Man guilty of making boys flog themselves with blades in Muslim rite

A Muslim man was found guilty of child cruelty today in a British legal first after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a centuries-old Shia religious ceremony.

The jury at Manchester crown court found Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, guilty of two counts of child cruelty.

The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, a wooden implement with chains and blades attached, during a ceremony to commemorate the death and martyrdom of a seventh-century Shia Muslim leader.

Zaidi, of Station Road, Eccles, Salford, also flogged himself during the ceremony at a community centre in Levenshulme, Manchester, on January 19.

Some countries have banned self-flagellation with the zanjeer zani. It has been substituted by men beating their bare chests. In Indonesia and some other countries, young children are formally encouraged to use a smaller version of the implement.

A 14-year-old boy, who was 13 at the time, said Zaidi told them both: "Start doing it, start doing it".

The boy told the jury: "We said 'We don't want to do it'."

"He kept pressuring him, make him do the knife thing, pulling him, trying to get his T-shirt off, pulling and pushing him. He was saying 'just do it, just do it'."

The boys had multiple lacerations to their backs, mainly superficial, with several deeper cuts.

Zaidi is to be sentenced on September 24.

From the Guardian

I'd say if the adult wants to flog himself (pun intended), go ahead. But he can't expect another country to abide by such radical rites.

I call this self-flagellation BS part of religion, but forcing others to do it... much worse.

Arpie

Mark Twain on Religion

“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.” —- Mark Twain

A religion that comes of thought, and study, and deliberate conviction, sticks best. The revitalized convert who is scared in the direction of heaven because he sees hell yawn suddenly behind him, not only regains confidence when his scare is over, but is ashamed of himself for being scared, and often becomes more hopelessly and malignantly wicked than he was before.—- Mark Twain

We blindly follow our beliefs because we fear the consequences as preached by religious leaders . We are brainwashed in a way that limits our ability to think, study and form a deliberate conviction based on our ideals. Some form of religion and religious beliefs are vital for our own personal growth and character building, but we should never allow dumbfounded reasoning or scare tactics to guide our religious beliefs or to form a stereotypical view of others who don’t conform to our own. A religion should show us the pathway to happiness by practicing moral values and compassion for all Mankind.

We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles. —- Mark Twain

When our actions are not congruent with our own beliefs, we take refuge under the hood of our principles to justify our act of cowardice. If we avoid expressing our views of fairness and justice for any just cause that we feel deeply about, if we ignore our own inner voice to bring about the change that can transform our world for the better — we are doomed to forever fail to do what’s right . We use this word ‘principle’ at work and at home to avoid engaging ourselves in those actions that jeopardize our imaginary sense of security.

All of us have formed a stonewall of theories to justify our mental views of other people. When we don’t like something and when we struggle to rationalize our dislike, we wrap ourselves in the comfortable, secure blanket called ‘our principles‘. How can we grow ourselves if we are not truthful to our own inner-self? How can we make our world a better place to live if we wrap our views in a colorful yet fake stereotype formed on baseless reasoning? Try to abandon those fake theories that you have formed and embrace awareness by witnessing every thought that guides your every action. You’ll be amazed at the power of clarity that you will feel when you devote your life to bring about a profound change.

You cannot have a theory without principles. Principles is another name for prejudices. —— Mark Twain

All of us have formed a stonewall of theories to justify our mental views of other people. When we don’t like something and when we struggle to rationalize our dislike, we wrap ourselves in the comfortable, secure blanket called ‘our principles‘. How can we grow ourselves if we are not truthful to our own inner-self? How can we make our world a better place to live if we wrap our views in a colorful yet fake stereotype formed on baseless reasoning? Try to abandon those fake theories that you have formed and embrace awareness by witnessing every thought that guides your every action. You’ll be amazed at the power of clarity that you will feel when you devote your life to bring about a profound change.

Happy is he who forgets (ignores?) what cannot be changed. —- Mark Twain

The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities, we will then be a happy and a virtuous people. —- Mark Twain

Happiness is a Swedish sunset–it is there for all, but most of us look the other way and lose it. —- Mark Twain

Gotta love good ole' Sam Clemens. Read more at SuccessSoul

Zen and Relationships

"If he comes we welcome,

If he goes we do not pursue"

Zen saying

We all want love. We are all searching for some lasting relationship. Yet it always seems as if relationships are difficult, difficult to find, to keep and to enjoy. Though many do all they can, problems, complications and disappointment arise.

But from the Zen point of view, struggling to find and keep love is the opposite of what is needed. First we must learn 'do nothing'. We must learn how to let go of control.

Rena started Zen practice after losing two important relationships. Devastated, she was convinced she could never hold onto love.

She told the Zen Master, "I can't bear losing even one more person."

"You will lose many," the Zen Master said.

Rena gasped.

"Inevitable."

"What can I do about it?" Rena shot back.

"Do nothing,: the Zen Master said.

This 'do nothing' is active and vital, the very opposite of passivity. In order to understand this, we must take a step back.

We are born wanting to control our world and the people in it. We scream to get food from mother, smile to receive the attention we crave and, when our needs aren't met kick up a great fuss. As infants we feel that others are here simply to care for us and keep us content. This kind of attitude can be very hard to outgrow. In fact, it can be said that 99% of our precious life energy goes into controlling others so that our desires can be fulfilled.

What we call love in relationships is often no more than having someone who makes us feel good.

The Zen way is the opposite. We do not try to use others, control events, or demand that life fulfill our dreams. Instead, we grow aware of and accepting of all that is given, and learn to take care of the world we live in. As we do this, an odd thing happens, we become more and more fulfilled. As we grow in compassion and simplicity, all we truly need then comes naturally.

Doing Nothing

The only real miracle is to stand still. -Henry Miller

Unfortunately, the idea of 'doing nothing' has been greatly misunderstood. It does not mean be passive. Just the opposite. Do nothing is the most challenging, demanding, revolutionary instruction that can be given. It means, when faced with life's challenges - let go of control.
...
When you are faced with a difficult knot in a relationship, or when you are trying to find someone new to love - don't squirm and wrestle, don't enter into a struggle. "Do nothing" give up control. Stay centered and immovable in the middle of the storm and see what the life is truly bringing to you. Keep clear and compassionate. Let the situation unfold as it will. Don't get picked up and whirled around like a leaf in the wind.

Read more at ezine articles.