Saturday, December 26, 2015


195. Mkadk’s progress

There has been some recent progress. It started on 2-3 of Dec 2015.

There are always ups and down in this journey. Aridity and bliss alternate with each other, till one reaches the final stage, when one becomes connected with God all the time. Then these cycles end, and there is peace and contentment constantly. Now all my sessions are good, full of bliss. In 4/15 and 5/15, I had asked BBJ to pray for me, that I should get my two goals, ‘Green Allah, and a supernatural spiritual event ‘. Those have not occurred. The door to God is still closed as ever. It will open at age 78, or earlier, as promised by QA. BBJ said he cannot help me, nobody can, God wants it that way, but he can pray that my path may be made easier ( 5/15). He asked RQ to raise his hands and pray with him. Both prayed for me.  I think God granted their prayer. My path has become easier

This easing of path, if true, and if it continues, is a great milestone achieved. My path has been made tremendously easy. It is due to the predictability of the bliss during my morning session. Another factor is that I have finally started believing that I will get my goal in less than five years. Although I am terribly impatient and don’t want to wait. I would rather die today without finding God, than to wait for 5 years. But it is still better than never finding God at all. Why this waiting? I think it is unjust. I constantly fight with God about it. I want to understand the reason behind it.

Meditation period has increased. From 4 hours to 5 hours every day. Now I have an evening one hour book reading session

Tears have increased; from one time a day to 2 times a day. Bliss, in the morning session has increased.


SK (the chief disciple of QA) is going to sing my five Urdu poems. He had been a professional wandering singer, so he knows better.  QA also listened to my poems. His remark was that they reminded him of old time when similar verses (of love and separation from God) used to erupt from his heart. Now, off course, he is all the time connected with God.

He must be close to eighty  at this time.

I had written a letter to QA, and put it under the sign of Allah, in my meditation room. I wrote it on 2/15/13. It consisted of 2 questions. I had completely forgotten it. The other day I found the paper and was amazed that both questions have been answered. The two questions were:

When will I find God?

Is it true, or just my imagination, that a receiver has been installed in my head? If any of the great spirits, present in this room want to answer these questions, they are welcome

The second question was answered by Shah Sahib in 2014 or 2013. RQ asked him this question on my behalf. He said “it is true. Receiver has been installed. To further improve it depends upon him”.

The second question was answered by QA in 5/2015 and again in 6/15, once through SK and once by wireless communication directly to RQ. How many persons in the whole world are lucky enough to be told, years in advance, that they are in the notice of God and have been accepted for the greatest honor that a human being can get in this life; an honor granted not by any human being but by God Himself. Just the thought of the Master looking at me fills me with awe and gratitude. I want to share it with the whole world. I want to shout on rooftop “o’ people of this world, I have been selected by God! Me, mkadk. And God approved its disclosure to me through QA. QA would have never told RQ, without God’s permission. He could not have been given this knowledge by God, if God did not want it. Why did God want me to know? To comfort me, what else? Seeing my anguish he took pity on me. He could not grant me the reward now (instead of age 78), because I am not ready. I don’t have the capacity to handle it. Remember, my own poem (blog 61, The Riddle): “Trained according to capacity and need”. This episode clearly shows that God is personal ( as a matter of fact He is both personal and impersonal, as I have previously discussed it in blog 114): unchanging God and His kinetic energy))

It is most amazing that my letter with the two questions has been answered.

What a relief? It also almost guarantees that I will live till that time (2020 or earlier). Although QA was careful to state that I will get my goal only if I live that long. He also said that the desire to live has gone in him (mkadk). However I am certain that God won’t let me die without rewarding me. That is how God works. Effort must be rewarded. His justice absolutely demands it.

Living till 2020 is not a joy for me. I would rather die today, unfulfilled. This is because I don’t want to live away from God for almost five years. Pain and anguish has decreased now, as compared to a year ago.

I also think it is not fair that I have never been given even one bit of spiritual reward for 16 years. No spiritual event. Although others have been like me; Brother Lawrence did not get even a bit of reward for 10 years, Philip John (Searcher from England, see blog 64) for over 25 years. But I am not sure they never saw a spiritual supernatural event in others. Philip John met many Qalandars in the desert of Sindh; he may have seen a spiritual event first hand while he was with them.

Brother Lawrence had written at one place that God liked his talk. If he forgot to talk to Him for any length of time, He gently reminded him and drew his attention( blog 18). Pleasant sensations occurred in him, so pleasant that he was embarrassed to mention them. Now, for the last 3 weeks when in the evening I sit on a sofa to read a spiritual book and get into the spiritual mood, pleasant sensation develop on the face and last till the end of one hour session. This instant reward is something new. I have been given a spark of the fire which raged in Brother Lawrence.

 

If you are curious about the Green Allah, you deserve an explanation.  My wish is that whenever I should close my eyes and think of God, I should be able to see the Green Allah sign , as it is written on a piece of paper and hanging on a wall in my meditation room. I made it myself, and MB and I colored it green and sprinkled glitter on it. The sign should appear on the back of upper eyelids, as in a dream, and not back in brain, as one sees things in imagination. I have never been able to do it, even for one second. All thoughts should be focused on God at that time( to prevent thoughts from wandering, something is required in the field of vision ), and I should forget passage of time. I should be neither asleep nor unconscious.

My second desire, to experience a supernatural spiritual event, is important to me. I want to be touched by this limitless, mysterious, God’s spiritual system. Only then would I believe it. If QA would merely contact me directly, over a distance of thousands of miles, I would be satisfied. He has the power to do so. He has sent instructions to RQ and SK many times by imprinting the words in their brains. I requested him but he denied my request.  Shahab received a letter from Germany. That was an example of a supernatural spiritual event (Blog 65). No doubts are left in an open-minded person’s  mind after such an event.

Saturday, December 19, 2015


194. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part three

We were discussing Sufism ( mysticism)

 

 

He knew that piety and restraint from passion is necessary, but it was also required to devote with total ardor to God. This could only be achieved by avoiding fame and fortune and fleeing from attachments. He reflected on his intentions on his public teachings, and saw that it was not directed purely to God, but more towards fame and prestige. He realized that he had to give up his post and leave Bagdad.

An intense period of vacillation ensued. One day he would firmly resolve to leave Bagdad and next day cancel his decision. Worldly desires and path towards God were pulling him in opposite directions. This lasted for six months

God intervened!

A lock was put on his tongue. He could not speak a single world. He also became sad. His appetite and digestion went away. There was great weakening of his powers.

‘In powerlessness I had recourse to God. I was answered by Him’

‘He made it easy for my heart to turn away from fame, family, children and associates’. He announced that he was leaving for Mecca (for Hajj?). Although in actuality he was going to Syria. This was a precaution from schemes of trouble makers.

 

“I departed from Bagdad after I had distributed what wealth I had, laying by only the amount needed for my support and the sustenance of my children…… I resided in Damascus for nearly two years. My only occupation was seclusion, spiritual exercise to purify my soul…..cleansing my heart for the remembrance of God, in the way I had learned from the writing of sufis…..mounting to the minaret of a mosque for the whole day and shutting myself in……Then I travelled from Damascus to Jerusalem, where I would go daily into the Dome of the Rock and shut myself in.”

An inner urge guided him to go to Mecca and Medina and perform Hajj. Which he did.

He had to come back to his native land for certain important matters. But he maintained solitude. He tried to keep his heart empty for remembrance of God. But worldly concerns and needs made it impossible to fully achieve this state. He had blessed ecstasy only intermittently. He remained in this condition for ten years.

Things impossible to enumerate were disclosed to him.

Many Islamic mystics like Shahab ( blog 32,94. Also see note 4 below) have considered mysticism inferior to Shariat. But not Ghazali:

 

“ this much I shall mention, that profit may be derived from it: I know with certainty that the sufis are those that uniquely follow the way to God, their mode of life is the best of all, their way the most direct of ways , and their ethics the purest.”

“…….all their (sufis) motions are learned from the light of the niche of prophecy. And beyond the light of prophecy there is no light on earth from which illumination can be obtained.”

“From the very beginning of the Way revelations and visions start…. so that , even when awake, the sufis see the angels and the spirits of the prophets and hear voices coming from them……eventually to states beyond the narrow range of words”

He wanted to come out of seclusion to reform others. He had found out that the faith of some men was weak. He wanted to guide them aright and to deliver them from peril.

He was on the horns of a dilemma: seclusion and devote all the time to God or to come out of religious retirement and guide others by lectures and books.

God intervened!

Sultan ordered him to return to Nishapur and face the threat of this tepidity in Muslims. Thus the decision was taken out of his hands. In addition to that, certain Godly men had many recurrent dreams attesting that this move of his would be a source of good and a right procedure, and it had been decreed by God ……

He was uniquely qualified for this task due to his encyclopedic knowledge of Islam, and philosophy and being an authentic sufi. He wrote many books.

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, born 980 A.D.) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd, born 1126 A.D.) are the two most famous Muslim Philosophers of Middle Ages. In philosophy, they both followed Aristotle (Pupil of Plato, born in 384 B.C.), and not Plato. Ghazali exposed, what he thought, were the weaknesses in the arguments of both of them, and also that of Al Farabi (born 870? A.D.). He wrote a book called Destruction of the philosophers. Averroes replied by a book Destruction of the Destruction.

 

He followed Shariat and his mysticism was traditional Islamic mysticism. He advocated orthodox religious views. He did not bring anything new.

 

This mote considers him a great man, because when the time for sacrifice came he rose to the occasion and sacrificed, by quitting the world, for God. He realized God without any teacher. Books were his teacher. This mote also has no guide; books have been my guide. But I did not realize God, because I did not possess the courage to leave world.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 (1) ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by Graham

(2) ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 (3) My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

(1)   From my blog 94:“I am simply amazed that how Mr. Shahab considered it inferior to shariat. The bliss of God’s touch on one’s face is ineffable. Words cannot describe it. One touch is greater than thousand ritualistic prostrations. All great saints, like St Teresa of Avilla, and Sri Ramakrishna have said the same thing.”

 

Friday, December 11, 2015


193. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part two

 

We were discussing sense-data

 

What if the dream state was real and ordinary state was unreal like a dream?

He had heard that Sufis could attain states which were different from normal wakefulness and sleep.  There was a hadith,  “Men are asleep: then after they die they awake.” And will be told, according to Quran, ‘But We have removed from you your veil and today your sight is keen’ (50:21-22)

Ghazali struggled for two months with this dilemma. On one side was the surety of sense-data and self-evident truths and on the other side arguments against them which made one doubt them. He could not surmount this impasse.

Then, God in His great mercy guided him and illumination came to him.

 

At this point, this mote wants to digress and want to site two pertinent examples of two great philosophers.

Remember Ghazali doubting the sense-data. Descartes(born 1596 A.D.) is considered the founder of modern philosophy (3). He went through the same thought process in 17th century which Ghazali had gone through earlier, namely to doubt everything (Cartesian doubt). He said to himself, ‘here, I am sitting in my armchair by the fire place. But I have imagined myself sitting like this while I was in bed. I have had hallucinations and dreams which appeared real to me, but were false. However, although sense-data can be doubted but geometrical and arithmetical realities are certain’. As he further reflected on this point he came to question mathematical beliefs also. He considered, ‘what if a powerful demon or God was misleading me. God would not do such a thing but an evil demon might. He could make me believe in things where none were present’

“there remains, however, something that I cannot doubt. No demon, however cunning, could deceive me if I did not exist. I may have no body: this might be an illusion. But thought is different.”

‘I cannot think unless I exist.’

“ I think therefore I am”

This phrase has become immortal over centuries!

It was his first truth, which he could accept without scruple.

 

Plato, ( born 428-7 B.C.) discussed what is real and what is an illusion in his famous simile of the cave.

 

“Behold! Human being living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards light……., and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them……Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and prisoners there is a raised way……there is a wall in front. Between the wall and themselves there is nothing; all that they see are shadows of themselves, and objects behind them, cast on the wall by the light of the fire behind them. Inevitably they regard these shadows as real, and have no notion of the objects to which they are due. At last some man succeeds in escaping from the cave to the light of the sun, for the first time he sees real things, and becomes aware that he had hitherto been deceived by shadows.”

If he is a philosopher he goes back to the cave to tell others that are looking at shadows. Nobody believes him.

 

Philosophy. Next Ghazali turned his attention to philosophy. “God, most high, gave me an insight in the farthest reaches of philosophy in less than two years.”There were three main divisions:

1.       Most ancient philosophers: they did not believe in God. They alleged that the world had existed from eternity as it is, and not by reason of a Maker. Modern scientist and philosophers, like Einstein and Bertrand Russell, would fall in this category, except their belief in Darwin’s theory of evolution.

2.       Second category were the naturalists. They believed in God, but did not believe in afterlife. This mote, as a young man, belonged to this group.

3.       Third group of philosophers believed in a Creator, and afterlife. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle belonged to this category. This mote, a secular humanist and novice mystic, belongs to this group. They differed from devout religious in several aspects. Ghazali noted twenty differences from ordinary Muslims, especially three questions, and wrote a book (The incoherence )to refute their beliefs. In general, the philosophers of his time, were unbelievers in religion, they were innovators, and practiced mathematical and physical sciences. They also followed logic and syllogism.

Ghazali spent a lot of energy and effort in discussing these topics in his spiritual autobiography. This mote has no intention of doing it because it is unnecessary and outdated for present times. Suffice is to say that Ghazali was satisfied.

Sufism. Finally he planned to learn the way of sufis. It took him eleven years. First he read many books written by great mystics. It soon became evident to him that theoretical knowledge is not sufficient, he had to practice mysticism. Just like knowing the definition of drunkenness is different than actually being drunk.

 

To be continued

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2) ‘Kashaf ul- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

(1)    My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “ A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

 

Friday, December 4, 2015



192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy ProphetPBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 

 

 

 

192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy ProphetPBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 

 

 

 

Friday, August 21, 2015


191. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part Seven

We were discussing that how did Christianity grow from a few demoralized, persecuted, leaderless followers to the largest religion in the world?

The answer is, because Jesus repeatedly appeared to his followers after his death, and even to one of his  enemies, like Saul (St. Paul). There is nothing more convincing to any person than a visit, while one is awake and in full senses, than a visit and talk with a dead person whom one knew well when that person was alive. All doubts vanish, never to appear again. Even threat of painful death does not make one renege. It is no wonder that almost all of his 12 disciples (and others like Stephens and St. Paul), except John and perhaps one other (who were not killed), stood steadfast when they were violently executed. Some were beheaded; others were crucified, or stoned to death or pierced by pine needles or arrows.

That is why his death and resurrection were so important to God’s plan

Now, after I have discussed the four aspects of his life: his message, his miracles, his death, and his resurrection, what do I conclude?

Power of God was with him. Nobody before and nobody after him had that much power!

We are forced to arrive at that conclusion by the richness of the above mentioned four aspects and by the fact that the fruit of his labor resulted in the largest single creed which humanity has adopted. A tree is recognized by its fruit.

 

Nonetheless my rational mind cannot accept certain aspects of the popular and fundamental beliefs of Christianity. These are listed below. 

1.      Jesus was the Son of god

2.      Three gods or one God

3.      Man is made in the imitation of God

4.      Redemption of sins by Jesus

 

God is fundamentally different from human beings. Let me repeat what I wrote before ( blog 113):

. God can be conceptualized as energy, or something even more subtle than energy, with a supermind. You can raise an objection that how can energy have a mind. We already know it can happen. Human brain is an example. It is made, mainly, of nerve cells. These cells have the power to think. Thoughts arise from certain nerve cells in the brain. I can communicate with them and they with me. When I address my brain cells and say “how are you doing?” I am certain that some brain cells have received the message, otherwise I would not be conscious of it. The message had to be received and interpreted by brain cells to come to my consciousness. The cells may reply “we are fine”. Again, to come to my consciousness, some brain cells must have formed the thought and sent it to me. Either the same or some other brain cells interpreted the thought. These cells communicate with each other instantaneously, at the speed of light (we know the speed, because all messages are carried by electrons, which travel at the speed of light). If our brain, a collection of billions of cells, made of atoms, and atoms made of subatomic particles, such as electrons and protons and neutrons, can have thoughts of pain, pleasure, compassion, jealousy, and anger, why not God, a collection of pure energy, have a mind?

 

Such a limitless mass of subtle energy cannot have sons and daughters like humans have. It is like saying that electricity has sons and daughters and husbands and wives. There cannot be three Gods; the Father, the son and the Holy spirit. Holy spirit is the kinetic energy of unchangeable God. The two cannot be separated, like milk and its whiteness, the fire and its ability to burn. Let us see what St. Paul had to say in New Testament:

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6).

Man is a creation of the Creator. It is not made in the image of God or in imitation of God. What has limitless mass of energy in common with a biped carbon based animal?

This mote’s concept of Jesus does not include the belief that he came to redeem our sins. He came to show us a path through his message and through the example of his noble death and resurrection.

I did not find any message of Redemption in the gospel of Mark. At any rate, to think that we are exculpated from evil deeds, because Jesus Christ has taken our sins and had to sacrifice his life for our sins, is not rational . This notion is not worth serious consideration.

And anyway what are the sins of human beings for which they are going to be punished in hell, by being burnt alive by fire for centuries if not forever?

All our acts, good or bad, are the result of three factors, or rather two factors; intention, nature and nurture. One is the result of one’s nature, which is produced by one’s genes, which one gets, half from one’s mother and half from one’s father. The other part of a person is constructed by where one is nurtured, or where one grows up. The environments; parents, teachers, peers, culture, etc. Neither in nature nor in nurture  one had any control.  A just God is not going to punish us for our sins, because our intention was mostly derived from factors which were not in our control  (See blog 54).

 As far hell is concerned I have discussed it in blog 119 (1). Here are some excerpts:

 

“Years ago (probably twenty-five), somebody casually remarked, “There is no hell, just heaven. God is kind and merciful; therefore, there cannot be a hell”. That remark gnawed on my ( this mote ) mind for years. The more I thought, the more I was convinced that there cannot be hell”……….

….“Isn’t it true that you have a son who is causing you great suffering because he drinks and………”(Sri Yogananda talking)

The man’s jaw dropped “How did you know? Yes, this has been the greatest sorrow of my life”

“Then may I make a suggestion”

“Yes”. The man was eager for a solution.

“All right take him out for a walk in the hills, and have two trusted friends waiting there for you. They should pounce upon him and bind him. Then let them build a huge roaring fire. Let them throw your son in the fire”

The man was flabbergasted. “Are you mad to make such a suggestion?”

“Exactly so! Yet you ascribe such behavior to God, who created you and instilled in you that love for your child. How dare you attribute to Him feelings so callous and punitive that He will take all of His children that have done wrong and cast them in eternal flames?”  

 

A final remark to this seven blog series : All systems fail at the altar of human self-interest. Whether it is any religion or ideology, such as communism. Only certain individuals surmount this hurdle through selflessness.
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(1) ‘Finding the joy within you, by  Sri Daya Mata’                                                      

Friday, August 14, 2015


190. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part Six





We were discussing what Data Sahib wrote in his 11th century  book (blog 104)



 “In a village Salang, in Ferghana (now Uzbekistan) I went to see a sage. The sage said “my son, you have been in my notice from such and such date” when I thought about the date, that was the date and year of my first day on the journey towards God. An old lady, Fatima, lived with him. He said, “Fatima, bring something to honor this durvesh” she brought a platter of fresh grapes, although this was not the season for grapes. There were also fresh dates in that platter, whereas one did not have dates in Ferghana”.



Miracle of Pawhari Baba, as mentioned in blog 130.

Yashoda Mai, the guru of Krishnaparem, once met the great saint Pawhari Baba when she was a fifteen year old girl. He lived in a cave. Once, it was announced that he was going to give bhandara (feeding, distribution of a vessel of foodstuff, and clothes to the sadhus), the next day.  An intrigued Mai, disguised herself as a boy, and stood in the line of sadhus. Everybody was getting a vessel of food and a dhoti (garment covering the lower half of the body). When her turn came, she just plunged head-on in the cave.

“Believe it or not, Baba,” she said, “I saw something absolutely incredible: It was just a tiny cave with no other exit. And there were neither vessels nor any dhotis___not a vestige! The narrow space inside the cave was quite empty!”    



Death. Three features of his( Jesus) last ordeal are extremely important; foreknowledge, fear of the oncoming torture, and choosing a painful death. Jesus knew about the soon approaching, greatest, single challenge, of his short life; betrayal, trial, torture and death, and he chose a painful death. Let me furnish the evidence of his foreknowledge. I will restrict myself to the gospel of Mark only, because it is the earliest.

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ( Mark 8;31)

 “because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”( 9:31)

33 saying, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles.( 10:33)



It will make anyone doubly brave if he/she accepts the oncoming terrible death knowingly!



If one was uncaring or did not have the capacity of fear or his body was immune to pain, then it is easy to face these mishaps. But Jesus was not like that. His human nature is manifest by the following account:

“and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.””(14:33-34)

At this point he even asked God to excuse him, if possible. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”(14:36) 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(14:38)

He chose an extremely painful , in contrast to painless, death. Suicide bombers choose a painless death. Socrates chose a painless death. Jesus could have melted that night in wilderness of Palestine. But he did not. He chose first the flogging , mocking, and later the crucifixion. Death by crucifixion is a long drawn out affair. The victim suffers from pain from nails going through the flesh,, thirst from bleeding, and difficulty in breathing because chest cannot expand efficiently.

Jesus Christ faced all this with unflinching bravery and stoicism.


Resurrection. At the time of the death of Jesus there were probably no more than a thousand of his followers. They must have been very discouraged and depressed by his death. Their leader had been ignominiously killed. He was tortured, mocked, made to carry his cross, himself, in the streets, and then for almost six hours he hung on the cross. In order to escape arrest his close disciples had ran away in the night when he was captured.

The disciples believed he was the Messiah. They had witnessed his awe inspiring miracles with their own eyes. If they expected God to intervene to save Jesus from death, nothing of that sort happened. There was no thunderous voice from the clouds, no lightning struck the Roman soldiers. There was no earthquake, no tsunami, and no hurricane. No divine intervention. Jesus simply died. He did not return physically, as promised.

Ask yourself this question. How did Christianity grow from a few demoralized, persecuted, leaderless followers to the largest religion in the world?

To be continued

Friday, August 7, 2015


189. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part five

 

We were discussing hearing of voices arising from an unknown source:

In blog 124, I described a yogi, whose son disappeared while climbing from a rope, but the boy’s voice could be heard. Dozens of people watched this event:

Right before the spectator’s eyes the boy started vanishing. Soon he disappeared. Now there was only the rope!

“Ram, where are you”

From a distance the child answered “Back to earth”

The sadhu started pulling down and winding the rope

The boy’s voice came from close, “Let me help you”

 

Forces of evil can also display this power. Voices would come from a haunted house (blog 109):

 

“One night it was raining heavily, somebody rang a bicycle bell, and yelled ‘postman! Telegram for you’ I opened the door. A uniformed postman was outside. When I extended my hand, instead of the postman there was a human skeleton, laughing, its upper and lower teeth striking each other. I ran inside and closed the door. There was sound of nails scratching the door for few minutes. Sometimes red blood would come from the taps. Sometimes I would hear the sounds of horses running outside.

                    All were not illusions and hallucinations, because each morning before my 2 servants would come from their quarters, I would gather all the stones, bricks, and bones, from the room and dump them outside in the pond, so that they should not know what was happening. The stones would be dry, despite heavy rain outside. My obstinate nature prevented me from leaving. I relied on verses of Holy Quran for protection from evil forces. The verses had great power. One night I played my gramophone. Instead of the singer’s voice, screeching, terrifying screams or a woman’s sobbing came out. I wrote a famous verse of Quran, in Arabic, on a piece of paper and put the paper on the record. Screams stopped and singer’s voice came. I removed the paper, and the terrifying screams resumed”.

 

1.      Jesus appeared to walk on water. His feet may have been in air, inches above the surface of water.  It was a dark windy night. St Teresa of Avila levitated (blog 76). The sadhu in India suspended his daughter in air ( blog 123):

The girl came forwards. She was in a dirty, flimsy dress. Her hair was tied up in a rag. She was no more than ten feet from the audience. He took out a stick; about ten feet long, and let it stand behind her. He passed his hand over her body and pressed her forehead with her fingers, all the time reciting some mantras.

After about ten minutes, he touched the middle of her back with the end of the stick, while he swept her up with the other hand. She lay on the point of the stick about five feet above the ground!

He recited some more mantras and then abruptly removed the stick from underneath the girl. The girl was now suspended in the air without any support!

Indra’s husband passed his hand under her to make sure that there was no support. Two other persons also investigated without touching the girl, but there was no trickery.

2.      Jesus fed five thousand people with small amount of food.  This means that either he created food from air or people felt filled with very small amount of food. Both types of miracles have been performed by mystics. Sri Ramakrishna, the great saint, was in Calcutta with his three companions. They were all hungry. “The Master asked me to buy some sweets from a nearby market…….I bought chanar murki. The Master took the packet of sweets from my hand and joyfully ate them all. The Master knew that three of us were hungry, but without sharing any sweets he had eaten everything. It was amazing though that as soon he showed his satisfaction, our own stomachs felt full. We looked at each other silently. Then the Master smiled …………and later three of us discussed among ourselves what had happened and realized that it was a miracle (1).

Food was created out of thin air by Hazrat, a disembodied entity, controlled by Afzal Khan (blog 127):

Next, Afzal asked for everybody to order any drink. The agitated owner of the watch ordered whisky, while everybody else ordered a soft drink. Hazrat soon made all the drinks materialize out of thin air in sealed containers!

Afzal offered to provide sumptuous lunch for everybody.

Soon gold plates with delicious dishes of food appeared.

After everybody had eaten, the guests started leaving. Behind, they heard tremendous noise of dishes being taken away. Soon all food and platters were gone. 

 

Letters from ‘Ninety’ would materialize out of thin air, as narrated by Shahab (blog 66)

Indra Devi transformed sandy soil into sweets (blog 88)

Data Gunj Bakhash wrote (blog 104):

 

To be continued

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(1). ‘Ramakrishna as we saw him’. Edited and translated by Swami Chetananda. Account by Swami Abhedananda, Page 221