Daheshist Ideology: Sayyals Part 3
Sayyals (Spiritual Fluids): Their meaning, types, activities, and interaction according to Daheshist concepts. Excerpts taken from an article published in Dahesh Voice magazine, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2004.
By: Dr. Ghazi Brax
In parts 1 and 2 of the series, I have clarified the Daheshist meaning of the Sayyal and stressed its importance in explaining every situation, condition, or issue from the physical or psychological aspect and regardless of its existence in a human being, Earth, or the entire universe. I have also showed that it is through the hidden radial Spiritual essence of the Sayyal that the entire physical universe is interconnected as well as the corresponding connections to the Spiritual Worlds. “Matter,” itself, is nothing but a physical form taken by the Sayyal and its characteristics are determined by the Spiritual level of the Sayyal—such an idea or a variant of this idea, had been adopted, past and present, by certain philosophers and scientists.
From the human aspect, I have clarified that the most important Sayyals of the conscious self (consciousness) is the Main Sayyal that extends life to man and provides him with specific characteristics that include: a variety of propensities, intellectual and perceptive abilities, and a faculty for will. The Spiritual level of each Sayyal varies from one individual to another. I also provided scientific and psychological proofs to the existence of the Main Sayyal prior to birth and presented realistic and historical examples. I also clarified the affiliation of the Main Sayyals to each other; the reason for the morphological difference between human beings; and the reason for the difference between men and women. I have clarified that in addition to their hereditary Sayyals, Supplemental Sayyals enter the lives of many human beings at different periods of their lives and extend them with specific talents. Finally, I have taken my discussion to the complete psychological human self by defining the conscience and the meaning of talents; the reasons for having Spiritual Alienation; and the psychological agent for death and for limiting lifespan. In this issue, I will discuss the variance in the consciousness levels in people, their desires, and the interaction of their Sayyals with each other and with their vital environment.
The variance in the intellect levels in people
and in their propensities and dispositions:
Why is it that there is a great diversity in: the intellect of people; their lofty or lowly, good or evil propensities; and their dispositions and hobbies? Dr. Martin Seligman, the director of training of clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “What You Can Change and What You Can’t,” does not believe that the answers to the questions just posed are attributed to influences in early childhood—influences that are exaggerated by Freud—or to influences resulting from many environmental agents—influences that are exaggerated by Behaviorists. The main source of diversity according to Seligman is in the genes of every individual and whatever programming diversities in traits, particularities, and dispositions. The answer to this is correct and brave, because it contradicts the theory of equality at birth among human beings—a theory held dear to many, despite the repeated biological researches that affirm the influences of genes in forming the personality of every individual and providing it with a unique quality. However, why people are not born equal? This is where scientific knowledge stops and Daheshist Spiritual knowledge begins.
It has become common knowledge that the human body contains 46 chromosomes consisting of genes that each controls a specific physical function, capabilities, talents, and the entire psychological qualities, that in aggregate they build the unique personality of the individual in its physical and psychological forms. However, the building of a live creature—regardless of being a human being or not—is a very intricate and complex process that dwarfs the complexity and technology of building computers. According to Daheshist teachings, the creation process did not take place accidentally; due to environmental conditions; or as a result of mutation over millions of years. Rather, it did take place due to a Creative Spiritual Energy, which is the Sayyals—to include the Main, Supplemental, and Hereditary—that create life and extend it with intellect, dispositions, tendencies, desires, and talents, thus molding the personality of each individual.
Each human being is the sum of his Sayyals. Through their Spiritual essence, they expose the individual to interact with every human being and every animate or inanimate object present on Earth or in the entire universe. That’s because the entire universe, with all of its forms and elements, is nothing but a web of Sayyals. The Sayyals of every individual form his uniqueness and distinguish him from others by their Spiritual level and by the kind of dispositions, desires, tendencies, and talents they possess. The personality of the human being—from the physical and psychological aspects—is programmed not in the matter that forms the human genes, but rather by the conscious Sayyals that extend life to the genes, program them, specify their qualities, functions, and unique shapes. However Sayyals also have the quality of free will and by their conduct in the course of life they can leave the field wide open to either being enriched or impoverished. In addition, we cannot deny the impact of the environment and upbringing in molding the personality of the individual positively or negatively, however, this influence, no matter how significant it is, remains partial and limited.
Many philosophers and psychologists—especially in the 20th century—struggled to discover the essence of the conscious self or consciousness (as defined by psychologists), however, their efforts led to severe disagreements and their opinions varied significantly and to the point that during the conference held at the University of Arizona at Tucson, in April 1996, and included one thousand scientists, philosophers, and thinkers from 22 countries, who gathered to discuss the essence of the conscious self and its source, ended the conference with more disagreements and diversity in opinions than when they had started. Nonetheless, a stance represented by Dr. Chalmers sees that modern science needs to discover new fundamental laws to be added to the laws of nature, such as, gravity, electro-magnetism, and time-space. He considers consciousness to be subject to a universal law that in conjunction with the laws of nature, constitute the fundamental fabric of the universe. As if Chalmers and others who have taken this stance are referring to the Sayyals according to their Daheshist concept without naming them.
The Sayyals with their Spiritual creative ability can mold a living body with all of its members and parts according to their level, merit, and programming ability. They express their activity through the living body—especially the brain and the nervous system—by thoughts, desires, and actions. The chemical secretions in the brain, such as Serotonin, have an impact on the functions of the brain and its electrical connections and are nothing but a physical form of the activity of the Sayyals. For this reason, we see many of the drugs that influence the secretions prevent the symptoms from appearing, however, they do not cure the ailment, because the ailment is not in the material form of the nervous system, but rather in the active psychological power that it represents, i.e., the Sayyals. However, what is the reason for the diversity in the Sayyals between human beings at childhood—even between siblings from the same parents?
Strong dispositions, propensities, and impulses do not die:
The diversity in our Sayyals is based on a Spiritual Order of causality that conforms to Divine justice and Spiritual merit (see Dahesh Voice, September issue, 1995, and March issue, 1996). Sayyals do not perish and the ones that descended to earth did so due to their actions and desires, thus receiving their just merit. At death, according to an amazing Divine Order, each Sayyal retains its strong desires and tendencies as well as an impression of the consequences of its deeds from the previous life. According to a comprehensive reincarnation system, when the Main Sayyal transfers to a new life and the secondary Sayyals are extended to this life through hereditary genes, the Main Sayyal will bring to the new form strong desires and tendencies and traces of past life impressions, as well as certain physical properties that determine its form, good health, or sickness. The tendencies and qualities that are retained by the Main Sayyal are: animosity, violence, envy, resentment, betrayal, lust, love of power, arrogance, and many other lowly desires; love, altruism, mercy, forgiveness, loyalty, meekness, modesty, and many other lofty desires; progressive or regressive states of intellect; as well as every psychological malfunction resulting from shock or deviant behavior.
In the stories that revolve around the subject of reincarnation written by Dr. Dahesh, there are many examples that clearly demonstrate how the tendencies remain active in the Sayyals from one life cycle to another and continue their activity regardless of whether they had reincarnated into a human, animal, plant, or inanimate matter. Because of the psychological property of continuity, we see many resemblances between historical figures that possess certain tendencies, goals, aspirations, and behavior and regardless of their being military leaders, writers, scientists, guides, or reformers, because a specific Sayyal transferred from an antecedent.
Science affirms Daheshist teachings:
The school of Behaviorism founded by John Watson (1878-1958), claims that a child is completely a product of his/her environment. This school of thinking that spread throughout the American scientific communities for several decades, is in agreement with the materialistic philosophies that make the human being the product of the influences of his/her environment. It was the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), who first declared that the mind of a child is a blank slate and since then, this idea became more like a dogma to many great thinkers of the first half of the 20th century who used it as a reaction against racial and gender discrimination. However, modern scientific, biological, and psychological researches created a revolution against Behaviorism, Freudianism, and other similar schools of thought, because they showed that at birth, the human being is born with most constituents of his personality—to include his intellect level and life dispositions and talents—programmed into his genes and that the influence of the environment is partial during childhood and throughout the various stages of his life.
Dr. Martin Seligman and many others assert that several studies conducted in many countries on identical twins who were raised in different environments and compared them to studies of nonidentical twins and common siblings, had shown that many of the psychological qualities (intellect, emotion, tendencies) and the physical qualities originate from the genetic structure, because it is not reasonable to have identical psychosomatic qualities in identical twins unless they are of hereditary or innate roots. Some of these qualities are: the extent of fat in the body; criminal and violent tendencies; shyness; and IQ level—with as much as 75% can be attributed to heredity. One group of researchers attributes other qualities to genetics, however the validity of these qualities is contested by another group of researchers. These other qualities are: the extent of religiousness; desire to adhere to and maintain tradition; vocational inclinations; introvert and extravert dispositions; risk taking; love of power; the extent of self control; inclination towards pessimism and optimism; doubt in people; and mocking others.
Researchers advocate that the extent of fat in the body is programmed into the genes and that a person can resort to athletic exercises and strict diet to reduce weight, however the extent of fat programmed into the genes will eventually dominate and will not allow the individual to change except by a very minimal percentage. The same can apply to neurosis, such as panic; phobia of heights, sea, and pets; or obsessive-compulsive disorders of evil or illogical and repetitive nature…etc. Such neurotic conditions can be treated with drugs to alleviate or minimize their effect, but will not provide a cure. It is worth mentioning that a team of biologists discovered recently that there are many hidden secrets in the hereditary structure by stipulating that the DNA is not the only biological code stored in the chromosomes and that they have discovered within the chromosomes what they call “epigenetic phenomena,” that work as keys to strengthen or weaken the effects of genes and are more like chemical bodies that attach themselves to the DNA or basic proteins. This indicates that science is still far behind in unlocking all the secrets contained within the human psychosomatic structure.
Human nature leans toward stability but human will is creative:
It would be difficult to change the innate and hereditary psychological qualities mentioned above, however what remains can be changed through upbringing, education, association, personal efforts, as well as with medical treatment if necessary. The building of the fundamental elements of the personality is accomplished through the activity of the Sayyals in the innate genes and because human nature leans toward stability, the changing of one’s Sayyals is very difficult, however, it is not impossible. Personal experiences and many studies have shown that it is very difficult for a human being to change his habits—even the ones that are influenced more by the environment than by innate factors, such as smoking. Many who are addicted to smoking continue with their addiction despite the heart attacks they suffer and the warning of doctors. As to those who commit crimes, studies have shown that rehabilitation programs do not produce the desired results.
What is the extent of freedom in changing one’s personality if his nature leans toward stability? Many Christians—especially during the middle ages—held the belief that God chooses whomever He wants to reward and elevate, or punish and degrade, without taking into consideration merit and they have substituted good deeds with unconditional Grace. However, Daheshists have been assured that the entire universe is governed by a Divine order of Spiritual justice and causality. For this reason, the birth of a human being in a particular physical, mental, and health condition is directly related to merit and every change that takes place due to his personal or medical effort is also related to merit. Man has free will and his will is a Divine gift. For this reason, his current psychosomatic condition is of his own molding from a previous life, for whatever good health or sickness and mental stability or instability he may have is a fulfillment of his own personal destiny that he had molded with his thoughts, desires, and free will.
Man can change his destiny in the next life by changing his thoughts, desires, and behavior in his current life to what is better and nobler. However, his current situation is tied to his genes and consequently with his Sayyals and any change may require a gigantic personal effort—provided that he is not suffering from a mental condition. Take homosexuality as an example; either the individual selected this behavior as an experiment and it suited him/her well, but which can be changed before it becomes a difficult habit to change; or the behavior is hereditary, meaning that a Sayyal was extended to him/her by his father/mother or grandfather/grandmother and a tremendous effort is needed in order to change this behavior by constantly resisting this inclination of genetic origin until he/she elevates his/her Sayyal and thereby defeating the desire. There is no doubt that this fight is lengthy, difficult, and tiresome, however, he/she who wants to elevate his/her Sayyals needs to take the extreme inconvenience and exhaustion. As with sexual behavior, every bad habit that controls the human being and every vice that originates within must be subjugated. There were two studies published in February 1996, on Alzheimer and Hallucination that attribute to will a significant credit in the reorganization of many damaged brain cells, because thoughts, desires, and behavior, if persistent and continuous, could correct some of the damaged functions of the brain and possibly to cure the person from habits or impulses due to sickness.
Need of the Sayyal for self-realization:
The need for any Sayyal to realize itself is an innate driving force behind all needs, desires, and dispositions. It is the prime motivator and the purpose of life in the Sayyal and without it its activity will cease to exist. Just as with the human body that realizes itself by the activity of its biological life that directs the cells to build its organs one-by-one, likewise each Sayyal exhibits different motives that come to fruition through the force of life within it. This activity in the Sayyal becomes weaker or stronger depending on the strength or weakness of the motives driving it.
The complete self-realization for the Sayyal does not take place unless its nature is satisfied and regardless of its being materialistic or spiritual and advanced or backward in its intellect, otherwise the person possessing this Sayyal will continuously feel unfulfilled and suffer from hunger to whatever provides it with nourishment. This perception generates a feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration. For this reason, a great effort must be exerted along with intense discomfort in order to overcome this feeling that in general takes a long period of time.
If satisfaction is attained, it generates a feeling of approval accompanied with: a corporeal pleasure, as in the case of fulfilling a physical motive, like sexual desires; an incorporeal pleasure as in attaining wealth and domination (or power); or an intellectual and spiritual pleasure, as in the case of satisfying the elevated and spiritual motives through the enjoyment of art, literature, and contemplating the greatness of what the Creating Power had created.
The feeding of tendencies and desires generated from lowly motives—such as: lust, envy, enmity, hurtfulness, arrogance, selfishness, control of others, stinginess, and greed—serve to intensify these motives and leading to the degradation of the Sayyal and not its elevation. It may even cause the Sayyal to descend to a lower world through the power of inclination that it possesses within it. This generates a feeling of guilt, scruples, and possibly cruel obsessions. The moral anguish usually follows the lowly desire itself, so it would act like a fisherman that provides bait to a fish in order to finish it off. Goldstein and tens of other researchers of human personality affirm that the first priority for the motives, desires, and dispositions in man is self-realization. For this reason, the extent of feeling satisfied or dissatisfied results in satisfying the motives or depriving them.
Conflict of the Sayyals in man create a conflict in his tendencies and behavior:
A researcher contemplating people that he knows well and regardless whether or not they are related to him, will notice every once in a while a certain contradiction in their inclinations and behavior. An individual may at times display acts of compassion, while at other times display acts of rage; generosity at times and stinginess at others; or sexual abstinence at times and promiscuity at others…etc. The reason for such a contradiction is because the psychological self consists of Sayyals of different Spiritual levels and consequently contradictory and divergent tendencies. This proves that the self (or Soul) is not, as many people think, a whole unit that could not be fragmented. The personality of the human being is being molded by its Main Sayyal, however, his self (Soul) contains many other Supplemental and Hereditary Sayyals that are divergent in their kinds and levels.
If a conflict takes place between strong and weak motives belonging to the same psychological field, as in the position taken by an individual from others, the conflict may not be acute within the individual, because the stronger motive is the one that takes control. In this manner, the strong Sayyal remains in control over the behavior of man and the weak Sayyal tries to make itself heard every once in a while. However, the variance takes on the form of a very acute conflict in the behavior of man if two strong divergent motives are active within the same field. For example, a Sayyal may drive a person towards love and forgiveness, while another Sayyal drives him towards selfishness and hatred; one Sayyal may drive him to calmness and humility, while another one to insolence and arrogance. If the first Sayyal emerges, the person appears to be very spiritual and easygoing, while if the second Sayyal emerges, the person appears to be materialistic and difficult, as if this person is a totally different person. For example: St. Peter, the rock of faith, is different from Peter, the doubter who denied having any ties to Lord Christ; the Apostle Paul is different from Saul that persecuted the Disciples of Christ; and Victor Hugo and the Arab poet Al-Mutanabbi who were greedy in their daily life are different from the two great poets that glorified generosity and generous individuals.
If the conflict becomes acute between two divergent Sayyals in their level and with powerful contradictory motives, a case of Schizophrenia takes place—a disorder that puzzled specialists who still don’t know how to explain it. They try to attribute it to a malfunction in the brain or other reasons, while in reality it is the control of a lowly Sayyal over the personality under certain conditions and cause this behavior in the mind of the individual. This behavior inflicted many geniuses like John Nash, the winner of The Nobel Prize in economics in 1994. Insanity is the worst form of personality disorder. It is a condition where the brain and nervous system are taken over by lowly Sayyals foreign to him as punishment that block him from having correct awareness and proper logic. Dr. Dahesh gave two examples in two realistic stories about this condition.
It became clear to researchers what Daheshism knew over half a century ago that the Soul consists of many entities of contradictory psychological power. In a research, Steven Pinker says about the effect of genes: “If the mind [Soul] is a complex system with many faculties, an antisocial desire, is just one component among others. Some faculties may endow us with greed or lust or malice, but others may endow us with sympathy, foresight, self-respect, a desire for respect from others, and an ability to learn from experience and history. Social progress can come from pitting some of these faculties against others.”
Danah Zohar realized that it is difficult to understand the contradictory activities of the Soul unless we can understand its structure and essence through “Quanta,” in the sense that the personality of the individual contains many “subselves” (“subunities”) that are in a semi permanent conflict with each other. If the conflict becomes severe, the personality suffers from a psychological or mental disorder, loses balance, and creates schizophrenia, neurosis, or psychosis.
Interaction of the individual with his active environment:
Daheshism gives to the human active environment a new meaning. It consists of the human-nature environment (human, animal, and all natural elements in all forms) that the individual reacts to either positively or negatively depending on whether their Sayyals are attracted to or repel from his Sayyals. The reasons for the attraction or repulsion are due to: the type of the Sayyals; their Spiritual level; or previous reincarnations that created either a love or hatred relationship between the Sayyals of the individual and those in his environment. This understanding of the active environment also includes circumstances and incidents that take place in this human-nature environment and leaves a good or bad impression on the individual’s psychological state.
1- Interaction of the individual with his active human environment:
It is worth mentioning here that the intended active environment in question is not necessarily all the time-space that surrounds the individual. Everything that the individual does not react to, whether it is his quarter, city, country, or his time, does not enter into his active environment. The opposite is true as well, for everything that the individual reacts to—even if it is far away from him in time-space—will enter his active environment. Whether you heard a symphony for a composer who is alive or one who died a century ago; read a book written by a contemporary writer or one who died two centuries ago; or contemplated an artistic painting for a modern artist or for an artist of old and you reacted positively or negatively to what you have heard, read, or contemplated by feeling an attraction to noble lofty values or to lowly materialistic values, you would have been influenced by the Sayyals of that musician, writer, or artist and he would have been influenced by your Sayyals and regardless of him/her being alive or not.
A person may wonder: How could a dead person be influenced? I asked this question to the founder of Daheshism and he responded as follows: be certain that every writer, thinker, or artist that produces a creative work of literature or art, he had placed certain Sayyals of his in it and this work remains Spiritually attached to him. So, if this work creates a good influence on the reader/admirer, the Sayyals of the creator and the reader/admirer will be elevated in proportion and vice versa. It is even more critical than that, for the consequences of normal activities that any individual may perform will influence his destiny—even after death—in proportion to the influence (positive or negative) they had on others. This is a result of the definite existence of man in a specific social-natural environment, because his Sayyals of innate capabilities, intellect, propensities, and will and their energies will not remain in the same condition they had at birth. They are influenced by the continuity of the active surroundings and remain attached to them from birth to death. Innate character and acquisition are correlated during man’s entire lifetime. The acquisition may be a result of upbringing, direction, education, experience, imitation, companionship/association, food and drink (as we shall see later on), or any other influence.
The first influence takes place after birth by the mother and the treatment of the parents—especially in comparison to their other children, if any. In this case, it is only natural for either of the parents to have a certain preference towards the child that possesses his/her Main Sayyal and not toward the other children who possess the other parent’s Main Sayyal. This distinction creates certain psychological qualities in the child that are not present in his/her siblings.
Then there is a significant influence on the Sayyals and their elevation or degradation through association with others. The Sayyals of friends and companions become entangled with each other as they share love emotions. Likewise, the same takes place between married couples and even those that develop sexual ties outside of marriage. In light of all this the danger is grave when dissolute nightclubs and dance clubs are frequented, as well as provocative public bathing/swimming areas. There is also danger when a decent man marries an indecent woman and vice versa and when a person of high morality befriends an immoral person. The founder of Daheshism asserted that entanglements between the Sayyals like these could last thousands of years and subject the individuals with these Sayyals to many calamities.
The correlation between instinct and acquisition causes the Sayyals to evolve constantly either for the better or for the worse. By virtue of the influences of the active surroundings, to which a human being is exposed to, it is possible to change: lust to a moderate desire; selfishness to altruism; envy to love; stinginess to generosity; greed to contentment; arrogance to humility…etc. In doing so, the totality of the Sayyals could elevate, or the process could reverse and the totality of the Sayyals could degrade. However to advance and be on the path to improvement is difficult and slow to fulfill. That’s because, on the one hand, the ability to elevate takes place within certain boundaries limited by the capabilities of the human being and his psychological dispositions, for the innate character leans toward stability. For this reason, it is better to psychologically improve through the acquisition of fresh and refined experiences strengthened by active will power to fight tirelessly the tendencies of the Soul towards evil. Because of the difficulty and slow pace of elevation, Divine Mercy provided man with the chance to repeatedly reincarnate so that each Sayyal can continue with its activity in order to elevate.
2-Repulsion and attraction between people:
The concept of attraction and repulsion in Daheshism clarifies many mysteries that otherwise would have been difficult to clarify and gives to the interaction between man and his active surroundings a very important new meaning. Just as repulsion and attraction throughout the universe are structured from the natural aspect, they are also structured from the Spiritual aspect through the Sayyals. Since death or extinction only pertain to the physical form, human or nonhuman, the living essence within each Sayyal remains alive and carries within it its level of intellect, along with tendencies, wishes, and whatever repulsion or attraction it may have faced in its active surroundings from previous life-cycles. In light of this explanation, it is possible to explain many historical events that otherwise would be difficult to explain from the individual or national level.
One day I said to Dr. Dahesh: Abraham, the father of Prophets, approached King Melchizedek, king of Salem, where the king blessed him and Abraham gave him a tenth of his possessions. The Bible in both, the Old and New Testaments, praised Melchizedek and called him “Priest of the Most High God,” even though he was a Canaanite king and long before priesthood developed for Israel and there is nothing to explain this.
Dr. Dahesh said: The reason is Melchizedek possessed a Sayyal from the Prophet Abraham himself. This Sayyal belongs to Christ. For this reason, David in his Psalms made him a symbol for the coming Christ and was picked up on it by the Apostle Paul [in his Hebrews Epistle]. This indicates that Sayyals—good or bad—has no specific nation, people, or even religion.
I said: The meaning of all this is that all human events, small or big, are of Spiritual reasons.
He said: No doubt. That’s because the Order of Spiritual Causality governs the entire universe. Take for example the former Lebanese President, Bechara El-Khoury: Why he himself persecuted me and it wasn’t any of his predecessors or successors? The reason for this is that he had a Sayyal from King Herod and another Sayyal from Pilate—who both conspired to persecute Jesus Christ. Take another example of Abed el-Rahim el-Khaleely: Despite him being as one of my followers in Palestine and I trusted him to the point of having him hold whatever money I owned, he ended up betraying me, stealing the money and then defaming me. Why? It is because he has a Sayyal from Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus Christ and turned him in to his enemies. I knew then all that, however, I was supposed to give him a chance to repent and to overcome his bad Sayyal of betrayal. He did not benefit from the Divine Mercy.
Since the personalities of human beings vary with the variations in the Sayyals—that provide them with life and that carry within them the intellect, propensities, and dispositions of the individual—then for individuals to join a religious, political, and philosophical belief as well as of an organization or club, their Sayyals would need to match those Sayyals of the entities that attracted them. For this reason it is not expected of human beings to all be attracted to one religion, political or social ideology, or any other interest unless their Sayyals became so close to each other in elevation and in interest. Here, I will give one realistic example on the attraction between Sayyals that Dr. Dahesh sees in true friendship that drives the individual to serve his friend with vigor and loyalty—even to sacrifice his life for him. To confirm this, we have the position of Dr. George Khabsa, the famous dermatologist, towards Dr. Dahesh and then the position of Dahesh towards Dr. George Khabsa after his death. In one of the many lamentations written by the Man of Spirit about Khabsa he said:
“O my beloved brother!
If I do forget you, then:
May my right hand forget that it is a part of me,
May the eagles in the sky tear my heart,
And with their sharp claws pull my eyes out.
That’s if I fail to remember you,
You who became an integral Part of myself,
For you are a Sayyal from my own Soul,
Turned miserable due to your eternal loss,
And your memory will not leave me until I die.”
Likewise, Dr. Dahesh mourned Magda Hadad, the first Daheshist martyr who committed suicide on January 27, 1945 in protest for the persecution of the one she believed in and so that her death would be a scream in the conscience of the tyrants. He wrote a complete book exclusively to lament her and placed the following dedication under the title of one of his lamentations: “To the Spirit of Magda Hadad, the transparent Part [Sayyal] that separated from my own sad Spirit.” Also, the founder of Daheshism wrote in many of his spiritual writings similar phrases. This confirms that extreme Spiritual attraction is indicative of one Spiritual origin that branched out to at least two Sayyals. He clarified this in his poem “From an Old Age.”
This truth is clear in romantic or platonic love where reason for the extreme attraction on both sides is more like a deep secret that has no relationship to desire, faithfulness, or mutual care. This love is described as unreasonable and does not depend on specific physical, moral, monetary, wealth, or vocational qualities. Psychologist Hillman sees it as a property of fate prior to birth. Many psychological studies have shown that sudden romantic love has no relationship to heredity or the environment. This position affirms the Daheshist view.
3-The effect of prayer in healing the sick and helping the dead:
In 1943, Dr. Dahesh held a Spiritual Session for Edward Noon, the lawyer and previous Lebanese Minister [Secretary], who wrote in his home prior to the session 72 questions of various topics that are deemed mysterious or unknown and requested that he receives the answers. The Holy Spirit requested that he places the answers in an envelope in front of him. In a flash, the answers were written down miraculously under the questions. One of the questions pertained to the extent of benefit sick or dead people receive from prayers. The Spiritual answer was that the sick or deceased benefit if the prayers come from family members, relatives, or from those who have Sayyals linked to them. As part of the answer to the question posed earlier, hospital directors should establish a special place for people to pray in it for the sick. This means that prayer, despite its necessity, does not help if it is a general prayer by people wishing to help a sick or deceased person and regardless whether or not the prayer comes from the clergy or from people. Prayer does not help unless it is expressed sincerely and in faith by people that are connected to the sick or dead person by certain Sayyals and in accordance to an order of Spiritual Causality.
This Spiritual truth was deduced by Danah Zohar through the scientific reality of “Quanta,” to reject death as being as a state of permanent extinction and affirms that whenever there is compassion and entanglement between the human selves—even between the selves of those who are dead and those of who are alive—there is a mutual influence. About the dead she says: “I am (in part) them. Through me, through the fact that aspects of their being are woven into my own, they are reincarnated—taken up into my life to live as I live.” (p. 148) The influence of prayers in healing the sick drove researchers to perform many studies and explorations into this field; however their results were contradictory. The positive aspect of prayer and regardless whether it comes from the sick or from the relatives drove most schools of medicine (more than 70 out of 125 schools) to include a course as part of their program on the effect of spirituality in treating patients.
The interaction of Sayyals between humans and nonhumans:
This interaction can be one of two possibilities: Either an interaction of compassion, attraction, and compatibility, or an interaction of repulsion and contradiction. The sympathy that takes place between human beings and some domesticated or wild animals has a special psychological meaning in Daheshism. Either there is a common Sayyal between the human being and the animal, or there is an entanglement of Sayyals that took place in a previous life cycle that created the sympathy between them. This interpretation also applies when sympathy takes place between a human being and a specific object in nature, such as a tree, rock, mountain…etc. That’s because Sayyals are spread all over nature and are in a constant state of transition between the human and nonhuman forms they take in accordance to their merit. This has nothing to do with the symbolic romantic game or with what nature generally represents of spirituality. The proof of this is the mental concentration of an artist, writer, or a common human being on a specific natural scene and how it captures his attention and emotions.
As to the explanation for the repulsion between a human being and a specific animal or a natural scene, it is due to the contradiction between the Sayyals due to their Spiritual level or due to hatred and hostility that may have happened in a previous life cycle. This has nothing to do with events that may have taken place during childhood and their impact on the individual, such as near drowning or fear from dogs after being bitten by one…etc. Also there is the physical condition of allergies that researchers have not been able to unlock their secret. Some allergies are activated by touch where the sense of touch reacts through the skin to certain clothes or elements; some are activated by odor where the sense of smell reacts to certain perfumes or some sources of odors; or some allergies that the body reacts to after ingesting some foods, drinks, or medicines…etc. It is difficult for these phenomena to be explained except through the contradiction in the Sayyals within individuals and how they react to Sayyals of other things and cause allergic reactions.
It is worth mentioning here that the Sayyals of foods and drinks do influence the individual positively or negatively and vice versa, because their Sayyals do have the qualities of awareness and feeling—even though they are of a different system from what human beings are accustomed to. Nothing is more obvious than the effect of alcohol and fatty meats on the body in comparison to the effect of fruit juices and vegetables. They are better for the body because their Sayyals are better. Hundreds of medical researches proved what the founder of Daheshism declared to his disciples since 1942. Throughout his life, fruits and vegetables were his favorite foods—especially onions, but he did eat small portions of meats on rare occasions and he would call on his followers to emulate him without a mandate. Medicine bases its preference for food kinds based on their chemical composition, however, such composition is nothing but the end result of the genetic programming performed by the active Sayyals. These Sayyals are the fabric of nature in its entirety and where foods and other elements all interact with the individual.
Danah Zohar says: “The inanimate matter that we conscious beings are made of keeps changing—in the case of human beings, it changes totally every seven years. Not one single atom now contributing to the makeup of my physical being was any part of me seven years ago. Our living bodies are in constant, dynamic interchange with other bodies and with the inanimate world around us. So how can the very same atoms be part of a conscious structure at one point in their history and of an inanimate object at another?” (p. 57)
Old age:
Accordance to Daheshist teachings, the Sayyals that shape the genes in a human being do persist in interaction with its active surroundings and will, for the duration of his life. However, if his actions, thoughts, and tendencies were lowly or evil, they will cause a Sayyal or more to degrade and consequently, to leave his body to take on another form according to its merit. Likewise, some Sayyals through medical surgeries and sicknesses without a cure that the individual may be suffering from do leave his body gradually as well as for reasons that we do not know. The more Sayyals leave his body, the quicker old age approaches him and weakens his sight, hearing, mental ability, memory, and his body…etc. However, death doesn’t take place until his Main Sayyal, the Sayyal that gave him life, leaves him.