God is a Metaphor

GhalibZaman,

GhalbZaman Saheb, thanks for the video. It came as a surprise though that it is made and distributed by MMA, who had kept a 'proper' distance during the actual episode and most of their leaders were in London attending the APC at the time.

That is, except one. The MNA Shah Abdul Aziz who was there in person trying to get inside till the very end.

Re: # 200
dear anil....i am still curious so write to me at

welcome@drsohail.com

feel free to see my website

www.drsohail.com

sincerely sohail

Re: # 199

Sohail Sahib:

Love to share milestones, however this thread is coming to end. On your next thread. Like you evolved yourself into calling a metaphor, that has intrigued curiosity in me too, and love to know your evolution.

Re: # 198
dear anil....can you share milestones of the evolution of your philosophy....sincerely sohail

Re: # 193

Mamoon Sahib:

Belief in one God is your minds creation for you.

Many people need to create an abstraction, be it a belief in One God, or belief in idols. I am not one of them.

Re: # 193

Mamoon Sahib:

``Whose human Mind you want me to worship? ``

This is a very good question. One`s own mind... that is all. Your counter on weather being creation of human mind... is an example of what one`s mind can produce. Indeed, societies who relied on agriculture in the past did worshipped weather, not because weather was their minds creation. Their mind created a helplessness if the weather was not good.

Re: # 194
dear saimashah....i like your creative and mystical approach to life and religion and

scriptures...and enjoyed your creative writing piece....wish you all the best...sohail

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Re: # 176

Dear Dr Sohail,

Enjoyed the question. Am I rational, empirical and self reliant, or do I need a vastly revered authority figure...:)

Ok here is a frank reply:

1. The question whether the spirit is the essence of human beings or whether spirit is a sep entity--doesn`t it also remind you of the divide between polytheism and monotheism. Maulana rumi and the sufis, saw life as a separation from the One. If so, than God is the sum total of human energy, a sum total of all living consciousness and is distributed among us all. Perhaps this explains the time-space continuum. . This idea very similar to the romantic idea of Gaia, life force or what have you. It is the only explanation for the continuous sense of separation that people have felt down the ages. I have all sorts of odd reasons for thinking so. From Rumi to the nature of technological evolution and discovery. Why did humans invent so many communication devices? What is this need and drive to communicate? Why do people want love.
2. Do I believe in my own truth or in others truths. My own for sure. I am fascinated by the connection of poetry to religion--all religious texts are poems. Their writers had vast mystical inspiration--perhaps their spirit could tap into the higher consciousness or altered reality that we find so difficult to do. So I find them gigantic puzzles to analyze and synthesize.
3. Once upon a time, a couple of years ago, I wrote this. You may see it as a mystical experience or not:

I woke from a long deep sleep, very awake and alert as though there were two minds in mine. One had suddenly been uncovered and a little uncomfortable. The new mind was very detached and different. It was almost disdainful of my lived experience. It knew beyond a shadow of doubt that I was not. I tried to work that out in some rational way, but it was impossible to stop knowing this. I simply did not exist. I was but a memory strung together to be a life and something was recording me. I felt that I was not inside my body really, but just a recording machine whose job it is to witness everything that this woman feels. And that is the odd one. Feels. The purpose it seemed to say, was not to succeed, but to garner happy feelings. And I remember asking this mind inside mine, `but what?? what about goodness, success, duty etc. etc.` ` Your task it said is to find happiness. Otherwise you will die and all your memories. Goodness is happiness. Duty is happiness. You are nothing but the sum total of your experiences.` ``What will happen to me if I don`t get happy or am not good, I asked.`` `Your life will be useless and all your memories erased.` ``And what is your purpose?`` No answer. ``And what do you need from me``. `Your goodness and happiness`. Why? Because we all die if no-one is happy. `Why is happiness the key`. ``Because that is the nature of the experiment.`` ``If you are happy, we all live, if you are unhappy, it (the experiment) dies.``

Upon reflection, I saw the same idea reflected in many religious myths, reincarnation, heavan or hell etc. Something dreadful will happen if humanity is not good, we will revoked, finished. I guess our consciousness dies, thats pretty sad. I asked it again. ``So Is there life after death.` `There is no death, only submission if you are good and happy. You will be taken in, and your memories will become one.` I was sad, because I truly don`t want to lose my self. But the thing laughed and said, `Do you really think you are you?` And I said, `no I guess not.` `` Enjoy this woman you live as, if you do you will be, otherwise your memories will be erased.`` I had no chance or energy to ask more questions. Day faded into night.

Dear Anil,

Whose human Mind you want me to worship?

Yours, Dr. Sohail`s, Einstien`s, Hitlers`, Gandhi`s or mine......gengis khan`s?

This is ignorance at its height

God the best creation of human mind......so is the weather....?

or you claim that science understands the weather, then why it has failed to control it and why they are crying for global warming and why physics they talk about butterfly effect.

Donot go so high on science as it is still largely nothing but bunch of theories when you start discussing something as abstract as God.

So instead of start worshipping your mind, or an idol make your life more simple? fail to understand why you cannot believe in one God with the entirety of what you understand and what you donot.

Khalid Suhail Sahib:

``Is man the best creation of God, or is God the best imagination of man?``

Carl Sagan in one of the parts of the TV documentary COSMOS, had quoted from Riga Veda.

After all these years I too believe in this question. And my conclusion is that God is the best imagination of man.

Man imagines God to be the way he/she wants to suit the moment, as the authority to give, to take, to problem unsolvable or afflictions, and many many more possibilities for which human knowledge is incapable of providing solutions or answers. It thus becomes the last belief, beyond which reasoning cannot work. Those areas from Planck`s Constant in quantum mechanics to spiritual healing where only uncertainty prevails.

Therefore, if anything, human mind should be worshipped and believed in.

Re: # 190

dear zeemax....i thought we had agreed to be mutually respectful....sincerely sohail

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Re: # 188
dear mamoon...in spite of our ideological and philosophical differences we can agrre upon
..
...secular laws are the first step towards global harmony

and

...education and universal wisdom will follow

thank you for your detailed comments...sincerely sohail

secondly,

isnt it logical to believe in the one who believes in you.

Mushammad (PBUH) believed in jews and christians (except that jesus is not a son of GOD). He seeked help for his comrades from a Christian emperor who after listenning to them said indeed Muhammad is a prophet of God.

Muhammad did fought with some jewish tribemen who supported the non believers of quraish due to the power game but he never called for war against any jew or Christian or asked them to become a muslim with force. His was only the way of reasoning.

WHat he expected, requested and reasoned was that God is one and he is a prophet of God. simple isnt it?

He did criticise some of the illogical practices of Christians and jews though which in no way undermine their religion. It is the same as criticising a wrong policy in its historic account regarding a country or a social group. much the same as Muslims are criticised and is correct if seen only in its contemprary context. something like that......

Similarly as mentioned in Quran, the fight was against the ones who did not believe Muhammad but also ridicule his message and preferred to retain their ignorance. The fight was not to have power but to convince and spread the message of truth.

In today`s world a simple click on internet may do the job. Thus trying to relive a similar color of muslim struggle in contemporary times can easily be argued as far less effective and in most cases irrelevant.

Today, due to economic and social development, countries as states work based on efficiency, trust and responsibility and not entirely based on self interest. Though existence of hegemonic foreign posture by some as well as corporate race of interests still trap us into a debate rational and progressive individuals in societies would best like to avoid.

So trust is the whole game and mutual respect is the missing link. secularism seems only a logical step forward. Education and universal wisdom is only to follow. Time is the only real judge here as we behave most times as if world is the same as it is 100 or even thousand or sometimes millions of years ago.

````now i

believe that religion needs to be a private affair and state law needs to be based on secular

and humanist priciples so that all citizens have equal rights and privileges.sincerely sohail```````


Now that is a correct assertion. And it is in no way a contradiction to theology and minute details of religious practices. Law of the land in contemporary world should be secular where as you say every one has equal rights irrespective of their set of beliefs or what have you. Secular laws are the first step to global harmony and welfare as well as combined human quest to unravel further truth and mystery of life.