BLESSING IN DISGUISE

or despair when he is ill or in trouble. Rather, whenever an unpleasant situation arises, he should consider it with an unbiased mind. He should try to discover the positive aspects in such negative events. If he does so, he will have the support of the laws of nature. He will discover the positive in the negative, and thus he will be able to save himself from disappointment. It is a fact that frustration is an unnatural frame of mind. Illness is a seemingly undesirable thing for a human being. But if a person possesses a God-oriented mind, then physical illness will become a source of spiritual health. The real importance in this world is mental awareness. Only an awakened mind is able to learn from events, and the greatest thing that awakens the mind is only one in this world: a difficult situation. This fact of life has been described in the Quran as follows: We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. Give good news to those who endure with fortitude. Those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return,’ are the ones who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord: it is they who are on the right path! (2: 155-157) o Real spirituality or contemplative spirituality is that which has the power to address our minds. Any kind of spirituality attained at a level lesser than that of our minds is not true spirituality. All forms of ecstasy are just reduced forms of spirituality. Illness is a seemingly undesirable thing for a human being. But if a person possesses a God-oriented mind, then physical illness will become a source of spiritual health.