The Sufi Path is a process of amanesis (remembrance, realization). In pre-eternity, God asked the spirits: Alastu bi Rabikum (Am I not your Lord)? When we come into this material existence, we forget about pre-eternity and the task of life is to remember our way back to the truth concerning the nature of our essential relationship with God. This process of remembering or recollecting is known as amanesis.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 26
Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 26 is now available for downloading. We hope you'll join us!
Salaam, Dear Anab, I just finished listening to your podcast, Sufi Reflections No. 26. Wonderful, as usual. Thank you.
This is my favorite part, copied from your June post and said so eloquently in the current podcast:
On page 31, Mr. Harris says:
“… people of faith tend to argue that it is not faith itself but man’s baser nature that inspires such violence. But, I take it to be self-evident that ordinary people cannot be moved to burn genial old scholars alive for blaspheming the Koran, or celebrate the violent deaths of their children, unless they believe some improbable things about the nature of the universe. Because most religions offer no valid mechanisms by which their core beliefs can be tested and revised, each new generation of believers is condemned to inherit the superstitions and tribal hatreds of its predecessors.”
Mr. Harris is quite wrong in almost everything which he says in the foregoing quote. Of course, ordinary people can “be moved to burn old scholars alive for blaspheming the Koran” because this is the same kind of thing which is done before every war when the powers that be seek to whip up an appropriate state of hysteria in the general public via the media, as well as through educational systems, so that whoever is the enemy de jour can be demonized and made ready for annihilation by the glorious armed forces of one’s homeland.
Not only can ordinary people be moved to burn old scholars, but ordinary people can be moved to napalm innocent civilians in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and ordinary people can be moved to drop cluster bombs in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and wherever else this is deemed to be appropriate so that little children can come along pick up the unexploded ordinances and be blown apart. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to kill millions of civilians during World Wars I and II, and during the Korean War, and during Vietnam, and during the first and second Gulf Wars, and during the various phases of the wars in the Balkans, as well as in Rawanda or Darfur or South Africa. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to destroy Iraq’s infrastructure, not once but several times, so that children can die of starvation, disease, and from ‘smart bombs’ that turn out not to be so smart after all. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people were moved to commit genocide against Native peoples. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to burn, hang, rape, beat, and torture a people because of their skin color. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to commit atrocities against their fellow countrymen during civil wars.
There have been a number of studies which have been conducted in conjunction with World War II, Vietnam, and the Gulf War with respect to people’s readiness to kill or harm other human beings. Not surprisingly, these studies found that the majority of people, on their own, really have no interest in harming other human beings.
They have to be moved to do this. They have to undergo a process of indoctrination and propaganda so that they will comply with the directive to kill other human beings – not necessarily because of religious faith but because they are told that killing and destroying a given people is their patriotic duty in order that the vested material and financial interests of the power elite may be protected.
Moreover, Mr. Harris is equally wrong when he claims that ordinary people cannot be moved to celebrate the violent deaths of their children. This sort of thing is done every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day. Parades are held, flags are waved, people cheer and clap, speeches are given about the glories of sacrificing one’s life for one’s Fatherland or Motherland or Homeland or out of patriotism. _________ Thank you.
1 comment:
Salaam, Dear Anab,
I just finished listening to your podcast, Sufi Reflections No. 26. Wonderful, as usual. Thank you.
This is my favorite part, copied from your June post and said so eloquently in the current podcast:
On page 31, Mr. Harris says:
“… people of faith tend to argue that it is not faith itself but man’s baser nature that inspires such violence. But, I take it to be self-evident that ordinary people cannot be moved to burn genial old scholars alive for blaspheming the Koran, or celebrate the violent deaths of their children, unless they believe some improbable things about the nature of the universe. Because most religions offer no valid mechanisms by which their core beliefs can be tested and revised, each new generation of believers is condemned to inherit the superstitions and tribal hatreds of its predecessors.”
Mr. Harris is quite wrong in almost everything which he says in the foregoing quote. Of course, ordinary people can “be moved to burn old scholars alive for blaspheming the Koran” because this is the same kind of thing which is done before every war when the powers that be seek to whip up an appropriate state of hysteria in the general public via the media, as well as through educational systems, so that whoever is the enemy de jour can be demonized and made ready for annihilation by the glorious armed forces of one’s homeland.
Not only can ordinary people be moved to burn old scholars, but ordinary people can be moved to napalm innocent civilians in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and ordinary people can be moved to drop cluster bombs in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and wherever else this is deemed to be appropriate so that little children can come along pick up the unexploded ordinances and be blown apart. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to kill millions of civilians during World Wars I and II, and during the Korean War, and during Vietnam, and during the first and second Gulf Wars, and during the various phases of the wars in the Balkans, as well as in Rawanda or Darfur or South Africa. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to destroy Iraq’s infrastructure, not once but several times, so that children can die of starvation, disease, and from ‘smart bombs’ that turn out not to be so smart after all. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people were moved to commit genocide against Native peoples. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to burn, hang, rape, beat, and torture a people because of their skin color. Of course ordinary people can be moved to burn old scholars, just as ordinary people can be moved to commit atrocities against their fellow countrymen during civil wars.
There have been a number of studies which have been conducted in conjunction with World War II, Vietnam, and the Gulf War with respect to people’s readiness to kill or harm other human beings. Not surprisingly, these studies found that the majority of people, on their own, really have no interest in harming other human beings.
They have to be moved to do this. They have to undergo a process of indoctrination and propaganda so that they will comply with the directive to kill other human beings – not necessarily because of religious faith but because they are told that killing and destroying a given people is their patriotic duty in order that the vested material and financial interests of the power elite may be protected.
Moreover, Mr. Harris is equally wrong when he claims that ordinary people cannot be moved to celebrate the violent deaths of their children. This sort of thing is done every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day. Parades are held, flags are waved, people cheer and clap, speeches are given about the glories of sacrificing one’s life for one’s Fatherland or Motherland or Homeland or out of patriotism.
_________
Thank you.
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