(FB posting of mine):”Every time I have an inspiration these days, someone has a reason why it isn’t so or can’t be. Reason ,which at some point in history was an instrument of liberation ,has now become a means of enslavement! Because this is so important, I think I’m going to post this every day for awhile. Now, go ahead and tell me why that isn’t a good idea ! I dare you lol”

If one looks more deeply,you can see that, in fact, Reason is a bigger problem than all the other cardinal sins like greed,lust ,envy and pride put together! Why? Because reason is used to justify all the other sins!The psychoanalysts call that”Intellectualization” or “Rationnalization” and it is one of the major defense mechanisms of the ego.

So the greedy person says:”You need money to survive and you have to plan for your financial security.”Even more poignant it will say”the financial well-being of your family”! How can you resist that one.When Mike Tyson bit off part of the ear of his opponent during a fight with Evander Hollyfield,he was asked why he did it”I have to feed my family” he answered.Really! Admittedly there are more clever rationnalizers around but that was a particularly vivid example.Trump will say to the applause of his audience;”Put America first” which is a thinly-covered veil for American greed-on a personal and collective level.Not even the Democrats will challenge him on that policy! After all, we need to be greedy as a nation,no?

Pride will say”But I deserved that.Look how clever I am or look how hard I worked for that”Lust will say: “But women are beautiful: aren’t they the creation of our Lord”? Can you begin to see how sinister this all is.We could go down the list of all the major sins but I think by now the reader is getting the point.Watch it play out all around you in your lives.There’s plenty of it,I guarantee you.

I don’t know about your situation but I am surrounded by this contagion on a daily basis-dealing with government offices and large private institutions,dealing with friends and relatives,going to the market,even.But there are islands of sanity in this sea of obscurity-so there is hope-I think-but not much.

In was initially introduced to this problem at a series of Est Seminars in the 1970’s.The trainer was at the board writing down the stages of spiritual development. In his c;lassification, Reason was the lowest level-just barely above animality! He repeated the phrase several times:”Reason is the lowest level of spiritual development.”It registered in a deep place in m,y being. But if you look around you- at the Justice System,Government Administration,Universities(don’t get me started on them) you will see that it has the most credibility and the most investment.Look how much money is now invested in University education and how much money is invested in building churches and synagogues and mosques.Yes,the Intellect has taken over the role of Temple and faith.

After my foray into Est seminars , I began studying the Vedanta .Aha! These people understood that the mind was a repository of illusion.Is anyone putting that age-old insight into use in contemporary society?No,not even in India! Then there were the Zen Buddhists also trying to escape from the tyranny of the mind.They talk about”Seeing” and “Hearing” an d “Feeling.”(Btw Interesting parallel with the Quran where Allah talks about the people who are blind and deaf and have hardened hearts.It could easily have been talking about the administrators and intellectuals of contemporary society but at the time it was referring to the unbelievers.There are still a few of those around,I believe lol)

And what about the Sufis.Here is a poem by Jellalludin Rumi:

Psychologists have it wrong-once again lol.The problem is not the famous”pattern”. The problem is that the pattern is not carried out to its logical conclusion which is a learning process.Each of these patterns have a hidden purpose.They are not just sinister reproductions of past relationships as the psychologists believe.(“According to psychology, everything happens for a negative reason.According to the spiritual perspective,everything that occurs has a positive intent- “Snakes and Ladders”)So dropping the pattern will not work.Believe me,it doesn’t happen.But realizing the purpose of the pattern can be truly uplifting.

For example,if you have a person who is inclined to follow(horror of horrors) they will be quickly diagnosed as Dependent Personality and urged to drop that behaviour.Instead ,they are encouraged to become more autonomous .Ironically all of these autonomy -seekers are followers! They are following the modernist obsession with autonomy and independence despite all the misery we can see around us caused by this way of thinking! Look around,really.

Perhaps ,what the person needs is to find a better person or group to follow-one that is less exploitative,kinder, more understanding,more with the Truth..Or perhaps they have to negotiate their needs more skilfully within the context of”following”.Yes,it can be done.I have been doing it for decades and I am sure there are others out there doing likewise.

However,eliminating following is like not having a steering wheel on your cart or a rudder on your ship.You just end up following the contour of the road or the current of the water.Nothing good can come from that.You’re either in the ditch or broken up on the rocks.

So I urge all ‘autonomists’ to wake up.They are followers too even though they are unaware of it..But they are following a sure-fire road to misery, even though that road is very highly populated lol Salaams,Ibrahim

When I was first taught Istikhara ,the responses wee considered all or none.If you saw red or black it meant a ‘no’ and if you saw green or white ,it was a ‘yes’.If you woke up in the morning feeling angst,it was a ‘no’ and if you woke up in peace,it was a ‘yes’.

Actually,especially in terms of dream symbolism, I have been seeing something else lately.Remember that all choices and all relationships have good and bad in them.Don’t expect Allah to show you anything less than the whole truth!Therefore you may be confronted with a negative aspect of a situation or person without this meaning a definitive ‘no’.It may just mean that you have to factor in that quality or consider it an obstacle or a challenge within the context of going forward with your choice.If you do not do so,you may find that all your choices are bad! -which ends up simply paralyzing you.

I hope this makes sense to some of my readers who ,like myself,are taking Istikhara seriously.Most people will continue,however,to just follow their minds as I mentioned in the last posting.Too bad,really.But Allah gives them that choice-it’s called free will-another mystery of the Universe,as people,in my observation,usually use it badly.. Salaams,Ibrahim