Ways To See

Salaam Alaykum, murids, seekers, curious and interested listeners,

We appreciate you, and are happy to share our Sufi Message. Your donation will  help support our Sufi Centre in Sydney where we offer Zikr, Sohbet, spiritual counselling and healing services. We believe the message should be free, but it costs equipment, rental, services, software and hardware to get this to you.

 Thank you for choosing our podcast amongst all the millions available. If

Transcript

The Best Way To See (the Universe & Life)

shaykh ibrahim ansari [shaykhibrahim@ansarisufiorder.org]

QUESTION:

Is Stoic Philosophy helpful?

Stoic philosophy, originating in ancient Greece and Rome, teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means to overcome destructive emotions. It posits that virtue is the highest good and is based on knowledge. The Stoics maintain that emotion can cloud judgment, and they advocate for a rational and calm approach to life's challenges, focusing on what we can control while accepting what we cannot. Notable Stoic philosophers include Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.

ANSWER:

Let’s look at each philosophy as a viewpoint from someone. If you take that on and believe in that perspective, then you will begin to adapt to that standpoint, and will soon lock into only that framework.

Whatever way you look at this world, not only will you become that ‘shape’, you will also see and relate to everything from that model.

Another way to answer this question is to assume that whatever you are doing right now and wherever you are, is the best place to observe life. In other words, catching up to this moment, this place, this now is an optimal place to get to.

Until you clear away all the false identities you’ve assumed, you will find it difficult to be present.

There are an infinite number of ways to perceive this world. You and each person in the world is a unique Point of View (POV), and in some ways, all are equal in value.

What that means, though, is that you also have access to many more ways of observing what goes on around you than just one philosophy. Part of the Sufi training is acquiring and learning new skills, and how to use the tools effectively and appropriately to expand your POV.

Imagine that the world you have been looking at is actually a two-dimensional painting - a mural on a large canvas. This painting includes and shows in realistic colors and shapes all of the experiences with your family, friends, school and church, hobbies and jobs, vacations and adventures.

However, during your life, an event occurs - a crisis, a death, a divorce, an illness or experience that rips part of the painting, and you notice another reality peeking through that you do not understand. In the beginning, you probably ignore the rupture and return to your normal life… but the rip increases, and though you may staple, repaint or bind the rift, it still increases in size until you are looking at an unfamiliar world.

In regard to being brought up in specific religions, there have been way too many of them based on scaring new participants (usually infants undergoing baptism and other cultural anomalies) with damnation, hellfire and the sin of being born, to keep order and marketing in place.

Sufism, along with Taoism, Hasidism and some other spiritual practices, teach the opposite form: that we are here because of Love, that we come from Love, and that we return to Love.

So now, let's look at what we are given to start with. One, we've got a chimpanzee body, adapted to millions of years of learning how to survive on a most remarkable planet. Everything we need is right here. So in this school is a brain that is hardwired to keep us alive, protect us, and predict what the next experience or event will be and help us to survive that as well. 

And then we have this inner connection spiritually, with what we can call a spiritual heart, and perhaps a spiritual understanding. It seems to me that we all have a spiritual component that needs to be addressed at some point. But as we have seen, historically, people tend to weaponize anything and everything for power and because of (sometimes purposeful) misunderstanding.

So it seems to me that a better way to approach these philosophies is to see them more as available points of view. Perhaps practice trying to shift into these angles to better understand what is going on around us. One really great way is to read books. Something happens to the brain when we read that allows us to observe life through other people's eyes and experiences. This gives us practice in seeing things from another point of view, and that engenders respect, appreciation, and ability to take in new points of view. 

Scrolling through the little windows on your phone is based on consumer clicking and making money for other people. The dopamine hits you get create an almost unwilling addiction to wanting substance when there isn’t any. Try and avoid this useless void that will only make you unhappy and depressed.

Sometimes when I get distressed, depressed, or worried, I go for a walk and take a look at a cliff side. And when you look at the cliff, you'll see thousands of lines, striations showing millions of years compressed into a millimeter or two. And then I ask, "How does my life fit into there? Where am I?”

Many indigenous peoples have dealt with this ability to shift points of view to help create a healthy approach to life. For example, the Hopi speak about the four POV's that you can practice. 

Snake eyes: being close to the ground, slithering around through the grass, blades and trees and bushes. You can feel something's coming towards you through the ground itself. 

Mouse eyes: you can see a little bit above the grass, blades and bushes, you can see if a snake is coming, you have the ability to run and hide from predators above and below. 

Bison eyes: you're far above the grass blades and can see the horizons the hills and valleys ahead. You have a good view of everything around you. 

Hawk eyes: you are meters above the ground, you can see all the pray, rabbits, mice, snakes, turtles.

As a Sufi, we also learn how to shift our heart into other forms of life, such as a tree, hawk, spider, or even the ocean. This is called Rabita: the practice of moving your center or heart into another’s point of view. We do this with our Shaykh(a) to stop the habit of thinking about ourselves all the time, and to tune in to experiencing the world with our heart/Allah.

This does take practice, and being with a Shaykh(a) expedites the learning as you are in the presence of someone actually doing it. It is important that you do not carry expectations into the operation. You must become as quiet as possible, stop all the mental chatter, and reach out with your heart to the focal point and just LISTEN. Do not try and DO anything. Just be at peace in your center, and breathe slowly. Everything in the universe vibrates. You are tuning into that specific being’s harmonic signature.

It is important to understand that with every POV there is a trap. The most obvious one is that you can get stuck in there. I am strongly suggesting that you learn to shift your viewpoint often to strengthen flexibility and balance, and continually learn new POVs through interaction, reading, reflecting and Zikr. 

Now, after hearing all this, it might seem monumental and maybe impossible to do any of this. And so, I highly recommend not taking any of this too seriously. We are here for only a brief moment. Instead of beating yourself up about what a loser you are, we could be observing, enjoying, learning, applauding, laughing, crying, and dancing in this most fantastic, awesome show. As far as I can tell, there aren’t a lot of these spectacles around except for the one we are in. Be grateful and appreciate what you have been given.

There are thousands of POVs, philosophies and ways to view the world. What is important is finding your own center first, and from that place explore these other worlds both within and around you.There is nothing really to fear if you keep looking for the Love. It is all Love, if you wear the right attitude.

When you have cleared your main Nafs away, the ability to see things from other points of view will be available. But you must know who you are first.