The Quest for Serenity and Self-Fulfillment
Nassir H. Sabah – Extract From the Book
The Almighty has created humans for a purpose, which, out of His infinite Mercy and Love, is for them to have eternal bliss in Heaven. Had He wished, He could have made all human beings believers and angel-like, living in perfect peace and harmony. But life would then have no meaning.
In His Omniscience and Wisdom, He created humans with a wondrous conscious self having the propensity for both virtuousness and wickedness and a free will that allows them to choose between the right path that leads to eternal bliss in Heaven and the wrong path that leads to suffering in Hell. The right path is that of Serving Him through virtuous conduct in the form of good deeds, words, and treatment of others.
This conduct is the outward manifestation of a sequence of:
- Foundational beliefs (existence of The Almighty, contemplation of His Essence and Nature, the Afterlife).
- Engendered feelings (deep humility, submission to His Will).
- Occupying thoughts (frequent remembrance of The Almighty through glorification, gratitude, supplication, and mystical forms).
- Formative attitudes (reliance on The Almighty, deference to His Will, and profound appraisal of the real worth of material possessions, of life’s frivolity, and of its pleasures and rewards.
These constituents and the conduct that embodies them are the building blocks of the advocated Spirituality, whose practical outcome is continual and comprehensive self-development – spiritually, psychologically, morally, and intellectually – driving toward a target state of sublime serenity and self-fulfillment.
The Spirituality advocated in this book provides a solid foundation for this self-development, which gives meaning to life. It is a sublime expression of our humaneness and a prerequisite for eternal bliss in the Afterlife, contingent on the Will, Grace, Mercy, and Judgement of The Almighty.
The immensely beneficial impact of this self-development is in:
- Conquering negative feelings, such as envy and anger,
- Alleviation of anxiety and stress, with their detrimental effects on health and well-being,
- Fostering positive feelings and attitudes in promoting tolerance, understanding, and compassion toward all in contrast to ruthless competition, mindless materialism, and all forms of injustice, oppression, corruption, and exploitation,
- Experiencing the joy of living without craving and greed, without excessive indulgence or anxiety about the ending of life’s pleasures, and with a liberating awareness of what is really important in life and what is vain, superfluous, and illusory, and
- An elating spirituality that is reflected in an intense feeling of closeness and connectedness to The Almighty.
I really cannot help but feel sorry for men and women of science, learning, and intellect who under the guise of high-minded intellectualism refuse to admit of anything that is not based on science.
They argue that if science cannot prove the existence of a divine being, then they cannot believe in Him nor in a Spirituality centered around Him. They seem to have a blind faith in science without full awareness of the nature of present-day science and its limitations, as explained previously. They do not appreciate that embracing Spirituality is simply stepping beyond the limitations of present-day science without repudiating science. How can any rational person adamantly refuse to believe in the Existence of The Almighty, based on science, when present-day science, because of its very nature, cannot affirm or refute His Existence? This brings back the allegory mentioned earlier of the blind man who refuses to believe in the existence of something he cannot see.
It is hoped that after reading this book most readers will set out on the path of ever-fulfilling self-development through the advocated Spirituality. Atheists and agnostics will hopefully be sufficiently convinced of the existence of The Almighty to embrace Spirituality and experience its benefits. Those who do not believe strongly in the existence of The Almighty should have their belief strengthened as they embrace Spirituality. Those whose belief in The Almighty is compartmentalized in some routine and habitual practices, without it infusing their very being, will come to realize what it means to Serve Him, and to have Him our sole beacon and guide. Those who believe in The Almighty and are engaged in the practice of a particular religion should be able to incorporate Spirituality in their belief system as a highly personalized way of experiencing a close connection with The Almighty and reaping the benefits of Spirituality.
The human predicament in modern life is starkly and poignantly expressed in the following quotation from an unknown author:
“What surprises me most about Man is that he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
This is like an animal pointlessly thrashing about within the confines of a cage. Only a wide opening would securely liberate from the cage of worldly concerns to the exhilarating liberty outside the cage and to the sublime heights of serenity and self-fulfillment. That wide opening is Spirituality.
Spirituality Rekindled: The Quest for Serenity and Self-Fulfillment (2023) is published by John Hunt Publishing under the O-Book imprint. The author could be reached at his website: https://nassirsabah.com
