By Dr. Srividhya Sukumar

Art of Inner Engineering with Ramadhan & EID

"It’s time to look into oneself"

In essence, the holy month of Ramadan is a celebration of the Quran's revelation, which is described as a "Guide and Mercy for those who do good." (31:3 Holy Quran).

The holy month of Ramadhan is a month of abstinence from worldly pleasures, the defiance of desires, and the month of pure intentions. This month was blessed to purify our hearts from the blackness of sins that we have inflicted upon them.

Ramadhan month is a personification of God's mercy, where we look into ourselves, repent for our sins, and review our pathways to reflect upon them and renew as we refresh our life with the new revelations. Ramadan celebrates God's mercy, which leads the subjects towards the path of good and virtue and protects the human soul from evil and vice.

This is a process of self-revelation and walking through the inner self until the spirit of conscience and soulful presence is felt and uprooted. Thus, it is a glorified art of inner engineering, to enlighten our paths and ideals with the noblest.

During this month, the subjects show their gratitude to God by abstaining from all vices. This "Path to Good" awakens their inner conscience and develops a deep inner awareness of God's presence in life. This feeling of God's presence leads the soul to follow the path of righteousness and do the right, even in the most difficult situations.

When the soul enters into a station of gratitude and submission to God, a state of self-realization surfaces and makes the subjects understand that life has been a gift given by God, that is to be used for reflecting God's mercy, compassion, love, generosity, and blessing, that will deliver only "Good" to the community.

By surrendering oneself to God through this serene connection, one can teach the soul the process of self-restraint and self-control from the dominant evils such as ego, craving for power and fame, craving for being important, pride, anger, revenge, lying, stealing, cheating, and sexual immorality and so on.

One of the most important qualities that this divine connection seeks to develop within an individual is humility. The act of fasting provides the fortunate, wealthy members of society to experience the pain and suffering that millions of people go through every day without food, water, and other necessities of life.

Fasting bridges the gap between rich and poor, sustained and impoverished, fulfilled and needy. This experience of equality among all subjects then inspires compassion and mercy, manifested by the generosity of wealth and time to help those in need.

In a nutshell, even though the real purpose of the dynamic institution of Ramadhan is to discipline our soul and moral behavior, and to develop sympathy for the less fortunate, it is a multi-functional and comprehensive tool of change in various spheres of our lives, including:

• Social and economic

• Intellectual and humanitarian

• Spiritual and physical

• Private and public

• Personal and common

• Inner and outer - all in one!

With all the quintessence of goodness shared and imbibed, the rejuvenated subjects become an embodiment of refinement and enlightenment, ready to welcome the anew, as the new year dawns with the coming of EID, thereby serving their society and community gracefully.

EID MUBARAK!