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

“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

“Don't read Naskar while hanging from trees
(UnSonnet 3117)

My fire didn't break out fully
until I started writing
in three languages at once,
turkish lit the fuse,
spanish fanned the flames,
and english reaped the harvest,
and that's just half my languages.

Dervish brought the pain,
Advaitin brought the brain,
Brain Scientist brought the filter,
and Poet just held the pen,
wearing the skin of Naskar.

When Nondualist Naskar met Dervish Naskar,
my head turned into a particle accelerator,
reality cracked open, and glued back with tears,
like all my blood was poured out into a jar,
then added rocket fuel, and pumped back in.

So don't read Naskar while hanging from trees;
you don't need to speak many languages,
or feel many cultures, although it helps,
you must at least be human enough
not to think your religion is the one
true religion, your country is the best,
your culture is the greatest.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“When Nondualist Naskar met Dervish Naskar, my head turned into a particle accelerator, reality cracked open, and glued back with tears, like all my blood was poured out into a jar, then added rocket fuel, and pumped back in.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Every Culture is My Culture (The Song)

[Verse 1]
With infinite love brimming in my heart,
I have arrived at your doorstep.
Please my friend, do not turn me back,
let kindness grant a little space.

It's not my fault I wasn't born
inside the world you call your own,
but I have carried your culture in me,
like seeds of love I've grown.


[Pre-Chorus]
I may not speak your native tongue,
I may not know your way of life,
but do you not smile the way I smile,
do you not cry in pain and strife?

[Chorus]
Naskar sings to the human soul -
heed no hate, break the border.
Every country is my country,
every culture is my culture.

Now go burn with human fire,
let the tribal walls all fall.
Every country is my country.
every people is my world.

[Verse 2]
No more hatred, no segregation,
no more "your people and mine".
No more flags dividing hearts,
no more borders in the mind.

Every people ever wronged
are our people everywhere,
every tear that falls in silence
is a burden we must share.

[Pre-Chorus]
To hell with skin and flag and throne,
to hell with pride that blinds the soul.
Human hearts are one horizon,
love alone will make us whole.

[Chorus]
Naskar sings to the human soul -
heed no hate, break the border.
Every country is my country,
every culture is my culture.

Now go burn with human fire,
let the tribal walls all fall.
Every country is my country,
every people is my world.

[Bridge]
Blood doesn't make us human,
skin doesn't make us kind.
Culture cannot crown compassion,
love alone defines the mind.

When the suffering of another
makes us forget our name,
then the human race awakens
from its ancient tribal shame.

[Final Chorus]
Naskar calls the humans high -
let compassion lead us through.
Every country is my country,
every culture is mine too.

Rise and light the world tonight,
till the walls of hatred fall.
Every country is my country,
every people is my world.

[Outro]
Here I stand with arms outstretched,
at every door across the land.
Hold them with love and walk beside me,
for together we will stand.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Naskar Goes to Earth: Field Notes from A Planet of Apes

“The Naskar Anomaly (Sonnet 3119-3120)

What happens when an engineering dropout becomes a monk, monk becomes brain scientist, brain scientist becomes poet polyglot, and poet polyglot becomes dervish, and none of the identities ever retire, only get absorbed into the next one!

And you wonder why you cannot classify my texts! Because the Naskar canon is not born of any single discipline, it's born of the confluence of multiple disciplines and cultures.

The world says, I blend science and spirituality, but the fact of the matter is, I don't even know how to, I don't even know the difference between science and spirituality, inside my mind science and spirituality are one, something you cannot fathom with cold intellect or blind faith, particularly because my spirituality is not erected on supernaturalism, nor is my science founded on cold intellectualism:

kindness is my spirituality, welfare is my science - I'm aware of the facts as the next scientist, but my priorities are lightyears apart from most scientists.

Your ape societies haven't evolved to accommodate a multicultural, multidisciplinary existence, they've evolved to gaslight brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, nation against nation, culture against culture - and whenever a life shows the slightest civilized sign of inclusivity and integration, it's classified as a threat and a traitor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Your ape societies haven't evolved to accommodate a multicultural, multidisciplinary existence, they've evolved to gaslight brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, nation against nation, culture against culture - and whenever a life shows the slightest civilized sign of inclusivity and integration, it's classified as a threat and a traitor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Real Prayer (Sonnet 3143)

Once kindness becomes the central ritual of religion,
there won't be any need for churches and temples,
wherever people gather to support one another,
there is the church of the moment,
without the dividing walls and fanatic podiums.

Rituals performed in the church are not prayer,
goodness practiced in the streets is prayer.
Discoveries achieved in the lab are not science,
discoveries applied in society are science.

Faith is a service institution,
Science is a welfare institution,
Schools are prejudice-prevention -

till you understand this,
your churches are meaningless,
your labs are pointless,
your schools are meritless.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Rituals performed in the church are not prayer, goodness practiced in the streets is prayer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Once kindness becomes the central ritual of religion, there won't be any need for churches and temples.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Wherever people gather to support one another, there is the church of the moment, without the dividing walls and fanatic podiums.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Earthlog 3100: I am only the postman
(Metaphor is the message)

I was roaming the stars minding my own business,
with a cheeseburger in one hand and tea cup in another,
suddenly the pompous little cosmos whispered
in its grandiose calm - it's time, you gotta go
to the blue planet its inhabitants call earth -

the others went and returned already,
now it's your turn, letter is in your hands,
you're the postman now.

May I finish my burger first, I sighed!

You'll have plenty where you're going,
earthlings love their food, in fact,
some of them actually consume each other,
in the name of progress, they call it civilizing,
that's why you gotta go -

but be very cautious, of every word you speak,
of how you behave, how you live amongst them,
because every postman unintentionally ends up
erecting a brand new institution.

That's why I've come, not to start a new religion,
I have come to carry the rivers to the sea.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Naskar Goes to Earth: Field Notes from A Planet of Apes

“I've come not to start a new religion, I have come to carry the rivers to the sea.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Naskar Goes to Earth: Field Notes from A Planet of Apes

“There is no sufism, only conditionless love. There is no nondualism, only raceless oneness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Black, White, Muslim, Christian,
Queer, Straight, Literate, Illiterate,
all are my sisters and brothers -
stranger is god, helping is the prayer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Dervish in Denim / Rogue Advaitin
(Unpartition Sonnet 3147)

Semâ yani dönmek değil,
semâ yani silmek*,
kendinden kendini silmek,
ta ki geri kalır sadece aşk.

Yoga doesn't mean stretching and
bending like a bunch of circus animals,
yoga means to *erase the walls within,
so that you are one whole existence,

not all that quantum consciousness fairytale,
just plain mundane day to day consciousness
that does not see two, but one.

Spinning and bending and chanting don't
make you holy, they are workout at most -

don't confuse workout for awakening,
real awakening is when children displaced
in a distant land makes your blood boil,
like your own home being invaded, otherwise,
all that whirling and aum-ing is one big circus.

Black, White, Muslim, Christian,
Queer, Straight, Literate, Illiterate,
all are my sisters and brothers -
stranger is god, helping is the prayer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“That's why I've come, tea cup in one hand, cheeseburger in another - not to start a new religion, I have come to carry the rivers to the sea.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Test of your holiness is how you treat a stranger, not how many strangers you can convert.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Since childhood I've had only one mission, religious harmony, that's the mission I was born to carry, and that's the mission I'll die struggling for, and to hell with validations of ugly militant rationalists and unholy religious fanatics!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Lover through self erasure, N.3153
(Zion is Nirvana is Sema is Samadhi)

Only real Jew is the one defending a Palestinian,
all others are recruits of the Fourth Reich.
Only Christian is the one defending immigrants,
all others are animals that crucified my brother.

Only Sanatani is the one defending a Muslim,
all others are stain upon Dharma.
True Muslim is the one who is kind
to people on the street, not the one
who only prays five times in the mosque.

Zion means universal solidarity,
Kingdom of God means universal brotherhood,
Nonduality means universal integration,
Sufi Sema means lover through self erasure.

The real test of your morality
is when you confront the animals
of your own tribe to defend a stranger,
all else is mythological cosplay.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Naskar is the unified field theory of religions, and whether you see it as theory or practice, that's your choice.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“In a world where news travels at a rapid pace and opinions often spread faster than facts, it has become all too easy for an entire religion to be judged by a single incident, a sensational headline, or the actions of an individual who represents no one but themselves. Among the religions most frequently subjected to this kind of prejudice is Islam.
‏(From my book Before You Judge Islam)
Written by D.S.H.”
― D.S.H

“Sometimes I wish I had invented a multicultural name for myself, before I started writing, like I do with my book titles, because apes have a disgusting tendency to stick religion onto names.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“How do you end animosity between nations, between cultures? You stand as the ultimate beacon of brotherhood – borderless, prejudiceless, intoleranceless.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“How to Read and Publish Naskar
(Sonnet 3171-3173)

When you publish my works after me,
make sure the new covers are made by
human hands, preferably adapting from the
originals that I designed with my own hands -

don't dishonor my life's work
by using generative ai;

remember, the original Naskar covers
are an instrumental part of the canon,
not mere decorations.

Also, be careful with Naskar typos,
because what you presume as typo, might be
deliberately planted linguistic landmine -

sure you might find actual typos,
in fact I'm sure of it, but most of what
you'd consider typos with your monolingual,
monocultural brain, are Naskarian artifacts.

Then finally, there is the matter of editing,
and I decree: unless you're a Naskar yourself,
by which I mean, a multicultural, multilingual,
multidisciplinary being, without fanaticism,
without militant rationalism, as well as
without pseudoscientific supernaturalism,
you are unqualified to edit Naskar -

Naskar too is falsifiable, but not by tribal minds,
and I don't just mean religiously or culturally
tribal, I also mean intellectually tribal;

you may skip the first two or three years,
because as I've often remarked,
they were mostly borrowed research,
with occasional original Naskar,
but as for mid and late phase Naskar,
publish each text in its original entirety -

you may abridge if necessary, with caution,
but you must not try to edit Naskar -
a climber mustn't try to edit the Himalayas.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“I love when bigots blow their fuse because of something I've written, it gives me a sort of spiritual orgasm.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“I don't need a religious occasion to feel holy, every day inhabited by a human is sacred, every day is a celebration of the human spirit.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human

“Many Reasons to Hate Naskar
(Sonnet 3186-3187)

Naskar is a textbook traitor,
with zero patriotic spirit,
he seems to care more about
the enemies than his own people.

Naskar is obviously guided by satan,
sprouting all sorts of blasphemous stuff,
like tolerance and interfaith harmony.

Naskar is an absolute fake,
he doesn't even believe in an almighty god,
yet refuses to be called an atheist.

Naskar is a typical lowlife,
who doesn't know the difference
between neuroscience and philosophy.

Naskar is a filthy desert dweller,
who doesn't even understand rhyme and meter.

So, what are you waiting for?
Grab every last of my books,
and sonnets, and verses, and sciences,
and theologies, and philosophies,
and throw it all into the fire,
if that reduces your hatred even slightly.

P.S. Why should good hatred go to waste,
at least we can get a few sonnets out of it.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkoholic: Portrait of A Human