Was Muhammad a Yogi?

[sunyatisunya]

I've done quite an extensive personal study of the Prophet Muhammad's life and the beginnings of Islam. I've read dozens of translations of the Qur'an, know much of it in Arabic, have dozens of books on Hadith and such...

Yet one thing which I've always been questioning is the states of consciousness Muhammad attained to in his life. Obviously I'm starting from the position that Muhammad was a historical personality and his life has been recorded fairly accurately by early Muslim historians. There has been some speculation into him being epileptic and the facts of his life certainly move in this area.

For example, Muhammad was often known to go into different states of consciousness where, outwardly, his body would either be motionless and heavy (like a yogi in Samadhi) or almost frothing at the mouth, eyes rolling back, sweating profusely, etc., and when he came out he said he had received Prophetic Revelation.

Before the revelation of the Qur'an, going by the history, he spent time on the Mountain of Light. There is no record of what he did besides "devotion".

I can never fully understand the whole situation. He said he "saw" Gabriel take manifestation in different forms. Sometimes as a man, sometimes in his angelic form, etc. He would receive revelation from sexual excitement with his favorite wife Aisha but not the others. This is the sort of thing that happens during sex to epileptics - the excitement triggers some sort of ecstatic fit which, in Muhammad's mind may have been presented as a religious revelation.

There is a Hadith where he is with Aisha and says "Gabriel gives you his greeting" and she says "You see that which I do not..." because he was only apparent to Muhammad. How strange that must have been!

I don't want anyone to take offense to this poking and prodding - I have a deep love for Muhammad and early Islamic history. I've been studying it for years and it's ingrained in me. I just find this mystery about what Muhammad really experienced to be fascinating.

Sometimes, due to the lack of any other explanation besides some sort of mental problem (which is hard to accept since the rest of his life was lived with absolute sanity, it would seem) I am inclined to want to accept the traditional belief as true.

Thoughts?

[amra]

First of all we must be clear that so called mental problems are caused by a glimpse of the truth. This can be clarified by the statement of RD Laing 'schizophrenics and mystics are in the same ocean but one swims and the other drowns.' A lot of insane people just have not been able to digest the truth, as the truth is very powerful.

Muhammed may have been considered epileptic or insane from the point view of the majority of people today, who have been indoctrinated with these false ideas. Whereas in reality he because of his purity became a fit vessel to contain higher subtler powerful energies. Because of the truths he became exposed to were not expressable in ordinary language they took the forms of visions and also the parables we find in the Quran. We can say he received initiation directly from God. In other words he was destined for it. So he was not a Yogi, he was exposed to a higher consciousness, because this consciousness saw fit to manifest through him.

[devotee]

Namaste SS,

I also have been interested in Islamic scriptures & life of Mohammad. However, my study is much limited as compared to yours.

I cannot say whether Prophet Mohammad was a yogi or not but I can tell a few things which keeps him in a different category.

i) Yogis mostly avoid sex ( except the Vaam Margis who use sex for achieving higher level of consciousness), considering it a distraction in yoga, an exercise which leaves deep impression & forms habit & also drains vital energy. However, the life of Prophet Mohammad was of a person with more than normal appetite for sex. It is said that Aisha was only 6 years old when he decided to marry her when Prophet Mohammad himself was quite advanced in age.
ii) Yogis don't shed blood. They consider "Ahimsa"/Non-violence to be one of the most important doctrines to follow. However, Prophet Mohammad fought many wars & shed blood a lot in his effort to win over the Pagans, Christians & the Jews.
iii) Yogis normally see people of other religions also with equanimity. They see everything as expression of the same Infinite Consciousness. However, Prophet Mohammad never reconciled with the Pagans who were Idol-worshippers. In fact, there were many idols in Mecca which were worshipped by the Pagans for centuries. All these idols (except the Black Stone) were burnt in a bonfire or destroyed by Prophet Mohammad & his followers after their victory in Mecca. No yogi would like to hurt religious sentiments of people like this.

May be the revelations he received were God-inspired, may be he was Divine incarnate for a specific job but there were certainly marked differences between his personality & that of a yogi.

OM

[sunyatisunya]

Namaste SS,

I also have been interested in Islamic scriptures & life of Mohammad. However, my study is much limited as compared to yours.

I cannot say whether Prophet Mohammad was a yogi or not but I can tell a few things which keeps him in a different category.

i) Yogis mostly avoid sex ( except the Vaam Margis who use sex for achieving higher level of consciousness), considering it a distraction in yoga, an exercise which leaves deep impression & forms habit & also drains vital energy. However, the life of Prophet Mohammad was of a person with more than normal appetite for sex. It is said that Aisha was only 6 years old when he decided to marry her when Prophet Mohammad himself was quite advanced in age.
ii) Yogis don't shed blood. They consider "Ahimsa"/Non-violence to be one of the most important doctrines to follow. However, Prophet Mohammad fought many wars & shed blood a lot in his effort to win over the Pagans, Christians & the Jews.
iii) Yogis normally see people of other religions also with equanimity. They see everything as expression of the same Infinite Consciousness. However, Prophet Mohammad never reconciled with the Pagans who were Idol-worshippers. In fact, there were many idols in Mecca which were worshipped by the Pagans for centuries. All these idols (except the Black Stone) were burnt in a bonfire or destroyed by Prophet Mohammad & his followers after their victory in Mecca. No yogi would like to hurt religious sentiments of people like this.

May be the revelations he received were God-inspired, may be he was Divine incarnate for a specific job but there were certainly marked differences between his personality & that of a yogi.

OM

All of this is true concerning the external life of a Yogi but there's no law written in the sky which says those things cannot be done by such a one.

There are only a few bits in the Qur'an which give me the impression that they could've come from a truly enlightened soul. I'm thinking of the Light Verse and the string of verses after it which are all very illuminated. The rest is very powerful (in Arabic) prose that certainly came from a great source.

Regarding Muhammad's (lack of) religious tolerance and the destruction of the idols in the Ka'ba and around Arabia - I have, at times, wondered whether this was not a sort of extreme teaching. Not the obvious "We're right, you're wrong" mentality but a sort of blow to awaken them deep in their minds. It was a very, very revolutionary thing that Muhammad did in his life - this must always be kept in mind. He turned a vast land of warring tribes, religious differences, and ancient mythology into a unified whole under one religion. Of course he did it by utterly wiping out those who stood in his way (thinking of all those beheaded Jews ... forgot the name of the event), but it was very successful in his time.

[TatTvamAsi]

Muhammad (SH*T be upon him) a yogi? hahahha.. is this some kind of joke?

the maniac murdered, directly and indirectly, scores of people in the name of his 'beliefs'. No 'yogi', or even a learned (book-wise) person, will ever kill (even animals for that matter). His seizures and apoplectic behavior was proof that he was literally insane!

Even jesus, the two-bit charlatan, who plagiarized everything and paraded around calling himself 'god' and the 'son of god' did not stoop to the level of killing others. I would never call jesus a yogi, let alone a pedophile murderer like muhamMAD.

[sunyatisunya]

Muhammad (SH*T be upon him) a yogi? hahahha.. is this some kind of joke?

the maniac murdered, directly and indirectly, scores of people in the name of his 'beliefs'. No 'yogi', or even a learned (book-wise) person, will ever kill (even animals for that matter). His seizures and apoplectic behavior was proof that he was literally insane!

Even jesus, the two-bit charlatan, who plagiarized everything and paraded around calling himself 'god' and the 'son of god' did not stoop to the level of killing others. I would never call jesus a yogi, let alone a pedophile murderer like muhamMAD.

Chill out.

[reflections]

Prophet Muhammed did a lot of things which will be questionable in today's time. On the face of it, it may look horrible. Like, marrying a 6 year old child is surely horrible for us. But, the society in which he was it was an acceptable norm in that society. I felt angered when he said, women should be given only half inheritance of men. But,I researched more and realized that Christian society in his time did not give any inheritance right to women and thought that women don't have souls. So, it was definitely a step forward by prophet. When we understand his actions in light of his time, it makes sense.

What I like about him is his simplicity. He had immense political, social and religious power over people. He could have chosen a luxurious life, but he chose otherwise. Then he again and again stressed that he was a human and not worshipworthy, only God is to be worshipped. He was known for being trustworthy and truthful. His faith in God and submission to divine are also notable aspects.

Regarding, was he a Yogi? Only God knows it what he had inside his heart.

I feel, his spiritual message is transcendental and I will respect it. However, scope of his action was limited to context of his time. If some extremist think it is ok to vandalize idols or marry a child and by that he is following prophet's example, then I will do everything to oppose it.

[TatTvamAsi]

Yet there were various yogis, sadhakas, and other spiritual people in India even before the time of muhamMAD who never suggested coercion, killing, looting, and intimidation as a method of adopting a particular philosophy. In fact, one of the reasons Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is so great is because if this totally non-compulsory and non-exclusivist attitude (live and let live). The Abrahamic faiths are incredibly puerile when comparing them with Sanatana Dharma mainly because of those two reasons.

Indian sAdhUs never suggested violence and coercion. Ahimsa (non-violence), mentally, physically, and emotionally, is one of the pillars of Hinduism!

Indian sAdhUs, no matter what the era (3000 BCE + to modern day) never indulged in looting, invading, killing, and coercing others.

To justify what that madman muhamMAD did is inexcusable and totally uncalled for. For the barbaric West (still), it may be okay, however, for Aryavarta/Bharata, it is NEVER okay to kill, loot, and coerce, except in self-defense.

As I've mentioned before, just because christianity did the same thing doesn't make it okay. Both (islam & christianity) are absolute garbage. Their philosophy and way of life have no bearing for Hindus (Aryans).

Prophet Muhammed did a lot of things which will be questionable in today's time. On the face of it, it may look horrible. Like, marrying a 6 year old child is surely horrible for us. But, the society in which he was it was an acceptable norm in that society. I felt angered when he said, women should be given only half inheritance of men. But,I researched more and realized that Christian society in his time did not give any inheritance right to women and thought that women don't have souls. So, it was definitely a step forward by prophet. When we understand his actions in light of his time, it makes sense.

What I like about him is his simplicity. He had immense political, social and religious power over people. He could have chosen a luxurious life, but he chose otherwise. Then he again and again stressed that he was a human and not worshipworthy, only God is to be worshipped. He was known for being trustworthy and truthful. His faith in God and submission to divine are also notable aspects.

Regarding, was he a Yogi? Only God knows it what he had inside his heart.

I feel, his spiritual message is transcendental and I will respect it. However, scope of his action was limited to context of his time. If some extremist think it is ok to vandalize idols or marry a child and by that he is following prophet's example, then I will do everything to oppose it.

[sunyatisunya]

muhamMAD
madman muhamMAD

You are aware that the Arabic name Muhammad has no relation to the English word "mad" right?

[raghu_001]

Was Mohammed a yogi? You be the judge:

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed

"When Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, he reacted with severity.[105] One example is the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir who had gone to Mecca and written poems that helped rouse the Meccans' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the Battle of Badr.[106]"

"After the coalition's retreat, the Muslims accused the Banu Qurayza of treachery and besieged them in their forts for 25 days. The Banu Qurayza eventually surrendered and all the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were beheaded, while the women and children were enslaved.[112][113] "

"With minimal casualties, Muhammad took control of Mecca.[129] He declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who had mocked and ridiculed him in songs and verses. Some of these were later pardoned.[130] Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad subsequently destroyed all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba.[131][132]"