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To the Class of 2010
Stanford has always played a unique role in the American imagination. It is a symbol of the American myth of openness and innovation, and it produces the reality.
It has also played a very special role in my own life. The idea for the Interfaith Youth Core first hit me at a conference at Stanford twelve years ago. So I considered it a particular honor to be the Baccalaureate speaker at Stanford's Commencement ceremonies this past week. Here's what I told the Class of 2010:
About six months after I graduated from college, a time when I was fully consumed with my career, God saw fit to place on my path one Brother Wayne Teasdale. I met him at the piano recital of a high school friend. A slight man with gray hair and the kindest eyes I'd ever seen, Brother Wayne turned to me at the reception and said: "Music is our gateway into the interspiritual age."
This was not how I was accustomed to conversations beginning.
Brother Wayne peered at me intently. "I can tell you understand what I'm saying," he continued. "I'm a professor of religion. Why don't you come visit me."
Brother Wayne lived in a small apartment in the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. Books on Catholic theology, pictures of Hindu deities and CD's of Indian classical music were strewn everywhere.
Soon after I arrived, Brother Wayne announced that it was time to meditate. A ticking clock bothered him. I heard him get up to put it away. When we were done meditating, I saw him retrieve it from the freezer.
"Time for a walk," he said. We pulled on our sweaters and headed south down Cornell Avenue. We passed a dog. Brother Wayne bent down and rubbed the dog's head. The dog wagged its tail and barked. "That is a very spiritual dog," Brother Wayne told me as we continued on. "I know most of the dogs in this neighborhood," he added.
We kept walking until we came to a man wearing a heavy winter coat and carrying a black garbage bag with aluminum cans. "Hey Wayne," he said. "Ralph, it's so nice to see you." They caught up. Brother Wayne took out his wallet and handed Ralph a twenty. "Ralph is a very spiritual man," he said. "I know most of the homeless people in this neighborhood."
In between greeting dogs and homeless people, Brother Wayne told me about his work with international interfaith organizations, his hope that more young people would get involved, his dream that we would live into God's vision of interfaith cooperation. Then he turned to me and said: "I think you can play a leadership role in the global interfaith youth movement. I can tell you are a very spiritual person."
"Sure," I said. I mean, he had shown such good judgment with dogs.
Brother Wayne is part of a tradition of people who live at a slight angle to the universe, who see the world through kaleidoscope eyes. Others in this line include historical figures from St Francis of Assisi to Shams of Tabriz, literary characters from Zorba the Greek to Don Quixote. And as I was thinking of what I might say to you this morning, my mind wandered back through this lineage.
College graduates hear other people's hopes for them, seemingly ad infinitum. Let me share in those important hopes.
I hope that you take great pride in this day. That each of you has much worldly and material success. That you discover ways to serve that both bring your heart great gladness and address the world's great need. That you find and keep true love. That you cultivate your inner capacities for faith and reflection.
But I wish for you something else too - that you have at least one person in your life who is, well, a little bit crazy. Who thinks that windmills could be giants. Who cannot pass a flock of birds without stopping to preach the Gospel. Someone willing to take on the Big Nurse so that the loony bin can watch the World Series. A person who insists on lighting out for the territory ahead of the rest because he can't stand the Aunt Sally's of civlization. I wish for each of you your own Brother Wayne - a person who, as Ani Difranco says, has "eyes like neon signs, flashing open, open, open all the time."
At the very least, a Brother Wayne would bring a new dimension into your life. He may even totally transform it.
Consider the story of the great Muslim figure Rumi. Rumi trained as a scholar of Islamic law, and was famous for his careful analysis and stern lectures. One day, while Rumi was preparing to teach his university class, a man in rags appeared, pointed to his scholarly books, and asked innocently, "What are these?'"
"You wouldn't understand," responded Rumi scornfully.
With a wave of his hand, the man in rags set the books on fire.
Shocked, Rumi asked, "What was that?"
"You wouldn't understand," said the man, and disappeared.
In that flash of magic Rumi found a moment of clarity in which he recognized his deeper purpose. The man in rags was Shams of Tabriz, and he became Rumi's mentor on the path of Muslim mysticism, the path of sufism. Their friendship inspired Rumi to write poetry some have called 'the Qur'an in the Persian tongue', poems that are loved all over the world today.
Brother Wayne never magically set any books on fire, although he did once singe the curtains while lighting a meditation candle. What he did was transform my life.
It occurred on this piece of earth twelve years ago, almost to the day. Brother Wayne sent me to an interfaith conference at Stanford University in June of 1998. "They are all very spiritual people," he said of the senior religious leaders and theologians who gathered to draft documents and plan further conferences - "but they are spiritual and over sixty." That was Brother Wayne's way of articulating urgency. In his soft way he was saying: If religious extremism is a movement of young people taking action and interfaith cooperation continues to be a movement of older people talking, we lose.
Something about being Brother Wayne's emissary, something about a plot of ground that has nurtured young dreamers from John Steinbeck to the Google guys, caused for me a kairos. I woke up one morning during that conference with a clear and obvious vision: if the Prophets and teachers of all traditions command their adherents to serve others, if the young people of my generation are volunteering in record numbers, if our world cries out to be served, if serving together is a way to build understanding and trust between people of different backgrounds - why not a movement that brings young Christians and Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, Hindus and humanists, together to build houses, clean rivers, tutor children. I called it the Interfaith Youth Core.
Brother Wayne whooped like a child when he heard the vision. "Don't be shy about it," he commanded me.
And we weren't. We told everyone. As the vision spread, people in South Africa, India, Spain, Sri Lanka asked us to come and work with them on interfaith youth service projects. The Dalai Lama heard about it and asked us to visit him in Dharamsalla. Bill Clinton heard about it and asked us to present at his Clinton Global Initiative. Queen Rania of Jordan heard about it and asked us to launch projects in the Middle East. Tony Blair heard about it and suggested a partnership with his recently-formed Faith Foundation. President Obama heard about it and made it part of his administration's work in interfaith cooperation. The best young people of this generation heard about it - Anand Venkatkrishnan and Ansaf Kareem, and took it to a new level here at Stanford.
Brother Wayne passed on a few years ago, but I catch glimpses of him here and there. When I watch the way that my three year old son sees magic in the world, I think of him. Whenever I see a happy dog wagging its tail I know that it's a very spiritual dog.
I think maybe I've become a little crazy myself. In fact, I've learned to iterate on craziness. Here's my most recent one. Previous generations created new social norms. Civil rights is a social norm. Environmentalism is a social norm. Human rights is a social norm. All thanks to young people. Why can't this generation make interfaith cooperation a social norm?
And so Brother Wayne is not quite gone. He is in my blood and my bones, in my dreams and my duas, coaxing me to think a little bit crazy, comforting me when things don't quite turn out, whispering in my ear that cosmic line from Rumi: "Start a huge foolish project, like Noah."
Stanford Class of 2010, I wish for you nothing more than to find your own Brother Wayne.
By
Eboo Patel
|
June 14, 2010; 12:18 PM ET
| Category:
Interfaith Issues
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Morality
,
Personal Religion
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Religion & Leadership
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Posted by: clearthinking1 | June 17, 2010 3:31 AM
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Muslim posters cherry-picking verses from the Quran prove they are just as psychotically delusional as their Abrahamic "Christian" cousins who also assume their conveniently selected scriptures have credibility and authority with the rest of us.
Posted by: areyousaying | June 16, 2010 11:30 AM
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Interfaith cooperation?
No as long as the descendants of Abraham follow his tenants of "it's-my-way-or-the-highway" all others be converted or eliminated.
Posted by: areyousaying | June 16, 2010 11:24 AM
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http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010061175024
Why is secularism incompatible with Islam?
By Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
Secularism can never enjoy a general acceptance in an Islamic society. For Muslim societies, the acceptance of secularism means something totally different. As Islam is a comprehensive system of worship (Ibadah) and legislation (Shari’ah), the acceptance of secularism means abandonment of Shari’ah, a denial of the divine guidance and a rejection of Allah’s injunctions. It is indeed a false claim that Shari’ah is not proper to the requirements of the present age. The acceptance of a legislation formulated by humans means a preference of the humans’ limited knowledge and experiences to the divine guidance: “Say! Do you know better than Allah?” (Qur’an, 2:140)
For this reason, the call for secularism among Muslims is atheism and a rejection of Islam. Its acceptance as a basis for rule in place of Shari’ah is downright apostasy. The silence of the masses in the Muslim world about this deviation has been a major transgression and a clear-cut instance of disobedience which have produces a sense of guilt, remorse, and inward resentment, all of which have generated discontent, insecurity, and hatred among committed Muslims because such deviation lacks legality.
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We Muslims believe that Allah is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. One Who “…takes account of every single thing.” (Qur’an, 72:28); that He is All-Powerful and All-Knowing; that His Mercy and Bounties encompass everyone and suffice for all. In that capacity, Allah revealed His divine guidance to humanity, made certain things permissible and others prohibited, commanded people observe His injunctions and to judge according to them. If they do not do so, then they commit Kufr, aggression, and transgression.
Posted by: AKafir | June 16, 2010 2:06 AM
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The verses of the quran I listed are Allah telling the Muslims to not be friendly with the non-muslims. There are many many more verses where Allah curses and threatens the non-muslims with horrible torture eternally. They are far numerous too list here. However, the punishment for those who dare to actually show active resistance to Islam is given as
Quran 5:33
The only proper recompense for those who fight against God and His Messenger and try to spread evil in the land is to be killed, crucified, or either to have one of their hands and feet cut from the opposite side or to be sent into exile. These are to disgrace them in this life and they will suffer a great torment in the life hereafter.
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Eboo,
You are an Ismaili. You will defer your religious conscience to your Imam, the Agha Khan. Ismailis are well renowned for their Taqqiya and you are a good practioner of it. Why don't you at least tell the people what Islam has to say about interfaith dialog?
Posted by: AKafir | June 15, 2010 2:27 PM
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Eboo:
I would like to know your answer to AKAFIR’s documentation of the incompatibility of Islam with interfaith?
Posted by: abrahamhab1 | June 15, 2010 6:16 AM
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We can believe in God as Jehovah, Allah,Brahma,Divinity, Thusness...without discrimination against people of other faiths. Let each person communicate imtimately with one's personal God to obtain His guidance for a life of Love, Unity, Peace and Progress.
Posted by: locle999 | June 14, 2010 11:57 PM
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Give The Press Liberty Or Give U.S. Death!
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PEACE, PAZ, SHALOM, SALAAM, MIR, FRIEDAN, AHIMSA, ZINGHYU ...
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Credit: "JJ" .....@...... http://onwapo.com
Posted by: shaheed-yahudi | June 14, 2010 11:48 PM
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Cont'd:
Quran 9:23 O you who believe! Take not for Auliya (supporters and helpers) your fathers and your brothers if they prefer disbelief to Belief. And whoever of you does so, then he is one of the Zalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.).
Quran 53:29 Therefore withdraw from him who turns away from Our Reminder (this Quran) and desires nothing but the life of this world.
Quran 3:10 Verily, those who disbelieve, neither their properties nor their offspring will avail them whatsoever against Allah; and it is they who will be fuel of the Fire.
Quran 7:44 And the dwellers of Paradise will call out to the dwellers of the Fire (saying): "We have indeed found true what our Lord had promised us; have you also found true, what your Lord promised (warnings, etc.)?" They shall say: "Yes." Then a crier will proclaim between them: "The Curse of Allah is on the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers, etc.),"
Quran 60:4/5 Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: "Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever, until you believe in Allah Alone," except the saying of Ibrahim (Abraham) to his father: "Verily, I will ask for forgiveness (from Allah) for you, but I have no power to do anything for you before Allah ." Our Lord! In You (Alone) we put our trust, and to You (Alone) we turn in repentance, and to You (Alone) is (our) final Return. Our Lord, make us not [objects of] torment for the disbelievers and forgive us, our Lord. Indeed, it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Quran 5.51: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliya (friends, protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but Auliya to one another. And if any amongst you takes them as Auliya, then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers and unjust).
Quran 58:22 You (O Muhammad SAW) will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad SAW ), even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred (people). For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with Rooh (proofs, light and true guidance) from Himself. And We will admit them to Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to dwell therein (forever). Allah is pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Party of Allah. Verily, it is the Party of Allah that will be the successful.
Posted by: AKafir | June 14, 2010 9:53 PM
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All the words on interfaith Dialog cannot sweep the words of Allah on other faiths. That is the central problem. Here is what Allah says on interfaith dialog:
Quran 3:28 Let not the believers take the disbelievers as Auliya (supporters, helpers, etc.) instead of the believers, and whoever does that will never be helped by Allah in any way, except if you indeed fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment), and to Allah is the final return.
Quran 3:85 And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.
Quran 3:118 O you who believe! Take not as (your) Bitanah (advisors, consultants, protectors, helpers, friends, etc.) those outside your religion (pagans, Jews, Christians, and hypocrites) since they will not fail to do their best to corrupt you. They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made plain to you the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses) if you understand.
Quran 4:144 O you who believe! Take not for Auliya (protectors or helpers or friends) disbelievers instead of believers. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?
Posted by: AKafir | June 14, 2010 9:49 PM
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Eboo,
Speak the Truth. These are FACTS everyone must know:
1. Eboo is an Ismaili Muslim from India.
2. Ismailis were in Egypt (900AD), but were killed by Suni Muslims.
3. They ran to Yemen.
4. Soon, they were being killed again.
5. They ran to Mumbai, where the tolerant Hindus never bothered them.
6. They have thrived amongst the Hindus in India and have become a wealthy minority.
7. In Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, they are discriminated against, like the Ahmedis.
8. They believe in and practice Taqiya. [Wikipedia: Ismāʿīlīs believe in the Shi'ite doctrine of taqiyya, which means to hide one's true religious beliefs.]
Eboo, you may be tolerant like the Hindu India that you are from, but the truth is that Islam has never been tolerant.
ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM IN ISLAM AND YOU WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. *INTRA*FAITH (WITHIN ISLAM) DIALOGUE IS NEEDED TO STOP THE VIOLENCE. DON'T WASTE EVERYONE'S TIME WITH INTERFAITH TAQIYA PUBLIC RELATIONS.