The Genesis Enigma - Human race restless search

[letric]

How DID the Bible manage to describe the evolution of life on earth in such perfect sequence?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... arwin.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1200486/The-Genesis-enigma-How-DID-Bible-evolution-life-3-000-years-Darwin.html)

[Wayne]

The word "Bible" is derived from the Greek word biblia, meaning "books." The earliest sacred Judeo-Christian writings were set down separately, at different times, on scrolls of papyrus or vellum. When these independent elements were bound together, they were called "Bibles."The Holy Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact composition of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew or Jewish Bible....Maybe that is why it is called "the Good Book",as in good triumphs over
evil....I read some where that the word BIBLE,is an acronym for Believers Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

[letric]

It is hard to be objective where religion is concerned. Objectivity suggests lukewarmness. The human race, on the whole, has found no difficulty in filling the void with an endless variety of deities. Considering that no one could really have supposed that they had been seen by anybody. It is amazing the number of forms these gods have taken - from Shiva, the Hindu lord of the dance, Zeus of Greek mythology to the Jehovah of Michelangelo. Since the earliest times man has sought to establish some sort of working relationship with these powers that be - the enlistment of their aid against the evil all around him. The twentieth century has been a crisis for mankind. Nobody can give us directions. We are alone in the cosmos. But the history of religion shows that they have an uncanny capacity for revival. One of the greatest texts of the Upanishad is: 'God does not proclaim Himself, He is every body's secret.'

The so-called five proofs of God's existence have never carried as much conviction as the personal encounters with God which religious people have claimed to have. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. ......... The Buddha achieved enlightenment as he sat in meditation beneath the Bodhi tree. As a result, he believed that he had found the cure for all human sufferings and dissatisfactions. The Old Testament prophets had experiences which they alleged, told them profoundly important things about God - even suggesting that what passes for religion can be a bar to finding Him. We see it in Jesus's denunciation of the religion ofhisday, in contrast with his own sense of intimate closeness to the Father. One cannot read the Upanishads, the main source of Hindu doctrine, without feeling the writer's sense of union between the self and the Holy Power.
And it was alone in the desert that Muhammad received his call to preach.

[brag]

Religion also may have come about becasue mysticism is also a part of the nature of man. Each one of us may have had a mystical experience to relate to another dimension of life we do not understand. So we know that there are many dimensions to our beingness we cannot explain.

For example, one can get from here to there in a split second and not know how he got there, and it is no lapse of memory. It might have to do with the capacity of man to defeat space and time and we don't know how to do that on our own, so we keep looking for a source outside ourselves to help us repeat earlier experience we cannot repeat on our own.

We know that we are not all crazy. I can never describe in full details all of my own mystical experiences which are many, and I know I am not crazy. But I will leave that for others to decide.

[letric]

Oh, that they were wise....that they would not consider their latter (Deuteronomy 32:29)

The Bible say:...'Oh they that were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!' One of life's greatest challenges is thinking and doing the things that ultimately matters and bring success. A life in which anything goes, is a life i which nothing goes. Wisdom means having the discipline to prioritise and the ability to wok toward a stated goal.

[letric]

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that , when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old
men of renown.

Genesis ch, 6, v.4

[brag]

Reconciling differences in the genesis of man can be tricky. Whom do we believe?

http://www.urday.com/science.html

If we look at the history of the world as well as the various calendars related with different ancient civilizations, the above theory is proved wrong. The Christian calendar begins with the birth of Jesus Christ, which is the most modern calendar as Christ was born 2002 years ago. As compared to the Christian calendar the calendar propounded by Moses is more ancient since it began 3540 years ago. Like way Yudhishthir's calendar which began 4132 years ago at the time of his coronation is more ancient.

There are other calendars more ancient than the above mentioned calendars like, Kaliyugi samvat which is 5077 years old, Ibranian calendar which is 5989 years old, Egyptian calendar which is 28,629 years old and Finishian calendar which is 30,0047 years old. The Iranian civilization believed to be one of the oldest one has a calendar dating as far as 189,955 years back. In the same manner Chaldian calendar considered significant for astrological information it contains is 21,500,047 years old. The followers of Khatai religion trace their roots to Khata who was born 8,88,40,348 years ago and their calendar is that much ancient. The Chinese calendar, which is related with the first king of China, is believed to be further ancient i.e. 96,002,476 years old.

The origin of man, when determined on the basis of Vaivaswat Manu samvatswar, one of the fourteen samvatsars goes back 120,533,077 years old. A mantra created by our ancient sages and used during taking a 'Sankalpa' in religious ceremonies, which is still in practice, states that the man has continued to inhabit the earth for the last 1,972,940,037 years.

[letric]

Are you striving for excellence?


PRESS TOWARD THE GOAL FOR THE PRIZE OF THE UPWARD CALL OF GOD.
Philippians (3:14)

There's an embarrassing moment in the life of Christ: 'The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine' (John 18:21). Of His doctrine Jesus could say,'Ask those who have heard of Me' (John 18:21), but concerning His disciples He said nothing, because they'd all forsaken Him. When asked about His doctrine we say, 'Ask those who know of me?'
Can you say like Paul, 'I press forward the goal for thje prize of the upward call of God? Are you striving for excellence?

[brag]

Thought for the day
To laugh, is to risk playing the fool.
To weep, is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another, is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings, is to risk exposing our true selves.
To put your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk loss.
To love, is to risk not being loved in return.
To live, is to risk dying.
To hope, is to risk despair.
To try at all, is to risk failure.
But risk must be taken,
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they simply can not learn, change, feel, grow, love, live........Chained by their attitudes they are slaves.
ONLY THE PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE!!!!
"Friends, Life is full of Risks.Either Take Risks and achieve success or be ready for the stagnant life... choice is yours"

- Shirdi Sai Baba

[brag]

The restless search or the restful find in brain washing. It is not easy to believe that parents will knowingly expose their children to this kind of thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACyLTsH ... r_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACyLTsH4ac&feature=player_embedded)

[brag]

One has to wonder how different this kind of brainwashing is from what the new brand of Christian proselytizing is doing in India. The fear of losing adult membership who learned and became wise to leave the Church now drives the Church to make the children a new target.

If the video below presented here is a demonstration of what some of them are prepared to do with their own children, we can only imagine what they will do with Indian children who are much more innocent than most American children.

[brag]

"So the idea of the Bible as a single, sacred unalterable corpus of texts began
in heresy but was then extended and used by churchmen in their efforts to
define orthodoxy. One of the Bible's most influential editors was Irenaeus of
Lyon who decided that there should only be four Gospels like the four zones of
the world, the four winds, the four divisions of man's estate, and the four
forms of the first living creatures - the lion of Mark, the calf of Luke, the
man of Matthew, and the eagle of John. In a single stroke, he had delineated
the sacred book of the Christian church and left out the other Gospels.
Irenaeus also wrote what Christianity was not, and in this way Christianity
became an orthodox faith. A work of Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, became
the starting point for later inquisitions."

http://www.skepticfiles.org/american/drkbible.htm.

[brag]

The link below provides some interesting insight about the corruption of some scriptures to which most of us hold on to for life as the exact and unalterable words of God. The discussion is worthy of careful study, especially by those who would die for their religious beliefs.

The discussion about the crucifixion of Jesus is most revealing. Many believe that religion only points the way, and it is up us to do whatever we want with religious beliefs for our own salvation. Yet others believe that the love of God is incomplete without their own religious proselytizing and their own interpretation of scriptures to this end.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Hindus-946/2 ... rupt-1.htm (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Hindus-946/2008/9/corrupt-1.htm)

[drolannod]

I form light, and create darkness
I make peace, and create evil
I the Lord do all these things.

Bible...ISAIAH...45...v..7

[drolannod]

The poor always ye have with you.

Bible...St John

[brag]

Seeing the divine beauty of God with your finger tips.

MANY GOOD PHTOGRAPHS IN THIS ONE. WHEN OPENED, CLICK ON
FLAG OF COUNTRY WHICH YOU WANT TO SEE IT,YOU WILL SEE
BLOCKS OF PHOTOS.MANY MORE THINGS WHEN YOU SEE MAP OF
THE WORLD,CLICK ON small ball.

A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD!! AMAZING!!!

This beautiful World at your finger tips...

See it for yourself....

Click on the following link, find a country and explore and have a nice trip!

http://alovelyworld.com/index2.html

[letric]

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought
and his angels.
Revelation ch. 12 v,7

[letric]

Whenever you find yourself in a tough situation, imagine you are looking at your face in a mirror. Watch yourself smile and your eyes light up with joy. Notice how you look when you smile and notice how positive smiling makes you feel. Breathe deeply, bringing that positive feeling to life within you in the present moment.

[letric]

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shapes of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures

Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

[letric]

The Celtic tradition tells of a figure called the Seer, who stands at the heart of the inner, personal universe, and is depicted as a beautiful female figure dressed in an owl's cloak-the symbol of wisdom. Consult the Seer when you require assistance with personal issues, such as relationship problems. Imagine yourself in a moonlit glade. Before you is the Seer. Tell her what the problem is and ask for her advice. Listen carefully to her responses, allowing her wisdom to seep into your mind. Know that you can return at any time to ask for her aid.

[letric]

Narcissism is excessive self-adsorption which prevents true connection with others. Paradoxically it is based on the lack of love for the self. The Greek myth of Narcissus indicates how we can resolve this problem. When Narcissus sees his reflection in the water, he sees himself as others see him - as an other. When he falls in love with that other, he not only learns to love himself but he also learns to love others. His transformation into a narcissus flower represents the flowering of his personality when this shift occurs. To overcome our own narcissism we must learn to love ourselves.

[letric]

Brahma is the Creator God - one of the triads of gods at the heart of the Hindu mythology. It is believed that Brahma created the world by meditating. Contemplate your own world as it is now. How do your current thoughts create your reality? Now reflect on your life as you will like it to be.

[letric]

Every thought that we have, every image that we create, is a seed of our future reality. To be happy we must see ourselves as happy. First hold in your mind the idea of happiness - ask yourself what it means to you on a mental, emotional and spiritual level. What does it feel like? How do you react/behave? How do others respond to you? Having rehearsed this state of happiness in your mind, embody it throughout the day and in all your thoughts, feelings and actions.

[letric]

There's an old saying that a
A person who's never made a mistake has never made anything. Contemplate the fruitfulness of your past errors. What did you learn and how these lessons shaped your life|?

[letric]

I will choose my path
wisely, from all the options available. I will follow my path
unwaveringly.

Modern Affirmation.

[letric]

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the ancient
ones; seek what they sought.

Basho (1644-94)

[letric]

The 'Woman's intuition' is, perhaps, largely the subtle use of almost subliminal cues to social situations from gestures, casual remarks, and knowledge of behavior patterns and motives. This is arriving at decisions or conclusions without explicit or conscious process or reasoned thinking. It is sometimes thought that intuition are reliable; and indeed, we do act most of the time without knowing why or what our reasons may be. It is certainly rare to set out an argument in formal terms, and enter the steps prescribed by logicians. In this sense, almost all judgements and behaviour are 'intuitive'. The status of intuition has, however, declined over the last century, perhaps with the increasing emphasis on formal logic, and explicit data and assumptions of science.

[brag]

The restless search reflects an imbalance in serentity, activity and passivity, and keeps the Will misdirected or in latency.

[letric]

That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and desires, without a glow of aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, and say to him,
You are my refuge.
George MacDonald (1824-1905)

[brag]

The search for knowledge as power is a restless search, for character alone is all the power a man needs.

[letric]

When we are finding our way, it helps to know the nature of the experience we are seeking - our true north or spiritual purpose. Thinking that our purpose lies in a particular goal, such as a certain relationship or job, we may feel lost when that option is thwarted. However, when we realise that what we are seeking is a profound experience, such a deep connection or creative fulfillment, rather than something predefined, we can seek alternative ways to live out our purpose.

[letric]

You cannot tread the Path before you become the Path yourself.

Zen saying

[letric]

Once we have found the true path,
destiny unfolds before us like a red carpet.

[guyguy]

Once we have found the true path,
destiny unfolds before us like a red carpet.letric breds,
You does make up all dese sayings yusself?

[letric]

Guyguy....The ones quoted are entered as such, not quoted the names/sources are given. Due to lack of original thought a few sayings (I quote) are are submitted.

[letric]

The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: and whoever is moved by faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his misunderstanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to customs and experience.

[letric]

Know thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,
He hangs about between; in doubt to act or rest,
In doubt he deems himself a god, or beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer,
Born to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much.

An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) 1.15

[letric]

Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls,
deceiving your own selves.
For is any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he
is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
From he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

James ch 1, v.19

[letric]

Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great order of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) 1. 15

[letric]

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to get through first, some unfinished business. Only after that would life get under way. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were life.

[letric]

Dearly beloved brethren, The Scripture moveth us in
sundry places to acknowledge and confess our
manifold sins and wickedness; before the face of the Almighty
God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an
humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart.

The Book of Common Prayer

[letric]

If any man among you seem to be religious,
and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his
his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
James ch.1 v.26

[letric]

Happiness is a state of which you are
unconscious, of which you are not aware. The
moment you are aware that you are happy, you
cease to be happy...You want to be
consciously happy, the moment you are
consciously happy, happiness is gone.

Jiddu Krishnamurti d.1986

[brag]

Oldest Bible found in Palestine. I have no idea if it is true or not, but the search goes on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

[letric]

"The God of love my Shepherd is,
And that doth me feed:
While He is mine, and I am His,
What can I want or need?
The 23rd Psalm

[letric]

When we are finding our way, it helps to know the nature of the experience we are seeking - thinking our purpose lies in a particular goal, such as a certain relationship or achievement, we may feel lost when that option is thwarted. However, when we recognise that what we are seeking is a profound experience, such as a creative fulfilment, we then seek alternative way to live out our purpose.

[letric]

No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and earth .
The Book of Certitude
Baha' ullah 1817 -92

[letric]

Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, a wise mystic of the Middle Ages, told the story of a king who raised a feather from the ground and commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself, but because the air bore it along.
"Thus am I," she said,
"a feather on the breath of God." Have faith that you too can allow the spirit to move you.

[letric]

In Celtic shamanism Anu is one of the names given to the archetypal Mother - the goddess who gave birth to the world and watches over and cares for all loving things. Close your eyes and imagine Anu standing before you. She us beautiful and graceful, her eyes full of loving kindness and understanding. She takes you in her arms and holds you, giving you infinite love and support.

[letric]

Although no one can go back and
make a brand new start anyone one can start from now and make
as brand new ending.

[letric]

" On my long walk I am
privileged to be exercising my freedom. Freedom to
choose my route, freedom to decide when to stop, freedom to walk
on without hindrance from others, freedom from ambushes and
landmines, and from the sight of pain and misery - freedom
precious beyond words"
(Modern Affirmation)

[letric]

If we do not heed the truth then we do not hear the truth:


If God were to hold out in His right
hand all Truth, and in His left hand just the
active search for Truth, though with the
condition that I should always err therein, and
He should say to me: Choose! I should humbly
take His left hand and say: Father! Give me thuis
one; absolute truth belongs to Thee alone.
G.E. Lessing (1729=81)

[letric]

WE have just enough religion to make us hate,
but not enough to make us
love one another

"For God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of
POWER/I] and of
LOVE and a
sound Mind (2 Timothy 1:7

[letric]

God is the protector of the believers;
He brings forth from the shadows
into light.
sura 2
The Koran

[letric]

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970). He was a notable representative of scientific humanism, which views humanity as the highest value, love of fellow humans as the highest ethic, and science as the best way of relating to the world. Humanism was an alternative to religion in the West: it was and is atheistic, their position, meaning lack of knowledge and evidence one way or another assert or deny the existence of a Supreme being... The word was invented in 1869 by the biologist and pbhilosopher T.H. Huxley (1825-95).

[letric]

Many of us recognise places that allow us
more than anywhere else to be ourselves. Be sure that you know
such places well, acknowledge their worth, and meditate in
them often. This will assist in connecting with your quiet inner core within.

[letric]

The worth of a soul cannot be told.

(the African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano)

[letric]

If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.

(William Blake) 1757-1827.

[letric]

There is no cure for birth and death save to
enjoy the interval

Soliloquies in England (1922)

[letric]

Our greatest glory is not in never falling
but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius)

[letric]

Should we be so fortunate as to be followers of
the Sudden School in this life,
In a sudden we shall see the Bhagavat of our
Essence of Mind.
He who seeks the Buddha [from without] by
practising certain doctrines
Knows not where the real Buddha is to be
found.
He who is able to realise the Truth within his
own mind
Has sown the seed of Buddhahood.

Hui-neng (637-713)

[letric]

I will conceal the good that I have done to others,
while advertising the good others have done to me.

Ali, First Man Iman of the Shi' A Branch of Islam (c600-661)

[letric]

The arrogance of the young is a direct result of not having known
enough consequences. Our greatest ignorance is not what we have
yet to learn, but how little we truly know.

[letric]

A man travels the world in search of what he
needs and returns home to find it.
(George Moore 1852-1933)

[letric]

The philosophy of religion is an examination of the meaning and justification of religious claims.
Claims about how the world is often embodied in creeds, are more typical of Western religions
- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - than of Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and
Confucianism. In order to explain what it means to say that there is a God and to make
other religious claims, theists use ordinary woods such as 'personal', 'creator'...God is said
to be 'omnipresent', 'omnipotent', omniscient', and 'a source of moral obligation' and to have
these properties 'eternally' and 'necessarily'. The main argument against the existence of
God has always been the 'argument against evil'. Philosophy of religion has a concern with
whether God would be expected to provide a revelation, and what are the tests and has he
done so?

[brag]

The Board of Trustees of world-renowned Sai Baba Temple located in Shirdi`Maharashtra, India - a sacred pilgrim destination and
an Holy abode of Sai Baba - has announced to hold a Global Conference of Sai Baba Devotees on 03rd April`2010 and 04th April`2010 in Shirdi`India.

The Proposed 2-day Conference is expected to be a Grand event that would facilitate the Sai Baba Devotees to participate in Religious Discourses.

Chairman of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Mr. Jayant Sasane said, “The Temple Board has invited an active participation of
the NRI community as the forthcoming conference’s endeavor would be to promote Brotherhood among people of all Religions.”

In the Latest move, the Temple Board has introduced a new and novel system that would allow devotees
to jump the usual long queues at the Temple for ‘Darshan’ of the Deity.
The Temple Board office would henceforth issue Donation-passes each worth Rs 500 (approx. £8) to facilitate an entry
directly into the Sanctum of the Temple through a reserved gate.

Source - http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=8714

[letric]

If we would guide by light of reason, we
must let our minds be bold


dissenting opinion...Louis D Brandeis (1856-1941)

[letric]

After the first silence the small man said to the
other: Where does a wise man hide a pebble?
And the tall man answered in a low voice: On
the beach. The small man nodded, and after a short
silence: Where does a wise man hide a leaf?
And the other answered: In the forest.


The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)

[letric]

In their religion they are so uneven
That each one goes his own way by-way to heaven.






The True- Born Englishman m (1701)

[letric]

Because it is intrinsically the verification of
practice, there is no end to verification; because
it is the practice of verification, there is no
beginning to practice.

often quoted as There is no beginning to practice nor end
to enlightenment; there is no beginning to enlightenment
nor an end to practice.

William R LaFleur (ed.) Dogen Studies (1985)

[letric]

To study the self is to forget the self. To forget
the self is to be authenticated by the myriad
things.


often quoted as...
to become one with ten thousand
things.







Dogen Kigen

[letric]

In dispute about natural phenomena one must
begin to not with the authority of Scriptural
passage but with sensory experience and
necessary demonstrations. For the Holy
Scripture and nature derive equally from the
Godhead, the former as the dictation of the
Holy Spirit and the latter as the most obedient
executrix of God's orders.

Cambridge Companion to Galileo (1998)

[letric]

Perfectibility is one of the most unequivocal
characteristics of the human species.


William Godwin (1756-1836)

[letric]

Greek philosopher Epicurus, was born in Samos, and died in Athens. He founded a school in Athens whose members secluded themselves from the city and lived austerely. Although he lived frugally, his moral precept was
We say that pleasure is the beginning and end of living happily. He argued that the pleasure of the soul - contemplation, and the expectation of bodily pleasures - are more valuable than bodily pleasures alone. The ideal freedom from distraction, and the study of philosophy is the best way to achieve this ideal. Greek philosophers thought that it could be made to explain anything, and therefore explained nothing. Epicurus also denied the power of gods, holding that natural motions explained all phenomena. He held a view of evolution that anticipates in some aspects Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection by surviva of the fittest.

Panichas, G. A. (1983) Epicurus

[letric]

Many Islamic theorist, including Al-Ghazzali, were even believed by European scholars of the time to be Christian divine. The wide spread belief that Arabian schools were the great source of wisdom was later replaced, particularly in Victorian thought, by the thesis that they were merely run by copyists of the Greeks. In the Islamic world, in addition to the many customary preoccupations of philosophy as expressed in logic, ethic, method, knowledge, and political thought, there were also a vast number of exponents and schools of religious philosophy and metaphysics (seen as mysticism). From the comparative point of view, the picture of Islamic contribution that emerges indicates the relative freedom from speculation within the culture, as contrasted with the somewhat restricted categories of the West in the same epoch. This may be because Islam has never had a central idea logical disciplinary institution which could succeed in imposing the dogmatic authority over a large population for long periods of time, and because the door of reinterpretation of the limits of philosophical speculation has remained opened, being the responsibility of the courts, in the absence of a priesthood.

Sheikh, M. S. (1982). Islamic Philosophy.
Guillaume, A. (1949). The Legacy of Islam

[letric]

The Good of Man is the active exercise of his soul's facilities in conformity with excellence or virtue...
Moreover this activity must occupy a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring; nor
does one fine day; and similarly one day or brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely
blessed and happy.


Aristotle

[letric]

Think of an attachment you would like to be rid of - perhaps to something or someone that addicts you,
such as chocolate , or over dependence on a friend or relative. Picture yourself working across a landscape
toward a distant castle - the place you want to be. Tied to your waist is a rope which trails behind you and
slows your progress: at the other end of the rope is a box, containing the essence of your attachment.
The box is heavy and slows you down. You take out a knife and cut the rope: this is your decision to
control the habit. As you make the cut, consider the action to be a turning point. Your journey would be
much easier without the burden.

[letric]

Attachment is the great
fabricator of illusions; reality can
be attained only by someone who
is detached.


Simone Weil (1909-1943)

[brag]

The place of worship becomes the restless search when the heart is the temple of God and and the "I" is God himself.

[brag]

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This angered him and he took the farmer to court.

The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied, your Honor, I am primitive. I don't have a proper measure, but I do have a scale. "The judge asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?"

The farmer replied "Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker."

What is the moral of the story? We get back in life what we give to others. Whenever you take an action, ask yourself this question: Am I giving fair value for the wages or money I hope to make?

Honesty and dishonesty become a habit. Some people practice dishonesty and can lie with a straight face. Others lie so much that they don't even know what the truth is anymore. But who are they deceiving? Themselves--- more than anyone else.

Honesty can be put across gently. Some people take pride in being brutally honest. It seems they are getting a bigger kick out of the brutality than the honesty. Choice of words and tact are important.

(Sent to me via e-mail.)

[letric]

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving - Albert Einstein
in a letter to his son Eduard, 1930. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and
led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for freedom of spirit and individuality.

[letric]

Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future.

Buddha, Dharma, his liberating teachings, and Sangha, the enlightened community.

[letric]

In 1577, an Italian Jesuit priest set out from Italy on a long journey to bring Christian faith
to Ming dynasty China. Travelling widely, he learned local languages, mastered Chinese
script and acquired a rich a appreciation of the indigenous culture of his hosts. In 1596
he wrote a short book on the art of memory, his Treatise on Mnemonic Arts, with its
striking metaphor of a 'memory palace' for the storing of knowledge was widely
circulated among the members of the Ming dynasty elite.
MEMORY OF PALACE OF MATTEO RICCI

[letric]

Most of the change we think we see in life
Is due to truths being in and out of favour.

R.F.

[letric]

The absolute that which has an unconditioned existence,
not conditioned by, relative to, or dependent upon
anything else. Usually deemed to be the whole of things,
conceived as unitary, as spiritual, as self-knowing (at least
in part via the human mind), and as rationally intelligible,
as finite things, considered individually, are not. The
expression was introduced into philosophy by Schelling
and Hegel. In the English speaking world it became the
key concept of such absolute idealists as Josiah Royce and
F H Bradley

J N Findlay, Ascent to the Absolute, 1970

[letric]

Most modern philosophers deny the existence of an immaterial soul. One strong argument for the existence of such soul given in essence by Descartes is this
I am now conscious. But it is logically possible that my body should suddenly be destroyed and yet I continue to be conscious to exist if some part of the thing continues to exist. So I must now already have an essential non bodily part, i.e. a soul, if my continued existence is to be logically possible. The human soul is that which gives life to the human being. For Aristotle, the soul was simply the form of the body, i.e. the way the body behaved, and thus not capable of existing separately from it; plants and animals also had souls of their own kinds. For Plato, most Christian theologians of the first millennium AD, Descartes, and many others, the soul was the essential immaterial part of a human , temporarily united with its body. Aquinas also held this while emphasizing that union wiith a body was the natural state for a soul.
R.G.S.

[letric]

Only very slowly and late have men come to
realise that unless freedom is universal it is only
an extended privilege.



Geoffrey Hill

[letric]

After he had fashioned the image of the Chariot
of Supernatural Man, he descended into it and was
known under the image of YHVH, so that man
might apprehend him through his attributes,
through each of them severally, and he was
called El, Elohim, Shaddai, Zeva'ot and YHVH,
so that man might apprehend him through each
of his attributes and perceive how the world is
governed by kindness and by justice in
accordance with men's deeds.



Zohar

[letric]

Do not stand at my grave and weep:
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on the snow.
I am the sunlight on a ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet bird in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Mary E. Fry (1905-2004)

[letric]

If we agree that all organisms show something that may reasonably be called choice,
it implies that their actions are at least partly directed towards an end. Following
G.E. *Moore, we are usually asked to hold that the only things that possess
intrinsic value are human states of mind. Of course, to insist that it is nonsense
to claim that judgements are wholly intuitive does not actually provide us with a
criteria for the meanings of good and bad, still less
for making ethical judgements and recommendations. We do not know for
certain how, when, or why life began or whether and when it will end. What
we can see that we have a long and wonderful history ,involving an increasing
collection of information and its use to allow life to invade regions not habitable
before.

[letric]

A Medieval monk, Thomas Kempis, is the author of one the
most influential devotional books - It was written in Latin to
be read out to the monks in the convent of St.Agnes, but
versions of it in other languages appeared within a few years
and it is one of the earliest widely distributed printed books.
In chapter 19 of the first volume is the maxim now rendered as


Man proposes and God Disposes,

meaning that whatever people plan or do, it is God's will
that dictates what happens. A similar idea appears in
Proverbs.

Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471)

[letric]

The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said


This is mine,


and found people naive enough to believe him,
that man was the true founder of civil society. From
how many crimes, ward, and murders, from how many
horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved
mankind. by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch
and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor,
you are undone if you once forget thast ther fruits of the
earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.



Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
For a tine his books were banned in
France and his home city of Geneva
because [art of his book Emile
denied the concepts of original sin
and divine revelation.

[letric]

Life in the Universe is one of Professor Hawkin's public lectures
that he has given on several occasions and is a departure from
his normal field of study. He speculates on the possibility of life
elsewhere and the prospects for its future. He questions how
life is defined. Many of the definitions used to describe living
viruses, for example, can also be applied to their computer
equivalent. He also gives emergence of life on Earth is
duplicated on other planets - rather than developing to
intelligence just before its parent star dies - it increases the
chance of life. Also that the key to the evolution of humans to
become the current dominant species on the planet was the
developments of language and he speculates as to the different
forms our future evolution might take.


Stephen Hawkins born 1942
Professor Hawkins's condition is a
type of motor-neurone disease called
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

[letric]

Karma... Literally action, whether bodily, linguistic, or
mental. In most cases classical Indian traditions, karma
can also mean the unseen potential for future pain and
pleasure which we accumulate as the result of good and
bad action. Without exhausting these potentials there is
no release from rebirth for the soul. Thus karma constitutes
bondage in Jaina, Buddhist, and Vedic thought. The law
of karma links up moral quality of past actions with the
hedonic quality of present and future life in a deterministic
way. Ancient Indian medical and moral philosophical
retrodict the birth, life-span, and well-being of an individual
in terms of this theory. A slanderer, for example, is allegedly
reborn with bad breath. Thanks to this doctrine, the Hindu
theist's God is acquitted of responsibility for evil. Buddhists
or Jaina atheists take as a natural law needing no omnis-
cient monitor
A.C.

Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Karma and Rebirth in the Classical Indian
Traditions (1980)

[letric]

Saint Paul was one of the most active of the early Christian
missionaries, travelling widely around the Mediterranean to
spread the word. He is thought to have lived in Corinth in
Greece in the early 50s AD because there is reference to the
proconsul Gallio, wo is known to have been in Corinth
around then. Paul seems to have argued with other followers of
Christ over issues such as whether Gentiles could be admitted
into the faith and whether they should be circumcised and
follow the Jewish dietary laws - mandatory for Jewish members
of the early church. Some of teachings do not sit easily with
those in the Gospels, but his influence on Christian theology
is profound.

[letric]

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he
looked, and behold, the bush with fire,
and the bush was not consumed.

Bible. Exodus King James Bible (1611), 3:2

[letric]

Only very slowly and late have men come to
realise that unless freedom is universal it is only
an extended privilege.

Geoffrey Hill

What I ought to say is, I am not wherever I
am the plaything of my thought; I think of what
I am where I do not think to think.

Ecrits (1966)

[letric]

In 1095, Urban 11 received a request from the Byzantine
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for assistance against the Muslims
who were invading the eastern Empire. In November of the same
year; a council was held at Clermont and Urban's sermon electrified
those in attendance as he called for them to amass an army to expel
the Seljuk Turks. In this version of the sermon, he promises absolution
from sins for all those who took part. The main forces departed in
August 1096, by which time the mission's aims also included the
conquest of the Holy Land.

Urban II was beautified in 1881, but
has not yet been made a saint.

[letric]

It were better to have no opinion of God at all
than such an opinion as unworthy of Him

Bacon

[letric]

What is the Holy Grail? Is it the cup that held the blood of Christ or
the platter that held the head of John the Baptist? Could it be the
dish that Jesus used at the last Supper or the wife of Jesus who
carried his blood in the form of a child? Was there really a King
Arthur and an actual Grail Cup? These and many other questions
are addressed in in Duchane's thoughtful exploration of the elusive
artifact.. The book also retells two of the most famous Grail
Stories: Le Conte del Graal, and Le Mort D'Arthur.

[letric]

Virgil is regarded as one of the best Roman poets of the era
after the death of Julius Caesar. The first of his major works,
the Eclogues were written to be performed on the stage. They
contain a heady mixture of eroticism and Vigil's own political
visitation and are chiefly set in the countryside and feature
shepherds. The tenth Eclogue is the passionate last oration
of the poet Gaius Cornelius Gallus in Arcadia. He envisages
his friend dying of love in a beautiful landscape, and thus started
the pastoral tradition in Western arts and literature.


The image of a golden age heralded by
the birth of a boy in the fourth Eclogue
was taken by the people at the time to
refer to Octavian (Augustus) and by
later Christian writers to Christ.

[letric]

We make assertions and denials of what is next
to it, but never to it, for it is both beyond every
assertion, being perfect and unique cause of
all things, and, by virtue of its preeminently
simple and absolute nature, free of every
limitation, beyond every limitation; it is also
beyond denial.

(Quoted in The Mystical Theology

[letric]

The Hindu ideal thus affirms ... the
Kingdom of God is within us and we need not
wait for its attainment till some undated future
or look for man apocalyptic display in the sky.

Eastern Religions and Western Thought (1939)

[letric]

Science without religion is lame. Religion without
science is blind. Behind all discernible laws, and
connections, there remains something subtle,
intangible, and inexplicable.
(Albert Einstein)

[letric]

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto white sepulchres, which
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within
full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Bible
Mathew 23:27

[letric]

Whatever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Bible Romans 15:4

[letric]

Whatever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Bible Romans 15:4

The understanding of Jesus as a human being of
sinless life adopted by God as a son, usually thought
to be at the time of baptism by John in the River
Jordan. Such teaching was declared heretical,
in that it implied that Jesus could not have had
a fully divine nature. Associated with Arianism, it
figured in 4th-century controversies over the person
of Christ, in Spain in the 8th century, and in some
scholastic theology.

[letric]

Whatever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Bible Romans 15:4

Methuselah, the eighth and longest lived of the
Hebrew patriarchs, who lived before the Flood.
His supposed 969 years makes him the paragon of
longevity.

[letric]

Harold Blackham (1903-2009) was a key figure in the development of contemporary,
organised humanism. He argued that agnosticism is the only warranted position
to hold on the question of the existence of God. He also believed that humanism
must include a desire to better humanity. When it came to organised humanism.
Blackham put forward the principle that humanist societies should not be based
upon a set of opinions, but rather upon a set of convictions to do with the value
of reason, science, freedom and ethics, also, humanism is an alternative to religion.

[letric]

Images representing deities, widely used in the ancient world and still
used in may faiths today. Idols and images are particularly prevalent
in those areas which have been influenced. Idols are consecrated to
the god which they represent by a ceremony during which the god is
worshipped. After this the idol's eyes are opened and the god is believed
to inhabit the idol. This does not mean that the god cannot be found
elsewhere, but rather marks a special association between idol and god,
which means that the god can be guaranteed to be found there. Some
believers argue that the idol is a visible representation of a spiritual
power, but popular belief often attributes power to the idol itself.

[letric]

There are apparently miraculous images that appear to bleed.
The phenomena exhibited include bleeding from the wounds of the crucifixion,
sweating blood, and a flow of tears of blood from the eyes. Of
the few cases properly investigated, most are unmasked simple if pious, frauds,
and Bishops have not shrunk from condemning them. A very small number of
cases have been tentatively authenticated (and hotly tested).

[letric]

There are apparently miraculous images that appear to bleed.
The phenomena exhibited include bleeding from the wounds of the crucifixion,
sweating blood, and a flow of tears of blood from the eyes. Of
the few cases properly investigated, most are unmasked simple if pious, frauds,
and Bishops have not shrunk from condemning them. A very small number of
cases have been tentatively authenticated (and hotly tested).




In the Roman Catholic Church, the claim that
statements on matters of faith or morals,
made by a pope speaking ex cathedra
(from the throne), or by a General Council if
confirmed by the pope, are guaranteed the
assistane of the Holy Spirit. The claim is rejected by
Protestants, for whom only God and the
Word of God is infallible.

[letric]

Melanesian religion, there is a wide range of myth, ritual and practice among Melanesians,
they are many peoples diverse in origin and language, on large islands and small, and
many who have for many centuries lived in a restricted universe of small groups in mountain
valleys. God is rarely prominent in accounts of Melanesian religion, though the great power
in the universe is often identified with the sky, and feeding the sky is the name of the
sole major sacrificial rite of one people. Another is the story of two brothers. At first
co-operating, they become estranged. One was cleverer than the other, or one cheated the
other; eventually they separated and one brother left for the otherworld. This otherworld is
sometimes conceived as above, sometimes as below. Putting these two themes together, and
bearing in mind the fragile world of most Melanesian peoples, where disharmony can spell
destruction it is not surprising to find an other set of themes about the end of time. One day
the people will be united, the lost brother and his kin return, and the deep human longing
to eat together in one place be fulfilled. These myths of the end time at first
seemed to explain the arrival of the whites; subsequent relations with whites gave a new
twist to the myth of the two brothers. Christian preaching about the Fall, and the return of
Christ found echoes in these stories and sometimes assisted reinterpretation of them, shown
in various new religious movements.

[letric]

I can dream a million dreams but I know there
is one unavoidable flaw in this equation - me.
It is not easy to leave a heart. As the Buddhists
put it, wherever we go, there we are. The one
person we can not escape is ourselves.

[letric]

Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the greatest *Sufis and a major Persian poet and thinker.
His major work is the Poem of Inner Meaning, which was something like 40
years in the writing. His theme as a guide to mystical experience is that man in
ordinary state is cut off from higher perceptions by lower, usually emotional,
stimuli. This state is often found in both the learned and emotionalist: addiction
to vice or to imagined virtue are both form of idolatry, which cause 'veiling'.
Teaching people to hate evil and covet sanctity is training in hatred and covetous-
ness more than an approach to goodness or holiness. Bad things cannot be avoided
or good ones approached, he insists, by such crude ignorant methods.
'Do not attach yourself to the brick of the wall - seek instead the eternal origin.'
A teacher is ess:ential 'Water needs a medium between it and the fire, if it
is to heat correctly' Laymen cannot evaluate mystical matters: You
belong to the world of dimension: but you come from non-dimension. Close the
first "shop", open the second.' Knowledge of objective truth is developed
through love and self-knowledge: 'Ultimate Truth is reached by Love, that
special loe of which worldly loce is a crude analogue:
HE is within you
IS
Whinfield, E.H. (1974). Teachings of Rumi.

[letric]

Although the roots of theoretical racism can be traced back at least
the fifteenth century, the term did not come to prominence until 1930s
when it was used to describe pseudo-scientific theory that race,
as a decisive biological determinant, established a hierarchy among
different ethnic groups. Racist theories were largely developed after the
fact to justify practical racism, which can exist independently of them.
Polygenesis, the attempt to explain the differences among kinds by posit-
ing diverse origins, provided a basis for maintaining permanent inequalities
between peoples; by contrast, the philosophies of history that imposed a
single goal on history could be used to justify colonialism, as well as the
destruction of idigenous cultures and peoples. Most potently, the two
tendencies are combined to demand an assimilation that is till withheld on
the basis of blood purity or skin colour.
B. Boxhill. ( Race and Racism) Oxford , 2001

[letric]

The relevance in understanding human history, not only because
men made it but because our understanding comes from the truths,
which we hold our mind rather than from certainties which we obtain
as external observers. let us try to be more specific. Humanity is
that which differentiates man from other animals. Where do that get
us to? What can we do that they cannot do? All animals have limited
capacity to discriminate and categorise other animals. They can rec-
ognise members of their own species and discriminate as to sex; they
can distinguish food from not-food. In man this last capability has been
greatly elaborated. In the human case the development of a self-conscious
'I' which is contrasted with 'other' is closely linked with the
formation of verbal concepts. The structure of speech, which is linear
and segmented, encourages us to perceive our environment as consisting
of separable 'things' and 'events' and 'categories' each of which can be
described by name. The discrimination which are indicated by such
contrasts as 'I' / 'other, 'we' / 'they' are part of this very general process.
To put it differently, because we have language we are able to convert
sensory inputs into 'concepts in the mind' and we can play wiith these con-
cepts in the imagination without reference to operations in the external
world. We have persuaded ourselves that this is a human characteristic
which is not shared by other animals.
ERL

[letric]

Historically, a contrast has often been made between the
oretical and practical employments of reason. Aristotle's
practical syllogism concludes in an action rather than in a
proposition or a new belief: and phronesis is the ability to
use intellect practically. In discussions of motivation, fur-
thermore, appeals to practical reason may seek to counter
claims that only desire or inclination can ultimately prompt
to action. Then scope,of practical reason, however, is
much wider, practical reason (for example) include the
comparison and shifting of alleged human goods and ends,
and the reflective establishing of their ranking and place
in life plan.
E. Milligram, Varieties of Practical Reasoning.

[letric]

Alexander the great, a distinguish scholar and historian,
was a great figure in the ancient world, whose puzzling
personality fuelled his military accomplishments. His
ambiguous relationship with father, his special oedipal
involvement with his mother and his bisexuality. His
attempts to bridge the Greek and Trojan Worlds using
Achilles, hero of the Trojan war as his model. Inter-
esting, when one explores the the great leader's view
of himself in relation to the pagan gods of Greece and
Egypt.

[letric]

Following the partition in 1947 of Tibet was a forbidden land and
Kathmandu became the standard route to Everest via the Khumbu
glacier. This was the route taken by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa
Tenzing in 1953, accompanied part of the by the journalist James
Morris who immortalised the conquest. Indian, Chinese, American,
Argentine and Japenese ascent quickly followed.

[letric]

Following the partition in 1947 of Tibet was a forbidden land and
Kathmandu became the standard route to Everest via the Khumbu
glacier. This was the route taken by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa
Tenzing in 1953, accompanied part of the by the journalist James
Morris who immortalised the conquest. Indian, Chinese, American,
Argentine and Japanese ascent quickly followed.

George Mallory's reason for conquering Everest-

Because it was there
is the most succinct and probably the most famous
remark in the history of mountaineering. When
he vanished into the clouds in 1924, near the summit
of the highest peak on earth, he became a legendary
figure.

[letric]

A widely published evolutionary biologist and ethologist, British scientist Richard Dawkins is
now even better known as an outspoken critic of both religion and pseudoscience. He was
born in Nairobi, Kenya, educated at Oxford. Working in the field of theoretical modelling of
ethology, his major contribution has been his ability to explain complex evolutionary ideas
making them comprehensible to fellow biologists, and lay persons alike. In The Selfish Gene
(1976), he shows how natural selection acts on individual genes rather than at the individual
or species level. and also desribes how apparently altruistic behaviour in animals is designed
to increase the probability of survivakl of genes. His later publications include The God Delusion

[letric]

A widely published evolutionary biologist and ethologist, British scientist Richard Dawkins is
now even better known as an outspoken critic of both religion and pseudoscience. He was
born in Nairobi, Kenya, educated at Oxford. Working in the field of theoretical modelling of
ethology, his major contribution has been his ability to explain complex evolutionary ideas
making them comprehensible to fellow biologists, and lay persons alike. In The Selfish Gene
(1976), he shows how natural selection acts on individual genes rather than at the individual
or species level. and also desribes how apparently altruistic behaviour in animals is designed
to increase the probability of survivakl of genes. His later publications include The God Delusion

When it was first introduced into English in the 16th century, the term 'atheism' was prejorative.
Atheists have long been perceived as cold figures standing apart from society and rejecting moral
norms. The connecgtion berween morality and God is summed up by Ivan's famous pronouncement
in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazour: 'If God does not exist, then everything is permitted'.