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Islam, Metaphysics, Spiritual Practice, Sufism

Ramadan-A Newer and Deeper Perspective

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I have been struggling to get my head around our Ramadan practice for as long as I can remember.Yes,I know the Quranic injunctions and I am aware of most of the hadith and the scholarly analysis around this month. But I have never felt quite satisfied.For most people, it is simple,I understand.Allah says to fast,it is a religious injunction and we follow and thus get the rewards.And the reward is with Allah.I get it!

But there must be more! Allah does not prescribe things without reason and purpose.So what is the deeper reason and mystery here?!

And this morning while on my dhikr walk that is part of my daily routine,it came to me ! The “aha” experience.In essence Ramadan is a khalewah-a retreat- a time to go within ,to disengage from our social activities and to connect with our soul and with its Divine source!

Remember the first Ramadan!? It was our Prophet saws doing a retreat in the cave of hira in the mountains around Mecca.That is when the Quran came down and that was the start of our religion.So that is the quintessential Ramadan-the essence of Ramadan. After that the Prophet saws had a mission! He had to teach and build a community! So he could no longer do a monthly retreat like he had done in the past..But that doesn’t change the spirit of the practice-to renounce worldliness,to go within and contact the sacred.

Now,for most of us, we have obligations-whether work or family or study.We can’t stop doing those.But we can reduce the workload,we can certainly reduce socializing and we can change our focus.Some of us, like us retired folks, can even spend most of the time alone lol.And that is the spirit of the month-“azhod”-giving up.

I can already hear the naysayers lol.”What about Tarawih prayer? What about joining family members for iftar?What about doing good deeds-like feeding people during Ramadan?Yes,all of that is true.But the spirit is still that of khalewah.If you are able to go to tarawih and feel it incumbent on you ,then do so.But I would suggest using the Naqshbandi adage”alone with your Lord in the crowd”.Turn your focus away from the people and towards your Creator and the ruh that he has breathed into you.

Sometimes,in understanding matters,we need a “foil” i.e. the opposite of the truth that reflects back to us what we shouldn’t be doing! For me,all due respect to its depth of history and pious people,in this matter the foil was Cairo during Ramadan.All day the city was dead and after the call to prayer of Maghrib it converted into a Mardi-Gras like atmosphere! It is surely not the only Muslim community to do so! For me that is not the right attitude just like the Bacchanalian Mardi Gras of Rio de Jameiro is not fitting for the Christian tradition.So take this month to be quiet and contemplative and tune in with your Lord,as much as possible .You will not regret it.

This understanding has brought a certain comfort to my heart.I hope it does so for you as well.Salaams and Ramadan Kareem and Saleem, Sufi Ibrahim

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Spiritual Practice, Uncategorized

Positivity Training.

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One of the great sheikhs of our time,sent by the famous Ahmad al Alawi of Mostaghanem , Algeria to Damascus was named Mohammad al Hashimi.May Allah raise his rank still further. The Damascenes were missing him dearly when he departed in 1961 so they went to see his khadim (servant) and asked him what he had learned from the great sheikh.He answered “I learned only one thing”.They were amazed.”Fourty years around the sheikh and you learnt only one thing?!”they said.”Yes” he responded.”Ok.Then what was that thing?” And he responded “fi kooli shay khair”(within everything is goodness”). And they left incredulous! But the servant had made a deep point that has echoes throughout the history of Islam and all the world religions for that matter.The essence of everything in Existence is goodness and Love!Hard to believe but True,nevertheless.

The next question becomes,of course,how do we get to that positivity?This question involves an overlap between psychology and spirituality! The psychological exploration involved the study on Happiness by George Valliant of Harvard University and the Positive Psychology movement promoted by Martin Seligman ,president of the American Psychological Association.The latter defined it as ‘the scientific study of what makes life most worth living” or “the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological,personal,relational,institutional,cultural and global dimensions of life” Ugh,lol! Whenever an author throws in”scientific” along with a bunch of other jargon I cringe lol.Mostly it is an effort to increase their credibility- since science has become the religion of the masses. Ok ,Ibrahim.Watch your negativity lol

Now a religious,spiritual person will read these things and say:”What about God?!”. “How can you be happy in a random universe without a Creator and without an afterlife and accountability?” Good questions lol.But not particularly agreeable to the liberal,progressive,agnostic narrative of the times!

So,let us first look at what the psychologist,intellectual Seligman proposes and then we will get to a more spiritual and transcendent perspective.Mine and that of Sheikh Hashimi mentioned above.I will also provide some helpful practices inshallah.

So Seligman proposes the acronym PERMA .That stands for Positive Affect,Engagement,Relationships,Meaning and Accomplishments.Let us look at these one by one.

1)Positive Affect involves a wide range of feelings like happiness,joy,excitement and satisfaction.The problem here is that many of these are outside of  our control.Most spiritual people understand that we cannot really generate these feelings.They are,in fact gifts(‘niamat’) from our Creator.More of that later.

2)Engagement-in activities.That we can do! But,ever noticed what happens when you do?! It often ends in disappointment.Either you realize the people you are with are not what you expected(like my experience in Marxist groups lol) or you realize the cause you were fighting for like Socialism falls apart when you actually visit the countries that are practicing it -like Marxism in China at the time of the Cultrural Revolution.

In case you think this is limited to left-wing causes,I noticed something interesting during my psychiatric practice.Some of my patients with the most disappointing relationships I had seen were people with partners from the great human-rights movements of our times-Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and Greenpeace amongst others.This was at first very surprising- until I figured out that these people were ideologues.Their convictions were strong but their hearts were hard and insensitive.Oh.oh.Problem.I had noticed the same thing during my participation in left-wing groups.The right-wingers had better relationships.I was genuinely surprised! If you need a more public version of this truth, think of the marriages of George Bush senior and junior and Ronald Reagan vs. the marriages of F.D.R. J,F.K. and Clinton lol.Surprising,no?The people with the best ideas often have the worst hearts!

3)Relationships.Yes! But how do you do that? Relationships have become more and more difficult.I tell young people now that my ballpark figure for intimate relationships is 1/10.Only 10% are going to work ! One of the best-known researchers in Marital Therapy,John Gottman, says that if you follow marriages in America for 40 years there is a divorce rate around 60%! And that is marriages and old-timers lol. Imagine what it is like now?!Not a good place to start,for sure.Some people are able to replace that with good relationships at work.and others with good family relationships.But many are left out in the cold!

4)Meaning! Whoa! Is that ever a loaded term!? Now the nders often find that, in fact,they are sent back for a purpose.And we all have a purpose,no doubt.But it is very easy to get lost .With all the contingencies of modern life, it is easy to end up in survival mode guaranteeing one’s economical situation and that of their progeny.Fill in the rest of your time with entertainment and you are good to go!Or are you.You can easily end up with a dread of death and a painful sense of temporality Without a Creator,there can be no true meaning.We are then stuck with Existentialism which often enough concludes that suicide is the only rational way out!(Read Camus for further elucidation lol) Wa la howla wala quwatta.

5)Accomplishments?! And what are those accomplishments.Making a million dollars? Getting a Phd. or even better lol an M.D.?! When the Pakistani mothers in my community were pushing their children into med school ,I would invite them to come to my Continuing Ed Courses in medicine to see those docs after 20-30 years of practice”Is that what you would like for your children?” I would ask.They would come running after the talk and say: “You musn’t say that, Dr. Ibrahim(yes,I was one of those fortunate few m.d.s lol).You will discourage them”No I would answer in my all-too provocative way. “You are the ones who are discouraged.If that is their vocation ,it is fine,But if not,you are committing them to  a lifetime of misery”.But who cares about that when you can say that your son or daughter is a doctor lol?!

As you can see by now,I am not a big fan of the secular version of happiness.It inevitably breaks down when confronted with the tests and tragedies of life and with the inevitable sickness and death that accompanies old-age.So let us examine a more robust response-the spiritual one!

So far,so bad lol.I like to frame my articles according to the Islamic Formula of “laillaha illallah”(there is no god besides the One God).Tha tis we start by denying  the batil(the falsehood) and then we assert the positive-the Truth.So,here is what you have been waiting for lol- the positive!

A Protocol for developing Positivity:

In effect,if we look deeply,the entire religious/spiritual enterprise is about developing positivity. From trusting in God (tawakkul) to loving Him and His Prophet, to surrendering to His Will,it is all positivity-training.Nevertheless,in this article we will concentrate on four aspects of this practice.

1-Gratitude: Even the secularists agree to this one! In fact there is research to indicate that doing a gratitude practice helps with depression!If you Google the subject,you will find numerous articles to confirm this effect.What I am recommending here is that every night before you go to sleep,think of 3-5 things that happened during the day that you can be grateful for.It can even be for something negative that did not happen. It might sound something like this”I am grateful for the efficient snow-clearing operations that happen all around me during the winter making life that much easier in Canada.Or again”I am grateful that the huge icicles that fell off my roof as the thaw came in did not injure anyone”. You can see that the gratitude can be very specific to one’s particular situation.

Once again here you can see the advantage of being a believer! At least we know who we are grateful to-our Creator.Rabb Alameen(the Lord of the worlds).I guess there are people wpo get benefit just by being grateful to the forces of chance but that seems like small comfort to a metaphysician like myself lol

Now, as a believer,we should be grateful all the time,or at least many times during the day,not only at night.So remember the gratitude button.It is not always easy.Why is that? I like to say that the human brain is a compass that points south?!i.e. it is designed to indicate the negative,the dangerous,the tragic.The evolutionary biologists tell us that this has a survival benefit in it.It is better to misidentify the rock as a sabre-toothed tiger( no loss except for some anxiety lol) than misidentify the tiger as a rock(and get eaten unnecessarily!). Although this has an evolutionary advantage,it also has a spiritual,happiness disadvantage.We end up living in fear and worry  and doubt!

Let me give you a clinical anecdote to underline the issue here.I once had a client with a suspicious breast lump- who was scheduled for a biopsy.She was understandably freaked-out and we spent the entire session dealing with her anxiety.Two weeks later,she came in and immediately started complaining about her spouse(we’re used to that in psychotherapy lol). Something in me felt that this was not right.And then it clicked”One moment here”I said”Two weeks ago you were sure you were dying and would leave two children without a mother! What happened with the biopsy?” ” Oh,that” she responded” It was negative.I’m fine.But my husband….lol “. You see what had happened is the brain, geared to negativity mode, had shifted to the next problem!  Here is where the work begins! “One,moment here”I said.”Let’s take a moment to be happy and grateful that the lump was benign,that you’re going to live and be there for your children.” She laughed shyly!

So for each of us we have to catch the thing to be grateful for “on the fly” so to speak.Our brain will not flag it.It is set in negativity mode But our soul must if we want to be happy and grateful!

2-Philantrophy: This refers to thinking about the other ,considering the other,and doing for the other.In the Islamic traditions,our Prophet saws is the model for good character.It is said that when he arises on the Day of Judgment, his first words are “ummat, ummati(my community,my community) .”How are the others doing?” The polar opposite of Trump lol who is always thinking:”How does this affect me?”

Now philantrophy can take many forms and it has its own risks.It can take the form of charitable donations.So many good causes to donate to.Unfortunately this has become a cottage industry with the risk of corrupting the whole process and turning people off. I resent some of those heart-wrrenching ads about starving children and amputees and mistreated animals.They are ALL real and worthy causes.But there is something manipulative in this approach, something about the process that is “marketing ” and obnoxious.Allah knows our intentions however and will reward us accordingly.

Another form of philanthropy is simply doing a good deed like driving a neighbour who has no car to the grocery store or fixing someone’s leaky tap for free.All of this is charity.In fact our Prophet saws has said that even a smile is a form of charity. I like to remind Muslims with sour expressions on their faces(especially women lol) of that hadith when I go shopping lol.Our tradition is about being positive. This is what gives people shining faces with light.

Another form of philantrophy is listening and accompanying people who are having a hard time, emotionally, through their distress.Once again,be careful.If you take on too much pain ,you yourself will be negatively affected.

So very many ways of thinking and helping others.They are in front of us every day! But once again,we need to confront our egos! They are programmed to be selfish! Another survival advantage,the biologists will tell us in their cynical ways..Survival here- but negative consequences on the other side.Read about nders “Life Reviews” if you need confirmation.

I would like to complete this section with an apocryphal story from the Sufi traditions.There was once  a nasty,foul lady who used to hang out in the markets of Baghdad.She spent her time cursing people and speaking foul language.And then she died! Several students of Imam Junayd ,one of the greatest of the Sufis,saw her on the other side- in paradise!They couldn’t believe their eyes so they went to their teacher.”How could such a woman be in paradise ?” they asked.Al Junayd was quick to answer” One day there was a dog shivering in the cold,dying in the market.She took off her coat to help him be warm.For this deed alone, Allah forgave all her other sins!” Alhumdulillah!

3-Seeing the positive We have a number of expressions for this in English and French-“Seeing the silver lining in the cloud”;”seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty” and many others.The manoeuvre is always the same.”Look at the bright side”.Hamza Yusuf is fond of telling the story of a Moroccan or Mauritanian man who had very strong faith but had a bad stroke( May Allah spare us these kind of tests). Instead of complaining about his right side which was completely paralyzed ,he would point out how well his left side was working and attribute that to the Mercy of his Lord.A very high degree of faith indeed!

We have many occasions to do this practice. Some banal examples: Our sink blocks up in the kitchen”Thank God I have another sink in the bathroom”.Our child has A.DH.D. “Thank God,it’s not autism”. Our car has some issues.”Thank God,we have several good mechanics in the area.”There are countless ways we can count our blessings! And we should make it our duty to do so!

4-The Acceptance Practice (hot off the press)lol

In Sufism this is referred to as “rida” -officially translated as “satisfaction” or “contentment”

This just came to me! Only believers can benefit from this one ,I believe.We know that everything,yes everything, is from God.The Sufis say that not a molecule in the Universe moves without the permission of the Divine! Even the Advaita people like Robert Adams say “Everything is unfolding exactly as it should.There are NO mistakes in the Universe”. So here is how we apply that knowledge! Whatever occurs, especially what appears to be negative,we say: “This too is from Allah and I accept it” Then we find a good reason why that may be so.A simple personal example.Recently I had a problem with a tooth which previously had a root canal.My dentist looked at it,couldn’t quite figure it out and referred me to the root canal specialist.But he was overbooked and couldn’t see me for two months.A bummer,no? Not easy to accept.Then I thought”It is not really causing me any pain.Alhumdulillah.And the wait will train me in patience”(not one of my natural attributes lol.)The problem is still there but much of the disappointment is gone.And I know I can do even better than that in the future.

This last anecdote also refers  us back to our relationship to the body-source of so much grief! In my neck of the woods,the French Canadians like to greet us on New Years with “Bonne Année .Je vous souhaite la bonne santé. Après tout, c’est la santé qui est la pricipale”(Happy New Years .I wish you good health.After all,it’s health(physical health) that’s the most important!) .I used to let it pass.But now,for those who can handle it I respond: “One moment.That can’t be it! We are all condemned to ill-health and death at some point.So if it’s all about health,we’re really  in trouble!” .Most of them smile back but some ask the follow-up question:”So,what’s it about/” And I respond “It’s about Faith.And our relationship to the Creator”The believers smile.And the agnostics scowl lol.

So there you go! Four practices to maintain positivity.1) gratitude; 2) Philanthropy; 3) Seeing the positive in everything and 4) acceptance.Let’s get to work- you and  me!

Salaams,Sufi Ibrahim

 

 

Holistic Medicine, Modern Living, Politics

The Vaccine Issue!

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Disclaimer: This article is NOT about the current Covid Vaccines That will be the subject of another article in the not too distant future.Rather it is about the long-standing question as to whether vaccines,in general,are safe.

Ok.Here we go! One of the thornier issues of our time?! For years,I have been intrigued about the issue of vaccine safety! Many ,many times on the media and on medical sites I have heard the absolutist mantra”Vaccines are safe” touted in an unqualified way- as the ultimate statement of scientific truth! From my practice alone,I knew this wasn’t true!For example one client of mine was convinced he got Chronic Fatigue Syndrome from the hepatitis B vaccine he was required to take for his work.When he went to see one of the major experts in CFS in Quebec,he was told that the doctor had seen a few other similar cases.He also stated that if he went public with his findings he could easily lose his license.This is the state of the Scientific Fascism we are now facing.The other expert on vaccine injury in Texas told him she had seen thousands of vaccine injuries from that very vaccine.

Another patient with a severely autistic child told me it was NOT a vaccine injury, as she could tell right from birth that her child was not normal. However in the support group she attended 4/14 families claimed they had seen a direct relationship between vaccinations(I believe the MMR) and their child’s autism.Then I listened to Andrew Wakefield and found him more than credible.Then Robert F. Kennedy’s work at Childrens’ Health Defense just sealed the case for me.

Now,it seemed to me very feasible to study this question.All one needed to do was compare unvaccinated children(the progeny of those much-maligned and demonized “antivaxxers”) to vaccinated children,control for certain demographic dimensions and compare the two groups.Any decent epidemiologist or infectious disease specialist should be able to design such a study . Easy-peasy, no? But each time I went on Pubmed, where doctors and scientists go for research,I could find no such studies.Invariably the studies were about single vaccines and short-term effects.The only credible study that could be found on l-term effects was the now famous study in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019! And here it is!

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-2101?fbclid=IwAR2Friw6wGTwns8ge_7cm7tdiI2RrLqm24yiSN_-dBwePNqcWGOMjshKjU4

Now this study which refutes a link between MMR vaccines and Autism has many limitations.Not least of which is that it is a study about one vaccine and one disease- not the kind I was looking for since there are synergistic and compounded effects of multiple vaccines on multiple pathological entities.This was just another misplaced use of Koch’s postulates looking for single etiological agents for single pathologies-a way out-of-date,antiquated approach..We are no longer living in a Pasteurian world of pneumococcus causing pneumonia.In the modern world most diseases and certainly the ones we are dealing with here are multi-factorial and the approaches needed to treat them are multi-modal.As well  this is a retrospective registry study-dubious by its very design! Exactly the kind of study that the heath authorities would refuse  for using remedies like HCT and Ivermectin  to treat Covid lol. In any case,it does not answer the real question I was  asking here which is the following“What are the long-term consequences of massive amounts of mandated vaccines(72 in the U.S. now for children up to 16 years old!) on their long-term health?” All this of course,in the spirit of cost/benefit analysis! Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing?!

So the theological catechism:”Vaccines are safe” has never seriously been tested up to recently.The closest attempt I found was in the writings of pediatrician Paul Thomas who had began examining his pediatric practice in which he had about 894 patients following the CDC guidelines,1098 following his Vaccine-Friendly protocol and 238 unvaccinated kids(Now over 500 as we shall see shortly).In his examination of the outcomes he found no cases of autism in his Vaccine-Friendly plan, no cases of Autism in the “anti-vaxxers”,and 15/894 cases in the CDC-conforming  group(just about the national average for Autism currently.)Intriguing,no!? He was never able to get his study published in peer-reviewed journals so he published his own book lol

Recently however I came across some newer research and it confirms everything I had suspected.There are three articles in particular I would like to bring to your attention.Amazing how long this took!?You will also notice that none of these papers are published in what are considered prestigious peer-reviewed journals! That is because those journals are in the pockets of  the monied institutions of Big Pharma and government agencies who are trying their best to defend the status quo and to fight against “vaccine hesitancy”!When you begin to study this question in any depth,you too will become “vaccine hesitant”lol You may even become outraged that the public health authorities are not doing more to protect your children!

Here are the studies:

1)https://oatext.com/Pilot-comparative-study-on-the-health-of-vaccinated-and-unvaccinated-6-to-12-year-old-U-S-children.php

2)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7709050/(“Relative Incidence of Office Visits and Cumulative Rates of Billed Diagnoses Along the Axis of Vaccination”)

and 3)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7268563/(Analysis of health outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated children:Developmental delays,asthma,ear infections and gastrointestinal disorders)

These three studies come to remarkably similar results! But before synthesizing their conclusions,let us go over them one by one.

1-The first study is probably my favourite due to the simplicity of its structure and the clarity of the format.The authors were comparing two groups of home-schoolers-thus two populations with a lot in common-concerned parents interested in alternative education and alternative values-different   from most people in society.They were also very honest in their approach.So you can see that they do report the negative effects of non-vaccination like three times the rate of chickenpox and  and three times the rate of whooping cough.They also report the category of diseases where vaccination appears to make no difference like cancer, Crohn’s disease, diabetes,high blood pressure etc.So we can see that they are not black and white thinkers like the pro-vaxxers lol

But here are their major findings..In terms of chronic illnesses the vaccinated children had 30 times the rate of allergic rhinitis!;3.9 times the rate of allergies;4.2 times the rate of ASD (autistic spectrum disorders);5.2 times the rate of learning disorders; 4.2 times the ADHD and For some reason asthma was not reported although for otitis media the ratio was again 3.8 times in the vaccinated group and for pneumonia 5.9 times the rate.Given that the number of students studied was 666, these are impressive and highly significant differences!

2-The second study is done by James Lyons-Weiler -a researcher specialized in data analysis and is Scientific Director of the Bioinformatics Analysis Core at the University of Pittsburg .He is basing his study on the patients of Dr. Paul Thomas ,previously mentioned.I find the format somewhat over-complicated and unnecessarily analytic(office visits,corrected for days of care,Z factors etc.,etc.).I imagine the concern was to cover all confounding variables possible.The format aside,the conclusions are similar to all other studies of the same nature.The O.R.(odds ratio) was 9.065 for fever;2.919 for otitis media;5.248 for asthma 5.522 for anemia 4.656 for gastroenteritis and 4.097 for “behavioural issues which may well be a representation of autism-all in favour of the unvaccinated groups! As mentioned previously,there were no actual cases of autism in the unvaccinated group and in this study no cases of ADHD in the unvaccinated group!-very impressive when one considers that the current rate of ADHD in America according to parental reports is around 9.4%! What a difference!

3- The third study by Hooker and Miller was based on three medical practices in the United States.The independent variable was children vaccinated or not before one year of age-so a very limited window of vaccination.However,the results are very consistent with the previous two studies.O.R ratios of 4.93 for asthma;2.49 for ear infections;2.36 for developmental delays(future autism) and 2.48 for gastro-intestinal disorders.for developmental delays

There are many more details in these published studies if you would like to investigate further.In all fairness as well,there may be one confounding variable which could actually be a complimentary variable! And that is the following:the same parents that spared their children vaccinations may well have protected their children from a host of other toxins like pesticides and GMOs and plastics and heavy metals and EMFS and other toxins in tap water.All of that would only reinforce the message! Our children are under attack from a host of toxic materials of which vaccines may be only one of many -but clearly a significant one.

So what does all of this mean?! Especially for parents raising young children.I believe that what I suspected all along is now proven.Our public health authorities, in the guise of illness prevention, are actually seriously harming our children! 54% of children in America are now suffering from chronic illnesses! The rates of asthma,allergies,autism and ADHD-the four ‘A’s- are through the roof: 4-6 times the rates in vaccinated children!This is an unmitigated disaster going on right in front of us!If you have ever seen an asthmatic child struggling to breathe or a parent struggling with the erratic behaviour of their autistic child,you will know what I mean.An entire generation’s health is being put at risk and possibly many future ones as well!! But our politicians and public health authorities seem much more concerned with the economics of the pharmaceutical ,vaccine, agricultural and chemical sectors than they are with human health.Any parent who attempts to turn a blind eye to this reality is doing a serious disservice to their own children and to future generations. So take note-especially parents of young children- and seriously consider how to mitigate these dangers! Who knows?! You may even become activists for childrens’ health.That would be a good outcome!

Addendum,Since the publication of this article a fourth and even more definitive article has been published by Hooker and Miller.In this article they were able to follow the same three medical practices for a considerably longer period of time. The results are even more dramatic!

https://www.oatext.com/health-effects-in-vaccinated-versus-unvaccinated-children-with-covariates-for-breastfeeding-status-and-type-of-birth.php

We see here that the odds ratios(vaxxed vs, unvaxxed) have gone even higher;

severe allergies: vaccinated vs. unvaccinated )4.31

autism: 5.03

gastrointestinal disorders: 13.8

asthma:17.6

chronic ear infections: 27.8

and ADHD(associated with Learning Disorders): 20.8

These are catastrophic figures! and point to a catastrophic lack of observation and surveillance  by politicians, heath authorities and doctors alike!

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

The Capitol Insurrection: The Problem is …Bureaucracy once again!

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The capital “insurrection”(personally,I’d call it a riot but why get stuck on semantics lol)! The problem? The usual one-BUREAUCRACY.Ever noticed- bureaucracy gets it wrong more often then not. And why is that?! Because bureaucracy is based on general principles and statistics.Unfortunately Reality is Specific! So more often than not the bureaucratic approach is wrong-the fixed map does not match the moving terrain! So what will they do about it?! You guessed it lol! More bureaucracy.Expensive, time-consuming investigations(totally unnecessary-they already know what happened) and more protocols and regulations.I like to refer to that as “how the problem itself prevents the resolution of the problem” lol like the depressed person coming into my office saying” this won’t work” lol.The only hope here is a paradigm shift! Not holding my breath!And Allah is our only Protector.
Holistic Medicine, Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Uncategorized

Four Essential Areas of Knowledge

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This one has required a long gestational period! It is the summary of decades of experience and observation!

The majority of people limit their knowledge-base to what is necessary to survive- with a bit of recreation thrown in.The Hindus would call that First Chakra preoccupations lol So they learn to do their trade,to earn a living and to take care of their basic needs.N.B. I am talking here  about the “good ones” -not the criminals and psychopaths of which there are far too many nowadays.

Then there is the minority of people who undertake a spiritual path.They understand that “this can’t be all there is” and so they aim higher-to understand the invisible worlds and the After-life. Some of them are corrupt but most are well-intentioned and sincere- regardless of their actual attainment.

However(is that word still allowed lol) that too is not enough.Regardless of the spiritual path and the associated religious practice(yes,religious practice because without it the spiritual gains drain out constantly like having the archetypal hole in one’s bucket). Whether the practice is meditation-based or prayer-based or obedience and service-based or even based on the struggle with the ego (jihad-a-nafs )it is still not enough to manage life in the modern world- especially given the fact that most religions are based on teachings from long ago and have been struggling themselves to keep up with the times.

So,what are these areas of knowledge that are necessary to successfully managing one’s life in the modern world.There are ,at least four that I have identified;

1)Comparative Religion:knowing about other religions that we are not practicing. N.B. I am not advocating here the smorgasbord of religious practice that I first encountered with the Sufi Order of the West. All due respect to the dignity and nobility of Hazrat Inayat Khan and his son Pir Vilayat, practicing all the religions at the same time is like putting chop suey in your Boeuf Bourgignon or adding knishes to your lasagna.Just doesn’t work lol

So,what is the reason to learn about other religions? Well,firstly we are living in a global village. Veut, veut pas(whether we like it or not) unlike living in Medieval Christian times or in a strict Hassidic community or a Deobandi one for that matter ,we are going to encounter people from other faiths.And the vast majority of them are not going to convert! That’s just the reality and we have to live with it.So it is better to know something about the others’ point of view-what they value and what they reject.That makes for better relations.

Secondly,each religion has its areas of strength that we can learn from even if we reject their overall approach.The Christians,for example,have developed kindness and charity and piety. So even if we reject some of their theology we can acknowledge their strengths.The Hindus and Buddhists,despite, slipping into idolatry at times(whether the pantheon of Hindu gods or the statues of Buddha) and being imbalanced in the direction of transcendence as opposed to living properly in the world, have developed the most sophisticated and carefully mapped-out processes of meditations.We can learn from them. And the Jews have defended a pure monotheism and a rigorous intellectual traditional of scriptural interpretations(the Talmud). Another chance to learn! Let us approach traditions other than our own with respect and awareness rather than religious jingoism and the results can not be other than positive!

2) Psychology:The twentieth century saw a fluorishing area of investigation into the individual psyche. From Sigmund Freud to C.G. Jung through Skinner and Aaron Beck,not to mention Fritz Perls and the Gestaltists and Wilhelm Reich and the field of Bioenergetics there was an outpouring of observations on the constitution of the individual psyche.

Now, spiritual disciplines were always aware of this problematic aspect of the human constitution.The fight against the ego and its negative tendencies has always been part of the spiritual path.However,never before was the “mind” (thoughts and emotions) looked at with such precision and details. One of the areas where this becomes particularly helpful is in dream interpretation(something we will be exploring in our upcoming book on the subject.)Suffice it to say that even the great Sufi dream interpreters like Ibn Sirin had not uncovered many of the mechanisms of dream expression. To be more specific without being comprehensive,the concepts of the “unconscious”, “displacement”, “condensation” and Collective Archetypes(C.G. Jung) are just a few of the newer ideas that help us to properly understand dreams.

It must be said here that spiritual teachers,including the best of them, are generally resistant to psychological thinking and practice.I get it! It can easily slip into individualism,egotism and agnosticism.That being said, this refusal of the psychological domain can lead to catastrophic consequences including suicide ,death and physical illnesses.I will leave out the illustrative case histories for another time!Suffice it to say that we ignore this domain at our own peril!

3) Environmental and Functional Medicine:Ever since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century but even more acutely since the 1950’s we have been exposed to ever increasing levels of toxins.From pesticides like Round-up to vaccines and their adjuvants to heavy metals and VOCs in construction materials and more and more EMFS due to cellphones and wifi and G5 we are literally bombarded with toxins.Not only are most spiritual teachers oblivious to this reality but the experts,the doctors in our medical clinics, are woefully uninformed and misinformed about this subject.Most of them are still looking for that Pasteurian, Koch postulate single variable -cause that is not present in most cases especially those of chronic illnesses. We are living amidst a literal deluge of toxins that are causing an epidemic of serious illnesses like Autism and Cancer and Auto-immune disease and Alzheimer’s.Anyone seen any of those around them lol?! But most of our medical personnel,let alone our clergy, are clueless.The doctors are still looking for excuses for this phenomenon like”cancer has always been around”True but not at that rate- or”It’s only because the population is ageing”. But there is more and more cancer in children! With autism the rate has gone up from 1/2000 when I studied psychiatry to 1/30 to 1/60 depending on which studies you read.that is 4000% increase! And what do the doctors say”It must be because we have gotten better at diagnosing it or again”the diagnostic criteria have enlarged”! No,no and no! “There are none as blind as those who will not see”!

All of this means that often,we need to manage our own medical situations.The regular doctors are resources. At times they can do extraordinary things like stenting for acute coronary artery disease but overall we need to manage our own health.I will not outrage you here with some of the horror stories of spiritual teachers giving medical advice! Suffice it to say that the smart ones refer you back to your doctor.Then you have ,often, to save yourself from their limited knowledge as well lol.

So-o-o-o learn,learn and learn and then manage your own health.It’s the only truly effective strategy!

4) Near-death and peri-death experiences:This is a brand new area! Really just began in earnest with the publication of Raymond Moody’s book “Life after Life” in 1975 and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s work on the dying and grieving processes.And why do I consider it so important?!So important in fact that I wrote a book on it called “The Big Questions-Evidence-Based Faith”(available on Amazon or at this blog.)One of my spiritual teachers once said this:”There are only three questions that should be of concern-me,God and death”! So death is one-third of the curriculum lol. All the great spiritual teachers have counselled their students to reflect on death! The Prophet saws has said“The most wise from among you is he who remembers death the most and the most prudent from among you is he who is most prepared for it”. Wise words no doubt,

So-o-o now we have this window into the death process that is both compelling ,contemporary and relatable.And those are the near-death experiences about which there is more and more material being produced every day.Why would anyone in their right minds ignore this treasure-trove of reports?!

Well,the “scientific types” are still looking for the magical neurochemical compound or neurophysiolgical process that would explain it all away!? Can you imagine?! Here we have credible,honest people in our midst bringing back credible reports that are consistent with everything our religious teachers and mystics have been saying since the beginning of times and we have these sim[ple-minded skeptics,no doubt conditioned by our Empiricist educational system,thinking: “This must be endorphins or hypoxia or chemically-induced hallucinations.In Islam we say “wa la howla wala quwatta’.(How could they be so blind and opaque?!) The latter question will be a topic for another time.Suffice it to say, for now, that this knowledge ,of the near-death and peri-death experiences, can be both reassuring(that we DO continue after death) and instructive -as to what is important in life and what isn’t .Once again we ignore it at our own risk and peril!.

So there you go! Comparative Religion,Psychology,Environmental Medicine and Near-death experiences.A glorious and sumptuous  repast! That should keep you busy for the next few decades lol

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics, Uncategorized

Studies,schmudies-2

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More biased,misinformed studies! Schools are safe! No they aren’t! Many “non-expert” sensible people realized that the second wave began in earnest once the schools were opened.Why the discrepancy?! Once again the most important variable remains understudied.Let’s do a little math here.For every teacher there are 30 students.But for every individual student, when they return home, there are let’s say three other people(let’s imagine a two-child family).So there are 90 times more adults at risk at home then there are in the schools.I haven’t seen any studies (there may be somewhere) that address the at-home exposures.So, once again, they are not studying the most important variables!”There are none as blind as those who will not see” What else is new?!PS The corollary to this is that we will NEVER get out of our current crisis until we change our Epistemology(the way we access Reality)! And that will require a complete rejigging of our educational system.I’m not holding my breath lol

Btw On a personal note,I had to unlearn almost everything I learnt at school,especially in the area of methodology and Epistemology, and relearn how to appreciate what is really going on, at the hands of some extraordinary spiritual teachers,in order to even have a chance of correctly apprehending Reality.(See my article ‘The Process of Deprogramming from the Cult of the Intellect”on this blog for a more detailed exposure of this dilemma).
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Bottom Line Social Reality

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Bottom-line current social reality.1) Our politicians are deaf,blind and well-spoken(as opposed to the Quranic expression “deaf,dumb and blind” describing the deniers of the message.2) As well,the “experts” that the politicians rely on are “clever sheep” i.e. in essence they are just following the current scientific consensus but they justify this following instinct with clever arguments that make it sound rational! So “deaf,blind and well-spoken” plus “smart sheep”. There can be no doubt that this is a toxic brew!
Islam, Metaphysics, Modern Living

“Heuristic”

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Salaams.People who have been following my posts know that despite my abhorrence for the usage of status- enhancing,pretentious Greek and Latin terms,I have been using the Greek term “Epistemology” a lot these deals.It is a very useful concept,I believe.But here is another one-“Heuristic” that is increasingly present in my consciousness.The Oxford Dictionary defines it this way:”enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves”.A better word than “pedagogy” -which is too obsessive and regulatory for my tastes-for the learning/teaching process.

So what are the implications of this term?” you may well ask.Well,I am coming to the conclusion that the essence of the life process is that it is designed as a heuristic exercise-i.e. a learning tool! Many other  people have seen this- through contemplating their own situations and life tests.

On top of this,we may have here one of the answers that has confounded the Islamic exegetes(_”mutafaseeroon”) for a long time.In the second and longest surat of the Quran,surat al Baqara,the angels, claivoyantly seeing what man will be up to on Earth, say the following::

“Wilt Thou place therein one who will make Mischief therein and shed blood?” protesting to God the Creation of man.And who can blame them once we look around us?! God swt answers:””I know what you know not”. Is it not then possible that this is one of the things that God knows?! That this whole earthly experience is a “heuristic” exercise-designed to teach us what we could not learn otherwise! What a Sublime and Magnificent teacher is our Lord!

Is it not time for our schooling systems to learn from Him,the Greatest Teacher,and  instead of setting up stress-laden.obsessional,misery-generating curriculum,perhaps they could attempt to set up contexts where real learning is possible. As opposed to contexts designed to test out our robotic-like intelligence and our capacity to manage unnecessary stress.Food for thought,no doubt!

 

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Unity?!

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One moment here! People who know me,know that I am not big on logical consistency lol.Nor do I abhor contradictions! But this one is too much -even for me! You have a whole society based on the adversarial stance.It is fundamental to the legal system(prosecution and defense),part and parcel of “democratic” politics(left-wing and right-wing) and built into the so-called “competitive capitalism” (and all of its marketing]! And then the powers to be(Biden et al for the moment) issue a plea for Unity! Wha-t-t-t! The entire social M.O. is based on conflict and division and then you want Unity?! There must be a screw loose in the collective mind-set! Salaams,Ibrahim
Modern Living, Politics, Psychology, Uncategorized

In case you thought I was anti-American….lol

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Follow this thread from my Facebook page to see how I combat “black and white thinking”

Joel Ibrahim Kreps
Absolutely! The Americans have almost nothing to contribute to morality,that is.-except for the principle of hard work-often overdone however.They do make important contributions however to digital technology and science.I did appreciate their medical conferences and spiritual seminars over the years! Beware Khadijah of “black and white thinking”.That is one of my more important teachings!…
Khadijah:
Joel Ibrahim Kreps

I wasn’t aware that they were a part of those types of conferences.

Joel Ibrahim Kreps
The Americans are the best teachers of medicine and psychiatry and psychology on the planet!

Joel Ibrahim Kreps

I once attended an iftar dinner with a Pakistani friend and his relatives.One of the relatives,a middle-aged Pakistani man said” Those Americans,everything they do is evil”! That got me upset and Allah sent me an inspiration- something I had never thought before! ” Yea” I said “If the Americans had not been involved in the Pacific theater in WW2( yes,I know about Pearl Harbour but that is beside the point) Pakistan would now be occupied by the Japanese.Ask the Chinese and Koreans what that is like”! The whole table went silent lol
Then some even more foolish Muslim on my Facebook page took it upon himself to point out that it was still India at the time.As if it makes a difference whether you are a citizen of India or Pakistan to the Japanese?!Completely irrelevant lol
Joel Ibrahim Kreps
Even in terms of Islamic scholars,I trust Hamza Yusuf, Omar Suleiman and Sheikh Nuh- all American-raised, two of the three being converts, more than any of the Eastern scholars-none of whom have ANY perspective on their own societies.So, like everything else on the planet ,there is some good in America-lots of good in fact and lots of evil! I guess,you could call it an interesting place lol

Understood and applied, any one of the posts on this site could change your life-forever!