Self Destruction In Conceit
“There is no solitude more antisocial than conceit” – Nabi (s)
From Light in the Heavens – Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), Compiled by Al Qadi Al Qudai
Bismi Şah Allah Allah
Our conceit is one of the more challenging afflictions of the heart. It is necessary to have a positive perspective of oneself, in the sense that it is important that the human being not allow themselves to be self deprecating/loathing, this is a distortion of the proper humility that will be significant in developing even the most fundamental relationship with our Lord and even more so while engaging with the practices of self purification. In the same manner, while it is essential to be critical of one’s actions and scrutiny of our thoughts and how they develop into patterns which are the catalyst for sin and dissociation, to be critical of oneself in a manner that causes us to act as judge over our own actions is perhaps an aberration, with our responsibility being to redirect our impulses through the mastery of the ego.
Conceit is itself the distortion of the compassion that is a requisite for an approach toward the path of self purification, which is the path of love, but a love that is understood within the context of the impenetrable unity of our Lord. This becomes clearer as the human is less the object of their own focus, which is possible as they cultivate in love through the understanding of the primordial kinship of man, that we are the act of love. In conceit, we have distanced ourselves from a natural condition, this can occur from external factors that will effect the heart, and these are the seeds of self deception. This “antisocial solitude” is the self isolation of a human being who is projecting their internal conflicts onto the world around them, their antisocial behavior being mechanisms to protect them from a world they have consistently reaffirmed to themselves is unfavorable toward them and perhaps even cruel. This is likely to be true, as often this behavior begins in early life with ties to traumatic experiences that now haunt the mind.
These distortions that come in the form of positive affirmation are the most destructive upon the soul, and can be difficult to confront as these are attitudes we often develop as responses to emotionally/spiritually/mentally harmful environments as well as physical trauma whether through violence or other tragedies. It is as if convincing a man to stand up in a foot of water, as he trashes about as if he were drowning. It is enough that his head is above water, and so he is unwilling and unable to comprehend he is truly in no danger, that this horrifying experience of drowning is a delusion. This is their world, made in the image of a wounded heart and imbalanced mind. In conceit, we need not only be arrogant, that is a form it may take, but in other cases the self grandiose thinking can develop from/into thought patterns that comes from a contradicting internal narrative that is a dialogue between different aspects of the mind that function almost as archons in how they construct how the heart and mind work in relation to one another and in turn our external relationship with ourselves and others. A negative opinion of oneself can quickly become negative opinion about others, as we observe the same flaws we can harshly critical of within ourselves in company, and because we have already judged ourselves harshly and perceive ourselves as unworthy, we become suspicious of those in whom we observe these flaws. We miss the point entirely, that these traits are representing a binary within the formula of creation, we are observing the components of reality, the building blocks of a human being and often how common it is that they’re in disarray. We have found a way to forgive and show compassion to ourselves, and so we cannot extend the same to others, and we become locked in an increasingly hostile cycle of false affirmation in how we conceive of reality. The true human being, created in holy unity and love, is in the whole of himself the whole of creation.
