to reach the latter?

A human being needs the Guide

to make a difference between the good and the bad

from the very day of his birth,

a positive environment around him to grow up,

an easy communication,

promotion and lessons about universal values.

A young person learns from his surroundings

everything that will become his characteristics through his life.

Will he learn about life from some abuser?

While growing up in the middle of gossip,

hypocrisy, immorality, greediness,

will he take over all those bad characteristics?

Everybody needs the Guide

because a man becomes a man

imitating his closest relatives and while learning,

communicating and thinking.

What is the Guide for Living Better?

It is a set of rules about a man’s relationships with himself,

his family, community, nature and the Creator.

Those rules make a man’s life easier,

show him how to live in peace,

to be helpful for others,

to obey natural laws and have a meaningful life.

It is the set of universal human values.

A good man is the result of all those people

who spread word about the Guide

and his own intellectual efforts,

aimed at understanding the truth

and choosing the good between the good and the bad.

What is the right way to become a man?

To manage own instincts,

to accept natural laws and responsibilities toward the Creator,

to learn from the everlasting source of the Creator’s creative power

and to make constant efforts in order to make a trace

in other people’s souls through love and benevolence.

We understand the Guide

thanks to our persistent considerations,

but to follow the Guide a huge change must occur within,

in a man’s soul, and he must make efforts

to change the burden of his already applied practices.

SUPPORT

The Merciful, Greatest, Eternal

and Ever Present Creator

is the best support for a man in his life

temptations for the purpose of accepting natural laws

and events and reaching peace both in and out of himself.

Thinking about nature, natural phenomena,

beings, amazing diversification of plants and animals,

complex organisms and perfect forms

brings us to a conclusion that

they are not results of coincidence

but precise creations of the Creator.

The Creator has created nature

and a reasonable human being

and tied him to the source

of the endless creative power,

giving him an opportunity

to choose between the good and the bad,

between life in peace with nature

and life in misunderstanding and false satisfaction.

In all life situations, showing our gratitude to the Creator

and praying for His help we stimulate our abilities

to overcome life difficulties.

While praying we ask from the Creator

to help us to find that force to support our wish,

our will-power, our vision,

from the source of the endless creative power.

A man needs a support in his life.

Parent can be a support for a child.

Child can be a support for a parent.

Man’s support can be a friend.

Spouse can be a mainstay.

Beloved one can be a mainstay.

But the main support for us is the Divine Creator.

We were all created by the One.

We have only one life.

There is only one Creator.

Only people are gifted with intellect and our souls,

our individualities, grow from our intellect,

experience and communication.

FAITH

What is the meaning of being religious

when somebody is a bad person?

What is the meaning of being unreligious

when somebody is a good person?

The essence of religion is seen

in a man’s permanent efforts to be better.

Regret,

forgiveness,

perseverance,

benevolence,

truthfulness,

gratitude,

moderation,

self-control,

fear of God,

mercifulness,

fairness and

sabur (patience) –

these are the characteristics of real believers.

That is the right way for a man striving to be a better person.

For many people religion is the result of tradition

and a very few of them consider it as a result

of their understanding and enthusiasm.

A believer is in harmony with nature and

in peace with the Creator through his actions,

goodness and love.

When I say ‘’I believe in God’’

it means that I believe in the goodness and love,

I believe in the straight path to benevolence and love,

I believe that truth and justice are a better choice

for a man than lies and injustice,

I believe in the laws of nature which should be obeyed.

When I say it, I am enthusiastic

about His endless creative power

in nature which surrounds me

and which I admire.

Thinking enables us to reach religion.

The real religion is grounded on humaneness.

Religion comes out of an honest heart.

Religion resides neither in church nor in mosque,

religion is not made of words and rituals,

religion rests in the soul of a man

who wins the hearts of other people

with his patience and goodness.

Religion is not a matter of physical presentation

by means of clothes, beard, celebrations

and religious talkativeness.

Religion is acknowledged by means of good behavior,

honesty and goodness, so seizing other people.

Mission of religion is to show people

how to differentiate between the good and the bad,

because people are bad inside

and must constantly struggle against it.

People misuse everything including religion,

but it is not an excuse for denial of the positive mission

of religion for a man, his family and community.

Fear of God means responsibility toward ourselves,

our families, community, toward the Creator.

Gratitude makes the grounds for a man

to be satisfied with his life,

gratitude to the Creator and to his parents.

Feeling grateful brings peace to our souls.

The faith taught me that „whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind“.

The faith taught me that abusing is worse than killing.

The faith taught me to beware of forbidden (haram) property.

The faith taught me to help those in need.

The faith taught me that paradise is under mother’s legs.

The faith taught me to keep close relationships with my relatives.

The faith taught me to respect my neighbors.

The faith taught me to feel regret because of my sin.

The faith taught me to love people.

The faith taught me that it is better to forgive.

The faith taught me that knowledge is the greatest gift
of the Creator.

The faith taught me many things and I am grateful to
the Creator for all of them.

PATIENCE

Whole my life I was wrong because

I thought that anger, rage, sadness and frustration

are natural and inevitable feelings.

After many life experiences, thinking about human feelings,

I realized that they are all poisons for my soul,

useless and harmful for my life,

impairing a natural need of a reasonable human being

to fill his life with peace, happiness and love.

Growing awareness in his soul about the truth

that rage is an unreasonable feeling,

a man is able to change himself to be better,

to regenerate and get rid of those parasites of his soul

and to live peacefully with himself and his family,

with the Creator.

It is unbelievably easy and grounded

but still people live constantly restless because,

even when they realize it,

they need to make huge efforts

to change their day-to-day habits.

Expressing rage is a parasite for human spirit.

It is mostly harmful for those showing it,

as it is contagious and involves other souls as well.

There is no excuse for rage,

lucky people are those who manage

to suppress it with their patience.

Rage is like a fire – it can be easily extinguished

while it is a tiny flame,

but when fire overtakes a soul,

it destroys everything like an uncontrolled force.

Accordingly, let us extinguish our rage

while it is still a tiny flame.

Each time when we are overwhelmed by rage,

nervousness or frustration,

we should immediately ask ourselves,

before fire captures us,

if there is any use of our showing rage.

The reply is always negative and then we must stop

and simply accept that it happened naturally.

Patience is a magic word for a perfect life!

Sabur is a man’s ability to accept life difficulties

in peace with himself and with his surroundings.

Current issues are accepted

as inevitable natural events,

as God’s determination,

because rage is useless and cannot fix anything

but it can make a serious damage to a man’s health.

When I say ‘’I believe in God’s determination’’

I believe in the natural flow of life.

All events are irretrievable.

During tragic life events,

when a man gets depressed and suffers a lot,

faith allows him to be patient,

to keep peace in his soul,

to remain dignified and normal.

If people could reach peace

with themselves it would bring peace in their families,

in their countries and in the whole world.

Peace is the key word for life harmony,

life without rage, anger, stress,

regardless how difficult is some situation.

The answer is peace in our souls

and searching for solutions in peace with the Creator.

Peace, selam (hello), shalom …

A patient man has nice words about everybody.

He is optimistic about all challenges of life

and forgives everybody. What a sublime state of soul!

Make a break and look around.

You can see people passing by,

you can see changeable nature.

Everything elapses and changes with you as a part of it,

as being only a wave in the river of life

always changing its shape in order to transcend itself.

There is a small number of people

speaking the language of soul,

which causes so many misunderstandings.

We demand to be found, in love.

I am going to earn love and the ones not knowing

how to do that will remain poor.

Do not look for your happiness

in this consumer society for we are all fish there,

prepared to be trapped.

And what is the feeling of those fish?

Death follows a man like a shadow

from the moment of his coming to life in his mother’s stomach.

Death is an integral part of life.

Once we come to life we get our time in this world

and we live it.

A believer believes in life in the other world,

that death is not an end

and that he will be revived in the Doomsday

in order to be judged for his actions in this world.

The people who did more good than bad things

will be rewarded and go to paradise,

and live eternally in well-being.

A believer accepts to leave this world

in peace with nature and the Creator.

Let us think about death the same

as about all other natural laws.

Let us spend our time in peace until our very last breath.

SOUL

Our soul is our light.

Soul is made of our characteristics

And for us to change to be better

we need to know what is the way

for a man to become a good man.

Soul begins getting its shape

once a child comes to life in his mother’s stomach.

The Creator’s Spirit is meant for all of us and

makes the grounds for our living,

while our souls are different.

Soul represents a man’s character.

Souls are shaped through communications

of a man with his surroundings.

People have a limited set of characteristics

at various levels, so when we look around

we can see a lot of people

and none of them has the same soul,

as each soul is a combination of

various characteristics at various levels.

Playing with river stones

I was thinking about

numberless waves of high river

hitting the stones which,

while moving and tumbling,

rub and get round slowly but persistently,

striving clearly to turn into cobbles.

The same way a man’s soul

is shaped by the waves of his destiny.

Soul is made of a man’s characteristics,

wishes, efforts, choices, thoughts,

sadness, happiness and dreams.

If it is filled with goodness, rightness and love,

then it is a broad soul,

but if it has hatred, envy, intrigue and meanness,

then it is a narrow soul.

Soul is burdened and updated with experience.

Thinking and becoming aware of his needs

a man can improve his soul, himself.

A man’s soul travels through life,

meeting other souls,

sending its characteristics to other souls and

other souls send their characteristics to it.

Many people contribute to shaping a soul,

and in the world of global communications

complete humanity is responsible

for each and every individual.

Soul needs the Guide

to be directed to its right way,

to find its sabur (patience).

Soul grows and raises itself while living.

Some souls grow as broad souls

full of goodness and love.

Some souls receive poisons,

guilt, vanity, depression, disbelief,

resentfulness and anxiety from their surroundings,

and suffer during their life.

Everybody who has ever surrounded me

is responsible for who I am today.

And I have also become a part of you.

I wonder what is the reason for a man to have the soul of a rapist, a criminal?

What is the environment in which he lives?

What are the circumstances causing for a human to become a being without compassion, without sympathy, without humaneness?

A man must take the lead in his soul,

to make order in his mind,

to define his priorities,

to find his right way and true desires,

to find out what makes him satisfied and inspired.

Many people resolve their soul issues

thanks to their sabur (patience).

Sabur brings life without rage,

in peace with nature and the Creator,

and without the parasites of souls:

frustrations, anger, hatred and stress.

We can only accept things we are unable to change

and persist in our way to be good and to love.

Once we understand how our personality and our characteristics

came to existence

we will establish a foundation

for changing ourselves to be better.

Happiness is within us,

in our relationship with the Creator,

in His endless creative power.

Happiness is the state of mind

and a man’s ability to recognize it.

To be happy a man

has to accept his life

and all life hardships

and to be patient (sabur).

There is no room for hatred

in the soul full of love.

It is impossible to find even a small piece of love

in the soul poisoned with hatred.

When alone, a creative person contemplates

and a narrow-minded person is bored.

Loneliness is a desirable state

in which a man, while contemplating,

communicates with himself,

makes order in his mind,

makes plans,

learns about himself and his soul.

In the hours of solitude a man ties with the Creator

through His endless creative power and prays.

When you tell me about your life

I will know who you are.

Your soul is composed of many souls

you meet during your life.

CHANGE

After a comprehensive life experience,

thinking about life and the world around me

has opened me the ways to understand myself,

the universal human values

and the meaning of life.

I realized how important it is for a man,

even in his young age,

to find his right way,

the way to be good and love,

and to create his life in full peace with nature.

There are so many mistakes,

small and day-to-day useless,

unnecessary errors which make life miserable

with a lot of consternation,

fear, rage, uncertainties, hatred,

resentment, greed, arrogance, envy,

pain and sadness.

And we are convinced that it has to be like that,

but it is not true.

Grounded on our considerations

and thanks to the Guide,

which we can certainly find in our belief in the Creator,

calling on peace and patience,

love for all people, good deeds and good behavior,

our life will improve.

Love will come where rage resided

and peace will come where consternation used to be.

Let us think about ourselves and our actions.

Are we able to do it better?

Yes, we definitely are, and it is where the meaning of life

can be found.

We understand the Guide thanks to our persistent considerations,

but to follow the Guide a huge change must occur inside,

in a man’s soul.

We must make difficult efforts to change our daily practices

in order to improve our life.

When you love and are loved,

when you are with those in love

and when you dream about love,

you are happy wherever that love touches you.

When I recognize a good man or a good deed,

power and joy fill my growing heart.

A nice word, like a little stone making water waves,

can cause positive vibrations among people.

So let us speak nicely and everybody will feel better.

Present time is not the best time for living

but we should never forget

that it is the only time we have

and that we have right to find our happiness in it.

Every day we should ask ourselves

if we are on the right way, the way of goodness,

and how we can be better.

With his goodness, nice communication with people

and patience a man calls on others to be the same.

Every moment in life could be a jewel

if we use it for hard working,

learning or making good deeds.

If we waste it, make bad deeds and harm others,

that moment is a simple stone.

It is up to us what kind of necklace we will make during life,

having in mind that there is only one opportunity for every moment.

There is a devil in every man,

waiting for an opportunity to make him

to do something bad.

It depends on the man if he will resist it.

I seek refuge in God from the accursed seitan!

Every night we should ask ourselves

if we have earned halal money that day,

if we have been unfair to or insulted somebody,

if we slandered or did something bad to somebody.

It is an obligation of a fair man,

the one who searches for his right way

to be good and to love.

After experiencing somebody’s good deed

I am ashamed of all my bad deeds.

Each good deed made in real world

is so big and important for me.

Each our concern must be supported by our confidence in God

in order to avoid to put burden on our souls.

People can do many good things

to each other once they begin to notice

each other in this temporary life.

When somebody insults me

I will return him the same way

and that is how evil is spread around.

Using bad words as answers is a trigger

for other person to continue the same way.

A nice word or avoiding an answer makes an opportunity

to reduce a negative feeling

and for a man to change himself

in order to be better.

If we send the message

that this world is full of bad people,

then they will accept the fact they exist

as something normal.

If we say there are good people around us

and how good it is to be a charitable person,

and if that message is spread around the world,

there are good chances

for the world to become better.

‘’When somebody greets you with selam,

you should return him with even nicer words’’, Qur’an says.

In this consumer society people

burdened with worries pass by each other

with formal greetings and communications,

and in fact they are absent-minded

as if they do not live in this world,

because something has been always distracting them

from current moment.

If people would notice each other in real world

they could exchange tiny pleasures every single day!

But very few people bless others with their greetings.

Have you talked to your old mother or father today?

Have you talked to your child, your wife today?

Have you visited the old woman from your neighborhood who is ill?

Have you smiled at known and unknown people?

Have you given some money to a poor man?

If you said to yourself ‘’I will do it tomorrow’’, there is no tomorrow.

There is only this moment, today, when you pay attention to people around you.

I know you are so busy – you have your job, obligations,

without their understanding.

They want from you to be their slave because they live without feelings,

like machines.

And only the things you give to others belong to you.

Your time you give to them

and each good thing you do for them,

it is all your wealth in the better world.

If we have to choose between speaking

and smiling in our communication with people,

smile is always a winning combination.

When speaking a lot a man makes many mistakes.

Our speech entraps us and it is difficult to stay untouched afterwards.

Oh it is so hard to be resentful.

If we would memorize all bad things,

intrigues and delusions in our minds,

there would be no place for a bit of goodness there.

So let us not poison our lives with bad thoughts.

Let evil we experienced belongs to the past.

Let us not allow for the past to eat up our presence.

The demons of our past poison the souls of people

and their collective awareness.

Everything what belongs to past time

should vanish in haze,

except for our positive experiences

and love inspiring us all.

The Divine Creator forgives everybody.

How come that people do not forgive each other?

Because forgiveness releases a man’s soul

from all poisons and makes his life in this world easier.

When you are stressed, depressed, sad or angry,

go to nature far away from people,

sit down somewhere in the meadow and be silent.

Look around yourself and watch herbs growing,

smell the flowers and soil,

listen to the birds

and crickets singing and think about life.

Think and in a moment you will feel

as if your burdens ease

and you become free from them.

Then you will begin to understand life,

that each present moment is yours only,

the moment when you feel peace with your life

and the Creator, when you realize how life is beautiful.

To have a vision of better world

and to live in the imperfect world,

surrounded by imperfect people

struggling between the good and the bad

and not accepting it as a real life

lived by many others before us,

is not a good choice in a short man’s life.

This world really is imperfect but I am happy

I can recognize good people and beauty of broad souls,

and I want to live with that feeling.

Because happiness can be felt in this polarized world,

since in the ideal world there would not be any difference,

and that difference is everything.

Being inspired by beautiful things

results in a meaningful life.

Somebody is inspired by love or benevolence,

somebody is inspired by music or job

and somebody by science or religion.

Each inspiration has love inside.

Loving life often leads a man toward consternation.

Understanding and acceptance of life

bring happiness to a man.

If they ask me how long I would like to live,

I will say ‘’as long as I can move,

be rational and inspired to do something nice on daily basis’’.

Every person has a possibility to become good.

Somebody gets that possibility and uses it,

while somebody fails to do so.

And somebody else encourages others

to become good people.

We should see our children in each child.

We should see our mothers in each mother.

We should recognize our pain in everybody’s pain.

That is the enlightened view of the surrounding world.

Let us not allow that all the world’s bad things mist our view.

Let us be inspired by doing good things

and recognizing good people and their actions.

Let us not think that we are eternal,

because temporariness is a basic characteristic of all of us,

our temporariness in life, job position and wealth.

Knowing that, it will be much easier for us to live.

Oh my Divine Creator, if You did not give me common sense,

what would I be in my life without a possibility to drink

from the fountain of Your creative power?

Oh my Almighty God, if You did not give me eyesight,

how much would I lose in my life because I would be unable to see

all beauties of this world?

Oh Creator of all worlds, if You did not give me sense of hearing,

how unhappy would I be for I could not hear

the voice of my beloved and birds singing?

I can never be grateful enough for all the blessings You,

the Giver of Mercy, awarded me!

Thinking about yourself and your actions,

about nature and life,

you should understand a need for changing your being

in order to make the world better.

srijeda, 27. siječnja 2016.

The Vision of a Better Person