In a recent discussion with an old friend from the eighties, he reminded me of another deeply insightful theory of our sheikh at the time,Sheikh Nazim.It went like this: ” There are two kinds of peoples-‘sheep people’ and ‘goat people”.At the time, he was referring to nations and he considered Turks(his own nation) and Arabs as sheep people who follow the group.Americans and British ,I believe, were the goat people.Everyone has his own way in those groups. Now, this model can be extended to any kind of group.

Almost all the Sufi tariqats are organized around the ‘sheep’ principle-with the possible exception of Pir Vilayat’s Sufi Order of the West.For example,my last tariqat Shadhiliya/Qassimiyat kept repeating the term”Itibaa” which means to follow -over and over again.This was considered the sine qua non of tariqat membership and the height of virtue.So what do you do with people like me-a quintessential goat!? We like to think things through,to observe and come to our own conclusions.That doesn’t mean that we don’t often agree with our spiritual teachers.In fact we learn intensely from them and respect them.But at times ,we see things differently.Even,as outrageous as that may seem to Sufi practitioners,sometimes we are right and the teacher is wrong.What do we do then?Often,we are forced to leave.

So now ,we have a tariqat made for goat people!We call it”Sufi Pilgrims’ Progress” although we may have to rename it “Sufi Pilgrims Process” as we cannot always guarantee progress, especially if the goat quality becomes so predominant that it paralyzes the murid and the group-one of the pitfalls on the way.

So ahlan all you goats.We can generally deal with you.You will protest,criticize , correct us and all the rest.We will accept you and love you nevertheless.But beware! If you get too ornery and too obstructive we may have to ask you to reconsider your membership.We will then have to refer you to another tariqat of pure rebels.Or we will suggest you join some political group or therapy group where you can work off some of your aggression before rejoining us(Remember the bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model.Sometimes we have to give priority to other dimensions besides the spiritual).Salaams,Ibrahim and looking forward to the journey!

This is a recent quote from Ram Dass’s Words of Wisdom”If there is anyone toward whom you feel animosity, or anger, bring them to mind and see that your anger is with the form of the incarnation, not with the soul. As if you have x-ray vision look past the incarnation and see the soul that lies within that being, a soul just like your soul. Touch their soul with your mind, with love and peace. ”

Interesting teaching no doubt but I would like to point out one aspect that most people won’t notice.There IS a conspiracy out there, in the ranks of spiritual seekers.It is led by the Buddhists and recently joined by the advocates of Advaita Vedanta( a bit like the theological equivalent of al-Qaida joined by Isis lol) which says the following”There is no soul- no individual self in reality”. Now Ram Das, himself is a bhakti Yogi primarily. So he believes in the relationship of lover to beloved as we do in Sufism. Also in classical Hindu theology there is the ‘atman'(the individual self) as opposed to Brahman,the Divine being.So they are on our side on this one.But the Buddhists say ‘No. It is an illusion created by a misinterpretation of our thought processes.Our own mind creates the illusion of an individual identity by the false logic that if there is thought, there must be a thinker.

“Why is this important?” you may ask.The Indian religions have by now penetrated our psyche and our society in a deep way-for better and for worse.All around us we here people talking about ‘karma’ and ‘reincarnation’ and gurus.I believe that even the process of cremation, which has become so popular, is an Indian import.Some of this is good.It has brought some genuine spirituality to the West which it sorely needed  after the effects of the Enlightenment.And what a misnomer that is! Should have been called the Endarkenment! So now we have Yoga(from Hinduism) and Mindfulness(from Buddhism) everywhere in North America and Europe.

But with this spirituality has come contamination and misguidance.At first,on my journey,I gave no importance to theology.”Bah,mental elaborations,” I thought.The only thing important seemed to be experience-preferably of a mystical nature.Since then and after studying Aqida in Islam, my position has changed.I now believe that it is important to get our ideas in order,even if we don’t follow them slavishly or worse still develop fanaticism around them.Just as in medicine and in science we develop theories and conclusions which guide us in our practice so in religion it is important to get the model as close to reality as possible.And the reality is that we each experience our individual selves and that even if at times we are in the reality of the Absolute,the individual never ceases to exist.Allah Hu Akbar(even greater than karma lol). Salaams,ibrahim

A very interesting person,Stephen Levine.Watch some of his youtube videos.He has obviously learnt a lot from his Buddhist practices.I can’t help asking myself,however, the question:”Would it not be a lot healthier if he were dying and thinking of God and his meeting with his Lord?”. That’s why I gave up Buddhism?(Autobiographical account of my first Buddhist retreat to come)

Salaams.Honestly,I thought this was going to be a lot easier! Fourty years of research and exploration and interested parties are as rare as tigers and lions in Canada.I guess that makes our small group a zoo,lol! Nevertheless,I will keep fine-tuning,explaining and advertising  the message until Allah shows me otherwise.So here’s the spiel…

1)Why ChiGong? In 1973, when I first visited China(as a Marxist!)there were many things that impressed me.I had one of my earlist ‘hals’ next to the Yellow River ,a supposed holy site of the Chinese.I saw that Marxism was a myth and most of the Chinese people didn’t really believe in it.And I saw the streets of Peking full of people doing a flowing form of exercise in the early morning.There were obvious octogenarians and possibly even older people who still looked like they were in good health and spirits and I was intrigued.

Later,I tried to do a course in Tai Chi but gave up because I found it stressful to try to relax while having to remember over one hundred positions.Then I ran into the book and tapes of Kenneth Cohen which repiqued my interest.

But perhaps the most convincing element was watching the unfolding practice of Sheikh Nuh an American Sufi living in Amman Jordan.This was no New-Age thrill-seeker.He is a very conservative Muslim practicing his religion and his meditation(dhikr) in a very disciplined and perseverant way.But he had a chronic respiratory problem for which he found no solution.One day picking up an old book a student had given him he tried out some Chigong exercises and began improving.By the time I arrived on the scene,he appeared to have the respiratory condition under control.He told us not to pay any attention to the belief systems attached to that practice ( very protective of his Islamic theology,no doubt) but admitted it had helped him significantly.

So,in looking for a form of exercise which was both practicable into later life,healthy and possibly healing I could find nothing more attractive than Qigong.Earlier in my exploration of other forms of physical exercise that had spiritual components to them ,I had practiced Korean Karate(Taekwondo),jujitsu,Aikido and various forms of Yoga.Although Yoga has become the most popular of all,it never felt right to me.There is an element of what I can only call”weirdness’ to it which I feel in a lot of the practices that come from the Indian subcontinent.Then my teacher Bawa Muhaiddeen a Sri Lankan Sufi warned us against it,saying he had seen many people in India and Sri Lanka injured through the practice of Yoga(overstretched ligaments,overburdened neck vertebrae,etc.).Imagine-the neck vertebrae are designed to carry the weight of the skull(?5 pounds) being used to carry the entire weight of the body.Never made sense to me.

So I decided to settle on Chigong and for the meantime specifically on the teachings of Roger Jahnke and Kenneth Cohen,two Westerners who seem to have mastered this Chinese art.

So far what I can say is that it is a wonderful way to start the day(like those Chinese octagenarians in Peking) and there is a subtle ,calming energy that can only be for the good,as far as I can see.

2) Why Loch Kelly?Loch Kelly is another matter.What attracted me most to his teaching is that he is putting words to and claiming to have a method to reach there-words that speak to my own deepest mystical experiences, which I cannot really talk about in this context.Suffice it to say that when he refers to Awake Awareness and Spacious Awareness and Open-hearted Awareness I know exactly what he is talking about.Although I understand what he is trying to do in spreading the message,I reject the tactic of secularizing mystical states.I prefer to call them by their real names-Divine Consciousness and Divine Compassion.To do that one needs to recognize the religious origin of these states,something that is no problem for me although it may well be for Loch’s audience.When I first experienced these states,I thought long and hard about what they could mean and I came to the hard and fast conclusion that this was Divine Presence,nothing less.Once you accept the religious paradigm there is no longer any problem there.

The other point of contention I have with Loch is his insistence that the small self doesn’t exist.This comes from the Buddhist model and flies in the face of everything that is obvious to us as individuals.Yes,we exist.Yes,we continue after death and even tbough The Absolute exists we continue to be and the relationship between us and Him is one of Adoration and Love.

I do believe that using the techniques of Loch can facilitate our arrival at the ultimate Sufi states of ‘fana’ and ‘baqa’ but this is an hypothesis for now.

Why the Dhikr of the Name and the Names:

This practice, which is the major part of our formula, is actually a combination of the simplest,most powerful,most direct forms of Dhikr(remembrance of God) that I have come across in my 40 years of Sufism.There are elements within from the Chisthi,Naqshbandi,Shadhili/Darqawi and Shadhili/Qassimi tariqats,each with its own particular flavour but all directed at the same goal-realizing union with the Absolute.So in the words of the great Sufi(not only a poet but a great mystic)Jellalludin Rumi”Come.come wherever you are……this is not a path of despair”No,it is a path of hope.But, as in everything else, all power is with our Lord and Allah determines the results not us.We must however do our due diligence.That is our obligation as humans.Ahlan wa Sahlan.  Ibrahim

Several people have brought up to me the issue of expressing the negative,believing it to be against the sunnat of the Prophet saws.They bring up the example of Anas ra, the servant of the Prophet who said that in 10 years of service ,he had never been reproached for doing something wrong and never been scolded,directly, for not doing something he was supposed to.Like all other scriptural references this has to be put into perspective.- the perspective of the individual and the perspective of the times.We are talking about a time in which there was considerable respect for authorities and elders especially the much admired and beloved Prophet saws.And one can assume that Anas was generally a “good kid” as we would say,imbued with many spiritual qualities.

Try raising your children that way ! The American mother of the “afflenza child” who ran over four people and then ran to Mexico was always positive about what her son did and never reproaching him.Now he is in prison for a long time and four people are dead.It is inaccurate to see our Prophet saws as a “turn the other cheek” kind of leader.He had to deal with many situations of evil and ignoring it was not always an option.People were punished and even executed under his leadership.It was socially and politically necessary to do so despite his loving,compassionate heart.That is the nature of dunniya(the lower world).It is full of evil and we ignore that at our own risk and peril.

Is there any scriptural support for what I am saying here?Let us look at a couple of citations.Firstly from the Quran-referring to the mission of the Prophet saws“He commands them what is right and forbids them what is wrong, he makes lawful the things that are wholesome and makes unlawful the things that are bad and lifts from them their burdens and the yokes that were upon them.” (7:157)

Then from the hadith:

On the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (ra) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Whoso- ever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.

What can we conclude here?That it is not only permissible,it is actually obligatory to denounce evil- and I would add falsehood which is one of the major forms of evil.

Beyond these scriptural references there is our noble shahhada.What does it contain:”Laillaha Ilallah(There is no God but God(Himself).So we begin by denouncing falsehood and continue affirming truth.That is my modus operandi for now.Until someone can convince me otherwise I find this the most practical and balanced way of dealing with Reality.

Does that mean that we should go aroung”talking s–t about people” as the young people say.By no means.We have to be respectful and kind wherever possible.But we cannot see the world with rose-coloured lenses and go around only uttering politically correct speech either.We are not meant to be Islamic “goodie-goodies”.That would just end up turning against us as the artificiality would be apparent to all. Hope that “opens the conversation”as the Americans like to say. Salaams,Ibrahim

Why do Americans care so much about the Constitution?The Constitution is in essence a reaction(A Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction to use psychological terms) to British Tyranny.This no longer exists as a threat -unless you consider the influx of corrupt Rock stars like Mick Jagger and David Bowie as a new form of tyranny lol.So the document is largely anachronistic and inappropriate for modern times.If we absolutely need a Constitution,it be should be entirely rewritten.The new document would need to include the right to a decent job and comprehensive medical care for every citizen.(I’ll leave out university education because that’s a two-edged sword.)But they can’t do that because the constitution itself, with all its procedures and protocols, would make that impossible.So the constitution itself is now the new form of Tyranny! How wonderful and paradoxical.Meanwhile Americans are dying in the streets of its major cities every day because of this new tyranny!

“There is no one who sends salaams upon me but Allah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his salaams.”Sahih hadith reported by Abu Hurayrah.For those looking for the mystical teachings of our Prophet saws,this hadith is very interesting.There is really only two possible meanings here and they are not far from each other.Either the Prophet saws is immersed in his Lord(‘fana’ if you wish) and needs to be individuated in order to respond.Or he is in a very high place and needs to descend to the angelic plane(in Sufi terms from the plane of oneness(al-Lahut) to the angelic plane (al Malakut) in order to respond. Sheikh Hamza says this is a sign of his saws Istighrak(literally ‘drowned’ in the Divine Presence) which can mean either of the two.Something to contemplate.

The problem with psychological formulations, although a valid form of knowledge, is that they most often emphasize the negative.Thus we diagnose people-narcissists,paranoids,psychopaths,bipolars etc.This does help to understand but can lead to a very negativistic view of the world.I suggest you try something new. Every time you diagnose a friend or colleague or family member with one of those psychopathological formulations try to find a positive diagnosis as well. (Even the term diagnosis represents a distortion as it is drawn from the realm of medical pathology!). So in the Bipolar person you could see a”force of nature” or a “spiritual visionary”. In a narcissist you might see “an acute sense of aesthetics” or”a dynamo of self-confidence”. You can already see that the terms are difficult to come-by since this form of thinking has not been well developed.The psychopath may be”fearless and full of courage” and the obsessional may be “hard-working with high standards”. Try it out and get back to me with your results.This exercise should leave you at least with a lot less cynicism than the average psychologist and social worker.