Spent one evening with Loch Kelly and one with Kabat-Zinn. I still believe Loch has a superior method and I am intending to spend a day in retreat with him this Saturday.His method is simple,effective and user -friendly.
However Kabat-Zinn exceeded expectations.He carries a very clear”hal” and I felt it all the way home on the taxi-ride back ,despite the more worldly discussion going on in the car.It was what I call the pristine state.However his idea that the world is changing radically because of the spread of mindfulness in the West is part of the New-Age megalomanic discourse that proves the ungroundedness of these people -projecting their hopeful fantasies upon the sinister reality of materialism and deadly conflict all around us.And I thought they are trying to practice acceptance!?

Aphorism:Every  outer problem has a parallel and corresponding inner problem..Often the outer problem cannot be solved until the inner one is recognized and dealt with.

You are not in control,no matter how valiant and diligent your efforts.The Real Controller can do a lot more to solve your problems then you can.But in order for that to happen, you have to give Him his due.Salaams

So you know who you are talking with…..

(This one may sound political but there is a deep psychological issue involved.) Ben Carson is a dangerous person.Although Donald Trump is a narcissist no doubt Ben Carson has paranoid tendencies and that is much worse for a political leader.His complaints about gotcha questions are seriously distorted.Journalists ask gotcha questions to everyone- not just to Ben Carson or Republicans.That’s what they do and I don’t like it either.But it’s not personal to him..As a therapist I can tell you that childhood trauma never goes away completely no matter how serious our spiritual and psychological work.The best we can do is remain conscious of its effects on our thinking and behavior.

My goal is to be the Ingmar Bergman of spirituality-to develop a path with the same refinement and sensitivity and depth that he directed his films with.No wonder my first sabbatical was in Sweden.With all due respect,I started my journey where Ingmar ended.Someone had to underline the human angst from which most art is born..I also started my journey from where Woody Allen ended.Someone had to underline the Jewish neurosis from which much of scientific discovery has issued.However where this journey ends is now more in the hands of Allah than my own.Luckily I have learnt, at least partially ,to get out of the way.Alhumdulillah Rabbil Alamin.

Efficient Causation

One of my favorite exercises these days is to look into scientific articles and find the flaws.They should have taught us this in school if they really wanted us to be critical thinkers- which is a lie actually.What they want,whoever those “they” might be,is for us to be believers in democratic theology.And they have largely succeeded.Really!~ In order to escape from that fate we need to re-examine the analyses that are presented to us-whether it be in “real science” or in social science.Here’s your first exercise.Look at this article and find the fatal flaw.Beware.This whole approach could lead to a belief in God!. Salaams,Joel Ibrahim

“And zo ,ve may to begin”-(Philip Roth: Portnoy’s Complaint)

A new initiative.Welcome to our new blog.I hope in this way to avoid much of the nonsense and distractions on Facebook!