I have an edition of the magazine 'What is Enlightenment?', and there is a
very interesting article with a Sufi Shaykh Ragip who is also a trained
Psyhologist (or Psychiatrist) where he mentions something about this idea of
'contending with Satan'. I will quote briefly from that part of the article.
'One way that Sheikh Tosun has spoken to this is: "What do you do when a
thief comes into the house at night and you're in your bedroom, and you hear
this theif creeping around, you hear the candlesticks going into his bag? If
you charge downstairs with a knife in your hand, the thief will also have a
knife. If you have a gun in your hand, the thief will have a gun. No matter
what you've got in the house, the thief is going to have the same. It's
going to mirror that power that you use against it, and it's going to be
terribly destructive." So what do you do? The answer that he gave is, "You
turn the light on!" Because the thief is a coward, and if you turn the light
of awareness on the process, the thief will flee. You don't fight. You see,
the stupidest thing in the world is to fight with Satan. There are lots of
great stories in Sufism and elsewhere that show that when you try to fight
with Satan, guess who wins? It's a very bad idea.'
On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 1:21 PM, Gilberto Simpson <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Does anyone have a source/elaboration/explanation for the idea that
> Adam was expelled from the Garden for disagreeing with Satan?
>
> -Gilberto
>
> On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 9:36 AM, Richard H. Gravelly
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Benjamin La Framboise asked the question:
> > Does this conversation count as a quarrel, a conflict, a dispute?
> >
> > Baha'is are allowed a certain amount of latitude in their discussions:
> >
> > "The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of
> differing
> > opinions." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha,
> p. 87)
> >
> > There is a limit:
> >
> > "The honoured members of the Spiritual Assembly should exert their
> efforts
> > so that no differences may occur, and if such differences do occur,
> they
> > should not reach the point of causing conflict, hatred and antagonism,
> which
> > lead to threats. When you notice that a stage has been reached when
> enmity
> > and threats are about to occur, you should immediately postpone
> discussion
> > of the subject, until wranglings, disputations, and loud talk vanish,
> and a
> > propitious time is at hand."
> > ('Abdu'l-Bahá: Consultation: A Compilation, from a previously
> untranslated
> > Tablet)
> >
> > (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 178)
> >
> > Although these advices were Written in the context of instructions to
> > Spiritual Assembly consultations, it seems to me that they have general
> > application.
> >
> > With regard to the explanation by Abdu'l-Baha regarding "Adam and the
> > others"
> >
> > "Remember how Adam and the others once dwelt together in Eden. No
> sooner,
> > however, did a quarrel break out between Adam and Satan than they were,
> one
> > and all, banished from the Garden, and this was meant as a warning to
> the
> > human race, a means of telling humankind that dissension -- even with
> the
> > Devil -- is the way to bitter loss. This is why, in our illumined age,
> God
> > teacheth that conflicts and disputes are not allowable, not even with
> Satan
> > himself." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p.
> 275)
> >
> > I believe that this can have specific and general application as well.
> >
> > Dominus vobiscum.
> >
> > Richard.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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