Showing posts with label mysticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mysticism. Show all posts

Friday, October 16, 2026

Satan, the greatest lover of God (Sufism)


(Let's Talk Religion) Was Satan (the "Adversary") the greatest lover of God? | Iblis in Sufism
  • Iblis: (Arabic إِبْلِيسْ, Romanized Iblīs) [1], also known as Shaitan, is the "leader of the devils" (shayāṭīn) in Islam. According to the Quran (Koran), Iblis was thrown out of heaven after refusing to prostrate before Adam (human). In Sufi cosmology, Iblis embodies the cosmic veil supposedly separating the immanent aspect of God's love from the transcendent aspect of God's wrath. He is often compared to the Christian concept of Satan, both cast out of heaven.
Islamic mysticism: Sufism
According to some adherents of Sufi mysticism, Iblis refused to bow to Adam (the created human) because he was fully devoted to God alone and refused to bow to anyone else [215, 189].

For this reason, Sufi masters regard Satan and Muhammad as the two most perfect monotheists [215].

Sufis reject the concept of dualism [215, 216] and instead believe in the unity of all existence [216].

In the same way that Muhammad was the instrument of God's mercy [215], Sufis regard Satan as the instrument of God's wrath [215].

For the Muslim Sufi scholar Ahmad Ghazali, Iblis was the paragon of lovers in self-sacrifice for refusing to bow down to Adam out of pure devotion to God [217].

Ahmad Ghazali's student Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir was among the Sunni Muslim mystics who defended Iblis and asserted that evil was also God's creation.

The God made all this and a Serpent
Sheikh Adi argued that if evil existed without the will of God, then God would be powerless and powerlessness can't be attributed to God [218].

Some Sufis assert that since Iblis was destined by God to become a devil, God will also restore him to his former angelic nature.

Attar compares Iblis's damnation to the biblical Benjamin: both were accused unjustly, but their punishment had a greater meaning. In the end, Iblis will be released from hell [219].
What did the great Rumi think?
However, not all Muslim Sufi mystics are in agreement with a positive depiction of Iblis.

Rumi's viewpoint on Iblis is much more in tune with Islamic orthodoxy. Rumi views Iblis as the manifestation of the great sins of haughtiness and envy.

He states: "[Cunning] intelligence is from Iblis, and love from Adam" [220]. More

The Yazidis in Western perception

In William Seabrook's book Adventures in Arabia, the fourth section, starting with Chapter 14, is devoted to the "Yezidees" and is titled "Among the Yezidees."

He describes them as "a mysterious sect scattered throughout the Orient, strongest in North Arabia, feared and hated both by Moslem [Muslim] and Christian [Jesuit], because they are worshippers of Satan." In it he describes the area, including the fact that this territory, including their holiest city of Sheik-Adi, was not part of "Irak" (Iraq) [190].

Georges Gurdjieff
George Gurdjieff
wrote about his encounters with the Yazidis several times in his book Meetings with Remarkable Men, mentioning that they are considered to be "devil worshippers" [because they dare to hold out that even the devil can be turned around by God in the end] by other ethnicities in the region.

In Peter Ouspensky's book In Search of the Miraculous, he describes some strange customs that Gurdjieff observed in Yazidi boys: "He told me, among other things, that when he was a child he had often observed how Yezidi boys were unable to step out of a circle traced round them on the ground" (p. 36).

Peacock Angel (Pavaangyal, Tawûsî Melek)
Idries Shah, writing under the penname Arkon Daraul, in his 1961 book Secret Societies Yesterday and Today, describes discovering a Yazidi-influenced secret society in the London suburbs called the "Order of the Peacock Angel."

Shah claimed this Tawûsê Melek or "Peacock Angel" could be understood, from the Sufi viewpoint, as an allegory of the higher powers in humanity [191]. More

The Great God of the Yazidis
Yazidis believe in one God, to whom they refer as Xwedê, Xwedawend, Êzdan, Pedsha (lit. "King") and, less commonly, Ellah [Allah?] and Heq [Yah-Heq?] [22, 5, 12, 2, 23].

According to some Yazidi hymns (known as qewls), God has 1,001 names; in others, God has 3,003 names [24, 25].

In Yazidism, earth, fire, water, and air are sacred elements that are not to be polluted. During prayer, Yazidis face towards the Sun, which is why they were sometimes called "sun worshippers."

The Yazidi creation myth begins with the description of the emptiness and the absence of order in the Universe. Before the universe's creation, God created a dur ("white pearl" or orb) in spiritual form from God's own pure light and alone dwelt in it [26].

First, there was an esoteric world. After that, an exoteric world was created. Before the creation of this world, God created seven divine beings (oftentimes referred to as the Seven [Arch] Angels in Yazidi literature) to whom God assigned all the world's affairs.

The leader of the Seven Angels was named the "Peacock Angel" (Melek Taus or Tawûsî Melek) [2, 13, 27]. The end of Creation is closely connected with the creation of humankind and the transition from mythological to historical time [5, 14, 12]. More

The Yazidi trinity
The Yazidis believe in a Divine Triad [2, 13, 27]. The supreme, hidden God of the Yazidis is considered to be remote and inactive in relation to creation, except to contain and bind it together within an innate essence [2].

This God's first emanation is the "Peacock Angel," who functions as the ruler of the world [2, 13, 27].

The second hypostasis of the Divine Triad is the Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir.

The third is Sultan Ezid. These are the three hypostases of the One God. The identity of these three is sometimes blurred, with ibn Musafir considered to be a manifestation of the Peacock Angel and vice versa; the same applies to Sultan Ezid [2].

The Peacock Angel beating Satan
Yazidis are called the "Nation of the Peacock Angel" (Miletê Tawûsî Melek) [28].

Muslims and Christians erroneously associate and identify the Peacock Angel with their own religions' conception of the unredeemed evil spirit Satan [2, 13, 27, 29, 12], a misconception that has incited centuries of violent religious persecution (puritanical rape and genocide) of the Yazidis as "devil-worshippers" [2, 13, 27, 30, 31].

Persecution of Yazidis has continued in their home communities within the borders of modern Iraq [2, 13, 32].

Yazidis, however, believe the Peacock Angel not a source of evil or wickedness [2, 13, 27]. They consider him to be the leader of the archangels [a kind of Christian Michael, Buddhist Sakka, Chinese Jade Emperor figure], not a fallen angel [2, 27, 33, 12].

Thursday, July 9, 2026

The Buddhist Dark Night of the 'Soul'

(Buddha's Wisdom) Breakdown or breakthrough.
Dark Night of the Soul
The Dark Night of the Soul
(Spanish La noche oscura del alma) is a phase of passive purification in the mystical development of an individual's spirit, according to the 16th-century Spanish mystic and Catholic poet St. John of the Cross.

St. John describes the concept in his treatise Dark Night (Noche Oscura), commenting on his poem of the same name.

John of the Cross, 1656
It follows after the second phase, the illumination in which God's presence is felt, but this presence is not yet stable.

The author himself did not give any title to his poem, which together with this commentary and the Ascent of Mount Carmel (Subida del Monte Carmelo) forms a treatise on the active and passive purification of the senses and the spirit, leading to mystical union [1] or "yoga" through samadhi.

El Greco "View of Toledo" (Google Art Project)
In modern times, the phrase "dark night of the soul" has become a popular phrase to describe a crisis of faith or a difficult and painful period in one's life.

The poem
Dating and subject: The poem of St. John of the Cross, in eight stanzas of five lines each, narrates the journey of the individual (soul, personality, persona, ego, self, spirit) to mystical union with God or the Godhead (Brahman). More

The Dark Night of the Soul
By St. John of the Cross

I. In a dark night,
With anxious love inflamed,
O, happy lot!
Forth unobserved I went,
My house being now at rest.

II. In darkness and in safety,
By the secret ladder, disguised,
O, happy lot!
In darkness and concealment,
My house being now at rest.

III. In that happy night,
In secret, seen of none,
Seeing nought myself,
Without other light or guide
Save that which in my heart was burning.

IV. That light guided me
More surely than the noonday sun
To the place where He was waiting for me,
Whom I knew well,
And where none appeared.

V. O, guiding night;
O, night more lovely than the dawn;
O, night that hast united
The lover with His beloved,
And changed her into her love.

VI. On my flowery bosom,
Kept whole for Him alone,
There He reposed and slept;
And I cherished Him, and the waving
Of the cedars fanned Him.

VII. As His hair floated in the breeze
That from the turret blew,
He struck me on the neck
With His gentle hand,
And all sensation left me.

VIII. I continued in oblivion lost,
My head was resting on my love;
Lost to all things and myself,
And, amid the lilies forgotten,
Threw all my cares away. Source

Fun and spirituality with the poet Rumi

(Daughter of Iran) Thinking is an Ego Trap: Thought will not solve our problems
(Shams of Tabrez) Life-Changing Rumi Poems (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Hearts)
.
Rumi 'loves' disciple Chelebi
The History of Iran, formerly Persia, is rich and wondrous. Among the many strongest features of Cyrus the Great's powerful (Achaemenid) Empire is its enduring love of poetry. One need only to think of one of the world's greatest poets, Rumi (aka Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī).

Zionist Israelis and American imperialists, who together are trying to establish a Western beachhead in the center of the Middle East and calling it "Greater Israel," may hate Iran, but we love it and Iranians, the original Aryans.


The Buddha's mothers (sisters Queen Maya and Queen Prajapati), according to maverick Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal, were Aryan-Iranians from a region now known as Sistan-Baluchistan, south of Buddhist Afghanistan, in ancient Gandhara (Indo-Scythia of the Sakas/Shakyas), the original Kapilavastu, which was not in Nepal as we are told. (See Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander).


Whirling dervishes and Lala
visit Rumi's tomb in 1580
The Buddha's father, Scythian King or Tribal Chieftain Suddhodana, was a Central Asian from Kabul and Bamiyan, it would seem. But even if the historical Buddha and his biological parents bore no relation to the region, modern Iran is still a magnificent ancient society and a power to reckon with in the region.

It is a horror and a travesty that the CIA, NSA, NSC, Mossad, Israel, UK, TC, and USA meddle in it so much since at least the time of the Shah of Iran and U.S. puppet dictator gone rogue Saddam Hussein.

Mad at Iran, I quit the Olympic team

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Gnostic: Demiurge's prison of 'reality'

  • Gnosticism seems to be the Western version of the Vedic/Hindu concept of God (the One or the Supreme) at "divine play" (lila), coming under the illusion (maya) of separation. But all is one. Who is this Demiurge, this false God that created this simulation/illusory reality (duality) around us and the cycle of endless rebirth (samsara)?

Monday, February 23, 2026

Pinocchio Day: Pineal Gland (3rd Eye) Boy


Crown, brow, throat chakras (Rajasthan 18th century)
The fruits of monastic life?
The attainment of these six higher powers or knowledges is mentioned in a number of sutras (Buddhist discourses), most famously the "Fruits of Monastic Life Discourse" (Samaññaphala Sutta, DN 2) [8].
The attainment of the first four (of eight) meditative absorptions (jhanas) is considered to be a prerequisite for the attainment of the higher powers [5].

The sixth type is the ultimate goal of Buddhism, which is the end of all suffering and the destruction of all ignorance [9].

According to the Buddha, indulgence in these supranormal powers or abhiññās should be avoided, as they can easily distract one from the ultimate goal of enlightenment [4] and liberation.

  • Sire, those who have penetrated to a direct understanding of the Four Noble [Ennobling, Enlightening] Truths, seen the truths, understood the Teaching, who have crossed over from perplexity to the Four Fruits of Recluseship and, having obtained the bliss of these fruits, share these fruits with others who are practicing rightly — practitioners such as these, sire, are called fruit-vendors in the Blessed One's City of Dhamma. More (I.B. Horner, Bodhi Leaves 130, BPS)
Similarly, the Three Knowledges or Wisdoms (tevijja or tivijja) are:
  1. "Remembering one's former abodes or rebirths" (pubbe-nivāsanussati);
  2. The "divine eye" (dibba-cakkhu), the ability to see with inner vision not dependent on the external eyes; and,
  3. The "extinction of mental defilements and intoxicants" (āsavakkhaya) [10].
The Three Knowledges are mentioned in numerous sutras, including the Maha-Saccaka Sutta (MN 36) in which the Buddha describes how he obtained each of these Three Knowledges respectively on the first, second, and third watches of the night of his great awakening (bodhi, enlightenment).

These forms of special knowledge are typically listed as arising after the attainment of the fourth meditative absorption (jhana) [11], which is the first of four immaterial absorptions. More


Happy Pinocchio Day (Feb. 23rd)

Le avventure di Pinocchio.
Storia di un burattino
 (1883)
Pinocchio Day is celebrated on February 23rd every year. The day marks the anniversary of the release of the Disney film of the same name in 1940. Disney’s “Pinocchio” went on to become a global sensation due to its familiarity as a folk tale in Europe. It was based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. “Pinocchio” followed as Disney studio’s second animated feature-length film after “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” The animated film follows a puppet named Pinocchio in his attempt to become a real human.

History of Pinocchio Day
La statua del pinocchione di Collodi
“The Adventures of Pinocchio” was originally published in a serialized format under the name “The Story of a Puppet” in a weekly magazine, starting on July 7, 1881. The popularity of the series led to all the installments being compiled and published as a novel in 1883. Since then, the misadventures of Pinocchio have become deeply ingrained into the cultural zeitgeist. The book is now considered a canonical piece of children’s literature. The character of Pinocchio has either featured in or been referenced in many pieces of popular fiction since. Source: nationaltoday.com
  • Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit; NationalToday.com, Feb. 23, 2026

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Saintly Himalayan Yogi's Eightfold Path


The Dhammapada: mind - Ajahn Brahm: God vs. Bodhi

An 85-year-old Himalayan yogi, rumored to leave no trace in the snow, says true happiness comes from...

  • What is the "Yoga" (system, tapas, austerity, program) he follows? It is surely Integral Yoga also generally known as Ashtanga or "Eight Limbs." He does not merely do poses or keep a vegetarian diet. He goes much further to include all aspects of the path:
The definition of "yoga"
The Sage Pātañjali (author of the Yoga Sutras or "Yoga Aphorisms") begins his treatise on yoga (1st–3rd century CE) by stating the purpose of writing his book in the first sutra, followed by defining the word "yoga" in his second sutra of Book 1:[2].

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥
yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
— Yoga Sutras 1.2

This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms:

I. K. Taimni translates it as, "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodhaḥ [usually translated as "cessation"]) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind (citta)" [3].

Swami Vivekananda translates this aphorism as, "Yoga is restraining (nirodhah) the mind-stuff (citta) from taking various forms (vrittis)" [4].

When the mind is stilled, the seer or real Self is revealed: 1.3. Then the Seer is established in his [or her] own essential and fundamental nature. 1.4.

In other states there is assimilation (of the Seer) with the modifications (of the mind) [5].

Sadhguru's no guru but tell jokes to Westerners

Eight limbs

Patanjali compiled the yoga aphorisms
Pātañjali set out his definition of "yoga" in the Yoga Sūtras as having eight limbs [following the popularity of the historical Buddha's Dharma being condensed into a Noble Eightfold Path] (अष्टाङ्ग, āṅga, "eight limbs") as follows. These are the Eight Limbs of Yoga:
  1. yama (abstinences),
  2. niyama (observances),
  3. āsana (postures),
  4. prāṇā-yāma (breath control),
  5. pratyāhāra (withdrawal of the senses),
  6. dhāraṇā (concentration),
  7. dhyāna (meditation), and
  8. samādhi (absorption)" [6].
The eightfold path of Pātañjali's yoga consists of a set of prescriptions for a morally disciplined and purposeful life, of which the āsana (yoga postures) form only one limb [7]. More

Buddhism has a different set of Eight Limbs to Enlightenment


What is the path to supreme liberation?
As in Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, all of these terms are loaded. They are full of meaning, leaving many aspects to each term or heading. They are not the same path and do NOT lead to the same goal. The goal of yoga is "union," whereas the goal of the Buddha-Dharma is enlightenment and nirvana.
  1. Right View: various summaries of "right view" can be found in Buddhist texts. A stock phrase is the opening of the dhamma-eye, in which knowledge arises: "All that has the nature of arising has the nature of ending" [33, Note 2]; showing the futility of striving after worldly fulfillment. More extensive treatments state that our karma (actions) have consequences, death is not the end, and our words, actions, and beliefs have consequences after death. The Buddha himself followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and underworld/hells),[36, 37, 38, Web 2] and his example can be followed to the same successful result. Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and rebirth and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when "insight" (vipassana) became central to Buddhist soteriology, especially in Theravada Buddhism [39, 40].
  2. Right Intention (samyaka-saṃkalpa/sammā-saṅkappa) can also be known as "right thought," "right aspiration," "right resolve," or "right motivation" [41]. In this factor, one aspires to let go, renounce (stop clinging to) the worldly life and follow the Buddhist path [42] of purification and freedom. The practitioner is full of thoughts of and intends to strive toward non-violence (ahimsa) and avoid violent and hateful/aversive conduct [40].
  3. Right Speech: avoiding lying, abuse, division, and idle chatter [43, 44].
  4. Right Conduct: to avoid killing or injuring, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct, intoxication.
  5. Right Livelihood: avoiding trading in weapons, living beings, meat, intoxicants/poisons.
  6. Right Effort: preventing the arising of unwholesome mental states that not arisen, deposing ones that have, generating wholesome states, and maintaining them to their consummation. What are the profitable mental states? The Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhaṅgā). This includes "guarding the sense-doors" (indriya-samvara), restraint of the sense faculties [45, 46].
  7. Right Mindfulness (sati; satipatthana; sampajañña): a quality that guards the heart/mind as it dispassionately watches over [47] and looks on. The stronger mindfulness becomes, the weaker unwholesome states of mind become, weakening their power "to take over and dominate thought, word, and deed" [48, Note 3]. In the insight meditation (vipassana) movement, mindfulness is interpreted as dispassionate "bare attention," watching, vigilance, remaining present and aware with whatever arises in this moment: not being absent minded, but rather being conscientious and conscious of what one is doing; this encourages the awareness of the impermanence of body, feelings, and mind, as well as to dispassionately examine the Five Aggregates clung to as self (skandhas), the Five Hindrances, the Four Noble Truths, and the Seven Factors of Enlightenment [46].
  8. Right Samadhi (passaddhi; ekaggata; sampasadana): practicing the Four Stages of Jhana (Sanskrit dhyāna or "meditation"), which includes samadhi/absorption proper in the second stage and reinforces the development of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, culminating in equanimity (upekkhā) and mindfulness (sati) [50]. In the Theravada tradition and the insight meditation movement, this is interpreted as singlepointedness of mind (ekaggata), stillness, focus, concentration, one-pointedness of the mind, fulfilled through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as vipassana meditation, which aims at liberating insight from all illusion. More

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Jew-Buddhists, Essenes, orig. Christians


Were the Essenes the original Christians? Dr. Richard Carrier
(MythVision Podcast) This video was edited by Mark Casale (vimeo.com/showcase/4922525). The Essenes (Modern Hebrew אִסִּיִים‎, Isiyim, Greek Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi) were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. #MythVision #RichardCarrier #Essenes

The ancient JewBu Therapeutae
Were they the original Jewish-Buddhist (JuBu) syncretists?

The Therapeutae: The Ancient Mystics that Inspired Christian Monasticism (Buddhists?)
Coptic cenobitic monasticism: St Pakhom (wiki)
(ESOTERICA) Philo of Alexandria held that the Essenes were the exemplar of the Active Philosophical Life among ancient Jews. And with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we now know much more about that ancient sect.  However, Philo held there was a mystical group superior to even them in their piety and rigor. The Egyptian Therapeutae were held up as paragons of the Contemplative Life, even giving mystical teachings while dreaming.  What do we know about the Therapeutae? Let's explore how these ancient Jewish mystics not only led lives of exceptional purity and mystical contemplation but also inspired the rise of Monasticism in early Christianity. Also....they might have been Buddhists.

Consider supporting Esoterica on Patreon (esotericachannel), Paypal (paypal.me/esotericachannel), merch (@theesotericachannel).

Recommended readings
The Jewish historian Josephus [possibly a Pharisee] records that Essenes existed in large numbers, and thousands lived throughout Roman Judaea, but they were fewer in number than the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the other two major sects at the time.

The Essenes lived in various cities but congregated in communal life dedicated to voluntary poverty, daily [baptismal] immersion, and asceticism (with their priestly class practicing celibacy). Most scholars claim they seceded from the Zadokite priests.

Dr. Richard Carrier's work: richardcarrier.info. This has links to follow his Twitter, Facebook, Patreon, and so on. He survives on patronage by his blogging at Patreon and welcomes all the help there he can get at drrichardcarrier. His books are available in print, digital, and audio at richardcarrier.info/Books.... He also teaches affordable online courses in history and philosophy at secularactivism.org. Other ways to help and support his work are listed at richardcarrier.info/support. Also, check out his publicity page: richardcarrier.info/publi...
  • Derek Lambert, MythVision, Oct. 15, 2021; Esoterica, Jan. 19, 2024; Sheldon S., CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly