Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim – In the Name of Allah(S.W.T.) the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
Once Again, I would like to state that I am neither a very learned scholar nor do I claim that all my views are 100% correct. The purpose of presenting my views is thus for me and the other readers to be guided by debating, commenting or pondering on the topics and not by just reading them.
The human brain is complicated; the best way I can think of explaining its complexity is through this paradoxical quote; “If the brain were so simple we could understand, we would be so simple we couldn't.” by Lyall Watson: http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/197
Many people have tried studying the way people think and the way they act under different circumstances. But most of the times the result is more of a generalization, and we would easily be able to find exceptions to their theories when looking at the general public.
The picture on the right is a single neuron in the nervous system, I copied it from http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/human_brain/, the site also contains very interesting information on the human brain...
I was thinking about my statement in an earlier post regarding the amount of logic the public has gained in today’s world… I wonder sometimes, how do we manage to have this amount of logic, and yet do some of the things we end up doing??
How can anybody with the slightest bit of logic go and kill a group of people for no VALID reason???
Why do we make life so complicated for ourselves? What do we gain from these things? do they really help us? what happens if I die while doing something illogical? What impact will it have on others? what impact will it have on me after death?
Lets come back to purpose of creation… Think hard; it’s really simple... do everything for one reason, one goal, one objective… Once you achieve that understanding within your life, you will find that those complications we have given ourselves don’t really matter all that much… They don’t really give us an important addition to achieving that goal…
I know so many people who smoke, but I am sure if I ask any one of them if they think smoking is good for them, every single one of them will say they know its bad, but they still do it!!
Where is this logic of ours??
What about Drugs? Murder? Lies? All the evil deeds that I would prefer not to even mention on this blog?? Yet the people who commit any of these acts, most of them have a similar brain, they have basic logic... its just that they choose not to follow it!
Even something like war... many times we find that a war could have been avoided in the past if somebody used logic to dictate his actions instead of acting on a whim! What is wrong with the people who do not see what is plain? do they think that thinking is only for leaders? or only for specialists? don't they understand that thinking is for every single human on this planet??
I heard this parable which describes our lives as being shut within a box, which we ourselves have created placing all the things we desire within the box, so that we don't need to see everything outside, because reality is painful at times...
If there are people in this world who realize that when someone saves your life then every single moment that has been granted to you after that is only because that person saved your life and thus they dedicate their lives completely to serve that person, why don’t we understand; why don’t we realize that every moment we live in this universe is only by the will of Allah; even the person who may have saved a life only did so due to Allah's plan... He has given us this time; without His decree which gives us life, we would not be alive and thus we need to use our lives to serve Him only!
Man has the ability to THINK, and if he uses this ability, he will come to some conclusions in life... In today's world, many have achieved this much... The problem lies in acting upon these conclusions! For example; I know God exists and that I should try to do what He deserves, but many times I find myself doing something without the intention that this is for Allah!
Logic dictates the following of a goal which makes sense and making sure all you do is for the purpose to achieve that goal... But human desire leads us away from sticking to this logic... what we need to do is to try to make sure that we only follow our desires to the extent that we are still achieving the goal... And if we manage to follow our logic we will even find that our desires begin to bend toward achieving the goal!
Thus Zuhair’s view: Many have still the need to follow what basic logic dictates!!
Please feel free to argue against this, or if you feel you know something that would be beneficial and is not present please do write a comment... InshaAllah Allah will guide us all to the right path!
8 comments:
I kno this does not relate to ur post..but since u draw upon religious topics; just thot of adding this in for u2 read [the post below]. And shud realy appreciate that ur posts do inculcate a sense of pondering among the readers. Keep up the work.
Am I a Hindu?
Uday Pai
Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend a meeting at Monterey , CA .
An American girl was sitting on the right side, near window seat.
It indeed was a long journey - it would take nearly seven hours!
I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bible - unusual of young Americans! (Later I came to know that September 11 has changed mind-set of lot of US citizens. They suddenly turned religious, it seemed.) After some time she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I told her that I am from India .
Then suddenly the girl asked: “What’s your faith?”
“What?” I didn’t understand the question.
“I mean, what’s your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?”
“No!” I replied, “I am neither Christian nor Muslim”.
Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that.
“Then who are you…?”
“I am a Hindu”, I said.
She looked at me as if she is seeing a caged animal.
She could not understand what I was talking about.
A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as they are the leading religions of the world today.
But a Hindu, what?
I explained to her - I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother. Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth.
“Who is your prophet?” she asked.
“We don’t have a prophet,” I replied.
“What’s your Holy Book?”
“We don’t have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands of philosophical and sacred scriptures,” I replied.
“Oh, come on…at least tell me who is your God?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Like we have Yahweh and Muslims have Allah - don’t you have a God?”
I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief.
According to her (or anybody who doesn’t know about Hinduism), a religion need to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mind is so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion that anything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and concept about faith. You can’t compare Hinduism with any of the present leading religions where you have to believe in one concept of god.
I tried to explain to her: “You can believe in one god and he can be a Hindu. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What’s more - you may not believe in god at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also be a Hindu.”
This sounded very crazy to her.
She couldn’t imagine a religion so unorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreign forces.
“I don’t understand…but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?”
What can I tell to this American girl?
I said: “I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regular rituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing it sometimes.”
“Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?”
“God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made any compulsions on me to perform these
rituals regularly.”
She thought for a while and then asked: “Have you ever thought of converting to any other religion?”
“Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith in Hinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hindu allows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning… I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.” I told her that Hinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It is not a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded by any one person or does not have an organized controlling body like the Church or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority.
“So, you don’t believe in God?” she wanted everything in black and white.
“I didn’t say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture, or Sruthis or Smrithis - Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita - say God might be there or he might not be there. But we pray to that supreme
abstract authority (Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.”
“Why can’t you believe in one personal God?”
"We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god. The concept or notion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers, demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don’t think that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others to respect him or fear him.” I told her that such notions are just fancies of less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generally ethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. The entry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. The philosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions.
“Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What is your prayer then?”
“Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,”
“Funny,”
she laughed, “What does it mean?”
“May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.”
“Hmm…very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. It is so democratic, broad-minded and free…” she exclaimed.
“The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the individual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all about an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to his temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.”
“How does anybody convert to Hinduism?”
“Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is no single authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it or to oppose it on behalf of Hinduism.”
I told her - if you look for meaning in life, don’t look for it in religions; don’t go from one cult to another or from one guru to the next.
For a real seeker, I told her, Bible itself gives guidelines when it says “ Kingdom of God is within you.” I reminded her of Christ’s teaching about the love that we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life.
Loving each and every creation of the God is absolute and real. ‘Isavasyam idam sarvam’ Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing exists separate from the God, because God is present everywhere. Respect every living being and non-living things as God. That’s what Hinduism teaches you.
Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of Hinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open to all. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in different forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity.
Ancestors of today’s Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws and these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is a section of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion like others. The British coin the word “Hindu” and considered it as a religion.
I said: “Religions have become an MLM (multi-level- marketing) industry that has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business in today’s world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception…”
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place-Mahtma
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim – In the Name of Allah(S.W.T.) the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
Firstly I want to thank you for this informative article on Hinduism. It definitely gave me a whole new perspective on the set of beliefs and practices…
I would like to argue out some of the points that Uday Pai has mentioned though… I want to do this in a way that will not seem offensive to anyone, but incase; with my imperfection, I write something that any of you find is infringing this, and that makes you feel uncomfortable reading it; please, do bring it to my attention.
The first argument I have against this article is defensive, when he says, “I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief.” I am not too sure about Christians, but as a Muslim, I know that Allah has no gender, He is the Creator of gender and is thus above it.
Next about God being a “friend” so that we do not need to fear Him, that is a little hard to swallow… How can a Perfect Being, the One Who Created me, the One Who has power over the whole universe, the One Who judges me for my vices and virtues, the only One Who deserves more than anyone on this planet could ever do… How can we not fear such a Being? When I see a huge insect that I have no power to control, I begin fearing it, and wanting to do something about that fear… And that’s just an insect!!! But Allah is the Greatest! And the fear I have for Him should not be a fear which makes me run away, but rather a fear which leads me closer to what He desires from me, because together with all the Power in the universe, He also is the most Beneficent and the most Merciful.
Another thing is the way he keeps on stating that Hinduism is not a religion but is a set of beliefs and practices, according to this reference the meaning of the word religion is actually a set of beliefs and practices… http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion, And my view is that this definition is correct.
And look at this huge contradiction that he has made within his quotations, first he preaches the lack of a personal God:
"We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god.”
“Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in different forms.”
Then he goes ahead and states:
“The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the individual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all about an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to his temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.”
“‘Isavasyam idam sarvam’ Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing exists separate from the God, because God is present everywhere.”
Also I went looking for the basic beliefs of Hinduism on the net, and I came across this site, now I am no expert in Hinduism but this website definitely contradicts his views on what Hinduism is all about… http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/nineb/
I hope you don’t mind, or consider this any form of attack on you or any of the people who follow this set of beliefs and practices, as I wrote it for the sole purpose to highlight my views, so that others can benefit from them. And if you have arguments against my views, I am looking forward to seeing them.
k lemme start...hehe...I '2' want to do this in a way that will not seem offensive to anyone
"I know that Allah has no gender, He is the Creator of gender and is thus above it." Why do u then, thru out the docn. and in the quoted sentence use 'he' to refer to Allah?
"Next about God being a “friend” so that we do not need to fear Him, that is a little hard to swallow…" of course if u take the literall meaning and guess that she meant, praying to god lyk 'dude god, wassa man'..wot she tried to infer was we dont believe in 'fearing' god, as in we dont believe in the whole set of punishments, that 'some' 'other' religions preach u will gain if u dont fear god. Likewise, she meant that we think of god as a supreme being who is a 'friend'. the dictionary quotes 'friend' as ~A person you know well and regard with affection and trust~ she wannad to say the same ting, substituting 'person' with supreme being.
thanks for defining religion. u r point ther is taken. i dunno wot she tried to mean.
Her first statement '"We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god.” is misunderstood, her term personal god meant something lyk, we dont have a god lyk allah. the names that we refer to are man made by sections of certain hindus, in the original belief we believe in God, not a name for the supreme being nor form.
"now I am no expert in Hinduism but this website definitely contradicts his views on what Hinduism is all about… "
now that, if i was to go online and do a search on any religion for that matter, i assure u that i can come up with sites that talk of the same religion in a contradicting way.
So that website u quoted is jus the same. if u want i can find a website that wil talk in the same lines with her. like islam, even hinduism has its major 6 sects; so 'hindus' among themselves also have different views that may change subtlty from one another.
I 2 hope you don’t mind, or consider this any form of attack on you...
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim – In the Name of Allah(S.W.T.) the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
Allah is far beyond our imaginations and perceptions, thus arguing about whether He is male or female is beyond logic. But you did bring an interesting point as to why I use “He” to refer to Allah at times in my statements. My view on this is that when referring to something that is of importance to us, we always try and refrain from the usage of “it”, for example a car that is liked a lot by it’s owner would probably referred to as “she”, even if it has no gender. Also, in Islam both the man and woman are given separate roles, and the one of the roles of the man is to be an authoritative figure, in order to advise. Due to this, when referring to the Supreme Being we use “He”; this has no inference toward gender.
About taking God to be a friend, I still find it Illogical, because as you said, “the dictionary quotes 'friend' as ~A person you know well and regard with affection and trust~” But how can I take God to be a friend when I don’t know Him well, because I cannot comprehend Him, and as you said He is not a person but a Supreme Being. The relationship that Islam says should exist between us and our Lord; should be like that of an undeserving servant to an all providing Master, this is definitely more logical in my point of view.
Another thing, some of your arguments are based on what she inferred and what she meant… This is difficult, due to the fact that you are not her, thus what you are writing is presumably what you have inferred from her document, unless you have spoken to her and she has given you this view… if so please tell me so, and if not then try and refrain from saying things like “she meant…” and try to let it be known that it is more of your view than hers which you are stating.
In regard to the contradicting statements which I quoted earlier, how can one overtly say that they do not believe in a personal God in one sentence then say that they do in another, even if you say, “in the original belief we believe in God, not a name for the supreme being nor form” it still doesn’t negate the contradiction.
Your point about the website referring to Hinduism from another view is taken. But I would like to add that by placing the website in the previous argument I wanted to show that there were different views within Hindus themselves, and you have proved this in yours.
Thanks for the arguments, that’s one of the reasons this blog was created…
"this is definitely more logical in my point of view"..wots ur view cannot be confronted be, and i stil believe in my statement. We dont take god to have a master-servant relationship.
"unless you have spoken to her and she has given you this view…" i know the person who quoted this on her blog in FB. When i quote i inferr, i mean wot i was told by the writer's fren. And my 'own inference' as a fellow hindu.
"do not believe in a personal God in one sentence then say that they do in another"... read wot i mean by personal god. She didn say god doesn exist!
"I wanted to show that there were different views within Hindus" .... In the note she says "You can believe in one god and he can be a Hindu. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu." this in itself speaks for the divisions of hindus. So there was absolutely no need for 'you' to show divisions among hindus, we both hindus have pointed it ourselves.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim – In the Name of Allah(S.W.T.) the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
Firstly I would like to thank you for your valid arguments.
According to this website, a debate is “a discussion involving opposing points; an argument.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/debate). Thus when having opposing points, both points cannot be facts, because they contradict each other, thus if they are not facts then they are views. So when in a debate, people present conflicting VIEWS; and when you say, “wots ur view cannot be confronted be, and i stil believe in my statement. We dont take god to have a master-servant relationship.” It indicates that you have not understood this.
Furthermore when I said that it was my view that it is more logical that we have a servant-Master relationship with God rather than that of a friend, I was merely trying to point out that The Supreme Being cannot be compared to a friend, due to the fact that a friend is one who is known well (according to your earlier definition) and God cannot be comprehended by our limited intellect. Whereas when considering God as our Master, it shows His Power over us and the fact that we should attain the goal of pleasing Him by doing what He has ordained for us to do, and thus serve Him as servants.
“When i quote i inferr, i mean wot i was told by the writer's fren. And my 'own inference' as a fellow hindu.” - Thank you for making it clear now what your source is, because when writing about other people, it is always better to state what is from them and what is from you.
“read wot i mean by personal god. She didn say god doesn exist!” – Neither did I blame her for saying such a thing. But the problem is not in the definition of a personal God… it is rather in the fact that she has used the term ‘personal God’, when saying that Hindus believe in one, and when saying that they don’t.
Also when u said earlier, “Her first statement '"We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god.” is misunderstood, her term personal god meant something lyk, we dont have a god lyk Allah.” If you were trying to say that Allah is considered a personal God by Muslims, then you should choose the meaning of ‘personal God’ with care, because Allah is the Lord of the universe and not just my ‘personal God’.
“there was absolutely no need for 'you' to show divisions among hindus” – regarding this I was just trying to highlight the fact that the views here could be refuted by a Hindu himself due to the fact that there are divisions. I was not trying to cause strife. Islam has many divisions itself and finding the right one to follow requires logical thinking!
Thanks again Vengadesh…
The "logic" of the Human brain is often blurred by our random, unpredictable, emotions which often gives rise to the "illogical" actions which we take. But these illogical actions are what makes us human, what gives us the all important "choice", being able to see an obviously beneficial option and taking the alternative. In the human blueprint, i dare say it's logical for one to take the illogical option. The word logic, comes from the Greek word logos meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle.Its a whole structure of rules that must be used for any reasoning within a particular system. I consider it a particular philosophy on a particular issue. What are the rules within our human system???? It's relative. You make the choice, and you work within your rules, you make up your own logic. We are all logical beings in our own right, be it in the mind of Joseph Stalin or Ghandi . . . we function within our set of rules . . . but . . . are some more logical than others??? . . .(I love George Orwell)
It is undoubtedly true that we do posses free will, and that even after seeing a distinct logical path, we may still choose an illogical one... But for it to be "...logical for one to take the illogical option" cannot be possible, due to the obvious contradiction, what would be a better way to put is that; what is logical for one person may be illogical for another, because everyone may have different opinions regarding issues such as where our priorities should lie.
But on the other hand, even when talking of everyone having their own opinions about what is logical, we would still be able to agree on certain fundamental principles, thus with further pondering and arguing on the matters it would be possible to come up with logic which is accepted by all as the true, complete logic, thus making up your own logic would just be the first step to finding out what the real logical truth is.
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