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I got a question today that made me think...

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend today. And within this conversation my belief in sufi teaching come up.
And what surprised me was his bluntness when he said.

So you must know everything about all aspects of every question asked in sufism then?
So when I told him, No, actually i know very little, but have a understanding of what is important to grasp from the wisdom of other sufis and especially the sufi masters from earlier.

But he did not stop....he said, BUT you have to know, if you dont know you are not a believer...

So my question is : how can someone actually think that a believer in a spiritual or religious teaching "has to know it all" ?

It is a long "prosess"to even being able to understand the basics if one truly want to understand it well. :oops:
 

Link

Veteran Member
Premium Member
So true :) every day opens new chapter of understanding the teaching and who this person "me" actually are within in the bigger picture of life.

We all can change the world and are more than what we've become. So don't underestimate yourself, you can, if you strive in God's way, be a big factor for God's mercy spreading and helping his servants.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Ah, people. People can be silly. And not all questions are questions. Some questions are statements such as "I don't believe in your path so I'm going to try to shake your belief".
I do not think the person i spoke with tried to be unkind to me, but out of lack of understanding of what spiritual practice is, he may have thought a spiritual person already holds the answers. :)
 

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend today. And within this conversation my belief in sufi teaching come up.
And what surprised me was his bluntness when he said.

So you must know everything about all aspects of every question asked in sufism then?
So when I told him, No, actually i know very little, but have a understanding of what is important to grasp from the wisdom of other sufis and especially the sufi masters from earlier.

But he did not stop....he said, BUT you have to know, if you dont know you are not a believer...

So my question is : how can someone actually think that a believer in a spiritual or religious teaching "has to know it all" ?

It is a long "prosess"to even being able to understand the basics if one truly want to understand it well. :oops:
I think that it is a fact that nobody knows it all. I believe that another name for God is "Knows It All".
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
We all can change the world and are more than what we've become. So don't underestimate yourself, you can, if you strive in God's way, be a big factor for God's mercy spreading and helping his servants.
Thank you @Link
I used to see it as a mission to be a sufi, but now I see it more as a blessing. And even if my understanding is still limited, I believe its possible to gain some wisdom every day.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend today. And within this conversation my belief in sufi teaching come up.
And what surprised me was his bluntness when he said.

So you must know everything about all aspects of every question asked in sufism then?
So when I told him, No, actually i know very little, but have a understanding of what is important to grasp from the wisdom of other sufis and especially the sufi masters from earlier.

But he did not stop....he said, BUT you have to know, if you dont know you are not a believer...

So my question is : how can someone actually think that a believer in a spiritual or religious teaching "has to know it all" ?

It is a long "prosess"to even being able to understand the basics if one truly want to understand it well. :oops:
in reality believing is not knowing. if you know, you've had the experience. if you believe, you haven't. you're going on trust.


believe and know are not synonyms.
 

Harel13

Am Yisrael Chai
Staff member
Premium Member
The famous Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote in one of his books that it would be impossible to learn every single detail, which is why time would be better spent learning general principles which can then be used to properly understand whichever smaller/specific details one comes upon during life.
 

Link

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Thank you @Link
I used to see it as a mission to be a sufi, but now I see it more as a blessing. And even if my understanding is still limited, I believe its possible to gain some wisdom every day.

You welcome friend and brother.

Just teach what you know in the process and help who you can, by commanding to good but most importantly forbidding evil, especially if you are putting what you know to practice. Best means of knowledge is to put practice what you know and teach as charity what you do know to others. That way knowledge amplifies and grows, and when you teach, it becomes 100% knowledge.
 

Link

Veteran Member
Premium Member
The famous Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote in one of his books that it would be impossible to learn every single detail, which is why time would be better spent learning general principles which can then be used to properly understand whichever smaller/specific details one comes upon during life.

I learned a little about Kabala and features of God's Image in Adam (a). It's amazing science originating from Moses (a) and the Prophets (a) and later canonized by your scholars. It's like Irfan and Sufism.

I want to learn Hebrew to study the Zohra.
 

Hockeycowboy

Witness for Jehovah
Premium Member
Not even Jesus knew everything (Matthew 24:36). But a person should know the basics of their worship; they should know what pleases their god, and what doesn’t.
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend today. And within this conversation my belief in sufi teaching come up.
And what surprised me was his bluntness when he said.

So you must know everything about all aspects of every question asked in sufism then?
So when I told him, No, actually i know very little, but have a understanding of what is important to grasp from the wisdom of other sufis and especially the sufi masters from earlier.

But he did not stop....he said, BUT you have to know, if you dont know you are not a believer...

So my question is : how can someone actually think that a believer in a spiritual or religious teaching "has to know it all" ?

It is a long "prosess"to even being able to understand the basics if one truly want to understand it well. :oops:
That is a fairly poor argument and very easy to shoot down.

Depending on what he believes of course, but if you get into a similar argument you can ask him this and see how he answer: :)

You: Do you believe COVID (or any other disease) is real?
Them: Yes
You: Do you know everything about COVID?
Them: No
You: Then you are lying (not a true believer)

You can just replace COVID with Quantum mechanics, big bang, evolution or whatever you know that they don't have a fully understanding of :)
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
You welcome friend and brother.

Just teach what you know in the process and help who you can, by commanding to good but most importantly forbidding evil, especially if you are putting what you know to practice. Best means of knowledge is to put practice what you know and teach as charity what you do know to others. That way knowledge amplifies and grows, and when you teach, it becomes 100% knowledge.
The charity i am able to do is to give to those who ask of me to be there for them, in the country i live most people are not Muslims, but I give to anyone who are in need no matter who they are, and what they may believe in.
I honestly do not have much materialistic posessions or money, but I give away enought that I have food and water for me each month :)

I can not work in normal jobs anymore because of health issues, but what I have enough of is time :)
I have used my time often in RF, but the rest of the time i spend with God or in helping others.

I cant push it to far :)
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend today. And within this conversation my belief in sufi teaching come up.
And what surprised me was his bluntness when he said.

So you must know everything about all aspects of every question asked in sufism then?
So when I told him, No, actually i know very little, but have a understanding of what is important to grasp from the wisdom of other sufis and especially the sufi masters from earlier.

But he did not stop....he said, BUT you have to know, if you dont know you are not a believer...

So my question is : how can someone actually think that a believer in a spiritual or religious teaching "has to know it all" ?

It is a long "prosess"to even being able to understand the basics if one truly want to understand it well. :oops:
Your friend of a friend is clearly talking nonsense. :cool:
 
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