I remember a diet book that said that the average restaurant portion is about twice what we should normally be eating.I think that the same may well be true for the use of time.That is, we are trying to do about twice what we should normally be doing in a day.I have been testing this out in Trinidad.I schedule about half the day only.And it is working out wonderfully.The other half gets easily filled,there is little stress and the “empty times” are both relaxing and open for inspiration of all sorts.Give it a shot.You may be surprised by the results!
Category Archives: Modern Living
Comfort?!
Intriguing world! More peaceful in Tobago than Trinidad . Much less crime. But no people of nur. And no interesting discussions. Conclusion: comfort kills the spirit!
All around us we can see people seeking more comfort- a bigger house, a more spacious car, the latest lazy-boy couch! But they are like the iconic donkey chasing the iconic carrot. They never get to satisfaction. Why?! Because comfort is not where it’s at ! It’s a false God. Comfort kills the spirit!
I remember visiting an old friend of my Mom in a luxurious old people’s home. He had made a lot of money as a jeweller but now seemed to be desolate and confused. “I have everything I ever wanted here but I’m feeling so depressed! “ He had no idea why that was. He had worshipped at the altar of the god of comfort and found himself empty. Why is that?! Because Comfort kills the spirit.
A kindred spirit
I knew there had to be someone out there who understood what I have come to realize about that so over/valued mind! “Man has no enemy equal to the unenlightened mind. It is this unenlightened mind that has built up this vast structure of terrestrial selfishness, discord and greed. The false light or lower mind is the emblem of the beast and the number 666. The beast, consequently, is the uninspired mind which is opposed to the inspired or Divine Mind. This monster of the lower mind, this leviathan that swallows Jonah, this creature that comes out of the sea of illusion, this beast with the crown on his head —all this symbolism refers to the unenlightened human intellect.”
– Manly P. Hall
Alhimdulillah.
Economic paranoia
There is a common belief in the modern world that everything is about money. “All political decisions are financially based primarily. “That is what even many intelligent , well-educated people believe. So if the United States goes into Iraq , it is for the petrol or if doctors insist on pharmaceutical treatments it is because they are bribed by the big pharma companies.
Now, there is some truth to this point of view but it is by no means the whole truth. It is as if the modernists can only see one of the 7 cardinal sins- greed. But often other factors are in play – like pride and ignorance and envy. So in the case of the American entry into Iraq there were many political factors at play outside of economics. There was even a certain idealism about transforming Iraq into a democracy and setting an example for the Middle East. All of this is lost in the economic cynism and paranoia which says this must be all about money.
in the case of doctors , I too, have undergone their training( brainwashing) which teaches us to pay attention only to the most concrete and superficial facts(We are trained to be so-called Empiricists) The phrase ‘empirical evidence’ is cited as frequently as Jesus, son of God, in the Catholic Church. So the subtleties of perception and the patience required for a naturopathic remedy may be well beyond their ken. They were trained that way!
So beware next time you hear a political event explained purely on the basis of economics. You may we’ll be hearing a very partial truth!
Social Processes
FBI informed in advance about Florida shooter and warned.But they didn’t do anything about it! This is NOT just a problem with one institution or one negligent person.This is a systemic problem.It’s called DEAFNESS and it exists to varying extents in ALL institutions in modern society.Instead of relying on the Three Doors of Perception-Seeing,Hearing and Feeling- we rely on rules,procedures and logic.This is the result! We have intentionally dehumanized(‘rationalized’ them,I think they call it!) our social processes.Can we really be surprised that we have inhuman results?!
Discernment
Advice to a lost friend::”Learn to distinguish between the light and the darkness.And lead your life according to what you see in the light and not according to what you fear or desire in the darkness”.
Contradictions
Contradictions are not a problem for Reality. It is replete with them. Contradictions are only a problem for the mind!
So it depends where you stand on the map vs. territory problem. If you believe that the map is reality, contradictions are a problem. If you believe in the territory, however, there is no problem. Up to you lol!
Confronting the Fear of Death
Despite overwhelming evidence from some of the most trustworthy sources,such as Prophets ,mystics and saints and most recently near-death experiencers, one still can encounter episodes of fearing death in one’s being. It comes up insidiously, like an uneasy feeling accompanied with a thought pattern that sounds something like this:”What is going to happen to me when I leave this earth-bound body?How can I possibly live otherwise”. Given what we should know about the after-life from even a cursory look at the data that is out there,this reaction makes no sense.I have concluded that it is actually some kind of programming in our D.N.A. designed to preserve the specious.Nevertheless,we have to deal with it without freaking out.
In fact,whole schools of psychotherapy, like Yalom’s Existential Therapy, have been developed on the basis of “fear of death”. We can fully understand why.However,their enterprise is futile as it is based on spiritual illiteracy- modernistic tendencies towards atheism and agnosticism. I often told my own patients”You cannot cure the fear of Death with psychotherapy,nor with medication.It is ultimately a spiritual question.Only faith or actual spiritual ,mystical experience can cure it!
If we go back to the evidence for a moment, we will see that a theme that emerges on a regular basis,both from the experience and teachings of mystics and from n.d.ers is that this world is not our real home.We are here,so to speak,on a mission-actually kind of like sub-contractors of God.Like any sub-contractors we are accountable for our actions,our behaviours and our attitudes.Ultimately our purpose is to learn,-about the basic principles of existence and about love,and to accomplish our mission,which we had,in fact, agreed to before coming.The consequences of us doing our job properly is literally cosmic.So this is serious stuff-not to be taken lightly-as entertainment for example.
Given theses realities,what do we do about our intermittent bouts of fear of Death.Here is my suggestion.It comes from two sources.1)Humanistic Psychology which developed the technique of ‘affirmations where we affirm what we already know about ourselves to’ combat our neuroses.Example:”Despite what my parents told me, I am not a complete incompetent(perhaps because I left some film on the glasses I washed lol) but am capable of doing good things with my life”2)The other source is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy where we address dysfunctional beliefs.In this case the dysfunctional belief is: “After death I enter a permanent void of non-existence”.
I once met one of the leading practitioners of CBT in Quebec,someone I had studied with during residency training.After we completed our studies,he had sub-specialized in CBT and had become somewhat of a celebrity on the Quebecois psychology teaching circuit. I confronted him with the limitations of his approach and CBT in general in my own experience .Despite all the hype and the manipulated research surrounding it,it was never as effective, in reality, as the research seemed to imply! His answer was interesting”Forget about all those techniques and use what really works-“Self -Talk”.
So the methodology presented here is a combination of affirmations and self-talk.It goes like this:You say to yourself-in writing or out loud or silently, in whatever situation you find yourself in:”This is not my permanent abode.I am here on a short-lived visit -on contract.I am ready to go back home when my Lord calls me”. ( If you are adverse to religious terminology you can replace the word Lord with Universe lol) This practice can be done anywhere and is more effective the more you do it.It is like the spiritual practice of contemplating death that so many traditions including our own- Sufism- recommend.” Try it out.You may be surprised at the results.Salaams,Ibrahim
Existential Statement
We cannot understand everything. Some things have to remain mysterious. We cannot always take a position. Some situations are too complex and too contradictory so that we have to leave the judgment to our Lord. All of this keeps us in the station of humility.
Choosing the Light!
Every Saturday I meet with an old friend. His two parents were University professors but he himself is a self-taught philosopher.”Tom”,I said”How come when people are confronted with the choice between light and darkness, more often than not, they choose darkness?! “That’s an easy one “ he responded. “Because choosing the light requires courage”He’s not a Sufi but that was a Sufi statement if ever I heard one and I immediately recognized its veracity”Exactly”I thought. The darkness is social conformity. And going counter- current requires courage. Ajib!