The problem with psychological formulations, although a valid form of knowledge, is that they most often emphasize the negative.Thus we diagnose people-narcissists,paranoids,psychopaths,bipolars etc.This does help to understand but can lead to a very negativistic view of the world.I suggest you try something new. Every time you diagnose a friend or colleague or family member with one of those psychopathological formulations try to find a positive diagnosis as well. (Even the term diagnosis represents a distortion as it is drawn from the realm of medical pathology!). So in the Bipolar person you could see a”force of nature” or a “spiritual visionary”. In a narcissist you might see “an acute sense of aesthetics” or”a dynamo of self-confidence”. You can already see that the terms are difficult to come-by since this form of thinking has not been well developed.The psychopath may be”fearless and full of courage” and the obsessional may be “hard-working with high standards”. Try it out and get back to me with your results.This exercise should leave you at least with a lot less cynicism than the average psychologist and social worker.

1. Every religion contains a manifest truth and a hidden misconception.These misconceptions are not from God nor His Messengers.They are from human interpreters down the line.
2. In Judaism,for example,the manifest Truth is the One God and His Chosen people.The hidden misconception is in the meaning of Chosen people.It certainly doesn’t mean that they are the only people that matter and it doesn’t mean either that they have been chosen forever.In fact ,I believe they lost that position a long time ago, despite the numerous favours that God bestowed on them.

Continue reading The Manifest Truth and the Hidden Misconceptions in the Various Religions →

Have a look:

Have a look:

(In response to a Facebook posting about the horrors of Wahhabism, of which I am even more critical than the author). called “fond memories of a Wahhabbi childhood” .
Joel Ibrahim Kreps:  Fond memories(actually continual observations) from the children of modernism.The children go to school and before long they are stressed out by assignments,projects and tests some of which their parents,seeing their childrens’ distress, unethically do for them.Their mother and father are regularly battling it out for who is in control(remember it always has to be equal).The adolescents are starting to have sex in their early teens.By the time they are in their twenties their hearts are broken and hardened and their view of relationships is cynical and embittered.At work, due to the wonderful ideas of MBAs and other proponents of “scientific management” the adults are stressed out in cubicles which give them no privacy and jobs that require them to do the work of two or three people etc.,etc. We are truly caught between a rock and a hard place.But usually only the rock is mentioned and the hard place is taken for granted.

If there is really no self,what keeps reincarnating?!

The Buddhist Teaching of Mindfulness (sati in Sanskrit) has become omnipresent- used in many activities from psychotherapy to sports training.Of course it is still used as well for spiritual development through meditation.If one goes a little deeper in the teaching we find mindfulness of several dimensions-mindfulness of thoughts ,mindfulness of emotions,mindfulness of bodily sensations etc.The one that has always perplexed me is mindfulness opf dharma- another Sanskrit word meaning many things but particularly the teachings of the Way).That still left me wondering what that means-do you have to keep thinking about the principles of Buddhism.That seems counterproductive as it just brings you back to your mind.So with my characteristic chutzpah(correcting the Buddhist scholars!?) I propose a modification-mindfulness of the “hal”(spiritual state ).

“What does this have to do with Islam ” you may well ask,particularly the Salat.Most of us are taught that the salat is obligatory-five times a day, n’est-ce pas?But that is a heavy load for some and a superegoic way of practicing the religion(note the blending of psychology and spirituality!).So instead,I propose mindfulness of the hal before and during salat-that includes the wudu(purification) before.We know from the hadith that Ayesha ra reported when the call to prayer came the state of the Prophet pbuh would change.Interesting.He was connecting with the Divine presence.That is the real purpose of the salat,More so than just fulfilling our duties.That is being mindful of the hal of the salat.We can enter this hal as well.In all likelihood,not as powerfully as our Prophet pbuh but in the same spirit.If you do this,you will notice the effect.It also becomes a lot easier to do your obligations.It’s called positive reinforcement in behavioural psychology.