Life Flourishes through Belief and Action

Abdullah Abu Sayeed

Life Flourishes through Belief and Action

Prof. Abdullah Abu Sayeed is the founder of Biswa Shahitta Kendra (World Literature Center), which aims to cultivate a love for literature and human values especially amongst the youth through exposure to great literature. He is also a popular and respected TV personality, environmentalist and activist. Prof. Sayeed has won many awards for his outstanding contribution to society, including the 97th Ramon Magsaysay Award in Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. He was present as the key speaker in Quantum Open Ideas on July 19 2005.

Rabindranath Tagore says in one of his poems,

“ I think, in this world, the good outweighs the bad.
   For every 43 who are bad, 57 are good.”

I believe this completely. There will always be the 43 who are bad. Without them, our lives would become stagnant. Because there is evil we are continuously striving to change ourselves, to make ourselves better. But human beings can never be content with 57; they have to reach 100. And that is where the power of positivity comes into play. Those who make positive choices can turn this 57 into a 100 and move forward.

Every inch, every particle of the civilization we live in has been created with positivity. Negativity has created nothing.

There is a mango tree in front of the Biswa Shahittya Kendra. One day, I found a group of boys sitting under the tree and renouncing the world. According to them, there isn't a single good person in the world. Everyone is bad. I went to them and said, “ It seems as if all the good people have left the world. Only you have survived. You are the best. So the responsibility to be good is yours. If you waste your time criticizing others, what good will it do?”

Criticizing others is a great sin. I think those who criticize others, break their hearts and destroy their hopes are equally as bad as those who do bad things. I think only losers criticize. They have nothing to do. So they can't tolerate the actions of others and try to destroy them. This is negative mentality. The truth is when someone criticizes others he puts a knife through his own chest. He destroys his own strength.

We never think of how much a little appreciation or a little recognition can do for someone. And we don't need much to do that. A little love, respect and affection are enough.

 Now that we are an independent country we need to change. If we give people love instead of hurting them, give them respect and encouragement instead of insulting them, then I believe Bangladesh will become one of the greatest nations on earth. Because we are really sharp. Our ability to generate ideas is exceptional. It used to be said, “What Bengal thinks today, the rest of India thinks tomorrow.” The day when we have a strong system of law and order is not very far off. I think twenty years from now we will be a just Bangladesh, a Bangladesh that can only go forward.

When, after the language movement, I expressed my interest in studying Bangla, my family became very upset. To them, the only worthwhile goal was being a CSP (a civil servant). Back then, CSPs were like princes, meaning the princesses and half of the kingdom was theirs to take. So my family objected. But then my father said, “Within each of us is another man. If you dive deep into your own being and listen carefully, you can hear him speak. Ask him what you should do, and do exactly what he tells you. In that world, you have no parents, friends or relatives. You are alone. Alone like a king.” My father's words moved me deeply.

Later I realized that kings are truly alone because two people can never sit on the same throne. The two thousand miles of the Himalayas can accommodate thousands of people, but two people cannot be on the very top of Mt. Everest at the same time. One needs to climb up first.  That is why Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay could not step onto the peak at the same time. Because Tenzing climbed up first, he is recognized as the first person to climb Mt. Everest. The Bible says you have to go to the top of the hill alone. It is true. The person who goes alone, overcoming all obstacles to find the way, will go forward. And history remembers him.

To me, human life is an amazing thing. I can't understand how we got this thing called life. We have to study for 16 to 25 years just to get a job. Even then we need to write applications, face interviews and what not. But without any effort, any qualifications, any test, we received a life filled with unbelievable joy, beauty and light. I wrote about how beautiful life could be in one of my books: a sweet as big as the Garo Hills, filled with juicy sweetness. For an ant in that sweet, life is pure bliss. Life is like that to me. It is a sin to waste even one moment of life. It is a crime to be depressed for one second.

If we complain about not getting enough recognition after being born in this beautiful world, then that would be ungrateful. Recognition does not mean getting a medal. An artist sings a song. At the end of his song, the hall is resplendent with a thunderous applause.That is recognition for the artist

We started the Biswa Shahitta Kendra with only 35 taka. Not with the hope of getting recognition, but for the joy of building enlightened human beings. In this way I stayed immersed in my work like a mad man, like someone moonstruck, passing my life like someone obsessed. One time, we had accumulated so many books that they filled my house. The architect began to think that the house would collapse. To me, formal recognition pales in comparison to this joy.

Like that ant, we can enjoy every moment of life. We have to use every moment. Fill up our lives with achievements. We have this guilt and hesitation about wanting things. We think wanting things makes us crude materialistic people. We don't understand that unless we have things, how can we give to others, how can we make the world beautiful and prosperous? Can a beggar give alms to another beggar? Only one who has something can give something. So our pursuit should be to earn things. Our tendency is to refuse. But the Holy Upanishad warns us again and again,ten takten bhunjita, we have to get through giving and give through receiving.

But we do need to set a boundary on the things we want and know why we want them. A person who does not have a single taka can sleep on a footpath or under a tree without any worries. But a person who has a hundred taka wouldn't be able to do that; he would at least need a thatched house. A person with a hundred thousand taka will need a concrete house, and a billion taka will need a fort with cannons on all four sides. This means that as our wealth increases, so too does our insecurity and restlessness. All of us have to suffer the consequences of crossing our limits.

Today, the control and responsibility of the nation is in our hands. Whatever we want will happen. But a person needs to be clear about why he will live and why he will work. Only then will he be able to move forward. The only thing we need is to believe that we can. There is a very nice sentence in the Bible, “He who liveth, he who believeth, shall never die.” He who believes, lives. No sadness or impurity can touch the person who has been able to immerse himself in his beliefs and his work. Work has its own kind of joy. For example, if we are successful in 20 things in one day, then we get 20 joyful moments. In one month he gets 600, in a year 7200. If a person lives 60 years, he has lived in a world of joy swimming in an ocean of half a million joyful moments.

If we want to immerse ourselves in work, we have to keep our dreams in front of us. Sometimes we think a dream is just an imaginary thing. That is not true. A dream is very real. Your dream is your destination, the place where you want to go. When people see the insecurity, suffering and restlessness around them, they dream of changing it. They keep on working towards their goal tirelessly. When Rasulullah (pbuh) saw the corruption, the injustice and the anarchy all around him, he dreamt of freeing the people. When Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar saw how the widows in India were
suffering, he came forward to help them.

So let us look around us and work towards freeing people from suffering and deprivation. In this way, we will burn bright like a candle while shedding light all around us. We will be able to enjoy our life in all its fullness.

There is Goodness within Everyone

Golam Robbani

There is Goodness within Everyone

Justice Mohammad Golam Rabbani is the Advisor of the Ekatturer Ghatok Dalal Nurmul Committee , Chairman of the Nagorik Commission on war criminals and distinguished Judge. He is the retired Justice of Supreme Court Appellate Division.

‘During the second world war, I saw an American soldier - armed and uniformed, obviously on his way to fight - carefully remove an ant from his way, so that he wouldn’t harm it.’ Justice Golam Rabbani said at the beginning of his speech on Quantum Open Discussion on February 27. ‘Another time, I rudely threw two taka at a beggar who was pestering me, but he received it with respect and care, saying Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim before he took it.’

‘These two incidents left deep imprints on my mind’, said Justice Rabbani. ‘They taught me that there is goodness within everyone, there is something to learn from everybody.’ If society and state were designed to nurture that goodness, he said, human beings would not do evil things. But unfortunately they are not.

Justice Rabbani’s speech was rich with insights and anecdotes from an eventful life. He discussed in detail about Government through Local Republics, as described in articles 59 and 60 of the Constitution. He said true democracy is not possible unless every individual can participate in the governing process, and this is only possible through local republics. The kind of government we have now excludes many people from the governing process, he said.

As an example, he talked about a proposed damn in Kurigram, which would displace about 600 families. These famileis say they can deal with the flood, but they cannot deal with losing their land. But they have no influence over the decisions that will drastically change their lives.

Justice Rabbani also talked about his experiences as a judge, in particular two judgments that generated a lot of interest in home and abroad. The first was a verdict that when a man divorces a woman, he is liable to give her maintenance allowance for as long as she needs (according to Islamic Law). The second was that only the state has the right to interpret verses of the Quran, and give judgment based on them: no individual has that right.

Even though his judgments were based on in-depth knowledge, understanding and common sense, he said, he faced a lot of hostility arising from ignorance and extremism in return.

In the concluding part of the speech, Justice Rabbani talked about the harmful effects of globalization, including excessive consumerism and harmful policies advocated by multilateral donor agencies.

As the audience went on a journey through his eventful life, they discovered a man who was curious, insightful, and never hesitated to do what he believed was right.

With Belief and Sincerity, Anything is Possible

Ramendu Mazumder

With Belief and Sincerity, Anything is Possible

Ramendu Mazumder is a National Cultural personality. He is the pioneer in the movement of new theater in the post liberation Bangladesh. Group Theater Federation, a common platform for all the theater groups of the country ,was formed with his leadership. In 2008 he was elected as the Chairman of the International Theater Institute. He is the second Asian to have this Honor.

Veteran cultural personality Ramendu Majumder shared his life and life lessons in the Quantum Open Discussion Program on Wednesday, March 19. In a flowing speech he described many parts of his colorful life: his upbringing in a prosperous but principled family in Laxmipur; the university years and the encounters with legendary intellectual and literary figures; his work as a teacher, a cultural activist and a news reader; and his observations on life, politics and changing times.

Mr. Majumdar talked about the importance of honesty in different times. Reminiscing about his teaching days at the Choumohony College, he said, ‘We had a different kind of courage those days’, he said, ‘If students copied, we could catch and punish them without any fear of repercussions’.

That courage came from a moral core, he said. And despite the gradual decline in moral values in our society, honesty still pays today, he said. ‘We may think that honesty doesn’t work in our times’, he said, ‘but we are wrong.’ ‘The person who follows the path of honesty and integrity, even if alone, has a kind of courage and forcefulness that others can never have’, he said.

But there is no credit in being good alone, he said. Quoting Kabir Chowdhury, he said, ‘It’s no good thinking I don’t want to be involved in other people’s business.’ We must all promote as much good and as little evil as possible from our respective places. And that is what we are trying to do through the cultural movement.

Talking about the successes of the cultural movement, he said that if the goal is worthwhile, and there is belief, sincerity and initiative, then anything is achievable.
‘Affluent nations start a project after the funding for your budget has been guaranteed’, he said, ‘but we jump into our work first and the money somehow turns up later.’ He noted the similarity of his personal philosophy with Quantum’s message in this regard.

The young-at-heart 63 year old praised Quantum’s efforts towards benefiting mankind and said they were trying to do the same thing through the theater movement. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Dream of a Prosperous Nation Initiates Change

Wahid Uddin Mahmud

Dream of a Prosperous Nation Initiates Change

The former advisor to the Caretaker Government and Distinguished Economist Dr. Wahid Uddin Mahmud is Professor in the University of Dhaka at the Economics Department. He is the chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Forum and the Founder Chairman of PKSF, the main institution to provide loans to the NGOs for micro credit scheme. He is also acting as the member of Bangladesh Bank Board of Directors since 1993.

A Japanese economist and ex-minister once said that their work ethic is entirely different from ours. In Japan, starting from a labor to a University teacher or a researcher, everyone works pensively day and night until the work at hand is properly finished. They don’t know what’s happening around the world at that time and don’t even read the newspapers. This means giving only full concentration on the work produces a quality work.

The system that Europe and America has established regarding their work ethic is undoubtedly praiseworthy. But they get completely lost if their system is slightly disrupted. Few minutes of power failure is enough to create a chaos in their lives. But we are daily struggling with so many things at one time. Every moment we are bombarded with new challenges and are able to take immediate decisions. As a result, our tolerance, adaptability, strength to fight challenges and courage are increasing both at the individual and national level.

Usually in institutional education, the students with mediocre talent do better than the more talented ones, the geniuses. The main reason for this is- balancing. If one can get a reasonably good score in each subject then the total number obtained in the exam is ultimately good. But the geniuses always stick to whatever they enjoy doing or reading. If they like mathematics they get so engrossed in it that they forget to study Bengali. So, they can't be kept on track. Ultimately, they can’t really maintain the first place.

Not only in academics, but in every aspect of life integration is important. Life consists of personal to family life to career and social life. In every stage there are so many responsibilities, so many communications; but meditation has the clue to face all these challenges in a smiling face and keeping a cool head. Personally though I use another technique and that is compartmentalization of work. This is simply starting a new work after finishing the old one and not worrying at all about the old works.

As a nation, ill competitive mindedness is a big barrier to our mental peace. We are more accustomed to competition than appreciation. Competition is necessary, because without it no good will be produced. But competition becomes suicidal when it's out of jealousy and hatred. It is quite normal to feel disappointed after losing a game. But in a healthy competition the defeated team will come forward to congratulate the winning team. Only then the defeated will feel the inspiration to do well next time. He can again get on the field with proper strength.

As an economist, it is also our subject of research to see Bangladesh as a prosperous nation. In the economic scale, if a country has an annual GDP greater than 7%  for consecutive 25 years then the per capita income increases and the country secures a place in the list of the rich nations. According to this scale, after the WWII, only 13 out of the 200 and more countries appeared as rich nations and all these countries are situated in East Asia. Some of these countries once had similar situations like that of Bangladesh and in some cases worse. But what was just a dream for them in 1950 now  has turned into a reality. Thus a national vision undoubtedly initiates change. But in action, the change has to be initiated in context of the country and its related infrastructures. Recently it was found in a research that many countries are following the reform policy of the organizations like the World Bank, IMF. But we must notice that they all have not become rich. In fact, it is never possible to bring change with donor's help. Instead if steps are taken based on understanding of the own needs then the result is more desirable; and it also reduces waste of resource and time.

Again, however high the economic growth is, it will collapse if its prime driving force, that is the leadership, is not honest and far sighted. All the theories, equations and explanations of economics come to a standstill when faced with the question of leadership. It is now time to seek the answer to the question as to why starting from the same scratch, South Korea was able to change its fate and Bangladesh lagged behind. Once, Bangladesh ranked first as the happiest nation in the world where as America, known as the heaven on earth, ranked the last. It is not necessary that being economic superpower will bring happiness. The real happiness depends on one’s outlook, that is whether he’s content with what he has got. For this, apart from economic freedom, practice of intelligence, creativity, freedom of thoughts is very much necessary. The country then turns into a prosperous one and the nation into a blissful nation.

The Five Quantum Laws of Prosperity

The Five Quantum Laws of Prosperity

Prosperity is not a matter of extraordinary luck or talent; it is the result of a natural process. Once you get involved in this process, prosperity will come as a natural outcome.

Prosperity is not the same as having a lot of money, fame, and power- it is something much better and broader. It is an internal state of abundance; it is freedom from the feeling of scarcity. It is a special state of the mind and body in which a person can transform all reasonable desires into reality. Possessing fame and fortune is a by- product of this process. On the other hand, a person may have a lot of money without being prosperous, i.e. without being free from the feeling of scarcity.

The five Quantum Laws of Prosperity will help you attain true prosperity.

The First Law of Prosperity: Gratitude

Helen Keller was once asked, “God has taken away your sight from you. Don’t you ever feel angry with him?” She replied,” God has given me so much that I don’t have time to think about what he hasn’t.”

Ever noticed how all the successful people around you have an uncanny ability to focus on the positive? This is no coincidence. Gratitude is the springboard of success.

What gratitude really is, is the ability to see what you have. The truth is, no matter where you want to go, you have to start with what you have now. This might be a talent, some money, or an opportunity. If you can identify your strength and assets, no matter how small they are, and nurture them, then there is no limit to where they can take you. But most of us spend our lives concentrating on what we don’t have, not even noticing the possibilities and opportunities as they silently knock on our doors.

Gratitude also attracts more returns from nature. Scientists have found that if you focus on what you have you get more, if you focus on what you lack you lose more. This is commonly known as the Law of Attraction.

A simple practice can help you shift your attitude to a more grateful one. Thousands of Quantum members follow this practice. Every morning after waking up, before we get up and even before we open our eyes, we say ‘Thank You.’ We thank God or Allah or Lord or whatever we may call Him, for giving us one more day to live, to enjoy, to serve. Starting each day on this positive note helps us move forward everyday. You can start this practice too, you’ll be amazed at how it changes your life.

The Second Law of Prosperity: Vision, Mental Image or Monchobi

Nelson Mandela spent 29 years in a tiny isolated prison cell where sunlight didn’t enter. After he was released, reporters asked him how he spent his time in that cell. He replied, “I dreamt. I dreamt of free South Africa. A South Africa where blacks are ruling and I am leading them.”

A mental image or monchobi is your vision or dream for your future. It is the picture of where you want to be. Every successful person started with a vision. Mental image is much more than idle day dreaming, it is the first step in the process of achieving something. Once you imprint the picture of where you want to be deep in your mind, your mind uses its power to direct you towards that goal like a self guided missile. It develops your talents and gradually makes you deserving of it. It helps you translate your talent into service, which is the secret to achieving prosperity.

Your vision has to be specific and come from the depths of your mind, where your mind touches your soul. If you are emotionally stirred by your vision, and believe that you will get to that place anyhow, than nothing can prevent you from getting there.

The best way to imprint your vision deep into your mind is meditation. You can learn about the mental image meditation from our selected meditations section.

The Third Law of Prosperity: Charity

A man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy tripped and feeling a sharp pain he screamed, “Ahhhhh.”

Surprised, he heard a voice coming from the mountain, “Ahhhhh.”

Filled with curiosity, he screams, “Who are you?” but the only answer he received was: “Who are you?”

This made him angry, so he screamed, “You are a coward!” and the voice answered, “You are a coward!”

The boy looked at his father and asked, “Dad, what is going on?”

“Son,” he replied, “pay attention!” Then he screamed, “I admire you!”

The voice answered, “I admire you!”

The father shouted, “You are wonderful!” and the voice answered, “You are wonderful!”

The boy was surprised, but he still couldn't understand what is going on.

Then the father explained, “People call this ‘ECHO’ but truly this is ‘LIFE!’ Life always gives you back what you give out! Life is a mirror of your actions.

Life always gives you back what you give out. Your life is not a coincidence, but a mirror of your own doings.

Prosperity comes as a return for what we give out as charity. Any good work is charity. Smiling or greeting someone is charity. Helping someone cross the street is charity. Planting trees is charity. Giving someone good advice is charity. Donating money is of course charity.

So give whatever you can. Specially, give what you want. If you want respect give others respect. If you want money give others money. If you want fame give others recognition.
Don’t wait till you are rich to give, but give in order to be rich.

The most charitable thing you can do is to use your unique talents to serve others. Each of us is born with some unique talents. If you can identify your talent, nurture it, and find out a way to serve others with it, success and prosperity will chase you everywhere.

Remember though giving must be unconditional to yield returns. If you are donating for publicity or self advancement, or if you expect anything in return from the person you have given to, even if it is simple acknowledgement, then that wouldn’t be true charity, and will fail to bring you any returns.

It is also your responsibility to ensure that your donations are being used for constructive purposes. For example, many of us donate to beggars.Most beggars beg ‘professionally’. They make sizeable incomes from begging and have no intention of rehabilitating themselves. Many of them are part of an organized Mafia. Giving alms to beggars help create a parasite class in society and may not bring in positive returns from nature.

The Fourth Law of Prosperity: Persistence

A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly," I am devoted to studying your martial system, How long will it take me to master it? "Ten years", the teacher replied casually. Impatiently, the student said, " But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?' The teacher thought for a moment and replied, "20 years."

So impatience does not take us any closer to your goals. However,patience does not mean passively waiting for something to happen. It means to actively but silently keep on trying to change the situation.

So strive for our vision with unshakeable faith. You might face temporary barriers on the way. If you want your goal so much that you are willing to work for it for as long as it takes, nothing can stop you from achieving it.

We have all heard the saying, ‘success is when preparation meets opportunity.’ Successful people have the patience to be persistent, to wait till the opportune moment. Remember Nelson Mandela had to be in prison for 29 year before his dream was realized. Most of us give up on our dreams half way through, change tracks or simply stop trying. We need more patience.

The Fifth Law of Prosperity: Togetherness

Togetherness means learning how to give up being I, and be the part of a we ; and inspiring others to be the same.

A great flock of quail lived together in a forest. Food was plentiful and life was peaceful. One day a crafty hunter, who could imitate their song perfectly, came to the forest. When he whistled, a great group of quail gathered in response. When the flock landed on the ground, the hunter approached silently and threw a huge net over them. He flung the net over his shoulder and took the quail to the market. Each day he played his trick , and the flock grew smaller and smaller.

After some time, the wisest old quail assembled what was left of the flock and and said, "The hunter is skilled and can easily trick you into his net. If you work together, he cannot defeat you. Beat your wings as one, and you will lift the net that binds you.

The flock listened carefully to the old quail's words. The next time the hunter came and threw his net over a group of quail, they were not dismayed. As one, they beat their wings. They rose, taking the net with them. They swooped down onto a tree. As the net caught and snagged onto the tree's branches, the birds flew out from under it to freedom.

The hunter looked up in amazement and thought, "When the birds cooperate I cannot capture them. Each bird is small and yet together they can lift the net!"

The next day, the hunter again flung his net over a large group of quail as they pecked seeds on the ground. Pleased with their mighty accomplishment of the day before, the quail began to beat their wings together. Accidentally, one quail bumped into another and started a ruckus. " Watch out!" squeaked the bird. " You are stepping on my tail feathers."

"Someone pushed me!" retorted the other with a small peck.

"This is no time to fight." scolded another still. " The hunter is almost here. We must all work together and peacefully fly as one."

"You are not the mighty ruler." sniped the first. "Stop telling us what to do."

While they squabbled and scolded,

postured and fought,

the hunter arrived

and the birds were caught.

He scooped up his net

and proclaimed, "I am the winner !

Together they're strong.

Divided they're dinner."

Whether you are a politician, businessman, artist or technocrat, you cannot achieve anything alone. To achieve success you need to have other people working to realize your dreams. The more people you can gather to work for a common goal, the bigger the success you can achieve. If you can inspire 10 people to work towards fulfilling your dreams, you can achieve a moderate goal. If you can inspire 1000 people to work toward your goal, you can achieve a big goal. If you can get a million people working in an organized way toward your goal, you can change the course of history.

Learn to be a leader. Develop your powers of inspiration and motivation. Know how you can inspire different types of people to do different types of work. Be a part of a group.

In order to be a leader though, you also need to be a good follower. So if you are currently part of a group, whoever your leader is, follow him or her completely. If you give someone your complete allegiance, you will get complete allegiance from others in return.