Interfaith Quotes

“Awakening to faith is not a one-time event, but a continuously unfolding reality. The journey of faith is not a race, but a marathon of love that each person walks at a different pace.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam

“Any person who, with all the sincerity of heart, is in search for God, on land or in the sea, is worthy of respect.”
― Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, The Religion of God

“Don’t harm either fanatics (militant atheists and religious fanatics), don’t cuss them, just bring them flower, and wish them a swift recovery!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Reason is fundamental, but there is a difference between militant, imperial rationalism and human reason, develop your character till you can tell them apart – because militant rationalism often ends up violating human welfare, just as religious fanaticism does, except it does so under the banner of ivory logic, or to be specific, white eurocentric logic.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“I'm not interested in the path you walk, I'm only interested in how you behave along the way.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Don't need reason to be kind
(Sonnet 2933)

Philosophies there are hundreds,
school there is but one - life.
Sciences there are hundreds,
wisdom there is but one - service.

Ethnicities there are thousands,
culture there is but one - kindness.
Religions there are thousands,
divinity there is but one - oneness.

Citizenships there are hundreds,
nationality there is but one - humanity.
Languages there are thousands,
understanding there is but one - empathy.

An animal doesn't need reason to be cruel,
a human doesn't need reason to be kind.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Religions there are thousands, divinity there is but one - oneness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Portrait of A Human (Sonnet 2938)

Books are my jewellery,
memories are my assets.
Languages are my liquor,
cultures are my cocaine.

Brain is my engine,
heart is my compass,
backbone is my battery,
character is my garment.

No manifestation, just perspiration.
No vibration, just aspiration.
No bending like goat,
no bowing like sheep -
no bleating, only revolution.

The planet pulses in my blood vessels,
I cannot fit into a monkey's passport.
Cosmos bubbles through my consciousness,
I cannot fit into your animal customs.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“The planet pulses in my blood vessels,
I cannot fit into a monkey's passport.
Cosmos bubbles through my consciousness,
I cannot fit into your animal customs.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“The Naskar Scandal (Sonnet 2945)

Some have problem with my inclusivity,
some have problem with my vastness,
some have problem with my velocity,
some have problem with my polyglottery,
and some just have problem with my skin -
and finding no filth, they just cook it up.

I don't even consider most of your
tribal white giants as my equal,
and you think I'll be rattled
by the temper tantrums of a bunch
of underdeveloped neanderthals -

more power to you I say,
because more filth you cook,
more untouchable I become -
more accusations you invent,
more impossible I become -

and yet, I forgive you my child,
I forgive you, and I'm quite confident,
you too will evolve into human someday,
if not you, your descendants will.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Evolution of Naskar (Sonnet 2693-2694)

I didn't have internet while growing up, I used to save pocket money to buy nonfiction, and lots of dictionaries - I used to keep them sprawled open around me on the floor during homework,

and later when I published my first book, I leaned back into that same childhood habit, I remember spending months gathering notes from heaps of downloaded research publications.

After the first ten or so books, I wrote one called "In Search of Divinity", where the shift happened, the tone of that book was so radically different from my already published more academic-style work, which had already established me as a neuroscientist, that I considered publishing it under a pseudonym, to prevent it from jeopardizing my scholarly standing -

but that work felt like homecoming to my soul, so I chose to continue my legacy in that newly awakened tone, and then on, my reliance on secondhand research declined drastically, except for when I required occasional empirical data.

Science-heavy works are not necessarily truth-heavy works, just like scripture-heavy works are not necessarily divine-heavy works.

No risk, no discovery - no discovery, no humanity; had I stayed within the narrow confines of facts and figures, in fear of being shunned by academics, the human race would've never received the vast multicultural, multidisciplinary, multidimensional Naskar Canon.”
― Abhijit Naskar, With Love From A Blue Rock

“No risk, no discovery - no discovery, no humanity; had I stayed within the narrow confines of facts and figures, in fear of being shunned by academics, the human race would've never received the vast multicultural, multidisciplinary, multidimensional Naskar Canon.”
― Abhijit Naskar, With Love From A Blue Rock

“After the first ten or so books, I wrote one called "In Search of Divinity", where the shift happened, the tone of that book was so radically different from my already published more academic-style work, which had already established me as a neuroscientist, that I considered publishing it under a pseudonym, to prevent it from jeopardizing my scholarly standing -

but that work felt like homecoming to my soul, so I chose to continue my legacy in that newly awakened tone, and then on, my reliance on secondhand research declined drastically, except for when I required occasional empirical data.

Had I stayed within the narrow confines of facts and figures, in fear of being shunned by academics, the human race would've never received the vast multicultural, multidisciplinary, multidimensional Naskar Canon.”
― Abhijit Naskar, With Love From A Blue Rock

“Unified Planetary Heartbeat (Sonnet 2964)

You must not renounce your religion,
your culture, your country,
if you don't need to -
be the Naskar of your country,
your culture, your religion, from within -

be the Christian Naskar, Muslim Naskar,
Black Naskar, Latin Naskar, Jew Naskar,
Farsi Naskar, Sikh Naskar,
Slavic Naskar, Nordic Naskar,
Baltic Naskar, Celtic Naskar,
Turk Naskar, Kurt Naskar,
Azeri Naskar, Uzbek Naskar,
Turkmen Naskar, Uyghur Naskar,
Indic Naskar, Pakistani Naskar,
Aussie Naskar, Kiwi Naskar,
Han Naskar, Nihon Naskar,
Hanguk Naskar, Pinoy Naskar,
and all the other Naskars
you could possibly be -

the idea is not to destroy roots,
but to expand your roots so far and wide
that we could feel the pulse of each other's
cultures like one unified planetary heartbeat.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Be the Christian Naskar, Muslim Naskar,
Black Naskar, Latin Naskar, Jew Naskar,
Farsi Naskar, Sikh Naskar,
Slavic Naskar, Nordic Naskar,
Baltic Naskar, Celtic Naskar,
Turk Naskar, Kurt Naskar,
Azeri Naskar, Uzbek Naskar,
Turkmen Naskar, Uyghur Naskar,
Indic Naskar, Pakistani Naskar,
Aussie Naskar, Kiwi Naskar,
Han Naskar, Nihon Naskar,
Hanguk Naskar, Pinoy Naskar,
and all the other Naskars
you could possibly be -

the idea is not to destroy roots,
but to expand your roots so far and wide
that we could feel the pulse of each other's
cultures like one unified planetary heartbeat.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Don't assume you understand Naskar
(Sonnet 2972)

Naskar Science is Naskar Theology
is Naskar Poetry is Naskar Philosophy -

and do not even dare to assume
you know what this means,
unless you've left your seat
to the elderly on a bus,

joined the religious festivities
of a neighbor from a different faith,
defended someone's right to worship
despite being an atheist yourself,

offered a glass of water to
someone from a different culture,
or sheltered an immigrant family
from your nation's fanatics.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Don't assume you understand Naskar, unless you've left your seat to the elderly on a bus, joined the religious festivities of a neighbor from a different faith, defended someone's right to worship despite being an atheist yourself, offered a glass of water to someone from a different culture, or sheltered an immigrant family from your nation's fanatics.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“I am the Fire of Yazd
(Sonnet 2992-2993)

I am the Fire of Yazd,
I won't be extinguished by warring apes.
I am the Glaciers of Kailash,
I won't be tainted by smallmindedness.

I am the full Moon over Mecca,
I won't be colonized by empires of insects.
I am the Sound of Sema over Konya,
I won't be silenced by noisy nationalists.

My current comes from spinning particles,
my compass points to where no map can lead -
I won't fit inside insect colonies
with compost for brain
and bloodlust for divinity.

I don't need to believe in distant heavens,
oceans of sacred are bubbling in my marrow.
I don't wait for the universe to speak,
I walk, and the universe gains voice.

Kainat is I, "I" is Kainat,
what power have cretins got,
to censor my culturelust!

Be it the will of the whirling corpuscles,
they could pen in a thousand languages,
across thousands of cultures,
wielding hundreds of disciplines -
earth metrics are made
for the monkeys by the monkeys,
I am the barometer of civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“I am the Fire of Yazd,
I won't be extinguished by warring apes.
I am the Glaciers of Kailash,
I won't be tainted by smallmindedness.

I am the full Moon over Mecca,
I won't be colonized by empires of insects.
I am the Sound of Sema over Konya,
I won't be silenced by noisy nationalists.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Sonnet 2992

I am the Fire of Yazd,
I won't be extinguished by warring apes.
I am the Glaciers of Kailash,
I won't be tainted by smallmindedness.

I am the full Moon over Mecca,
I won't be colonized by empires of insects.
I am the Sound of Sema over Konya,
I won't be silenced by noisy nationalists.

My current comes from spinning particles,
my compass points to where no map can lead -
I won't fit inside insect colonies
with compost for brain
and bloodlust for divinity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Some have problem with my inclusivity,
some have problem with my vastness,
some have problem with my velocity,
some have problem with my polyglottery,
and some just have problem with my skin –
and finding no filth, they just cook it up.

more power to you I say,
because more filth you cook,
more untouchable I become –
more accusations you invent,
more impossible I become.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“My faith is goodness,
my fight is equality,
my flag is oneness,
my path is harmony.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“Ilim al-Insan (Sonnet 3101-3102)

Truth is the letter,
I am only the postman.

One postman snuffeth,
another cometh -
no message is magnum opus,
no messenger final prophet.

Either burn me, or burn with me,
I want neither sheep nor mice.
Body born of mud dissolves in mud,
one person's sacrifice jolts a planet back to life.

Obedience doesn't civilize
a planet, sacrifice does -

Naskar's work is almost done,
I wonder who's gonna come next -
who's gonna be the Second Naskar,
and the Third, and the Fourth -

I'm not interested in who'll carry my bloodline,
I'm interested in who'll carry my madness,
my madness for tolerance,
my madness for oneness -

always flawed, but never rigid,
always making mistakes,
but also correcting themselves,
never without blind spots,
but no blind spot worshipped as truth -

tolerant of harmless make believe,
but never of harmful blind belief,
activist of humane reason, not elitist logic.

I wonder, who's gonna be the next postman!
I wonder, who's gonna be the next Naskar!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“I'm not interested in who'll carry my bloodline, I'm interested in who'll carry my madness, my madness for tolerance, my madness for oneness - always flawed, but never rigid, always making mistakes, but also correcting themselves, never without blind spots, but no blind spot worshipped as truth - tolerant of harmless make believe, but never of harmful blind belief, activist of humane reason, not elitist logic.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Obedience doesn't civilize a planet, sacrifice does - Naskar's work is almost done, I wonder who's gonna come next - who's gonna be the Second Naskar, and the Third, and the Fourth - I'm not interested in who'll carry my bloodline, I'm interested in who'll carry my madness, my madness for tolerance, my madness for oneness - I wonder, who's gonna be the next Naskar!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Kindness is my constitution,
selflessness is divine sanity.
To be human takes no scripture,
living gospel takes humanity.

No borrowed make-believe,
no quicksand of cowardice -
superstition fading from bones,
as we rise above the prejudice.

Not sheep, not wolf, be human -
graduate from dogma to divinity.
Take theology out of the sky and
place it in the heart of humanity.

From stars to soil to synapses,
arrangement of atoms dictates reality.
From inanimate to animate to sapient,
humanity is an affair of cosmic serendipity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“I don't want fewer believers, I want belief centered on compassion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“The vast terrains of the himalayas are carpeted with corpses that failed to make it, yet the Himalayas stand, indifferent and undented by the yelp reviews of apes.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth

“La medicina no ve la fe,
my existence is the proof.

Marham na mazhab dekhe,
marham na dekhe mulk.

Kutsallık kimlik aramaz,
merhem mezhep görmez.

Rain doesn't check bank balance,
medicine doesn't require faith test.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot

“Blood has no religion,
breath has no nationality.
Skin color indicates climate,
the race of the soul is kindness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, El Idiota Sagrado: Abigitano 5