Editor’s Note

The pursuit of spiritual evolvement and enlightenment has become a source of hope and solace in today’s world that is being shaken by violence, hate and intolerance. Our journal Cloverleaf is essentially a journey towards redressal, healing and harmony.

It gives me great pleasure to be part of the spiritual journey towards evolvement, hope, global harmony and peace exemplified by this journal and the Spiritual Heritage Education Network that supports it.

The articles in this first issue of Cloverleaf are about the concern for spiritual evolvement and education. The esteemed writers coming from different walks of life and from different cultures, feel and rightly so that the spread of Modern education in the East and West alike has done nothing to bring people closer in understanding and tolerance.

If Rabindranath Tagore the great Indian poet and Nobel Laureate wrote in the early twentieth century, in his poem "Where the mind is without Fear" dreaming about a world that has not  been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls ---- we haven’t gone much further in the twenty first century. Perhaps if one were to account for the spate of bloodshed around the globe and the murder of innocents, we are perhaps at the worst possible time in human history.

Poets, messengers, saints and evolved souls have come and gone but neither their examples nor the messages that they have  behind have been able to undo the sorrowful state of things today and what is ironical is that in disputing over religion, gender, race and ethnicity, the very humane message of these  enlightened ones has been lost.

The articles in the present issue of Cloverleaf serve as a reminder of those forgotten messages of unity and harmony.

In our section on Research Papers there are several papers that focus on spirituality in a detailed manner.

Richard Kropf in his article “Living in the Presence of God,” has presented a detailed study of the belief in a Divine Being and the importance of seeing that Divine presence in every human being in order to foster peace, forgiveness and understanding.

Peter Lauricella and Sharon Lauricella in their article “Hitchhiking, Hospitality and Spiritual Communities,” have taken up the metaphor of journey in spiritual evolvement. They have given a modern interpretation to the early sadhu, mendicant, troubadour or sufi, in terms of hitchhiking or travelling throughout the world for spiritual understanding and receiving hospitality from likeminded hosts.

Bob Chodos in his article “God of Israel or God of the Universe” examines Judaism and its sacred beliefs and finds the existence of a Universal God though different religions conceive Him in a different way.

Mona Negoita in her article “Why We Need to Unlearn Our Ways of Learning?” writes about the need to change the way our education system works so as to develop altruism, generosity and compassion in the young.

Dr. Rajendra Narain Dubey in his article “A Spiritual View of Life and Existence," dwells at length on the concept of spirituality and its presence in a human being in Vedic literature.

There are several thought provoking papers in the section on Personal Reflections on Spirituality too.

Sandy Milne in “Reflections on Education in Evolvement and All-Encompassing  Spirituality highlights issues, goals and experiences related to education in All-Encompassing Spirituality.

Garima Talwar Kapoor in “Meta-Physical Wisdom in Today’s Globalized World” reflects on rethinking Education in All-Encompassing Spirituality in today’s age of technology.

Dr. V. N. Jha in “Spiritual Education to Discover the Meaning of ‘I” demonstrates how the Indian concept of education can liberate minds from narrowness and promote a state of all-inclusive broadness.

Dr. Ranjit Singh Bharaj in “Relevance of Spirituality in Today's Global Settings” talks about the practical applications and benefits of spirituality in the present day.

Sami Rafiq in “The Idea of Love and Compassion in Sufi Literature” has reflected on the idea of compassion in selected poems and short stories by Sufi writers.

George Rowinski’s prose poem “What is “That”? is an invocation to the Divine to whom one can return again and again, for it highlights a spiritual quest in a poetic and mystical manner.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Shiv Talwar, the President of SHEN for giving me the rare and valuable opportunity to edit this journal. Working along with him has been a pleasure and a great learning experience for me.

I would also like to thank Rabeya who is working for a Ph.D degree at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, for her invaluable help all along the way.

Sami Rafiq

Aligarh, UP India

September 7, 2016