Intimate Strangers? Jewish-Muslim Relations & the Prospects for Dialogue

Atif Khalil in “Intimate Strangers? Jewish-Muslim Relations and the Prospects for Dialogue” has attempted to uncover the common religious and cultural values across theological, legal and mystical intersections between Jewish and Muslim communities in order to foster respect, friendship and harmony between them.

Towards an Inclusive Global Family: Recovering the Forgotten Contributions of Christian Mystics

M. Darrol Bryant in “Recovering the Forgotten Contributions of Christian Mystics” brings out the spiritual and humanitarian messages of three Christian women mystics Hildegaard of Bingen (1098-1179), Julian of Norwich (1342-1423) and  Teresa of Avila (1515-1582).Reading about them is an inspiration towards unity, harmony and peace.

Publisher's Note

The Publisher’s note for the January 2017 issue of Cloverleaf is entitled "Post-Truth Era in Religion and Its Ramifications". It is a reflection on the modernity of the recognition of the term "post-truth" and the antiquity of its mindset. While the notion came to limelight in 2016, its mindset has been playing havoc with the state of our universe for a very long time.

Figure 1 shows the neural structure of a human being with (a) pointing to the network of nervous system spread all over the body, (b) pointing to the limbic brain on top of the spine and (c) pointing to the neocortex located just inside the skull around the limbic brain.

Editor’s Note

Dear Readers

We are here once again with Volume 5 of Cloverleaf. In the last year humanity has suffered, struggled and learnt to come to terms with the truth of existence on various levels.

Death, Suffering and Disasters are a part of this earth life and the only way forward out of their stranglehold is through harmony and empathy. This is the path put forth by enlightened souls.

This issue is therefore dedicated to peace and harmony.

Tracing the Idea of Spiritual Peace and Harmony in the poems of Meera Bai and Emily Dickinson

Abstract: The concept of spiritual awakening is not different from scientific phenomenon as it is the science of ultimate truth. A truth which transcends the ordinary and conscious understanding of man and takes him into the world of unconscious. This paper is going to explore the spiritual awakening, understanding and philosophical vision of India’s greatest bhakti poetesses, Meera Bai, and Emily Dickinson, one of the most celebrated female poets of America. It is an attempt to compare and analyze their love for the divine, their movements, concepts and their philosophical vision.

Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh: The Zen Peacemaker

 

The passing away of Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) is a deep and irreversible loss to humanity. He passed away on January 22 2022 at the age of 95.  

He was a Buddhist monk and a social activist. He served as Chair of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation to the Paris Peace Accords and was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Love, kindness and humanism were the essence of his life. Even though he was a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, his view of the world, humanity and life was not limited to his country or to his religion.

The Practice to Learn and Teach Future Generations

This is a practical hands-on article.  It is on the practice of conscious deep breathing which frees the practitioner from the slavery of the unconscious mind controlling his/her life. Our learning and teaching of this practice to future generations can transform the state of world health, happiness and harmony. It was being referred to in an article entitled What I wish I had been taught in preschool days.

The Problem of Unconscious Bias in Need of Research Partnerships

The problem of bias and bigotry is related deeply to human cognition. There is no doubt significant overt bigotry, but there is also a whole lot of covert bigotry. According to eminent social psychologist researching racial bigotry, Jennifer Eberhardt of Stanford (Eberhardt, 2020), implicit bias becomes explicit without our awareness particularly in times of hurry or stress.

Elusiveness of World Peace and Harmony

Introduction

World peace and harmony are not the only concepts that can elude us; health, wellness, learning ability, emotional intelligence and executive function are equally elusive. The human condition seems to be marred by a lack of peace, harmony, learning ability, physical and mental disease, emotional disorders, executive disorders, racial and religious bigotry and many other such maladies. The outcome of all such disorders, there is poverty, hunger, suffering and criminality all around. With personal problems galore, there is no sense of the common good.

Publisher's Note

 

A Tale of Two UN Sanctioned Observances

This tale is about a multi-sessional virtual conference, hosted in the city of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada by Spiritual Heritage Education

Network Inc. (SHEN), in observance of the World Interfaith Harmony Week in 2021. Four sessions took place on the Zoom platform on each of the four Saturdays of February, 2021 from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Stealing the Words

 

Stealing the Words
                           for Eliza

Black-haired, with a whiff of powder

and distant murmur of perfume

you dance into the louder

reaches of the noisy, crowded room,

 

elegant and colourful, yet silent

your step as graceful as flight

so that every voice is suddenly lent

a moment of your quiet

 

Time and the Wall

 

Plangent, silvery light

flickers along the wintry river

like ripples, like a breeze

the bus tyres squelch through

as through a mist,

skimming the river’s margin,

the Busport road.

 

This afternoon I walked

past the low wall

where I used to sit

to wait for you, a tiny wall

near the office

which, ridiculously,

I still think of as yours.

I’ve avoided it for years.

I scrambled past, of course,

as quickly as I could

to the ghostly bus stop.

Presence

 

Mid-November, the year races towards its end

frantically; time, the clock says, counts

in a measured, tick-tock regularity               

but the older you get the faster it goes.

2017: an eventful year for the world

and for me; but for the world every year

must be eventful. For myself, I look back

on many good things: we went to Singapore,

I sold my haunted house

after almost two years of trying, I bought

Vaccine

It stands at the doors

Unfurling its talons

On benches where love dwelt

At tables where candles used to be lit

On door knobs of domesticity

In places both holy and profane.

It swoops down

On unsuspecting humans

In the warmth of a handshake

In the softness of a hug.

The spectre of Covid 19

A denizen from netherworld

Depressive, deathly, cold

Picking its victims with ease

Stalking the streets

Slinking in hospitals