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| Perception
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On this page you will find various articles that I have written. Read with an open mind and feel free to email me or sign my guest book with your comments. |
Perception is reality (II). |
Perception
is Reality
October
25, 2000
I
have a question which I can guarantee that every single
person will answer the same. If you had two sports cars,
lets say Porsches and both are identical except for one
aspect. One is bright red in color and the other is dull
brown. The question is : Which one is faster ?
Red ! Every single person will say red if pressed for a
quick answer. What this proves is that our perception is our
reality. We perceive red to be a bright color and hence
faster than a brown color.
To us the view of a beautiful sunset on an opalescent ocean
is far more beautiful than simply hearing the ocean. However
ask someone that has been born blind, and to him the sound
of the ocean is more beautiful.
Deepak Chopra once went to view the great Himalayas. When he
arrived there, he was absolutely in awe of their majesty.
The great Himalayas. Beautiful indeed. A few minutes after
this, the clouds moved. What he was actually looking at were
foot hills. Behind the foot hills stood the Real McCoy in
all its glory.
Had those clouds not moved at that moment, he could have
left and still had the impression of the great Himalayas
even though all he saw were foothills. We should therefore
not aim for the foothills and think that there's nothing
greater for us to achieve. If we limit ourselves by reality,
all we'll ever get are the foot hills, with the greatness of
the true Himalayas hidden from us forever...
Do
you believe in a God ?
November
8, 2000
I
received an interesting response to one of my articles on
God. I made the statement that scientists , although they
seem to be able to prove the atheist theory of evolution,
they have yet to prove that this happened without any divine
intelligence. The response I received challenged me on this
stating that, although my statement is true, conversely,
believers in God have not proved that there was intelligence
by way of a God.
This was a thought provoking statement and a good argument.
Verily it is true that God's actual existence has never been
proved or disproved. Sure we have the odd miracles, but this
is not proof of God's existence. Our scientists have had
success with species cloning, which could imply that a mere
mortal can create a human being, a feat attributed to God
alone. This however, still does not disprove God's
existence.
The only way around this dilemma would be Highest Choice.
All the decisions we make in our day to day lives are based
on Highest Choice whether we realize it or not. We will
often find that when we are disappointed or err, it could be
as a result of not going with our Highest Choice, our basic
instinct. This is very applicable to the theist/atheist
dilemma. There is no evidence to support either ideology ,
thus we would have to go with our Highest Choice.
Highest Choice means instinctively knowing something despite
evidence or lack thereof. How often we hear of stories where
people have refused to get on planes because of an
intuition. Their Highest Choice at that point would be to
not board the plane. Although there is no evidence that the
plane would crash, and others ill be dubious, that is the
choice he was comfortable with.
We all have it, we all use it subconsciously. All our life
decisions are based on it. Nothing we do is done without a
choice being made. Nothing we believe in is done without
choice. Nothing we imagine is without a Highest Choice being
made.
Thus whether the atheist believes in evolution with no
divine supervision, or the theist does, would be irrelevant.
For each ideology, the Highest Choice prevails.
November 8, 2000
Agnosticism,
comes from the Greek word agnostikos, meaning "not
knowing". Agnostics differ from Atheists and Theists.
They could in fact be the proverbial fence-sitters. They
don't believe in the existence of God or any other spiritual
being, nor do they dispute it.
In a recent survey (if they can be trusted!), it was found
that over 90% of people believe in God. The survey was
supposedly embarked on people of various religious
denominations. Although I cannot vouch for the accuracy of
the survey, I could guess that the reason for the high
percentage belief in God would be because the question was
close ended. A simple Boolean yes or no answer. If the
question was more open ended, such as , in light of the
status quo of the world, both negative and positive, would
you think that there is a God.
I have tested this question with a few people, and all
express doubts after their typical answer that they do
believe in something. Most of the uncertainty stems from the
negativity that prevails in our society. The clichéd
questioning of if there was a God, then why would He let bad
things happen and so forth. Ask a mother who has just lost a
child and she'll question His existence. Ask someone that
has won a million dollars and he will confirm His existence.
It's all relative.
Wouldn't these attitudes then be agnostic. I would think
that a belief should be unwavering . No buts ifs or maybes.
If you cannot say that you irrevocably believe in God
regardless of what happens, then you can not call yourself a
theist/believer. If you cannot say that there is definitely
no God or any other divine supervision, then you cannot call
yourself an atheist. In this light, divine supervision could
be superior intelligence. Not the proverbial aged man in
white robes. As an atheist you would have to believe that
everything just is without any intervention whatsoever,
without any superior intelligence.
I have met many people that are staunch theists or atheists,
who are firm in their beliefs, and I've met just as many
that aren't. Thus from where I'm standing, I would assume
that there is definitely a good portion of homo sapiens that
are agnostics. Although not confirmed, they are all waiting
for the day when it will all be revealed. So on the fence is
where they sit. Whether they know it, or not.
November 8, 2000
When
I say I believe in God, I don't mean the God portrayed in
bibles and throughout our history. I don't mean the
monotheist religious perception of God. Nor do I mean the
father figure as He is often viewed. Most monotheistic
(belief in one God) religions have personified God. They
even addressed God with a pronoun, which I have to use here
as any other term would prove difficult for the mind's eye
to absorb. And more so they have chosen to bestow gender
upon God, as that of a man.
In the various versions and revisions of the bible, it is
stated that we are created in the image of God. This
obviously made it easier for people to personify Him as a
man. However, when we are conceived, we look nothing like a
man. What about children born with deformities, is this Gods
image ? Wouldn't it be conceivable that what this could have
meant is that it is our pure essence that is made in God's
image and not our physical appearance. For this is what is
there when we are conceived in our mother's wombs and what
is released when our physical bodies die.
Then there is the God that has an angel whose main job is to
record all our deeds in a great black book. Does it make
sense that if I envied my neighbor her beautiful garden that
God places a bad tick next to my name ? Does the fact that I
lied to my mother about going to a nightclub mean eternal
damnation ? Does finding another person attractive, hence
coveting someone's husband, mean that I am going to toast in
Hell ? The mere thought of the supposed damnation we all
face is hilarious. Will all the sinners be grouped according
to the category of their sin and punished accordingly. Will
the proverbial Devil be waiting at the fiery gates rubbing
his hands in anticipation of our imminent cooking ? And will
God be standing up in Heaven shaking his head slowly at the
sadness we have brought upon ourselves ? Such notions were
entertained in the early centuries when witches were still
burnt on stakes. Of course fire was a horrible punishment so
how appropriate that this would be propagated. In fact most
of the bible is made up of written accounts as witnessed or
heard by those who lived in those primitive days. Days when
everything was attributed to either God or Satan. If a woman
had a child out of wedlock, it was the devil. If a woman had
a child within, it was through God's grace
However, all these trivialities pale in comparison to the
awesome power I know prevails. I believe in the awesome
power of the originating creator. I too personify this
creator. I call Him a Him and I call Him by the common
names. God, Lord, Almighty. And my belief in Him is personal
to me. My belief is not governed by rules and regulations.
There are no boundaries in my belief in the power I know
exists. There is no Big Brother watching me. The power that
is immensely positive and conversely immensely negative. For
both are relative to each other. Both a demonstration of
what we are all capable of as a result of our likeness to
the creator. Mere mortals, as we call ourselves, have
achieved incredible feats. Both negative and positive. Both
awe-inspiring. I thus believe in My God as I perceive Him. I
share my belief knowing that I could be ridiculed as a
heretic by my family who ascribe to their monotheist
religious beliefs, as blasphemous by all those who are
fearful of questioning their own beliefs. Mostly I share my
belief comfortable in the knowledge that I am being true to
know one else, but myself.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be
seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
-- Helen Keller
November 8, 2000
Anne
Frank is accredited with a remarkable quote, "I keep my
ideals, because in spite of everything, I still believe that
people are really good at heart." Such a profound quote
in light of the dire circumstances she was forced to endure.
The first time I read that quote was 9 years ago when I
happened to be reading an article on her. What struck me
immediately and still does, was the fact that this young
girl had the spiritual maturity and purity of one far beyond
her years.
Spiritual maturity can be defined as being able to transcend
your reality. This would mean having to see through
circumstances and people. Where Anne Frank said that she
believed people were really good at heart, she was
displaying her ability to transcend the relative
"person" before her. Despite the swastikas and
grimaces of the Nazi soldiers, she saw through to the core
of their beings. Their spirits.
If I were to really look at society in general, it's amazing
how people see others and are just as easily changeable in
their impressions. How often do we see someone and declare
that we don't like them. We then find ourselves in a
conversation with that person, and almost immediately after,
we could acknowledge the fact that we were wrong about him
or her. Where we thought he was rude and arrogant, he was
actually bashful and an introvert. Where we thought she was
a miserable cow, she had actually just suffered a divorce.
How wrong our judgmental impressions can be of every person
and every situation.
My point is that at any moment when we judge people, we
judge them based on our perceptions of them at that moment
in time and of a reality we feel more comfortable with. Why
is it always easier to be angry than sympathetic ? We hoot
at the car in front of us who takes too long to acknowledge
the green robot. Yet little do we know that the driver might
just have received bad news about a loved one. Conversely we
could spoil our moods with anger at the driver that speeds
past us. On the other hand that driver could be on his way
to the hospital upon hearing of his sick child. We are all
judgmental; it is an intrinsic reaction to people and
circumstances. Whether it be good or bad, we are always
playing the role of the adjudicator.
However, if we were to adopt the purity and maturity of
spirit as displayed by Anne Frank, what a difference it
would make in our lives. Every situation wouldn't be as bad
as we would have once perceived it to be. If we saw people
as being really good at heart, then perhaps we would be able
to recognize the goodness in our own hearts. How wonderful
that would be.
Isn't'
God wonderful ?
October
28, 2000
I
once asked a confirmed atheist why he didn't believe in God.
His answer was the most clichéd answer I have ever heard.
"I've never seen him".
"I've never seen him". Such a simple statement. If
I were to ask myself why I do believe in God. My answer
would be the exact opposite. I see him everywhere when I
look within.
Many would say that all you have to do is look around you to
see God. Well I say, that all you have to do is look within
and you'll see God. I can look at a rose and be inspired by
its beauty and see God there. Not in the beauty of the rose,
as that is only my perception. But the atoms that are
working within that rose to present itself to me as per my
perception. I look at a rock.
I look at a rock and look within that rock. Inside that rock
are millions and millions of atoms. Each atom could have
been either a small stone, or a huge rock.
Look deeper and you'll see that each atom is so dedicated to
its particular function, that of moving around so fast , so
fast as to keep that rock together and present itself to our
perceptions as a whole.
That same rock has the potential of being a great boulder,
or a magnificent mountain. To those molecules their whole
world is dedicated to being part of a whole. Part of a
stone, rock, or mountain. And that mountain part of a
mountain range. The mountain range being part of a country
side. Which overlooks and moulds into the ocean. The ocean
which surrounds and moulds into our planet. Our planet which
forms part of our great universe. And our thoughts, our
thoughts molding, becoming one with everything around us.
Didn't Jesus say that (not verbatim), "if thou had the
faith of a mustard see, thou could move mountains.."?
Isn't it wonderful ? Isn't it wonderful how God had a
purpose for every living atom, cell, organ, being ? Whether
God is pure energy, matter or Nothing doesn't
"matter". Isn't it amazing that everything in this
universe is so well coordinated, and each thing is so
destined to do great things. And each thing so connected to
the other that anything can happen ?
The atheist might not believe in God as the religious figure
He is oft portrayed to be. But he has to believe that
something is at work in our wonderful world. No matter how
scientists and Darwinists try and explain energy bursts and
big bangs, they have yet to be able to prove that these
events did not occur without some kind of intelligence.
Who else could be so intelligent as to create a whole
universe made out of pure energy coordinated into what we
perceive ? Who else but God !
November 9, 2000
In
response to an article I wrote on agnosticism, I received
the following:
"Your opinion is based upon your own reasoning and our
minds can deceive us. I understand you think you cannot know
if there is a God, but if you search for Him you will find
Him. Ask Him to guide you as you read the New Testament of
the Bible. He will reveal truths to you that you never knew
existed".
My response was that I do in fact believe in God and that my
article was from an objective point of view. However, it
interests me that if I were a pure atheist, would I actually
be convinced by this person's attempt to bring me to my
proverbial religious senses ? My honest answer would be, No.
This would not convince me.
Firstly, I do believe in God, that is without question. What
I don't believe in completely however, is the
authenticity of the bible. This does not mean that I don't
believe that the bible is from God, for I know that God
inspires everyone, and thus there is obviously underlying
truth in the bible. However, I do not believe that the bible
is 100% authentic account of God. Why do I believe that ?
Well, let's see. Many people proclaim that Christianity is
THE religion . There are even some zealots that decree that
all other religions are not of God and therefore satanic. I
can even go as far as saying that some Christians see Jews
as "dirty". Isn't it strange then that
Christianity includes within it's bible the entire
scriptures of another religion, that being Judaism.
The Old Testament actually comprised of two covenants, that
of Paul and other early Christians, which was the Old
covenant, and that of the New covenant with reference to
Jesus Christ. The early church wanted continuity of history
and thus includes in their Christian bible the written
records of the Old and new covenants. It can thus be said
that the Old testament is the bible of Judaism plus seven
other books and additions to books. It can further be said,
that the bible is a collection of narratives or stories by
various people of the time. However, many of them are
etiological, that is, they explain some place, practice, or
name in terms of its origin. For most Old Testament books it
was a long journey from the time the first words were spoken
or written to the work in its final form. That journey
usually involved many people, such as storytellers, authors,
editors, listeners, and readers.
The New Testament consists of 27 documents written between
AD 50 and 150 concerning matters of belief and practice in
Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world.
The 27 books of the New Testament are only a fraction of the
literary production of the Christian communities in their
first three centuries. The principal types of New Testament
documents (gospel, epistle, apocalypse) were widely
imitated, and the names of apostles or other leading figures
were attached to writings designed to fill in the silence of
the New Testament (for example, on the childhood and youth
of Jesus), to satisfy the appetite for more miracles, and to
argue for new and fuller revelations. As many as 50 Gospels
were in circulation during this time.
My point is thus that the bible is not a book directly from
God. Sure, God inspired people to record their experiences
and emotions with relations to the events that transpired in
that period. But that is not to say that those are God's
exact words. Merely a collection of stories and narratives,
poems and hymns. Who is to say that we could not construct
our own bible today, and one thousand years from now,
society will canonize our writings and proclaim it to be the
word of God.
That is exactly what the bible has become. A canonization of
stories which religious denominations deem as definitive.
As I stated earlier, I believe in God. However, please don't
try to convince me, an atheist, an agnostic or any person of
a different religious belief, by telling us to read the
bible. There are some great stories in the bible, but I
don't need them to affirm my belief in God. I am validated
by the intrinsic knowledge of God and not that of other's.
October 18, 2000
If
we were to write the bible today, how different it would be.
In a society that is no longer governed by the church, there
would be less secular religion in the bible and more common
sense.
In the King James version of the bible it states that the
"original" bible was written in Aramaic and
translated into conventional English by various scholars who
then had to all agree on the accepted translation. These
scholars are all of different churches. Centuries have gone
by, and with each century, different scholars translated the
bible and so on and so on. With each revision of the bible
over the centuries, the scholars were limited by their
reality. In the 15th century, their perception of reality
would be very different from what it would be in the 21st
century. This makes for interesting diversions in the
supposed "original" version of the bible as
narrated by various "men of God".
Being raised a Muslim under the Islamic belief, I was
indoctrinated to believe that Christians were the
"Nasaras" which meant "non-believer". I
was led to believe that I had to pray five times a day in a
language I did not understand. I had to fast for one month,
when all I really wanted to do was stuff my face after
school. I was to cover my head when I went to school, even
though it was thirty degrees Celsius outside.
A good friend of mine was so paranoid about the Original
Sin, and confessing your sins to the Catholic priest etc etc
that she would not dare do anything deemed sinful unless we
could run quickly to the church so that she could go and
confess and receive umpteen hail Mary's. This of course in
her eyes meant, that she could commit as many sins as she
wanted to, provided she confessed them.
I could then go on to tell you about a guy that was a senior
member in the Hare Krishna movement. Taking a vow of
celibacy meant a lot to his spiritual evolvement as he was
taught, thus it came as a great shock to him that his Guru
approached him and asked him to marry his secretary. The
reason ? Because Gurus in his position were not allowed to
associate with unmarried women. However this guru wanted to
have a "sexual" relationship with her, and by him
marrying the secretary he could do this without anyone
suspecting.
Now what has all this got to do with religion ? Well I'll
tell you. It's got a lot to do with religion. What has been
proven over and over again, is that "religion" is
man-made, secular, "as-you-go". I cant think of
one single religion that does not have rules and
regulations. Punishments and rewards. God is perceived as a
jealous possessive father who gives us free will, but then
says, "If you use it, I will punish you". A God
that is only interested in ME ME ME. Please Me. Praise Me.
Love Me. With which I agree.
I love God. I trust God. I know God. I thank God. What I
don't know or trust, is religion. Religion to me is a
personal journey of self discovery. This self discovery will
then lead to enlightenment which leads to God. I feel more
spiritual and for a lack of a better term,
"religious", when I look at a beautiful rose in
bloom, than if I were to walk into a church. God is not only
in the church, or mosque or the temple. He is EVERYWHERE. I
do not have to take a sojourn to India to find God in the
mountains.
All I have to do is look inside my soul and there I will
find God. Religion ? I don't think so. I trust my heart
which I know more than I trust ancient documentation written
by people I don't know who have been long dead and then
their words "translated" by scholars who are
working on the guidance from teachers who probably know just
as little about Aramaic. For all we know, what they thought
was the word "house" could have actually been
"tree". What they thought was "God"
could have actually been ..."Me...."
October 9, 2000
We
often here people saying how love conquers all, yet few
believe the adage. This could possible be that ideas on what
love is seems to differ.
A case study that was documented in the 70's(as detailed in
"Quantum Healing" by Deepak Chopra) involved a
simple study on the influence of cholesterol levels in the
body. Rabbits were divided into groups and fed food with
high levels of cholesterol. All the rabbits subsequently
experienced the symptoms related to high cholesterol, except
one group. This group displayed no signs of high cholesterol
at all !
This particular group of rabbits baffled the researchers. It
was only after observing the volunteers that fed the rabbits
that they made a remarkable discovery. They discovered that
the volunteer that fed the healthy group of rabbits, was
actually giving them more than just food. She was also
picking them up and stroking them !
This in itself is a remarkable phenomenon. No other factors
influenced these rabbits, except the loving touch of a
caring person.
If love could save these rabbits from cholesterol overdose
can you imagine what it would do for the world ?