Working with Amir actually really helped me understand how my backstory is an asset... I started [Watch Over Me] fresh off a kidnap attempt and I was in a huge rut...

I only wish I'd discovered this [AssertiveU™] sooner.

— Xinch, Advocate for Women in Tech & Former Founder of Watch Over Me (Acquired) an Early Pioneer in the Personal Safety Apps Space

How it all started with one man's decision to begin writing and publicly publishing his thoughts freely through a new medium called "weblogs" pictured above: the banner of the three-time Weblog Award nominated The Sudanese Thinker authored under the former pseudonym Drima a.k.a. Amir Ahmad Nasr from 2006 to 2012. The banner features an inter-spiritual hexagram that symbolizes the Hindu Yantra Shatkona, the Japanese Kagome Crest, the Star of David and the Seal of King Solomon, all at once, combined. It quotes the Sudanese-American scholar of human rights Abdullahi An-Na'im's intellectually honest proclamation with moral clarity that "if I don't have the freedom to disbelieve, I cannot believe." A quote that sparked Drima's greater awakening and re-imagining of a more expansive identity as a cosmic citizen landed here on planet Earth as the musical otherworldly artist, Drima Starlight.

Through the lens of his own life, Nasr sheds light on a generation of revolutionary life-hackers poised to change the global conversation about religion and politics.

— G. Willow Wilson, Author & Co-Creator of the NY Times Best-Selling Marvel Comic & Character Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, Now a Series on Disney+ - Played by Canadian Actress Iman Vellani

THE ORIGIN STORY OF


In Words & Images

How AssertiveU Came to Be

Based in North Vancouver, Canada, we are a founder-led campus enterprise with online intensives and upcoming live international events you can fly to Vancouver International Airport to attend. Like founder-led enterprises, to better understand our mission, it is best to understand where our values come from: the crucible of our founder's origin story.

Scroll for more and learn about how the AssertiveU™ mission came to be.


When Amir was a little kid, coping and persevering through a very traumatic childhood experience, his maternal grandfather shared with him some wisdom over a game of chess in the shade of the lime tree in his Khartoum home garden in Sudan. "A lime seed only grows into a lime tree. It cannot grow into an apple tree or a mango tree. It also needs to be put in the right soil with the right amount of water and receive the right amount of sunshine. What soul seed do you carry within you and which soil will you best grow in to make your most fruitful contribution?"


The Founder of AssertiveU™ the otherworldly artist Drima Starlight speaking as Amir Ahmad Nasr ( アミール・アハマド・ナスル | أمير أحمد نصر ) on Sudan's revolution, freedom and resilience at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway to 1,500 people, the annual event organized by the New York based Human Rights Foundation headquartered in the Empire State Building with a focus on protecting human rights and unleashing human potential in authoritarian societies.

"Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University: This imposing and stoic statue was built by King Taharqa, conqueror of Egypt. The Ram represents the powerful god of sun and air Amun-Ra, with Taharqa standing below. King Taharqa was the third in the line of Kushite rulers whose power extended from their native Nubia to the whole of Egypt... as the pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty."

Described by WIRED as a "formidable speaker" and by a former celebrity fellow musician as being "like a 300-year old sage who is wise beyond his years," AssertiveU™ founder Amir is a writer, artist, veteran of intelligence and frameworks creator, president, and your host, strategic advisor and integral leadership coach.

He is a former Member of the Board and International Council of the New York based Human Rights Foundation, organizer of the Oslo Freedom Forum, and committee member of the International Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.

As AssertiveU™ CEO, his name and identity as Amir Ahmad Nasr, like what the journalist Clark Joseph Kent is to Superman, is his Earthly professional business persona for who he is as the loud musical otherworldly soul blues rockin' singin' and guitar slingin' artist, Drima Starlight.

He is a lover of the best of Canada - the land of maple syrup, fearsome hockey players and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, on guard for thee - and NATO leader, the United States as our greatest hope for the persistent freedom of humanity. A poet and American at heart, starting when Amir was a nearly seven year old playful boy in early 1990's in Doha, Qatar, he was secretly and methodically tortured, tormented, and subjected to sexual violence, nearly to death in a small Al-Mamoura neighborhood mosque by two Islamist Egyptian terrorists disconnected from their humanity. Only a few had an inkling of what really happened.

After the publication and banning at age 26 of his new provocative debut memoir My Isl@m: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind and Doubt Freed My Soul, recommended in Ken Wilber's The Religion of Tomorrow and by Foreign Policy magazine among 25 books to read in 2013, he became recognized as a foremost world authority on tech's and A.I.'s impact on the evolution of religions. He is now actively updating it with new material for release as a new edition on the 12 year anniversary of its publishing in June, 2025.

Amir in London in 2018 at the British Museum by a sculpture from over 3,300 years ago of Amenhotep III who reigned over a "period of unprecedented prosperity and splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power." Amir's ancestry hails from the Nile historically pharaonic as in the story of Joseph and the benevolent King he served then Jewish, Christian, Islamic and now more humanist due to globalization. The picture in London was taken by advocacy and communications advisor and partner Evelyn Skye Blaise when AssertiveU™ operated in stealth mode formerly as Assertive & Co.™

Amir in 2016 during his German translated book tour at a checkpoint where the Berlin Wall used to be when the iron curtain was a reality and tens of millions lived under dictatorship. Thankfully, the desire of East Europeans to be free exceeded the power of the tyrannies of those days until the Berlin Wall eventually fell as the world watched in historic television footage. As Bob Marley noted, none but ourselves can free our minds. Hence, and without exaggeration, the power of the people, harnessed well, truthfully and morally, is stronger than any tyrant in power.

The heinous acts Amir experienced as a kid happened not long after one of the two Islamist imams had taken over as the leader of the neighborhood mosque with a theocratic antisemitic agenda, and they discovered in a class Amir attended that he's the son of an American educated father and professor and parents who had left Khartoum, Sudan to the University of Wisconsin–Madison of early 1970's America.

Facing an impending onslaught, Amir stood his ground but could not physically stop them. Worse, they tricked him into believing "Satan" is within him and that "God" would tell them if he dared utter a word and they would kill him and his parents for it. It was a pitiful vengeful act, cowardly inflicted upon Amir by two of the least and lowest of so-called men, also out of empty envy for being a better reciter and caller to prayer whose parents lovingly as best as they could raised Sudanese-American.

Both terrorists belonged to the rogue global organization the Muslim Brotherhood whose members were tortured in the prisons of secular Arab Egyptian nationalist, President Jamal Abdel Nasser under his orders after an attempt on his life by a Muslim Brotherhood member.

Gratefully, feeling in this world but not of it, it wasn't in vain as he did not have the freedom or luxury to wallow in victimhood or cynicism in those difficult years. One day while watching news on television, Amir's father commented about the strength of a US leader he admired. "This man was tortured in Vietnam but he remained alive and today he is a Congressman." Even after the horrors of 9/11, Amir refused to give up on America as a state of mind and himself and his dreams as a little playful boy. Amir coped the best he could.

As fate would have it two decades later, it was after a most profoundly indelible in-person experience Amir had on September 30th, 2015 in Washington DC at the Harman Center for the Arts and then later that day in the US Senate chamber with torture survivor, US Senator John McCain that Amir's life was never the same again. Three years later, after that fateful experience left a lasting impact, former US Presidential candidate Senator McCain passed away from brain cancer in his home state of Arizona at 81 on August 25th, Amir's 32nd birthday.

To this day, Amir remains a firm believer in the historic major net positives of Pax Americana and the wisdom of the late Senator McCain that "America's greatest strength has always been its hopeful vision of human progress... Our shared values define us more than our differences. And acknowledging those shared values can see us through our challenges today if we have the wisdom to trust in them again."

It took Amir many years to pierce the veils of illusion, let alone regain his joy and freedom in living by being able to express the fullness of his story. Among the best decisions he made are embracing timeless and spiritual character-driven leadership development practices as well as somatic body work that freed him to thrive while fighting back as an incisive strategic intelligence analyst and advisor. He is passionate about issues related to free speech, and in recent times, free will and agency in the age of A.I and its role in our lives. He agrees with Jack Dorsey's assessment that we must be wise to not sacrifice the degree of free will we currently enjoy and live by.

Jack Dorsey at the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum speaking on the importance of protecting free will as we move into an A.I. powered world and media landscape, a sentiment shared by Amir Ahmad Nasr and that spread in a viral video clip watched tens of millions of times after Elon Musk reposted it on X.

Amir has been instrumental to innovative Fortune 500 teams and executives, billion dollar and six to nine-figure founders, online brands and thought leaders., NYT and WSJ best-selling authors, Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. 500 entrepreneurs, Grammy and Emmy Award recognized storytellers, and many, many coaches, speakers, trainers, consultants and experts in owning their true leadership voice values influentially and fast-tracking their growth resiliently. His origin experiences, understood rightly, inform his worldview and life's work.

A spiritual being first and foremost having a human experience, in Earthly cultural terms, he identifies as a Nubian Khartoum-born, American and Japanese influenced, British high school O' Levels educated, Malaysian-raised, English and Arabic speaking man of the world who loves the outdoors of British Columbia. As the Nubian son of Sudanese-American parents, he traces his lineage as indigenous to the fourth cataract of the Nile of Karima, Meroe and Korti in Sudan, the home and stronghold of the Kushite Pharaohs Empire before Christianity and later on the influx of Arabs and Islam. In due time, he wishes to also have a home somewhere in the deserts of Arizona or California.

"Kush, was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt... an early cradle of civilization, producing several complex societies."

Amir in 2017 back when AssertiveU™ had one offer: the mastermind series Assertive and Company™ for humanist leaders.

Amir is a firm believer in the benefits of "verbal fasting" and teaching curious leaders how to harness the power of the inner voice of wisdom and "stillness that speaks" to unlock one's human potential. Whether through traditional silent meditation or proven programs like HeartMath and the Silva Method, it is an imperative that you find what works for you if you truly wish to realize more of your potential. We believe that in a complex, noisy and risky yet exciting world of opportunity, unlocking your values-based ability to accurately and productively self-reflect and be self-fulfilled and self-expressed with key frameworks for more impact, is a superpower.

As a global brand, AssertiveU™ is inspired by an ethos drawn from Amir's international upbringing as a humanist with a perspective and sensitive attunement to the cultural nuances of storytelling in different contexts. By the time he turned 10, he had experienced memorable holidays outside of Qatar with his family and relatives in three countries: Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Czechoslovakia. Amir has grown up with family and relatives in Sudan, Qatar, Malaysia, America, Canada, England and back to Canada.

Amir enjoying his first memorable pleasant experience with a calm friendly dog at the age of five during a family holiday in Prague, Czechoslovakia, visiting Europe for the first time. Decades later, now in his late thirties and inspired by this formative memory, he is getting ready to adopt and have his first dog as preparation and practice for fatherhood.

It was starting at age 11, after leaving Doha, Qatar for good that Amir attended British and American international schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and grew up speaking English primarily with a rich third-culture kid experience in his formative years.

According to the summary on Wikipedia, "third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years. They typically are exposed to a greater volume and variety of cultural influences than those who grow up in one particular cultural setting."

A signed copy of the #1 NY Times best-selling book Wonder by RJ Palacio, now a major motion picture starring Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay, gifted to Amir by RJ, after being invited on set in Vancouver in the summer of 2016 to witness a beautiful acting scene during the filming of the movie.

Throughout his journey as a seeker, he was fortunate to be warmly welcomed as a curious student practitioner by accommodating hosts and spiritual leaders at profound Hindu temples in Bali and Shinshoji Buddhist temple in Japan as well as in synagogues, churches and mosques with diverse interpretations, globally. Along the way he also learned invaluable lessons and experienced real growth after immersing himself in the Human Potential Movement regardless of its over-emphasis on "positive thinking" despite tragic dimensions of the human condition at times. With some exceptions, it was from within timeless spiritual wisdom lineages that he found the most potent principles and practices.

Amir in Bali in 2009 on a Mindvalley team retreat with the person who had the earliest, biggest and most catalyzing inspirational impact on him, the one and only, the beloved late Sean Stephenson, a giant of the human potential movement who influenced many leaders' decisions to rise above adversity.

Of particular resonance to him is the univeralist Inayati music-honoring Sufi Muslim lineage of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and poetic texts referencing the angel of the veil Metatron. For the Sufi way in the words of Kabir Helminski is "a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived. This deeper identity, beyond the already known personality, is in harmony with all that exists." When one stays true to a desire toward universality, a more potent possibility shows up, accessible to all who become open to it as a realizable part of our potential.

Shinshoji Temple in Narita, Japan which Amir visited in 2006. It has attracted spiritual seekers and meditators for over 1,000 years. Built in 940 AD, it honors "Fudo-myoo" [Acala, the wrathful expression of the Buddha] which is said to lead people to enlightenment with its facial expression filled with fury and wrath. The fire rising from the spine represents healthy anger that burns cleanly as cleansing flames that rid you of toxicities with a bright light and warmth. The rope represents binding down unhealthy lower egoic emotions to keep them in check. And the sword represents the piercing of veils, slicing through illusions. Taken together, Acala, the Immoveable, is a powerful archetype and state of consciousness rooted in Empty Oneness that wards off illusions and deception. Fun fact: Acala is also the archetypal inspiration behind much of globally popular Japanese anime such as Dragon Ball and characters like Ken and Ryu in Street Fighter.

The breath taking interior of the Sultan Ahmed Blue Mosque in Istanbul which Amir visited in 2009. It is a mosque that is welcoming to both non-Muslims and Muslims inside.

A high level view of the Blue Mosque from the Deluxe Golden Horn Sultanahmet Hotel restaurant's patio for kebab grill.

Amir in Bali in 2010 grateful after a meditation, conversation and history lesson led by the Hindu temple's priests.

In 2012, while visiting Denmark for a business trip, Amir was told about the collections at the local Copenhagen Museum. Pictured above is the jackal-headed Anubis from the Temple of Luxor showcased in Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Anubis is the aspect and attribute of the One divine reality from among the pantheon of deity symbols from Pharaonic times that represents guidance of souls through the underworld, death and rebirth, and the afterlife.

Amir Ahmad Nasr at the Aspen Institute in 2015 attending a roundtable seminar on values, leadership and the good society, about to start discussing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham City Jail with fellow participants. Without the civil rights movement which MLK Jr. helped lead on the basis of a spiritual humanist ethos inspired by his Christianity, Amir's parents wouldn't have been able to legally set foot in the United States of the early 1970's.

Amir in Rochester Cathedral, Kent, UK, in 2018 close to Rochester Castle where the Magna Carta came into effect in 1215.

From RochesterCathedral.org : "The Magna Carta ("Great Charter") is a document guaranteeing political liberties that was drafted at Runnymede, a meadow by the Thames, and signed by King John on June 15, 1215, under pressure from his rebellious barons. By declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” Magna Carta provided the foundation for individual rights in England and eventually throughout the English-speaking world. Rather than introducing new laws, the aim of Magna Carta was to hold the King to account on laws already in existence."

After attending Synagogue with a dear Jewish friend and mentor, and reading a book in the Torah studies library in 2019 about the inspiring 5,000 year history of the Jewish people, Amir was ready to learn more. Pictured is Amir's yarmulke after spending the 2024 Passover on Sunday with a three generation Jewish family in Toronto learning about this tradition seated at the dining table listening to the story of Moses and Exodus, appreciating what it means for the Jewish people.

Many have found and continue to find his lived lessons invaluable, and even life-changing. It was in 2006, after starting to blog and share learnings, art and experiences with inquisitive close friends and colleagues, that the requests to teach his methods and strategies grew. In 2013, while working together in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where his book was suddenly banned, and still stuck waiting for his delayed US Visa, he met future AssertiveU™ advocacy and communications advisor and partner the British English-born Evelyn Skye Blaise. It didn't take long for them both to decide to move to Canada. Shortly afterwards, in 2014, Amir landed in Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to seek protection and political asylum from persecution. A few months later, Skye arrived in Vancouver too to continue on with distinct lives as allies.

Then in September, 2015, after a week-long values and leadership development seminar he attended at the Aspen Institute, and in particular crucially after his experience with Senator McCain just days later in Washington DC, it started to make more sense for Amir to consider starting a new kind of educational endeavor.

Like the Aspen Institute it would not shy away from dealing with the challenges of the human experience too often ignored by much of the "New Thought" and human potential movement. Moreover, like Esalen Institute, at its heart would be a potent transpersonal psychology-based, spirituality-informed approach infused into it. After all, without peace and human rights, we cannot realize our human potential and express our human creativity.

Despite initial doubts, and in response to the increasing demands on his time and bandwith, in mid 2016, Amir eventually founded a new venture now available virtually and in-person.

Today AssertiveU™ delivers and facilitates intensives for ambitious mission-driven thought leaders, entrepreneurs and executives, just like you, to own your true leadership voice, unlock your human potential beyond A.I. and fast-track your growth to the next level.

Amir standing at the United Nations HQ General Assembly podium in Manhattan, New York City in 2006 in front of an empty hall practicing and visualizing himself as a speaker addressing world leaders.

Amir in 2006 inside the UN Security Council in the seat of the Secretary General.

Bit by bit, with steady patience, Amir rediscovered his love for spirituality and Mystery of everything: an experience available to all of us who allow it. This experience is referred to as Ma'at in the temples of the Nile Valley, the indestructible Unity of Existence, also the Beloved in the Sufism and Source in New Age spirituality.

As the Sufi poet al-Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn Arabi said: "O Marvel! A garden amidst fires! My heart has become receptive of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles, a monastery for Christian monks, a temple for deities, the Ka'bah of the pilgrim, the tables of the Torah, and the book of the Qur'an. I follow the religion of Love. Wherever its camel mounts turn, that is my religion and my Faith." Stated differently, he was referring to a state of being rooted and grounded in Emptiness consciousness and the "Unity of Being."

As a writer and storyteller, accounts of the story of Joseph's rise as accurate wise dream interpreting confidant to the King of the Nile, and then as ruler of Egypt, hold special meaning for Amir. Full of practical actionable wisdom on patience, stewardship, assertive leadership, strategic foresight and good governance, Joseph's story richly informs Amir's journey and facilitations with everyone he's advised and coached. Unlike the story of Moses and the tyrant pharaoh in it whose reign was one of terror for those he oppressed, the King in the story of Joseph offers contrasting timeless lessons on leadership in good governance.

AssertiveU™ founder Amir with his editor Daniela Rapp standing in front of the iconic Flatiron Building in Manhattan in New York City where he earlier in 2012 signed his publishing deal with St. Martin's Press for his debut memoir as Amir Ahmad Nasr, My Isl@m released in June 2013, not far from Hell's Kitchen, Daredevil's neighborhood in the Marvel universe.

Amir in 2016 speaking to a packed highly engaged room at the German American Institute in Heidelberg, Germany on the dangers of populism and unchecked immigration and the value of freedom and healthy integration.

Amir's long track record as a writer, producing literary, intelligence and investigative journalism as a spiritual humanist and classical liberal has attracted praise from a global audience and influential readership. They include respected Academy and Emmy Award recognized Hollywood personalities, Marvel and Disney storytellers, White House officials, US Department of Defense, Five Eyes intelligence officers, national security professionals, celebrated founders, Ivy League academics and tech investors, and fellow artists, activists and entrepreneurs.

Amir speaking in 2015 about the impact of the digital media revolution on religion, culture and politics in the prelude to the Arab Spring and the implications for years to come at Washington DC think-tank Cato Institute.

Amir after being interviewed by Ken Wilber and speaking together about modernity, organized religion and the spiritual meaning of The Matrix in 2016 at Ken's home and loft in Denver, Colorado.

Most of all, Ken Wilber, the world renowned American integral philosopher of consciousness as well as respected scholar of transpersonal psychology featured in the classic Matrix trilogy movies, praised Amir's work as revolutionary.

He described Amir's debut book as "important and significant... especially at this time in our history... This is the right message, at the right time, from the right person."

Integral scholars strive to comprehensively organize, harmonize and merge the best most proven of humanity's wisdom traditions, experiences and sciences into an illuminating grand "theory of everything" about the nature of our reality and existence.

Having traveled as a TCI writer to dozens of countries, Amir merges the best and most proven of timeless Eastern and Western philosophies, practices and storytelling traditions to serve you with greater understanding and versatility, amplified by A.I. in order for you to fast-track your growth with true resilience, real influence and profound R.O.I. He has been featured in dozens of global journalism media outlets in over 13 languages telling stories about spirituality, human flourishing and our present with better alternative models of reality that free you to thrive.

From greening the deserts of planet Earth and achieving food security for all to making education ubiquitous, renewing freedom and democracy and living healthier longer life-spans assisted by humanoids. Together, we believe we can bring this alive, sooner, by leading with better stories of possibilities until perhaps some of us will one day live to space travel and witness humanoids growing palms from the Nile in lush gardens on Mars. He is a featured personality in the Nick Nanton Emmy nominated documentary film Live Your Quest along with Tom Chi of Google X, Rev. Michael Beckwith of Agape, and the NYT best-selling authors Jack Canfield and Lisa Nichols, among others. Through strategic and open source intelligence, he remains engaged in constructive consultations and award-winning initiatives that support freedom, NATO alliance national security and human rights globally.

Throwback to 2011, speaking for the first time as Amir Ahmad Nasr at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway on the Arab Spring and past non-violent revolutions in his birth place of Khartoum, Sudan at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, becoming the one storied Nile we know of.

Drima Starlight in his first public appearance in February, 2020 in Vancouver in his first TEDx talk, now on TED.com

Set on completing the process to become a US citizen in due time like his parents, for now, he is a happy permanent resident and soon to be citizen of Oh Canada! #WeTheNorth

As the founder of AssertiveU™ he has pioneered facilitation methods drawn from the timeless wisdom traditions that resolve stubborn issues where others failed. When he is not facilitating, thanks to the valued encouragement of two respected producers, a Grammy Award winner and an Academy Award winner, Amir is deep at work as a writer and artist on his book trilogy as well as a screenwriter, singer-songwriter, director and producer on his debut upcoming cinematic concept album and documentary film.

A deep insightful listener and reflective artist whose personal values are transcendence, musicality and conviction, he guides conscious reality creators and experts in their fields, like you, to face their foremost fears as well as powerfully refine their true voice and be in their element.

At our best, when you fully participate, AssertiveU™ is kind of like the "Make a Wish Foundation" when one "faces life-altering, complex physical and health challenges along with overwhelming mental and emotional burdens. A wish can stir the strength and optimism that are crucial to fighting physical, emotional and psychological adversity. Wishes are treatment." Indeed. They allow us all "to return to childhood, rediscover play, experience joy, and reconnect with family, friends, and community." Be your own best wish granter. You deserve it.

As long as you too are reflective, self-responsible, committed and resonate with our values, welcome to the AssertiveU™ campus. To learn more about enrolling, sign up with your email to access your complimentary facilitation session and speak soon. - The Team 📞

Amir Ahmad Nasr, back full circle, getting ready to restring his first high school electric guitar in 2021 in Toronto to practice: "As a writer and speaker, I also love sharing fun lessons manifesting my Billboard Hot 100 debut as the soul blues rockin’ singin' guitar slingin' otherworldly international superstar, Drima Starlight. Because why not?"



[AssertiveU™ founder] Amir is one of the smartest and most trustworthy human doings, and one of the finest human beings I have ever met.

He is a quick and accurate study, enthusiastic, positive and not only listens and gets what you want to do and how to get there, he also listens into your future and gets where and who you want to and could be.

He will leave the world much better than he found it."

— The Late Dr. Mark Goulston, Fortune 500 Strategic Advisor & Author of the International Best-Selling Books Just Listen & Real Influence

[Amir Ahmad Nasr's story] is a beautiful story about love, heartbreak, and redemption... be inspired.

— Salman Ahmad, International Best-Selling Author of Rock & Roll Jihad and Lead Singer of the Sold-Out Stadiums Sufi Rock Band Junoon

QUOTES OF WISDOM THAT INSPIRE YOUR HOST, ADVISOR & COACH, THE FOUNDER OF ASSERTIVEU™


"The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way... Energy can't be created or destroyed, and energy flows. It must be in a direction, with some kind of internal, emotive, spiritual direction. It must have some effect somewhere." — Keanu Reeves, Canadian Actor & Musician

"Be an instrument of peace. Enjoy yourself—have fun with your existence. Learn to listen to your inner voice and don’t overdose on yourself. Keep your darkness in check. Let music be a healing force. Be a real musician: once you start counting money before notes, you’re a full-time wannabe. Put your guitar down and go outside and take a long drink of light with your eyes. Go walk in the park and take off your shoes and socks and feel the grass under your feet and mud between your toes. Go see a baby smiling... Feel life—all of it, as much as possible. Find a human melody, then write a song about it. Make it all come through your music." — Carlos Santana, World Renowned Legendary Guitarist & Spiritual Revolutionary

"Do your little bit of good where you are. It's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." — Viola Desmond, Canadian Lawyer, Entrepreneur & Civil Rights Icon

"While God has both Jalal, or Sacred Masculine, and Jamal, or Divine Feminine, historically too much attention was given to masculine eclipsing the tawhidic (unifying) balance with the feminine. The future will reclaim the feminine as a way to enhance the harmony and beauty." — Amina Wadud, Revolutionary Muslim Woman Challenging Patriarchal Interpretations & Leading Mixed Gender Prayers in Mosques as a Scholar Imam

"Britain has two competing traditions – one rooted in ideas of freedom, equality and democracy, and another that sees these words as mere rhetoric to be trotted out at will and violated whenever it serves the Machiavellian purposes of power." — Akala, Author of Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." — Charles Dickens in His Famed Novel, A Tale of Two Cities

"America's greatest strength has always been its hopeful vision of human progress... Our shared values define us more than our differences. And acknowledging those shared values can see us through our challenges today if we have the wisdom to trust in them again." — John McCain, US Senator

"If there's a book you want to read [or a song you wish to hear, listen to and enjoy] but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it [and sing it]... He had a language that was assertive, eloquent and political, but not devoid of love." — Toni Morrison, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature on the Imperatives of Being a Storyteller & on James Baldwin's Writings

"True desire in the heart for anything good is God's proof to you sent beforehand to indicate that it’s yours already." — Denzel Washington, Academy Award Winning Actor

"When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues... Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it... If you only say one prayer in a day, make it thank you." — Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Beloved Sufi Poet

"In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete." — Buckminster R. Fuller, Visionary Futurist

"I believe you can look to the past to determine the future. Anything that comes at you, it's a moment in time. You get through it, so long as you're in-tune and making decisions based on the things that you truly and genuinely believe in." — Todd Lieberman on Inside the War Room Podcast, Acclaimed Executive Producer With 8 Movies Opening at #1 at the Box Office, Along With a Total of 11 Academy Award Nominations & 3 Oscar Wins

"In the cave you fear to enter lies the treasure you seek." — Joseph Campbell, Mythologist

"I don't count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count." — Muhammad Ali, the Legendary World Boxing Champion

"When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment... I think you have to let go of this idea that you can be precious about everything and let it be the abstract mess that it is..." Ryan Reynolds a.k.a. Vancity Reynolds, the Beloved Canadian American Actor

"Art is one of those things. Setting the bar low, especially to get started, frees you to play, explore, and test without attachment to results. A river of material flows through us." — Rick Rubin, 8-Time Grammy Award Winning Producer

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