Truth

photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

What is Truth? What is this truth to which you refer? There was once a Zen monk who asked his master to reveal to him Truth. He asked: 'master, is there any deeper teaching which you have not revealed yet to me?' His master replied: 'you have tasted the best wine of Zen. You have finished already three cups. And you still say that your mouth is not wet?'

That is how blind we are. Where is Truth? For you truth is just a concept, an idea. When you sit in meditation what do you think you experience? Isn't it Truth itself? What more do you want?

I have nothing to offer you! I am empty. I just Am. I am living in Not-knowing. Knowing is a burden. Not-knowing is Freedom. Knowledge separates you from Reality. Not-knowing allows you to live reality directly. Meet yourself! Relax into What Is. Surrender to Reality. Let go of the mind. Be the Truth! Truth is nothing `special'. In Zen they say that nothing is better than nothing. Surrender to What Is and not to what could be.


- I pass this gift on to you as it was passed to me by Mahamudra

Islamic Feminism - A Blog Directory

Islamic Feminism - A Blog Directory

Who is Amina Wadud? Why Is She in the News?
See today's Boston Globe for more of the story.
Read "Making History at Friday Prayer". (IHT)


Islamic Feminism Before and After September 11th
by Miriam Cooke, Ph.D., Professor of Arabic and Chair of the Department of Asian & African Languages & Literature at Duke University, Durham NC

Muslim Feminists Moving Forward
An interview with the Indonesian first lady, Sinta Nuriyah Abdurrahman Wahid

Muslim Women: A New Hope?(The Hindu 4/5)
An article on the first Legal Literacy Camp in Delhi, sponsored by the Muslim Women's Forum and The National Federation of Indian Women, among others.

Behind the Veil, A Muslim Feminist (Srinagi Journal 4/26)
An article on Asiyah Andrabi, a "conservative Muslim and radical feminist"

Feminism in Islamic Africa (Africana)
An article on the history and content of the feminist movement in Islamic Africa.

Exploring Islamic Feminism
(Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars)

Benazir Bhutto (CNN Newsmaker)
A brief biography of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and the first Muslim woman to become her country's leader.

Islamic Traditions and the Feminist Movement (American University)
A background article on the Islamic feminist movement.

Muslim Women's League
An American non-profit organization of Muslim women.

Muslim Feminists and the Veil (Maryams.Net)
To veil or not to veil - is that the question?

veiled4allah: resources on Muslim feminism

Biographical Sketches of Famous Muslim Women (Maryams.net)
Glimpses of the lives of some famous Muslim women who have been strong enough to make their mark.

On the Position of Women in Islam and in Islamic Society by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi
"A revolution against the condition of women in the traditional Muslim societies is inevitable. The Islamists are urged by their own ideals to reform the traditional society and to close the gap between the fallen historical reality and the desired model of ideal Islam."

Islam, Feminism and Living as the ‘Muslim Other’: an Interview with Asma Barlas
Professor Asma Barlas has become one of the leading academics in the United States studying Islam, examining progressive and non-patriarchal readings of the Qur’an and the West’s interaction with the Muslim world. She is the author of Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an and is Chair of the Politics Department at Ithaca College in New York.

Shirin Ebadi Book Excerpts (BadJens.com)
Excerpts from the book, Women's Rights in the Laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran
by Shirin Ebadi, published in Iran in 2002

Progressive Muslims Network
The PMN supports the efforts of Islamic feminists in working to bring about the equality of men and women. They further call on Muslim countries and communities around the world to end gender motivated injustice and establish full legal and social equality for women.

Various Articles at Maryams.net
Also a list of Recommended Books

Resources at Barnesand Noble.com

Books I haven't read

Books I Haven't Read

Three books have recently been recommended to me that have been available for some time, but I have either missed or overlooked them while spending time writing my own stories and blog entries.

The first recommendation I've received is a novel titled The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The blogger known as Broom of Anger has recently finished reading the book and offers a brief review. See this 2003 essay from Mr. Hosseini about a trip to Afghanistan in which life imitates art. Mr. Hosseini is a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'The Kite Runner' was his debut novel.


The second recommended book is Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor. An Amazon.com review says:

When it first appeared in Story magazine in 1938, Address Unknown became an immediate social phenomenon and literary sensation. Published in book form a year later and banned in Nazi Germany, it garnered high praise in the United States and much of Europe. A series of fictional letters between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his former business partner, who has returned to Germany, Address Unknown is a haunting tale of enormous and enduring impact.

The third book is non-fiction. "Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World" by Jan Goodwin
Goodwin traveled to 10 countries to interview Muslim women who revealed how their oppressive and confining political systems have affected their lives.

Ouestion:

Any other recommendations you may have would be appreciated.
What have you recently read that you believe should not be missed?