Disclaimer: This article will fly in the face of everything you have been taught to think AND all your subliminal conditionning!You may already be reacting-just by the title! But hold on. It could also change your life in a positive way!It has done so for me- for the last 30 years!
Samuel Huntington(“The Clash of Civilizations”) was right! There is a clash of civilizations.But it is not the one he was pointing out-between Islam and the West.It is actually the clash between the secular point of view and that of the believers-regardless of which religion one adheres to.It is a clash between logic and faith.A clash between the mind and the heart.And ultimately the clash between good and evil- even if that evil hides itself behind a veil of “reasonableness” and “political correctness” lol
This “Clash’ was brought to my attention in stark relief by the profound teachings of my most long-standing spiritual teacher-Sheikh Nazim of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order.For the first time in my life ,I was confronted with someone with an alternative view of history-alternative to what we had all been taught in public school.According to Sheikh Nazim, the French revolution(Égalité, Liberté and Fraternité) was NOT the beginning of a great chapter in human freedom but rather the beginning of the end! The beginning of the descent into decadence and corruption and capriciousness which emerged from the denial of all forms of conventional authority-both religious and monarchic.According to him,we were now on a slippery slope to the Apocalypse of the end of times.Everything I have observed since then,has been a confirmation of that vision-even if it is taking some time to unfold!
Now all of this was the opposite of what I was taught to think !Our particular form of social conditioning(brain-washing if you wish) began in grade 6 of elementary school.We were taught that the Golden Ages of Athens and Rome were what we needed to emulate.The Europeans of the 17th and18th century heralded the Age of Rationalism or the Age of Enlightenment as a return to the Golden Ages of Classical Cultures! After sitting with Sheikh Nazim on multiple occasions, ironically mostly in London-one of the giant centers of Europeanization, I began to rethink my positions.
Greece and Rome,really?! Greece which was a pseudo-democracy where only its own citizens had power and where having relations with young boys was considered more honorable than relations with adult women?! Where a slew of dubious philosophical schools like hedonism and cynicism and stoicism(probably the best of the lot) fluorished .Greece where Socrates was poisoned to death for speaking the Truth.And Rome?! One of the cruellest civilizations known to man- where criminals- were crucified and Christians were fed to the lions! Yes,they developed roads(so the engineers can feel uplifted lol).And set up a Code of Law so our legal scholars can feel vindicated.For the Christians amongst you, reread the New Testament if you need any proof of the inhumanity of the Romans!
Now ,we can fast forward to the 20th century.The most deadly and devastating wars of all times!According to the historians, 100 million people killed! And endless destruction and misery.Almost all initiated by Europeans(yes,the Japanese climbed on board but they are well-known imitators lol,)No other civilization-neither the Chinese nor the Persians nor even the Mongols ever created so much death and havoc for humanity! And this is what we are supposed to honour.In the words of the current leading destructive empire,America lol,”Give me a Break”!
Another thing working in favour of the European delusion is “branding”. There is a whole series of catchwords that hide its nefarious influences- in all areas of life. Amongst them we have “Democracy”, “Rationnality”, “Due Process of the Law”, “Science”(yes even the hallowed science is a misnomer), “Freedom”,Evidence-Based”, “Progressive”-the list goes on and on.Behind each of these ideological slogans is a harsh and contradictory reality.The “democracy” is another pseudo-democracy like that of Athens,where the political agendas are manipulated an perverted by monied interests.”Rationality” which should have been discredited a long time ago by even a superficial reading of Freud and the psychoanalysts and which we can now see unveiled by the pro-Trump Republicans just to mention one clear-cut example.The examples are legion! “Due Process of the Law’ is systematically undone by an onerous bureaucracy in the courts of law,by obscene fees for legal services and by clever lawyers who are able to turn black into pale grey and turn white into dirty beige.Go figure!”Science” Another huge distortion.The original science of Francis Bacon et al. involved careful observation and controlled experimentation.Current “science” is about obsessive statistical analysis and ,research funded by biased corporations and government bodies with vested interests in the economy and often carried out by ambitious academics looking to increase their publication profiles!”Progressive has come to mean what is politically correct in liberal,left-wing circles.And “freedom” is the freedom to buy what you want -if you have the money. “Freedom” of speech” itself has been eroded by cancel culture.And “freedom” of action is limited by what the economy will allow you to do- unless you are hyper-courageous which is not the case for most people! So all of these slogans, when analyzed and investigated, turn out to be bogus!
It should be noted here,that those people who should naturally be on the side of the believers as opposed to the secularists are not necessarily so.That is because the school of Rationnalism has penetrated into the very fabric of all the major Western religions! We’ll set aside the religions of India(Buddhism and Hinduism ) for now.For example the traces of Greek philosophy can be clearly seen in the work of the Talmudic scholars of Judaism.In fact “traces’ is a serious understatement.The Talmudic approach to scholarship is more Greek than Judaic.If you need any proof compare the thinking of Moses and Aaron to that of Rashi and Hillel to name a couple. Christian theology,itself, is largely Greek thinking applied to the Judaic tradition that Jesus was trying to promote and elevate.And Islam itself began this process of degradation when the Greek texts were translated into Arabic during the Andalusian period.Islam has never been the same since.Again you can compare the Quran and hadith to the writings of scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah and al-Ghazzali to see the difference.Muslims believe that the only sect guilty of this deviation were the Mutazilis(The Rationnalists) but that just indicates the extent to which this was a covert if not unconscious operation.
So…once we see this- and “seeing” is key,what can we do?! The Hindu/Buddhist answer here would be “meditation” or “mindfulnesss practice’. That is not a bad place to start! Especially if you don’t get lost in their philosophical and theological distortions -like Advaita Vedanta or the non-existence” of the self” in Buddhism or the Dalai Lama’s proclamations of “We don’t need a personal God”. Yes,we do! However meditation can give us some distance from our thoughts so we can see them for what they are and not reify or deify them.
Another form of practice that can be very helpful is “tazkiya”– the purification of the heart.Once we can see and hear and feel again,we are much less subject to the vagaries of the mind.This is hard work however-involving a lot of “jihad-a-nafs” struggling with the ego.
Then again we can do any of the endless “mindless” activities like going into nature,planting a garden,praying,”falling in love”,having children,taking care of old people.Anything to avoid the plague of overthinking.
While I was conceiving of this article,I watched a recent n.d.e of an American lady who met her Guide on the other side She asked about the Covid epidemic and the Guide said the following”Don’t worry so much about the details of what is occuring.The real cause of this pandemic is the hardening of human hearts“! Ajib! Exactly what I was intuiting.The outer is a reflection of the inner! The Sufis tell us this It is the opposite of the current European Empiricism-that the outer is determinant.And the Virgin Mary in her apparition at Medugorge said more or less the same”If mankind continues on its way of materialism and nationalism,there will be more and more natural disasters”,she said.Not because of tectonic plates or global warming or El Nino wind patterns. .Because of mankind’s internal states.
So…. Time for a turn-around.It can only be helpful-if not in this world then the next! Will you join me?!