Most modern people have been trained to think that the way to knowledge is to accumulate data and then analyze it logically.I have found that way to be most often inefficient,defective and misleading as  protocol.Watch the justice system operate if you don’t believe me.

So what do we learn from Sufism and Islam about this question?As I see it there are three principal doors to knowledge-the deeper knowledge and the one that counts ultimately.

The first is the opening of the heart.We are talking here about the subtle heart -not the one of gross feelings like anger an d sadness and even joy.I won’t address the question of love for now as that can be very confusing and misleading itself.

Then there is seeing”basirat’-the inner vision.Once that is developed we can see the inner aspect of what is going on-the good and the evil of it,the sincerity and the hypocrisy,the darkness and the light.

And finally there is the hearing and developing ‘the ear of truth’ that hears ‘the sound of truth’.When we hear that, we have to act on the truth we hear.(Remember the formula-ilm(knowledge),amal(action) then hal(state).Without the action,there is no change in state!)Our nafs will surely object but our hearts will say ‘yes!’

Now the Quran tells us about this.It talks about “those whose hearts are sealed” and those who are “deaf,blind and dumb”.And we can understand that this is not outer blindness nor outer deafness but rather the inner senses.If our hearts are sealed and we are blind and deaf,we will surely make wrong decisions and that is what we see all around us.

Is there a corrective?Yes,there is.It is spiritual practice beginning with what is obligatory in our religion and proceeding to dhikr and wird and listening to wise ones and opening our hearts to the hidden and the invisible.There is no other way! Reason will not get us there.Psychotherapy will not get us there.Motivators like Antony Robbins and Steven Covey will not get us there.

Only proper spiritual practice and virtuous ways will get us there.For then, as a reward,Allah will cleanse our hearts to feel properly,clear our vision to see what is real and remove the ‘wax’ from our inner ears so we can hear ‘the ring of Truth’ when it chimes.

May Allah have mercy on all of us and give us this clarity from His Generosity.Salaams,Ibrahim