200. ST. Catherine of Siena. Part five

 

We were talking of her miracles regarding the curing of the sick

Messer Matteo was the Rector of Misericordia hospital. He contracted plague and became a patient in his own hospital. He gave his dying confession to Raymond and described his symptoms. A doctor said that his symptoms were far advanced.  Meanwhile Catherine heard about his illness.  She came to see him. She started shouting before she reached him, “Get up, Messer Matteo, this is no time to rest in a soft bed!”At these words Matteo smiled. He got up, completely cured!. The fever, and painful swelling  in the groin, vanished. As she was leaving the hospital, she met Raymond, who was unaware that his friend had been cured. He begged her to cure him. She humbly said, “…Do you think I am God…?” Raymond said, a little harshly, “You can say that to anyone else, but not to me, for I know your secrets….”. She smiled and said, “ Cheer up, he won’t die this time.” The other witness to this miracle was Nicolo di Andrea, who was present throughout the event . Besides, hospital  staff and other priests were also present.

There was a certain saint and hermit Fra Santi^__a true saint. Holy virgin found him dying in his hermitage. She whispered in his ear, “Have no fear. You are not going to die this time.”She had him moved to Misericordia hospital. He got worse by the hour. Death seemed to be very near.

When Catherine returned to the hospital she saw the advanced state of his disease. She again whispered in his ear, “Don’t be afraid, because you won’t die.”

Santi remained very sick for several days, much longer than the usual time for such patients to live. Catherine visited him in the end. This time she shouted in his ear, “I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ not to die.”At that point Santi revived. He sat up and asked for something to eat. He lived for many years afterwards and was present at St Catherine’s death.

Santi told Raymond and others later what holy virgin had said in his ear. He considered it a real miracle, genuine resuscitation. The power that had cured him was Divine Power. He was believed due to his sanctity. For nearly thirty-six years he had been living an absolutely blameless life as a hermit and was held in the deepest respect.

She cured many others during the epidemic of plague, including Raymond, which I have already described (blog 196). When she visited Pisa she cured a youth of about 20 years who had been suffering from quotidian fever (a type of malaria) for eighteen months. He had lost all his strength.  When holy virgin saw his pale face she was filled with compassion. She said to him, “Go, son, with the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for I do not want you to suffer from the fever anymore.”He was completely cured. I (Raymond) was myself a witness to this event. I also saw him quite healthy several years later.

A woman named Gema suffered from quinsy. Inside of her throat was completely blocked and she was near suffocation. She came to Catherine and said to her, “Mother if you do not help me I am going to die.” Catherine had compassion on the woman. She put her hand on her throat and made the sign of cross over her. She got cured at once.

There were two devout young men who used to take down her letters. They are both still alive( writes Raymond). One of them was called Neri and the other Stefano. Neri became sick while they were all visiting Genoa. He developed pain in his bowels. The attacks of pain were so severe that he would howl with pain. He would crawl on the floor to find some position to alleviate the pain. Everybody was filled with mercy but nobody could do anything. Catherine was approached by Raymond and others. For some reason she did not immediately come to his rescue but advised standard medical treatment. Maybe, Lord wanted her not to intervene at that time. Two doctors started treatment, but Neri got worse. Raymond described his condition to the other Friars at supper. Stefano got up, and with tears in his eyes, went to the virgin’s room and threw himself at her feet. He asked her, humbly, to help his brother and companion who had come on this journey for love of God and herself, and not to let her corpse remain on foreign land.

Catherine replied that if God wanted to reward him for his good deeds, Stefano should not be upset, one should learn to submit oneself to the will of God. But Stefano was unmoved by these arguments. He kept on begging. Finally holy virgin said, that if Neri did not get better by morning, Stefano should remind her when she goes to church to receive Communion, and she would pray to the Lord. Next morning after she had received Communion, as usual, she went into ecstasy. After she had recovered she turned to Stefano and said “You have received the grace you wanted”. “Will he get better?” Stefano asked. “Off course he will get better” she replied. Neri indeed recovered. But Stefano got sick.

To be continued

 

 

 

199. ST. Catherine of Siena. Part four

 

Catherine’s fame spread. She became known, as a saint, in the provinces of Tuscany and Lombardy. She was invited to preach in various villages and towns. She preached for six months in Pisa. Her fame spread to Florence, the second largest city in Italy. It reached the ears of Pope, who lived in Avignon. She visited the Pope in Avignon. She died in Rome, the largest city in Italy.

She changed from a girl who lived in her parent’s home and was not allowed to go out without escort, as was the custom in 14^th century Italy for unmarried girls, to a fearless leader of men.  In a society ruled by men, she commanded men. How did that happen? The clue to this riddle is provided succinctly by her biographer. The clue was her one important talk with Jesus. He invited her to open the door to other souls (so that Jesus could enter in them). Jesus said, “Do you remember that you wanted to dress as a man so that you could become a male friar? Now I want you to live out”.  She was stunned with the idea of leaving the security of her cell and to enter public life

She replied, “But I am a woman and ignorant”

“In my eyes, there is neither male nor female…” He made a long speech which readers can find in the book (1). Thus, she was told to leave the sheltered life of her home, and work with others. She told Raymond, in confession, that when the Lord ordered her she felt such a sharp pain in her heart that it seemed as though it was going to burst. He said, “I wish to bind you more closely to myself, by means of love of the neighbor”.

She was told to join her family at the dining room table; a practice she had not done for years.

She took charge of the household chores. She talked of God with anybody who would listen. Some persons liked her talk. Soon a band of friends and followers developed around her. They would gather in her little room. They prayed together. They sang together. They listened to her when she was intimately talking to God. They would watch in amazement when she would go in ecstasy. Her body would become rigid like a statue. Sometimes she would be lifted up towards the ceiling.

Her fame spread by word of mouth of her followers. She exhibited miracles. She helped the poor. She cured the sick. She would go to the hospital, in the night, carrying a lantern. Sometimes she would stay in the hospital for the whole night. They gave her a room in the hospital.

Now let me give some more details about the five aspects of her life which I mentioned in the beginning, in blog 196.

Miracles. She performed hundreds of miracles. It is difficult to classify them. Let us see. Here is my crude classification:

1.       Curing the sick

2.       Reading thoughts

3.       Knowing of somebody  else’s secret from the past

4.        Saw people coming to visit her while still at a distance

5.       Heard a person miles away calling her for help

6.       Prophecies

7.       Multiplication of edibles

8.       Influencing the minds of persons, near and far.

9.       Her face changed

10.   Inanimate things obeyed her

11.   Miracles after death

12.   Levitation

13.   Not burnt by fire

14.   Driving out evil spirits

I have not included the miracles which nobody else could see. Like her visions, her ring, a garment from Jesus, her stigmata, and her conversations with Jesus. Her ability to read (though illiterate), and her knowledge of Bible (though she did not have a teacher), if not miracles, are miraculous. How to classify ecstasy and rapture?

 

The story of her curing her own mother, Lapa, is most amazing. Lapa was an intensely worldly person and hated to die. She became very sick. On her mother’s urging, Catherine pleaded with the Lord to cure her. The Lord answered that it would be better for her to die now and be spared of all the miseries that she would otherwise have to endure. The virgin went to her mother and told her to resign herself to the impending death. Lapa was inconsolable. She asked her daughter to do anything she possibly could to prevent her death. Catherine implored the Lord with all her might. Finally Lord said, “tell your mother,…..that the time will come when she will beg for death, and it will not come”. Lapa did not even confess

God suddenly permitted her to die without confession. Catherine was beside herself with grief that Lapa had died without any sacraments of the Church.

She felt cheated by the Lord. She vowed not to move from that place till her mother was returned to her alive.

There were three women witnesses (whose names Raymond gives and were still alive when Raymond wrote his book) present at that time who saw the death of Lapa and heard the Virgin’s words.

The Virgin prayed and prayed at the bedside with copious tears. After a short time, suddenly, Lapa’s body began to move. She recovered completely and lived till the age of eighty-nine.

So many misfortunes fell on Lapa, that she used to say, “But why has Lord put my soul back in my body. ….so many of my dear relatives have died….Am I alone not allowed to die…..?”

To be continued

198. ST. Catherine of Siena. Part three

 

We were analyzing the first vision of Catherine when she was six years old.

Just as tired, thirsty, hungry, hot, desert travelers sometimes see vision of oasis with green palm trees and canals of water, in the sky ( called mirage), so did Catherine. This hallucination is created by the extremely tired and exhausted mind of the person. The normal inhibitory guards which prevent the brain to make such false images, all the time, are down and out, due to the exhaustion of brain, the lack of blood supply from dehydration and build up of toxic chemicals.  Similar situation arises from sickness, lack of sleep and fasting. An important requirement is that brain should have prior pictures of such scenes in its photo-library. None of these situations were applicable in the case of Catherine, so this explanation is out.

The other explanation is that an external powerful force created this novel image back in her brain. The image was projected out in the sky where she could see it. And only she could see it, because only her brain had the image. The third possibility is that image in the sky was real. Her brain was modified to see the image. Just as only a man with night vision goggles can see an object in pitch dark or only an infra red telescope can see stars billions of mile away because it uses infra red rays, not available to the human eye. In either case the power of Jesus Christ made it possible. I am not at all doubtful of the authenticity of this and her other hundreds of visions (unlike modern day public) because I have given accounts of similar happenings. It has happened in a minor way with me. How did Qalandar-a-azam (QA) know about Dr Manocha? I quote from blog 184:

                             Then he(QA) suddenly said “He has a Hindu friend (Dr. Manocha) who is a good man, a pious man, a man near to Allah”.  The great mystic was 6-7 thousand miles away from my Hindu friend and had never met him or heard of him.  How did he know about my friend?  ? He also said that the desire to live has gone in him (mkadk)( blog 195). How could he say about me, unless he was looking at me from thousands of mile afar, “Although QA was careful to state that I will get my goal at age 78 ( or earlier ), only if I live that long”. Those who have read blog 195 will agree that I have no desire to live, but how did QA know about it? I also resort to counting during my four hour meditation session, because the session is too long. QA sent a mild rebuke. He said,( or words to that effect) “One should not count. And this business of being a stickler about four hours. One should not be fixated about time. Sometimes one hour is better than four hours”. Such intimate knowledge about me, although we had and have never met. I have written multiple blogs on supernatural events (blogs 102-112)

 Catherine started taming her body. She started eating less and less (in the end almost nothing), sleeping less and less, and talking less and less (for three years). She would isolate herself in her own cell with Jesus (later her father gave her a room, after he saw a white dove coming out of her room). She scourged her body (discipline) three times a day, an hour and a half each time, with a chain tipped with iron hooks, causing the blood to flow down her shoulders. These penances took their toll. She used to be a strong girl who could carry sacks of grain from cellar to the attic, but she was reduced to a thin and frail woman, who suffered from pain for the rest of her life and died at the age of thirty-three.

She took vow of chastity after seeing this vision:

She saw a vision of Jesus with glorious Virgin Mother, Prophet David, and many saints. Mary presented her to Jesus and asked Him to marry her to Himself in faith. He accepted and gave her a gold ring with four pearls and a diamond. He put the ring in her finger. He said…….. “From this time daughter act firmly and decisively…..that I ask you to do…,.” The vision disappeared, but the ring always remained on Catherine’s finger, though no one else could see it but her.

She considered herself His spouse. She took a vow of chastity, which was a big deal in 14th century Italy. Her mother could not understand it. Her brothers were upset. She was initially persecuted but later on everybody accepted it.

She joined the Order of St Dominic after having this dream. St Dominic and founders of various Orders were in the dream. They asked her to select one Order .She recognized St Dominic and moved toward him. He had the habit of Sisters of Penance of St Dominic in his hands. He said comforting words. She woke up with tears of happiness.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

1.       ‘The life of ST. Catherine of Siena’ by Blessed Raymond of Capua, Confessor to the saint. Translated by George Lamb.

2.       ‘Catherine of Siena , a biography’ by Anne Baldwin

 

 

 

 

197. ST. Catherine of Siena. Part two

 

We were discussing the conversion of Raymond of Capua.

Initially, in 1374, he was skeptic of her numerous visions and her endless torrent of words about God. Was she imagining all these visions? I quote Raymond: “…… I feel myself obliged to reveal things………so no incredulous person may say, “She was the only person…….there were no witnesses….she is simply giving her own account…..perhaps her account is not true….she could have been mistaken or be telling lies.”

 I quote Raymond:

“It occurred to me that if I could be certain that Catherine’s prayer had brought me a great and unaccustomed contrition for my sins it should be perfect proof that all her actions were guided by the Holy Spirit….because only Holy Spirit can do that.”. He went to Catherine and begged her to pray for him and ask God specially to forgive his sins.”She said she would be delighted to do so. He called it a ‘Bull’

Next morning he became sick and was confined to bed. She, with a companion came to see him, and as usual started talking about God. Raymond writes, “As she was talking….there came before my mind an unusual vision of my sins. I saw myself naked before the judgment seat of God…….Under the effect of these reflections , or rather utterly clear visions, ……I burst into tears so violently that I almost felt my heart would break….she stopped talking and let me cry and sob…… “ is this the Bull I asked yesterday?” I said”

“It is” She replied. Tapping me on the shoulder, she said, “Never forget the graces of God”

“This I say in the presence of God, knowing I do not lie”.

One morning he was called to her bedside. She was too sick to rise. She continued her several hours long previous night conversation about God.  Let me quote Raymond: “What I heard was so extraordinary ^__ nothing of a like kind ever happens to anyone else. That I ungratefully forgot the first grace I had received through her (the Bull)…..I felt doubtful as to whether what she said was true. As I looked at her lying in bed, her face changed to that of a strange man who , fixing grave eyes upon me inspired me with great fear…………..I raised my hand and cried out “ Who are you, looking at me?” The virgin replied, “He who is.” Virgin’s face reappeared.

“I vow this is true As God is my witness”.

 

Raymond was not the only confessor and companion of Catherine. She had dozens of close disciples; men and women. They all considered her their fearless leader and sought her holy company. Apart from Raymond and Thomas, the other confessors and confidants were Tomasso Caffarini and Bartholomew Dominic; the later wrote valuable incidents of her life. Critics should pay particular attention to the word confessor, because confession is a sacrosanct religious ritual; Saint Catherine won’t be telling lies in confession, and confessors won’t be lying about her private conversations in the books.

Alessia, Lisa, and Cecca were her true female friends. They are always mentioned by the male writers. They stayed with her for most of her life till the day of her death, and took care of her body needs. Alessia arranged her whole life that she could be with her holy friend.

 

The extraordinary journey towards God of this saint started when she was approximately six years old. She was with her brother Stefano travelling over the lane of Valle Piatta when she happened to look up. She saw a beautiful bridal chamber hanging in the air. There was an imperial throne in it. Jesus Christ was sitting on it, dressed in monarchial papal attire. With him were the Apostles Peter and Paul and the holy evangelist John. The little girl gazed unblinkingly, uprooted to the ground. He looked directly in her eyes. Jesus came towards her and blessed her with making the sign of the Cross over her. She was taken out of her and entirely into Him. She became oblivious of herself and her surroundings and stood in the middle of the street. Meanwhile, Stefano had gone ahead, thinking that his sister was with him. When he realized that she was standing way behind, he shouted at her. But she did not move. He came back and shook her. She woke up, as if from a deep sleep, and said, “If you could see what I saw, you would not have been so cruel to disturb me.” She raised her eyes again but the vision had vanished. She burst into tears.

Let me analyze this vision with the additional knowledge of six centuries. It is clear that Jesus did not actually appear in the sky in a physical body because if that had been the case, everybody in the street would have seen Him sitting on the throne. This was an imaginary scene which only Catherine could see.  Why? There are three possibilities:

To be continued

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1.       ‘The life of ST. Catherine of Siena’ by Blessed Raymond of Capua, Confessor to the saint. Translated by George Lamb.

2.       ‘Catherine of Siena , a biography’ by Anne Baldwin

196. ST. Catherine of Siena. Part one

 

ST. Catherine (1347- 1380) is one of the greatest mystics of all times.

She was not only a mystic but also a church reformer. She is only one of the two women, other being ST Teresa of Avila, who has ever been awarded the title of Doctor of the Church. One is dazzled by the plethora of miracle that she performed. She performed more miracles than any other person I know, except Jesus Christ. This mote holds the opinion that miracles reflect the power of God. God gives His own special powers to persons close to Him. Very few humans are worthy to hold these powers. Most persons are given one or two of these supernatural powers ( although this does not mean that closeness to God can be solely judged on the variety of powers; a person can be very close to God  and have no supernatural power such as ST Therese of Lisieux), very few have many .  ST. Catherine had several powers.

The second thing which impressed me was her extraordinary proximity to Jesus. She was mentally talking to him most of the time, and he talking back. She could see him most of the time. He was in her heart. I quote:

‘For she herself revealed to me, she would no sooner be enclosed in her cell that He would deign to appear to her and reveal things useful to her soul’

The third glaring feature of her life is her endeavors to reform the church. Clergymen lived in luxury. Popes and their advisors used their power and wealth for their own good. She exhorted them to abandon such life.

The fourth facet of her life was her love of neighbor.

The fifth aspect that struck me was her pious life. Her austerities, her selflessness, her stigmata, her ecstasies, fill one with awe and wonder.

Now the details. But before we go in details we have to prove the authenticity of various events. Otherwise no one will believe us. Biographies are full of exaggeration and unbelievable events. What makes her life story believable is the fact that the book ‘The life of St. Catherine of Siena” was written by her contemporary and confessor; Blessed Raymond of Capua. This book is the principle source of information about Catherine. At the end of each chapter he mentions, how he learned it. Were there any witnesses and who were they? For example at the end of one chapter is the following paragraph:

 “ What I have said in this chapter has been told to me by Lapa, Catherine’s mother, and Lisa, the wife of one of her brothers; and what I could not be told by other people in the house, I learned from the holy virgin herself.

At the end of chapter 6 on ecstasies and revelations, is the following paragraph:

“Lastly, with regards to the rising in the air and remaining there………this was witnessed by a number of the Sisters of St Dominic, including a certain Catherine, the daughter of Ghetto da Siena, who was a for a long time the virgin’s inseparable companion; and if I am not mistaken, her sister-in-law Lisa, who is still alive, and the above mentioned Alessia was also there at the time”

In another place, he writes, “As to the facts, you must know that whatever I relate, I made myself fully conversant with, either through witnesses, or through writings, or from my own experience…….I can also remember the gist of many other things she said….I have been obliged to add this aside, for fear of offending against truth”.

Who was Raymond of Capua (1330-1399)?

As Catherine’s fame grew, so did the vicious rumors and controversies about her. Did she really eat or sleep very little? Was it the work of God or Satan? Since she belonged to the order of St Dominic, the Church Elders felt compelled to investigate. She was ordered to appear before the Master-General of the order of Preachers (Dominicans) in 1374. After the meeting she was sent home without censure. Soon afterward, Father Raymond of Capua, a scholar of great ability and renown, was sent to Siena to be her confessor and advisor. He took over from a fellow member of the Dominican community, Thomas della Fonte. Raymond was a man of stature in the church. He was the best man they had. He rose to the rank of Master General of his Order later in life. He wrote her official biography. He leaves the impression of a truthful man, not capable of lies, but not a critical observer either. He was her confessor only for six years. In a letter she wrote to him in 1377, she said, “Sweetest Father, your soul has made itself food for me.”

He had three personal supernatural encounters with her.

As he arrived in Siena he contracted plague. The epidemic killed hundreds of citizens of Siena. Raymond struggled to her house in delirium. When she came home she put her hands on his head and prayed. He felt as if the sickness was being pulled out of her body. He wrote, “It was as if something was being pulled out of me at the end of all my limbs”. At the end of half hour prayer, he was completely cured.

To be continued

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1.       ‘The life of ST. Catherine of Siena’ by Blessed Raymond of Capua, Confessor to the saint. Translated by George Lamb.

2.       ‘Catherine of Siena , a biography’ by Anne Baldwin

 

195. Mkadk’s progress

There has been some recent progress. It started on 2-3 of Dec 2015.

There are always ups and down in this journey. Aridity and bliss alternate with each other, till one reaches the final stage, when one becomes connected with God all the time. Then these cycles end, and there is peace and contentment constantly. Now all my sessions are good, full of bliss. In 4/15 and 5/15, I had asked BBJ to pray for me, that I should get my two goals, ‘Green Allah, and a supernatural spiritual event ‘. Those have not occurred. The door to God is still closed as ever. It will open at age 78, or earlier, as promised by QA. BBJ said he cannot help me, nobody can, God wants it that way, but he can pray that my path may be made easier ( 5/15). He asked RQ to raise his hands and pray with him. Both prayed for me.  I think God granted their prayer. My path has become easier

This easing of path, if true, and if it continues, is a great milestone achieved. My path has been made tremendously easy. It is due to the predictability of the bliss during my morning session. Another factor is that I have finally started believing that I will get my goal in less than five years. Although I am terribly impatient and don’t want to wait. I would rather die today without finding God, than to wait for 5 years. But it is still better than never finding God at all. Why this waiting? I think it is unjust. I constantly fight with God about it. I want to understand the reason behind it.

Meditation period has increased. From 4 hours to 5 hours every day. Now I have an evening one hour book reading session

Tears have increased; from one time a day to 2 times a day. Bliss, in the morning session has increased.

SK (the chief disciple of QA) is going to sing my five Urdu poems. He had been a professional wandering singer, so he knows better.  QA also listened to my poems. His remark was that they reminded him of old time when similar verses (of love and separation from God) used to erupt from his heart. Now, off course, he is all the time connected with God.

He must be close to eighty  at this time.

I had written a letter to QA, and put it under the sign of Allah, in my meditation room. I wrote it on 2/15/13. It consisted of 2 questions. I had completely forgotten it. The other day I found the paper and was amazed that both questions have been answered. The two questions were:

When will I find God?

Is it true, or just my imagination, that a receiver has been installed in my head? If any of the great spirits, present in this room want to answer these questions, they are welcome

The second question was answered by Shah Sahib in 2014 or 2013. RQ asked him this question on my behalf. He said “it is true. Receiver has been installed. To further improve it depends upon him”.

The second question was answered by QA in 5/2015 and again in 6/15, once through SK and once by wireless communication directly to RQ. How many persons in the whole world are lucky enough to be told, years in advance, that they are in the notice of God and have been accepted for the greatest honor that a human being can get in this life; an honor granted not by any human being but by God Himself. Just the thought of the Master looking at me fills me with awe and gratitude. I want to share it with the whole world. I want to shout on rooftop “o’ people of this world, I have been selected by God! Me, mkadk. And God approved its disclosure to me through QA. QA would have never told RQ, without God’s permission. He could not have been given this knowledge by God, if God did not want it. Why did God want me to know? To comfort me, what else? Seeing my anguish he took pity on me. He could not grant me the reward now (instead of age 78), because I am not ready. I don’t have the capacity to handle it. Remember, my own poem (blog 61, The Riddle): “Trained according to capacity and need”. This episode clearly shows that God is personal ( as a matter of fact He is both personal and impersonal, as I have previously discussed it in blog 114): unchanging God and His kinetic energy))

It is most amazing that my letter with the two questions has been answered.

What a relief? It also almost guarantees that I will live till that time (2020 or earlier). Although QA was careful to state that I will get my goal only if I live that long. He also said that the desire to live has gone in him (mkadk). However I am certain that God won’t let me die without rewarding me. That is how God works. Effort must be rewarded. His justice absolutely demands it.

Living till 2020 is not a joy for me. I would rather die today, unfulfilled. This is because I don’t want to live away from God for almost five years. Pain and anguish has decreased now, as compared to a year ago.

I also think it is not fair that I have never been given even one bit of spiritual reward for 16 years. No spiritual event. Although others have been like me; Brother Lawrence did not get even a bit of reward for 10 years, Philip John (Searcher from England, see blog 64) for over 25 years. But I am not sure they never saw a spiritual supernatural event in others. Philip John met many Qalandars in the desert of Sindh; he may have seen a spiritual event first hand while he was with them.

Brother Lawrence had written at one place that God liked his talk. If he forgot to talk to Him for any length of time, He gently reminded him and drew his attention( blog 18). Pleasant sensations occurred in him, so pleasant that he was embarrassed to mention them. Now, for the last 3 weeks when in the evening I sit on a sofa to read a spiritual book and get into the spiritual mood, pleasant sensation develop on the face and last till the end of one hour session. This instant reward is something new. I have been given a spark of the fire which raged in Brother Lawrence.

 

If you are curious about the Green Allah, you deserve an explanation.  My wish is that whenever I should close my eyes and think of God, I should be able to see the Green Allah sign , as it is written on a piece of paper and hanging on a wall in my meditation room. I made it myself, and MB and I colored it green and sprinkled glitter on it. The sign should appear on the back of upper eyelids, as in a dream, and not back in brain, as one sees things in imagination. I have never been able to do it, even for one second. All thoughts should be focused on God at that time( to prevent thoughts from wandering, something is required in the field of vision ), and I should forget passage of time. I should be neither asleep nor unconscious.

My second desire, to experience a supernatural spiritual event, is important to me. I want to be touched by this limitless, mysterious, God’s spiritual system. Only then would I believe it. If QA would merely contact me directly, over a distance of thousands of miles, I would be satisfied. He has the power to do so. He has sent instructions to RQ and SK many times by imprinting the words in their brains. I requested him but he denied my request.  Shahab received a letter from Germany. That was an example of a supernatural spiritual event (Blog 65). No doubts are left in an open-minded person’s  mind after such an event.

194. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part three

We were discussing Sufism ( mysticism)

 

 

He knew that piety and restraint from passion is necessary, but it was also required to devote with total ardor to God. This could only be achieved by avoiding fame and fortune and fleeing from attachments. He reflected on his intentions on his public teachings, and saw that it was not directed purely to God, but more towards fame and prestige. He realized that he had to give up his post and leave Bagdad.

An intense period of vacillation ensued. One day he would firmly resolve to leave Bagdad and next day cancel his decision. Worldly desires and path towards God were pulling him in opposite directions. This lasted for six months

God intervened!

A lock was put on his tongue. He could not speak a single world. He also became sad. His appetite and digestion went away. There was great weakening of his powers.

‘In powerlessness I had recourse to God. I was answered by Him’

‘He made it easy for my heart to turn away from fame, family, children and associates’. He announced that he was leaving for Mecca (for Hajj?). Although in actuality he was going to Syria. This was a precaution from schemes of trouble makers.

 

“I departed from Bagdad after I had distributed what wealth I had, laying by only the amount needed for my support and the sustenance of my children…… I resided in Damascus for nearly two years. My only occupation was seclusion, spiritual exercise to purify my soul…..cleansing my heart for the remembrance of God, in the way I had learned from the writing of sufis…..mounting to the minaret of a mosque for the whole day and shutting myself in……Then I travelled from Damascus to Jerusalem, where I would go daily into the Dome of the Rock and shut myself in.”

An inner urge guided him to go to Mecca and Medina and perform Hajj. Which he did.

He had to come back to his native land for certain important matters. But he maintained solitude. He tried to keep his heart empty for remembrance of God. But worldly concerns and needs made it impossible to fully achieve this state. He had blessed ecstasy only intermittently. He remained in this condition for ten years.

Things impossible to enumerate were disclosed to him.

Many Islamic mystics like Shahab ( blog 32,94. Also see note 4 below) have considered mysticism inferior to Shariat. But not Ghazali:

 

“ this much I shall mention, that profit may be derived from it: I know with certainty that the sufis are those that uniquely follow the way to God, their mode of life is the best of all, their way the most direct of ways , and their ethics the purest.”

“…….all their (sufis) motions are learned from the light of the niche of prophecy. And beyond the light of prophecy there is no light on earth from which illumination can be obtained.”

“From the very beginning of the Way revelations and visions start…. so that , even when awake, the sufis see the angels and the spirits of the prophets and hear voices coming from them……eventually to states beyond the narrow range of words”

He wanted to come out of seclusion to reform others. He had found out that the faith of some men was weak. He wanted to guide them aright and to deliver them from peril.

He was on the horns of a dilemma: seclusion and devote all the time to God or to come out of religious retirement and guide others by lectures and books.

God intervened!

Sultan ordered him to return to Nishapur and face the threat of this tepidity in Muslims. Thus the decision was taken out of his hands. In addition to that, certain Godly men had many recurrent dreams attesting that this move of his would be a source of good and a right procedure, and it had been decreed by God ……

He was uniquely qualified for this task due to his encyclopedic knowledge of Islam, and philosophy and being an authentic sufi. He wrote many books.

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, born 980 A.D.) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd, born 1126 A.D.) are the two most famous Muslim Philosophers of Middle Ages. In philosophy, they both followed Aristotle (Pupil of Plato, born in 384 B.C.), and not Plato. Ghazali exposed, what he thought, were the weaknesses in the arguments of both of them, and also that of Al Farabi (born 870? A.D.). He wrote a book called Destruction of the philosophers. Averroes replied by a book Destruction of the Destruction.

 

He followed Shariat and his mysticism was traditional Islamic mysticism. He advocated orthodox religious views. He did not bring anything new.

 

This mote considers him a great man, because when the time for sacrifice came he rose to the occasion and sacrificed, by quitting the world, for God. He realized God without any teacher. Books were his teacher. This mote also has no guide; books have been my guide. But I did not realize God, because I did not possess the courage to leave world.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 (1) ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by Graham

(2) ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 (3) My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

(1)   From my blog 94:“I am simply amazed that how Mr. Shahab considered it inferior to shariat. The bliss of God’s touch on one’s face is ineffable. Words cannot describe it. One touch is greater than thousand ritualistic prostrations. All great saints, like St Teresa of Avilla, and Sri Ramakrishna have said the same thing.”

 

193. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part two

 

We were discussing sense-data

 

What if the dream state was real and ordinary state was unreal like a dream?

He had heard that Sufis could attain states which were different from normal wakefulness and sleep.  There was a hadith,  “Men are asleep: then after they die they awake.” And will be told, according to Quran, ‘But We have removed from you your veil and today your sight is keen’ (50:21-22)

Ghazali struggled for two months with this dilemma. On one side was the surety of sense-data and self-evident truths and on the other side arguments against them which made one doubt them. He could not surmount this impasse.

Then, God in His great mercy guided him and illumination came to him.

 

At this point, this mote wants to digress and want to site two pertinent examples of two great philosophers.

Remember Ghazali doubting the sense-data. Descartes(born 1596 A.D.) is considered the founder of modern philosophy (3). He went through the same thought process in 17^th century which Ghazali had gone through earlier, namely to doubt everything (Cartesian doubt). He said to himself, ‘here, I am sitting in my armchair by the fire place. But I have imagined myself sitting like this while I was in bed. I have had hallucinations and dreams which appeared real to me, but were false. However, although sense-data can be doubted but geometrical and arithmetical realities are certain’. As he further reflected on this point he came to question mathematical beliefs also. He considered, ‘what if a powerful demon or God was misleading me. God would not do such a thing but an evil demon might. He could make me believe in things where none were present’

“there remains, however, something that I cannot doubt. No demon, however cunning, could deceive me if I did not exist. I may have no body: this might be an illusion. But thought is different.”

‘I cannot think unless I exist.’

“ I think therefore I am”

This phrase has become immortal over centuries!

It was his first truth, which he could accept without scruple.

 

Plato, ( born 428-7 B.C.) discussed what is real and what is an illusion in his famous simile of the cave.

 

“Behold! Human being living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards light……., and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them……Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and prisoners there is a raised way……there is a wall in front. Between the wall and themselves there is nothing; all that they see are shadows of themselves, and objects behind them, cast on the wall by the light of the fire behind them. Inevitably they regard these shadows as real, and have no notion of the objects to which they are due. At last some man succeeds in escaping from the cave to the light of the sun, for the first time he sees real things, and becomes aware that he had hitherto been deceived by shadows.”

If he is a philosopher he goes back to the cave to tell others that are looking at shadows. Nobody believes him.

 

Philosophy. Next Ghazali turned his attention to philosophy. “God, most high, gave me an insight in the farthest reaches of philosophy in less than two years.”There were three main divisions:

1.       Most ancient philosophers: they did not believe in God. They alleged that the world had existed from eternity as it is, and not by reason of a Maker. Modern scientist and philosophers, like Einstein and Bertrand Russell, would fall in this category, except their belief in Darwin’s theory of evolution.

2.       Second category were the naturalists. They believed in God, but did not believe in afterlife. This mote, as a young man, belonged to this group.

3.       Third group of philosophers believed in a Creator, and afterlife. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle belonged to this category. This mote, a secular humanist and novice mystic, belongs to this group. They differed from devout religious in several aspects. Ghazali noted twenty differences from ordinary Muslims, especially three questions, and wrote a book (The incoherence )to refute their beliefs. In general, the philosophers of his time, were unbelievers in religion, they were innovators, and practiced mathematical and physical sciences. They also followed logic and syllogism.

Ghazali spent a lot of energy and effort in discussing these topics in his spiritual autobiography. This mote has no intention of doing it because it is unnecessary and outdated for present times. Suffice is to say that Ghazali was satisfied.

Sufism. Finally he planned to learn the way of sufis. It took him eleven years. First he read many books written by great mystics. It soon became evident to him that theoretical knowledge is not sufficient, he had to practice mysticism. Just like knowing the definition of drunkenness is different than actually being drunk.

 

To be continued

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2) ‘Kashaf ul- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

(1)    My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “ A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

 

192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced^___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance^____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy Prophet^PBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago^___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad ^PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 

 

 

 

192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced^___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance^____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy Prophet^PBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago^___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad ^PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash