Category Archives: Psychology

Shaytan , anyone?

November 7, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com Leave a comment

In the modern world , the use of the term ‘devil’ or ‘Satan’ or ‘Iblis’ is seen as a sign of fanaticism and backwardness . I shared that point of view when I first entered Islam. Although I recognize that there are certain evangelical sects of Christianity that overuse and even abuse the term, I have come to see over time that the forces of evil in the world are real, and I can often see them in action all around me. So when Sheikh Nazim said to us over 30 years ago that Shaytan (Satan)now has hegemony in the world, I now see what he meant. Here is ImamGhazzali talking about the same phenomenon hundreds of years ago.

This is Sheikh Hamza Yusuf quoting Imam Ghazzali speaking to the ‘debaters’,the ‘reflex disagreers’ “If you are not fighting shaytan and he has your heart, he has occupied your heart and he’s the worst enemy you have and he’s calling you to your own destruction and you are preoccupied with debating other people and your own heart is in peril… then you are a joke to shaytan and a wondrous lesson to the people of sincerity” So please beware. The time of the flower-children is over!

Modern Living, Psychology

Borderline Personality-Three Other Characteristics

November 5, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 1 Comment

Ever since Elizabeth Zetzel published her ground-breaking article “The so called good hysteric” in 1968, there had been increasing interest in what we now call Borderline Personality Disorder. When we factor in the distraught psychiatric personnel trying to deal with their frequent visits to the E.R., the advent of the film “Fatal Attraction” and the frequent experience of male partners trying to deal with their over-wrought female companions, we can begin to understand the bandwidth that this diagnosis has taken on in the public mind.

Because of this, it has become incumbent on us to try to understand what is going on with these people and how we can cope with their ‘emotional dysregulation’ as Marsha Linehan likes to call it. In that spirit and in an attempt to go beyond the empirically-based DSM5 I have discovered three mostly unmentioned characteristics that may help us to better understand and deal with these people.

1)An excess of pride that makes it almost impossible for the Borderline to admit their mistakes. This characteristic is well-known in the sister diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality -a diagnosis that has taken on a life of its own since the advent of the Trump presidency. For some reason its’ presence in the Borderline has gone largely unnoticed. Perhaps this is because other characteristics like suicidality and angry outbursts are so much more dramatic.

However, in dealing with these people, the fact that they almost never say, like the stereotypical alcoholic”I’m so sorry for losing it.. I’ll never do that again” makes it all the more difficult to make any progress. Perhaps it is the presence of such low self-esteem that makes the admission of guilt so problematic. It’s as if admitting one more error would be too crushing to their sense of self-worth.

2)Consistent bad decision- making. I think this is related to the power of the forces of desire and aversion which regularly overpower both their reason and theirintuition. So in a way this is also a derivative of emotional intensity and dysregulation.

3) An overconcern with the opinion of others. This is often counter-productive as these ‘others’ are often out of touch in their opinions and certainly, in most cases, not a good source of advice. In fact, these opinions may not even be those of the imagined ‘others’ but rather projected ones of the borderline themselves. This aspect can probably be traced back to the identity diffusion of the borderline pathology. The borderline typically has a weak sense of self. They do not have well-supported opinions of their own. So they become reliant on others points of view -regardless of the level of wisdom or ignorance of the other. In fact, borderlines tend to choose the least wise advisors the same way they often choose the most inappropriate partners.

This is by no means the definitive answer to dealing with this problematic phenomenon. But hopefully it will add to our capacity to cope in a relationship-context-both for the partner and the borderline themselves.

Salaams,Ibrahim

Modern Living, Psychology, Spiritual Practice

Agitation- The Epidemic of Modern Times

October 11, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 5 Comments

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf states” If there is one characacteristic of modern times that stands out ,it is “ajal”(speediness, restlessness, agitation” ) The Prophet saws said “agitation is from the devil” . And Marie-Louise von Franz author of “The Way of the Dream” and leading exponent of Jungian analysis says in her book:”The most general neurotic symptom today is restlessness. That isn’t yet looked at as a neurosis because everybody is so restless.” I call it the Manhattan Syndrome lol but it is much more widespread than NYC . So what to do about it. Here are s few suggestions:

1) Be fully ware of your agitation in all its manifestations: cognitive, emotional, and physical

2) Use CBT self-talk stratégies to tell yourself things like:”It’s not really that urgent” or “ It can be done later” or “I’m exaggerating the harm of not doing this.” Remember the Caribbean slogan”Don’t worry , be happy”. They have a point! And of course, every situation is unique so you need to be practical and reasonable here. Except what you usually call “ practical and reasonable” is usually obsessional and overambitious in terms of productivity and efficiency.

3) Reorganize your life and your time. Don’t try to do more than is reasonable to do in a given period of time. Look at your to do list . Postpone one- half to one- third of what you have written/ day. This is going to take a lot of self-observation . The models for proper time management are few and far between.

4) Change your life circumstances if need be. Most people need to do this as they are in situations that regularly generates stress!You may have to change jobs or move to another place where people are calmer or move to the countryside. As opposed to what your mind is telling you, you actually have lots of options!

5) If none of this works, you may have to take up meditation lol. But don’t do that as a substitute for the other necessary changes. The society would like you to be stressed out most of the time and take breaks meditating or alternatively watching spectator sports and then back to the stress.The méditative effect , which is real, usually wears off quickly as soon as you are back to your stressful life, na matter what the teachers, who usually wisely avoid those situations , tell you about “generalization” .

Anything else you have discovered , please share with the readers of this blog. Salaams, Ibrahim

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Psychology

There ARE no Perfect Guides,only Guidance

September 30, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 1 Comment

(Special thanks here to Munirah Maclean who is one of the few,if not only, persons able to follow my unfolding process.)

In 2001 shortly before his demise,we visited Sheikh Mahshur al-Haddad one of the great awliya of the Habaib tradition of Yemen.He told us that the process of ‘bayat'(sworn allegiance to the Sheikh) was over.He explained that people in this time were not able to carry that level of surrender.Ahmad Zerrouk,one of the great sheikhs of the Shadhili lineage, had made a parallel statement several hundred years earlier,claiming that there were no people left who could carry the mantle of Sheikh.

I have come to the conclusion that,in fac t, the problem,metaphysically if you wish ,goes beyond the weakness of the murids and shuyukh -to the very nature of Truth itself..Since all people,including legitimate awliya an d Prophets themselves make mistakes,if we are determined to be with the Truth as much as possible,we would be called upon to disagree with them at times.There were several incidents like that in the life of our own Prophet Mohammed saws where he had to give way to the more accurate understanding of one of his followers.So we shouldn’t be surprised.

However, for Sufi zealots ,this truth is anathema.They are of the “The Sheikh is always right,we have to obey him because he is systematically Divinely inspired and every contrary idea or action is treachery and apostasy”school of belief. I,personally have never been able to accept that point of view.At numerous points in time my Sheikh,for whom I had the greatest respect and from whom I learnt enormously,was wrong.My Istighara told me so.Each time the Istikhara proved right.And I never regretted following the latter.Why should I ? The latter was from God!

Ironically ,as I am fond of denouncing “democratic illusions’, this all sounds llike the liberal,democratic point of view.’.Abadan”(never) lol.The liberals believe it is all a matter of opinion and that one opinion is as good as another.That is not at all what I am saying.I am,rather,saying that there is an objective Truth in every situation.The real spiritual teacher has regular access to that Truth but not always.Sometimes he,or she,is caught up in his own belief systems, in projections of his own experience or even to some emotional reaction to one reality or another.I wrote specifically about this in my article entitled”Why I had to leave my last tariqat”

Don’t get me wrong here.We need teachers;we need guidance.And we have to show the utmost respect to the true saints and spiritual guides.But we musn’t take them for gods.Doesn’t Islam teach us as much?! But that is exactly the error that many Sufis get involved in.May Allah protect us from ‘shirk'(idolatry) of all types and open our eyes,ears and hearts to the Truth of each and every situation.That is the way of peace and lessening of suffering.Salaams,Respectfully,Ibrahim Kreps As-Sufi

Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

Obsessional Processes -The Social Norm!

September 28, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 2 Comments

I guess my theory is once again confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Comittee in its decision re Brett Kavanaugh.I used to believe that the American, and by extension most Western judicial systems, get results that are only randomly connected to reality. I have come to believe,on the contrary, that the protocol-based, obsessional processes that are endemic in all our legal and political systems actually come to conclusions that are inversely related to reality. That is, that they get it regularly and systematically wrong. The equivalent process occurs in obsessive individuals , who I have observed over the years in my practice, who regularly make bad decisions because they “can’t see the forest for the trees”! God help us all. And the way He helps us the most is keeping us at a maximum distance from these processes that the “blind, deaf and dumb” lawyers and politicians like Judge Kavanaugh and his Senate enablers call “due process”.

Modern Living, Psychology, Sufism

Jihad-a-nafs -2

September 28, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com Leave a comment

After publishing my recent post on the battle with the ego,I felt the need to give a more complete version, since I had only really covered 3 1/2 of the 7 cardinal sins.Those were the ones that required the most explanation but let us complete the account here.

4) Anger-2 None of us can avoid totally becoming angry.For sure, there are certain personalities more prone to anger than others. The Greek physician,Galen, called them the ‘coleric’ types.In modern English we could describe them as irascible ,irritable or even ‘paranoid’ at times.Narcissistic people,like the current president of the U.S.A. ,are particularly susceptible to this disease.They regularly feel slighted and then need to reply with Narcissistic rage.This can be done by shouting,by belittling,even humiliating the other and nowadays we have a wonderful panoply of tools like Twitter,to express our hostility whenever we want.

But our question here is: what is the right way to be with this emotion?Should we simply ignore it and repress it or should we look for the kernel of truth within it and try to find a way to communicate that.That was a rhetorical question? I hope you don’t feel slighted lol.

The psychologists teach us that we should transform our aggression into affirmation and there is certainly wisdom in that approach.But even the affirmation has to be appropriately formulated and delivered in a timely fashion.If it is said in the wrong way or at the wrong time,it will just inflame the passions even more.Even at the right time,it may elicit a negative or indifferent response as the ego hates to be corrected(pride is our next subject).

How not to do it! When I first entered the fold of Islam ,I was in Jerusalem.I was eager to read about Islam but could find no bookstores with interesting material.So I used to cross the city from East to West and go to the library at The Hebrew University .There I was able to find the collection of Bukhari hadith -in French!

One day I came into the library and there was a man probably in his early seventies yelling at the receptionist. When he had finished his tirade I went up to the clerk and asked her what that was about.”Do you know who that man is?” she said. “No,not at all” “He’s the head of our history department”. “Oh”,I responded.”What was he so upset about?” “He had asked for a book and it has taken us longer than expected to get it!”. Wow! I knew intellectuals were a dubious lot but that was too much.I confirmed at that point something I had suspected all along.Intellectual training is a weak tool for character development.Got it!

In the Naqshbandi protocol of the night prayer,we are called upon to repeat Ya Halim (O Gentle One) in order to calm our anger.There is a hadith reported by Abu Dharr,one of the most ascetic of the Sahhabbas which says””If one of you is angry when he is standing,let him sit down so that the anger will leave him .Otherwise let him lie down.” In all honesty ,I have not met many Muslims,including pious ones able or willing to do that.That is because anger has a way of taking us over that is hard to resist.It is a formidable opponent.

So the first and perhaps the best thing to do is quickly identify it.That is called mindfulness.(You can look up the posting on Mindfulness Practice on this blog for further details.Then we have to make a conscious decision not to act on it. And then be patient as anger is an emotion like several others and it tends to come in waves and then die down.When it does so,then we can decide what to do with its content.

Now,sometimes the anger can turn into resentment and bitterness and grudges and hatred.Then it becomes a long-term problem which can be even more serious.If we study the lives of some of those American mass murderers,like the boys at Columbine,we will discover people whose bitterness and hatred of others had been building up over years until it gets acted upon.Often,the people queried about these massacres will say”But he seemed like such a quiet,well-behaved boy!” So the anger is hidden.Other people,of course,erupt regularly and create a lot of social chaos around themselves.Some lose jobs or partners or friends because of their bad character.So the consequences are serious indeed.Ya Halim!

A few hadith related to this issue.

a)”A man said to the Prophet,’ Give me advice’ The Prophet saws said: ‘Do not get angry'(Meaning ‘Don’t express your anger’)The man asked repeatedly and the Prophet answered each time:’Do not get angry”

b)from Abu Hurayra”The Prophet saws said”The strong man is not the one is is able to defeat others in wrestling:the song man is the one who controls himself at times of anger”

c)”Anger comes from the devil,the devil was created of fire,and fire is extinguished only by water:so when one of you becomes angry,he should perform ablution”.(Sunan Abu Dawood)This is another hadith that is rarely applied,in my experience, because the anger tends to be such an overwhelming sensation.However,the indication of fire and thus heat within gives us a tool by which to identify it and track it which makes it easier to resist.

From the point of view of psychology:I went to a seminar in Berkely,California, of all places, in 1975.The seminar was given by an avant-garde chiropractor/therapist named Stanley Keleman.He had been a student of Lowen and Pierrakos who were direct stidents of Wilhelm Reich,the developer Of Bioenergetic Therapy and himself a student of Sigmund Freud.(I guess there is a silsila-chain of transmission in psychology as well lol) He made a statement that shocked the group of New-Age Humanistic therapists who had been taught that the key to managing anger was to express it by hitting pillows and shouting it out- which was common in both Gestalt Therapy and Bioenergetics.

He said the following:”I have been doing this catharsis stuff for years but it doesn’t work! The more you express the anger the more it just comes back like a deep well from which you have drawn water.” So what do we do?” the audience responded,taken aback by his claims.”Just observe it and it will slowly abate” This may well have been the first whiffs of the Mindfulness Movement in America.Keleman had somehow stumbled his way into Buddhist practice- which in this case is the same as Islamic practice.

We may all do well to stumble into the same behaviour,despite our nafs lol

5)Pride-The Biggie The Christians consider this one the biggest of the big. In the Quran Satan refuses to bow down to Adam because he considers himself superior to him.In that way he becomes disobedient to his Lord.Then he becomes ‘adoo mubin” -a clear-cut enemy to man.The result of this pride and Satan’s vow to make us miserable and wretched is all around us.

Now pride can often be subtle.Most proud people are not aware of being proud.They think it is normal.After all they are so good shouldn’t they be proud?And there are probably things that are ok to be proud of.Our own Prophet saws said to his companions”And I am the best of you with his family” and also “And I am the most God-fearing of you” so appropriate recognition of our qualities is not always a bad thing.In modern parlance,we could say it is good for our self-esteem and self-esteem is important, up to a certain extent.

But we all know people who have an inflated sense of self(which psychoanalytically usually represents an inner insecurity). The current president of the U.S.A. is a perfect example.We should be thankful for him lol.There is so much to learn about how not to be from him!One of the problems with this pride is that the person is unwilling to accept criticism,unwilling to examine his own behaviour and attitudes.Then he becomes unable to improve,unable to evolve properly.

Also ,he may be seriously deficient in problem-solving as he cannot integrate the ideas of others into his plan of action.Doing so would make him feel inadequate.The other effect of this attitude is in his/her relationships.Around the proud person, others feel put down and belittled constantly.At some point they just give up and leave!

So what is the solution? Self-awareness,humility.God-consciousness.None of those are easy.When I first came to Jerusalem,I started my explorations on the Jewish side as that is where I came from in my family.I met a holy Rabbi of the Reb Nachman of Bratislava Hassidic tradition.He seemed to have clairvoyant powers as well.He looked at me in the eyes and said: “Yossef (my original Hebrew name) I can see that you have very good potential for gaining knowledge.But remember that no matter how much knowledge or understanding you gain,it will be a drop in the ocean of the Knowledge of Ashem(god).” That puts you in your place quickly lol! but in fact,that is a good strategy for attaining humility.If you ever feel too good about yourself-your strength,your wealth,your cleverness, think about God,the Infinite and you can only become humble.I use that technique regularly when I encounter human stupidity which otherwise could make one smug and self-satisfied.If you read the ‘seerat’ (biography) of our Prophet saws ,you will see that he was constantly aware of this dichotomy-us vs. our Lord.Only humility can issue from that awareness.

6) Envy After the creation of the Universe and the fall of Adam,we find one of his sons murdering the other-out of envy.Able had earned the favour of his Lord,and Cain could not tolerate it,so he killed him.And envy has continued to plague mankind ever since.The brothers of Joseph could not tolerate him being the father’s favourite so they planned to kill him but relented and sold him into slavery instead.In more recent times we had the Olympic skater Tonya Harding who could not bear being outdone by Nancy Kerrigan.Her husband hired a thug to break Nancy Kerrigan’s leg! We hear similar stories abut mothers attacking cheerleaders in Texas because they won a place on the team over their own daughters.There are soccer Moms and hockey Dads with the same kind of envy. The stories of envy are legion throughout history.Often it exists between children in families-then known as “sibling rivalry”. But it is more than rivalry.It is envious resentment.

The tentacles of envy spread far and wide.Melanie Klein ,one of Freud’s foremost disciples,developed a whole school of psychoanalysis based on people’s envious attacks- beginning all the way back with the child biting at the depriving breast! And we could see the entire phenomenon of modern-day terrorism as envious attacks by the weak on the wealthy because of their envy of the power of their enemies- like America and Europe.

Hamza Yusuf makes the point in one of his talks that criminals will admit to heinous felonies before they will admit to envy.It often remains invisible to the person experiencing it.There is an apocryphal story about the Spiritual teacher Ram Das going to visit the prisoners at San Quentin prison in California.At the time,Charles Manson,the famous mass-murderer and cult-leader, was one of the inhabitants at that prison but he was not present at the talk.After it was over Ram Das inquired from the prison authorities why Manson was not there.They informed him that they had been advised(?by the other prisoners) not to let him be present as he would be unable to tolerate another person being the centre of attention and would surely disrupt the event. So we find this envy at all levels of society.There is even a dictum in Islam that says that “the jealousy of scholars can be as bad as that of co-wives”. Go figure.

So,how do we deal with envy? One of the best remedies,if not the best,is to realize that whatever we have and whatever the other has is ordained by God.That is our ‘rizq'(provision) and their ‘rizq”.It is pre-ordained and it is perfect the way it is.And sometimes we can even get a sense of the wisdom in it-that what we each have is perfectly right for us.There is no need to compare.We each get what we need.

7) Greed None of these defects are easy to treat but greed has a special status in the modern world.Couched in its own terminology,it often appears as virtue.Some of the modern concepts of”competitiveness” and “efficiency” and “cost-cutting” and financial planning” and even”national interest”can all be broken down into greed!When a politician or economist talks about economic growth and G.D.P. and stock market prices and maximizing profit’ it is mostly all about greed.So greed has become sanitized,even idealized in the modern world.

All around us we are solicited to get the best price on everything and anything we buy..When I used to give talks in the mosque I would explain to the participants that”the lowest price is the law” is not an Islamic principle(immigrants are particularly susceptible to this notion partially because of their relative poverty but mostly due to their naivete about the insidiousness of many Western ideas).They just buy into it.The real law should be “the fair price”. When I say this to people I most often get an empty stare in response.After all,they have been told their whole life that virtue is getting the best price possible!

One day after Jumaa prayer,I gave a ride to one of the congregants who proceeded to explain his story.He had been involved in a factory that produced a “bed in a bag” product-sheets,pillow cases and a mattress cover all in one bag.He had been in discussions with a large retailer who had promised him$19/bag .As his costs were around $16/bag he figured it would be a profitable venture.Not realizing that in this society ,you need to get everything in writing and peoples’ words have little value,he proceeded to invest in the factory.By the time he was ready to sell his product,the retailer informed him that they had found a supplier from China who could do it fo r$15 and asked him if he still wanted to go ahead with the contract. It was no longer viable to do so.And he ended up declaring bankruptcy. Now those “bed in the bag” products are available on liquidation at $12 a piece.And all the consumers are proud of the deals they are getting.Many of the wonderful”liquidation” prices are based on such sorry tales.It is all about greed!

Again, in the case of greed,the solution is ‘rida’-satisfaction.We are each already getting exactly what we need.If that is a lot,we can be grateful.And if it seems too little we can be patient and realize that what may seem like deprivation is actually a means of elevation.The Sufis call that ‘azhod’-asceticism -one of the Sufi virtues and a means,as well, of spiritual upliftment.

So now we come to the end of this teaching.But actually it is the beginning.”And zo, ve may to begin”(courtesy Philip Roth).So,now the program is complete.Let’s get cracking! This is tough work but work of the greatest importance.God be with us all!

Psychology, Spiritual Practice, Sufism

Jihad-a Nafs-The Royal Road

September 26, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 2 Comments

After a successful battle against the infidels, the Prophet saws said the following to his companions,” You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.” The greater jihad (jihad-al-akbar)is the struggle against the nafs(ego)”. That is the jihad-a-nafs.

This concept, although universally present in all spiritual and religious traditions, seems to be the least popular of all spiritual ideas lol.And even when people accept it theoretically,they often seem unwilling to practice it concretely when the occasion occurs- especially if their emotions(negative, like anger or positive,like love) are involved.

Two stereotypical situations come to mind-the offended husband and the love-sick woman.We knew a seriously pious Muslim whose wife could no longer accept his depressive states and his ineffective bread-winning and asked for a divorce.Despite the fact that the Islamic teachings are clear on this matter,both about controlling anger and back-biting and allowing the divorced partner to get on with her life in peace,he could not contain himself from telling the most horrific stories about her including intimate details that should never have been revealed to anyone.His nafs was totally out of control.We have seen the same phenomena manifest itself in the political sphere when Canada reproached the Saudis for human rights abuses.They literally”blew their top”,recalled all their students that were studying in Canada,cancelled the flights of Saudi Airlines to Canada and sent the ambassador packing.We could legitimately call that “group nafs” and there is plenty of that as well.

On the other side of the coin we have the love-sick maidens(it is more and more common in males, as well, nowadays)who when confronted with the fact that she are in a seriously abusive relationship(potentially even deadly at times) she responds:”But I love him.I know he’s really not that bad” Really?! The nafs is talking once again but this time from the side of desire rather than aversion.

So what are we struggling against when we talk of Jihad-a-nafs?There are several ways of classifying the enemy here.One that I like particularly is the Christian model of the seven deadly sins-pride,anger,envy,laziness,lust,greed and gluttony.So you can conceive of the struggle as fighting each of these formidable opponents.Buddhism has another classification called the five ‘klesas'(obstacles to Enlightenment)-attachment(desire),aversion(anger and fear),agitation,laziness and doubt.That can also be a useful model.And ,of course, Islam speaks to each of these as well.One of the four volumes of Imam Ghazzali’s renowned classical work of Islamic scholarship “Revival of the Religious Sciences” is all about the bad characteristics that we have to combat complete with references to the Quran,hadith and great scholars and saints of the Islamic tradition.T.J. Winter has translated part of this volume as Al-Ghazali On Disciplining The Soul, published by The Islamic Texts Society Cambridge in 1995.You may want to look into this able translation if you would like to go further into this subject.

At this point I will be addressing only four of the dimensions of this struggle, which by no means belittles the importance of the other dimensions such as struggling against anger and envy and pride.I have chosen these four because they are the most concrete and easiest to start with.We will perhaps have occasion to cover the others at a later date.The basic principle for all of them is the same-become aware of what is going on(identify the problem),be patient and don’t act on your impulse, and call on your Lord for help.

The four areas of this practice we will be looking into are Food(thus gluttony),Sleep(thus laziness or indolence),Sexuality(thus lust) and The Sins of the Tongue(thus gossip,back-biting and tale-bearing).Let us begin.

1) Food: Sigmund Freud has clued us into the importance of the mouth in his schema of the psychosexual stages of development.The first stage is The Oral Stage of development.The first thing we do as new-borns, after taking a breath( no sinning there lol.That is the infusion of the Divine spirit) is to seek for the breast.So food is very basic to our existence.

However,the specific purpose of food is to guarantee our physiological needs.However in contemporary society,food has become an obsession.There are now more cooking shows on television than Crime series! That says a lot.One year I was in New York City during Ramadan.It struck me more than usual how I was being constantly solicited to buy food! Usually I enjoy that lol.But as a fasting person ,it was annoying.Then again, think of all the industries involved-agriculture,dairy, baking,canning,frozen food,importers ,exporters ,transportation etc.Now that things are no longer products like milk that you sell to local customers but instead everything is an industry.And industries ,themselves,have a “bottom-line”i.e. maximizing profit,what else can we expect.It is no longer about food and certainly not about consistently healthy food.It is an INDUSTRY!The economics are what dominates.

Now, as a Muslim, we are not against food tasting good.Some of the finest cooking known to man comes from the Iranian and Turkish culinary traditions.And both countries have a long-standing commitment to Islam ,so there is no contradiction here.I discovered a contrasting approach ,however,when I visited a Hindu guru in Kerala.Her idea was that food should have as little taste as possible- in order to preserve it’s ‘satvic’ quality(A Vedantic concept of keeping the energy neutral as opposed to ‘rajasic’-agitated- or ‘tamasic’-torporous and heavy). The food was aweful! I never tasted such insipid food in all my life!It was all ‘gruel’. I knew then and there this was not a path I could follow lol!

So what does our Prophet saws teach about food.He sal told us the best meal is one that fills one third of our stomach with solids,one third with liquid and leaves one-third empty-with air.That is certainly not our habit in North America! The only time I was able to practice that kind of eating was when I was on the Weight Watchers program! Instead we fill our stomach to the stretching point and then add a little more for the taste.Then there are the Xmas and Thanksgiving dinners where people routinely say”I ate so much I could barely move”.That is more or less the norm at holiday time.No wonder there is so much obesity in our societies.

All of this,however, is good if we are intent on practicing jihad-a -nafs.Because one of the best forms of this jihad is resisting overeating.One year while visiting my brother in New York I noticed that he had a certain luminosity which was not his usual state.Whenever I see that I get curious and investigate.I actually do that routinely when I see ‘nur’ on peoples’ faces-a relatively rare event.(I can tell many stories about that nur but let’s stay on track for now.)I then realized that he had been dieting! No other spiritual practices,just dieting.And the jihad that was involved(resisting eating) was enough to give him some spiritual presence!

Before getting on to the specifics of this practice, a side-note is in order.All of this does not apply for people who are anorectic in nature or people with various digestive disturbances that makes eating an unpleasant experience.They will have to find another means to fight their nafs(ego).In this light,I remember my first visit to the local Weight Watchers group.The lady at the reception desk was obviously already at her ideal weight.But she looked and felt like a witch! I almost left I was so repulsed by the darkness of her presence.Was I going to become a wizard myself lol?! But then I reconsidered and decided the perception was simply a test of my sincerity.I registered anyway! But for those focused primarily on the outward(i.e. most of the modern world) they should be advised that slimness is not a synonym for virtue.Didn’t Shakespeare warn us about this a long time ago in his play about Julius Caesar.”Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look.He thinks too much :such men are dangerous” So Shakespeare was onto this a long time before the modern world took over our value systems and made the lean and hungry look ,as can be seen most clearly on the fashion runway,the criterion for virtue.

Ok.Now the practice.And this is difficult for many of us.Firstly we should be making dhikr before eating-i.e. remembering the real source of our food.By contrast, remember a particular iftar at Sheikh Muzzafer’s tekke in Istanbul where it was open-house every night during Ramadan.Once the call to prayer was out ,the men around the table(in all fairness,not the dervishes) ravenously attacked the food as if they were starving to death which, judging by their girth was not at all the case.This became a ‘foil’ experience for me- mirroring how NOT to be- although I do slip at times into the ravenous beast-mode. Estagfirullah.

Most Muslims, at this point, i.e. at the beginning of a meal, do a perfunctory”Bismillah” -the required sunna, and get on with their gourmandise quickly.Sheikh Nazim taught us a longer dua which I recite-when I remember, something I have become less systematic about since I left that tariqat. Another story.So first thing dhikr.Focus.

Then we should be eating slowly.Not quite as slowly as that iconic Mindfulness exercise of consciously eating a grape or a date for that matter.That exercise, although useful as a teaching device, can become obsessive if it becomes your standard way of eating.You probably all know someone who eats that way-as if they are fighting with their food- and know how off-putting that can be.But the pace is important.And being mindful of the taste and the texture and the process of properly chewing and swallowing are all part of the correct approach,I would say.But don’t get obsessive about it or you will regret ever undertaking this exercise!

Then the hardest part.When to stop.There are people out there who just do this instinctively.Those are the people who maintain their ideal weight effortlessly.If ever envy gets the better of me ,it would probably be about this kind of person lol.It seems so easy for them.

For most of us it is a struggle.We have to be conscious of where we are in the process and what satiety means.We probably have to be patient as well since there is a lag-time between the eating and the feeling of satiety so that it is easy to bypass the signal.For sure, as soon as we feel fullness it is time to stop.In fact at that point we have probably gone too far.

But still the ‘nafs’ is urging us on.What Sheikh Nuh refers to as ‘the third plate of lasagna’ is still being promoted by our ego.”A little more.” it says”.It tastes so good.Just this one time.It’s a special occasion”. The justifications are endless.One of the tools that may be helpful here comes from the CBT(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) approach.One of their most useful tactics is “self-talk”. What this means is that as your nafs is saying”Just a little more”or “but it tastes so good” your intellect or your conscience,if you will, could be answering”No, that’s enough.That’s the amount we decided in advance”or “That seems to me just the right amount.It’s time to stop.” A battle is certainly going in here and one has to take sides if one is to be victorious.

This is a tough struggle for some of us,no doubt.And in much of this I am talking to myself! Try it out.You may definitely find an improvement in your ‘hal’ and your luminosity through this part of the jihad..

2) Sleep: Equally difficult to controlling the eating impulse, and possibly more difficult for some, is the tendency to over-sleep or over-rest.Sheikh Nazim used to say that the ideal situation for the nafs was to be lying under a tree with the fruit falling right into one’s mouth.Obviously that is an exaggeration but it is a metaphor for our inherent tendency to indolence.

Now there are things that favour this tendency and others that help fight against.Part of the wisdom of the Islamic injunction to do things, like prayer, collectively is that it helps overcome laziness.Most people would be embarrassed for others to see how lazy they can actually be.So,for example,in a group context they will almost never miss their fajr prayer.Alone, however,the excuses can be legion for doing so.So community is one of the tools we can use to combat our natural inertia.

Now Islam has some other useful tools in struggling against torpor.One of the best is the fajr(dawn )prayer and it’s extension(backwards in time)to the Tahhajud or night prayer.Although the latter was only mandatory for the Prophet himself,most of the serious ‘saliheen'(righteous ones) and definitely the Sufis have used this predawn prayer as a major instrument for spiritual elevation.

The relevant hadith here and it is saheeh is:”The Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the night remains and says”Who will call upon Me,that I may answer him?Who will ask of me,that I may give him?Who will seek My forgiveness,that I may forgive him?” So what is meant by this hadith? Since Allah has,by definition,no extension in time or space, being beyond both in His Essence,this can only be metaphorical.We are being told that the presence of Allah,the ‘barakat’ if you wish,the Peace,the Love is more palpable at that time.So this is a privileged time to get maximum benefit from our efforts.And for those who are sensitive to inner realities they can feel it to be so.But still,even with that knowledge it takes some effort to combat the ‘tamasic’ forces of torpor.But it is well-worth the effort! The whole next day is spiritually empowered if you do so.

The tool of ‘self-talk’ mentioned above can be useful here as well. As the nafs is saying:”I’m too tired”,”I’m feeling sick”or “That really isn’t enough sleep for me”the ‘aql'(intellect) has to answer.”This is our intended practice,you know ” or “Once we get to the vertical position and get mobilized,it will feel different”(True!) or use self-talk to tempt the nafs with:”We’ll have a nice cup of coffee and a couple of dates lol” Incidentally that was the way coffee was invented in the first place-to help the dervishes of Yemen to stay up at night in prayer!

Although the night-time is a privileged time for this effort,I don’t mean to say that there is no struggle going on during the day as well.There are the five prayers to do and the ‘awrad’ or ‘dhikr’ for those who are more spiritually ambitious.The major enemy then becomes procrastination.That is a huge subject and I have been asked on several occasions to talk about it as it affects our worldly life as well.The student who keeps putting-off their homework,the bachelor who keeps accumulating dirty clothes,the elderly who keep putting off their necessary medical tests.l.All are procrastinators.And procrastination can become a serious problem as it leads to internal tension that just keeps growing until we do something. Another form of laziness to deal with!

Now,like in each of these dimensions,there is another side to this coin- the workaholic who can never stop.Some people go in the opposite direction and are too active.I,myself,have been accused of this at times and it is a family characteristic.One may get into this mode for several reasons-anxiety, over-ambitiousness,being unable to tolerate silence or loneliness or rest.Again,we all know people like this.I call it the “Manhattan Syndrome” after observing lunch-time in Manhattan where everyone seems to be in a rush to get back to work and no-one seems to be enjoying themselves.Contrast this to the traditional French 2 1/2 hour lunch break which includes leisurely eating and a siesta! Once again what is needed is balance.The best example I have witnessed of this balance remains my time with Sheikh Nazim.He never seemed to be rushed,no matter how many people were around or how much demands were made on him and he never seemed to be torporous either..He moved through time in a frictionless way.He was ,in fact, more Zen then the Buddhists themselves.

Sexuality Sheikh Hamza Yusuf once approached his elderly but still intellectually sharp and wise father and asked him (I’m not sure in which context possibly after being asked to consult with some of his students”When does this libido end so that we can be in peace?” And his father responded”Not until the body is cold on a slab in the mortuary” lol.And I have ,in fact, seen this mechanism at work in very elderly gentlemen!

The sexual drive is seen as a problem in all the spiritual traditions.The Buddhists refer to it as one of the ten negative karmas,the Catholics seem at times to be obsessed with it even to the extent of seeing the female gender as the incarnation of temptation and sin and the Muslims have been warned against fornication(‘zina’) in no uncertain terms.Now,some of the traditions, like the sannyasin tradition amongst the Hindus ,the monastic tradition in Christianity and the Radhaswami Sikhs also known as Satsangis strongly recommend celibacy as the solution to this problem.They claim that even halal or kosher sex within marriage empties one of vital spiritual energy(‘ojas’ I believe the Satsangis call it) and thus should be avoided whenever possible.This has its inevitable consequences- like the crisis of pedophilia in Catholic priests,miserable,deprived relationships amongst the Satsangis and corrupt gurus(all too common) amongst the Hindus and Yogis.

Both Islam and Judaism disagree with this extremist position and thereby represent a true “Middle Way’.For both of these Semitic traditions sexuality is a potential danger but it is also the source of much goodness-like satisfied family life,feeling grounded and peaceful,and the birth of progeny-highly celebrated in the Semitic tradition and looked down upon as just more ‘samsara’ and illusion in the Indian traditions.

Despite this openness to sexuality in the Islamic tradition,there are conditions.This activity is only permitted within the bounds of marriage(the age of slavery and concubines being over) and desiring partners outside of these confines is seen as sinful.Thus Allah tells us in the Quran 24:30-31 that”The faithful should lower their gaze and guard their private parts” as well as ‘Say to the believing women that they shall lower their gaze and guard their private parts and shall not disclose their beauty and ornaments”(i.e. not be seductive) ….except to their husbands.The Prophet saws as well has warned us as did Jesus about the “adultery of the eyes”.

Now, how does all this play out in the modern world?! Modesty has been all but evacuated as a concept and exhibitionism is everywhere to be seen.If one had to summarize modern female dress and its underlying tenets it would be the opposite of the Divine recommendations.It would say”Do as much as possible and show as much as possible to provoke as much reaction as you possibly can”.Hollywood and some of the music and dance entertainers(think Madonna and Britney Spears) could not be clearer in this message.

When one adds in the pornography industry, in all its forms, one has a massive, almost irresistible, movement going on in the exact opposite direction to the Divine instructions.How many of us know of pious Muslims(and probably Christians as well) who have been hooked on the porn videos on the internet? They seem to be the most visited sites as well,for the general public!And those believers who are hooked often feel really bad about it.Not only does it become an issue of personal self-esteem but it can also put their marriages in jeapardy.

Meanwhile,the rest of society mostly thinks it’s fine.They would think that what I am saying here is prudish and fundamentalist!The Supreme Court of Canada ,for example,made a decision that ‘les danses a dix” (where the stripper also allowed the men to touch her if they left ten dollars on the table for her favours) was still within Canadian norms and values.The worst part is that they may be right!

So where does this leave us, as believers who want to improve our religious practice?.In a very difficult situation.If we even talk about the importance of modesty,we get these empty stares from others which seem to be saying”In which century are you living?” If we practice looking away(and I have seen this in reality) we are seen as disrespectful of the person or inherently dishonest.And if we affirm that we are against sex outside of marriage,we are looked at as old school, backward or even fanatical!.

Despite all this,we need to persist in our beliefs because this is what our Lord wants.Now, most believing Muslims would never consider actual fornication-which is a ‘kabira’-a major sin.But what about “adultery of the eye”? That is a big one.And it doesn’t have to be internet porn.The temptation is all around us-in the streets,in the cinema,on the television even at times in our families.

The Prophet saws is reported to have said to his son-in-law Ali ra “The first look is for you.The second look is against you”.I understand by this that the first glance just happened-wherever that may be.But after that the Quranic edict to lower your gaze comes into effect.”Don’t linger.Don’t look back.” Checking out the girls,or the boys from the female side is not an acceptable practice for Muslims.Try to avoid it. It isn’t easy! But there are a host of unseen benefits.

Once again the”self-talk” approach may be helpful.”Yes,she’s pretty,but the beings on the other side are even more beautiful” “Yes,she’s nice to look at but Allah forbade it and He is more beautiful still”. Or even”If you keep looking ,your desire will build and that will almost surely lead to frustration and disappointment”. The possibilities for contrary phrases is almost limitless.If you find good ones that work for you,please share them with us lol.

It should be added here that the general movement of Muslim societies towards ‘modernism’ is not helping.The general tendency to early marriage in traditional Muslim societies has been shifted to later and later ages, often based on economic calculations like finishing one’s education and being able to afford family life.This has meant for many young Muslim men years and years of walking around with ‘raging hormones’ trying to control themselves.While I was doing a sabbatical in Jordan,I was told that the going norms were that the male candidate had to own his own apartment, have $25,000 U.S as dowry and show proof of a good job before the families of the women candidates would consider them.Needles to say, there were not many Jordanians who could fit that bill.So many men and women were unmarried and frustrated.

This, of course,flies in the face of the sunnah where the ‘maher'(dowry) at times could be a liter of camel’s milk or a pound of dates.But the ‘tawakkul'(trust in God) and the understanding that the ‘rizk'(provision) is from God has been replaced by accounting sheets and auditors.What a tragedy! Not to mention all the sexual misdemeanors that issue forth from this .kind of situation.I won’t go into the details here as it is too gross even for my Western mind.

The Sins of Speech :This is ,perhaps,the most difficult of all as it is also the most common deviation.I have already written two articles on this blog- Refining the Notion of Ghiba and Husn al-Dhann on this question -in order to make this practice both doable and practical.I felt the need to do so as the blanket condemnation about saying anything negative about anyone seemed to be both impractical and unnecessary.Read the stated articles if you wish to follow my thinking on these matters.

That being said,there is still much room for improvement in our behaviour around speech.Many of us enjoy gossiping about others for no reason other than that is has become customary and it helps us pass the time together.That is not an acceptable reason.Then there are situations where we just want to ‘diss’ someone to make us feel better about ourselves or because we have some resentment towards that person for something they have done to us or said about us in the past.That is not acceptable either.So we have to be careful

So what do we do?There is a ‘riwaya’ about Abu-Bakr Siddique that Hamza Yusuf likes to cite where he entered the bathroom with pebbles in his mouth so that he would not speak.I’m guessing that was about not saying sacred words in the place of excretion but,in any case,I don’t think this is a practice we can recommend to the general public.There is a nice French expression,however, which says “Tournez la langue sept fois avant de parler”( Twist your tongue around seven times before talking)In English we say at times”Bite Your Tongue” and the Islamic teaching of finding seventy excuses for your brother(or sister) before condemning them is in the same spirit.

The bottom line is that we have to be cautious in our speech.We should hesitate before saying anything bad about some-one and ask”Is this necessary?Is this useful?Is there a positive purpose in this speech?”The Buddhists say to ask ourselves :”Is it factual(true);is it helpful?; is it kind; is it pleasant and is it timely?” As usual Buddhists are somewhat excessive and imbalanced in their approach.We cannot always be pleasant and kind. Otherwise,we become artificial and saccharine in our approach, like the Buddhist monks are if you meet them lol.That is why in Islam we are taught “amr bil maroof and nehi al munkar”(to enjoin the good and prevent the evil).Y ou cannot do that if you are always trying your utmost to be kind and pleasant.Sometimes we need to be like the surgeon or the dentist causing short-term pain for long-term gain.

All of this is not to say we should “let it all hang out”or even to be always”honest’ as I was taught in childhood.We need kindness and discernment and wisdom to get the balance right.Maybe more like a Chinese menu than a Japanese Buddhist-“sweet and sour”the favourite dish of many lol. But make the sourness count.Don’t be insensitive or sadistic.That is quite a complex and subtle prescription I am recommending but I am unable to make it simpler for now.I will write further about it as my own practice in this area unfolds.

Addendum about anger I did say earlier in the text that I would confine myself to four dimensions but I think this one bears mentioning as well.We all know that anger is mostly a negative thing. However most of us are not very skillful at managing it.The Sahhaba(companions of the Prophet) noticed that when he got upset and this did happen at times despite his elevated character,all they would see is that his face reddened.I have seen this as well with some of the well-behaved Sufi Sheikhs.They don’t start shouting at the other person or threatening them or tweeting some demeaning descriptions of them as we see lately on the political front.Instead they stay mindful of their emotional state and talk only when the emotion has abated.

Now again,we are not recommending total suppression of our emotional life.There is often truth in what the anger is telling us and we don’t want to lose that Truth.We may in fact want to bring up what we realized in that moment about the other person and their behaviour.But in that case it is the timeliness that is most important.And then there is the manner of formulating it in a way that the other can benefit from.Many people at that point will refuse the information and try to justify themselves out of pride.But that is no longer our affair.We have acted in the best possible manner and done our due diligence.How the other deals with it and his or her nafs is their affair.

Conclusion:Now you have the whole program -almost complete.As one of my favourite Gestalt teachers Erving Polster used to say: “It’s simple but it’s not easy”. Let’s get going and see how we do!This is the Royal Road to Spiritual and Personal Development.God be with us all!

Modern Living, Psychology, Spiritual Practice, Uncategorized

Husn al-Dhann(Having a Good Opinion)

September 19, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com 1 Comment

This article is actually an extension of a previous article I wrote for this blog entitled Refining the notion of Ghiba’(back-biting).It is part of my own spiritual work on jihad-a-nafs and particularly the jihad against excessive and negative speech.I feel deeply that one needs to be realistic about what speech is actually haram and what is both necessary and permissible to manage in the world in which we live.Giving oneself unrealizable goals- like never saying anything negative about anyone- is a sure-fire way to feeling discouraged and defeated in one’s search.As an interesting side-note Sheikh Nuh who gives an exercise to his murids on avoiding backbiting entirely for two consecutive weeks said that the only murid ever to be able to do that on the first try was a prisoner in solitary confinement! That indicates what we are up against in this battle.

On this subject,we are taught by our Islamic scholars to “have a good opinion of our Lord and of our fellow men”.Some of them go on to say that this is from the command of our Lord.However if we look at the ayats involved,which we will do shortly, this is not an accurate portrayal of their contents.As often happens unfortunately in the field of Quranic interpretation,things are taken out of context and elaborations and extensions of the actual texts are made without consideration of the totality of the revelation. In this case,the particular danger is to produce namby-pamby, pie-in -the-sky, “seeing the world through rose-colored glasses” Muslims who are unable to navigate in the modern world and as well are off-putting in their artificially positive attitude.

Now,some shuyukh are aware of this problem.Sheikh Hamza Yusuf,for example,a careful scholar not prone to wayward opinions usually, warns people that in the modern world,there are so many scammers and defrauders and shysters (he should know ,being from California the #2 state in rates of psychopathy in the U.S.!) that one should be wary immediately of what the other may have up his sleeve.Sounds like good advice! But he is rare amongst the ulema in being aware of this problem.

So let’s see where this teaching comes from.The ayat most referred to on this question is from 49:12.It says the following””O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much as possible;for suspicion In some cases is a sin:And spy not on each other,nor speak ill of each other behind their backs”It then goes on to compare back-biting to eating the flesh of a dead brother(powerful analogy no doubt).

The problem in interpreting such a text is manifested quickly in the translation.Most of the translators translate the Arabic word ‘dhann” as suspicion but none of the dictionnaries agree.The best dictionnaries prefer “opinion” or “doubt “.So already the translators are slanting the meaning to their own beliefs.So, essentially,we are being told to avoid unnecessary doubting of the people we are dealing with.Fair enough.Actually this goes even deeper as doubt itself can be a big problem spiritually.In fact it is the basis of one of the epidemics of modern times- atheism!In the Buddhist model,it is one of the five ‘klesas'(obstacles to obtaining Enlightenment) so it goes far and deep in its negative effects-even beyond it’s effect on our human relationships.

Notice that nowhere here does our Lord tell us to have a good opinion of our fellow man.It just suggests we avoid excessive doubt. Most of the relevant hadith about this issue reaffirm Allah’s interdiction of excessive doubt and hostility and malice towards fellow-Muslims.There is one hadith in Abu Dawood that says that to have a good opinion(husn al-dhann) is from the attributes of good worship.Since we do not worship man,I would assume this involves a good opinion of our Lord which should pose no problem for a believer.

Now,in an effort to be more comprehensive, let’s look at the other side of the coin- the debit column of the human CV.And it is far from brilliant! Very early in the Quran 2:30 the angels are bringing up the fact that man will make mischief and create bloodshed on Earth! Allah does not deny it as the angels are clairvoyant and can see clearly what is coming.Then there is one denunciation of man after another.Various groups are described as being blind and deaf and dumb”,as having their hearts hardened, as spreading mischief,as being hypocrites and unbelievers, etc.etc. In one ayat man is denounced for being in most affairs disputatious/contentious(Surat 18:54).As well,whole civilizations are denounced for their sinful ways.

Allah mentions the people of Nuh who were sent the flood,the people of Thamud who refused to follow their Prophet Salih a.s. and were swallowed up by an earthquake;the people of Ad who were strong and tall and given fertile lands but refused the advice of their Prophrt Hud and continued worshiping idols for which they were buried under sand driven by the winds;and the people of Lut of whom we all know the story of Sodom and Gomorrha it being detailed in the Bible itself,etc. etc.

Then we have the sahih hadith of our Prophet saws in al -Bukhari telling us that 99/100 or 999/1000 people will be in the hellfires.He saws also told us that”If you knew what I know, you would be weeping much and laughing little”. All in all not a glorious picture of mankind!

So what are we to make of all this- to act as best we can and not be living in some kind of delusional mind-set? We do not want to live in la-la land but nor do we want to become cynical and bitter either.So here are a few suggestions that may be helpful;

1)Approach every situation with an open mind.Ask questions if you need to (See “The Fabulous Fours” on the blog)

2) Do not become a compulsive doubter ,something our modern society pushes us towards in many ways,including the scientific model of the null hypothesis.

3) Do not become a chronic,reflexive fault-finder( Watch the CNN journalists if you want to see what not to do lol.They are not alone,however, in that attitude amongst journalists.The BBC for example gives them some worthy competition!)

4) Give people, generally, the benefit of the doubt and try as best you can to find excuses for their apparently bad behaviour.

5) Be aware of the good behaviour and positive qualities of people. Affirm these qualities to them and compliment them on them when appropriate.We all need encouragement, at times.Towards the end of my work as a psychiatrist I used to repeat to my clients often:”Give me the good news also” lol We can easily get too focused on the negative.

6)Once confronted with the repeated evidence of the bad character or unethical behaviour of an individual or group,do not deny it.Take note of it, factor it into your decisions and warn others who may be affected by it.Defend yourself in appropriate ways against the ill effects of this behaviour.This may involve seeking counsel,leaving an abusive relationship,changing jobs-the list is endless but your inner state and your relationship with your Creator have to be the top priorities.

7) Remember what Allah said to the angels after they objected to the creation of man”I know what you know not”.So remember that behind the evil and hidden within it is the plan of our Lord.So even ‘evil’ has a hidden positive purpose.According to the highest Sufis,the shaytan, himself, is a servant of Allah.But a servant that you should not take lightly because he is a serious opponent (“adoo mubin” in the Quran- a clear-cut enemy) .

8) And deepest of all –Do spiritual practice to develop ‘basirat’(inner vision/discernment).(Sheikh Hamza says that this is a reward for piety.) Then act according to what you are shown.And share your vision sparingly- only with those who can benefit from it. Allah be with you!

Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

Why we are so scr—d!

September 19, 2018 jebrahim2@gmail.com Leave a comment

The trigger for this piece was a video interviewing an expert on electricity,Dave Stetzer,explaining how both wind and solar energy are generating toxic,”dirty” electricity!Wow! The emperor has no clothes.In fact he’s a stripper!Spiritual and moral reasons aside for the meantime,the following is what I see happening on the ground.

We have some very creative and clever inventors generating all kinds of interesting products and processes to make our lives better.For example there were discoverers of chemical pesticides and herbicides designed to solve one of the fundamental problems in agriculture-pests that destroy the crops.There were other inventors who discovered alternate forms of energy to help us with the problem of greenhouse effects from burning hydrocarbons and there are the inventors of new construction materials like particle board and laminate floors to help us with the limited supplies of lumber available in our forests. All of these inventions, at first glance, look interesting and promising.And they all have potential positive economic and even political effects.

But they all have potential harmful effects as well.So they need to be assessed and evaluated.Given the considerable economic effects of these products,the evaluation process tends to get rushed and pushed aside by the politicians involved in the process who are most often asleep at the wheel.But,even worse the evaluations,when done, are put into the hands of obsessive,plodding,pedantic scientists with lots of data but little insight and judgment and perspective.Instead of choosing really smart people who can use not only the data but also their instincts and insight and even common sense to be able to predict the consequences,we hire statisticians and robotic scientists to do the work.Is it any wonder that it took decades to prove the health effects of cigarettes and DDT insecticides?!By the time DDT was banned(at least in Western countries ,there were hundreds of new pesticides developed some of them probably just as noxious as DDT if not more so.And now that cigarettes are universally denounced,even by their users, no one is seriously evaluating the pulmonary effects of long-term cannabis use as the “legalize pot” campaign is in full swing.

Think about it for a moment.Does it really take a genius to figure out that a substance that kills insects made of much the same biological substrate as us,is going to be harmful to humans.Does it take a rocket-scientist to figure out that if you put known carcinogens like formaldehyde into our construction materials ,it is not going to be good for human health.Unfortunately the minds of the decision-makers are so polluted by complexity and self-interest that they are blind to the reality.

So ,bottom line,we have clever,fast-paced inventors supported by avaricious businessmen and their political allies against plodding scientists often with minimal resources and even less insight competing with each other! Who do you think is going to win?! And who are the losers lol? All of us! This is the end-game,I believe!Thank God I know there is another world.Because this one is scr—d!