POETS AND PROPHETS

Dear Farzana...

Thank you very much for your appreciation. You would like to focus on the subject of WAHY again. Please share with me your views about Can you define Wahy?
 How is that different than
 ...instincts of animals?
 ...intuition of an average person?
 ....messages of muse of poets?
 ....spiritual encounter of a mystic?
 ....auditory hallucinations of a psychotic or an epileptic?

As a secular humanist I believe that all human beings have a potential of creative and mystic encounters, some more than others. I also believe that those people who are perceived as 'mystics' and 'prophets' in history were also human beings. They were just more enlightened than others. There experiences were real but the interpretation of their experiences reflected their personality, philosophy and cultural myths. I respect all of them.

Some mystics were also poets and have collections of poetry. How do you separate poetry of a prophet from poetry of a mystic? In Sikhism their holy Granth includes poetry of sufi poets who did not claim to be Prophets?

Many mystics shared their spiritual encounters with their close family members and friends. I believe Prophets of history were mystics as well as social reformers and revolutionaries. They did try to reform their communities and some were more successful than others. They made new laws that were meaningful and useful in their times. But with each century their laws become important from a historical point of view. I believe each century, each community and culture decides about their traditions and laws and makes necessary changes?

As a non-believer I do not believe in absolute laws? I believe holy scriptures are part of folktales and mythologies full of wisdom but not to make laws?

The ultimate question is:
Did you ever have any spiritual encounter?
Are your beliefs based on your own experiences or you want to rely on experiences of other human beings that passed on hundreds of years ago and now you call them WAHY.rather than poetry?

For some Ghalib and Walt Whitman were poets for others they were prophets?

Please share with me the differences between “POETS AND PROPHETS” from your point of view.

I value all poets and mystics and mystic poets whether Bullah Shah, William Blake, Walk Whitman or Kabir Das irrespective of their cultural and religious background as they have given humanity wisdom literature. But as a secular humanist I cannot make their poetry any basis of my personal values and philosophy or basis of laws. I have to rely on my own observations and experiences.

It is not different from respecting Freud and Jung and Adler and Eric Fromm in human psychology but still discovering my own form of therapy and philosophy that I call Green Zone Philosophy and I have written about in my books

The Art of Living/Loving/Working in your Green Zone?
 

I hope that a woman of your intelligence will not rely on blind faith and would depend on your own experiences and come to your own values and philosophy.

Please share with me the experiences on which you call a piece of world literature WAHY (REVELATION FROM GODS) rather than poetry?
 Looking forward to your response....sincerely sohail
 PS...If you feel comfortable we can ask other members of the Family of the Heart to offer their views about the differences between POETS AND PROPHETS

 Send send your comments to Pervaiz Salahuddin