Zero
Is where the Real Fun starts.
There’s too much counting
Everywhere else!
-- Hafiz
As Ramadan starts -- hopefully some of the benefits you might have received include: The easing or removal of painful fascia, reduced inflammation in your joints and digestive system, a deeper connection to your praan (bioplasmic energy or soul), a calmer and more peaceful mind, new friendships from praying tarawih at the mosque, a new insight about yourself or a situation that seemed unsolvable, new energy for a new you, a new year.
The benefits are endless, and because we live by the lunar calendar, Ramadan does not have to end. Every month, you can fast one day before, during and after the full moon to cleanse your system, heighten your senses, and connect with your highest self.
What
Is the
Root of all these
Words?
One thing: love.
But a love so deep and sweet
It needed to express itself
With scents, sounds, colours
That never before
Existed.
-- Hafiz
In fact, not just the full moon but also the first and last quarters of the moon are special days rich in cosmic energy.
You know about solar noon but do you know about the midnight sun? It also offers a spark to enhance your willpower. This is the time when some people rise from their slumber to offer tahajjud prayers and catch the spark of solar midnight, (it is exactly 12 hours after the sun is at its highest point in the sky during the day). You can download the American Almanac app to help you navigate the sun, moon, and stars.
To start, pay attention to the rise of the sun, solar noon, moon rise, sun and moon transit, and setting times. As you increase your sensitivity (through namaz and meditation), you will feel the passing of these celestial bodies in your own body.
What is the key
To untie the knot of the mind’s suffering?
Benevolent thought, sound
And movement.
-- Hafiz
If you are indeed curious about the cosmos, there is a wonderful collection of nine hymns in Carnātic Music (Classical music of South India), composed by Muttuswāmi Dīkshitar. Each piece is a prayer to one of the nine planets in our solar system.
I find them fascinating in sound and rhythm as it is indeed a part of our South Asian heritage, and how wondrous to learn about another worldview in understanding the lights in the sky.
My dear,
Venus just leaned down and asked me
To tell you a secret, to confess
She’s just a mirror who has been stealing
Your light and music for centuries.
She knows as does Hafiz,
You are the sole heir to
The King.
-- Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Shireen Pasha is a contributor.
