Search for the "Truth"
Is truth “one” or does everyone have their own versions? All our lives we have been educated with other’s knowledge – be it in families, schools, colleges, friends, religious scriptures, religious speakers, books or movies. My advice - take whatever suits you, but, search for your own truth. Hence, away from the organized religions, indoctrinations, away from the faith and beliefs of others, faith of my community, faith of my family, faith of my religion, faith of my nation - let us embark on our personal voyage, unrestrained by history, tradition, religion and relationship - for the critical realisation. Let us not follow someone else's route, let us create our own path, our own answers, our own Reality, our own Truth.
As we voyage together in the search of the existential issues, please keep your antennae on and keep questioning as we find answers - different for each of us.
What are the paths to take to reach the Truth? Let us look at these four -Science, Religion, anti-religion, Atheism.
Science (latin : to know)
is an instrument to find out the mysteries of existence, through its varied division of knowledge : physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography etc. Technology is only a child of science and is an intelligent manipulations of the law of nature and existence to create tools. The relative level of knowledge is ever increasing and keeps on changing and we cannot just depend on the present level of its development to base our findings. Some examples:
• Astronomers averred that the earth was flat and that the sun moved around the earth
• In the end of the nineteenth century, physicist said that all that had to be discovered about physics had been achieved and if there are changes, they would be at the level of the fourth decimall. Soon, Heisenberg and others came along and completely changed the concepts of traditional physics with quantum physics.
• Twenty years back, doctors and scientists maintained that that there was no connection between disease and the mind. Now doctors says that most diseases in the body are psychosomatic (due to the mind).
Therefore knowledge should be based not on the level of present science, but on logic and reasoning using the following methods - direct perception, inference, comparison, testimony, analogy, implication, resemblance, negation, possibility, tradition, actions, exemption and intelligence. While organized religions use testimony, tradition and analogy in the main, we need to use all the processes with more stress on intelligence and possibilities.
• Astronomers averred that the earth was flat and that the sun moved around the earth
• In the end of the nineteenth century, physicist said that all that had to be discovered about physics had been achieved and if there are changes, they would be at the level of the fourth decimall. Soon, Heisenberg and others came along and completely changed the concepts of traditional physics with quantum physics.
• Twenty years back, doctors and scientists maintained that that there was no connection between disease and the mind. Now doctors says that most diseases in the body are psychosomatic (due to the mind).
Therefore knowledge should be based not on the level of present science, but on logic and reasoning using the following methods - direct perception, inference, comparison, testimony, analogy, implication, resemblance, negation, possibility, tradition, actions, exemption and intelligence. While organized religions use testimony, tradition and analogy in the main, we need to use all the processes with more stress on intelligence and possibilities.
Science is but a tool.
Religion
This group accepts all practices with blind faith, superstition and everything as an act of God. Mostly dwait (dualists), think that there is a God outside themselves, looking at the welfare of the world. Followers of religion feel that their goal is to propagate and propitiate Him, his messenger and his teachings. They do not just owe allegiance to their faith in God - but to their version of God, their version of the message book, their messenger and their tenets.
Religion
This group accepts all practices with blind faith, superstition and everything as an act of God. Mostly dwait (dualists), think that there is a God outside themselves, looking at the welfare of the world. Followers of religion feel that their goal is to propagate and propitiate Him, his messenger and his teachings. They do not just owe allegiance to their faith in God - but to their version of God, their version of the message book, their messenger and their tenets.
On a day-to-day basis, there is tremendous friction and stress due to the differences between various groups and sub groups based on religion, castes and sects. History is replete with the carnage and destruction that this religion driven group has created - some of the major death figure in recorded history (more on http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html )
a) 11.5 million deaths in the Thirty year Religious war from 1618-1648
b) 4 million deaths in the French Religious War from 1562-1598
c) 9 million deaths in the Christian crusades in a hundred years from 1095
d) Millions of deaths in the clash of civilisation and religions that started with the Palestine problem and continues to dominate headlines all over the world.
a) 11.5 million deaths in the Thirty year Religious war from 1618-1648
b) 4 million deaths in the French Religious War from 1562-1598
c) 9 million deaths in the Christian crusades in a hundred years from 1095
d) Millions of deaths in the clash of civilisation and religions that started with the Palestine problem and continues to dominate headlines all over the world.
e) Lakhs of riots due to religions
This group has spawned all kinds of fanatics, hate-mongers, frauds and charlatans, as their tool of propagation is faith, belief and blind support, rather than science and logic. Instead of using Religion as a search for Truth, as it set out to do, it has resorted to the most stupid, extreme and unthinking behaviour patterns. Depending on emotions rather than intellect.
Anti – religious, Left, Liberals Group
On the other extreme is a small minority group, in a way created out of a reaction to the religious group. Symbolised by Karl Marx "Religion is the opium of the masses". This group is far more vocal and visible - using modernism, progress, equality and liberty as its icons. This group is equally stupid, ignorant and simplistic, because it understand neither the knowledge of all that has been done for ages, nor the relationship between past, present and future. It just feeds on the fault lines and negative components of the religious group, denouncing all practices as superstitions and bullshit.
On the other extreme is a small minority group, in a way created out of a reaction to the religious group. Symbolised by Karl Marx "Religion is the opium of the masses". This group is far more vocal and visible - using modernism, progress, equality and liberty as its icons. This group is equally stupid, ignorant and simplistic, because it understand neither the knowledge of all that has been done for ages, nor the relationship between past, present and future. It just feeds on the fault lines and negative components of the religious group, denouncing all practices as superstitions and bullshit.
Agnostics and atheists
They are a no-no section with no ideas or path, as of now.
My attempt
In my own small humble way, some of the key elements that I am trying to consciously inculcate in our journey together are
1. Avoiding using any religious terms like GOD, DIVINE or GURU.
2. Explaining religion, mysticism and its symbolisms using science, quantum physics, logic and rational thinking.
3. Getting the intellectual, rational thinking and logic to dictate our response to ingrained religious behaviour and symbolism - instead of emotional.
4. For centuries, we have had a division between science and religion, am trying to bridge the same.
5. Pointing out the inadequacies of present science and guiding the future research.
6. Not owing any allegiance to any particular religion or thought process, but searching for the scientific, logical response to my questions across all knowledge that I can access.So, from tomorrow – let the odyssey begin
In my own small humble way, some of the key elements that I am trying to consciously inculcate in our journey together are
1. Avoiding using any religious terms like GOD, DIVINE or GURU.
2. Explaining religion, mysticism and its symbolisms using science, quantum physics, logic and rational thinking.
3. Getting the intellectual, rational thinking and logic to dictate our response to ingrained religious behaviour and symbolism - instead of emotional.
4. For centuries, we have had a division between science and religion, am trying to bridge the same.
5. Pointing out the inadequacies of present science and guiding the future research.
6. Not owing any allegiance to any particular religion or thought process, but searching for the scientific, logical response to my questions across all knowledge that I can access.So, from tomorrow – let the odyssey begin
I'm an atheist, and I look at God and religion in a different way
ReplyDeleteI see those people who were named Gods as people with some unique skills which helped then get the trust of other humans. They could attract them with their special skills. What I try to do is understand what good qualities gave then that position and what science they used to win faith of the masses. All those miracles which are written in the mythology could either be exaggerations or mind tricks played by these special Humans.
However it has to be accepted that they had special skills, but not Alien, skills which any human could achieve.
I see religion as a set of principles which are based on the lifestyle of the above humans. It worked for them and hence following their path everyone thinks they'll be able to achieve greatness.
Which is a good idea, but lot of variables and environments have changed since then so just following those principles now might not completely make sense.But also since they were really intelligent humans we could deduce why those set of principles were made and what is the scientific base of that.
Lot of such principles could be used and preserved for the future generations. There could be answers which science hasn't able to reach.
In the past it would've been difficult to explain the science behind those principles to the common masses. So there was another way to get the masses to implement those principles, they used reinforcement learning. In simple words concepts like Paap, Punya, Sins, Heaven, Hell, Narak, Swarg, etc.
But now we have the means to prove things scientifically.
Religion is an eye wash. Man is destined to war because fight is in his nature.
ReplyDelete1) When there are multiple religions, they fight to prove their religion right.
2) When there is one religion they form different groups/sects and fight.
3) When there is one sect, they find skin color/ethnicity as a reason to fight.
4) When there is one ethnicity they fight on economical grounds.
Fight is inevitable. So the books have been written to give man a reason to fight.
Books smartly gives a reason and divides the man into two groups to make sure one half survives.
If he doesn't do that, man will be fighting every other man for random reason like a royal rumble match and then everyone is dead.
I know this sounds funny but if you think about it, this is the ultimate truth.
Now a man may choose to write/explore another reason or his form of "TRUTH" and maybe write a book. But either way, he'll become a part of the same system.