“Due Process of the Law”,whether around criminal,civil or insurance rulings. can be accurately characterized as “sadistic,bureaucratic harassment”.As our retired Chief Justice Antonio Lamer stated the trials, or procedures of any kind for that matter, are too long,too complicated and too expensive.What he failed to mention is “too stressful”
but that is typical of the legal profession that has no training whatsoever in psychology and little sensitivity to humanity!Sad,indeed.
Dialectics
I like the idea of “dialectical” as in the Dialectical Behavioural Therapy of Marsha Linehan.What it tells us is that people in leadership positions like therapists and teachers need to both accept the people for where they are in the process and at the same time help them change.That is the dialectic.But it is no easy matter.If one accepts alone,the result is stagnation.But if one pushes too hard for change one comes up against resistance.Awesome process,indeed.
In Defense of Judgment
In the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in Genesis,they are told not to eat the apple.This apple is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.They disobey and are sent down from the heavens to Earth.
What does that tell us about judgment which IS the discernment between good and evil? As far as I can understand ,this says that judgment is intrinsic to our existence on this planet just as their covering of their private parts tell us that modesty is intrinsic.Non-judgmentalism is the rule of the heavens where everything is taken care of for us.Judgment is the rule of the Earth-plane where we are responsible for our choices and our actions.
Instead of acknowledging this essential function of judgment(call it discernment or discrimination, in the good sense, if you will) we are told over again not to be judgmental.Is that even possible?! I don’t think so.
Everytime we come to decide on an action we have to make a judgment.”Do I want to go into business with that man?” “Is he honest and trustworthy” we ask.
“Do I want to be in a relationship with that person.Are they kind and loving?” Do I want to move to that area of the city.Is it safe or picturesque or lively enough? We are always posing judgments.It is inevitable in the decision-making process.
So where did this idea ,so common nowadays,that we should be non-judgmental come from? It has become an essential component of political correctness.It is another one of those ideas that I call “Democratic Illusions”.
From the psychological point of view,we could say it comes from Freud and the psychoanalysts.They underlined the excesses of the superergo which is the moral dimension-the judger if you will and they thought”This is oppressive”.Let’s help liberate people from these fetters.Fritz Perls says”Lose your mind and come to your senses” He meant your sensual pleasures.That’s it- just go out and have a good time.That’s the purpose of life, isn’t it.From Perls point of view,that’s the value system.And itr’s a value system that has become endemic in our society”enjoy yourself,it’s later than you think.” I see eighty and ninety-year old retirees at the Pharmacy(of course!) still talking about the next show in the park as if that has become their meaning in life.
From the political,Marxist point of view non-judgmentalism ,is a ruse of the bourgeoisie.Don’t judge the capitalists and the governments that work hand in hand with them.Don’t judge the greedy capitalists .It’s their right to be billionaires even if it’s on the backs of the workers who are becoming poorer and poorer as the rich are getting richer( a proven statistical fact!)’It’s all cool”right.Don’t be judgmental.They have a right to be rich- no matter how they made their money,n’est-ce pas? Then we complain that the Donald was elected!
From the spiritual point of view,.it’s even more dire!All atheists can skip the next bit as they will find it objectionable.And btw don’t believe for a moment that the atheists are any more non-judgmental than the believers.Just look at what they say about religion! From the believers standpoint,this non-judgmentalism is directly from the shaytan(the devil).What a wonderful tool in his armamentarium. And he is enjoying it immensely! “He’s not cheating on his wife or performing adultery.It’s just an affair,Don’t be so judgmental.”She’s not promiscuous going from bar to bar and sleeping with every available guy.She’s just having a good time-enjoying herself,right.Don’t be judgmental.As long as it’s two consenting adults,or 3 or 4 it’s o.k right.Don’t be judgmental.be chill,be cool.Let it be.And the young lads smoking dope and playing computer games into the wee hours of the morning,driving their parents crazy.Well,there are now scientific luminaries out there telling us of the wonders of pot as a medicinal agent and the positive neurophysiologic effects of playing computer games.No problem of indolence and addiction there.Our moral compass has never been weaker!And shaytan(the dark forces if you prefer) has never been happier! And he never rests!
At this point,people inevitably ask me”So what do we do,then?”Fair question,I guess although it should be more or less obvious.Develop your discernment.Learn to make sound judgments.Especially,don’t buy into the social consensus of moral neutrality.In Islam the teaching is “amr bil marouf wa nehi al munkar”Encourage the good and discourage the reprehensible” .That means make a sound judgment,act accordingly,and try to encourage(in a wise and thoughtful way) those around you to do likewise.May Allah grant us from His Furqan(discernment).
Paradoxes:The Twists and Turns of Life
It’s 1975.I’m in a seminar in Berkely,California given by the highly respected bioenergetic therapist Stanley Keleman,one of the most creative people in the field and a direct student of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen.I’ve been studying and practicing”humanistic psychothertapy”(Gestalt,Bioenegetics ,encounter groups,sensitivity training ) for over four years and have become comfortable with intense emotional expression.
“We’ve got it wrong” says Keleman.
“Emotional Expression doesn’t work.The more anger you express,the more comes up- like a well that is unlimited”
“So what do we do?” asks the audiece.
“Just watch and observe.Then things will change”.It’s the beginnings of the Mindfulness movement-at least in psychotherapy.
Now,fast forward more than fourty years.We now have the secret formula to human happiness and equanimity-Mindfulness,Non-Violent Communication,Yoga,Chigong.And then a situation confronts you where this is not working at all and what seems to be more helpful is emotional self-expression.Back to Perls and Reich and catharsis and authenticity..Anyone who has worked with that approach has seen spectacular results -at times.And there’s the rub.It doesn’t work all the time.It doesn’t even work predictably.But there are times when the result is impressive.I remember an Ulcerative Colitis case where the man in question was furious with his domineering girlfriend.A few wops on the specially designed mattress cover and some appropriate statements and the Ulcerative Colitis cleared up to such an extent that his gastro-enterologist called me up after his last colonoscopy to ask me what I had done! But it doesn’t always work.
To go back to the issue of Mindfulness vs. cathartsis.,Fritz Perls and Wilhelm Reich believed that the entire Eastern culture was one mass collective neurosis.Interestingly Mao Tse Tung believed the same.That’s why he used more Marx and Lenin in his approach than Lao Tsu.To be clear that is NOT my belief.But there may be some truth in it nevertheless.
So what is the answer.The answer is in the uniqueness and specificity of every situation-whether clinical or personal.”Break your principles on The Rock of Reality”, Pir Vilayat Khan used to repeat.”Don’t get too attached to your belief system” taught Thich Nhat Khan.And most gloriously Jellalludin Rumi said”Anyone who doesn’t understand that Reality is replete with contradictions is not truly Enlightened'” May Allah protect us from the overly coherent lol
Truth and Opinion-Democratic Illusions
It is SO-O-O frustrating when you see the Truth of a situation and everyone around thinks it is just another opinion.This is one of the cardinal”Democratic Illusions”-the incapacity to see and hear the truth due to regarding everything as relative.Wa la howla wala quwatta.I can already hear the fundamentalist democrats crying out”But how do you know that what you’re seeing is the truth?” What a problem!? Shaytan must be laughing his head off.He could never have thought up such a useful manouvre himself.It took man to come up with it!
Positive suggestion: Train yourself to hear the ring of truth.It’s a demanding training because you have to learn to get out of the way! And it requires a lot of spiritual practice to clear the mind and the gross heart.The subtle heart understands perfectly well!!
Intelligence
Academic institutions(schools,universities etc.) measure mechanical,robotic intelligence.What really interests me is the intelligence of penetrating insight and common-sense practicality.That’s where it’s really at!
The Four Enemies-Traditional and Modern
Traditionally in Islam and Sufism we are taught that there are four enemies-1) hawa(desire);2)dunniya(worldliness);3)nafs(ego) and 4)shaytan(the devil).In the modern world, we have four new enemies even before we confront the traditional ones .They are 1) egalitarianism(which includes pseudo-democracy and Feminism;2) materialism,which includes scientific and philosophical materialism(empiricism);3) psychologism(the belief that all human action is determined by psychological variables rather than spiritual ones) and 4)Rationalism(the belief that we can control our lives solely through the use of our intellect).These ubiquitous enemies,subtler than the traditional ones, actually create a thick veil of obscurity that make it more difficult than ever to discern the Truth!
Mirroring
Often,in situations of intense conflict,the parties in question have more in common than they differ.Think Kurds and Turks,Turks and Greeks,Israelis and Arabs and now Catalans and Spaniards.Investigate and see if you can confirm what I am asserting.This is not by pure coincidence.This is all by Divine plan as the other is set up to be our mirror!
Stress,stress,stress
All around me I see stress! They stress us with norms and standards and protocols and procedures.Then they wonder why there is so much anxiety and depression and mental illness. If they had intentionally designed a social system to maximize stress,they could not have done a better job!The worst is that they always have rational justifications for these stressors -all in the name of some kind of efficiency or quality control or productivity or another.God help us all
Truth and Eloquence
(In response to an image on Facebook saying“Chaos is Emptiness”)That is eloquence(balaga).It sounds good but is not fundamentally true.One of the secrets to success is distinguishing between what sounds true and what is.Clearly chaos is NOT emptiness.It may well be fertile and productive but it is not empty.So this fallacy comes from the belief that all things good are the same and all things bad are the same(black and white thinking).So Socrates himself could say that “Beauty is Truth”.Sounds good but again untrue.Beauty is Beauty and Truth is Truth.We know that from Islam since Allah has 99 names not one.Truth(Haqq) is one and Beauty(jamil) is another.They are two entities not one.My apologies if this is too direct but I abhor eloquence being taken for Truth.It is a profoundly serious matter for me.