Category Archives: Psychology

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Sufism, Uncategorized

Lamentations of an Aspiring Spiritual Teacher

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Towards the end of his life, Freud made the following statement concerning his discovery of psychoanalysis; “I believe I have discovered the third type of human activity that is both necessary and doomed to failure.The other two being raising children and governing nations” Lol. Well I may have uncovered the fourth- Being a spiritual teacher!

Now, classically, the métier of spiritual teacher was considerably simpler.The teacher spoke and instructed and the murid(student) listened and obeyed.” Listen and obey” That is the instruction both in the Quran and in most Sufi tariqats.But somehow things have changed.That model seems to be outdated.It is still being attempted in many spiritual circles but I myself and many others in modern times have found it unworkable.For example,when we discover the teacher has made a mistake,sometimes a serious one,do we just keep quiet?! Or, even worse, do we deny that it occurred as many murids do? What do we do about it? Unfortunately denial is a very commonplace reaction.

I had a very good friend whose teacher was doing wrong things( many actually haram) on many levels.The evidence was growing by the year and the documentation became overwhelming.But he wouldn’t leave! It got so bad,I eventually had to terminate the friendship as the level of “falsehood” had become unsustainable.This is not uncommon btw!The loyalty to corrupt spiritual teachers is unbelievable at times.and the justifications are as clever as they are disingenuous.

I would like to backtrack a moment to my personal experience here.I say often and I believe it that I would have almost no understanding of life and spirituality if it were not for some extraordinary beings I have met along the route.These extraordinary beings include my first Sufi teacher-Pir Vilayat Khan-my first Tibetan Buddhist teacher,Geshe Lama Gajan, my fist Muslim teacher Sheikh Muhammad Jumal, Sheikh Bawa Muhayideen, Sheikh Nazim al Qubrusi,S heikh Nuh and my current teacher Sheikh Abu Qassim of Erdeyf,Tunisia and many others along the way.I learnt so much more from these people than from my miserable 12 years of University education lol! I would be nowhere without them.

And yet….they were all imperfect.And it usually didn’t take me long to detect their faults and their limitations.However,we were absolutely forbidden, by context,to raise these issues.”Our teachers are perfect.We need to idealize them and obey them” That was the Gestalt of it. No ‘ifs’,’ and’s and ‘buts’ lol.

Eventually,I had to break away from this Absolutist approach to spiritual development.It was not an easy decision.Most of my Sufi colleagues would consider my position as heretical.But my entire path seemed to be leading me in that direction-developing a more comprehensive,all-inclusive model.My heart led me there and my Istikharas confirmed it over and over again.Little did I expect what happened next?!

Once I took on this new role ,I was confronted quickly with a dilemma that I had not expected.The opposition forces grew and grew.Like our blessed Prophet saws I confronted the opposition-as he sal  confronted the ways of the Qurayshi ancestprs!I began to regret the loss of the “Listen and obey plus idealization” approach! So much easier.Excludes all opposition by diktat.But it was not to be.  These were new types of ancestors however- the ancestors of the modern world! And two of these “modern ancestral opponents” stood out from the crowd.One was “transference” (courtesy the psychoanalysts) and one was social-conditioning( social brain-washing if you wish). Let us explore these two in a little more detail.

1-Tranference: Transference was a deep secret in the human unconscious that Freud and his fellow analysts discovered by doing therapy with psychologically troubled people.What they found ,to their surprise initially, was that no matter how neutral and relatively silent they were,the patient eventually reproduced their parental relationships in the consulting room.Then it became the analysts job to “interpret the transference” and that would ultimately be the most important tool for healing.Until they came across the borderlines but that is another story Lol.

As a spiritual teacher,one comes across the very same phenomenon,in a different context.The teacher is trying to transmit knowledge and understanding and practices and even love only to come across reactiveness and obstinacy and stonewalling! “What is he is thinking?! I am trying my best to transmit goodness and life  and I am getting “flack” instead?!” What is happening?” he asks And the answer is usually transference!

The transference can take several forms.If we are talking about a male teacher it will often involve a father transference.”My father is critical,so you are critical.My father is explosive so you are explosive.My father puts me down so you,the spiritual teachers are putting me down” The themes are endless.Occasionally a gender shift may be operative.For example if the mother was domineering and harsh or the micro-managing type, the transference can be a maternal one.

The other possibility, in the domain of the unconscious, comes from the school of “object relations” in psychoanalysis.They clearly identified the process of identification or parental internalization(the inner parental imago). So, in that case, the murid,instead of reacting to the parent becomes the parent.This often happens in marriage,unfortunately.But it can also happen within a teacher/student relationship!

In a classical Sheikh/Murid relationship this phenomenon is either hidden or short-circuited but in the newer model I am presenting it needs to be addressed.This makes the work a lot more difficult but on the other hand more complete and more satisfying.In other words, with this approach we are doing psychotherapy at the same time as spiritual work.Very satisfying for someone who has been advocating the bio-psycho-socio-spiritual approach(i.e a complete approach to human development) for decades!

2_ Social Conditioning: I realized quite quickly that there was another adversary in this process that was at least as formidable ,if not more so,than the transference.And that is social conditioning- the way we have been trained by our parents ,the society around us, and most notably our schools, to think.And that thinking involves at least three elements- Rationnality/Logic; Democratic values(what I call the Democratic Illusions); and Secularism. I am convinced there is much more to this story but let us start with those three;

a) Rationnality/Logic: From an early age, and certainly as soon as we start our formal education, we are trained to be Reasonable and Logical. I only really became aware of this bias when I did an EST training in San Francisco in the 70’s and the trainer at the front began unpacking “the stages of spiritual development“Reasonableness is the lowest level of spiritual development” he stated  i.e. just one notch above animality lol.And yet all around us we can see this emphasis-not only in our schools but in our businesses which are constantly calculating their self-interest and in our governments that are always looking at “the data”. You see gathering of the data and then analyzing it or “crunching it” as they say is one of the most basic aspects of our social processes and our decision -making .

So the Greek Philosophers and particularly Aristotle have found their way into our thinking-actually into our unconscious! And this internalization raises its hoary head as soon as you begin trying to teach people.One of the first manifestations of this is “the contradiction detectors”.They are on all the time in hyperactive,hypersensitive mode!Remember Aristotle taught us that A could not be not-A. Unfortunately it often is lol. “But teacher, you said this yesterday and now you are saying that.How could that be?! It’s a contradiction!” Yes,we are all playing  “gotcha”CNN games with each other and with our teachers.

For the Muslims amongst you and even the sincere Christians ,try to find those kind of interactions amongst the disciples of Mohammad saws or Jesus a.s. or Moses.I have been unable.Take note that we are not talking abort Muslim scholars or Talmudic traditions or Christian theologians.They are all infected with the Aristotelian virus and its variants lol.We are talking about original sources.I have not been able ,in our Islamic tradition, to find one interaction and there were many ,many of those reported,of one of the Sahhabbis saying to the Prophet saws”You said this,but the Quran said that.How could that be.?” Thank God,they had no contradiction detectors as far as I can see.That would come much later! (PS some obsessive scholarly type is sure to contradict me here lol)

2- Democratic Illusions: Make no mistake about it .Our schools are centers of indoctrination! And one of the forms of indoctrination is transmitting “Democratic values“..Some of these include ” We are all created equal”; the best way to arrive at Truth or make dicisions is through discussions”.”All opinions are equally valid”: Each of these is demonstrably false.But that in no way prevents the promoters of democracy from believing them.After all it’s an article of faith,no.

So,for example,all men are created equal” Really?! Have you not noticed?! Want to come to the Children’s section of  the Douglas hospital where I worked and taught  for several years and see the multiply -handicapped(May Allah have Mercy upon them) from birth?Have you not noticed that some people are tall and others short,some are strong and others weak,some are smart and others stupid.How can you possibly believe in this equality.And the same holds for opinions,Many are outrightly wrong and some are really primitive and foolish! So give me a break. And btw an old aphorism of mine “any system or person that denies reality is unlikely to succeed”! Any wonder that we are in such a state in the world?!

And how does this play out in a context of spiritual teaching?! Well,the Westerner believes firmly that his ideas are as good as anyone else s-including,of course the teachers. If they happen to be talented at robotic schoolwork and thus get excellent grades at school,they are even more arrogant.I had  a 19-year old niece who had just taken her first Comparative Religion 101 course vociferously arguing with me about Buddhism! The “chutzpah ” of it is astounding.But, democratically, her opinion is as valid as someone on the path of seeking truth for the last 50 years?! Her democratic right,no?!

c) Secularism; This is another huge subject, all around us, that merits more attention at another time..Fortunately most of the students that enter a spiritual path have graduated from that low level of understanding.But vestiges do remain! And those vestiges often take the form of “doubting”. It is a short step from doubting the existence of God to doubting that the teacher in front of you basically knows what he is talking about-even if he errs on the details at times. PS Obsessionalism, which is another derivative  of doubt is one more obstacle.”How could my teacher be authentic if his Arabic pronunciation is not perfect?” could be an example in the Islamic context.Or ” his pants go beyond his ankles” or “her hair is appearing beneath her hijab” .Yes,I have heard it all, lol

Given all these obstacles,this is ceratinly not a path for the frail-hearted or the weak and weary.This is a path for the “rijal”(the men and women of courage and integrity). Join us if you have the desire and the sincerity to do so.We will welcome you with open arms and  stern admonishments lol

 

 

Islam, Metaphysics, Psychology, Uncategorized

The Real Problem of the Taliban-Religious Materialism

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The Taliban have recaptured Afghanistan!So we see these noble,dignified soldiers dressed in sunnat clothing and if we look no further,we could be impressed.Personally,I find their dress,at least for the males,much more appealing than that of Western politicians who are essentially wearing the garb of the lower echelons of the royal courts-the jacks of the monarchy!.As to the women,the imposed dress code is both awful and unnatural-the product of a misplaced principle of modesty.We will look into the issue of “principles” a little later in the article as they seem to go hand in hand with “Materialism”.

Now,when I say materialism I am not referring to its sense of greediness and avarice as it is commonly used.I am referring to a philosophical,attitudinal position where the concrete is the predominant and determinant reality.So the Marxists say they are “dialectical materialists”. The scientific types say they are empirically-based .But Empiricism is just another form of materialism.And many of our religions are carrying another and even deeper form of materialism-the dress,the rituals the rules of the religion in its outer form.I call that”Religious Materialism”.

Now this is not what religion is supposed to be.This is not what the Prophets and founders and mystics of the religion were teaching.In fact,this common distinction between spirituality and religion is moot,in fact.True religion IS spiritual,by definition.But it appears that the human mind has a need to concretize and codify everything.And therein the problem begins.Now codification may well be necessary to some extant but it musn’t become predominant.Otherwise we are into religious bureaucracuy -an inevitable consequence of Religious Materialism.At that point,we have “thrown out the baby with the bathwater” so to speak.

So, paradoxically the Taliban have fallen into the same trap as the Marxists.The Marxists believed that if you changed the outward,economic situation of the people their inward state would change.And the Taliban believe that if you set up the structure of an Islamic state,people will become good and virtuous.So they are deeply misled.Au contraire what they become is rigid (uncompassionate) or hypocritical! Neither is a good outcome.Neither is what the founders of religion including our Prophet wished for!

So,when I look at the Taliban,I don’t see any of the “nur”(light) of Islam in their faces.I am sure this was not the case with the original Muslims around the Prophet saws.The unbelievers began seeing this transformatioin two generations after the Prophet saws where the nur of the Sahhabbas was beginning to diminish in the Muslim community.At this point in time you have to search it out unfortunately.I remember being in Mecca and looking and looking for it.I finally found it in a group of Bangladeshi people who belonged to the Naqshbandi order.And yes,it is the Sufis who are carrying this nur most clearly.It is not there-neither in the Taliban nor the Salafis nor the Shia generally.

Now,this is a universal phenomenon-not unique to Islam.We can find it in all religions.The original light and baraka and Love becomes a set of rules and regulations and customs and rituals.And the life is lost.No matter how noble the principles,how accurate the scriptrural exegeses,how clever the scholars,the very essence of the religion,the sap of the tree so to speak, is lost.And then we too are lost.

One of the paradoxes of this Materialism is that it is almost inevitably tied to a series of principles -i.e. things that are not material in themselves but of course end up being materialized in ways that are often contrary to the origins of the principles themselves! So the Marxists are bound to the notion of “The Dictatorship of the Proletariat” which then becomes the dictatorship of the top echelons of the Communist party.The Scientific Materialists become the advocates of the “randomized,placebo-controlled, multi-centered , peer-reviewed articles in published  prestigious journals”(That IS a mouthful lol) and then miss the Reality on the ground as they did so ignobly with early treatment of Covid epidemic.That one cost millions of lives on its own!The Christian Materialists massacre those from a different faith as in the Spanish inquisition and the Crusades and burn the witches at the stake in the name of “The Love of Jesus” Wa la howla wala quwatta.And the Muslim Materialists continually talk about “Quran and sunnat” while missing the wisdom ,compassion and humanity of both.These contradictions tend to supplant the original intentions and tend to have a very long life,unfortunately.

Once the essence is lost,the entire structure is compromised.Peoples hearts are dry and all sorts of excesses and cruelties become possible.Thence the critique of the secularists against religions.And unfortunately they have a point.

So now we can see it, in its full manifestation, in the Taliban.Outer,materialistic religion.what a trap?! The devil must be rubbing his hands in glee.And yet,these people think what they are doing is right and pure.Little do they know what trap they have fallen into.I will let God decide their fate but for sure I will not be part of it and I will call them out as I have done many times in the past to the other Islamic Materialists-the Wahhabbis.I clearly remember leaving one of their dinner invitations saying to them bluntly:”I do not see any light in your faces.How can I possibly believe your words” And I said the same to a group of Shia who were also trying to convince me of their ideas.Until I see the light and feel the Love,their empty words are meaningless.

So,is there a way out?! Of course there is!. Allah would not leave us with a problem for which there is no solution.But the way out requires something that few people seem willing to do-self-observation(muraqabat). Let me give you an example!

About twelve years ago, in Jordan, I met an ex-Wahhabbi who had come to spend time with my sheikh of the time-Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.”How did you get here?” I asked” Wahhabbis never come to see the Sufis.” He told me that he was earnestly following the Wahhabbi way(now they cal themsaelves Salafis after the early generation of Muslims but they are very far from the state of those noble ones!). He continued to tell me his story;’My heart was dry .I could feel nothing.And then I appealed to my Lord for help.He swt sent me a dream in which the Prophet saws was driving a Chevrolet?! ” I knew then that Sheikh Nuh was a true representative of our Prophet and my Wahhabbi teachers were a mere shadow of that reality-at best.That is the kind of lucidity required to break out of the Materialist conundrum that troubles all the religions.May Allah help us to remain inwardly rich and alive and not to fall into the trap of outwardliness. Salaams,Ibrahim

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

Transhumans Rule?!

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Watching Richard Branson being interviewed on CNN after launching into space)These prominent billionaire types- Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, to name a few -are simply WEIRD!.Call it what you will- transhuman? robotic?humanoid? extraterrestrial? Can you not see that?! This must be another sign of the end of Days.The leaders are barely human?!
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

The Delusion- of Objectivity- Continues

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(Answer to an old friend saying he doesn’t believe anything said by Tucker Carlson)-More black and white thinking ., Jim..! If you are seriously interested in the Truth you have to learn discernment- as opposed to fixed positions.It is a testimony to the total failure of our educational system that intelligent, well- educated people like yourself still take fixed positions dependent on their philosophical and political biases.

That should be the domain of theology and many, many people who say they believe in science have actually become theologians of ” “scientism”,instead of learning how to observe properly.This theological position has cost literally millions of lives in the current pandemic as the theologians have refused to acknowledge the efficacy of off-label drugs like hydroxychloroquine and Ivermecton in favor of the catechism of “double-blind , placebo-controlled,peer-reviewed large-scale studies published in prestigious medical journals” What a mouthful lol! Would make even the most pedantic of Christian and Talmudic scholars choke on while swallowing lol Just like it’s predecessors “The Dictatorship of the Proletariat” and “the Analysis of the Transference ” as solutions to our deepest problems, it is bound to disappoint!

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

Science is NOT Beautiful!

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Joel Ibrahim Kreps

8:38 PM (0 minutes ago)
to Gabriel
Btw. I appreciate what Kory and Weinstein and Chris Matenson and RFK jr. amongst others are saying.And I have learnt a lot from all of them.But I disagree with one fundamental issue! Science is NOT beautiful and it is certainly NOT the answer,In fact at this point ,it is safe to say that science is now causing more harm than good.The Covid epidemic was caused by science!( the gain of function research started in the USA and continued in Wuhan,China)Science is responsible for the epidemics of cancer and Alzheimer’s and autism and auto-immune disrders and antibiotic-resistant bacteria..Science is responsible for the contamination of our food and water and air.So making a God of science ,besides being heretical,is simply not supported by the evidence.And now that our wonderful science is promoting electrical cars and solar panels and windmills-all of which produce toxic dirty electricity.So  the statement by Weinstein that “science is beautiful” is more B.S. Camels are beautiful;cars are ugly.Fields are beautiful;concrete highways are ugly.Birds are beautiful;airplanes are ugly etc.,etc.So lets stop praising science and start “Praising the Lord” as the Christians say lol.Salaams,Ibrahim
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

A Simple Scientific Error!

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An Archimedes moment! Eureka! Got it. A simple scientific error is at the heart of it all! They are confusing the hypothesis with the conclusion! Remember the basic scientific model:Observation-Hypothesis-Experimentation -Conclusion.Well they stopped at stage 2 and considered that their Conclusion!
I pointed this out in my first book about Evidence-Based Medicine.The hypothesis was that if you followed the scientific literature in your medical practice,you would get better results than if you used your own judgment and clinical experience.Well,they still haven’t tested that one out.The conclusion was already assumed.Very unscientific of them lol.
But now,we have an even starker example -about vaccines.No,not the Covid vaccines .The jury is still out on that one.Rather the vaccine mandates for children.The hypothesis was that, since children suffered from infections often,the best thing you could do for their health was to vaccinate them against every possible infection you could! Plausible hypothesis…Well,after many,many years of denying and procrastination,the jury is in! Massive vaccination is BAD for childrens’ health.Turns out that multiple assaults on the immune system via vaccines is bad for childrens’ immune system(produces hyper-reactivity)and for the brain(neurotoxic!)But the hypothesis, in the meantime, had become a Conclusion.No room there for new evidence.Very simple problem.Very severe consequences.May God help us all!
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

An Epidemic of Deafness!

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Florida Building Collapses!– You can be sure of one thing .That one or more people saw this coming and said something.Then many people around including the managing contractors and regulators didn’t listen.We are suffering from an epidemic far worse than the Covid pandemic.! t is an epidemic of deafness.In fact if you go back and analyze the pandemic you will realize that it could have easily been prevented except for the deafness that occurred around it.May God help us!
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Uncategorized

Agnostics and Atheists ,Lend me your Ears!

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Introductory note: This article is written for all the well-intentioned, kind-hearted A&Aers(we will use A&As as an abbreviation at times for Atheists and Agnostics during this article for the sake of brevity lol).They have been unwittingly sold a bill of goods by a very skilful and manipulative cabal of philosophers and marketers that have been operating for a very long time.I hope this article may serve to put a dent into their well-honed atheistic armour!

There is a common social narrative, in contemporary society,  that religious people are brain-washed by their religious leaders and agnostics are free-thinkers! Actually,nothing could be further from the truth! For over two hundred years, at least, the Western mind (and now it is present in the East as well) has been indoctrinated with atheistic principles .From the French Revolutions ” Liberté, Égalité and Fraternité” which puts all the emphasis on the human position to Nietzche’s “God is Dead” to the Empiricism of John Locke and the so-called “Scientific Revolution”, the Western mind has been inundated with atheistic concepts that put man at the centre of the Universe as opposed to God.Ironically this is the polar opposite to the equally politically correct Copernican discovery that the sun was the center of our galaxy,not the Earth.As opposed to that great astronomical discovery,A&As assert again the centrality of man as opposed to his Creator.I guess human arrogance and self-centeredness continues to reassert itself in various and sundry ways!

N.B.Empiricism is a biggie here because it says that all you can know is what you can see and hear with your five senses.Only the outer and the measurable is true in this vision. “Evidence-Based” and “data based”-we hear those phrases over and over again like a tired mantra.Now science has taken up the flag of this Empiricism and misled many,many people who have lost touch with their inner senses.Working as psychiatrists and psychotherapists, we can see how that imbalance wreaks destruction on peoples lives as well as their general understandings.On a larger scale the politicians and administrative governing bodies, including those pf private corporations, are all corrupted by this point of view! No wonder we are in such a mess!

This philosophical brain-washing has been going on right up until the modern epoch.So we have the Existentialists like Sartre and Camus making the same case.In Britain we have the esteemed philosopher Bertrand Russell writing”Why I am Not a Christian”. And then there are the great scientific geniuses like Freud and Marx and Darwin (although in all fairness to the latter, he ,for one,remained a believing Christian up to his death) telling us the same story.In recent times we have been treated to the eloquence of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins repeating the same narrative.So anyone thinking that he,himself,came up with this narrative is seriously deluded or incorrigibly arrogant.The story-line has been developing for centuries!

Now,the story line goes something like this.”Religion has been a bad actor for millenia.It has caused countless acts of violence and sowed division across the globe.Now there is some Truth to that statement.I will spare you,for now,however the historical analysis of non-religious movements like Fascism and Communism.The historians that have investigated this have concluded that non-religious movements have actually caused more death and destruction than religious ones!- but that is a discussion for another time.

This  story line also tells us that although religion is BAD ,spirituality is GOOD,What is ignored in that affirmation is the fact that almost all forms of spirituality come from religion! I discovered that for the first time when I studied Transcendental Meditation back in the seventies-advertised as a secular practice.I quickly realized that the meditation techniques being taught were permeated through and through with Hindu philosophy,language and rituals.So too is Mindfulness- related to Buddhism and Yoga to Vedantic Hinduism. Separating spirituality from religion is like separating breathing from lung function! Impossible.Can’t be done.

Another part of this atheistic narrative is that science can explain everything.Really!? So when we see the obvious  contradiction in the image  of the famous physicist, Stephen Hawking, almost completely incapacitated in a wheelchair because of A.L.S promoting the Big Bang Theory as a potent theory for origin of the Universe,we have to recoil in disbelief! The fact that we do not react with disbelief is a sign of how far we have dissociated ourselves from common sense! The Big Bang Theory may tell us what some of the early events were in the Creation story.But it certainly doesn’t tell us the Original Cause.

In fact None of the Great scientific theories can tell us the Original cause-neither the theory of Evolution, in biology, nor the Class Struggle, in political history, nor the Unconscious of psychoanalysis nor the Theory of Relativity in Physics..They  only address intermediary causes.And thus they tell us nothing about ultimate Causation and even less about meaning!

Another interesting irony here- there is more diversity in religious theory than there is in A&A theory!The agnostic discourse almost always has the same refrain.”Religious people are deluded.They believe in order  to make themselves feel better about their lives.And their religious leaders have put a blindfold over their vision” .They all,universally, say the same thing!

Paradoxically,in the religious domain,however,diversity abounds!Some religions(Hinduism and Buddhism for example) believe that our Ultimate goal is Enlightenment.Western religions hold that our purpose is to worship God and serve Him.Very big difference there!. Some religions,like Christianity,believe that God incarnated in the flesh.Judaism and Islam reject that idea categorically.Judaism believes in the chosen nature of its nation while Islam and Christianity believe in the Equality of all humans.The list goes on and on.But it is intriguing to see that are more substantial differences in the minds of religious people than that in the supposedly “free- thinkers”.How ironical?! All the ‘free thinkers’ come to the same conclusions.Makes you wonder about their supposed freedom!

Now,let us get to the crux of the matter-the Basic Epistemology if you wish.The idea that there is no God is just that-an idea.Any self-reflecting atheist will have to admit that! You cannot prove the non-existence of something.Even the Western legal systems have come to the same conclusion.You cannot prove the non-existence of a thing or an event.So the notion of the non-Existence of God is just that-a notion.

On the other side,let us forget for now about Prophets and Saints and mystics and angels and Holy Books for now-although that is admittedly factoring out a lot of data! But I know how much those entities are anathema to the A&A mindset.So instead let us look at the n.d.e experiences as I relate them in my book “The Big Questions:Evidence-Based Faith'”These are ordinary people,most often not particularly religious some even being atheists prior to their experience.

Yes I am well aware that there is a commonplace pseudo-scientific argument that these represent the delusions of a dying brain.Anyone familiar with brain physiology and pathology should immediately see through that bogus argument( if you need more ‘scientific’ proof you can check out the work of Bruce Greyson and Pim Van Lomel although I must say that if you need to go that far in your research ,you are probably a lost cause lol). All forms of brain pathology create dysfunction and perturbations and physiological disease like headaches and vertigo and epilepsy.This form has as its effect more compassion,more serenity and more perspective on human life itself.How could that possibly be pathological?! Au contraire, instead of incapacitating the individual,it improves mental health and clarity.

So… these ordinary people in life-threatening situations see deceased relatives ,the heavens and the hellworlds, and beings of Light and God Himself-sometimes as separate from them and sometimes merged in His Essential Consciousness.They confirm ALL the teachings of the saints and mystics.And they have no more doubts!Then they report back to us their discoveries- as witnesses.

Let me be very clear here.If you are still holding on to an atheistic or agnostic position you are believing in a philosophical theory rather than in actual human experience.IMHO,that is a really bad choice-a bad exchange.And the loss in the hereafter could be VERY long-lasting.May God help you see the light!

Addendum.Since the most common objection about the relevance of the n.d.e experience is that it must be a change in brain chemistry caused by the dying brain, let me give you what I believe to be an accurate and simple analogy.And btw, this modernistic,”scientific” reflex,about brain chemistry,is a thoroughly conditioned response.Where are you now Skinner,the father of the conditionned reflex lol, now that we need you to explain this to people lol?!

The analogy goes like this:It’s the beginning of the summer and a   neighbour tells you that there is a new ice-cream shop that opened down the road.So what are the possibilities? The neighbour may be a compulsive liar or even a sadistic teaser.Or he could have mis-spoken (dysphasia lol) or bought new glasses recently and thought that the computer repair shop was actually an ice-cream place.Or again he could be a psychic who saw into heavenly worlds where there are always ice-cream shops on hot days lol. Those are the kind of obtuse explanations the “scientists” are looking for!

But, far and away ,the most likely version is that the ice-cream shop is a reality and you are best off checking it out ASAP! You see,the scientists are operating from theory and conjecture and ideology.The bottom line is they don’t want to believe in other-worldly realities because it goes against their attachment to Philosophical Materialism and Atheism.Actually,now that I think about it,Agnosticism is actually a sophisticated cover-up for Atheism.They,too, prefer their “mind-productions” to actual reality.May God help them to open their hearts and souls.On the other hand,if they just use their minds it will surely lead them astray!

 

 

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Uncategorized

Epistemology-Synthesis

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What do most people say they want?They say they want the Truth.In Arabic the word is “Haqq” and it refers to both Truth and Reality.Epistemology is the science of accessing that Reality.From there,everything becomes possible! Without it,everything is meaningless!

Most modern people have been trained to think that the way to knowledge is to accumulate data and then analyze it logically.I like to call that the “Aristotelian Approach”I have found that way to be inefficient,defective and misleading .Watch the justice system operate if you don’t believe me.

So what do we learn from Sufism and Islam about this question?As I see it, there are three principal doors to knowledge-the deeper knowledge and the one that counts ultimately.

The first is the opening of the heart.We are talking here about the subtle heart -not the one of gross feelings like anger an d sadness and even joy.I won’t address the question of love for now as that can be very confusing and misleading lol.

The second  is seeing”basirat’-the inner vision.Once that is developed we can see the inner aspect of what is going on-the good and the evil of it,the sincerity and the hypocrisy,the darkness and the light.

And finally the the third is  hearing and developing ‘the ear of truth’ the entity that  hears ‘the sound of truth’.When we hear that, we have to act on the truth we hear.(Remember the sequential formula-ilm(knowledge),amal(action) then hal(state).Without the knowledge ,there is no proper action. Without the action,there is no change in state!Our nafs will surely object but our hearts will say ‘yes!’

Now the Quran tells us about this.It talks about “those whose hearts are sealed” and those who are “deaf,blind and dumb”.And we can understand that this is not outer blindness nor outer deafness but rather the inner senses.If our hearts are sealed and we are blind and deaf,we will surely make wrong decisions and that is what we see all around us.

Is there a corrective?Yes,there is.It is spiritual practice beginning with what is obligatory in our religion and proceeding to dhikr and wird and listening to wise ones and opening our hearts to the hidden and the invisible.There is no other way! Reason will not get us there.Psychotherapy will not get us there.Motivators like Antony Robbins and Steven Covey will not get us there!

Only proper spiritual practice and virtuous ways will get us there.For then, as a reward,Allah will cleanse our hearts to feel properly, clear our vision- to see what is real- and remove the ‘wax’ from our inner ears so we can hear ‘the ring of Truth’ when it chimes.

 

As I pursue my path and observe others, I see clearly that most people,no matter what I or other mystics say,still trust their minds(ideas and feelings) and act accordingly.Although this is instinctive,it is a serious error!A couple of quotes, from non-religious people, are in order: “The right answer is often the opposite of the instinctive one”-Clint Eastwood-“The Million-Dollar Baby. “All your problems come from the same place.You believe the contents of your own mind”Byron Katie. So what are the alternatives.

The first two alternatives to “mind productions” are very difficult for modern people.The first is to tap into the will of God.Not an easy matter.Most people are so stuck in their own will and desires that the true will of God is completely obscured.Many do not even accept the idea that God has Will.

The second alternative is to trust in an intermediary like a Prophet or a sheikh or a guru.Once again the modern mind is trained to rebel against authority and to want to be independent,autonomous,”free”.

For these reasons I will suggest a third method -despite knowing full well the actual resistance I will encounter-the Scientific Method.Yes,that’s right-the scientific method,the real one! That involves real observation and experimentation and genuine conclusions-not statistical analysis,demographics and peer-reviewed journals.Observation and experimentation.Simple as that.Simple but deep!

I’ll give you a concrete example.When I first started to learn about the Islamic Istikhara practice,I did an experiment.I took 10 decisions I had to make.Then I analyzed the data I had,did some research on the subject and some thinking and came to a conclusion.After that I did the Istikhara practice.And then I followed the situation to its inevitable conclusion.My analytic decision was wrong 8/10 times! That’s right-I was one out of five -a 20% success rate.And I believe I’m reasonably good  at that process.So all those wonderful decisions you make-are most probably wrong!

The Istikhara(it must be properly interpreted of course,which is another science) was inevitably right.When it wasn’t,it was due to misinterpretation!

Really folks,your whole process of making decisions is flawed!The one they taught you in school doesn’t work! Just look around you if you don’t believe me lol.You can observe it yourself.Admittedly,this takes deep observation and humility..It also takes a true open mind.

Medical Epistemology:I guess philosophy is important after all lol.My two favourite terms these days are Epistemology and Empiricism and its sister Philosophical Materialism.So my apologies to Wittgenstein and John Stuart Mills after all lol.

So( not supposed to use that word according to current anal grammarians .Another form of political correctness-this time in the  world of grammar.).And yet(probably also banned as a term lol) it is SO useful .Maybe that’s why they want to ban it! (the conspiratorial epistemology-to be unveiled shortly).So,I repeat,the current pandemic gives us a chance to examine different forms of Epistemology.Epistemology basically means “how do you get to the Truth,The Realty of any situation or question?”(same word btw in Arabic-Truth and Reality=Haqq!)

So let us examine four forms of Epistemology as applied to the Covid pandemic and  try to see their relative value.I will personalize these approaches in order to make the point more vividly and graspable.

  1. The Didier Raoult paradigm-information on the ground.For those that don’t know this fascinating character from Marseilles,he is one of the first doctors to promote hydroxychloriquine as a Covid treatment-mostly based on his clinical experience at a hospital in Marseilles.He even took the trouble to document his cases and show that at his clinic ,they had reduced the death rate by about 70% by this approach.Further studies done in the right way,using HCT early in the illness with azithromycin and Zinc came to similar conclusions-anywhere from a 60-80% reduction! All of this based on examining the facts on the ground.This principle is applicable to many other situations .Ask the people who are there experiencing it.But no! The current Epistemological paradigm forbids this! It is dismissed either as “subjective” or “anecdotal” or some other disparaging term.         I was pleased to hear from my brother in NYC whose future son-in-law was himself working on the ground in a Brooklyn hospital where the doctors noticed that HCT was useful early in the illness and they were not even using it with antibiotics and zinc! But no,the CDC and WHO will hear nothing of this .They need their prospective, double-blind ,placebo-controlled peer-reviewed (i.e. non-existent studies) lol to arrive at conclusions.)
  2. The Chris Martenson (peakprosperity.com) paradigm.Unlike the former paradigm  Chris is working from outside the battlefield.But he uses the on the ground workers as one source amongst others.Then he interviews people who have experienced the illness(how strange and unscientific lol!),looks at the research including the less high-profile journals and the non-statistical scientific reports.He scours the newspapers,TV Cable News and radio reports.From this vast array of sources he is able to discern the chaff from the wheat, pick out the B.S. even in hot-shot journals like Lancet and JAMA and then come to conclusions.He is almost invariably right and when he isn’t, he admits it.   Oddly enough I have seen judges in the courts using a very similar process of teasing out the reality from an abundance of sources.And in my experience, they consistently understand the Reality better than the “expert doctors” who are supposed to be the  experts in the area! That is because the doctors are using the next paradigm-the Fauci approach lol
  3.  The Fauci and his acolyte Sanjay Gupta approach- also known as current scientific consensus.These people only believe in peer-reviewed,placebo-controlled,double blind prospective studies and Cochrane database metastudies and official organizations like WHO and FDA and CDC..They are very often wrong as has been Fauci all along in this pandemic.He got the mask issue wrong(not enough studies?!)the hydroxychloroquine issue wrong(looking at the wrong studies and ignoring the right ones) and the man-made nature of the virus(how he could get that one wrong is beyond me as HE was instrumental in creating it!). The problem is that most medical personnel and certainly the formal afore-mentioned institutions(WHO,FDA,CDC,NIH) are all using that paradigm! No wonder we are in such confusion and such trouble.
  4. I can’t complete this abbreviated list of Epistemological approaches without mentioning the Brian Rose,Sayer Ji Plandemic conspiratorial epistemology.These people see the lies and the deceptions of the official stories of government and health institutions but go way beyond the facts into paranoid projections.So the fact that there was a 201 Event meeting of government and public health officials and businessmen organized by John’s Hopkins University  in October 2019 that simulated a pandemic to try to develop strategies to deal with such an event means for them that the pandemic was planned.Wrong! The fact that the Wuhan lab was under the control of the Chinese military means that this virus was a bio-weapon of war.Wrong again. The fact that Bill Gates screwed up with vaccines in India and Africa means that he is trying to depopulate the world so that he can better control it.Anyone with familiarity with the paranoid mind-set(I was a psychiatrist for 45 years lol) can recognize the cognitive errors in these kinds of distortions and projections.On top of it,they may be dangerous as they stir up unnecessary fear and anger in a situation where there is enough realistic fear and anger to go around already!
  5. Btw, each of these types of Epistemology can be used in many other areas of life as well.As I have indicated in other articles on this blogsite-which you are free to explore.In fact,I consider myself to be an Epistemologist of Spiritual Reality and Truth.              In summary.we have all been conditioned and brain-washed into a form of Epistemology that is seriously flawed.Either we believe what the authorities tell us(Big Mistake!) or we over-use our minds and come to logical but wrong conclusions.We need to cleanse our hearts and ears and eyes to perceive correctly.And that requires a lot of inner work! God be with you.Salaams,Sufi Ibrahim
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

How They Are Not Listening? Let me count the ways!

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There is currently an epidemic of deafness in human interactions going on. After observing this,I have been trying to understand why that is .This article is more about the “how’ than the “why”. Have a listen! lol

I could not have admitted this a while ago,when I was studying psychiatry,but I have learnt many deep and useful things from the psychoanalysts.One of the things they realized early on was that it was not enough to say the truth about the psychodynamics at play or about anything else for that matter.Firstly,you have to interpret the defenses i.e. you have to identify the barriers in the way of listening.

Now, ironically,there is something parallel in the Islamic tradition-yes the very same religious mentality that Freud liked to denigrate lol! It says”laillaha illaha”.(There is no God but the one true God).So you have to start by denying the falsehood-the various forms of idolatry.Then and only then,can you affirm the Truth -Allah.Ajib! Psychoanalysts and pious believers using the same approach.! What could be more reassuring lol,?

So what are these barriers to listening? I will list a few of the more obvious ones to begin with:
1-Denouncing the Source: so ,if you don’t like what someone says,you respond” He’s just ignorant” or “he’s a right-winger” or “he’s just too politically correct” or “he’s just a chauvinist, macho or a homophobe or an Islamophobe or a feminist”or any one of numerous categories that would discredit the individual from being a truth-sayer.The problem is that each and every one of those categories speaks the Truth at times.I could even add psychotics and borderlines and psychopaths to the list and not  forget Mr. Trump-the Narcissists lol.So categorizing people does not necessarily help you identify the Truth or falseness of what they are saying! Be careful!

2-The Bureaucratic Reflex: (Purolator story).When we think about bureaucracies,we are usually thinking about government institutions.However,many of the large”private” enterprises (think banks and any large companies including social media ones) Here is one recent example,I can share with you.I order my meat from the only reliable halal,organic supplier I know-Blossompure in Toronto.They have taken to shipping it via a delivery service in Canada known as Purolator-supposedly a private company(When I looked into its ownership- out of total frustration- I realized it was owned mostly by Post Canada! And I thought we were living in a competitive capitalist society! Think again Ibrahim!)

Anyway,here is how the story unfolded.Purolator claims they do next day delivery to Montreal.More often than not,however,that takes two days.Not a problem as the meat is so well-packed that after two days it is still mostly frozen.However,this time when they arrived at my appartment block the driver realized that the appartment number was missing.Instead of leaving it in the hallway(possible solution #1) his instructions were to bring it back to the warehouse.Note that we are now Friday and Purolator is closed on Saturday and Sunday! I get an email notice that the shipment was diverted because of the incomplete address.So I call the tracking line but they know nothing about it except that it was diverted.So I call the local Purolator warehouse and mange to connect with an agent.”Can you call the truck driver and complete the address”(Possible solution #2).”Sorry sir ,we can’t reach them.””Can you text him and ask him to call me?”(Possible solution #3)””Sorry sir our system doesn’t permit that” .”The can I meet him at the warehouse(possible solution#4).”Sorry sir,he arrives after we close” Can you tell him I will meet him when he arrives(Possible solution #5).That’s not possible sir”. “Is there any chance you would have a small freezer in your(huge) warehouse?”(possible solution #6 No,sir,we don’t have that sort of equipment.” N.B. You can probably think of other possible solutions but the system doesn’t permit of any of them!

Sure enough I receive a call on Monday morning to come pick up the meat.It has now been five days in transit and the entire box of meat is spoiled! Such is the insanity of bureaucracy.In this case,the result was spoiled meat. In many cases,it is lethal!

3-“It’s not significant” So even if it is true,it doesn’t matter.We recently had an unfortunate incident of that on a bridge near my home.A negligent repair crew sectioned the “rebar” on one of the supporting columns of the bridge.The mistake was reported to the Minisry of Transport who decided it was no big deal.So they continued sectioning the rebar on other columns!.By the time that had been done on 10 other columns ,they needed to shut down the bridge-indefinitely -a vital artery in the West of the city. “Human error” said the Ministry.”Ya,right” Deafness on high.That is significant  human error but by no means isolated to Quebec bridges.I just watched a news report on American television about the management of the Covid epidemic.Human error as well! ! May well have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.Deafness is a very costly disease!

4- Doesn’t coincide with one’s ideological schema. The preceding story of mismanagement of the Covid pandemic fits in nicely here.The ideology in question is “Double-blind,placebo-controlled,peer-reviewed,published in prestigious medical journal”  ideology.They now call that “Science”.Oops,got that one wrong-500,000 lives later! Of course this doesn’t only apply to medicine.In Vietnam,we were fighting Communism,in Iraq they were fighting terrorism ! And what about Chile and Nicaragua and Iran (putting in the Shah). Oops,got a few of those wrong also- because of ideology,no?

5-Following your desires; most people can get there heads around this one lol.You continue smoking despite the evidence.eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates for diabetics.Women looking for bad boys and men seeking out b–ches. Lol.That one is usually easy to spot.Especially if it is happening to others!

6- The habit reflex; The Islamic holy texts are full of this one! Our Prophet saws preaches to his people and they respond;” But this is not what our ancestors have done.How can we change that?!’and Allah responds “but they were in error and ignorant”(paraphrasing).”No matter” say the Quraysh.They are our point of reference.Of course,this is not just the Quraysh.All societies have elements of conditioned ignorance.When Dr. Ed Hallowell was asked how teachers and educators dealt with the ADHD population in the good olde days he responded”They had a standard approach-blame shame and humiliation”. That’s just what they do! Why would we change that?’ It worked so well,right?! So the ADHDers became drug addicts and criminals and low-lifers.Just the way it is,I guess!To extend the model into the field of nutrition,let’s take the French and Italian insistence on devitalized refined white bread and pasta.The way of their ancestors!But nowadays almost guaranteed Diabetes 2.! Worth changing habits? You bet!

7-:The Contrarians; You say white,they say black.You say up,they say down.Ever met one of those lol?They are all around us.Sometimes,it is specific to certain relationships-like toddlers and adolescents and their parents.But sometimes it is generalized to all people.And at other times ,it has a competitive aspect.The non-listening other just wants to prove that he/she  is smarter or better-informed than you are.Besides being contrarian and competitive,this reaction implies a certain arrogance.”My idea is better than yours-by defintion lol”

These are some of the types of deafness.And they are legion.How to get to hearing?! That is a matter for another time.If you are impatient,you can start by reading any of the short articles on Epistemology on this blog.I am hoping to coalesce them all together soon.Stay tuned!