ASK MAULANA

ASK MAULANA Your Questions Answered How did you first think of the term ‘deconditioning’? As per my knowledge, the term ‘de-conditioning’ in the sense in which I take it is not used in the dictionary. This term first came to my mind when I read a Hadith of the Prophet of Islam. According to this Hadith, every person is born as Mr. Nature, but due to environmental influences he very soon becomes Mr. Conditioned. I learnt from this Hadith that the first task before a person is to remove his environmental conditioning and return to his original nature. Therefore I say that a person must break down his conditioning, and hence become de-conditioned. It is only after going through this process can right thinking be initiated in a person. What do you mean by de-conditioning? I would like to give an example to explain my point. When a person is born, he instantly begins to benefit from the life-support system provided universally in nature. This system is a human being’s prerequisite to lead life on earth. But experience shows that every person takes for granted the resources of nature’s life support-system. As a result, one does not show gratefulness to the Creator for all the blessings that one enjoys right from birth. Here one must de-condition himself and must consciously discover these support systems as bounties of the Creator, otherwise one will continue to remain ungrateful to God. Please give an example to explain conditioning. An example of conditioning is that when a person is born, he receives everything from his parents. This is why all of his emotions become associated with his parents: his affections are for his parents alone. As a person matures, he must think and realize that whatever he gets in this world is entirely from the Creator. When a person de-conditions himself, he will discover this reality and then will be able to form a bond with the Creator and draw in nearness to Him. Generally, people are unable to de-condition themselves in this matter as their emotional attachment is only with their parents, although it is the Creator who should be the centre of one’s emotions.