one need only to look the right way

Al-Ghazali once wrote in his book Wonders of The Heart, some book I have been reading religiously at the beginning of the month, in the chapter “The State of The Heart in Relation to Knowledge”, that we (our hearts) may not reflect the form of true things (i.e, knowledge) for five reasons.

First is due to the defect in its formation, due to its imperfection in its own nature, a heart of a youth who could not reflect but poorly.

Second is attributed due to the acts of disobedience; dirtied by the actions of lust and evil, which prevent the purity and cleanness of the heart. Reality shall, of course, will not reflect in these hearts. This is what is meant when you commit something wrong, a tiny dark spot shall appear in your heart, until finally it becomes dark.

The third reason is the heart may be turned the away from the direction of Reality. Because, even though you’re this good guy and all, you might not perceive the true state of things, because you never looked the right way in first place. YOur attention is diverted towards worldly things such that you have little time to ponder upon the truth, God, and all that.

Fourth is the veil. In the words of the translated book, “The obedient man who has overcome his appetites and devotes himself exclusivel to a certain specific reality may not have this revealed to him because it is veiled from him by some beleif which he has held from his youth, and which he has blindly followed and accepted in good faith”. In other words, blind faith, or taqlid. “This too is a great veil which overshadows most Muslim theologians and those fanatical followers of the school… they are veiled by their blindly followed dogmas, which are hardened in their souls, and firmly fixed in their hearts, and have become a veil between them and the perception of realities”.

The last one is the result of ignorance. A seeker of truth cannot obtain it except in a certain way, a deduction method. One needed to know what knowledge that is to be seeked, and the manner to gain it. Put simply, one must not go over to A while ignoring B, both should be considered, lest one shall perceive A to be the only truth.

Otherwise, every heart is constitutionally fitted to come to know the realities. I could elaborate more than this but I’ve got to go to school. Egh. Al Ghazali is, one of the most interesting philosophers I’ve come across with. He’s easy to read, goes direct to his points, includes many allegories and analogies. A bit vague at times, since he’s a bit secretive in some particular stuff, but otherwise he’s great.