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Post by Ben on Apr 24, 2006 12:24:54 GMT -5
"He who takes more from this material world (dunya) than he needs is hurting himself without knowing it" - Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal
Weaving one's self into the material world happens at multiple interfaces. Eating, talking, reacting to the material world in a way that causes attention to turn away from the Truth, too much sleep, and many more. Excess of any of these things tends to cause problems. For those who do not wish to acknowledge the spiritual they will simply realize they have a lost feeling. The spiritually oriented person will acknowledge that they have lost the connection with the heart, the love, the peace, etc. The difference between the two is that the first has no real sense of direction, no sense of which way has been neglected, hence the "lost" feeling. Truely this is a difficult state, but it is necessary as it is somewhat required in spiritual awakenings. The latter spiritually oriented person actually has the advantage of knowing of a destination. This unto itself can thwart the "lost" feeling. Based on knowing a destination one can seek and examine the play of what takes away from movement towards it and what promotes movement towards it.
Excessive involvement in the material world is one of the major activities that takes away from spiritual development. Defining excessive involvement: the frequent employment of illusions in one's awareness, and using this venue as a basis for understanding. So it is possible to be heavily involved in the material world but if one keeps the spiritual awareness cultivated and uses it's resulting understandings as a context for the various transactions in the material world, this indeed is one of the highest forms of succesful action.
Isolating talking, out of the various venues of actions that do have the chance of weaving one's comings and goings into the material world's illusions, we can discuss its workings to a greater degree.
Talking is an action. It is important to understand that the resulting returns from talking have the same nature as using your hand to move something. The energetic transactions from talking are often not held in this light. But if one treats speaking harshly to someone the same as hitting them in the stomach, which I am saying are equal actions, one can begin to root out a lot of confusion from their lives. The returns for hitting someone in the stomach with your fist are usually harsh. One feels bad, the receiving party normally creates a fuss, and the energetic heaviness that decends on the heart causes confusion and problems. If you look at what yelling at someone does, it is much the same but people often times don't realize the weight of their actions regarding it.
Sarcasm, shouting in anger, backbiting, slandering, directing negative motives through speech are all much the same in the energetic heirarchy as punching someone, throwing dirt on someone or yourself, physically trapping someone, etc. "If you knew what I know, you would speak very little" - Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal.
An even more subtle aspect of this action of talking is excessive talk. Ever been around someone who talks too much and notice yourself starting to feel uneasy, uncomfortable?
Excessive talk normally occurs when someone has lost awareness of the unity of all things. Therefore it is necessary for this person to constantly obtain reactions and information from speech in order to base their reality on something. Energetically you can feel the returns decending around them as they do it. This un-awareness of the unity of all things is rooted in illusion so the returns for acting from this context don't feel all that good.
It is different if the awareness of the unity of all things is held in context and the talk is necessary. This can actually prescribe a positive return. Ever talk at length about peace, love, and mercy and just feel illuminated afterwards? That's because the luminous return decends into the heart from these actions. It is the same return as comforting someone with a hug, high fiveing someone in acknowlement of their positive dealings, kissing your beloved, etc.
Awareness must be directed to the nature of speech because it is indeed an action, and returns function for it in the same way as physical actions.
"The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) spoke very little, and when he did speak it was only of good things" - Hadith.
So it is encouraged to first be aware of your speech in this way. Speak only if it is necessary or good. Learn how to use it in the right way. Much like we teach children not to hit another with their hand, it is important to also teach them to not hit others with their tounge. "Be lienient in your speech"- Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
If you find yourself around a group of people gabbing away it may be best to stay quiet for the most part. Gabbing away, chit chat can proove to be a dangerous thing. I am not saying don't be polite. It is polite to greet someone and be social. I am saying be aware or beware.
These insights are for those who wish to streamline their connection with the Truth. These particular aspects, if employed, can proove to be a raceway for spiritual development.
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Post by JOe on Apr 25, 2006 22:46:04 GMT -5
I noticed progress in this realm recently. We went to a freinds for a potluck with an animal sacrifice and pagan rituals for Easter. After dinner, egg hunts, egg toss, and destert, we were in the music room with 5 or 6 people playing fiddle tunes while I sat on the couch with a few of the other gentlemen. Mostly we sat silently. I remarked to Jess on the way home how much fun we had being silent. I told her that I knew enough not to talk. I learned this process from Scott Burkey, his Dad, Uncle and neighbor. I don't know if it is a "man" thing, "wise man" thing or "dumb ass" thing, but it is something, when I have reached silence in conversation with a small group that is maintained for awhile I have felt at peace and very comfortable. I think it may have something to do with dominance and hierarchy. The man who says least in one of these silent conversations acends to dominance. When you have a small group of silent people, I've noticed that the dominant "alpha" person will eventualy make a non verbal noise, "hmmm" or something, then a second person will say something. I can't determine if the next speaker is 2nd dominant or weakest. Anyhow I had a lot of fun sitting quietly. The opposite was today standing near someone who talks too much. I did feel uncomfortable. Not to long ago i was a blabber mouth so I apologize to my freinds here who had to endure my talk and talk and talk and talk. Like ODB says, "some people get up and rap and rap and rap and rap, f*** that!"
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Post by 1133ben on Apr 26, 2006 1:35:05 GMT -5
Joe wrote: I don't know if it is a "man" thing, "wise man" thing or "dumb ass" thing, but it is something...
One of the best lines I've heard in months. What ever happened to Scott Burkey? I can recall two instances I had with Scott where the above quote applied:
The first instance was at a party on Atherton St. He simply walked up to me, poured a full glass of stout on my white shirt, stood back, smiled and waited for me to react.
The second instance was at a New Year's party. When the ball hit "0" he turned around and poured wiskey in my eyes, stood back, smiled and waited for me to react.
In each instance indeed I wondered, "is it a man thing, a wise man thing, or a dumb ass thing?" I still don't know the answer to that one. As for my reaction to these occurances, I was deliberating over the above question and as I said, just couldn't find the answer. So I opted to walk away.
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Post by chriscank on Apr 26, 2006 10:36:16 GMT -5
The only reason I have ever found not to talk, is to ultimately listen. If you sit in a room full of people and no one talks, I would hope it is because you are all listening to something very important, like silence. And I have found that the reason people murmur or speak up in a room of silence is not because they are dominant, but rather they have stopped listening.
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Post by Ben on Apr 26, 2006 11:47:32 GMT -5
It is of the utmost importance to remove all traces of hatred, emnity, jealousy, and anger from the heart. Traces meaning even the slightest of feelings. These things are poison in regards to love.
So if you find yourself feeling even the slighest malice for another, even if they have done you wrong, these feelings are going to effect your ability to love, discern the truth, be peaceful, etc. So remove them.
A good exersise is to sit quietly with a pen and paper and simply picture the various people in your life or better yet those who you know you are holding anger for. If you find when you think about someone you feel angry, examine it. This is something that is in you like a virus.
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Post by Bill on Apr 26, 2006 14:39:54 GMT -5
" Not to long ago i was a blabber mouth so I apologize to my freinds here who had to endure my talk and talk and talk and talk. "
-I'll say!
"A good exersise is to sit quietly with a pen and paper and simply picture the various people in your life or better yet those who you know you are holding anger for. If you find when you think about someone you feel angry, examine it. This is something that is in you like a virus."
-Now are we to be drawing a picture here at the same time?
How do I handle my anger?
I keep it bottled up mostly. What else can you suggest here Ben?
Somtime's somthing just hit's me and I become very agitated for awhile. I usually can tell what has set it off, but I don't think that's always the root cause.
Just recently I was so angered, I could not relax, I could not sleep, I didn't know what to do with myself and I was very lonely. No one was around, not even my dog.
I knew I was very angry or frustrated, and I knew what set it off to begin with, but it wouldn't go away. I wasn't angry with the root cause at all, I was just really out of balance... A lot of things flashed through my memorey banks at the time, a lot of unpleasent memories and situations.
I suppose I was dwelling on bad times, and I couldn't snap out of it. Going for a walk, or reading, or doing other things to get my mind out of it helped a bit. Another thing is talking about it, so that's what I'm doing here. Even though it sounds like the idea that Ben is giving here is to talk minimally.
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Post by Joe D on Apr 26, 2006 22:35:30 GMT -5
It's possible that your mind was bringing this anger and negativity to the surface as you became ready to deal with these issues and move past them. Although it is sad and uncomfortable to feel bad mentally, it might just be healing and you will move forward stronger and with a clearer mind. *********************888 DEGICON : Give me a few key points/ideas for a letter to the video game companies so we can contanct them for some comps and propaganda... 6 weeks to go... even if this is a test, we should realy test it out...
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Post by Bendubois on Apr 27, 2006 3:02:10 GMT -5
Opening up a fairly large topic on anger, what to do with anger, the nature of anger, etc.
(You might want to print this out and read it when you have some time, preferrably in a quiet space)
Regarding the exersise in my post on removing anger:
The pen and tablet are used to make notes as you examine the various things that are making you mad. As you picture in your mind's eye the thing making you mad, you will feel the anger or "hot spot" open up within you. Hold that particular feeling in your awareness. Really face it. It is normally uncomfortable to do this. Most people seek to either get away from these feelings or numb them out in some way.
As you face it and hold the specific feeling in your awareness you will feel it somewhere in your body i.e. I picture what my girlfriend is doing and my throat gets tight or I picture that situation where the such and such cut me off on the freeway and my chest gets constricted. Make a note on where you feel the various sensations in your body. As you go through multiple things making you mad you may find you feel the uncomfortable feelings in different places. Why does this happen? The specific location where you feel the sensation is the place in the body where the illusion or misundersanding we are holding is energetically woven in. If one continues to avoid dealing with this particular thing and the energy continues to gather strength it will cause illness in that particular place in the body. This is seldom the case but it can happen especially in the case of a stubborn individual.
So make a note on the place in the body. This particularly helps in earmarking a pattern you are working on or in the case of illness it is good to know which situations are effecting which organ systems.
Now that you know where in the body it is held, what do you do next? If running through a list go back to the first one. Picture the person, situation, etc. that is making you mad and hold that specific feeling of anger again in your awareness, really focus on it. Ask yourself, "what am I so mad at here?" i.e. I am sooo frustrated that my girlfriend is spending all the rent money on groceries***(see demonic influence after reading through). In spiritual healing we call this the "voice of the energy". It's what the energy is saying.
So now that you have recognized what is making you mad in particular ask yourself, "what does this situation mean for me? How do I feel about what this situation means to me?" i.e. Because my girlfriend is spending all the rent money, which means we won't be able to make rent...that really, really, scares me".
In spiritual healing we call anger a "secondary emotion" because it normally covers over some sort of fear or saddness (primary emotions). When dealing with anger or the secondary emotion you often can't do anything except either burn with it, numb it out, or avoid it. As Bill said, "I generally bottle it up, I went for a walk, read a bit, tried to get my mind out of it" all very natural things to do. It is with the primary emotion where you can actually start to do something about it to get relief. No matter how much you try to meditate your anger away, if you are still scared or sad, chances are it will keep coming back.
So you get to the primary emotion, whatever it is, write it down, this is vital information. Using the above example again from this point, "I realize that I am scared that I won't make the rent". At this point in the examination you have to ask yourself what the primary emotion's statement is going to mean to you. So: "I am scared that I won't make the rent" which means "I won't get what I need". So we have gone from, "I am so mad at my girlfriend to I won't get what I need". Starting to see why we get so heated? It sure sucks living in a world where "I am not going to get what I need", chances are you'll fight tooth and nail against whatever is triggering this in you. Write down what your primary emotion's statement is going to mean for you.
The catch and the healing happen at this point. This is where the illusion and the truth sway back and forth (what the primary emotion means for you). Ask yourself, "how does it feel to be living in a world where (as per example) I am not going to get what I need? (this is a simple good or bad answer) "Bad" (always the answer) Then ask yourself, "because my heart knows what?" Look and listen to your heart here. It will be saying something to you about this. You wouldn't feel bad if your heart didn't know something contary to it. "My heart knows that I will always be provided for" --there's your truth. Write it down. The statement from the heart will also come with a feeling, a knowing with a particular essence. Make notes on this feeling. This is your seedling that you need to implement in your life. You are going to have to cultivate this knowing into your day to day life in order to fully heal. At times you'll have to go back to your notes on this, conjure up that knowing again and again. Really follow and trust that knowing.
I'm going to talk about "God" here and the nature of existance. In Sufism we believe that God created us to know Him and in knowing Him, to embody all of His qualities, "So He can see Himself". Plain and simple. Now that means knowing real peace, real love, real freedom, etc. You may be triggered by the word God so use your word of choice here that means something along the lines of, "the universe, the creator, etc."
So one has all these bothersome situations happening to him or her all the time. They happen because through them we come to know the truth. Its a learning phenomenon because of the nature of existance. It wouldn't happen if this wasn't the case.
So in the above example God sends someone a girlfriend who spends all their rent money on groceries and it angers them. Anger generally is just God's way of tapping you on the shoulder saying, "look here, there is more available for you". So the guy works the process and in the end comes away with this new understanding that "I will always be provided for". Small price to pay for this understanding.
The funny thing that happens with this is most of the time when the "jewel" of knowledge is extracted in this way the behavior on the outside (girlfriend spending the money) normally mysteriously disappears or the behavior ceases to bother the person. Further evidence to the nature of existance. Experience the true magnitude of spiritual walking.
God is the Provider and the person had an illusion that they aren't going to be provided for. So if they look and strive to understand through the anger they walk away with that truth, relief from the anger, and a better understanding of reality.
***(demonic influence) Iblis aka the devil loves to keep people in their illusions. He doesn't want people to know the truth. As he said to Allah, "I will roam the earth and you will see I will catch the human being with my snares" to which Allah replied, "you will not be able to catch my believers".
So you will find that when you are angry or as per example the person is angry at their girlfriend about spending all the rent money on groceries, Iblis will wisper suggestions to you to stoke the flames. You'll be thinking, "I am soo mad at my girlfriend for x,y,or z" and suddenly you will hear in your mind, "yeah, and remember when she did this also, she doesn't even care about you at all, etc." Think Gollum from the Lord of the Rings when talking about the voices of the darkness. Iblis just wants to stoke the flames, create separation, and destroy things. You may be half mad at something but then get to thinking about it and wind up in a rage. This is from Iblis' work. But it is good to know that Iblis can only effect one through the venue of their desires. So if one were to work steadfastly on breaking attachment to material things, breaking attachment to sensation, lust, power, security, etc. The roads on which the darkness travels within you would tighten greatly and if one continues to do this I hear that the darkness is silenced.
I'll leave you with an except from my spiritual guide Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal's book "The Path to Allah Most High"
--Anger and its Treatment with Gentleness--
Allah said (in Qu'ran), "And when they are angry, even then forgive them." The Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, "A strong man is not the one who knocks people down, but the one who restrains himself when angry," and The Prophet Muhammad also said, "Anger is from Iblis and Iblis is created from fire and fire is extinguished with water, so when one is angry, let him wash in ablution."
You have to know that anger is a psychological rank with a lion-like quality. The Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said, "Anger is like Iblis and like a lion because it comes out in an animal manner." It is sensitive to supernatural forces because it was created from dust and has its own instincts. So it was created from sounding clay and from mud molded into shape. And Allah created man from sounding clay like pottery. Fire is a component of pottery. And Iblis was made from fire.
Anger is extinguished with forbearance, as The Prophet Muhammad said, "He who was given his lot of kindness is given his lot of my good in this world and the Hereafter. And he who is deprived of his lot of kindness, is deprived of the good of this world and of the Hereafter." And The Prophet said, "Verily, Allah is kind and He likes kindness and He rewards kindness, not violence." A man came to the Prophet Muhammad and said, "Advise me and do not say too much, so that I may comprehend." The Prophet said, "Don't get angry." And Allah said (in Qu'ran), "Repel with what is better." He said, "Be patient at the time of anger and forgive offense. If they do that, Allah will guard and protect them and will subdue their enemy until he is a friend and intimate."
Anger is best treated with good manners and morals. The Prophet Muhammad, in his command to Mu'ath said, "O, Mu'ath, I order you to be aware of Allah, to tell the truth, to fulfill a pledge and render back your trusts, to abandon betrayal, to keep good neighborly relations, to show mercy to the orphan, to be lenient in your speech, to spread peace, to do good work, not to rely on hope and expectation, to adhere to faith, to expend on the Qu'ran, to love the Hereafter, to fear being taken into account, to be lenient, to beware of abusing a wise man or misrepresenting a truthteller or obeying a sinner or disobeying a just leader or corrupting the earth, I command you to be aware of Allah at every stone, tree, and town, because every fault prescribes a return either in private or in public."
--It would take thirty pages to comment on this passage. Feel free to ask about it if you want.
Ben
PS About me suggesting talking minimally. Their are always aspects and exceptions to look at. I said the nature of speech and it's potential to weave one into troubles was an examination for those wishing to streamline their spiritual development. I would say first get in touch with love, peace, and mercy. Then worry about when you are talking and when you are not.
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Post by Ben on Apr 27, 2006 12:25:10 GMT -5
In regards to the PS in my last post. Getting in touch with love, peace, mercy, etc.
By this I mean not only familiarizing one's self with these qualities but actually embodying these qualities. Because this aspect of spiritual development is a universal, it holds a very high rank and an incredible ability to change things for the better. By universal I mean it is one of the necessary and required aspects that others things hinge and depend on.
You can learn to better embody these universal qualities by first exploring how they function. Take love for instance. Ask yourself, "what would love do or say about this situation?". After you see how these qualities act, learn to act the same way yourself and resist acting contrary to them. It is often times easier said than done. One must be aware, you will be tested by things. You'll get to one level and be able to function with these qualities and then a new more difficult situation will arise where you have to stretch and really hold on tight to continue embodying these character traits.
You may want to take a look at the "99 qualities" in Sufism and Islamic teachings. They are derived from Qu'ran. In the Ayats it says things such as, "....and Allah is the Merciful, Compassionate or...Allah is the Mightly, the Wise, etc." These various qualities pulled from Qu'ran are generally recorded as 99. Some schools sight more but in my school we deem the extras as derivatives of the essential 99.
...got to get to work. Although the last post has a lot of information in it, it contains some really useful information. Especially the healing modality outlined in it. For those who wish to master this modality they will need to ask questions and possibly call or meet me to run through it a bunch of times. It is a modality derived from Sufi teachings but bares no real apparent relation. So their are fine points about it to know in order to really be able to make it work.
Peace
Ben
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Post by Joe on Apr 27, 2006 22:42:15 GMT -5
My rage usualy comes after I do something clumsy. This happens most days, I spill something or bump into something and I imedietly am fill with rage for a second. It must run in the family because my baby can turn into the Hulk when you take something she wants away.
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Post by chriscank on Apr 27, 2006 23:47:01 GMT -5
Just a thought, but do you think that rage is really such a bad thing? It is pure emotion, it usually shoots out like white hot lightening and usually when it is all over, just like any journey in life, you have learned something.
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Post by degicank on Apr 28, 2006 0:53:15 GMT -5
I'm a rageaholic, I'm addicted to rage-a-hol!
second law of armed combat: Do not ignore the objective realities of the situation.
Two laws of armed conflict, however, purportedly remained unaffected by technological change. They were the law of dependence of the forms of armed combat on the material basis of the battle and operation, i.e., on people and equipment, and the law stating that the side with the greater combat power will always be favored in any battle or operation.
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Post by Ben on Apr 28, 2006 11:22:55 GMT -5
Rage begets malice, pride, and conceit. It is a lowly thing. One has to rise above it. It often destroys things. Rage is an easy road to take. If you really want to see for yourself continue or begin to engage in granting persmission to these "pure emotions" and take notes on the results. Let us know if it leads to good things or bad things.
It is not a matter of fighting fire with fire in the case of injustice. "An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind" -Ghandi. "Repel with what is better", Allah says in Qur'an.
Qualities like anger, pride, arrogance, lust, envy, and hatred need to be replaced with higher qualities such as gentleness, modesty, patience, etc. Sure you can play with the fire all you want, but you might get burned.
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Post by degicank on May 29, 2006 20:59:00 GMT -5
I saw Da vinci code, I was suprised, very good...
I didn't think it would be a good movie since the book is about a guy standing there thinking, but R. Howard did an excellent job...
My friend and I were talking recently about the Nicean council, He said they wanted to keep Jesus' birthday in march or april, but the 600,000 roman troops outside of the city convinced them that the gods birthday would remain dec 25, the birthday of Mars their wargod.
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Post by ben1111 on May 29, 2006 23:45:27 GMT -5
According to the Islamic story of the birth of Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him, it was in the spring.
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