The psychoanalysts taught us that in order to communicate a Truth ,you first had to interpret the defense mechanism.So what is the primary defense mechanism of our society? Not listening! (Watch the Congressional hearings if you don’t believe me!).Where does this come from?-a whole set of social conditionnings including the emphasis on Rationnality and the ubiquitous marketing that we have learnt “to turn a deaf ear” ! Is there a solution?I don’t see one! If you tell them they are not listening or not hearing,they just get offended! Maybe prayer?! Or maybe we are truly on The Eve of Destruction” and this,too, is part of the Divine Plan!
Category Archives: Modern Living
Distress
From the wisdom of the Sufis: “And the renowned Master Ibn ’Ata’illah says in his Hikam: ‘May the pain of trial be lightened for you by your knowledge that it is He, be He exalted, who is trying you.’ There is no doubt that, for men(and women) of God, their best moment is the moment of distress, for this is what fosters their growth. He also says in his Hikam: ‘The best of your moments is that in which you are aware of your distress and thrown back upon your own helplessness….’ ”
There is no doubt that for men(and women) of God the best moment is the moment of distress. When there is no recourse to yourself. When we find ourselves helpless, that is the best moment, if you understand. It may be in distress you will find benefits that you have been unable to find either in prayer or in fasting.”
The Catholic dilemma around divorce
Whenever one comes up against a religious edict that is unique to one tradition and not present in most of the others, or then again something that defies common sense,one has one has to begin questioning what has happened.The answer is almost always the same-a misinterpretation of the original scriptures.This applies to the absolute prohibition of divorce in Catholicism as well as the Buddhist denial of the individual soul,the Jewish ‘payees'(the absurd looking curled sideburns on Hassidic Jews) and the burqa in Islam.)All are aberrations of scriptural interpretation(the science known as hermeneutics or exegesis).
So for the current question ,the relevant text is the following:
Matthew 19:3-9 New International Version (NIV)
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
From this text,it is not hard to understand the Catholic position.However, several factors must be considered before jumping to such black and white decisions as do the Catholics here.
Firstly ,this statement was made to the Pharisees-an undisciplined and unruly lot ,it would appear.The context is vital here,as is the context in various citations of the Quran .In fact, in Islam ,there is an entire science called “Asbab al Nuzul” (literally the reasons for the descent-of revelation)dedicated to this question .Contextualization is often vital to properly understanding scripture!
Here,it sounds like the Pharisees are either looking for a “free ride” to divorce their wives whenever they want.Or then again ,they may be trying to trap Jesus in a position which he will have trouble defending in another context-a tactic familiar in contemporary politics-particularly with journalists l.ol So this statement of Jesus may be specific to the Pharisees and their evil intentions.
Let me elaborate here, albeit it in a hypothetical manner.Imagine this scenario .Instead of one of those cynical,provocative Pharisees let us imagine one of Jesus’ sincere followers coming to ask for a consultation.He says the following:’My master and Lord Jesus.25 years ago I got married.We were very attracted to each other early on but over the years we have grown to dislike each other in a very ugly way.I have consulted the Rabbis,I have had our families trying to intervene and I have prayed intensely for this to change but to no avail.It has gotten to the point where I have dreams of eliminating her by any means possible.I would,of course,never do that but the feelings are like that.Would you give me and her permission for a divorce?” Can anyone imagine jesus saying “Didn’t I tell you already that man cannot separate what God has united?Are you not listening to my teachings?!”.A priest or pastor or Imam might say such a thing but Jesus,never! Compassion is the basis of his teaching.I think we really need to take that into account!
There is another way of framing this discussion.If one takes into account the Islamic understanding that Allah is the “muqallib al qulub”(the controller of human hearts) then when a man turns against his wife or vice-versa when a woman’s heart turns against her husband (in a stable ,permanent manner rather than a reactive,frivolous one)this is now an act of God! So it is no longer an act of man causing the separation,but rather an act of God! Thus divorce becomes a practical option-one that is recognized in every other tradition besides Catholicism.
Notice here,that we are not trying to make light of divorce.It is a painful,hurtful and disruptive event on many levels including the effect on any children involved.Almost no one starts out a marriage with the intention of arriving there.However,sometimes,it is the best of a series of bad options.The fact that Jesus mentions the hard-heartedness of the people of Moses echoes clearly the modern era where hard-heartedness has become the norm.So the example of Moses granting divorce to one of the Children of Israel is all the more relevant.
There is one more important point I would like to raise here.I believe that, despite what I have said above,if someone follows the Catholic principle of not divorcing or the Jewish dress code or the Islamic one even though it is based on scriptural misinterpretation,they will nevertheless be rewarded for their intention of piety.Such is the nature of our paradoxical relationship to the Absolute.May God help us all to acquire His pleasure in all our actions!
Jesus (Isa Ibn Maryam a.s.)
Appreciating the sayings of Jesus(Isa Ibn Mayram) more and more these days.“Seek ye the kingdom of heaven and all else shall be added unto thee” Ajib.I realize that most people, including most of the so-called ‘believers’, are operating on the opposite principle: “Seek ye the kingdom of Earth( optimize your worldly conditions) and heaven (well-‘being) will be added unto you” No wonder we are in such a mess!
Trump ,Marx and the Ikhwan
An odd analogy,I know, but Trump is somewhat like Marx! He sees many of the problems clearly(the swamp in Washington,China cheating on trade,an over-priced medical system) but doesn’t seem to really know what to do about them.So like the Marxists,he ends up making things worse rather than better.There are still people, almost 200 years later, who believe in Marx because of the accuracy of his insights.I hope they will catch on quicker to Trump lol,preferably before the next election!
The other thing they have in common is that they are both materialists! Marx was a dialectical materialist.Trump is a pure materialist.So they both believe that you can solve problems from outside /in.Wrong! The mystical way teaches us that problems need to be solved from inside out.
While I am on it, there is a third type of materialist out there -the religious materialist, incarnated perhaps most clearly in the Islamist movement particularly with the Ikhwan Muslimeen(Muslim Brotherhood). They, too, believe in solving problems outside/in,My spiritual teacher,Sheikh Nazim, used to take them on directly-this was before some of their offshoots like Al Qaida and Isis.”You do not understand our religion properly” he would say.”Your idea of an Islamic state is false.We get the governments we deserve(so true! Look at the U.S.A. lol) If you want a better government,help the people to improve themselves” These words ring loud and clear so many years later!
The State of the Nation (cont’d)
American Election campaign.It’s hopeless folks! The politicians,even the best of them, are blind to many of the most pressing issues.I’ll mention a few here just so you understand:1)There is an epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease,Cancer, Auto-Immune disorders and Autism.The most you’ll get from these politicians is a proposal to increase funding for Research.That will,of course, just increase funding for more toxic chemical treatments and more surgical interventions.Misses the point totally about the causes of these diseases and the need for prevention.2) The issue of increasing workplace tension because of the obsession with efficiency.Not a single word about it.Instead the entire focus is on the trade war with China and Economic Growth.3)The question of 5G, pesticides,cancerogenic chemicals in all the new construction materials. Again not a word about it.Only about energy conservation through better insulation(read more toxic indoor air) and newer light bulbs( many causing a host of symptoms that have never even been investigated!) and electric cars(ever studied the noxious effects of EMFs .The electric cars may well be worse for us than the petroleum-driven ones!(On a more personal level,both me and my brother,even more,suffer more from the EMFs in cars than from the petroleum byproducts of combustion!)4) The ineffective.overly costly,maddeningly slow Justice System.They can’t even get the Trump accusations in front of a judge in a timely,effective manner.Should be a priority ,no?Imagine the ordinary cases like yours and mine.The system is broken folks and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.Voting in progressive candidates may improve things but only very slightly if not insignificantly.Remember Obama! How much did that improve any of those above-mentioned issues.Not at all.
“Experts” and Wise Men and Women
Watching General Matis being interviewed on MSNBC.An intelligent,principled,well-intentionned man.Full of clever formulas like”you recruit for attitude;but you train for skill” and “there are three things important in leadership,supposedly military, but generalizable: competence,caring and conviction”.Sounds good ,eh? Well,anything that doesn’t refer back to the Divine Will and presumes we humans are in charge is bogus to me!That was the genius of the Sahabbas(The Companions of the Prophet sal).They understood well that it all happens via the Divine Will(“Musabib al asbab”-the Causer of Causes).And they had a great teacher in Mohammed-one of the most aware beings concerning this aspect of reality and arguably its greatest teacher.This aspect of reality has not changed one iota in 1500 years! Alhumdulillah that there were people who have taught us this! We need less “experts” and more wise men and women(i.e. God-conscious ones).
The Apocalypse!
Sheikh Nazim was right!There is only one way out for humanity-following a Rightly-Guided leader! The guidance of our democratic society-follow your desire,follow your opinion,follow your wife(who is equally lost) lol is not going to work!Global warming,5G,cancerogenic pesticides and construction materials,economic crises,wars of greed and nationalism etc.,etc. will get us long before that.So we are awaiting a Divinely-Inspired one-the Messiah.But cataclysmic events that make Hurricane Dorian look like child’s play are likely to occur before that.Sorry New-Agers! Your dream of an Age of Enlightenment is a wishful chimera.So hold tight! God help us all.
Trump,Shtrump
My preliminary final conclusion on Trump! He wanted to do some interesting things like take on China and bring production back to the U.S. and improve relations with North Korea and Russia.But he is seriously out of his depth! He doesn’t understand either the limitations of power,nor the need for strategy nor the need to be a team-player! For example ,on the China issue,it would have been far more effective if he could have got his European allies on board with his plan.But because of his individualism and hubris and lack of strategic planning ,it looks more likely that he will fail than succeed.Too bad,really.He does have the capacity to see what is wrong in certain situations which most of the other democratic politicians are either blind to or don’t have the courage to take on..He is just not skillful enough to bring his plans to fruition.P.S. That is probably also why he failed so often in business!
The State of Science
(Los Angeles Times)”Flames are spreading across the Amazon rainforest this summer, spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each day. But scientists say that’s not their biggest concern.” Really!? That’s not their biggest concern?! Well it should be! For the last twenty years at least all we’ve heard about is the greenhouse effect and carbon imprint on the atmosphere.Here’s a chance to test it out.Is there a correlation between the Amazon fires and the Earth’s temperature in a way that we can see a causal connection.? Can’t find a single study on that issue ! Can you?This is not an isolated event! I often find in the scientific world that the most relevant studies are NOT being done Like on the vaccine question.What is the long-term effects of multiple vaccinations on human health.Can’t find a single study.What was the cancer rate in Cuba when they were forced to go organic for 30 years? Not a single study! We have lost the true scientific attitude and have entered the world of economic manipulation and theology.