Rumi Students in Elmhurst

Cooked

rauj1783 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:36:16 +0000

On the first day of the Islamic Mysticism and Poetry of Rumi class, I really didn’t know what to think and I was very hesitant. I have strongly practiced another religion, Catholicism, went to a catholic high school and to a christian grammar school, and I am often times surrounded by people that think wrong things about the Muslims. (People believe that Muslims are terrorists right of the bat and other things of that sort, which is completely ignorant) Also, this was a 300 level class, looked difficult, and it was not a religion gen. ed. I fell into the class by chance, because there wasn’t a lot of classes left for me to choose from, and then I become very intriqued by it. I do not know what it was. I went to the first day of class to see how it was going to be, and I felt like it would be very interesting and different than anything else I have ever taken. Also, I thought that professor Mozaffar had a really different approach and it seemed like something I would enjoy and I did. It was funny that in the started we discussed the process of learning as “cooking”. I thought that this analogy was really funny at first, but it actually worked out perfectly. So I just wanted to note that the class was good. I started out raw and now I guess I am “cooked”! haha thanks

Ulle’s Gold

rauj1783 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:00:07 +0000

This movie was a really good movie. It was funny, sad, and wise all at the same time. I found it funny that Ullie seemed like a Clint Eastwood character to me and it also was funny with the two doofuses, Eddie and Ferris. I found it sad that Ullie’s wife was dead, that all his comrades in Vietnam died, that his son was in jail and that his grandchildren were without parents. I felt a lot wisdom came out of the film too. All the wisdom that Ulle had to pass down to his son about the bees and the honey and all about life that he knew too. Ulle had good morals and I think it tied in well with some of the morals and principles that we discussed and learned in class. I think Ullies relationship linked well with the principles of patience/perserverance and hope/fear. I also think that ulle’s son showed an opposition to himself and rembering of his failings and he came to terms with it when he asked ulle for a job with the honey/bees. I think eddie and ferris had envy and participated in backbiting there immate pal (ulles son, jimmy). I think Penny showed silence and trust in ullie and in the neighbor, Connie. Casey showed hope with her father and she also started to open up and trust. Jimmy’s wife remembered her failings and seeked repentence from everyone in her life at the end. The Sheriff showed humility when he was trying to help out ullie in the starting to get him to come over for dinner and he trusted ullie and stayed silent about ullies participation in the crime with the two criminals. Connie wanted silence and her and ullie both had satisfaction and gratitude at the end. Overall I think it was great movie and I enjoyed it a lot.

Memento

hulk69 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:16:08 +0000

The movie Memento was a very interesting movie. It really shows about who you can trust and maybe the truth is what you want it to be. The ending of the movie is what really shocked me because my whole thought process of the movie was flipped around at the end. It was a very good film and the I was not aware that it was Christopher Nolan’s first movie. Lenny’s character was very well drawn out and I liked how shady Teddy was. Everything that Teddy was led you to believe he was lying but he indeed was the truth teller. This is very similar to many stories of Prophets that we learned about this term.

This Class

hulk69 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:11:44 +0000

This was a great class and I have learned more than I could ever imagine. When I started this course I just took it to get an extra credit but I have since been enlightened about the world outside the U.S. I never realized what some of the beliefs in the Muslim world were and I am glad that I now know. I find it very interesting what some of there beliefs are and what the true meaning of believing is. I will never look at Muslims the same way again and I thank you Omer for teaching me this. My rawness is definitely now cooked.

What a wonderful experience

callistusii — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:27:22 +0000

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Coming into it I did not know what to expect, but I certainly was not disappointed. Now that it is over I feel I am coming away with wisdom that I may never have attained otherwise. I feel the simple notion of figuring out what your “gods” are, or what your real purpose behind doing something is, could potentially be life changing. It is amazing to think about how powerful those two ideas are, and although we learned them on the first day of class they were essentially, as Dr. Mozaffar pointed out, what this class was all about. I am so incredibly thankful for this experience and I hope I can use what we learned to better understand who I am and to become a better person.

Memento

callistusii — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:26:15 +0000

I found the movie Memento to be very interesting if for no other reason because when it was over we really did not know what was real or what was not. I had never even considered the idea Lenny was a con man and did not have amnesia until Dr. Mozaffar brought it up; but he definitely could have been. What I got out of the movie was that we very much make the world we live in. We decide who we trust and who we do not. We decide what we believe in and what we do not. We remember events our own way and choose what we like and what we do not like. In the end the world is what we make it, the only question is, are we happy with the world we have made.

Wondering about truth…

goddessmarie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:01:24 +0000

I was thinking about what to touch base on, and the one thing that came up is the essence of truth. What is truth? I often wonder. Look at the world around you and there are so many truths. If you look at religion for example, every religion thinks that their truth is the only truth. Yet what makes it so? How is theirs different from anyone else’s. One’s perspective makes for bias in the subjective experience, perhaps though it really isn’t detrimental as others would think it to be. If we could come to an understanding that the subjective experience will be different for everyone, does that not make each truth right in its accord? But then if we were to ask what can be held as the supreme truth? Such as in the example of religion, perhaps it is the sum of all. We need each piece to complete the wholeness of the Divine in its entirety. Each messenger, each prophet brought another piece of the Divine to be manifested in the earthly realm. When I also think of misunderstandings between people it is often the experiencer who is subjective in one’s perspective, thinking they are right and the other is wrong. But is it not usually that an outsider can see that the whole truth is of both people and lies somewhere in between. How then you may ask is it possible to be guided in truth? Perhaps it is to be aware of ego and spirit; spirit will always be the way of truth.

Contact

spanishangelluv — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:14:45 +0000

I think the movie Contact brought together two opposing sides of a largely-debated issue. It focused on the element of faith instead of simply whether extraterrestrials exist or not. Different characters throughout the movie had different levels of faith; some were flat-out cynical and had no faith, while others believed whole-heartedly. Ellie was convinced there was life outside of Earth. She believed in something unseen. Palmer had complete faith, as well, but his faith was placed in God, who is also unseen. Many of the officials were completely skeptical of the idea of aliens or God. Just because something is unseen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, whether it be aliens or God. We tend to fear the unknown, like Joseph (blew up the first transportation building), and we end up misunderstanding and possibly missing out on something worthwhile. Faith is a belief in the unknown, a kind of certainty in your own being that others may not share. Whether what you believe in truly exists or not, it can give you strength and a sense of determination as well a comforting sense of security. In Ellie’s case, it was extraterrestrial life; for Palmer, it was God.

The Karate Kid

spanishangelluv — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:58:36 +0000

The Karate Kid showed a different aspect of the master-disciple relationship than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There was more trust between the two, which was established at the beginning of the movie when Mr. Miyagi fixed Daniel’s bike and continued to develop throughout the movie. Daniel trusted him as a friend and he trusted that Mr. Miyagi had experience with karate and would teach him correctly. Daniel had to do whatever Mr. Miyagi told him to, and again Daniel had to trust. Daniel thought he was just doing household chores for Mr. Miyagi, when in reality, there was a purpose. Mr. Miyagi not only had to show Daniel about karate, but he had to teach him what the correct circumstances to use it were. As master and disciple, it was easy to see the dedication and loyalty from both sides

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

spanishangelluv — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:57:32 +0000

Li Mu Bai’s entire mission throughout the movie was to avenge his master’s death, and this suggests they had a very close relationship. It also showed me the master’s eagerness to teach when they find someone worthy enough; Li Mu Bai wanted to teach Jen, one of the reasons being he saw her potential and wanted to direct it for good. We don’t see a very successful master-disciple relationship between Jen and Li Mu Bai, but we do see two other contrasting relationships: Li Mu Bai and his master, and Jade Fox and Jen. Jade Fox was directing Jen’s talent to being a criminal and I think this played a role in why the master-disciple relationship failed ultimately. Jade Fox had her selfish reasons for training Jen, and Jen was training for completely different reasons. However, Li Mu Bai and his master had a seemingly special relationship, and it was the reason why Li Mu Bai was a successful warrior. They seemed to be on the same page and used their talents for good.