Redefining the Bounds of Spiritual Praxis

Lately, I’ve been attempting to find a new rhythm of spiritual practice, retrace my steps to relearn what it means to be an individual who serves God, who loves God and most importantly; who is God conscious. Do we absolve the meaning that intentionality brings in return for being a diligent soldier? Do we follow blindly without asking question, without coming to a deeper understanding of ourselves and God as One Union? And how do we allow ourselves to be properly yoked in the face of this magnificence that surrounds each one of us?

I’ve been searching for my relationship to the Ultimate to be much more prayerful. And silent all in the same instance.

You see, I was raised in a staunch Muslim background. I felt for most of my life, as I observed many of the practices of these wonderful, yet flawed individuals that there was missing the integral piece of clear-heartedness. It seemed that rituals were followed hollowly without true clear-heartedness- the sacred intention of wanting to be close to God for the love of this beautiful entity as opposed to guilt. Or fear.

When I actually think about it, many of these relationships included a sort of transactional dynamic between an individual and “the other”, which further perpetuated some reality of egotism. To believe that one is so important that they must be followed or ruled as some odd way of further proving this importance. I saw this in many peoples relationships not just with God but also, with authority figures; doctors/nurses, teachers and even parents.

It is true that many relationships on the outside definitely can operate in a transactional manner. “If you do this for me, I will love you more. If you don’t do this, I will hate you”, this is the idea isn’t it? In but so many words, we have continued to perpetuate this idea that our sense of worthiness, of being loved, cared for, accepted is dependent upon some outside validation of how good we are to other people. Of how good we are to the world. But the reality is that when you understand your inner worthiness apart from anyone else requiring it from you, this is when you truly are able to pour back into the world around you. How can we possibly expect to give freely, relentlessly and earnestly when we are giving from a place of needing someone else to validate us? We constantly place another’s mind and morality at the forefront of our consumption, needing someone, ANYONE to tell us that we’re good enough. And the real reason we need someone to tell us this is because we don’t believe it within ourselves. Thus, I feel this same fallacy, we project onto The Most High.

Tapping into the reality of God, for me at least, this being feels limitless. Merciful at the forefront, He see’s to the core of who we truly are. Seeing deeper than a meaningless identity of “this is who I am today and that’s who I was yesterday”, yet still allowing for us to experience this being through this very identity. So many stay perched on the surface level of who God is, believing that we are created in His image. Many believe that God has “likes and dislikes” and judges according to our feeble human affairs. That God takes human beings at face value and labels each of us as “good or bad”. A surface level, that places mans own ideology of morality and value at the forefront, instead of understanding and loving the intricacy of God’s nature and thus, failing to fall in love with their own.

What a gift life is when we are able to tune into the truth of who we have always been. We are able to tap into this limitlessness and relinquish false identities. Perched at the base of God’s throne, we recognize how small we are, and thank Him for it. I’d always marveled at the unique ability that religion sought to give tools and a means of absolving oneself in favor of the whole.

And The Whole is harmonious. It is also chaotic. It is an active and alive universe, with so many things happening in each instant since the beginning of time—it is expanding and releasing planets, while other ones die, when the star is absolved into a deep black hole and plunged into nothingness…What then is left behind? Then do the words of an abusive mother matter? Does the car that cuts you off on the way to work even make a dent in the reality of the cosmos? Does that emotion that you thought you’d NEVER get over, make its way back up to the heavens? Does man become that important to the grand scheme of creation?

Numerous times have I found myself at the precipice of grand self-importance. Maybe because I felt that if none of this meant anything, then God would dissolve itself. But at the ending of my identity, there is the beginning of the nameless, the formless that does not speak. But simply exists.

Lately, I’ve been trying to find a new rhythm of spiritual practice, retracing the rituals of old, the intentionality of my ancestors, the prayers that protected their graves. I’d searched so far only to come back to the place I’d started. Recognizing that to find God, the search must discontinue deep enough for me to dissolve myself, my separation, my opinion and distance. To melt back into this Majestic Creator who had always lingered deep within.

I pray that you find the strength to let go of yourself. Simply, to find yourself.

Heaven

2020 Reflections—The Power of Resilience

2020 has been interesting.

Okay, I say interesting and I know many of you may be thinking “how about, horrible”.

Honestly enough, 2020 has been one of the most unpredictable, crazy and amazing years of my life. This year was paved with opportunity for distraction, misinformation, programming and difficulty. But it was also paved with deeper connection, truth, love and assistance. And as I continue to reflect on the lessons in this current stage of my life, I also realize how resiliency has been such an important characteristic to be able to manage during a time like this.

And brace yourself, its only about to get more heated.

However, internally I found myself tuning into a quiet place of solitude, rest and recovery that I’d had previous glimpses of existence. This brought me back to other cycles of my life, where I’d truly learned the meaning of connection. Solitude being a place of restoration for me, where I can put my guard down and confront myself. See myself in its rawest form. I fell in love with what God created. And in this love, I began to choose better for myself. I began to see that who I was is a beautiful result of God’s handiwork. Looking into intricate pieces of how the total came together; how one thought influenced a whole reality, how if one image or symbol changed – it reforms the whole story.

And then come the difficult parts. The witnessing self-sabotaging behavior, your fear, your judgement, your shame. Its okay, we all have it – I do too. These are truths that often we want to ignore in ourselves. But at the place of the wound is the potential and medicine to heal it. This is what is means to have resilience. It means to have the ability to forgive, to bounce back from hurts and most importantly—to move forward.

Resilience requires a bit of faith. It’s the movement that allows for us to fully process stimuli, emotions and stories. It allows for us the benefit of being able to tune into surrender, then flow. And if anything was needed this year, it was to have the ability to flow. To have courage and faith. To try our best and know that sometimes that isn’t good enough. And knowing that that’s okay. To give a helping hand and kind words. To be understanding and patient. To see another smile on another’s face. To fully tune into living and loving. This is what its all about.

So as we close 2020, I pray for each of you the gift of resilience. This year has been a tough one and if you’re reading this than I owe you a congratulations. You graduated.

Now, onto the next level. And for this, resilience will need to be in your toolbelt.

Peace, love and much blessings,

Your sister,

Jannah.

The Psychology Behind Manifestation

red and white lighthouse on land — Photo by Tom Swinnen on Pexels.com

Its that time of year again. In between making plans for holiday events, running around searching for that perfect gift and figuring out what the hell your new year’s resolutions are this year- taking the time to sow seeds for the new year can seem damned-near impossible.

In lieu of this new age spirituality, talk of “manifesting your dreams into reality” has become extremely mainstream. The idea of manifestation and law of attraction is that by focusing on negative or positive thoughts the universe will bring corresponding negative or positive experiences into one’s existence. While this idea seems harmless enough, many people have trouble believing in it because it has little to no scientific research to back it up. However, in purely psychological terms, it is not uncommon to believe that one’s perception creates their reality.

One interpretation of this personal perception is called a self-fulfilling prophecy. Self-fulfilling prophecy is when our beliefs and expectations influence our behavior at the subconscious level. When this happens, our subconscious actually enables us to act out our beliefs and therefore, bring them into existence. In fact, in a study done by Pantich, D. & Jones, S.C (1971) they found that there is a tendency for individuals to act in a certain way to fulfill their prophecies or beliefs even when it comes to other people. In this particular study, in showing mutual attraction toward a stranger, person A would display positive actions according to their personal thoughts and beliefs that person B liked them. What did the results show? Well, results displayed that person B often would have more positive general feelings toward their partners! This resulted in both partners reporting that they had mutual increases in their personal evaluation of likeability in one another.

The key to understanding this phenomenon is that manifestation is a battle of both the mind and the action. It is imperative to have positive beliefs first because these beliefs affect your perception and then consequently, your actions. When your actions reinforce your beliefs these then turn into self-fulfilling prophecies or as we call it nowadays- manifestations.

So as mentioned in the beginning, it is the end of the year and the perfect time to sow the seeds for a positive, hopeful outlook on the new year. However, it’s not just enough to set goals and hope for the best. In order for your dreams to turn into reality, it helps for you to alter your belief system and perceptions around attaining them. As time has proven over and over again, change is an inside job first and then transmutes outward last.

Here are some tips on manifesting your best year yet:

Ask yourself: “what disabling beliefs am I holding about attaining my goals and dreams?”

You cannot manifest anything if you hold beliefs that are inevitably self-sabotaging your dreams. You need to assess if you are holding any disabling or negative beliefs about what you want to accomplish before you attempt to make your dreams into reality. Clear out your blocks first, then space will open up for newness to blossom next.

What enabling beliefs do I wish to replace the disabling ones with?

After going in and plucking all of those negative beliefs and ideas from its roots, take the time to replace them with new ones that will enable you to manifest the life that you desire.

How do I want my next year to feel?

It’s helpful to provide imagery of your perfect life, however, lasting results comes from being able to feel in your body what you want your experience to be. How do you feel when you are at your best – when you drop all identities and you are at your rawest, unfiltered, divine self? Maryam Hasnaa calls this feeling your home frequency. When you master naming this feeling, you are able to create situations you know is in alignment with YOUR truth.

For this, it helps to sit in meditation and envision imagery of your ideal self and life. Take notice of how your body feels. Does this imagery make you feel good? Do you feel happy? Is your heart pleased with this? Does it feel in alignment with your best-self, your truth? This is step is key for future reference because if the feeling in your body is in alignment or contradictory to the feeling you want to create, you will know because you’ve already studied what your home frequency is.

What steps will I take to make this next year feel like this?

After you study and master what your home frequency is, begin to create experiences that allow for you to embody that frequency. This is where you lay out the personal steps you will take in order to honor your truest self, purpose and divine nature.

As many psychologists and scientists have proven, reality is a construct that is filtered through one’s personal perception. So remember: mastering your reality will always begin with mastering yourself.

References: Panitch, D. Jones, S.C. The self-fulfilling prophecy and interpersonal attraction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Volume 7, Issue 3. 1971.Pages 356-366. ISSN 0022-1031. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(71)90034-5.