Ramadan is coming.....
1 Comments Published by Tom Gara on Thursday, October 14 at Thursday, October 14, 2004.
So tomorrow it begins - one month of fasting, prayer, spiritiual purification and getting closer to god. From sunrise tomorrow, Ramadan kicks in. Readers of An Irish Experience may remember my great "Punishment Deprivation Month", which I managed to get through almost entirely, so I have some experience in this stuff.
I'll be trying to get the whole Ramadan experience - so obviously I'll be fasting. But a big part of Ramadan is also the spiritual fast - the idea of mental purification that comes by focussing your mind on pure thoughts and thinking intensely about your knowledge of self and God. So I'll also be trying to use to clear headedness that comes with both mental and physical fasting to answer a question that I have been pondering ever since arriving in Egypt - do I have a God?
I'm fairly sure that in the Monotheistic sense of the word, I dont. I think that believing in an all powerful God is not a good idea - in fact I am semi hostile to the idea, because I think it is the counter productive to the idea of free choice and personal responsibility. But maybe that is just because I have never really thought about it very much, let alone had any personal connection or spiritual bond with religion. So in this sense, at least my Ramadan soul searching will give me the chance to think about it.
According to all the Egyptians I know, Ramadan is one of the most special times of the year here. It actually has a similar feel to Christmas in some ways - decorations getting put up all over the place, lots of eating (after dark), family time, a source childhood memories - although the religious content is a lot higher than the Christmas most of us are used to. And a lot of toy/novelty electric lanterns are on sale in the street. A lot.
I can't wait for the experience. Next week we have our big national conference for the year, 120 people, sessions all day, everyone fasting and praying etc all throughout. Should certainly be a different experience to the usual AIESEC conference.
I'll be trying to get the whole Ramadan experience - so obviously I'll be fasting. But a big part of Ramadan is also the spiritual fast - the idea of mental purification that comes by focussing your mind on pure thoughts and thinking intensely about your knowledge of self and God. So I'll also be trying to use to clear headedness that comes with both mental and physical fasting to answer a question that I have been pondering ever since arriving in Egypt - do I have a God?
I'm fairly sure that in the Monotheistic sense of the word, I dont. I think that believing in an all powerful God is not a good idea - in fact I am semi hostile to the idea, because I think it is the counter productive to the idea of free choice and personal responsibility. But maybe that is just because I have never really thought about it very much, let alone had any personal connection or spiritual bond with religion. So in this sense, at least my Ramadan soul searching will give me the chance to think about it.
According to all the Egyptians I know, Ramadan is one of the most special times of the year here. It actually has a similar feel to Christmas in some ways - decorations getting put up all over the place, lots of eating (after dark), family time, a source childhood memories - although the religious content is a lot higher than the Christmas most of us are used to. And a lot of toy/novelty electric lanterns are on sale in the street. A lot.
I can't wait for the experience. Next week we have our big national conference for the year, 120 people, sessions all day, everyone fasting and praying etc all throughout. Should certainly be a different experience to the usual AIESEC conference.
It's interesting that you seem to be questioning these things at the same time I am questioning some similar things. I had a headache. An evil, impossible to remove, even with the hardest drugs a doctor can hand you, cow of a headache.
After three days of evilness, at which point beheading looked like a *great* option, why didn't I think of it earlier! - of trying to imprint a cold flannel into my skull because I thought it might stop the pain and seriously considering shaving my head because my hair was getting in the way of the cool relief, visiting a doctor who gave me the heavy drugs and trying to work out what I did to deserve such punishment, I went to see another doctor.
He says to me, in his great Indian accent, after discovering that my sinuses were hay-fever-ed and my neck was like a brick that hurt to touch - "I can fix this, and you'll walk out of here with no headache and no pain. Money back guarantee, I promise" I looked at him suspiciously and asked how this miracle would be performed, and he said "Acupuncture". I said "No way! I don't believe in that. It doesn't work" He said "Money back, I swear"
So, I agreed to it. And, two tiny needles later, he kept the money. I couldn't believe it so much I felt nauseous and almost fainted. I *still* can't believe it. But it worked - and where I have previously been breathing through one mildly blocked nostril, I am now breathing through two completely unblocked ones. I still have no headache, and no pain in my neck.
Surely this means I have to change some of my views, right? And I have to believe in it, because it worked, I swear to you. It's like finding out Father Christmas actually does exist after all. And does this mean I will have to lose my fear of needles and just embrace acupuncture any time I feel unwell? Can I do that? I just don't know.