In the Moment with Mamoon

One of the most powerful methods I've ever learnt (and now teach all of my coaching clients), which makes the biggest difference for everyone is…

"The Inner Salam Method".

The Inner Salam Method is a way of channeling your presence and awareness into a negative feeling, no matter how intense it is, as it arises. Within a few minutes, the feeling has literally completely disappeared.

As soon as clients start getting good at becoming instantly present at will and at using the "Inner Salam Method", some variation of the following question almost always comes up:

"I can't seem to stay present when [insert mean relative's name] is in the room and starts saying things like [insert mean comment]..."

And that should come as no surprise.

Now, the simplest solution to this is obviously logistical. If there's a mean person around, it's usually a good idea to be somewhere else and not interact with them at all.

Have you ever lashed out at someone when you're angry?

Or shouted at the kids or other people when you're really upset?

Here's a way you can deal with these situations more elegantly in future…

Let me start by saying not all emotional outbursts are "bad" or "wrong" or need to be eliminated. Sometimes the most heart-felt truths come out in moments of intense emotion.

Plus, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with any feeling.

There's a classic scene from one of the best movies of all time.

In "The Terminator" (the original one), Kyle Reese, who was sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor, has a little dialogue with her where he's trying to explain the gravity of the threat and danger she's in.

Kyle Reese: "Listen, and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!"

Sarah Connor: "Can you stop it?"

There are a few different ways you can define and compare the different types and levels of the Nafs.

I prefer to keep things super simple and relatable.

Here is how I break down the three levels of the nafs as inspired and defined by Quranic terminology.

Waswasa has to be one of my all-time favourite Arabic words. Because it sounds exactly like what it is. It's a demonic, satanic "whisper".

We are taught in the Islamic tradition that not all of your thoughts are your own. In fact, there are four sources of thoughts:

1. Rabbani (Divine) - those thoughts that Allah blesses you with - where you feel suddenly compelled to do something good

2. Malakani (Angelic) - these are beautiful, angelic inspirations. I believe all writers and artists completely depend on these.

3. Shaytani (Satanic) - these are demonic suggestions, or 'waswasa'. ie. Really bad thoughts about doing really bad things.

4. Nafsani (Egoic) - these are compulsive thoughts that come from your own ego.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be teaching the first Nafs Mastery Session.

But it's okay, please relax... You don't need to panic!

There's still plenty of time for you to sign up if you want to attend the session live ;O)

The theme of tomorrow's session is "The 7 Portals into Presence".

One of the biggest problems with the spiritual path, and with self-improvement in general is that it's really hard to measure your level of progress.

How do you know if you're actually any closer to Allah than you were yesterday?

We usually try to judge it by our behaviour… and then pretty soon end up either beating ourselves up or feeling superior to others (...aaaand the nafs wins again!)

That's why I've created a super-easy Nafs Mastery Assessment. It's not perfect, but it asks you questions that you probably hadn't thought of that gives an indication as to how much your ego/ nafs is running your life, without you being aware of it.

www.mamoonyusaf.com/nafs

A couple of weeks ago, to Piers Morgan's delight, a clip of him interviewing Russel Brand went viral.

Because it was hilarious.

The poor guy seems to be experiencing the 'new convert energy' syndrome, where he's super enthusiastic about his new found (Christian) faith, but also a little insecure and eagerly wanting to share the word of God with the people.

He brought his copy of the Bible with him to the interview and Piers asked him if he'd like to share the verse he was reflecting on while in court.

Brand eagerly reached for the Bible and started flicking through pages, searching for the verse he wanted to share.

After over 15 years of coaching, I'm going to let you in on a secret.

There is something that happens in almost every single coaching session, at the moment the client has a breakthrough:

They drop their nafs.

For real.

"Insight is when the ego collapses over a particular subject", as mentioned in the book, 'Inside the Soul of Islam'.

What does that look like in real-life?