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GRIEF
This
is a mental pain that results from not to be able to attain
a desired and beloved thing or loss of it or being anxious
about future happening of something harmful and evil. Mostly
the reason of it to have a strong desire for corporeal appetites,
showing greed and passion for the pleasures of flesh, giving
too much value to attain and possess worldly wealth, and
to spent all one’s efforts to attain the temporary
pleasures of this world which will not last long and for
the continuation of them.
For remedy of this illness,
one should think that, it is an illusion that the people
of this mischievous world will survive here and they continue
to stay here by having all their desires eternally. This
judgment is brighter than the sun before right minded people.
The things which are endowed with permanency and eternity
and a way from absence and temporariness are the degrees
and happiness of the next world and spiritual wishes. The
real master is the soul, it leaves its dwelling-body- but
the souls do not disappear. Its dwelling which is upset
in the ruin of this world established in the land of other
world. This land is of happiness and brilliance. Then who
is wise directs all his efforts and endeavor to attain this
eternal happiness and adopts as a target to attain this
spiritual aim being the greatest of all his desires. He
estranged his heart from giving too much credit to this
world which is passing like a summer cloud, extinguishing
like a clatter of sword. Never become sad about the loss
of anything, never consider important to attain something
desired and become proud of it. He is like a person who
chooses the way of self-sacrificing and doesn’t give
his heart with greed to the passing life and who doesn’t
have sorrow and ruin in the heart. As far as possible one
should save his heart from filling with some desires and
connect to temporary things. Thus he can be free of the
pain and hopelessness caused by the possessions of others.
This is the state known as riches of heart. Who attains
to reach the level of contention. But one may ask for how
many people it is possible to free himself from ties of
this world and succeed a complete isolation.
Almost all people of
the world suffer from this illness. But people who can throw
down these ties are very rare.
But if you cannot take the whole control of your spirit
of conscupience and become free and released, at least do
not let yourself to the valley of greed and dissipation.
Do not consider the abundance of worldly facilities as a
cause to pick all of them. Remind that to abandon this facilities-status,
wealth- is certain. So that you can understand that going
to excess about these desires is a not a preferable thing
and it is against the wisdom. So that you can save your
endeveaour and efforts to waste time in the valley of amazement
and confusion and save the ship of the heart from being
drowned among the the waves of desires of this world.
A right minded person should think if any of the people
could attain all his desires. This is not possible and nobody
could finish up all desires in this passing world. However
much he tries and employs all means and devices he may imagine
the more than the point that he has reach last and more
of it is possible. If he doesn’t satisfy with little
in reasonable and proper limits about his daily earnings
and position and follows the impossible desires like greedy
beggars and people who have no satisfaction he will be drowned
in the ocean of passions and lost in the deserts, he falls
in a sad situation.
If people can consider
and be moderate they see that there are many people who
are lower them about position and favors. And those ones
regard as impossible to attain the position and favors they
have and they consider that as a great success and honor.
Then is it proper or modest not to see the ones who glance
him being envy and not be thankful for the favor that are
endowed to him, throws the garment of content and satisfaction
by looking the status, wealth, prosperity, and rank of a
few people who are superior to them. And to say constantly:
“I wish the wealth of Croesus would be given to me”.
Is it proper? And having wealth and status is dependent
on thought and concern, enthusiasm for work, craft and prefer
the work first. But every eager and greedy person who spends
effort can not attain wealth and prosperity. There are so
many people who reached material and moral successes without
being hurt in the jungle of this world. Many people have
been drowned in the pursuit of excessive desires in the
difficult ways that they follow with passion. We can see
that their passionate efforts bring them deprivation and
their excessive works caused deficiency.
Who abandons the convent
of passion and satisfaction destroys his mind with the flames
of the anxiety of wealth and poverty. If it is asked that
“Is it possible to overcome these feelings?”
we say “Think about the groups of people! You see
that desires and level of subsistence are different from
each other. Most of them are contented with their daily
earnings and they are satisfied. All craftsmen around society
like his own craft and works eagerly. Merchant likes his
occupation and the leather manufacturer likes his and regards
his own level superior to others. Even people who break
his words and immoral people are proud of themselves. Everybody
regard as talent to advance in his own profession. Each
of them accuses other’s who have no idea of his profession
as being unskillful, ignorant and deficiency. Each group
is haughty with the things they have. Thus it is clearly
understood that it is possible to content with every level
of status and to be patient and satisfied in every situation.
A stoker of a bath imagines being the owner of the bath
and the master builder wants to be professional architect.
Because satisfaction is necessary in saving someone’s
life. Then you should also be contented with the level you
have. Consider and pay attention not to give the control
to the spirit of concupiscence to avoid suffer from grief.
So that saves your ideas and efforts to be captured in totally
materialistic areas and yourself being a fool in the hands
of Satan and your inordinate appetites.
Muslim philosopher Ishak
el-Kindi, said in his book named “def ül Ahzan”
: “ Indeed grief is not a natural and indispensable
thing but man attracts it consciously by using his will
power badly. A person who is sad about loss of something
or not to attain it should think that there are so many
people who do not feel anything about a lot of things that
they cannot reach or lose.
If grief would be indispensable
and natural everybody should have been sad. Let’s
say somebody is sad because of a position that he can not
reach. There are others for whom it is impossible for them
to reach this status so they neither think to attain it
nor suffer pain about it. Again we see people who are suffer
incredible grief for something they lose. But they forget
it in time and starts working with joy and having fun with
his friends. If grief would be something was a natural feeling
it would never disappear.
It is seen that the cause of the grief is to use the
will of power wrongly. Not to have worry about the things
helps to avoid grief. For a wise person it is possible to
free himself from sorrow by reasoning and by meditation.
When ignorant people
suffer from grief they forget it in time and natural and
unconsciously they calm down and become patient. Wise people
free themselves from sorrow by thinking the end of everything
and they succeed to calm down by keeping their tendency
to make faults in the limits of patience and content. It
is not possible for anyone to have the means of subsistence
eternally. (1)
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(1) Ahlâk-i Âlâi, K. Ali Efendi.
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