“You have come from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.” Unverified Source
I was on my morning walk the other day when I encountered a person who strongly supports Abdul El Said for Senator in Michigan. As I walked by, I shouted out, “Here’s hoping Abdul wins in November. In an attempt to support his candidacy, she said, “Do you know that only 1% of Muslims are jihadists?!”
My understanding was that jihad was not meant to be an Islamic war on “infidels,” but was intended to represent the struggle against our own desires—a war with our own demons. Hmm, I thought, if my understanding is correct, then I wish the whole world were jihadists.
When I got home, I did some research on the term. In Islamic spiritual tradition, the terminology usually contrasts the lesser/external jihad (warfare) with the greater/internal jihad (struggle against the lower self/ego). Islamic scholarship frames jihad as a process of spiritual purification and moral discipline rather than a battle against literal external “enemies”. Furthermore, external jihad, in traditional Islamic law, encompasses not just warfare but any outward struggle against injustice, tyranny, or social hardship.
While the opening quote is often attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, there is no authoritative verification that he actually said it. The quote more likely comes from 11th-century Sufis. Since I’m a big Rumi fan, that makes sense to me.
So what does all that have to do with democracy and the acceptance of reality?
In his 1922 book, Public Opinion, Walter Lippmann argued that “the central problem of democracy is that the image of the world inside our heads differs endlessly and unpredictably from the world as it actually exists.” And, oh my, I say, what a gap it is!
I have been struggling with my own gaps, demons, and desires as I attempt to accept the world and my life in it as it really is. In 1935, George Gurdjieff actually wrote a book on that topic entitled Life is Only Real Then, When “I Am”. In this unfinished manuscript, he presents a rigorous examination of the human condition and the elusive nature of conscious existence. It serves as a direct, intimate exposition of his practical psychology and spiritual philosophy.
At the core of the book is the premise that human beings exist in a state of waking sleep—a dynamic of continuous mechanical reactivity where thought, emotion, and action occur without a genuine, conscious, controlling center. For Gurdjieff, the “I” that most people assume is a stable, permanent identity is actually a shifting series of temporary impulses and conditioning. The central imperative of the text—the awakening of a true, unified self—is achieved only through deliberate intentional effort and sustained self-observation. Sounds like an internal jihad to me.
Essentially, consciousness is the essential prerequisite for experiencing reality. Without a conscious observer present within the body, external reality remains an unintegrated sequence of mechanical impressions. The world only becomes vivid, meaningful, and real when an individual actively awakens to their own inner presence.
To me, external reality does not seem to be getting brighter in spite of what Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist, and several public intellectuals, suggest. They rely on long-term metrics like the decline in extreme poverty, rising literacy, and increased life expectancy to counter persistent societal pessimism. For example, extreme poverty has declined from 90% in 1820 to 10% today; life expectancy has increased from 32 years in 1900 to 74 now; and the under-5 mortality rate has decreased from 20% in 1950 to less than 4% now.
That’s all great news, AND the world has changed dramatically in just the last 20 years. There is now more risk of nuclear war among more players; there is a rising amount of authoritarian actors on the world stage coupled with declining freedoms; effects of climate change have become more severe; and no one knows what role AI will play in the future.
Internal realities do not appear to be trending upwards either. People are feeling more isolated and less hopeful.
Personally, as I get older, my reality keeps changing as well. It’s increasingly difficult to be seen and valued. Physical tasks are no longer as easy as they once were. Aches and pains keep creeping into my consciousness. My memory ain’t what it used to be. And yet, I am incredibly lucky to still be involved in several meaningful projects with enormously dedicated people. I can still play my guitar and have time to further my spiritual practices. I have a wonderful, loving family and amazing friends. And, hey, I am still walking and writing.
The question is, “What keeps us from accepting our internal and external reality?” My sense is that the cause lies in a combination of cultural conditioning, personal narratives, willful ignorance, rigid beliefs, convenient labels, denial, delusion, greed, and desire. It seems to me we all have a unique blend of those factors. Over the years, I have written several posts in this blog on all of those causes if you care to take a deeper dive.
On the bright side, my granddaughter has an uncannily insightful view of reality for a 14-year-old. She has always been quietly thoughtful and self-reliant. She has a clear sense of herself. She is also a close observer of the external world with a deep interest in literature. During a time when less than 50% of adults read one book per year and students have a hard time finishing long-form texts, she has been reading over 100 books per year literally since she was able to read. In a world dominated by social media in which people are more likely to skim than to go deep, she is truly an exception. I am hoping that she and her crew will lead the world to a better place. She and her friends give me hope. Of course, this assessment is free of any bias on my part.
Here’s the reality we all need to accept. The planet cannot survive a continuing series of external (lesser) jihads. The only way to avoid more external jihads is for a critical mass of people to engage in deeper internal (greater) jihads. In my view, although an old one, we are suffering from a lack of impartial objectivity on the reality of both our internal and external worlds.
And yes, in Michigan, I’m hoping Abdul El Said wins in November not only because I believe he will wage a jihad on injustice, tyranny, and social hardship, but also because, if he loses, the potential reality seems way too bleak. I’m also hoping he will distance himself from Hasan Piker who has promoted external (lesser) jihadists like Hamas, stated he has no issue with Hezbollah, sanitized Houthi’s actions, and said “America deserved 911.” There is no excuse for giving Piker a prominent role in his campaign.
More importantly, I’m hoping we can all accept our internal and external realities and work together to create new possibilities. Acceptance is a necessary prerequisite to forgiveness, gratitude, and transformation. I’m hoping our younger generations will create a new, more sustainable reality. May it be so.
