If there is really no self,what keeps reincarnating?!

The Buddhist Teaching of Mindfulness (sati in Sanskrit) has become omnipresent- used in many activities from psychotherapy to sports training.Of course it is still used as well for spiritual development through meditation.If one goes a little deeper in the teaching we find mindfulness of several dimensions-mindfulness of thoughts ,mindfulness of emotions,mindfulness of bodily sensations etc.The one that has always perplexed me is mindfulness opf dharma- another Sanskrit word meaning many things but particularly the teachings of the Way).That still left me wondering what that means-do you have to keep thinking about the principles of Buddhism.That seems counterproductive as it just brings you back to your mind.So with my characteristic chutzpah(correcting the Buddhist scholars!?) I propose a modification-mindfulness of the “hal”(spiritual state ).

“What does this have to do with Islam ” you may well ask,particularly the Salat.Most of us are taught that the salat is obligatory-five times a day, n’est-ce pas?But that is a heavy load for some and a superegoic way of practicing the religion(note the blending of psychology and spirituality!).So instead,I propose mindfulness of the hal before and during salat-that includes the wudu(purification) before.We know from the hadith that Ayesha ra reported when the call to prayer came the state of the Prophet pbuh would change.Interesting.He was connecting with the Divine presence.That is the real purpose of the salat,More so than just fulfilling our duties.That is being mindful of the hal of the salat.We can enter this hal as well.In all likelihood,not as powerfully as our Prophet pbuh but in the same spirit.If you do this,you will notice the effect.It also becomes a lot easier to do your obligations.It’s called positive reinforcement in behavioural psychology.

                                                       The Psychopath-Essentials

Life comes at us with teachings- in waves. For some unfathomable reason, that only Allah can know for sure, I have been put in contact, directly and indirectly, with a series of people that I consider psychopaths. I will not, of course, name them publicly in order to protect the innocents- of which there are not many in their entourage.

So what are some of the deeper characteristics of these people? You will not find the answers in our diagnostic manual (DSM-5) as it is all based on empirical, verifiable data i.e. surface phenomena. Unfortunately this superficiality is true generally in our society- even in the scientific literature- so determined is it to attain reproducible results and do statistical, numerical analysis. Ironically this societal phenomenon may be one of the most central characteristic of psychopaths as well-Superficiality!

Does this mean that we are living in a psychopathic society?! I think a good case could be made for that hypothesis. Every time I have to visit one of those hermetically sealed sick office buildings that cause distress to many of its’ workers, every time I see agricultural workers spraying toxic chemicals on our food in full protective gear, every time I see a homeless person or a needy welfare applicant being refused welfare on a technicality I can only come to one conclusion. Our society is oblivious and uncaring about the needs of human beings .Thus our society is psychopathic.

But let’s get back to the individual for now. We know that the psychopath is superficially charming. It is a central characteristic, often repeated in the literature-one of the first characteristics mentioned in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. But it goes way deeper than that. The psychopath is superficial in terms of his own needs and his vision of life as well. Most of them are obsessed with money, sex and power or some combination of the three. Know anyone like that lol? On a deeper level this represents a lack of vision and a lack of perspective. Even a cursory examination of the evidence of people in our own lives will show us how this vision is untrue. There are loads of examples of people with any and all of those three who are absolutely miserable .If you don’t have examples in your own life buy a copy of People magazine lol. The psychopath cannot see the value of ethics or ideals or compassion or even peace of mind. That all seems abstract and wishy-washy to them. (The same could be said for many statisticians and scientists but that is the subject of another article.)

Deeper still than this superficiality is another even more central issue-Pride! Aha, back to the beginning. The central sin in Christianity and an important one in all of the spiritual traditions. The phenomenologists identified an interesting characteristic of psychopaths early on in the development of psychopathological theory. They are unable to learn from experience. What they didn’t quite understand is why. They usually attributed this to some kind of neurological or genetic substrate. But the real answer may be a lot simpler than that –pride, the most human of foibles. When Ram Dass went to visit the San Quentin prison to teach the inmates some notions of spirituality, the administration and the guards decided wisely not to invite Charles Manson. When asked why they responded that Manson would have had a fit if another male other than himself was centre stage! There you go. The quintessence of pride. And we see where that led him.

So there you go. The psychopath in a nutshell– Deeply Superficial and Proud. You won’t find that in any of your psychology books nor in DSMV-not even in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Think about it. Comments?

(Response to NY Times article)Very interesting-from a historical perspective.Another corrupt Californian! What else is new.I had some concerns with EST from early on but the clincher was Werner Erhard making an appearance in one of the communication seminars.My intuition immediately said “crook”.And that was the end of EST for me.And now he gives seminars in Business integrity.The chutzpah of the man! For those who can see character,the crook is still very much present but like many CEOs who are themselves psychopaths he has learnt to keep it under some control.Salaams,joel Ibrahim

Long before it was in vogue to be denouncing Wahhabbis and jihadists,Sheikh Nazim would confront the Ikhwanis(Muslim Brotherhood people ,as the Salafists would not even come to meet him) saying “We are not agreeing to any ‘isms’-Communism,Capitalism,Feminism and especially we are not agreeing to Islamism.People get the governments they deserve.The only way to get better government is to improve the inner state of the people.This is the sunnat of our Prophet pbuh”

A decent resume of the Sufi/Wahhabbi polarity. Take note Hamza Yusuf as this is one issue about which you are seriously confused!! Salaams,Ibrahim

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sami-moubayed/damascene-sufism-the-anti_b_8641630.html

Check out this video.This is the teacher of Loch Kelly.What nur on his face! What sincerity! This is what the early Sufis must have been like and the wandering Dervishes.May Allah bestow on us such hals! Salaams,Ibrahim

http://learning.tergar.org/course_library/mingyur-rinpoches-monthly-teachings/expectations-and-appreciation/

(On watching a documentary called “Inside Einstein’s Mind”).I am not really interested in the General Theory of Relativity or String Theory or Quantum Mechanics for that matter.How outrageous in an epoch of worshiping science! Where we come from,where we are going to after death,what is the nature of our Creator and how are we supposed to relate to Him-those seem to me to be much,much more relevant topics to explore.The rest I would leave to the province of a few clever mathematicians and physicists.For my part I can do without it.

(Context-listening to a discussion between two men in the gym locker room).One of the most disconcerting aspects about materialists is their arrogance in believing they are in contol.If they have a good financial plan,they will never be lacking.And if they go regularly to the gym they will never have health problems.They are convinced they are in control of their destiny.And nothing could be further from the truth.  You can be in perfect health and develop cancer like many athletes have experienced.You could have a detailed financial plan and then have an incapacitating car accident.As Allah reminds us in the Quran,man is made weak.Humility is the appropriate attitude,not arrogance.

The Muslim community is going through intensely tumultuous times nowadays,perhaps the most intense since the early days of the Caliphate.But Islam,itself, if one returns to the basic teachings,is a wonderful program for improving our behaviour,our personality and even our way of thinking.The fact that it’s teachings are being misinterpreted and abuse is not the fault of Islam but rather of human beings.

Many years ago I went for a training program in the use of the chainsaw.The chainsaw was designed to cut down trees for use as firewood and lumber.For this, it is an exquisite instrument.However it can also be used for horrible massacres and for clear-cutting forests.We know from Islam that man is the khalifat (usually translated as vice-regent ,a very awkward term).In fact we are better served by using a workplace analogy.God is the Boss and man is the manager of this planet.Clearly man is not doing a good job! Continue reading Why Islam? →