Category Archives: Comparative Religion

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Sufism

Marifat(Knowledge of God)

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Marifat(knowledge of God) actually has three sections. 1) Experiential knowledge of God as separate from us.This can only happen outside of bodily consciousness-i.e. in the other world.Otherwise we would be knocked down unconscious as were the people of Moses when they asked to see God.All of the religions have had mystics who had this experience,but the most accessible accounts are those in the n.d.e. literature (near-death experiences).Check it out.

2) Experiential knowledge of God as identical to our innermost self.This has various names (fana,samadhi,satori,Nibbana etc.etc.)and is the central tenet of the Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta traditions and

3) Knowing what God is getting at in the unfoldment of events in the World.The Buddhists and Advaita Vedanta people, so focused on Oneness, don’t have the foggiest idea of this dimension.”Karma’ is a very inadequate,mechanical explanation.They believe that only the stated number 2 function(enlightenment) is important.The Quran and the Bible are very useful tools  to understand this dimension.We can see that it requires Revelation- not Enlightenment! Then if we are fortunate enough to have an elevated teacher or if we are given the gift of deep intuition(rare) into this interaction, we may be able to ferret out the details as to what is happening on a moment to moment basis in this world and its interaction with the Creator..It is ALL meaningful!

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Modern Living

Spirituality vs. Religion-a Modernist Delusion

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Religion cannot be separated from spirituality any more than the body can be separated out from worldly experience.All spirituality comes from the bedrock of religion and is intimately tied up with it.Yes,even Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta- both of which are variants and updates of the Hindu religion just like Christianity is a variant and update of Judaism.So all the marketers of the trendy slogan:”Spirituality is good;religion is bad” should seriously re-examine their conclusions.This is another modernist delusion!

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Modern Living

“Fake Spiritual News”

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This world is NOT an illusion as the Advaita Vedanta people and the Buddhists would like us to believe.It is a concrete reality! The illusion is that obtaining things we wish for, like academic degrees and money and status and partners will bring us complete and lasting satisfaction.That is the illusion.That is our mind lying to us!The Buddhists are proud of their eight-fold path ,one of the folds being”Right Thinking”. Well,the idea that this world is simply a creation of our deluded mind is “wrong thinking”.I believe that wrong thinking contributes significantly to human suffering as it leads to misunderstanding of the meaning of the joys and sorrows of this world So we have “fake political news”(courtesy of Trump),fake medical news(courtesy of our narrow-minded medical scientific establishment) and now we have “fake spiritual news” courtesy of Mother India lol

Comparative Religion, Sufism

Why the Non-Dualists are wrong!

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Abstract:Although potentially interesting as a methodological strategy,from the point of view of metaphysics(Essential Realities) and from the vantage point of eschatology(the after-life) ,the denial of the importance and even the existence of the Relative Being(us as individual human beings) in the approach of the Non-Dualists is a momentous error with potentially catastrophic consequences in both this World and the next.Unless you are very clear about the overall structure of existence and thus can put this practice and philosophy into proper context,I would avoid it at all costs!You would be better served by going to your local Church or Synagogue or Mosque!

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Spiritual Practice

The “Logos”

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This posting comes from a response to a T.V. episode of” Young Sheldon” where Sheldon confronts the preacher with his version of the Greek word “logos’ lol

Actually Sheldon is wrong! “Logos” as used by the Greeks meant “reason” more than knowledge i.e. according to them the means of obtaining knowledge-a dubious prospect at best as those who have read my writings are well aware. What is more important than what the Greek word is ,is the original Hebrew or Aramaic word that was used.Unfortunately for Christianity, and for us as well,we have no idea what that word is or even might be.Perhaps some Biblical or linguistic scholars may hazard a guess.Touché Sheldon.You often get it wrong because you are hoodwinked by Scientism’s aberrant theology lol

One spiritual group that uses and overuses the concept of “logos” are the Perennialists affectionately known as Schuonians by people who are obliged to deal with them.They ,too,like the Greeks believe that we can understand the Universe and especially its different religions through the ultimate tool of reason.In that attempt, they fail miserably leading to numerous falsehoods and heretical beliefs.Ultimately this Absolutist belief in reason is a form of human arrogance which regularly leads to misguidance!

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics

Christianity unpacked

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There are times when I enjoy listening to Christian preachers on the television. The sincere Christians have’taqwa’(God-consciousness)What they don’t have is Shariah(an understanding of Divine Law). Historically that is because Paul introduced ( probably with the good intention of making Christianity acceptable to the pagan Roman and Greeks) a deviation into the religion by declaring that it was enough to Love Jesus. It is certainly a good thing to love Prophets and saints. But it is not enough! One needs to follow the rules laId down in Sacred Law. That is your Comparative Religion course for Xmas day lol. Btw Christmas was not celebrated by the early Christians until it was decreed by the Bishop of Rome in 354 AD.It was throughout history seen as a secular festival and was frequently banned by the Church itself for being too licentious!In Scotland it was banned for 250 years until 1953!(reference Judith Flanders “ A biography of Xmas”)

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Psychology

There ARE no Perfect Guides,only Guidance

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(Special thanks here to Munirah Maclean who is one of the few,if not only, persons able to follow my unfolding process.)

In 2001 shortly before his demise,we visited Sheikh Mahshur al-Haddad one of the great awliya of the Habaib tradition of Yemen.He told us that the process of ‘bayat'(sworn allegiance to the Sheikh) was over.He explained that people in this time were not able to carry that level of surrender.Ahmad Zerrouk,one of the great sheikhs of the Shadhili lineage, had made a parallel statement several hundred years earlier,claiming that there were no people left who could carry the mantle of Sheikh.

I have come to the conclusion that,in fac t, the problem,metaphysically if you wish ,goes beyond the weakness of the murids and shuyukh -to the very nature of Truth itself..Since all people,including legitimate awliya an d Prophets themselves make mistakes,if we are determined to be with the Truth as much as possible,we would be called upon to disagree with them at times.There were several incidents like that in the life of our own Prophet Mohammed saws where he had to give way to the more accurate understanding of one of his followers.So we shouldn’t be surprised.

However, for Sufi zealots ,this truth is anathema.They are of the “The Sheikh is always right,we have to obey him because he is systematically Divinely inspired and every contrary idea or action is treachery and apostasy”school of belief. I,personally have never been able to accept that point of view.At numerous points in time my Sheikh,for whom I had the greatest respect and from whom I learnt enormously,was wrong.My Istighara told me so.Each time the Istikhara proved right.And I never regretted following the latter.Why should I ? The latter was from God!

Ironically ,as I am fond of denouncing “democratic illusions’, this all sounds llike the liberal,democratic point of view.’.Abadan”(never) lol.The liberals believe it is all a matter of opinion and that one opinion is as good as another.That is not at all what I am saying.I am,rather,saying that there is an objective Truth in every situation.The real spiritual teacher has regular access to that Truth but not always.Sometimes he,or she,is caught up in his own belief systems, in projections of his own experience or even to some emotional reaction to one reality or another.I wrote specifically about this in my article entitled”Why I had to leave my last tariqat”

Don’t get me wrong here.We need teachers;we need guidance.And we have to show the utmost respect to the true saints and spiritual guides.But we musn’t take them for gods.Doesn’t Islam teach us as much?! But that is exactly the error that many Sufis get involved in.May Allah protect us from ‘shirk'(idolatry) of all types and open our eyes,ears and hearts to the Truth of each and every situation.That is the way of peace and lessening of suffering.Salaams,Respectfully,Ibrahim Kreps As-Sufi