Initiating the Growth of Mind

Home – Know Your Beliefs, Desires, Fears and Intentions

Stage 1

Know Your Beliefs, Desires, Fears and Intentions

Objectives

A balanced personality may be found as the sum of the best performance of heart and brain. To achieve this end, we need to distinguish and capture heart-specific behaviours and brain-specific behaviours. By a specific training of mind, as targeted in this programme, this type of distinction and understanding of such behaviours can be achieved. This stage moves in this direction by generating the better understanding of our beliefs, desires, fears and intentions. Belief-formation is the matter of heart-specific behaviour. Whereas, the work the work of desires and fears remains linked with brain-specific behaviour. While, the growth and development of intentions remains the matter of the sound functioning of both heart and brain. Therefore, as soon as, a person comes to have a knowledge of his or her beliefs, desires, fears and intentions, the world of heart and brain begins to unfold, blessing him/ her with the new strengths of a balanced personality.

Brief

Furthermore, we can better understand ourselves, if we are better aware of our needs, desires and intentions. A successful personality construction can be ensured, if one has all the necessary awareness about the nature and type of one’s beliefs, desires and intentions. This awareness however isn’t so easy to be attained. It is because beliefs, desires and intentions cause to determine the way human mind works. Therefore these cause a human being to be a human being and, thus, in this difficult task, one needs to reach at the core of oneself. Often, what one knows as his or her beliefs, desires and intentions have little to do with his or her genuine beliefs, desires and intentions. This defines the purpose of this stage that it aims at giving students a better quality awareness of their beliefs, desires and intentions.

Furthermore, this awareness will help the students to know about the importance of beliefs in their life. This is significant because it is by belief-formation, Islam wants to address the problems of personality construction. With the power of beliefs, the world of heart is enriched and expanded to the extent that a person becomes able to witness the light of Allah or Noor (). The holy Quran declares: Allah is the light (or Noor) of the heavens and earth (24-35). it indicates the presence of light, beauty and adornment on earth since without this light of God, there would be complete darkness and desolation. If there is an excellence, perfection or fineness anywhere and on any degree, it is due to this light of God. Thus, fineness, freshness and refinement in everything of earth and skies are not only the source of Noor for us but also cause the growth and development of our beliefs. So without observing this Noor, no personality perfection is attainable in Islamic perspective. The goal of these workshops throughout these stages is to enable the students/ professionals to witness Noor to further acquire an intellectual growth with the help of which they could go through all of their undertakings—from their family life to their work places with a greater degree of refinement, taste and quality.

Workshop1: Your Desires and dreams

Framework of Issues

To begin with your desires: Usually, desires can be classified into three:

Exercise

Note down your desires and count them.
Try to keenly realize the effects of these desires on your everyday routine: How much time you devoute for them?
Are you consuming the enough time?
Do you think that you are doing enough to achieve them?
As a part of these effects, can you trace your negative desires?
Do you find the energy enough to control your negative desires?
Write down the steps particular to you which give you a self-control over these negative desires.
Can you trace the desire of reaching out the truth? Do you find that your family / surrounding environment is supportive in this regard?

Workshop2: Calculating Your Fears

Framework of Issues

We are familiar with desires but don’t clearly know our fears which can be classified into followings:

The fear of a largely unfavourable world ; It is the outcome of weak Human body as compared to strong, solid and stable world in front. Mainly, it is the outcome of injustice which a child keeps observing in the form of the divide between elder and younger, (through the age-differences in siblings, strong and weak (through the relationship between father and mother), rich and poor. So this is the fear of injustice in rewards and punishments.
Another type is the, fear of others that is the outcome of being deserted by kith and kins, friends, colleagues etc.
The Next is the Fear of Victimization in the hands of authorities i.e., police etc.
Another fear is that of competition that gives rise the fear of losing the game (or the joint ventures we undertake). This is how we fall prey to the fear of being inferior to others or, the fear that others particularly our competitors would be superior to us and thus we would be left behind.

Workshop3: Gain The Power of Certainty (Your Belief-Formation)

Framework of Issues

(Each Child observes and forms Beliefs; Beliefs stem from one’s quality of observation; this quality in turn remains has its link with one’s cleanliness of heart.
Now, you can gauge this cleanliness by different means: by the intentions you have about colleagues, friends, seniors, juniors etc
By the power of checks on your desires;
By looking at your strength to control your negative feelings i.e, malice, ill will, jealousy etc. It is by understanding such behaviour in everyday life situations, you can better know the level of the cleanliness of your heart.
Comparing this with your religious beliefs note down that the greater the heart is cleaned, the greater would be the strength of belief in Allah.
Look into yourself to find out the belief in Allah. Do you find any force negating the existence of Allah?
How do you then provide assurances to yourself about the presence of Allah. Note that this assurance is always there as the part of the protection you possess from your religious belief-system.
Note down in your belief formation, which force is strong—Positive about Allah or negative about Allah.
This is how you can calculate the strength or the weakness of your refuting self.

Exercise

Analyze yourself to find out the most dominant fear in your personality. Peep you’re your past to trace out its cause. Just make up your mind to uproot it.
Know your readiness to engage adventures to overcome the fears of involving in uncertain things or the completely odd things or new things?
Fears are largely regarded as negative, but there may be found some positive aspects
Can you understand some of the positive aspects on yourself? For example, how largely the fear of parents have stopped you in indulging in bad things?
The similar is noted about the fear of Allah what is termed as Taqwa. How much Taqwa you can find in yourself which has made you avoid the wrong?
Do you classify yourself among the people—The one who amend their behaviours just by the fear of some clamity or adversity falling upon them or, who amend themselves after the calamity falls over them?
In any case, write down causes and the consequences of this attitude in shaping the overall course of your life?

Exercise

Think and adopt the ways and means for the cleanliness of heart since this is pre-condition for strong belief-formation.
Cleanliness of heart depends on the type of world or action around you. So choose to live in an environment that is neat and clean that is made up of people with positive thinking and habits
So stop yourself strictly not to indulge in bad things or what your sincere ones—parents regard them as bad for you.
Just choose one bad habit and remove it from your life at all cost.
For the sake of strong belief in Allah, provide yourself with burhans or the sparkling arguments and the clear cut signs of Allah spreading in the universe: Just let your mind concentrate on the fundamental role of faith in the oneness of Allah or Tauheed: why is it so central?
Just feel the peace and rhythm inflowing to your soul and body as you cut yourself off from all earthly sources over which you trust other than Allah; these sources might be your friends, family, your status you achieved after a hard labour, and even your parents.
Do you still find someone or something over which you feel or find yourself to be dependent upon other than Allah?
Do you still find someone or something over which you feel or find yourself to be dependent upon other than Allah?
Note that your trust in resources other than Allah is big hurdle in the way of observing the light or Noor linked with Allah—the Noor spreading as the light of earth and skies. Without this Noor, your heart does not clean enough to produce strong beliefs necessary for good intentions to emerge in you.
Your dependence on sources other than Allah indicates that your practice of valid and invalids by Islam is incomplete and erring.
In this situation of your in ability to observe the valids or invalids of Islam, you cannot better understand or view the impact of the Burhans of Allah in the different happening and complications of your life.
Go on to engage yourself in a tough struggle to make yourself take heed from the Burhans of Allah;
Offer these Burhans often given time and again in Holy Quran. And ask yourself to respond to these Burhans.
If it still responds with some negative force, refuting them, Then Bring out some other Burhans against which there is no answer available such as one offered by the prophet Abraham (sawa) to the king and he remained astonished over it.
Alongside these Burhans, also keep indulging yourself in constant good actions and in a maximum — possible positive environment.
Note down the effects of, in case if you would not do so, the indulgence in bad things and negative environment would not let your mind to utilize its potentials; In return, you would be unable to ponder and grasp these Burhans to know about the value of Tauheed in your life.
Finally, a strong belief helps to manage situations of intense joy or intense sorrow. So observe yourself in such situations:
Do you find strong enough to redirect such moments of intense happiness connected to Allah i.e., the fulfillment of that particular desire of dream isn’t the source of that great happiness but your relationship with Allah is the actual source of happiness and the same should be the case with your sorrows. This is where you would be able to enjoy a balanced personality type.

It is important to note here that a strong belief in Allah will help you have strength and clarity in all sorts of beliefs, regarding:

About everyday routine life, the occupations we go through to meet our daily needs and wants.
About the people around and the sort of relationship with them
About the world invisible that pertains to ghaiv, i.e., belief in Allah, Angels, Books, Prophet and taqdeer, that is both good and bad. Beliefs show that human beings are not of this world alone; but from havens. So all beliefs is there since Allah is there.

Workshop4: Identifying the Covert Intentions

Framework of Issues

First, what kind of intentions you have towards others?
This isn’t easy since we keep beguiling ourselves as generally good and innocent and thus legitimate in doing many things viewed as illegitimate by others.
This can be avoided by identifying our covert intentions
Covert intentions are those by which we make others to do particular things e.g., X.
Now, the insincerity surrounding that X on our part, if any, which we hide from others and from our own conscience cause to construct the covert intentions.
So before doing a particular act, we must question ourselves again and again about our covert intentions, if any.
By interrogating ourselves and truly examining the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ involved in a matter, we can overcome the birth of covert intentions.
Actually, covert intentions are the outcome of our unfulfilled desires and fears which devil successfully manage to whisper in our heart, brain and mind making us divert from the right path to Allah.

Exercise

Carefully sort out all of your motifs before doing any particular action or entering in any activity.
Do you have any motifs which you want others to remain unaware of them?
Question yourself that why do you want to hide such motifs from others?
Do you find that something is for your own benefit while you pretend that it is beneficial to others?
Do you find courage enough to abolish this duality? Do you understand that such duality is the source of covert intentions which finally cause your efforts to end in disaster?
Think and rethink about the ways and means through which you can enjoy the peace of mind –
Which is necessary to give you favourable environment to the task of “careful forting out all the motifs before engaging in an activity”.
But to enjoy this peace of mind, you need a clean heart, free from unfulfilled desires and fears;
And, this heart cannot be possessed unless there is a strong belief that there is One—Allah the creator of everything and within the mighty Hands of Allah, the treasures of all things are present and He gives to whom He wills. So no one else can help to get rid of desires and fears except Allah the Almighty
So to avoid covert intentions, make yourself assure that intentions of men and women don’t matter and are thus no more the source of power and wealth as people generally perceive; but intentions of Allah matters the most: the only and ultimate source of making difference in the lives of men and women. So the blessings of Allah are the perpetual power and wealth to humanity.
Remember, this can only be achieve by an unbreakable trust in Allah and, to do so, a clear monotheism should be the guiding force behind all belief formation.
Note down the everyday life activities where you finally lured yourself to surrender to others making your monotheism to be slipped.
So honestly ask yourself: Do you indulge in flattery?
Do you honour others due to their unusual power and wealth?
Do you also honor to those whom do you think that they can inflict damage upon you?
How far, when and where did you find yourself hesitant in speaking the truth?
Many of us may be found indulging in such things, but the question is that to which extent and how far our conscience laments us in indulging in such things?
So a strong belief-formation demands that we should gradually reduce such bad habits in our life.