Alkisah ada seorang engineer kenthir bernama prayitno,ST yg bekerja di
pabrik manufaktur elektronik Jepang, ni orang baru aja lolos tes
perusahaan KPS Migas dari Eropah (jelas gede duitnya) dan mau
resign, berikut ini perdebatannya dengan manajernya kita singkat aja ya,
manajer = M, dan prayitno = P

M = edan kowe yo prayitno, dimana morality kamu?
P = morality saya ikut berlari bersama morality perusahaan, yg nyuruh
karyawannya lembur2 melebihi aturan pemerintah sampe sakit tapi
tunjangan
kesehatan gak full

M = sebenernya mau kamu apa? dimana2 kerja itu sama. Saya sudah
menjalani
2 company sebelum ini
P = karena kerja dimana2 itu sama, makanya saya gak ragu resign pak,
wong sama aja kok, cuma rewardnya yg beda tho.... ya saya pilih yg
rewardnya lebih

M = kenapa kamu gak mencoba profesional disini aja, klo alasannya
reward,
kan nanti karir serta salary kamu juga bakal naik klo kamu bertahan
P = kenapa saya harus nunggu, klo ada company yg nawarin itu sekarang?

M = tapi sayang sekali, saya pandang kamu yg paling berpotensi diantara
yg lain
P = bapak udah ngomong gitu ke semua engineer yg resign sebelum saya

M = tidak, ini serius, kamu memiliki potensi besar, disini kamu bisa
sukses! daripada kamu memulai lagi dari bawah di company lain yg belum
ketauan ntar disana kamu bakal sukses ato gak
P = disini juga sama aja saya blum tau bakal sukses apa gak, wong
namanya masa depan kok. Sama2
gak ketauan, tapi yg satu awalannya lebih baik, ya pilih yg lebih baik
dunk......

M = maksud kamu lebih baik itu apa? money? uang itu bukan segala2nya
P = klo emang begitu ngapain company costdown gaji saya, apa artinya
uang
segitu untuk mempertahankan eksistensi engineer

M = Kta kan tidak hanya mengejar uang. Klo orientasi kamu hanya uang,
kamu
hanya mengejar "live". No difference with kambing, Bekerja hanya untuk
bertahan hidup, Kamu itu engineer!!!! harus berorientasi pada yg lebih
mulia, bekerja untuk berkarya, untuk mengembangkan diri
P = saya pengennya seperti itu, makanya saya resign. Gimana saya mau
lepas dari
orientasi "live" klo tiap bulan saya harus pusing mikir bayaran kos,
pulsa, makan, ngirim ortu, nabung buat merit. Naaaa skarang ada company
yg nawarin itu, salary yg membuat saya tenang, tak berpikir lagi tentang
"live existency". So, boleh dunk saya ambil untuk menaikkan derajat
pekerjaan saya

M = prayitno.... klo kmu ngejar yg lebih baik, gak akan abis2.... selalu
ada yg lebih baik. saya sudah mengalaminya di 2 company terdahulu
P = emang gak bakal abis pak.... karena itu, ngapain saya abisin disini?
mending saya terus2an dapet yg lebih baik ampe brenti karena cape.
lagian Bapak juga nyatanya bisa brenti kan?

M = Nyatanya itu si pak Bambang bisa sukses disini sampe level Director,
itu karena dia sabar disini
P = pantesan pak Bambang tampangnya kaya gitu. Dah nyingkirin brapa
orang
dia pak buat ke posisi itu? Iya jabatan si Director, tapi mobilnya sama
ama manajer
di company baru saya.mendingan saya jadi GM disana dunk daripada jadi
director
disini

M = inilah yg membuat bangsa kita gak maju2. Oportunis. Orang Jepang
maju
karena loyal
P = loyalitas tu kata2 pembenaran buat ngegaji orang
dibawah level pendidikannya pak. Betul jepang itu maju. Tapi lihatlah,
terjadi ketimpangan karir antara lelaki dan wanita. karena lelakinya
gila kerja semua, mereka jarang menemui anaknya, akibatnya istri2 mereka
harus mengimbanginya, ngalah keluar dari kerja buat nambal waktu bapak
yg hilang untuk anak2nya karena bokapnya lebih cinta kerja daripada
mereka. Tanya deh cewek jepang, lelaki jepang tu paling gak romantis.
Cewe
bawa tas berat aja dicuekin

M = tapi dimana responsibility kamu?
P = responsibility tu apa pak? perasaan dulu saya pernah punya, pas
awal2 masuk disini, tapi kata2 itulah yg dijadikan pembenaran untuk
menindas saya. Atas nama responsibility, saya mengorbankan kesehatan
untuk ketepatan schedule launching produk yg jelas2 merupakan percepatan
uang masuk ke kantong pemilik saham.
Betul, manusia harus punya responsibility. Apa responsibility paling
utama? Keluarga, anak dan istri adalah amanah dari Yg Diatas.

M = kamu kurang bersyukur, masih banyak orang yg susah dapet kerjaan
P = saya dah diterima Pak, itu rejeki dari Yg Diatas, Klo gak saya
ambil,
itu yg namanya gak bersyukur. Yg Diatas itu tau kebutuhan kta.
Makanya Dia memberi saya kerjaan baru, mungkin karena kebutuhan saya
meningkat. Selain itu, Yg Diatas juga memberi pekerjaan pada satu orang
pengangguran yg akan menggantikan posisi saya disini setelah resign

M = EDAN KOWE PRAYITNOOOOO! !!!! nek ngono aku yo melu resign...... ....
P = raiso pak.... kowe wis tuwo. Cuma bisa ngelamar ke yg sesuai
background. Cuma terbatas di sesama manufaktur elekronik hehehhee
cacingan deh lo.....

Cause you would be loved!

Motivation of The Day : " Spirit Bekerja "
Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:59 pm (PDT)

Spirit ada di udara, mudah terasa dan tercium. Bagi sebagian orang,
spirit tidak sulit diciptakan. Terkadang hanya perlu "dipancing" dengan
gorangan di sore hari atau kebersamaan saat lembur sampai pagi. Namun,
di beberapa organisasi tertentu, terasa bahwa spirit ini sulit
dikembalikan, walaupun sudah "diangkat" dan "ditarik-tarik" . Organisasi
yang penuh birokrasi, misalnya, sering membuahkan karyawan yang terlalu
berhati-hati, "cari selamat", terlalu berhitung, takut berubah, hanya
menunggu ide untuk berubah dari orang lain dan enggan mengeluarkan ide
baru. Tidak ada dinamika, kewaspadaan dan kenikmatan untuk berinisiatif
lagi.

Bila kita terjebak berada dalam organisasi seperti ini, namun secara
pribadi memiliki spirit yang kuat, kita tentunya bertanya-tanya, apakah
saya nanti tidak aneh sendiri ? Bukankah spirit itu bersumber dari
suasana kerja tim ? Akankah kita bisa mempertahankan spirit yang segar
dari waktu ke waktu ? Bagaimana menyuntikkan spirit ke dalam diri
sendiri, bahkan sampai mempengaruhi organisasi ?

Ingat umur
Bila kita sudah kehilangan spirit bekerja, ingatlah umur. Bayangkan
profesional seperti Martha Tilaar, yang berusia 70 tahun, tetapi
semangatnya serasa 30 tahun. Beliau mengisi kehidupan karirnya dengan
passion dan urgensi. Berapa usia kita sekarang ? Masih berapa tahunkan
kita harus berproduksi ? Bila sekarang saja semangat kita sudah kempis,
bagaimana kita akan giat berkarya pada tahun-tahun mendatang ?

Hati-hati dengan "menerima apa adanya"
Bayangkan sebuah rapat yang 'garing', tidak bersemangat, di mana
kebanyakan orang tidak mempunyai persiapan materi yang menantang, hanya
menjawab bila ditanya atasan, tidak mempunyai ide dan pasrah
menjalankan kehidupan perusahaan apa adanya. Saat seseorang mengemukakan
ide berbeda, semua pandangan menghujam padanya. Dan si kreatif ini
bisa-bisa kemudian meragukan idenya. Kita lihat bahwa sikap 'menerima
apa adanya' bisa mematikan spirit sehingga perlu diwaspadai dan
diperangi.

Pandanglah ke depan
Bukan saja enterpreneur seperti Henry Ford (Ford Motor Comp), Bill Gates
(Microsoft Corp), Larry Page dan Sergey Brin (Google) yang mempunyai
kemampuan untuk memandang ke depan, kita pun bisa ! Kita selalu bisa
melakukan benchmark ke perusahaan yang mempunyai aspek yang bisa ditiru.
Kita pun selalu bisa memiliki obsesi untuk meningkatkan produktivitas
kita sebagai individu, kelompok atau bahkan perusahaan.
Bacaan-bacaan mengenai best practice profesi dan perusahaan serupa tidak
terbatas jumlahnya. Dari sini kita bisa menumbuhkan mood untuk maju,
mentransfer dan merealisasikan ide dan berobsesi untuk lebih
sukses.

Bertanyalah "bagaimana caranya ?"
Bisnis dan situasi negara kita sekarang membutuhkan produk baru, cara
dan metode produksi, pasar baru, kecepatan, transfer kekuatan, dan
informasi. Bagaimana mungkin kita tinggal diam dan menunggu ? Kita bisa
mengaktifkan otak dan selalu mencari cara baru. Seberapa pun kecil
peranan kita di perusahaan, bantulah untuk memikirkan improvement,
karena hal ini pasti akan berguna bagi perusahaan, tim dan diri Anda
sendiri. Selain itu, kekuatan spirit Anda akan terasa oleh atasan.
Dengan demikian kita secara tidak langsung membuat harapan baru bagi
diri sendiri setiap saat dan terbiasa menanggulangi ancaman.

Kembangkan mindset "memulai"
Menjadi orang yang pertama maju ke depan memimpin diskusi, memberi
tanggapan atau email kolega, mengirimkan notulen rapat ke pelanggan yang
baru dikunjungi, sama sekali tidak sulit. Dampaknya terhadap diri
sendiri-lah yang lebih besar. Kita akan mendapatkan apresiasi orang
lain, dipandang sebagai orang yang gesit. Bayangkan kalau kita selalu
menjadi orang yang pertama menyapa 'halo' di setiap kontak dengan orang
lain. Kita pasti akan menebar semangat. Dan, untuk diri sendiri, kita
akan menumbuhkan semangat ekstra sebagai pemulai dan penyerang, tidak
sekadar responsif.

Cintai teknologi
Pemrosesan data, jaringan internet, telekomunikasi, tidak pernah bisa
kita hindari. Teknologi juga berkembang sedemikan pesat sehingga sulit
diikuti. Rasanya baru beberapa tahun saja kita menikmati teknologi GPRS,
CDMA, sekarang kalau tidak ber-3G- ria, rasanya kuno. Baru saja kita
menikmati iPod, sekarang kita perlu bersiap-siap memahami iPhone. Bila
kita sedikit berusaha untuk menyukai dan memperdalam teknologi,
kita secara tidak langsung terpaksa mengadaptasi derap inovasi dan
perubahan dari perkembangan teknologi. Menjaga agar tetap ber-spirit
ibarat menjalankan dinamika kehidupan seorang artis. Seorang artis tidak
pernah berhenti memperhatikan, berpikir, mengembangkan ide,
bereksperimen, mencari ide baru, antusias, bekerja tak kenal waktu dan
berupaya menciptakan sesuatu yang unik dan baru. Jadilah orang yang
senantiasa hidup dengan spirit. Hidup akan terasa lebih artistik.

Sumber: KCM

 

Beware of Garbage Trucks™
by David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life. Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough.

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time is Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

December 4th, 2007, Jessica Sherwood had to do something no mother should ever have to do.
At 2:29 pm Jessica made a very tough, but the right decision to take her little 3 month old daughter off life support.
In memory of little London Marie, i thought id start a little forward..
Jessica had a message that i want every one to know..

This is what jessica said:

IF NE ONE HAS KIDS MAKE SURE U KEEP THEM WIT U THE WHOLE TIME DNT GIVE THEM TO NE ONE THAT U DNT TRUST..... TRUST ME I THOUGHT I TRUSTED JOSH..... BUT NOW AS OF 12-4-07 AT 2:29AM SHE IS GONE.... MY ONE AND ONLY BABY....... AND HE IS GUNNA PAY FOR EVER EVEN IF HE GETS OUTTA JAIL SCOTT FREE HE WILL BE DEAD NO MATTER WAT......... TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND THAT KNO LONDON I AM VERY ANGRY AND UPSET I LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE MY BABY GIRL.... SHE DIED ON HER 3MONTH BDAY........

SHE HAD 6 FRACTURED RIBS..... BOTH OF HER LEGS WERE FRACTURED.... AND HER BRAIN WAS SO DAMANAGED THAT IF SHE WERE TO LIVE SHE WOULD BE A VEGETABLE.... SO I DID WAT WAS RIGHT AND BEST FOR HER AND TOOK HER OFF LIFE SUPPORT...

THATS WAT U CALL SHAKEN BABY SYNDROM REMEMBER THAT...

For those of you who dont know what Shaken Baby Syndrome is..read this

Shaking, jerking and jolting can cause blood vessels in the head to tear or burst.

Shaken Baby Syndrome is the shaking of an infant or child by the arms, legs, or shoulders with or without impact of the head. This trauma can result in bleeding and brain injury with no outward signs of abuse.


Often frustrated caregivers feel that shaking a baby or small child is a harmless way to make the child stop crying. However, a baby's brain and blood vessels are vulnerable to whiplash motions, such as shaking, jerking, jolting, and impact. The neck muscles of an infant or small child are weak, so the child's head is relatively heavy and the neck cannot support the stress of shaking or impact.

Shaking a very young child, with or without impact of the head, can cause irreversible brain damage, blindness, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, spinal cord injury, seizures, learning disabilities, and even death. It is tragic that healthy, intelligent babies are suffering these disabilities simply because their caregivers don't know about the dangers associated with Shaken Baby Syndrome.

An estimated 1,200 to 1,400 cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) occur each year in the United States. Only 1 out of 4 babies dies of Shaken Baby Syndrome. HOWEVER, the other three babies will need ongoing medical attention for the rest of their short lifespans

You are in Deep Shit, My Friends. Read this to know why:

I Want The Earth Plus 5%

Fabian was excited as he once more rehearsed his speech for the crowd certain to turn up tomorrow. He had always wanted prestige and power and now his dreams were going to come true. He was a craftsman working with silver and gold, making jewelry and ornaments, but he became dissatisfied with working for a living. He needed excitement, a challenge, and now his plan was ready to begin.
For generations the people used the barter system. A man supported his own family by providing all their needs or else he specialised in a particular trade. Whatever surpluses he might have from his own production, he exchanged or swapped for the surplus of others.
Market day was always noise and dusty, yet people looked forward to the shouting and waving, and especially the companionship. It used to be a happy place, but now there were too many people, too much arguing. There was no time for chatting - a better system was needed.

Generally, the people had been happy, and enjoyed the fruits of their work.

In each community a simple Government had been formed to make sure that each person's freedoms and rights were protected and that no man was forced to do anything against his will by any other man, or any group of men.
This was the Government's one and only purpose and each Governor was voluntarily supported by the local community who elected him.

However, market day was the one problem they could not solve. Was a knife worth one or two baskets of corn? Was a cow worth more than a wagon … and so on. No one could think of a better system.

Fabian had advertised, "I have the solution to our bartering problems, and I invite everyone to a public meeting tomorrow."
The next day there was a great assembly in the town square and Fabian explained all about the new system which he called "money". It sounded good. "How are we to start?" the people asked.

"The gold which I fashion into ornaments and jewelry is an excellent metal. It does not tarnish or rust, and will last a long time. I will make some gold into coins and we shall call each coin a dollar."
He explained how values would work, and that "money" would be really a medium for exchange - a much better system than bartering.

One of the Governors questioned, "Some people can dig gold and make coins for themselves", he said.

"This would be most unfair", Fabian was ready with the answer. "Only those coins approved by the Government can be used, and these will have special marking stamped on them." This seemed reasonable and it was proposed that each man be given an equal number. "But I deserve the most," said the candle-maker. "Everyone uses my candles." "No", said the farmer, "without food there is no life, surely we should get the most." And so the bickering continued.

Fabian let them argue for a while and finally he said, "Since none of you can agree, I suggest you obtain the number you require from me. There will be no limit, except for your ability to repay. The more you obtain, the more you must repay in one year's time. "And what will you receive?" the people asked.

"Since I am providing a service, that is, the money supply, I am entitled to payment for my work. Let us say that for every 100 pieces you obtain, you repay me 105 for every year that you owe the debt. The 5 will be my charge, and I shall call this charge interest."

There seemed to be no other way, and besides, 5% seemed little enough charge. "Come back next Friday and we will begin."
Fabian wasted no time. He made coins day and night, and at the end of the week he was ready. The people were queued up at his shop, and after the coins were inspected and approved by the Governors the system commenced. Some borrowed only a few and they went off to try the new system.

They found money to be marvelous, and they soon valued everything in gold coins or dollars. The value they placed on everything was called a "price", and the price mainly depended on the amount of work required to produce it. If it took a lot of work the price was high, but if it was produced with little effort it was quite inexpensive.

In one town lived Alan, who was the only watchmaker. His prices were high because the customers were willing to pay just to own one of his watches.

Then another man began making watches and offered them at a lower price in order to get sales. Alan was forced to lower his prices, and in no time at all prices came down, so that both men were striving to give the best quality at the lowest price. This was genuine free competition.
It was the same with builders, transport operators, accountants, farmers, in fact, in every endeavour. The customers always chose what they felt was the best deal - they had freedom of choice. There was no artificial protection such as licences or tariffs to prevent other people from going into business. The standard of living rose, and before long the people wondered how they had ever done without money.
At the end of the year, Fabian left his shop and visited all the people who owed him money. Some had more than they borrowed, but this meant that others had less, since there were only a certain number of coins issued in the first place. Those who had more than they borrowed paid back each 100 plus the extra 5, but still had to borrow again to carry on.
The others discovered for the first time that they had a debt. Before he would lend them more money, Fabian took a mortgage over some of their assets, and everyone went away once moreto try and get those extra 5 coins whichalways seemed so hard to find.

No one realised that as a whole, the country could never get out of debt until all the coins were repaid, but even then, there were those extra 5 on each 100 which had never been lent out at all. No one but Fabian could see that it was impossible to pay the interest - the extra money had never been issued, therefore someone had to miss out.

It was true that Fabian spent some coins, but he couldn't possibly spend anything like 5% of the total economy on himself. There were thousands of people and Fabian was only one. Besides, he was still a goldsmith making a comfortable living.
At the back of his shop Fabian had a strongroom and people found it convenient to leave some of their coins with him for safekeeping. He charged a small fee depending on the amount of money, and the time it was left with him. He would give the owner receipts for the deposit.

When a person went shopping, he did not normally carry a lot of gold coins. He would give the shopkeeper one of the receipts to the value of the goods he wanted to buy.
Shopkeepers recognised the receipt as being genuine and accepted it with the idea of taking it to Fabian and collecting the appropriate amount in coins. The receipts passed from hand to hand instead of the gold itself being transferred. The people had great faith in the receipts - they accepted them as being as good as coins.
Before long, Fabian noticed that it was quite unusual for anyone to actually call for their gold coins.

He thought to himself, "Here I am in possession of all this gold and I am still a hard working craftsman. It doesn't make sense. Why there are dozens of people who would be glad to pay me interest for the use of this gold which is lying here and rarely called for.

It is true, the gold is not mine - but it is in my possession, which is all that matters. I hardly need to make any coins at all, I can use some of the coins stored in the vault."

At first he was very cautious, only loaning a few at a time, and then only on tremendous security. But gradually he became bolder, and larger amounts were loaned.

One day, a large loan was requested. Fabian suggested, "Instead of carrying all these coins we can make a deposit in your name, and then I shall give you several receipts to the value of the coins." The borrower agreed, and off he went with a bunch of receipts. He had obtained a loan, yet the gold remained in the strong-room. After the client left, Fabian smiled. He could have his cake and eat it too. He could "lend" gold and still keep it in his possession.

Friends, strangers and even enemies needed funds to carry out their businesses - and so long as they could produce security, they could borrow as much as they needed. By simply writing out receipts Fabian was able to "lend" money to several times the value of gold in his strong-room, and he was not even the owner of it. Everything was safe so long as the real owners didn't call for their gold and the confidence of the people was maintained.
He kept a book showing the debits and credits for each person. The lending business was proving to be very lucrative indeed.
His social standing in the community was increasing almost as fast as his wealth. He was becoming a man of importance, he commanded respect. In matters of finance, his very word was like a sacred pronouncement.
Goldsmiths from other towns became curious about his activities and one day they called to see him. He told them what he was doing, but was very careful to emphasize the need for secrecy.

If their plan was exposed, the scheme would fail, so they agreed to form their own secret alliance.
Each returned to his own town and began to operate as Fabian had taught.

People now accepted the receipts as being as good as gold itself, and many receipts were deposited for safe keeping in the same way as coins. When a merchant wished to pay another for goods, he simply wrote a short note instructing Fabian to transfer money from his account to that of the second merchant. It took Fabian only a few minutes to adjust the figures.

This new system became very popular, and the instruction notes were called "checks".

Late one night, the goldsmiths had another secret meeting and Fabian revealed a new plan. The next day they called a meeting with all the Governors, and Fabian began. "The receipts we issue have become very popular. No doubt, most of you Governors are using them and you find them very convenient." They nodded in agreement and wondered what the problem was. "Well", he continued, "some receipts are being copied by counterfeiters. This practice must be stopped."

The Governors became alarmed. "What can we do?" they asked. Fabian replied, "My suggestion is this - first of all, let it be the Government's job to print new notes on a special paper with very intricate designs, and then each note to be signed by the chief Governor. We goldsmiths will be happy to pay the printing costs, as it will save us a lot of time writing out receipts". The Governors reasoned, "Well, it is our job to protect the people against counterfeiters and the advice certainly seems like a good idea." So they agreed to print the notes.
"Secondly," Fabian said, "some people have gone prospecting and are making their own gold coins. I suggest that you pass a law so that any person who finds gold nuggets must hand them in. Of course, they will be reimbursed with notes and coins."

The idea sounded good and without too much thought about it, they printed a large number of crisp new notes. Each note had a value printed on it - $1, $2, $5, $10 etc. The small printing costs were paid by the goldsmiths.
The notes were much easier to carry and they soon became accepted by the people. Despite their popularity however, these new notes and coins were used for only 10% of transactions. The records showed that the check system accounted for 90% of all business.

The next part of his plan commenced. Until now, people were paying Fabian to guard their money. In order to attract more money into the vault Fabian offered to pay depositors 3% interest on their money.
Most people believed that he was re-lending their money out to borrowers at 5%, and his profit was the 2% difference. Besides, the people didn't question him as getting 3% was far better than paying to have the money guarded.
The volume of savings grew and with the additional money in the vaults, Fabian was able to lend $200, $300, $400 sometimes up to $900 for every $100 in notes and coins that he held in deposit. He had to be careful not to exceed this nine to one ratio, because one person in ten did require the notes and coins for use.

If there was not enough money available when required, people would become suspicious, especially as their deposit books showed how much they had deposited. Nevertheless, on the $900 in book figures that Fabian loaned out by writing checks himself, he was able to demand up to $45 in interest, i.e. 5% on $900. When the loan plus interest was repaid, i.e. $945, the $900 was cancelled out in the debit column and Fabian kept the $45 interest. He was therefore quite happy to pay $3 interest on the original $100 deposited which had never left the vaults at all. This meant that for every $100 he held in deposits, it was possible to make 42% profit, most people believing he was only making 2%. The other goldsmiths were doing the same thing. They created money out of nothing at the stroke of a pen, and then charged interest on top of it.

True, they didn't coin money, the Government actually printed the notes and coins and gave it to the goldsmiths to distribute. Fabian's only expense was the small printing fee. Still, they were creating credit money out of nothing and charging interest on top of it. Most people believed that the money supply was a Government operation. They also believed that Fabian was lending them the money that someone else had deposited, but it was very strange that no one's deposits ever decreased when a loan was advanced. If everyone had tried to withdraw their deposits at once, the fraud would have been exposed.

When a loan was requested in notes or coins, it presented no problem. Fabian merely explained to the Government that the increase in population and production required more notes, and these he obtained for the small printing fee.

One day a thoughtful man went to see Fabian. "This interest charge is wrong", he said. "For every $100 you issue, you are asking $105 in return. The extra $5 can never be paid since it doesn't exist.

Farmers produce food, industry manufacturers goods, and so on, but only you produce money. Suppose there are only two businessmen in the whole country and we employ everyone else. We borrow $100 each, we pay $90 out in wages and expenses and allow $10 profit (our wage). That means the total purchasing power is $90 + $10 twice, i.e. $200. Yet to pay you we must sell all our produce for $210. If one of us succeeds and sells all his produce for $105, the other man can only hope to get $95. Also, part of his goods cannot be sold, as there is no money left to buy them.

He will still owe you $10 and can only repay this by borrowing more. The system is impossible."
The man continued, "Surely you should issue 105, i.e. 100 to me and 5 to you to spend. This way there would be 105 in circulation, and the debt can be repaid."

Fabian listened quietly and finally said, "Financial economics is a deep subject, my boy, it takes years of study. Let me worry about these matters, and you look after yours. You must become more efficient, increase your production, cut down on your expenses and become a better businessman. I am always willing to help in these matters."
The man went away still unconvinced. There was something wrong with Fabian's operations and he felt that his questions had been avoided.

Yet, most people respected Fabian's word - "He is the expert, the others must be wrong. Look how the country has developed, how our production has increased - we must be better off."
To cover the interest on the money they had borrowed, merchants were forced to raise their prices. Wage earners complained that wages were too low. Employers refused to pay higher wages, claiming that they would be ruined. Farmers could not get a fair price for their produce. Housewives complained that food was getting too dear.
And finally some people went on strike, a thing previously unheard of. Others had become poverty stricken and their friends and relatives could not afford to help them. Most had forgotten the real wealth all around - the fertile soils, the great forests, the minerals and cattle. They could think only of the money which always seemed so scarce. But they never questioned the system. They believed the Government was running it.

A few had pooled their excess money and formed "lending" or "finance" companies. They could get 6% or more this way, which was better than the 3% Fabian paid, but they could only lend out money they owned - they did not have this strange power of being able to create money out of nothing by merely writing figures in books.

These finance companies worried Fabian and his friends somewhat, so they quickly set up a few companies of their own. Mostly, they bought the others out before they got going. In no time, all the finance companies were owned by them, or under their control.

The economic situation got worse. The wage earners were convinced that the bosses were making too much profit. The bosses said that their workers were too lazy and weren't doing an honest day's work, and everyone was blaming everyone else.The Governors could not come up with an answer and besides, the immediate problem seemed to be to help the poverty stricken.
They started up welfare schemes and made laws forcing people to contribute to them. This made many people angry - they believed in the old-fashioned idea of helping one's neighbour by voluntary effort.

"These laws are nothing more than legalised robbery. To take something off a person against his will, regardless of the purpose for which it is to be used, is no different from stealing."
But each man felt helpless and was afraid of the jail sentence which was threatened for failing to pay. These welfare schemes gave some relief, but before long the problem was back and more money was needed to cope. The cost of these schemes rose higher and higher and the size of the Government grew.

Most of the Governors were sincere men trying to do their best. They didn't like asking for more money from their people and finally, they had no choice but to borrow money from Fabian and his friends. They had no idea how they were going to repay. Parents could no longer afford to pay teachers for their children. They couldn't pay doctors. And transport operators were going out of business.

One by one the government was forced to take these operations over. Teachers, doctors and many others became public servants.

Few obtained satisfaction in their work. They were given a reasonable wage, but they lost their identity. They became small cogs in a giant machine.

There was no room for personal initiative, little recognition for effort, their income was fixed and advancement came only when a superior retired or died.
In desperation, the governors decided to seek Fabian's advice. They considered him very wise and he seemed to know how to solve money matters. He listened to them explain all their problems, and finally he answered, "Many people cannot solve their own problems - they need someone to do it for them. Surely you agree that most people have the right to be happy and to be provided with the essentials of life. One of our great sayings is "all men are equal" - is it not?"
Well, the only way to balance things up is to take the excess wealth from the rich and give it to the poor. Introduce a system of taxation. The more a man has, the more he must pay. Collect taxes from each person according to his ability, and give to each according to his need. Schools and hospitals should be free for those who cannot afford them …"

He gave them a long talk on high sounding ideals and finished up with, "Oh, by the way, don't forget you owe me money. You've been borrowing now for quite some time. The least I can do to help, is for you to just to pay me the interest. We'll leave the capital debt owing, just pay me the interest."

They went away, and without giving Fabian's philosophies any real thought, they introduced the graduated income tax - the more you earn, the higher your tax rate. No one liked this, but they either paid the taxes or went to jail.
Merchants were forced once again to raise their prices. Wage earners demanded higher wages forcing many employers out of business, or to replace men with machinery. This caused additional unemployment and forced the Government to introduce further welfare and handout schemes.
Tariffs and other protection devices were introduced to keep some industries going just to provide employment. A few people wondered if the purpose of the production was to produce goods or merely to provide employment.

As things got worse, they tried wage control, price control, and all sorts of controls. The Government tried to get more money through sales tax, payroll tax and all sorts of taxes. Someone noted that from the wheat farmer right through to the housewife, there were over 50 taxes on a loaf of bread.

"Experts" arose and some were elected to Government, but after each yearly meeting they came back with almost nothing achieved, except for the news that taxes were to be "restructured", but overall the total tax always increased.

Fabian began to demand his interest payments, and a larger and larger portion of the tax money was being needed to pay him.
Then came party politics - the people started arguing about which group of Governors could best solve the problems. They argued about personalities, idealism, party labels, everything except the real problem. The councils were getting into trouble.
In one town the interest on the debt exceeded the amount of rates which were collected in a year. Throughout the land the unpaid interest kept increasing - interest was charged on unpaid interest.

Gradually much of the real wealth of the country came to be owned or controlled by Fabian and his friends and with it came greater control over people. However, the control was not yet complete. They knew that the situation would not be secure until every person was controlled.

Most people opposing the systems could be silenced by financial pressure, or suffer public ridicule. To do this Fabian and his friends purchased most of the newspapers, T.V. and radio stations and he carefully selected people to operate them. Many of these people had a sincere desire to improve the world, but they never realised how they were being used. Their solutions always dealt with the effects of the problem, never the cause.
There were several different newspapers - one for the right wing, one for the left wing, one for the workers, one for the bosses, and so on. It didn't matter much which one you believed in, so long as you didn't think about the real problem.

Fabian's plan was almost at its completion - the whole country was in debt to him. Through education and the media, he had control of people's minds. They were able to think and believe only what he wanted them to.
After a man has far more money than he can possibly spend for pleasure, what is left to excite him? For those with a ruling class mentality, the answer is power - raw power over other human beings. The idealists were used in the media and in Government, but the real controllers that Fabian sought were those of the ruling class mentality.

Most of the goldsmiths had become this way. They knew the feeling of great wealth, but it no longer satisfied them. They needed challenge and excitement, and power over the masses was the ultimate game.

They believed they were superior to all others. "It is our right and duty to rule. The masses don't know what is good for them. They need to be rallied and organised. To rule is our birthright."

Throughout the land Fabian and his friends owned many lending offices. True, they were privately and separately owned. In theory they were in competition with each other, but in reality they were working very closely together. After persuading some of the Governors, they set up an institution which they called the Money Reserve Centre. They didn't even use their own money to do this - they created credit against part of the money out of the people's deposits.
This Institution gave the outward appearance of regulating the money supply and being a Government operation, but strangely enough, no Governor or public servant was ever allowed to be on the Board of Directors.
The Government no longer borrowed directly from Fabian, but began to use a system of I.O.U.'s to the Money Reserve Centre. The security offered was the estimated revenue from next year's taxes. This was in line with Fabian's plan - removing suspicion from himself to an apparent Government operation. Yet, behind the scenes, he was still in control.

Indirectly, Fabian had such control over the Government that they were forced to do his bidding. He boasted, "Let me control the nation's money and I care not who makes its laws." It didn't matter much which group of Governors were elected. Fabian was in control of the money, the life blood of the nation.

The Government obtained the money, but interest was always charged on every loan. More and more was going out in welfare and handout schemes, and it was not long before the Government found it difficult to even repay the interest, let alone the capital.

And yet there were people who still asked the question, "Money is a man-made system. Surely it can be adjusted to serve, not to rule?" But these people became fewer and their voices were lost in the mad scrabble for the non-existent interest.

The adminstrations changed, the party labels changed, but the major policies continued. Regardless of which Government was in "power", Fabian's ultimate goal was brought closer each year. The people's policies meant nothing. They were being taxed to the limit, they could pay no more. Now the time was ripe for Fabian's final move.

10% of the money supply was still in the form of notes and coins. This had to be abolished in such a way as not to arouse suspicion. While the people used cash, they were free to buy and sell as they chose - they still had some control over their own lives.
But it was not always safe to carry notes and coins. Checks were not accepted outside one's local community, and therefore a more convenient system was looked forward to. Once again Fabian had the answer. His organisation issued everyone with a little plastic card showing the person's name, photograph and an identification number.
When this card was presented anywhere, the storekeeper phoned the central computer to check the credit rating. If it was clear, the person could buy what he wanted up to a certain amount.

At first people were allowed to spend a small amount on credit, and if this was repaid within a month, no interest was charged. This was fine for the wage earner, but what businessman could even begin? He had to set up machinery, manufacture the goods, pay wages etc. and sell all his goods and repay the money. If he exceeded one month, he was charged a 1.5% for every month the debt was owed. This amounted to over 18% per year.

Businessmen had no option but to add the 18% onto the selling price. Yet this extra money or credit (the 18%) had not been loaned out to anyone. Throughout the country, businessmen were given the impossible task of repaying $118 for every $100 they borrowed - but the extra $18 had never been created at all.

Yet Fabian and his friends increased their standing in society. They were regarded as pillars of respectability. Their pronouncements on finance and economics were accepted with almost religious conviction.

Under the burden of ever increasing taxes, many small businesses collapsed. Special licenses were needed for various operations, so that the remaining ones found it very difficult to operate. Fabian owned and controlled all of the big companies which had hundreds of subsidiaries. These appeared to be in competition with each other, yet he controlled them all. Eventually all competitors were forced out of business. Plumbers, panel beaters, electricians and most other small industries suffered the same fate - they were swallowed up by Fabian's giant companies which all had Government protection.

Fabian wanted the plastic cards to eliminate notes and coins. His plan was that when all notes were withdrawn, only businesses using the computer card system would be able to operate.

He planned that eventually some people would misplace their cards and be unable to buy or sell anything until a proof of identify was made. He wanted a law to be passed which would give him ultimate control - a law forcing everyone to have their identification number tattooed onto their hand. The number would be visible only under a special light, linked to a computer. Every computer would be linked to a giant central computer so that Fabian could know everything about everyone.

________________________________________________________

By the way, the correct terminology used in the financial world for this system is "fractional reserve banking".

The story you have read is of course, fiction.

But if you found it to be disturbingly close to the truth and would like to know who Fabian is in real life, a good starting point is a study on the activities of the English goldsmiths in the 16th & 17th centuries.

For example, The Bank of England began in 1694. King William of Orange was in financial difficulties as a result of a war with France. The Goldsmiths "lent him" 1.2 million pounds (a staggering amount in those days) with certain conditions:
The interest rate was to be 8%.
The King was to grant the goldsmiths a charter for the bank which gave them the right to issue credit.

Prior to this, their operations of issuing receipts for more money than they held in deposits was totally illegal. The charter made it legal.

In 1694 William Patterson obtained the Charter for the Bank of England.

© Larry Hannigan 1971, Australia

www.wheylite.com.au

Feel free to make as many copies of this article, and to reproduce this article, SO LONG AS YOU ADD A LINK TO www.relfe.com

Quotations:

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th Edition - "Banks create credit. It is a mistake to suppose that bank credit is created to any extent by the payment of money into the banks. A loan made by a bank is a clear addition to the amount of money in the community."

Lord Acton, Lord Chief Justice of England, 1875 - "The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the People v. The Banks."

Mr Reginald McKenna, when Chairman of the Midland Bank in London - "I am afraid that ordinary citizens will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create and destroy money. And they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.

Mr Phillip A. Benson, President of the American Bankers' Association, June 8 1939 - "There is no more direct way to capture control of a nation than through its credit (money) system."

USA Banker's Magazine, August 25 1924 - "Capital must protect itself in every possible manner by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, bonds and mortgages must be foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through a process of law, the common people lose their homes they will become more docile and more easily governed through the influence of the strong arm of government, applied by a central power of wealth under control of leading financiers.

This truth is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of Capital to govern the world.

By dividing the voters through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance. Thus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves what has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished."

Sir Denison Miller - During an interview in 1921, when he was asked if he, through the Commonwealth Bank, had financed Australia during the First World War for $700 million, he replied; "Such was the case, and I could have financed the country for a further like sum had the war continued." Asked if that amount was available for productive purposes in this time of peace, he answered "Yes".

From "Hand Over Our Loot, No. 2, by Len Clampett:

"There are four things that must be available for paid work to take place:
The work to be done.
The materials to do the work.
The labor to do the work.
The money to pay for the work to be done.

If any of those four things are missing, no paid work can take place. It is a naturally self-regulating system. If there is work to be done, and the material is available and the labour willing, all we have to do is create the money. Quite simple."

"Ask yourself why it was that depressions happened. All that went missing from the community was the money to buy goods and services. The labour was still available. The work to be done was still there. The materials had not disappeared, and the goods were readily available in the shops, or could be produced but for the want of money.

Extract from a letter written by Rothschild Bros of London to a New York firm of bankers on 25 June 1863:

"The few who can understand the System (Cheque Money and Credits) will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favours, that there will be no opposition from that class. While on the other hand, the great body of people mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical (hostile, hurtful) to their interests.

The following quotation was reprinted in the Idaho Leader, USA, 26 August 1924, and has been read into Hansard twice: by John Evans MP, in 1926, and by M.D. Cowan M.P., in the Session of 1930-1931.

In 1891 a confidential circular was sent to American bankers and their agents, containing the following statements:

"We authorise our loan agents in the western States to loan our funds on real estate, to fall due on September 1st 1894, and at no time thereafter.

On September 1, 1894, we will not renew our loans under any consideration.

On September 1st we will demand our money - we will foreclose and become mortgagees in possession.

We can take two-thirds of the farms west of the Mississippi and thousands of them east of the great Mississippi as well, at our own price.

We may as well own three-fourths of the farms of the west and the money of the country.

Then the farmers will become tenants, as in England."

From "Hand Over Our Loot, No. 2"

In the United States, the issuing of money is controlled by the Federal Reserve Board. This is not a government department but a board of private bankers.Most of us would believe that the Federal Reserve is a federal arm of the national government….This is not true…In 1913 President Woodrow Wilson signed the document that created the Federal Reserve, and committed the American people to debt slavery until such time as they awake from their slumber and overthrow this vicious tyranny."…

"The understanding of this issue of money into the community can be best illustrated by equating money in the economy with tickets in a railway system. The tickets are printed by a printer who is paid for his work. The printer never claims the ownership of the tickets … And we can never imagine a railway company refusing to give passengers seats on a train because it is out of tickets. By this same token, a government should never refuse people the access to normal commerce and trade by claiming it is out of money."

Suppose the government borrows $10 million. It only costs the bankers a few hundred dollars to actually produce the funds, and a little more to do the book-keeping. Do you think it is fair that our citizens should struggle to keep their homes and families together, while the bankers grow fat on these profits?

Credit created by a Government-owned bank is better than credit created by private banks, because there is no need to recover the money from people by way of taxes, and there is no interest attached to inflate the cost. The public work completed with the credit by the Government bank is the asset that replaces the money created when the work is finished.

None of our problems will disappear until we correct the creation, supply and circulation of money. Once the money problem is solved, everything else will fall into place.

Each of us can help to turn this ship around:
The first thing is to teach people. VERY FEW know about or understand this information yet. Please pass this information on to those on and off the net.
Research this subject for yourself to increase your understanding.
Join with others who want to return the control of government to the people. Remember - they are 'public SERVANTS'! We are not their servant. They should do OUR bidding.
Regardless of your political leanings, encourage your local Member to investigate and correct our money system. (They probably need to be educated too!). You can do this by email, letter, telephone or personal discussion.
Legislators receive an average of only 100 letters on any given issue. So if you write you opinion and get others to write, say 25 letters, you send a strong message. (Have a letter writing evening).

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL:

Support Ron Paul in the 2008 Election!

1) Do searches on "Ron Paul" at google video and http://www.youtube.com.

2) Register as Republican and vote for him in the primaries!

3) Donate at http://www.ronpaul2008.com. No donation is too small.

4) Spread the word - Ron Paul is Hope for America.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Money Files www.moneyfiles.org/soundmoney.html
Exposing corruption in the Global Monetary System

A Phone Call to the Fed www.rense.com/general29/ringring.htm

Money Game - The Greatest Scam Ever:
Excerpt from the book "Knowledge without Wisdom" by Paul Bond.

Billions for the Bankers www.mtl.clubplus.net/ ~clinique/bankers.htm

Liberty Australia: Banks & Money www.alphalink.com.au/~noelmcd

The Money Masters www.themoneymasters.com

FAME-Foundation for the Adancement of Monetary Education www.FAME.org

Rothschild Wealth & Influence www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/rothschild2.html#metatop

www.prolognet.qc.ca/clyde/money.htm

www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/1234/spooner.html

From Moses to Rothschild www.reformation.org/moneychangers.html

Americans for Better Transportation www.wealthmoney.org

The Rothschilds: www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/rothschild2.html#metatop
Noone knows what they are worth, but it's estimated that their wealth is estimated at $2 trillion - $491,409 trillion US

Starting a New Economy http://freeeconomy.com/?cat=1

WANTED!!! Help your country! Volunteers wanted to translate this page!!! If you are willing and able to translate this page into another language, please email Stephanie Relfe at Stephanie@relfe.com and say which language you can translate it into.

I can put your translation on this site. However, it is even better if you can put it on a site of your own so all I have to do is link to it. If you use this option, please:

1) Add the pictures, except for a few that have a lot of english words on them (as this may confuse readers of another language).

2) Link to my site www.relfe.com

3) Link to all the other translations that are listed at the start of this article, including this English translation.

You may add whatever ad or links you like at the end of it (with a few exceptions, eg no porno or occult stuff).

The languages that are already taken care of are listed at the top of this page, with links to those pages.

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Email:Stephanie@Relfe.com

Pemikiran aneh yang mampir di milis migas indonesia:

Melapangkan jalan bagi lawan kita. Tidak terdengar seperti gagasan
yang cerdas, bukan? Orang yang mempunyai kecanggihan berpikir
pasti tahu bahwa melapangkan jalan bagi lawan-lawan kita hanya akan
menyebabkan kita kalah dalam persaingan. Kalaupun kita melakukannya,
maka harus dipastikan terlebih dahulu bahwa jalan yang kita
lapangkan untuk lawan-lawan kita itu menuju ke sebuah jurang
kehancuran. Jika jalan itu menuju kepada kejayaan, mengapa mesti
dilapangkan untuk sang lawan? Logika berpikir kita seharusnya justru
mengatakan untuk menjegal setiap langkah lawan dijalan itu. Kita
harus memastikan bahwa jalan menuju kejayaan semacam itu hanya boleh
dilewati oleh kita saja.

Melapangkan jalan bagi lawan kita. Agak terdengar seperti sebuah
perumpamaan. Mungkin memang itu tidak lebih dari sekedar kiasan
belaka. Bisa iya. Bisa tidak. Secara harfiah bisa berarti
melapangkan jalan dalam arti sebenarnya. Kebalikannya, menjegal
jalan lawan dalam arti sesungguhnya. Hari senin yang lalu, saya
mendapatkan contoh nyata tentang hal ini. Kantor tempat saya bekerja
terletak didaerah Semanggi. Daerah three in one dong, ya kan. Setiap
mobil yang berpenumpang kurang dari 3 orang, tidak boleh melewati
jalur utama dikawasan itu pada jam 07.00 – 10.00 pagi, dan jam
16.30 -19.00 sore. Untuk masuk atau keluar gedung (Y) pada jam-jam
seperti itu, kami harus memutar, dan melintas didepan gedung lain
(Z) yang terletak dalam satu komplek. Oleh karena itu, fasilitas
parkirpun dikelola dalam sistem yang sama.

Senin itu, tidak seperti biasanya. Ketika saya melintas didepan
gedung Z, saya dicegat Satpam. Dengan heran saya bertanya: "Ada apa,
Mas?" Dan dengan ragu-ragu Satpam itu berkata: "Maaf Pak, Bapak
sudah tidak boleh melintasi jalan ini lagi...." Dari caranya
berbicara, saya tahu; hati nurani Pak Satpam itu sedang berperang
sendirian. Tapi, dia kan hanya menjalankan tugas. Jadi saya dapat
memahaminya. Saya tidak ingin bertengkar, toh bukan hanya saya yang
diperlakukan seperti itu. Semua pengendara yang melintas didepan
gedung Z itu juga diperlakukan sama.

Ketika saya memutar, saya menyadari, bahwa sepanjang jalur yang
biasa kami lewati, ternyata sudah dipasang tiang besi yang disemen
ke lantai. Wuah, saya pikir; ada apa nih? Saya tidak mendapatkan
jawaban apapun hingga pada sore harinya, management gedung Y
mengirim surat resmi kepada seluruh penghuni. Intinya meminta maaf
bahwa hari ini ada penutupan akses yang biasa kami gunakan. Menurut
surat itu, penutupan dilakukan managment gedung Z setelah selama
seminggu sebelumnya negosiasi tidak membuahkan kesepakatan positif.
Deg! Hati saya berdegup. Ada perselisihan antar management gedung,
rupanya. Dan perselisihan itu sampai menutup jalan masuk bagi orang-
orang yang perlu lewat.

Dipagi hari, masih ada alternatif jalan memutar untuk masuk ke
gedung Y. tetapi, disore hari, sama sekali tidak ada akses, kecuali
berhadapan langsung dengan polisi yang menjaga ketat jalur three in
one. Karena jalur keluar satu-satunya melewati bagian belakang
gedung Z sama sekali tidak bisa dilewati mobil. Alhasil, management
gedung Y membongkar pagar hidup meski mesti mengorbankan beberapa
pohon menghijau ditumbangkan. Lalu, melalui jalur curam, sempit lagi
miring itulah orang-orang bisa melintas. Jika tidak terampil,
pengendara bisa tergelincir. Apalagi mobil-mobil besar seperti truk
para pemasok barang yang benar-benar harus menanggung resiko
terbesar.

Begitulah gambaran harfiah jegal menjegal jalan lawan berlangsung.
Gedung-gedung perkantoran paling mahal sekalipun tidak luput dari
kejadian semacam itu. Biarpun dihuni oleh perusahaan-perusahaan
besar kelas dunia. Bahkan beberapa diantaranya listed dalam Fortune
500. Ada beberapa konsulat negara-negara tetangga juga disana. Hal
semacam itu bisa terjadi juga.

Mari sekarang kita lihat makna kiasannya. Dalam bisnis, persaingan
tidak jarang diwarnai oleh saling jegal antar kompetitor. Dan
rupanya, masih banyak pelaku bisnis yang berpikir bahwa cara terbaik
untuk memenangkan persaingan adalah dengan mengalahkan lawan-lawan
bisnis mereka. Logika berpikir seperti ini, sekilas ada benarnya
juga. Tetapi, bagi orang-orang tercerahkan seperti Professor Chan
Kim; kemenangan tidak selalu bisa diraih melalui pertarungan
berdarah-darah seperti itu. Bahkan, kemenangan terbesar sebenarnya
tidak terletak pada pertarungan saling mengalahkan, melainkan saling
menumbuhkan satu sama lain. Melalui prinsip saling menjegal untuk
mengalahkan, semua orang hanya akan memperebutkan kue kecil meski
mesti berlumuran darah. Dan dengan darah itu, lautan pun bisa
berubah menjadi merah. Menjadi the red ocean.

Sedangkan, dengan prinsip saling melapangkan jalan untuk menumbuhkan
satu sama lain; kemenangan menjadi milik semua orang. Untuk menang,
kita tidak harus menumpahkan darah. Sehingga setiap orang bisa sama-
sama untung pula. Market berhasil dikembangkan, dan total bisnis
menjadi semakin besar. Lautan, tidak akan menjadi keruh karena
pertempuran. Airnya akan tetap terlihat biru, sebagai tanda
tersimpannya potensi yang nyaris tak berbatas. Karena setiap orang
yang bersedia melapangkan jalan bagi lawan-lawannya, sesungguhnya
tengah berenang dalam sebuah dunia luas yang disebut blue ocean. Dan
bahtera tempatnya mengarungi samudera biru itu bernama the blue
ocean strategy. Begitulah yang diajarkan oleh Profesor Kim kepada
kita.

Dalam hubungan antar manusia, kita juga sering melihat orang yang
saling jegal. Entah karena persaingan memperebutkan calon pasangan
hidup. Atau perebutan kursi kekuasaan. Atau sekedar ingin
mendapatkan pujian dari atasan; orang bisa menjegal orang lain.
Fanatisme terhadap seseorang atau kelompok tertentu, bisa juga
menjadi penyebab lainnya. Percayalah, kita tidak akan pernah
kehabisan alasan untuk menjegal lawan. Tetapi, apakah kita mesti
selalu demikian?

Memberi jalan kepada lawan. Mengapa tidak? Jika setiap orang
berpikiran demikian, maka didunia ini tidak akan pernah ada orang
yang terjegal, lalu terjungkal. Setiap orang, justru akan
mendapatkan jalan sesuai haknya masing-masing. Bahkan, ketika setiap
orang saling mempersilakan lawannya untuk melintas dijalan miliknya;
permusuhan berubah menjadi persaudaraan yang menghasilkan
kesejahteraan bersama.

Ada yang bilang; jika kita berdada lapang, orang lain bertindak
curang! Mungkin bisa demikian. Tetapi, jika dengan lapang dada itu
kita mencapai kemuliaan, hingga Tuhan berkenan menyukai jalan yang
kita tempuh; mengapa kita harus takut dengan kecurangan orang?
Karena, konon Tuhan pernah berfirman bahwa sesungguhnya orang-orang
yang berbuat curang, tidak mencurangi siapapun kecuali dirinya
sendiri.

Kita tidak ingin mencurangi diri sendiri, bukan?

Hore,
Hari Baru!
Dadang Kadarusman
http://www.dadangkadarusman.com/

Catatan Kaki:
Lapangkan jalan bagi lawanmu, maka Tuhan melapangkan jalanmu menuju
keabadian cinta dan kasih-sayangnya.....

Menghidupkan Rasa Mati Dalam Jiwa
Sumber : http://www.nurulyaqin.org
Penulis : Ust. Arsil Ibrahim MA
Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Rasa mati adalah perasaan kesadaran yang tinggi bahwa suatu hari kita akan terbujur kaku selama-lamanya di sebuah pusara yang tertulis di atasnya nama, tanggal lahir dan tanggal mati kita. Perasaan ini merupakan sebuah warna yang sudah lama pudar dalam jiwa mayoritas manusia.
Indikasi pupusnya rasa mati dalam diri manusia tercermin dalam kecintaannya yang keras terhadap harta dan kemewahan dunia yang diburunya siang malam. Padahal ia tahu semua yang dicapainya pasti akan ditinggalkannya. Indikasi tersebut juga terjabarkan dalam kedahagaan yang mencambuk nafsunya sehingga beringas melanggar seluruh aturan Tuhan demi tercapainya hasrat dunia yang sementara. Atau pada keacuhan hatinya terhadap perintah-perintah Allah yang semakin menjauhkan dirinya dari kasih dan sayang Allah SWT.

Setiap hari manusia berlari ke sana ke mari mengusung nafsunya dan tenggelam dalam kesibukan duniawi yang 'berhasil' menjadikannya lupa atau pura-pura lupa akan hakikat mati. Banyak sekali yang akhirnya malah benar-benar terkapar dalam keindahan semu dunia sehingga habislah keyakinannya terhadap hakikat mati. Kondisi seperti inilah yang Allah tegur dalam firmanNya berikut:

Terjemahan:"Katakan, sesungguhnya kematian yang kamu lari daripadanya, justeru ia yang akan menemui kamu'. (Surah al-Jumu'ah 62: 8).

Manusia yang telah habis keyakinannya terhadap hakikat mati adalah manusia yang paling tidak punya nurani. Seluruh fakta tentang kematian yang lalu lalang di hadapannya setiap saat bagaikan angin lalu yang tidak memberi kesan apapun kepada dirinya. Ia acuh saja mendengar keluarga dekatnya, sahabatnya atau handai taulannya meninggal dunia. Bahkan menyaksikan pembantaian saudara-saudaranya sesama Muslim di kaca TV, masih bisa dilaluinya sambil menikmati semangkuk sup hangat tanpa merasa terganggu sedikitpun. Fenomena seperti ini mengingatkan kita pada hari Idul Adha, di mana kita menyaksikan seekor kerbau disembelih, dikuliti dan dipotong-potong dagingnya. Sementara kerbau lain di sebelahnya masih bisa menikmati setumpuk rumput hijau tanpa merasa terganggu sedikitpun. Padahal ia jelas-jelas akan disembelih pula pada keesokan harinya.

Beginikah Rasanya Mati?

Bayangkan sejambak rambut di kepala dicabut, atau selembar perban yang melekat di atas luka badan sejak seminggu dicabut. Tentulah sakit sekali rasanya. Lalu bagaimana pula gerangan jika nyawa yang sudah lekat di badan selama puluhan tahun dicabut? Kita tidak akan pernah dapat membayangkan kecuali dengan menyimak sumber berita yang berasal dari Nabi SAW dan para salafus soleh.

Dalam sebuah hadits marfu' diriwayatkan oleh al-Hafizh Abu Na'im r.a. bahwa Rasulullah SAW telah bersabda:

"Demi yang diriku berada di tanganNya, kenyataan (sakitnya) maut itu lebih dahsyat dari seribu bacokan pedang."

Amru bin Ash ketika menghadapi sakaratul maut ditanya oleh anaknya tentang rasa sakit yang dialaminya. Beliau berkata dengan lemahnya,

"Demi Allah wahai anakku, keadaan tubuhku seakan-akan berada dalam selimut api yang panas membara dan seolah-olah aku bernafas melalui lubang jarum. Aku juga merasa seakan-akan nyawaku melekat pada satu pohon yang penuh duri, kemudian ditarik dari ujung kaki sampai ke ubun-ubun." Selanjutnya Amru bin Ash menangis seraya berkata,

"Kukejar dunia ini seakan-akan diriku kekal abadi. Sedangkan dibelakangku berlari sang maut menapaki langkahku.

Duhai, cukuplah kematian itu sebagai nasehat."

Demikianlah kesaksian yang dinyatakan oleh sahabat Nabi SAW. Bagaimana pulakah gerangan pengalaman kita peribadi kelak, saya dan anda? Sebaiknya kepada Allah saja kita segera berlindung agar diberi kemudahan dan keringanan saat akhir menutup mata.

Menyiapkan Bekal Kembali

Sahabat Nabi SAW Utsman bin Affan begitu gentar sekali hatinya setiap kali melewati tanah pekuburan. Sering didapati ia menangis sebaik saja melewati sebuah pemakaman. Ketika ditanya oleh seseorang ia menjawab,

"Ketahuilah olehmu, bahwa kubur merupakan pintu gerbang penentuan apakah seseorang akan kekal selama-lamanya dalam kebahagiaan atau kekal selama-lamanya dalam kesengsaraan dan penderitaan."

Kita sama-sama mengetahui dan menyadari bahwa akhirat merupakan negeri abadi. Abadi berarti kekal dan tidak ada akhir atau penghujungnya. Malangnya lagi kita juga dihadapkan dengan kenyataan bahwa yang menentukan apakah kita akan senang dan bahagia, sengsara atau menderita dalam keabadian itu adalah rekor amal kita di dunia yang sebentar ini. Dalam arti lain, meskipun dunia ini akan bergulir seratus juta tahun lagipun, kesempatan kita untuk beramal hanya di sini,saat ini dan sekarang ini.

Sebagai ilustrasi, jika seseorang bekerja dengan sebuah perusahaan di Jakarta dan tiba-tiba diperintahkan oleh direkturnya untuk segera berangkat ke cabang Medan besok pagi untuk jangka waktu lima tahun. Kira-kira apa yang akan dilakukannya? Tentulah sedapat mungkin ia akan sibuk mempersiapkan diri dalam tenggat waktu yang amat singkat itu. Dalam 24 jam itu pasti ia akan mengepak barang-barangnya, mencari pinjaman uang ke sana kemari, pamitan dan mohon maaf ke seluruh keluarga dan kawan-kawannya dan lain-lain. Bahkan hampir dapat dipastikan malam itu ia tidak bisa tidur memikirkan keberangkatannya yang mendadak itu.

Ketahuilah bahwa waktu yang tersedia untuk kita mempersiapkan bekal perjalanan menuju akhirat lebih singkat dari ilustrasi di atas. Bahkan jangka waktu untuk kita menetap di sana adalah kekal abadi dan tidak terbatas. Yang dapat menyelamatkan kita hanyalah suatu kesadaran yang tinggi dan gerak amal yang konsisten bahwa setiap helaan nafas, ayunan langkah dan tangan selama di muka bumi kita niatkan benar-benar untuk beribadah kepada Allah. Kemudian kita sadari pula bahwa seluruh apa yang Allah perintahkan kita laksanakan dengan sekuat daya upaya kita. Manakala apa jua yang Allah tegah harus serta merta kita tinggalkan sama sekali.

Marilah kita sama-sama mencari cahaya Allah dengan berbuat sebanyak mungkin kebajikan di muka bumi, menebar kasih sayang, melakukan amal jariah, mempersiapkan anak-anak soleh yang dapat mendoakan kita saat terbaring di pusara dan menyumbangkan ilmu pengetahuan yang bermanfaat bagi umat. Hanya setelah itu saja kita baru akan merasa sedikit siap untuk berangkat kembali ke kampung akhirat, dan agak berani menunggu kedatangan malaikat Izrail.

Rabbana wahai Tuhan kami.

Anugerahkan kami taubat sebelum maut,

kasih sayangMu saat menghadapi maut

dan ampunanMu seusai maut menjemput.

Amin..

10 Ribu Rupiah Membuat Anda Mengerti Cara Bersyukur

Sesungguhnya Allah mempunyai karunia terhadap manusia tetapi
kebanyakan manusia tidak bersyukur. QS. Al Baqarah : 243

Menjelang Ramadhan tahun ini ada seorang sahabat menuturkan kisahnya. Dia bernama Budiman. Sore itu ia menemani istri dan seorang putrinya
berbelanja kebutuhan rumah tangga bulanan di sebuah toko swalayan. Usai mereka membayar semua barang belanjaan. Tangan-tangan mereka
sarat dengan tas plastik belanjaan. Baru saja mereka keluar dari toko swalayan, istri Budiman dihampiri seorang wanita pengemis yang saat
itu bersama seorang putri kecilnya.

Wanita pengemis itu berkata kepada istri Budiman, "Beri kami sedekah, Bu!" Istri Budiman kemudian membuka dompetnya lalu ia menyodorkan selembar
uang kertas berjumlah 1000 rupiah. Wanita pengemis itu lalu menerimanya. Tatkala ia tahu jumlahnya dan ternyata itu tidak mencukup kebutuhannya, ia kemudian menguncupkan
jari-jarinya dan ia arahkan kearah mulutnya, kemudian ia memegang kepala anaknya dan sekali lagi ia mengarahkan jari-jari yang terkuncup
itu ke arah mulutnya. Seolah ia berkata dengan bahasa isyarat, "Aku dan anakku ini sudah berhari-hari tidak makan, tolong beri kami
tambahan sedekah untuk bisa membeli makanan."

Mendapati isyarat pengemis wanita itu, istri Budiman pun membalas isyarat dengan gerak tangannya seolah berkata, "Tidak... tidak, aku tidak akan menambahkan sedekah untukmu!"
Ironisnya meski ia tidak menambahkan sedekahnya malah istri dan putrinya Budiman menuju ke sebuah gerobak gorengan untuk membeli cemilan. Pada kesempatan yang sama Budiman berjalan ke arah ATM center guna mengecek saldo rekeningnya. Saat itu memang adalah tanggal dimana ia menerima gajian dari perusahaannya, karenanya Budiman ingin mengecek saldo rekeningnya.
Ia sudah berada di depan ATM. Ia masukkan kartu ke dalam mesin tersebut. Ia tekan langsung tombol INFORMASI SALDO. Sesaat kemudian muncullah beberapa digit angka yang membuat Budiman menyunggingkan senyum kecil dari mulutnya. Ya, uang gajiannya sudah masuk ke dalam rekening.

Budiman menarik sejumlah uang dalam bilangan jutaan rupiah dari ATM. Pecahan ratusan ribu berwarna merah kini sudah menyesaki dompetnya. Lalu ada satu lembar uang berwarna merah juga, namun kali ini bernilai 10 ribu yang ia tarik dari dompet. Kemudian uang itu ia lipat menjadi kecil dan ia berniat untuk berbagi dengan wanita pengemis yang tadi meminta tambahan sedekah.
Budiman memberikan uang itu. Lalu saat sang wanita melihat nilai uang dan berterima kasih kepada Budiman dengan kalimat-kalimat penuh kesungguhan:



"Alhamdulillah. .. Alhamdulillah. .. Alhamdulillah. .. Terima kasih tuan!
Semoga Allah memberikan rezeki berlipat untuk tuan dan keluarga.
Semoga Allah memberi kebahagiaan lahir dan batin untuk tuan dan
keluarga. Diberikan karunia keluarga sakinah, mawaddah wa rahmah.
Rumah tangga harmonis dan anak-anak yang shaleh dan shalehah. Semoga
tuan dan keluarga juga diberi kedudukan yang terhormat kelak nanti di surga...!"



Budiman tidak menyangka ia akan mendengar respon yang begitu mengharukan. Budiman mengira bahwa pengemis tadi hanya akan berucap terima kasih saja. Namun, apa yang diucapkan oleh wanita pengemis tadi sungguh membuat Budiman terpukau dan membisu. Apalagi tatkala sekali lagi ia dengar wanita itu berkata kepada putri kecilnya, "Dik, Alhamdulillah akhirnya kita bisa makan juga....!"
Deggg...!!! Hati Budiman tergedor dengan begitu kencang. Rupanya wanita tadi sungguh berharap tambahan sedekah agar ia dan putrinya bisa makan. Sejurus kemudian mata Budiman membuntuti kepergian mereka berdua yang berlari menyeberang jalan, lalu masuk ke sebuah warung tegal untuk makan di sana.

Budiman masih terdiam dan terpana di tempat itu. Hingga istri dan putrinya kembali lagi dan keduanya menyapa Budiman. Mata Budiman kini mulai berkaca-kaca dan istrinya pun mengetahui itu. "Ada apa Pak?" Istrinya bertanya. Dengan suara yang agak berat dan terbata Budiman menjelaskan: "Aku baru saja menambahkan sedekah kepada wanita tadi sebanyak 10 ribu rupiah!"
Awalnya istri Budiman hampir tidak setuju tatkala Budiman menyatakan bahwa ia memberi tambahan sedekah kepada wanita pengemis, namun Budiman melanjutkan kalimatnya:



"Bu..., aku memberi sedekah kepadanya sebanyak itu. Saat menerimanya, ia berucap hamdalah berkali-kali seraya bersyukur kepada Allah. Tidak
itu saja, ia mendoakan aku, mendoakan dirimu, anak-anak dan keluarga kita. Panjaaaang sekali ia berdoa!
Dia hanya menerima karunia dari Allah Swt sebesar 10 ribu saja sudah sedemikian hebatnya bersyukur. Padahal aku sebelumnya melihat di ATM
saat aku mengecek saldo dan ternyata di sana ada jumlah yang mungkin ratusan bahkan ribuan kali lipat dari 10 ribu rupiah. Saat melihat
saldo itu, aku hanya mengangguk-angguk dan tersenyum. Aku terlupa bersyukur, dan aku lupa berucap hamdalah. Bu..., aku malu kepada Allah! Dia terima hanya 10 ribu begitu
bersyukurnya dia kepada Allah dan berterimakasih kepadaku. Kalau memang demikian, siapakah yang pantas masuk ke dalam surga Allah, apakah dia yang menerima 10 ribu dengan syukur yang luar biasa, ataukah aku yang menerima jumlah lebih banyak dari itu namun sedikitpun aku tak berucap hamdalah." Budiman mengakhiri kalimatnya dengan suara yang terbata-bata dan
beberapa bulir air mata yang menetes. Istrinya pun menjadi lemas setelah menyadari betapa selama ini kurang bersyukur sebagai hamba. Ya Allah, ampunilah kami para hamba-Mu yang suka lalai atas segala nikmat-Mu!


Salam hormat,
Bobby Herwibowo

Pada Sebuah Kearifan Lingkungan

Oleh: Muhammad Soffa Ihsan

Suatu hari, Abu Yazid al-Busthami bersama temannya mencuci pakaian di
tengah padang. Saat tiba waktu menjemur, sang teman berkata, "Gantung
saja pakaian ini di tembok dengan memutar." Mendengar usulan temannya,
Abu Yazid kontan menjawab tidak setuju, "Jangan menyelipkan baju di
tembok orang."

Karena tidak disetujui, sang teman memberikan pilihan lain, "Kalau
begitu, jemur saja di pohon." Abu Yazid kembali mencegah,"Jangan,
nanti rantingnya bisa patah." Mendapat penolakan kedua kalinya, sang
teman mulai heran, "Apakah kita jemur di atas rumput?' Lagi-lagi, Abu
Yazid menunjukkan ketidaksenangannya, "Jangan, rumput itu makanan
binatang." Sertamerta, Abu Yazid meletakkan pakaian yang masih basah
itu di punggungnya. Begitu sisi pakaian kering, ia balik lagi untuk
sisi lain hingga kering keseluruhan dan dipakainya kembali.

Kisah di atas, adalah sederma sikap sufi yang begitu eman dan
mencintai lingkungan. Bagi sufi, semua yang ada di alam semesta adalah
makhluk Allah yang harus dipiara dan dilindungi.

Namun, kenapa kini dunia banyak dilanda bencana? Pemanasan global
telah menjadi momok masyarakat dunia. Bencana-bencana alam seperti
banjir bandang, longsor, kekeringan dan kebakaran hutan yang telah
memusnahkan jutaan tumbuhan dan hewan-hewan yang tak ternilai
harganya, serta erosi, polusi udara dan air, hanyalah beberapa contoh
kecil. Secara simbolis, semua itu menunjukkan betapa alam telah marah
kepada manusia atas perlakuan yang tidak bermoral atasnya.

Pandangan sekuler tentang alam memang telah menghasilkan
kemajuan-kemajuan ilmiah dan teknologi yang cukup berarti bagi
kemakmuran dan kesejahteraan umat manusia. Di sisi lain, pandangan
sekuler-moderen juga telah menciptakan berbagai masalah dalam hubungan
manusia dengan alam. Manusia moderen menjadi semakin teralienasi dari
alam, setelah mereka menciptakan jurang yang tak terjembatani antara
keduanya, yakni manusia sebagai subjek dan alam sebagai objek.

Dengan memandang alam semata-mata sebagai objek, nafsu manusia moderen
telah mengeksploitasi alam secara kasar untuk memenuhi tuntutan nafsu
mereka yang terus menerus meningkat dan tidak pernah ada puasnya.

Menurut kaum sufi, manusia telah menjadi bagian dari alam. Manusia
menempati posisi yang sangat istimewa dalam keseluruhan tatanan alam
semesta dan kosmik. Manusia dipandang sebagai tujuan akhir penciptaan
dan juga sekaligus sebagai khalifah Tuhan di muka bumi. Karena alasan
tersebut, maka manusia telah diberikan hak untuk mengelola alam.

Tapi, hak tersebut hanya sejauh atau berkat bentuk teomorfiknya dan
bukan sebagai hak untuk memberontak melawan langit, sebagaimana
pemberontakan yang dilakukan oleh manusia moderen terhadap Tuhan.
Manusia adalah saluran berkah Tuhan bagi alam, yakni melalui
partisipasinya yang aktif dalam dimensi spritual alam. Manusia adalah
mulut di mana jasad alam bernafas dan hidup.

Bagi para sufi, alam tidak akan pernah menjadi semata objek-objek yang
mati untuk mengabdi pada manusia. Alam adalah sebuah wujud hidup yang
mampu mencinta dan dicinta.

Jika manusia moderen cenderung melihat alam hanya dari aspek
fisiologis dan kuantitatifnya serta memandang bahwa alam harus
dikontrol dan dikuasai demi semata-mata kepentingan manusia, maka para
sufi melihatnya sebagai simbol. Dari simbol-simbol alam itu dapat
ditangkap isyarat mengenai realitas-realitas yang lebih tinggi.

Menurut para sufi, alam adalah cermin universal yang memantulkan apa
pun yang ada di dunia-dunia atas. Keberadaan alam menjadi sebuah
panorama simbol yang luas yang berbicara kepada manusia dan memiliki
makna baginya. Dalam konteks inilah, seorang sufi menyebut alam
sebagai bayangan, yakni bayangan dari Tuhan Yang Maha Esa.

Abu Bakar Sirajuddin menyatakan bahwa tidak ada satu pun di alam yang
lebih dari sekadar bayangan. Bahkan, jika ada sebuah dunia yang tidak
memberi bayangan dari atas, dunia di bawahnya akan musnah seketika,
karena tiap dunia dalam ciptaan ini tidak lebih dari sebuah jaringan
bayang-bayang alias the tissue of the shadows. Seluruh tampilan dalam
berbagi bayangan itu, secara keseluruhan tergantung pada
arketip-arketip dunia di atasnya.

Menurut para sufi, manusia tidak cukup berhenti pada ajaran teoritis,
tapi juga harus bergerak pada peristiwa sejati jiwa. Ini berarti,
bahwa seseorang harus menyeberangi seluruh teluk atau jurang yang
memisahkan kepastian ilmu-ilmu teoritis dan kepastian dari pengetahuan
gnostik yang terhayati dan terealisasi secara personal.

Dari lubuk alam yang dalam, manusia harus berusaha mengatasi alam, dan
alam sendiri yang berfungsi sebagai tangga. Keberadaan alam dapat
bertindak sebagai penopang dalam proses ini. Dari dorongan untuk
mentransenden alam dan juga untuk menyeberangi jurang antara
pengetahuan teoretis dan pengetahuan diri yang terealisasi (self
realized knowledge), ide tentang pengembaraan spiritual, muncul ke
permukaan dalam begitu banyak karya mistik dan filosofis.

Dalam keseluruhan karya para sufi sangat terbaca pemikiran yang
mengungkapkan secara simbolis dan indah mengenai pelajaran mereka
sendiri ke dunia spiritual. Semua ini, bukan berarti hanya sekadar
cerita-cerita fiktif, tapi merupakan refleksi dari perjalanan
spiritual mereka kepada realitas sejati, al Haqq. Seperti halnya,
dalam karya fiktif-naratif Ibnu Sina (wafat 1037), yaitu Risalah al Thayr.

Akhirnya, bagi para sufi, tempat di mana kita hidup sekarang, hanyalah
satu dari dunia lainnya. Ia bertindak sebagai tangga dan hanya melalui
tangga itulah manusia bisa melakukan pendakian spiritual, mi'raj untuk
bisa menuju puncak wujud, yaitu Tuhan. Al-Quran menyatakan
sesungguhnya kita adalah milik Tuhan dan kepada-Nyalah kita akan kembali.

Penulis adalah Redaktur Pelaksana Majalah MataAir

Membangun Kebersamaan

Oleh : KH Abdullah Gymnastiar



Saudaraku, semoga kita terus menerus bersemangat untuk memiliki kearifan. Karena sangat banyak orang menjadi tua karena bertambah usia tapi tidak semakin dewasa. Kita tidak akan bisa menahan laju pertambahan umur kita, karena umur adalah milik Allah. Yang harus kita lakukan adalah menahan akhlaq kita agar jangan sampai turun ke derajat yang lebih rendah, tapi justru kita harus menggantinya dengan kualitas pribadi yang semakin mulia.


Lalu bagaimana caranya untuk membangun kebersamaan dengan orang lain itu? berikut ini akan kita kupas suatu langkah yang kita namakan dengan konsep 5 (lima) M;


M yang pertama adalah Mengenal Orang Lain.


Kita harus berupaya untuk mengenal orang lain lebih jauh dan lebih dalam dan hal-hal yang proporsional bisa kita kenali. Karena ada pepatah “Tak kenal maka tak sayang”. Oleh karena itu semakin kita mengenal, Insya Allah akan tumbuh kasih sayang di hati kita. Tapi sebalikanya jika kita tidak mengenal, maka akan sulit menumbuhkan perasaan tersebut. Padahal dengan menyayangi orang lain maka akan mendorong kita berbuat lebih baik. Bukankah orang tua yang sayang kepada anaknya akan memberikan pengorbanan yang lebih banyak dibandingkan pengorbanan kepada orang yang tidak mereka sayangi? Oleh karena itu Mengenal orang lain Ini merupakan langkah awal agar kita bisa menikmati kebersamaan dengan orang lain.


M yang kedua adalah Memahami.


Kenapa harus memahami? karena kita akan sulit sekali untuk dipahami orang lain sebelum kita memahami duduk perkara. Kita harus pandai memahami latar belakang seseorang, karena semakin kita memahami maka Insya Allah akan memiliki ketenangan dan kesabaran dalam menyikapi perbuatan orang lain. Seperti memahami karakter bayi yang menangis misalnya. Tentunya, kita tidak akan terpancing untuk bertindak emosional kepada mereka jika kita paham bahwa memang menangis itu adalah karakter bayi. Satu hal yang perlu kita catat; “Keuntungan jika kita lebih memahami dengan baik maka manfaatnya adalah kita pun akan mudah dipahami”.


M yang ketiga adalah Memaklumi.


Apa bedanya memahami dengan memaklumi? memahami itu adalah proses aktif yang lebih ringan, tetapi memaklumi itu adalah sudah menjadi sebuah proses yang lebih tinggi lagi dimana orang tersebut bertindak belum sesuai dengan harapan kita. Kita harus memaklumi bahwa setiap orang tentu ingin lebih baik, ingin mulia dan bahagia. Tapi tidak semua orang mendapatkan jalannya dengan mudah. Oleh karena semuanya membutuhkan proses untuk lebih baik. Kita harus memaklumi jikalau orang jatuh bangun untuk menjadi lebih baik. Dengan Memaklumi Insya Allah akan membuat kita jauh lebih ringan dalam menyikapi hal-hal yang mengecewakan dari orang lain.


M yang keempat adalah Mengalah Untuk Kebaikan.


Saudaraku, kita harus memiliki kepandaian untuk mengalah kepada saudara kita sepanjang mengalah itu akan menjadi lebih baik. Pahamilah dengan mengalah bukan berarti kalah, dengan mengalah bukan berarti lemah bahkan sebaliknya. Mengalah untuk kebaikan bersama adalah sebuah kemenangan atas keserakahan diri, kemenangan atas egois, ketamakan. karena biasanya kita cenderung ingin mendahulukan milik kita.


Lalu M yang kelima atau yang terakhir adalah Memaafkan.


Kadang-kadang sering terjadi ada orang yang sudah mengalah tetapi tetap belum bisa berterima kasih. Jika mengahdapi orang seperti itu alangkah lebih baik jika kita memberikan maaf. Insya Allah dengan semakin banyak kita memaafkan orang lain maka akan ringan hidup ini. Tetapi sebaliknya jika kita semakin banyak kecewa, dongkol atau dendam kesumat kepada orang lain maka akan semakin berat menghadapi hidup ini. Nabi Muhammad SAW adalah seorang yang pemaaf sepanjang pribadinya, tetapi Nabi Muhammad akan tegas terhadap soal agama dan hak Allah. Oleh karena itu kita jangan sampai terpancing menggunakan waktu dan pikiran kita hanya karena semata-mata mengganggap membela harga diri, padahal sebetulnya saat itu tidak akan jatuh harga diri kita. Jangan sampai terbakar emosi kita karena perkara-perkara sederhana yang sebetulnya dengan memaafkan akan membuat urusan menjadi lebih ringan.


Sauadaraku, Belajar mengenal dengan seksama , memahami, memaklumi, mengalah untuk kebaikan dan memaafkan orang lain ini adalah suatu langkah yang Insya Allah akan membuat kebersamaan bagi kita sehingga mudah-mudahan akan menjadi kebaikan. Dan mohon dicatat sikap mengalah atau memaafkan itu bukan tindakan pasif yang akan membuat kita menjadi semakin tersisih tidak berdaya. tapi ini adalah sebuah upaya untuk kebaikan. Wallahu ’alam


[Mata adalah penuntun, dan hati adalah pendorong dan penuntut. Mata memiliki kenikmatan pandangan dan hati memiliki kenikmatan pencapaian. Keduanya merupakan sekutu yang mesra dalam setiap tindakan dan amal perbuatan manusia, dan tidak bisa dipisahkan antara satu dengan yang lain]

from http://www.rvi.net/~fluoride/000055.htm

What's wrong with fluoridation?
... Follow the Money
Excerpts from The Secret War and
The Fluoride Conspiracy, by Dr. Geoffrey E. Smith

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has always measured the safety of fluoridation on the basis of one study of crippling skeletal fluorosis, which was first published in 1935.

EPA's regulation for the maximum allowable concentration of fluoride in drinking water was established for one purpose - to prevent this disease. However crippling is the end stage of chronic fluoride poisoning. The earlier stages involve gastrointestinal problems, arthritis, and osteoporosis. None of these earlier symptoms are considered in the regulation ... only the end stage.

In 1985, when EPA raised the maximum contaminant level to 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, they used dosage figures equal to those miscalculated in 1953 by Harold C. Hodge, who was chairman of the NAS committee on toxicology. Hodge's original figures (20-80 mg/day for 10-20 years) were corrected by Hodge in 1979, and by NAS in 1993. The corrected figures, based on Roholm's classic study of workers in the cryolite industry, amount to 0.2 to 0.35 milligrams of fluoride per kilogram of body weight per day, for eleven years. When extrapolated over a lifetime of 55 to 96 years, these crippling dosage figures equal 1 milligram of fluoride daily for each 55 pounds of body weight ... 0.04 mg/kg/day.

In the early years of water fluoridation, this dosage was not the norm. At that time, water was virtually the only source of fluoride in the American diet. The total intake for most adults was 0.02 mg/kg/day ... about one to one and a half milligrams of fluoride daily.

Today, the figure is 0.095 mg/kg/day... from food and drinking water alone ... more than 6 milligrams daily.

This increase in ingested fluoride, largely due to the use of artificial fertilizers containing fluoride, pesticide residues, dental products, and modern food processing, has changed a relatively safe dosage into one capable of causing crippling deformities of the spine and major joints, as well as the muscle pain associated with fibromyalgia.

Beer and wine often contain significant quantities of fluoride, as does ordinary tea. Grape juice often contains even larger quantities of fluoride, due to the widespread use of pesticides, which remain on the grape skin. Fluoride in toothpaste can be absorbed through the tissues of the mouth, as well as swallowed accidentally. Many prescription drugs also contain fluoride. None of these items are labeled to indicate the quantity of fluoride added to the daily dietary total.

In other words, what began as a reasonable risk has become the proverbial "straw that breaks the camel's back."

Why, then, does fluoridation continue to be an accepted public health practice? Why does the U.S. government offer grants to cities willing to add fluoride to their water supply?

Why, in light of the facts, would so many people and institutions allow the poisoning of an entire population?

In order to understand, we must go back in time, to the origin of water fluoridation, and the financial interests. We must follow the money trail.

We must also consider the concept of a control group in establishing cause and effect. Without a control group, the effect of fluoride gases are confused with the effect of fluoridated water or toothpaste. This camouflage has served the interests of powerful corporations since 1945.

Fluorine constitutes 0.065 per cent of the elements of the earth's crust and is a significant component of the total biogeochemical cycle in which life has evolved. Mankind has always been exposed to fluoride in the environment; and fluoride has always been a trace constituent of our diet and a component of our body fluids, tissues and skeleton.

Indeed, the ubiquitous occurrence of fluoride in nature means that it would be virtually impossible to prepare a diet entirely free of fluoride.

But, until the start of the industrial revolution, most of the flouride in the environment was safely 'locked-up' in rocks, coal and clays, and only relatively small amounts were released either as a result of volcanic activity (HF can be detected in volcanic gases), coal burning, or the slow leaching of fluoride into some waters.

Today, most of the fluoride that enters the human body is from man-made sources.

Over the past 50 years, a variety of industries have released into the atmosphere more than 25,000,000 tons of fluoride gases and particulates.

Dentists will argue, correctly, that mankind has always been exposed to fluoride in the environment. We have also been exposed to trace amounts of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and background radiation. The human body can handle certain levels of potentially harmful substances, there's no doubt about that. But, remember, there are 'threshold levels' above which the poison begins to harm the body or the way it functions. Since each one of us is metabolically unique, some people are more sensitive to fluoride than others. Today, a significant proportion of the fluoride that enters the human body is from modern man-made sources, and all the indications are that you and your family are now being over-exposed to what scientists in the Manhattan Project named - the Devil's Element.

You will have heard of fluoride. It's the miracle ingredient in your toothpaste, and the chemical they put in public water supplies to prevent cavities in teeth.

You may have heard of hydrogen fluoride. It's a common, particularly dangerous but relatively unknown air pollutant produced by the most powerful industries including: steel mills, iron foundries, copper, zinc and aluminum smelters, plastics manufacturers, fertilizer works, agro-chemical factories, petro-chemical refineries, brick works, glass factories, coal-burning power stations, and nuclear processing plants. The use of unleaded gasoline puts more fluoride into the air.

If health authorities were to set air pollution standards for hydrogen fluoride which were harmless, then certain key industries in our technologically-oriented society would almost grind to a halt.

This dilemma led to the most bizarre conspiracy of modern times in which captains of industry and national security agencies combined to ruthlessly suppress evidence of the dangers of hydrogen fluoride air pollution; and, cynically used a healing profession - dentistry - to promote an apparently beneficial image for fluoride.

The result is that we live in an increasingly 'fluoridated' world. The fluoride in water and toothpaste is potentially harmful; the hydrogen fluoride in contaminated air far more so. Each year, tens of thousands of tons of hydrogen fluoride create an environmental hazard more threatening than global warming or depletion of the ozone layer; and hydrogen fluoride, which can be 1,000 times more harmful than sulphur dioxide, is often a key, but rarely mentioned component of 'acid rain'.

Few people living in the developed countries of the world can escape exposure to hydrogen fluoride (HF). Workers in more than 60 occupations are now breathing HF-contaminated air, and anyone living in the vicinity of the fluoride-polluting industries is also at risk.

The World Health Organization has estimated that many millions of people live in areas with air pollution problems severe enough to cause tens of thousands of premature deaths each year and leave many more chronically ill and disabled.

During this century three major air pollution disasters emphasized the link between contaminated air, disaster and death. These occurred in the Meuse Valley, Belgium, in 1930; Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948, and London in 1952. The worst began in London on Thursday, 4th December, and lasted three days. During this period, 4,000 people in London died from heart and lung disease. Hydrogen fluoride was the chief killer in all three disasters.

At incredibly low concentrations HF can induce subtle changes in enzyme activities, nerve action potentials and host defence - the immune system.

Hydrogen fluoride at a concentration of just 0.1 parts per billion in air can damage sensitive vegetation; at a concentration of 1 part per billion it can devastate vineyards and orchards. Of all air pollutants which affect farm animals, hydrogen fluoride has caused the most severe and widespread damage. Yet health authorities insist that low-level long-term exposure to HF cannot harm human health!

If there is scientifically acceptable evidence to support these claims about the hazards of HF, how on earth have authorities managed to deceive people for so long? Why do we hear so much about sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, and so little about hydrogen fluoride?

Because most people have been 'brain-washed' into believing that 'fluoride' is good for them. After all, it's put into water and toothpaste to prevent tooth decay. If you can drink water containing 1 part per million fluoride, and use toothpaste containing 1,000 parts per million fluoride, then how could fluoride in air at a level of parts per billion be harmful?

In other words, health authorities pretend that fluoride in the air is the same as fluoride in drinking water and toothpaste. They even present their measurements of hydrogen fluoride in air as - fluoride. When describing water fluoridation, the same tactic is used ... sodium fluoride and fluosilicic acid are described as "natural," avoiding the fact that in areas with "natural" fluoridation, the compounds involved are not these toxic wastes of industry, but a much less toxic compound of fluoride and calcium.

In the 1930's scientists in Britain, Europe and the United States knew that low levels of HF were harmful. Furthermore, they had identified a visible symptom of chronic HF poisoning.

Children who grew up near industries with fluoride-pollution problems could develop 'mottled' teeth; so too could cattle and sheep in the vicinity. The relationship between HF air pollution and 'mottled' teeth was an obvious threat to the Captains of Industry. They might argue whether it was sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides or hydrogen fluoride that was responsible for damage to crops and livestock, but no other air pollutants caused mottled teeth.

In 1930 there were plenty of 'mottled' teeth amongst children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, headquarters of the Aluminum Company of America, Alcoa. The head chemist of Alcoa, H.V. Churchill, was given the job of 'explaining' the 'mottled' teeth in a way that would deflect attention away from Alcoa's fluoride air pollution problems.

Tooth decay is caused by bacteria - single-celled organisms, which, like all cells - both enamel and vegetable - are extremely sensitive to fluoride which, above certain concentrations, is a potent poison.

The most common bacterium implicated in the cause of caries is Streptococcus mutans. Levels of fluoride above 20 parts per million are lethal to S. mutans; levels as low as 0.19 ppm fluoride can interfere with certain essential metabolic enzymes in the bacterium; and concentrations of fluoride between 4 and 20 ppm can cause S. mutans to - mutate.

In other words, fluoride is an anti-microbial agent of great potency.

The development of a cavity in a tooth proceeds in the following manner. S. mutans (or other cariogenic bacteria) must first gain attachment to the tooth surface. Once attached, and given a suitable food supply, the bacteria thrive and multiply, producing colonies known as dental plaque.

Within the plaque, millions of microbes are consuming carbohydrates and excreting dilute acids as waste products.

These acids begin to eat away - demineralize - the surface layers of the tooth enamel. As a result, the enamel is broken down into its component parts, which include, calcium, phosphate, carbonate and trace amounts of fluoride (which was incorporated into the enamel as it developed).

Gradually, the fluoride level in the plaque fluid builds up. When it reaches 0.19 ppm the metabolism of the bacteria slows down - less food is consumed and fewer acid wastes produced. As the level rises above 4 ppm fluoride, the 'mutation rate' of the bacteria increases dramatically. Finally, as the fluoride concentrations in the plaque rises to lethal levels, the bacteria die. And, there may even be some re-mineralization of the enamel.

Wonderful! A cavity has been prevented! But all this has taken place on the surface of the body, not inside it.

Of course fluoride is not the only element that can prevent decay topically. Any potentially toxic element which can become incorporated in tooth enamel, such as the bone-seeking elements - radium, uranium, cadmium, lead and strontium-90, will kill cariogenic bacteria as they are released from enamel as a consequence of the de-mineralizing effect of the microbes' acid wastes.

Trace amounts of fluoride are present in bone mineral - which is very similar to the mineral in tooth enamel. However, there is a crucial difference between bone and enamel. Once fully formed, tooth enamel is static - it doesn't undergo metabolic changes. Bone, on the other hand, is constantly being remodelled. This involves 'old' bone being resorbed and 'new' bone laid down. Cells called osteocytes and osteoclasts dissolve the 'old' bone and osteoblasts help form 'new' bone.

All bone contains some fluoride, and as old bone is dissolved it is released into the vicinity of the resorbing cells, and evolution has ensured that the bone cells can withstand very low levels of fluoride.

But, just as the cariogenic bacteria can be harmed by the excessive levels of fluoride, so too can bone cells and bone marrow cells - which include the progenitors of immune system cells.

The events described above explain the symptoms associated with both dental and skeletal fluorosis; unfortunately they also raise the spectre of bone cancer and leukemia.

As Dr. Frederick Exner noted: "If American Industry had to stop polluting our air, water, and our countryside with fluoride fumes and fall-out, and to dispose of its fluoride wastes without creating a public hazard, it would cost, not mere millions, but countless billions of dollars. and therein lies the explanation for the utterly relentless drive to fluoridate our water supplies by any means, fair or foul, and many other puzzling aspects of the drive to fluoridate."

Because of the dental profession's infatuation with fluoride, tens of millions of people around the world have 'mottled' teeth caused by fluoridated drinking water, fluoridated dental health products, or fluoride air pollution. The evidence is inescapable.

Although cosmetic dentistry can cover up the visible damage to teeth, it is costly and highly profitable for dentists. The dental profession's long-time promotion of fluoride has created a need for cosmetic dentistry ... yet for years, dentists argued that by pushing fluoride they would be putting themselves out of business!

Well, guess what ... the litigation has now begun.

And once a jury accepts that fluoride can harm developing teeth, the next obvious question will be: If fluoride can damage tooth cells, what other cells and tissues in the human body are being harmed?

The flood-gates will open. Over the next decade it is conceivable that in North America, Britain and Australia, at least fifteen million people will be seeking damages for 'mottled' teeth - from toothpaste manufacturers, dentists, and local authorities who permitted fluoridation. A lot of money will be involved; even at $10,000 per person, a pretty modest sum these days, we are talking about $150 BILLION.

Are you beginning to get the picture? The dental profession, federal and state health authorities, and certain important industries, CANNOT admit, after 50 years, that fluoride has been damaging human health; the consequences are unthinkable.
REFERENCES
Smith G.E., The Secret War and the Fluoride Conspiracy, Epeius Publishing Associates, 2 Edna Street, Frankston, Victoria, Australia 3199, 1997.
Diesendorf, M., et. al., New evidence on fluoridation, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 21(2):187-190, May 1997.
Colgate pays out for teeth ruined by fluoride, by Linda Jackson, The Sunday Telegraph, November 24, 1996.
China takes a deep breath, U.S. News & World Report, September 9, 1996, page 36.
Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, August 1993.
Toxicological Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride, and Fluorine (F), (April 1993), U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, Department of Health and Human Services, February 1991.
Stannard, et al, Fluoride levels and fluoride contamination of fruit juices, Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, v 16(1) 1991.
Susheela, A.K., Fluorosis -- Early Warning Signs and Diagnostic Test, Bulletin of the Nutrition Foundation of India, 10:2, April 1989.
Fluoridation of Water, Special report by Bette Hileman, Chemical & Engineering News-August 1, 1988.
Smith G.E., Fluoride and Fluoridation. Soc.Sci.Med., 26, (4), 451-462, 1988.
Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition --Fifth Edition, Edited by Walter Mertz, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, 1987.
Zimmerman, Norman, Ph.D., J.D., Senior Toxicologist, Toxic Substance Control Commission (Michigan), The Need for the Determination of the Extent of Total Fluoride Exposure in Community Assessment of the Value of Water Fluoridation, May 1981.
Harold C. Hodge, Ph.D., The Safety of Fluoride Tablets or Drops, Continuing Evaluation of the Use of Fluorides, chapter 11, AAAS Symposium, Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 1979.
Curzon & Specter, An Association Between Strontium in Drinking Water Supplies & Low Caries Prevalence in Man, Archives of Oral Biology 23:317-321, 1978.
Erickson, J. David, Mortality in Selected Cities With Fluoridated and Non-Fluoridated Water, New England Journal of Medicine, May 1978.
Drinking Water and Health, Safe Drinking Water Committee, National Academy of Sciences, NAS/NRC, 1977.
National Research Council of Canada (NRCC No. 16081), Associate Committee On Scientific Criteria for Environmental Quality, Environmental Fluoride 1977.
Prival and Fisher, Adding Fluorides To The Diet, Environment, 16:29-33, 1974.
Air Pollutants Affecting The Performance of Domestic Animals, U.S.D.A. Handbook #380,1972.
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Radiological Aspects of A New Type of Bone Fluorosis, , Periostitis Deformans, Radiology 87:1089-1094, 1968.
Sievers, Maurice L., Disease Patterns Among Southwestern Indians, Public Health Reports 81:1082, 1966.
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Endemic Fluorosis, Medicine 42:229, 1963.
Pathologic Studies in Man After Prolonged Ingestion of Fluoride in Drinking Water, Public Health Reports 73:721-723, 1958.
The problem of providing optimum fluoride intake for prevention of dental caries, Food and nutrition Board, Division of Biology and Agriculture, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Pub. #294, November 1953.
Kidney Function & Structure In Chronic Fluorosis, British Journal Experimental Pathology 33:168, 1952.
Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Fluoridation of Water Supplies, Division of Medical Sciences, National Research Council, Nov. 29, 1951.
McClure, Frank J., Non Dental Physiological Effects of Trace Quantities of Fluorine, Journal American College of Dentists, vol 12, p. 50, 1945.
Linsman, Crawford & McMurray, Fluoride Osteosclerosis from Drinking Water, (Case report) Radiology, 40:474 May, 1943 (see erratum, June)
Dean, H. Trendley, Endemic Dental Fluorosis or Mottled Enamel, Journal American Dental Association, 30:1278, 1943.
McClure, Frank J., Ingestion of fluoride and dental caries --quantitative relations based on food and water requirements of children 1 to 12 years old, American Journal Diseases of Children, 66:362, 1943.
Fluorides in Food and Drinking Water, National Institutes of Health Bulletin, 1939.
Removing Stains From Mottled Enamel, Journal American Dental Association,1937.
Roholm, Kaj, Fluorine Intoxication: A Clinical-Hygienic Study With a Review of the Literature and Some Experimental Investigations, 1935, Translated by W.E. Calvert., published by H.K. Lewis & Co., Ltd., (London) 1937.
Dean, H. Trendley, Some Epidemiological Aspects of Chronic Endemic Dental Fluorosis, American Journal of Public Health, 26:567, 1936.

Selesai menunaikan ibadah haji, Ibrahim bin Adham berniat ziarah ke

mesjidil Aqsa. Untuk bekal di perjalanan, ia membeli 1 kg kurma dari

pedagang tua di dekat mesjidil Haram.

Setelah kurma ditimbang dan dibungkus, Ibrahim melihat sebutir kurma

tergeletak didekat timbangan. Menyangka kurma itu bagian dari yang ia beli,

Ibrahim memungut dan memakannya.

Setelah itu ia langsung berangkat menuju Al Aqsa. 4 Bulan kemudian,

Ibrahim tiba di Al Aqsa. Seperti biasa,