Learn To Ignore
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
17 December
2023
“The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.”
― Rumi
Rumi's
aforementioned quote is an elaboration of Shams' 'To ignore is to know.'
December
17 is the 750th Death Anniversary of Maulana Rumi. He shuffled off this mortal
coil on December 17, 1273 in Konya (Turkey).
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Only when
we ignore a lot many things in life, can we claim to have a milligram of
knowledge. Most of the things in life are actually worth-ignoring. But we
clutter our minds with all those useless things and erroneously think that we
know a lot. The most precious pearl of Basra, Azuk, is hidden inside the six
folds of an oyster. Those who're not aware of this, think that the oyster
doesn't contain a pearl because they don't bother to go deeper into the oyster
and remove the six folds to find a tiny but most precious Gauhar (Moti /
pearl). In other words, they fail to ignore and remain on the fringe. There's
an English adage, all that glitters is not gold. Rumi further says, 'Give
preference to inner effulgence over the
external glitter. Ignore what leads you astray.'
There's a meditative
process in Hinayana Buddhism, called 'Parashrim. ' It's an art of
ignoring all that's not required in life. The Buddha was the greatest living
example of 'Parashrim.' He was forever at peace with himself and all
that he came into contact with. When one of his disciples asked how he (The
Buddha) developed this unfazed and unruffled state of mind, the Buddha said, he
ignored most of the things in life. So, he acquired tranquillity. "What
are those things, that you've ignored in life to be at peace with
yourself?," asked the disciple. "I ignored your praise, veneration,
people's imprecations, cuss words, respect, fear of scriptures, gods, customs,
rituals, Hereafter, Thereafter, Hell or Heaven and all that which may consume
my inner peace and deviate me from the path of Truth. I'm still in the process
of knowing myself and all these things are real impediments on the way to
self-realization."
Gandhi and
Nelson Mandela could emerge as great humans because they ignored the insults
and humiliation.
When we
learn to ignore what people think of us, we succeed in life. To ignore is to
declutter the mind, cleanse the perceptions and remove the dust off one's self.
People will get to learn much more if they can ignore their mobiles once in a
while, the source of all toxicity. They'll also do a world of good to
themselves and mankind at large if they ignore pettiness of all sorts.
Muslim will
be saner if they can learn how to ignore those fools who burn the Quran in
public. Hindus will be 'enlightened' if they can ignore the insults to their
Ram, Sita and all revered figures.
Munshi
Premchand wrote in his Urdu novel 'Gosha-e-Aafiyat ' (Premaashram
in Hindi) that, "Zindagi Ko Ve Hi Log Jeete Hain Jinhein Beshtar Baaton
Ko Nazarandaaz Karna Aata Hai" (They live who ignore most of the
things in life). Very true. We need Kablada (a Dutch word for
consciously and skilfully ignoring all that's unnecessary).
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/ignore-buddha-rumi-gandhi/d/131325
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