Excerpt about love from Kahlil Gibran "The Prophet"

The full text is located here. 
From: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

On Love

      Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love." 
      And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: 
      When love beckons to you follow him, 
      Though his ways are hard and steep. 
      And when his wings enfold you yield to him, 
      Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, 
      Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. 
      For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. 
      Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, 
      So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. 
      He threshes you to make you naked. 
      He sifts you to free you from your husks. 
      He grinds you to whiteness. 
      He kneads you until you are pliant; 
      And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast. 
      All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart. 
      But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, 
      Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, 
      Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. 
      Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. 
      Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God." 
      And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. 
      Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself. 
      But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: 
      To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. 
      To know the pain of too much tenderness. 
      To be wounded by your own understanding of love; 
      And to bleed willingly and joyfully. 
      To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; 
      To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; 
      To return home at eventide with gratitude; 
      And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips. 

Storyteller's Daughter by Saira Shah

Below is a short response I wrote about the Storyteller's Daughter by Saira Shah. I had to read the book for my Muslim Women Writer's class. My main issue with this book is a serious one. Since it is written in a way that is accessible and entertaining to the general Western population, I think it could help readers justify the US intervening in Afghanistan both during the Marxist Revolution and, later, to fight the Taliban. Additionally, she leaves out a huge part of the historical and political contest making it easy for the general reader to overlook the complexities she presents about Afghan society.
Here is the link to a documentary also made by Saira Shah called "Beneath the Veil."

While the book is interesting to read, I have several questions about the author’s motives and political alliances and what purpose this book is supposed to fulfill for this class.

Unlike the other writers we have studied, Saira Shah was born and raised in Britain, a Western nation. I wonder what effect this had on her beliefs about Afghanistan, despite her family history in the area. She seems to view the culture from an Orientalist perspective, by romanticizing the traditional aspects of the society. For example, she values the fearlessness and “barbarity” that the tribes exhibited toward Britain in the 1800’s (16). Her modern day perspective focuses on the oppression of women and children in refugee camps as well as in Afghanistan. However, she seems to exploit this as well by avoiding an in depth analysis of the USSR’s involvement in Afghanistan and the US funding of the fundamentalist opposition. Rather than give a full analysis, she gives bits and pieces that seem to blame the Soviet Union outside of any previous historical context. What really made me question her politics was her support and praise of her ancestor, Jan Fishan Khan, who sided with the British colonizers against his own people and helped the British capture  Delhi in India. She praises him: “rather than take part in the massacre and rout of the British, my ancestor had tried to save the lives of women and children” (23). Her framing of this situation seems to be from the pro-British perspective. She calls it a “massacre,” but who was invading who? Also, why were the British moving women and children into the area? What about the women and children that were sacrificed in Afghanistan and India for the sake of British colonization? Shah seems to lack a critical analysis of this, perhaps because of her family background and being raised in Britain.

Perhaps an explanation for this is that Shah’s purpose in writing this book is not to comment on the political or historical context. Rather, she seems to be exploring the relation between myth and reality while exploring the effects of the Taliban on Afghan society. But I am wondering, what is the underlying purpose of this, and who is Shah’s audience? As a filmmaker and reporter, she seems to like informing the West about Afghanistan, so maybe she just wants to raise awareness about the culture? Perhaps she is trying to raise awareness about how myths and stories can carry valuable information about living life--more so than Western “objective” accounts of history.  

Yoga Class Reflection

Below is a reflection paper I wrote for my yoga class. Overall it was a great class and helped me in many ways. I challenged the professor on several ideas he taught. For example, he argues that we should drink bottled water because tap water has fluoride in it. Also, he takes a individualistic approach to solving the problems in the world. While him and I may agree on the "ends," I believe his solution is not enough for achieving these goals. 

The yoga class helped strengthen different parts of me mentally, spiritually, and physically. Before taking the class, I had experience doing yoga in other places; however, I was never able to move past my desire to compete with myself and others to be the “strongest.” I think this was because the classes were not paired with instruction about the spirituality behind yoga.

            I thought it was useful how each week focused on a different chakra. It is interesting how I gained something from each class; it seemed like each lesson applied directly to something that was happening in my life. For example, with the first chakra, I was having trouble paying for food and did not have a good living situation; but was prioritizing other “needs” above this such as worrying about grad school applications. I was getting sick way more often than I used to. After the class, I realized that I was not taking care of myself and it was affecting my ability to focus and relax. The music helped with this as well. The second chakra taught me to reflect on my current and past relationships and come to peace with the engagement that I broke off several months ago. Also at the time of this class, I was dealing with some conflicts with “toxic” people and the class taught me to let go of them. The list goes on. Now, I have a new interest in studying the different chakras and using them to improve my health and interactions with others.

            I appreciated how the actual yoga we did was not very advanced compared to the other classes I took. This showed me that yoga is not about pushing myself to do advanced moves, but I should instead work on a gradual progress. Although the moves were not “advanced,” I found my muscles feeling sore after almost every class. This shows that the basic moves and poses are important if done properly.

            The lesson about food was interesting. I have a holistic healer in my hometown who has done similar things with my arm for the vitamins and medicine I was taking. He took me off all of these supplements and gave me herbal supplements and suggestions for diet. So coming into the lesson, I was already familiar with the process, but did not realize it could be applied to people and drinks. I went home and tried it with some friends. I have some disagreements with the argument about tap water. Water should be free for everyone and should not be a commodity. Additionally, private companies have less regulation for the chemicals and processes used in the water. Some bottled water is actually tap water too. Leaving tap water in an open container for several hours allows the most of the chlorine to evaporate. I am not sure if this includes the fluoride. I heard that the government puts fluoride in the water because lower income people do not have as much access to it. I do not necessarily agree with this argument, but prefer fluoride water to supporting companies that have tricked the population into buying a basic life necessity and creating tons of plastic waste from the bottles. Bottled water should not be thought of as a solution to having fluoride in tap water.

            As far as the philosophy presented in the class—I agree with most of it, but I think more is necessary. The world cannot wait for every individual to “convert” to be a better person. We are all shaped by our culture and are given prejudices that can be harmful. I think we need to change the institutions that shape our culture such as the education system, legal system, “democratic” process, economic system, etc. We need to redistribute the wealth and get rid of the idea that the US should control all other countries for economic profit.