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Human Brain and Relgions - Part 2 by Md. Mahmoodul Haque

Sacrificer           Md. Mahmoodul Haque
Sacrifice code       wfor0243
Sacrifice date       25 march 2009

Continued from:

  • http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/16098
  • [The prayers and rituals of all religions are but a means to reach
    such disciplines. One must remember that man needs to pray to God to
    bring peace to his soul but God at the same time does not need man's
    prayers or praise. Yet our religious teachers irrespective of faith
    insist upon it. Instead of seeking sanity, compassion, discipline and
    all the godliness our Lord wants us to abide by, the teachers of
    religion of all times were adamant upon enforcing these rituals
    emphasizing less on what they were designed to imply and the essence
    of the matter. The idea behind reading the holy Koran regularly is not
    to be blessed for simply reading it like a parrot but to apply the
    teachings it imparts on the life of the reader. Similarly saying five
    times prayer and going to the Friday prayers is to bring discipline
    and godliness through such meditation into ones life. All the five
    pillars of Islam contain momentous doctrine that regulates the
    lifestyle of the person who carries them out and inculcates the
    essence into ones daily life. Similar is the case of all other
    faiths.]

    Human Brain and Relgions - Part 2

    Md. Mahmoodul Haque

    Black Holes :

    Of late the discovery of active black holes in the galaxy cluster has
    lay waste to theories that such clusters are deposits of dormant black
    holes. This changes our view of galaxy clusters completely. For many
    years, conventional wisdom assumed an un-charging universe with no
    beginning, no end. It was assumed that the universe was static and
    unchanging. The finding of the ever-expending universe now challenges
    such conventional wisdom. In fact the galaxy cluster Abell 2014
    discovered last year some 700 million light years from earth has six
    times the number of galaxies with active cores that continue to absorb
    surrounding space material, greatly surprised researchers.


    No human being has ever seen a live dinosaur, yet we know so much
    about these long extinct animals. Although ancient Greek
    Mathematicians and astronomers had calculated the circumference of the
    Earth, charted the stars and figured the distance of the moon, the use
    of mathematics to measure the results of experiments materialized in
    the 16th century bringing scientific revolution to Europe. Thus the
    mysteries of the universe began to unfold and the brain began to
    conceive new knowledge from more and more research and findings.

    The Big Bang Theory

    In 1916 Albert Einstein came up with the essentials of the big bang
    theory, which is now the corner stones of cosmology that studies the
    origins of the universe and its time-space relationships. The Big Bang
    Theory holds that every thing in the known universe all time, space,
    energy and matter was once contained in a point of infinite density
    known as a Singularity. Scientists have till today left the "why" of
    that state of affairs to priests and religions scholars. The
    Singularity was ordained by a command known to Muslims as "Kunn" and
    to the Hindus as "Om". The Creator of the universe said "Happen!!" and
    the Big Bang happened and the universe was thus created. Scientists
    theorise the stage after the Big Bang to expand madly in size to a
    radius expressed in incomprehensibly large numbers.

    In 1871, Darwin advocated his Theory that man and anthropoid apes must
    at one point have evolved from the same progenitor and that along with
    monkeys man belong to the so-called primates or mammals and that
    mammals belong to the vertebrates, which in turn belong to the
    multi-cellular animals. This placed all religious doctrines about Adam
    and Eve into jeopardy.

    While some palaeontologists believe that pre-humans arose when
    tectonic forces formed the Rift Valley 5 million years ago they are
    yet to prove that chimps and Homo sapiens share a common ancestor. The
    revelations in June last year from the discovery of 7 million years
    old "Toumai" fossil in Chad has shaken up theories of human origin.
    Therefore the text books illustration of a neat progression of chimp
    to stoop-shouldered caveman to present day singer Rickey Martin is not
    as straight forward as claimed earlier. The theory that Homo habilis
    and their likes that walked upright but had a chimp like snout cannot
    be placed in a serial progression to present day man. Scientists now
    admit that the way to chart human evolution is not by a tree but a
    complex bush putting the current theory of human origin in jeopardy.

    Even Einstein's theory of Relativity has been questioned recently
    simply because the constant, speed of light, has been in recent times
    calculated to have slowed down considerably since the Big Bang. This
    has now upset most scientists of the modern times and has put the
    world in the same position when men thought that the sun rotated round
    the earth.

    The Rituals:

    The rituals were a means to an end and not the end itself. Yet most
    religious teacher of all faiths put more emphasis on these rituals
    than the reason behind their practice. What they fail to realize is
    that Lord the Almighty does not need to be praised five times a day or
    worshiped day and night in temples or church as our religious teachers
    wants us to believe. Religion which ever His one lac and twenty four
    thousand or so Messengers had brought to mankind since the creation of
    the Universe was to bring sanity, compassion, discipline and godliness
    to mankind and guide them to the path of truth and rightness.

    The prayers and rituals of all religions are but a means to reach such
    disciplines. One must remember that man needs to pray to God to bring
    peace to his soul but God at the same time does not need man's prayers
    or praise. Yet our religious teachers irrespective of faith insist
    upon it. Instead of seeking sanity, compassion, discipline and all the
    godliness our Lord wants us to abide by, the teachers of religion of
    all times were adamant upon enforcing these rituals emphasizing less
    on what they were designed to imply and the essence of the matter. The
    idea behind reading the holy Koran regularly is not to be blessed for
    simply reading it like a parrot but to apply the teachings it imparts
    on the life of the reader. Similarly saying five times prayer and
    going to the Friday prayers is to bring discipline and godliness
    through such meditation into ones life. All the five pillars of Islam
    contain momentous doctrine that regulates the lifestyle of the person
    who carries them out and inculcates the essence into ones daily life.
    Similar is the case of all other faiths.

    The Concept Of Life After Death

    When one talks about religion and faith the subject of death
    automatically comes into discussion. Death is supernatural. The
    termination of a massive energy that exists a moment ago and ceases to
    exist an instant later is beyond practical clarification other than
    the physical dead. The concept of life after death has been a source
    of mystery since the beginning of time. Human mind has examined every
    facet and come up with numerous possibilities. Historians recognize
    the Egyptians to be the first to believe a formal doctrine of future
    existence and based their conduct on such a doctrine.

    The concept was also found in the archaeological remains of the
    different ancient civilizations including Sumerians that inhabited
    Central America. Judaism believes in metempsychosis or transmigration
    of soul of human being or animal at death into a new body of same or
    different species. The doctrine of a future life after visible death
    was vividly recognized by the Aryan nations of the East in the shape
    either of an eternal and ceaseless whirl of births and deaths or of
    either absorption after prolonged probation in absolute infinity.

    Islam simplified everything and the scope for intercession in
    determining one's consequences after death were removed. Islam
    preaches that in the hereafter every human being would have to render
    an account of his actions on earth, and that the happiness or misery
    of individuals would depend upon the manner in which they had
    performed at the behest of the Creator.

    Supernatural:

    If one believes in death and the existence of the Supreme than one is
    apt to deem the existence of supernatural. According to all known
    religion ?World? does not mean only the human being. There are
    sentient being who control these aspects and powers of nature. They
    are called "Devatas" or deities, "Farastaas" or Angels. Some believe
    in them some do not for the mind needs to conceive before it starts to
    believe in its logical perspective. Some believe that death is simply
    the extinction of matter. Some believe that the massive energy of life
    cannot simply cease at death but must pass into another dimension. The
    human mind is still expanding with ever growing intelligence. We do
    not know more than one forth of the brain and its potentials. We are
    unable to understand a lot of things such as supernatural and their
    existence amongst us. Telepathy, mesmerising and many such bizarre
    things are still considered weird are under acute investigations that
    may yield result sooner than the next millennium. Just a few hundred
    years ago, in the 17th centuries, most Europeans thought that the four
    elements ? air, fire, water and earth created and defined all life.
    Once it was thought that the sun rotated around the earth. The brain
    accepted it as it saw the sun rise and soar across the sky and set on
    the opposite end but intelligence in time gathered through the acumen
    of knowledge proved the opposite.

    Paradise:

    The scenario of Paradise described in the Koran has to be understood
    allegorically or figuratively. Expressed on verse 7 of Sura
    Al-I-Imran, which states that it is He who has sent down the holy Book
    and in it are verses basic or fundamental, they are the foundation of
    the Book; others are allegorical or figurative. For objects like
    trees, rivers, and beautiful abode lies a deeper meaning and that the
    joy in Paradise is to consist of the beatific vision of the soul in
    the presence of the Almighty. During that period, the veil that
    divides man from his Creator will be rent and heavenly glory will be
    revealed to a mind free from corporeal obstacles. The companionship of
    Beauty and Grace, which is one of the highest pleasures of bodily
    life, will take a higher form consistent with the spiritual abode.

    This was not easily comprehensible at the time it was preached by our
    Holy Prophets. In order for ordinary people of the time to understand
    this, Paradise was described to be a garden filled with beautiful
    "houris" (companions), rivers of unsullied, incorruptible water or
    milk, unlimited fruits and luxuriant vegetation as described in verses
    15 to 38 of Sura Waqia. Each Messenger enlightened his followers the
    splendor of the Paradise, the description of which differed in
    substance but not in essence. Each description matched the development
    of the human brain of the time and that much which the knowledge of
    man could understand with the portrayal of the Heaven.

    The Four Holy Books Muslims Believe:

    Muslims believe in the four books, The Holy Koran, The Bible, the
    Tohid and the Giboor. This is simple because all the other religions
    were passed through generations by word of mouth, which could become
    distorted. Each narration was obviously tainted by the intelligence of
    each storyteller who was believed to be a holy man with authority on
    the religion he preached after God's messenger of the period had
    passed away. This is true because if five of us were asked to write
    down an incident which took place before us each of us will narrate
    the incident in our own ways based on our intelligence, our up
    bringing, our education back ground and our general concept and
    opinion of life around us. Similarly, as each generation passed down
    the doctrines and the story of a particular faith by word of mouth it
    was contaminated by individual narration's which coaxed each to give
    flavour of ones own liking to convince the listener and the believers.

    Let us take the case of the Hindu god of strength Ashoor. Ashoor was a
    good man, like the Greek god Hercules, Goliath and such gods of the
    Egyptian and other mythology. He was an amazing soldier with
    extra-ordinary strength, highly skilled in swords-man-ship and who
    could drive his chariot extremely fast. In those days battles were
    fought in the deserts or battlefields. Ashoor could drive his famous
    chariot so fast that it would raise large columns of dust behind him.
    So magnificent was his skill at chariot-man-ship that he soon became a
    legend of the time. Envied by on looking soldiers the exaggerated
    story went around that Ashoor drove his chariot so fast that instead
    of dust smoke would roll out of his wheels. A hundred years later the
    story went around that he drove his chariot so fast that smoke rose
    like clouds in the sky. Today Ashoor is depicted in all Hindu drawings
    as the god flying in the sky in his golden chariot. This was neither
    the fault of religion nor the fault of Ashoor; it was the fault of the
    narrators and their way of narrating the story, which was passed down
    through generations.

    Another example is the Hindu goddess Durga with 10 hands. Durga in all
    likelihood must have been a very good person with extraordinary
    qualities and who could do many things at the same time. For example,
    I have a sister who could cook, tidy up the house, send the children
    to school, and at the same time entertain guests. My mother would say
    that she has four hands instead of two. The narrator who passed down
    the story through generations about the goddess Durga explained to
    believers of that time saying that she had ten hands and would do all
    that is said about her. This was not the fault of the religion or
    Durga but that of the capability and the intelligence of the person
    who narrated the story generations after generations.

    The Best Religion Of The Creator

    Once I asked a renowned Muslim scholar if he thought Islam to be the
    best religion. He looked me in my eye and said that, indeed it is. But
    what he said immediately after will remain in my heart forever. He
    said that all known religions are the Creators religion including
    those who worshiped large trees, boulders, sun, fire, waterfalls and
    so on, are the Creators ways of guiding mankind to worship Him.
    However the religion He gave to the cavemen is different from the
    religion He gave mankind later in the human history. Although the
    essence and the message was the same but the manner it was conveyed to
    mankind differed from period to period. Messengers were sent to the
    world each time civilizations strayed from the path of the good and
    stumbled into the wrong causing much harm to the civilization of that
    period.

    He said each religion was a path to the Creator and each Messenger was
    sent to Shepherd mankind to the path that led to Him. Each religion
    without any exception conveyed the same message, the same doctrine and
    the same philosophy as they came at different stages of the human
    history. What differed were the period and the rituals that the people
    of the period and time adopted for themselves and the generations to
    follow.

    He went on to elaborate that if hypothetically the Creator was at
    Dhaka and one desired to go there from Chittagong, he would need to
    ask some one to show him the right direction. If the period was of
    that of pre history and the whole area was full of thick jungle and
    wild animals, the path he would be shown by the Messengers of the
    Creator would be the one which is safe and without danger. If he
    strayed from that acknowledged path shown by the messenger then he
    could encounter wild animals, which could kill him, or be bitten by
    poisonous snakes, or get drowned in quicksand and numerous such harm
    could plague him. To reach his destination safely he has to abide all
    the rules and the laws of the jungle sat forth to him by his guide.

    If the period was of mid history when forests were cut and villages
    had grown, he would be shown the village road, the trail over the
    meadows, path where streams are narrowest to cross, or earth track
    through the paddy fields that is safe and without danger. If he strays
    he could come across an impassable stream, a treacherous country
    trail, an angry farmer, a heated bull and so many danger on a village
    road. If the period were of modern times he would be shown the best
    Motorway. If he strays he could end up on the wrong place or get stuck
    by traffic jam, could roll down the edge of the road, fall off a
    broken bridge and so many kinds of mishap. He has to abide by the
    rules of the Highway or end up getting himself killed for driving on
    the wrong side of the road.

    Each messenger at different period of evolution would guide his
    followers through the safe path of that era revealed to him by the
    Creator. The ultimate destination was to reach the Lord. Yet from the
    cavemen in the jungle to the modern man on the highway, each cannot
    but follow the set rules and laws in order to reach ones destination.
    The point here is that God had sent messengers at different periods to
    guide mankind through the path of truth and rightness. It is the
    period, the teaching method and examples given to explain the message
    that was appropriate for that period that is what is different.
    Because of the different eras each religion had its rituals unique to
    that period and appropriate for the society at large.

    Best From Each Religion:

    Now the next question arises whether it would be correct to take a
    portion from each religion and follow the path to the Creator. Just as
    it is not possible for the Cave man to change his path and follow the
    rules of the motorway of the present age it would be grossly incorrect
    to jump lanes and try to reach the Creator. Many claim that they
    believe in the Creator and pick bits and pieces from a number of
    faiths at ones sweet will and convenience and say that he/she is very
    religious. This is not possible and one must abide by all the rules,
    laws, practices and teachings of that particular faith that one
    believes in and which unscrupulous holy men have not tainted. However,
    it is very clear that whichever path one decides to takes to reach the
    Creator in life, one has to stick to all the rules, laws and practices
    of that path only.

    If one is a Hindu, one should follow the path of the Hindu preaching.
    If one is a Christian, that of the teachings of the Bible, the
    Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and all the religions in their original form
    that was sent to the earth for mankind would lead to the Creator. But
    how many religions exist on earth that is not distorted or have become
    besmirched.

    To be Continued........

    Md.Mahmoodul Haque is a retired tea-planter from Sri Mangal, and is
    now a businessman based in Dhaka
    He can be reached at news@bangladesherdak.net


    ***


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