(Response to a video praising Obama as “amazing” and Trump as a misogynist)

Forget Trump.He represents much of what is wrong with America but unfortunately he does represent America.Actually,Obama ,and I like the guy,is More of a problem! He represents political correctness to the nth degree and it is not healthy.It sounds good but it is all designed to please the audience.On this note, Trump is right.You have to break through political correctness to solve problems. I naively wrote a relatively short letter to Obama shortly after the start of the war in Syria,saying that he would be held to account ultimately,for not intervening just as Clinton regretted not intervening in Rwanda.Logistics of getting through aside,I know why he didn’t intervene.And its not because of the usual; conspiracy theories like not enough oil or to support Israel or whatever.He didn’t intervene because of another politically correct intellectual error-that you can figure out what to do by analyzing past similar interventions-specifically Afghanistan and Iraq.Wrong! Each situation is unique and comparisons don’t work.Our minds and their analysis don’t work-even if you are Harvard or Yale educated lol.Actually,especially if Harvard or Yale educated!. That’s why I use Istighara-the Islamic prayer for guidance.If you don’t believe me because this is too faith-based,check out “The Fog of War” and see what the secularist Robert McNamara had to say.He came to the same conclusion.Salaams,Ibrahim

(The Belgian Terror attacks.)As I watch the American electoral process and the concurrent fight against terrorism,I cannot fail to notice one item that is rarely addressed.”The search for meaning!” If you listen to the “democratic” politicians most of the discourse is about getting more and better jobs.Even the better ones,like Bernie Sanders,cannot get beyond some kind of economic justice.Is that all there is to life-good jobs for everyone.I call this the “meaningfulness deficit”.And it is much more serious than the economic deficit.Yes,the terrorists are wrong,and yes they have an heretical understanding of Islam.But they are searching for something that they are not getting in our wonderful; secular democracies.and they are willing to pay with their lives for their search.We better learn how to provide meaning in more healthy ways.And,sorry, but a Bachelors degree or even a doctorate(academic achievement as meaning) will not do it!

Mahasi Sayadaw,one of the founding fathers of the Insight Meditation movement and teacher of Jack Kornfield says the following in”The Manual of Insight” his most famous work.   Quoting the khuddaka Nikaya”O Great King,nibbana(nirvana) is incomparable.It cannot be described in its color,shape,size,dimension,likeness, remote cause,immediate cause,or any other logical way of thinking”.He goes on to say”nibbana has no colour ,form or size.It cannot be described by using a simile” This sounds exactly like the Islamic description of Allah.The last bit is almost word for word what the Quran says about God”He is beyond comparison.La mithla shay.There is no simile for Him”

So where is the problem?The Dalai Lama is insistent that there is no Creator God.Why does he say that?! Because there is a very serious theological error inherent in Buddhism.It does not recognize the link between the conditioned and the unconditioned,between the Creator and the created.It sees them as parallel tracks.That’s why I am a Muslim rather than a Buddhist.Salaams,Ibrahim

“The wound is the place where the Light enters” Awesome!

The name Pilgrims Progress for our group process appealed to me as it speaks of our journey to our Lord-The Absolute.However,historically this is a name associated with Christianity with which,of course we have a lot in common.However for the weekly meetings we needed something more akin to Sufi terminology.

So I began thinking of all the terms used for these meetings-=liqa, dhikr, hadrat, suhba etc.And I thought of what the essence of what we are trying to do.I concluded that the most essential aim of our process was trying to “connect”-primarily to the Presence of Allah and secondarily to His servants. The Arabic root for the word meaning “connect” is  wasala  وسل

Then I checked the derivatives of that root and the one that fit the best was “Wisal”.Hans Wehr gives the following meanings for wisal-reunion(with God);being together(of lovers);and communion(in Love).Perfect! Welcome to our next Wisal!

Here we go again!-those big philosophical words.Epistemology is the philosophy of knowledge.It asks the question of where real knowledge comes from.

In this case it comes up after reading a detailed explanation of the State Departments decision under Hilary Clinton to intervene in Libya- in the NYTimes.Unlike the paranoid theories about America that always speculate that it is about oil or supporting Israel all the time,you can sense the Truth and balance in this report.

So what do we find.We discover not a search for more wealth or for domination politically but rather a very conscientious,studious and thougtful politician caught in the most common modern methodological error-over thinking and over-analyzing.She should have watched “The Fog of War” with Robert McNamara more carefully.She would have them understood the limitations of the human capacity to analyze.

That is why I regularly try to promote the Istighara practice-consulting with the Divine.Our Prophet,Mohammed saws,was an amazing decision-maker regularly right and timely.He did that by constantly consulting with thé Divine and surrendering to its

1. dictates.His success was literally miraculous if you consider all the forces mounted against him.He could never have done that by just using his own mind.Salaams,Ibrahim

Continue reading Epistemology and Decision-making →

My Spiritual Peanut(contribution from Munirah)

The name Paradise Island should be a warning -that it is not. Looking from the ferry there are defensive looking battlements around multi-million dollar properties and posing right behind them a grotesque giant Sauron meets Barbie pink Mega Resort called Atlantis.
More ironic Paradise at the quay, the public toilet has no paper and no running water for the handbasin. Subway and Scotiabank welcome us beyond tarmac and concrete curbs, there are no sidewalks…why walk when you can ride in a cadillac?
The Sivanada Ashram is nestled on a stunning beach mostly possessed by The Reef condo and resort complex. Cute pastel and white cabins and colorful murals of Krishna among the palms. Lots and lots of tents and an eclectic mix of woofer types, anorexic yogis and hefty Boomer devotees. A warm and effortlessly efficient welcome at reception and we are signed up for Hanuman chanting in the Garden Pavilion. There is a labyrinth of buildings but fresh, un-Indian bathrooms.
I am reassured by the ease and calm in what is actually a more crowded campground than any trailer park. In the Garden Pavilion I settle shoeless into a plastic chair with a cushion from the meditation mats alongside, which fill most of the open sided wooden structure. Onstage three women are seated with microphones and a tabla and harmonium. Behind them are huge posters of orange clad gurus and another picture of Krishna. A large and relaxed older man and an older than me matriarch who seemed to know everyone, help me find the right page in the devotional handbook. We will be doing page 37 and there are transliterated chants with English translation underneath.
Center stage a young slender Indian girl with an ivy league style begins with her impressive spiritual resume and assures us that this wonderful chant was introduced to her by Krishna Das, presumably in an intense spiritual setting. She will call a line then we will repeat it, like in Kindergarten and then we will all sing it together. A wave of suppressed excitement seems to be pass through the audience. I study the detailed picture of Hanuman on the page of my handbook. he seems to be wearing Birkenstock sandals and an elaborate skirt, he has the muscular body of a professional athlete but the head of a sloe-eyed chimp as well as a crown with feathers. It is all a bit confusing.
I start to feel a little uncomfortable. I feel a sneeze building and then my nose starts to run like a tap…uh oh.
“Oh Hanuman, born from the amorous passion of Siva, in a forest glade with a deva….”
My eyes are watering tears of irritation….
“we are your slaves as you are the slave of the great god Rama”
I cannot speak and I do not want to say these words-
slayer of the demon Ravenna in the kingdom of Lanka…Oh Monkey God”
i do not like monkeys, I have been attacked by them on several occasions.
At this point my throat closes up and I feel like someone has thrown a drawstring sack over my head and it is choking me.
I try to cough in my sleeve but the cough just keeps going and I look around for help. My eyes lock into the cold stare from across the room of the ashram cat, he probably thinks I am prey and I am.I have to get out of here, now. Closest exit is ahead close to the stage but I cannot go to it, instead, wheezing and blinded I stumble to the back to empty space, to the steps, to quickly getting the heck out of monkey mind control and
sub rational absorption. I collapse on the last step but looking up i see a palm frond and a blue sky. Alhumdullilah.

I have never had an allergic reaction like that before. As I write this hours later, my body has stilled and calmed from the aftershocks, and my nose and eyes are dry.
Who would have guessed a little Hanuman chanting was my spiritual peanut?