Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “Consciousness is the human limb between the soul and the heart”

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan made remarkable evaluations about the effect of Ramadan on human psychology in the "Psychology Talks from Existence to the Search for Meaning" program. Stating that fasting, which is one of the special prayers for Ramadan, adds awareness to human development and human life, Tarhan said that willpower training naturally occurs during this month. Tarhan said that "Consciousness is the human limb between the soul and the heart. Through consciousness, you become aware of yourself, of the world, and of good and evil.".

"We should give our body the opportunity to abstain once a year"

In the program organized by the Conscience of the Age Club, Tarhan stated that it is necessary to make a material-spiritual diet for a healthy life and said that Ramadan is the right time of the year for this fasting. Tarhan said "Obedience to the heart and soul strengthens the nafs (self). It takes the wheel in its hands in a delightful manner. Like a wild horse, the nafs behaves in whatever way it wants to move. You will impose your leadership on it, and if one cannot impose themselves, a person will not be able to make their words listened. If you want to have a say in your nafs, the Ramadan fast is a great opportunity. There are two important pieces of advice; material and spiritual abstinence. A Japanese scientist, who received the Nobel in recent years in terms of material abstinence, proved autophagy. Autophagy is when cells start burning proteins and particles that they do not use within themselves when they are hungry and clean themselves. When the body burns it, it unwittingly cleanses itself, even correcting the damage to the DNA. It reuses those damaged proteins, tissues and tissue particles formed in the DNA, and the cell somehow renews itself. When you create a sense of life and death in the cells, it renews itself. In the same way that blows and traumas, when the fear of death is experienced, the blows become a life-and-death whip in the person and one begins to renew themselves and gets rid of laziness. Therefore, mistakes and misfortunes are actually an opportunity for us to renew ourselves, but we need to be prepared for this. We must give our body the opportunity to fast once a year and give our cells the opportunity to renew themselves. When we do this, we prevent many diseases. It has a restorative effect both materially and spiritually. It gives us the opportunity to tame our wild and primitive emotions, which also lead us astray spiritually.".

“Consciousness is the human limb between the soul and the heart"

Stating that the month of Ramadan adds awareness to people about their lives, Tarhan pointed out that this month naturally provides willpower training. Tarhan said that "Consciousness is the human limb between the soul with the heart. Through consciousness you become aware of yourself, of the world, and of good and evil. That's when you become conscious. It is currently being investigated whether consciousness is a quantum mechanism because there is no consciousness feature inside our brain and there is only the ability to make connections in our metacognition, in our brain. The decision-making organ, the mind, is in the front region of our brain, but awareness, with our function called consciousness, is a metacognitive function that gives orders to the brain. In Ramadan-i Sharif, a person gets used to a kind of diet through fasting, it tries abstinence, that is, with the abstinence one tries to stay hungry, eats little, learns to listen to commands, does not invite diseases by filling the weak stomach with food before digestion, does not invite diseases. In other words, it becomes a habit in Ramadan, and this is what we call willpower training. You accustom it to your soul, you discipline your soul, you try not to disturb your life. In Sufism, there are kıllet-i taam, kıllet-i menam and kıllet-i kalam. That is, eat less, sleep little, and talk little. If you do these three, you evolve, that is, you develop.".

"We have been given the opportunity to earn a limitless life with limited power"

Stating that man was created as a being with limited powers, Tarhan underlined that man has the opportunity to earn a limited life with a limited power. Tarhan stated that "Misfortunes make us discipline haste and impatience. Mind, heart and soul are all together in one body. In Ramadan, people experience the pleasure of helping people, making the poor happy, helping the disadvantaged, and making a child happy instead of spiritual entertainments. For example, with angelic and spiritual entertainments... There are delicacies of our soul, the delicacies of our nafs are pleasure, and the delicacies of our soul are peace. Is there anything more beautiful than inner peace when one finds peace? When you achieve inner peace, a person feels that all their wishes have been satisfied, all their needs have been met and their personality boundaries have been lost. When you feel as if you are integrated with God, it is a sense of security. You can seek refuge in Him against something bad and find solace. It relieves your fear and anxiety about the future, it relieves your anxiety that something bad will happen, it is necessary to be able to surrender to the divine will, but for this it is necessary to understand your own weakness, desperateness, inadequacy. Here Ramadan 'you are weak, you are a limited being' but it makes you feel the unlimited sense of needs. Especially psychologically, we have unlimited desires, for example, we want to go to space, we want to realize our dreams, however, our power is limited. We have been given the opportunity to earn a limitless life with limited power, and we have been told whether to use this opportunity or not. Ramadan is a great opportunity, the night of Qadr is a great opportunity. God gives us this opportunity, we will use our limited power for an unlimited purpose and we will gain eternity.".

"Fasting in Ramadan directly strikes a blow to the pharaonic front of the nafs"

Tarhan stated that the prayers in the month of Ramadan are the most effective way to ensure self-control and said that "The feeling of hunger is the most difficult emotion of human. There is an obesity epidemic in the world. The 3 states with the highest obesity in the world are the USA, the second Saudi Arabia and lastly Türkiye. The reason is that we cannot control our urge to eat. It is called eating addiction. Türkiye is a Muslim country, and so is Saudi Arabia, but you see that Saudi Arabia is the part where the formal part of Islam is experienced the highest, but it means that it cannot live its essence. Thus, there is no self-discipline. The Muslim part there is formal, wardrobe Muslimness. Everyone needs self-discipline. The nafs does not want to know their Creator, Pharaoh wants their own godship. No matter how much torment is inflicted, that vein remains with them. However, that vein is broken with hunger. Behold, the fast in Ramadan strikes a direct blow to the pharaonic front of the soul. It shows its weakness, its desperateness, its lack, and the diseases show us that this body is not mine when our physical comfort is disturbed. Death is near, I will lose this body. It says know the limit of power. This calamity of earthquake, the calamity of the pandemic shows the weakness, desperateness and its lack. What is insolvency? You want to do something, you are incapable of achieving your goal. Diseases and calamities show this. However, Ramadan gives us the training and preparation for this.”.

“One is being tested by the thing they most care about”

Underlining that tests do not happen without a reason Tarhan pointed out that fasting is one of the most important worships that controls the nafs (self). Tarhan said that “A person is being tested by the thing they most care about. Tests do not happen suddenly. Tests are about whether we can manage ourselves or not. If we cannot control ourselves, God put us on a test and makes us closer to him. If we do this when we are healthy, why God would test us? God would say my servant already fasts and prays, they control their nafs. Why would I test them? That’s why, what is the pray at the end of prayer and circumambulation of the Kaaba? Rabbenâ âtina fid'dünyâ haseneten ve fil'âhireti haseneten. You say that may God give us goodness in the both worlds in this pray. You do not wish for calamity from God, you do not ask for being tested. You ask for goodness. Both good things and richness are also a test. If you use it for the good, for the right path, why would God make you experience a calamity? Nafs is only controlled with hunger, and that’s why, the hunger we experience during Ramadan is like a remedy in terms of self-control. Training of willpower means programming your brain. Those with strong will power can say no to mistakes and they make the right decisions at the right time. They can act bravely and being courageous is not to put yourself in danger but to be smart at the moment of danger. These people act smartly, they act bravely and they do not stay behind.”.

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)