Post by Zheng Zhao on Jun 8, 2015 20:14:46 GMT
Faqir Chand’s experiences are important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles because even though he is a well-respected guru, he doesn’t believe that he has some sort of transcendental ability to change other people’s lives. The most important insight of Faqir Chand is that “most religious visions are, in fact, products of one’s own mind.” Therefore, many mystic images disciples see from their respectful gurus might just be the projections from their own imaginations. As a result, Faqir Chand believes that many religious problems and sufferings derive from an ignorance of the concept of real Guru, which according to him is the Truth, and an overemphasis on the Master and disciple relationship while ignoring the vital fact that the real enlightenment comes from one’s own mind and knowledge. In “The Teaching” part of the book “the Unknowing Sage,” Faqir Chand repeats multiple times the very importance of the Truth by arguing that “thy own Self is the Real Guru,” Truth always wins,” and “Truth always conquerors.” From his personal experiences, Faqir discounts the many religious visions and miracles performed by gurus including himself, but contends that it is disciples’ own mind that solve their own problems.
Science in some sense is an updated version of philosophy. When we try to understand phenomena in the world, we shall adopt a reductionism approach as our first try. In many times, we are easily succumbed to the “the transcendental temptation” as Paul Kurz has once said, and adopts a mystic and spiritual explanation for things happened to us. However, such approach is problematic because these mystic visions and images are merely projections of our brain, like Plato’s “Allegory of Cave,” might already be reflected and twisted multiple items before we see them. Moreover, our brain is acting as a virtual simulator, which offers us evolutionary advantages but at the same time bring illusions to our mind. As written in the book “The Oceanic Metaphor,” “any meaning is better than no meaning.” Such fact is also why we see pictures that provide us with the best reasons to survive in so-called “near death experience,” when in fact the common denominator might just be the fact that those people didn’t die. Science should be the first choice in studying philosophy because it is based on empirical evidence and can be fully tested and it provides us with the truth. It is not to say that science could definitely solve any mysteries in the universe, but before we exhaust the options and possibilities from a scientific perspective, we shouldn’t rush to resort to our imaginations and spiritual feelings.
Science in some sense is an updated version of philosophy. When we try to understand phenomena in the world, we shall adopt a reductionism approach as our first try. In many times, we are easily succumbed to the “the transcendental temptation” as Paul Kurz has once said, and adopts a mystic and spiritual explanation for things happened to us. However, such approach is problematic because these mystic visions and images are merely projections of our brain, like Plato’s “Allegory of Cave,” might already be reflected and twisted multiple items before we see them. Moreover, our brain is acting as a virtual simulator, which offers us evolutionary advantages but at the same time bring illusions to our mind. As written in the book “The Oceanic Metaphor,” “any meaning is better than no meaning.” Such fact is also why we see pictures that provide us with the best reasons to survive in so-called “near death experience,” when in fact the common denominator might just be the fact that those people didn’t die. Science should be the first choice in studying philosophy because it is based on empirical evidence and can be fully tested and it provides us with the truth. It is not to say that science could definitely solve any mysteries in the universe, but before we exhaust the options and possibilities from a scientific perspective, we shouldn’t rush to resort to our imaginations and spiritual feelings.