APPLY YOUR REASONING FACULTIES TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE MESSAGE There is pin-drop silence from a lot many who used to debate. I have not said anything without proofs. Everything that I am claiming is through the scriptures that you hold dear. Then why silence? Give counter-arguments! I know it is difficult. It is not easy to change the thoughts in one day, based on which we have grown up. I have seen my thoughts change with time. You too are invited to apply your reasoning. One and only thing that distinguishes man from animals is intellect. Most animals are better than humans in one aspect or the other and without the brain man may not have survived on the face of this earth. Wild beasts would have devoured him, elephants would have trampled him and the vagaries of nature would have left him of little chance of survival. If wisdom was our greatest asset, it was prerequisite that we would have used it with each of our breath. Howsoever smart we may consider ourselves in application of brain, truth is that majority of us does not apply it, particularly in affairs related to religion. If intellect was our greatest weapon, we should have used it to understand God, define our relationship with Him and when we were seeing men taking birth and dying in front of our eyes, we should have come to conclusion by now regarding the true place of man in the scheme of Gods things. Unfortunately, we blindly follow the path of our forefathers, without bringing our reason into play. This has gone to such an extent that there are certain sections of Hindus who believe that men 3000-5000 years back, were far more advanced in thought and deeds than us. They do so after seeing the lofty levels of wisdom teachings present in their Divine Books. What they forget is that presence of such lofty teachings is not a guarantee that the people of the time were able to understand or decipher the Divine Words. In all ages, thought has been carried forward only by a miniscule minority while the rest continue to live with their minds close. Foundations of the teachings given earlier were laid by Divine Avatars. But the unfortunate part is that whatever interpretations those prehistoric adherents of religion gave are accepted as valid and true to this date and we fear to use our brain in understanding the scriptures. Likewise, the interpretations given to religion by the Bedouin Arabs, most of whom were blind to reason and intellect, is seen as the ultimate by Muslims. Let Divine Scriptures alone be your guide. Read them without any previous attachments or dislike, with an open mind, and a view that you will accept nothing but the truth, howsoever sour it may appear to be, and howsoever removed from your present thinking it might be, and I am sure you will reach the truth. Do not blindly follow the path of their forefathers; understand the facts on the basis of their reason and intellect. If you do so, and promise to keep the doors of your reason open throughout, I promise that you will uncover some of the most startling truths,, that had got burried under the sands of time. Path of the God is one, and if there are many paths that are visible at the moment, it is because we all have deviated. Our purpose is to remove the deviations that have occurred so that all come to the religion of humanity, peace and worship of one God. Once the deviations get removed and we have based our learning only on authentic Divine Scriptures, you will find the Path glaring at you like the shining sun. We beckon you to come to search and seek the truth. May the One God of humanity assist you in your endeavours at cognizing Him and His Path. APPLICATION OF WISDOM, REASON AND INTELLECT God and His Messengers knew that man will get to identify the true path of God only upon using his intellect and wisdom. That is why all the true messengers of God stressed on the need to use the mental faculties so as to reach the truth. Inability of the followers of Divine Prophets to use this tool of strength, weakened their power to accept the message in the spirit in which it was delivered. All truly Divine Preachers have stressed on the need to use wisdom, reason and intellect to its optimum; unfortunately the adherents of all these preachers, claiming themselves to be champions of their respective religions, are seldom found using reason, particularly in religious matters. Consequently, they end up becoming fanatics, fundamentalists and strongly ritualistic. God the Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great good and none but men of understanding mind.” Elaborating on this, a commentator of Quran writes: “Hikmah (the word used in Quran), not only means intellectual power and ability to apply reason but also implies spiritual perception and command over divine guidance, particularly bestowed by God.” It is said in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel (Bible): “Woe unto those who have heard the knowledge but have not sought it. How they will be gathered with the ignorant into the fire! And learn the knowledge and teach it, for even if knowledge does not bring you felicity, it will not bring you wretchedness, and even if it does not raise you, it will not lower you, and even if it does not enrich you, it will not impoverish you, and even if it does not benefit you, it will not harm you. And do not say, ‘We fear lest we should know but not act’, but say, ‘We hope to know and to act.’ And knowledge intercedes on behalf of one who has it, and it is for God not to disgrace him. Indeed, on the Resurrection day God will say: ‘O assembly of the learned (‘u1ama’)! What is your opinion of our Lord?’ Then they will say: ‘It is our opinion that He will have mercy upon us and forgive us.’ Then the Almighty will say: ‘Indeed, I have done so. Indeed, I have entrusted you with My wisdom not because I wanted evil for you, but because I wanted good for you. So enter among My good servants into My garden (paradise) by My mercy.’ (BIHAR AL-ANWAR, I, 186) Also some of the oft-quoted sayings from various books of Islamic traditions talk on the subject in the following manner: It is because of the existence of reason that God-Almighty gets worshipped, and one makes his entry into Paradise. AL-KAFI, VOL. 1, P-11 Whoever is wise and intelligent possesses religion, and whoever has religion will enter into the Paradise. AL-KAFI, VOL. 1, P-11 God-Almighty has blessed the human beings with two proofs: One is apparent and the other is hidden. The apparent proofs are Prophets and Imams (Leader-guides), and the hidden proof is the reason and intelligence within our existence. AL-KAFI, VOL. 1, P-16 The reason is the guide of a believer. AL-KAFI, VOL. 1, P-25 The reason is the friend of everyone and the ignorance is his enemy. AL-KAFI, VOL. 1, P-11 Also it is reported that the God said to Jesus: “Honour those who possess knowledge and know of their excellence, for verily their excellence over that of all My creation - except for the prophets and messengers - is like that of the sun over the stars, and like that of the Hereafter over this world, and like My excellence over all things.” BIHAR AL-ANWAR, II, 25 Buddhism too lays greatest stress on reason. If we read teachings of Buddha, we will find that it was Buddhas constant endeavour to make his opponents see the truth through their own wisdom and only when they had tested his teachings on the basis of wisdom, they were granted entry into his Dhamma. Likewise, we find similar attempt to win the opponents through making them see reason in the Dialogues of Plato. Gita too gives primacy to wisdom. Wisdom is not plain knowledge arising out of reason in the logical sense, but a timeless or unitive wisdom belonging to the context of the Absolute. Gita lays great stress on putting one’s reasoning faculties and intelligence to optimum use. It has devoted one chapter to reason and one to wisdom, and even in the remaining sixteen chapters, it is evident that inviting the people to apply reason and seek knowledge (wisdom) are the prime objectives of Krishna’s teachings. Writes Lal: “The chief requirements of Buddhi Yoga (The Yoga of Wisdom) are that the Buddhi (intelligence, wisdom) is trained, developed and dedicated to God and the intellect thus enlightened is used (a) as an instrument of thought – for creating and sifting ideas, (b) for illumining actions and (c) for controlling emotions. When Buddhi Yoga is applied to works, they become Karma Yoga or skillful actions. Thus the most common form of Buddhi Yoga in everyday life is Karma Yoga, but the term Buddhi Yoga is more comprehensive and includes the discipline of the emotions, the intelligence and the senses as well.” Yoga Vasistha echoes the teaching of the Gita in the following way: “Reasonable words even of a child ought to be accepted and those even of the Creator (Brahma) are to be discarded like straw if they are otherwise.” [Though I believe that the creator Brahma would never preach anything but reason]. Prophet Mohammad too is reported to have said that if you find a tradition related to him which does not appeal to reason, then discard it. And Gita says: When a man acquires a clear understanding, he does not follow others blindly but judges things for himself to determine what is best for him. GITA.II.52 As Swami Rama Tirtha in his book ‘The Heart of Rama’ wrote: “Accept not a religion because it is the oldest; it being the oldest is no proof of its being the true one. Sometimes the oldest houses ought to be pulled down and the oldest clothes must be changed… Accept not a religion because it comes from a great ascetic, from a man who has renounced everything… Accept not a religion because it comes from a person whose character was the highest; often times people of the grandest character have failed in expounding the truth… Accept a thing and believe in a religion on its own merits. Examine it yourself. Sift it.” Based on this universal appeal of the messengers of God as well as the learned in regard to reason and wisdom, we beckon you to take note of these golden words from various great men, and invite you along with your reason and wisdom to unearth some of the greatest mysteries of our time. We forewarn you to be prepared for the most unexpected revelations, which we are sure, will appeal to the men of reason.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 15:43:14 +0000