Post by C. Snell on Jun 13, 2015 6:50:42 GMT
1. Why is Faqir Chand's experiences important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles?
Faqir Chand’s experiences with his followers are important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions because he admitted that he had not desire for fame or guruship, he just wanted to be closer to God. People followed him on their own accord and subsequently attributed miracles and visions to his spiritual power and gifts. In the book The Unknowing Sage, he says “I do not initiate anybody. People regard me as their Guru according to their faith. Sant Tara Chand Ji told me that I helped him in reaping his (farm) crops in the scorching heat. But I know that I did not go to help him (p. 49).” Chand suggests that people receive these transformations in their lives because they give their lives over to God. They worship God through Chand and therefore, God’s image is manifested as Chand. Chand even said that he told people to accept god in any form.
Chand even tells of a time that he was in the Army and he hoped that all would go well as he meditated for hours. There came a time were he was needed but he was in deep meditation, yet, later his colleagues made mention of how he spoke to them and diffused a situation. He was shocked because he was in his room that whole time. This image that they saw could have been manifested by Chand’s prayer that all would go well. His spiritual energy (and I assume the spiritual energy of his colleagues and their faith in him as a leader) set the perfect scenario for God to take Chand’s place to diffuse a situation Chand had prayed about.
Faqir admittance to not having anything to do with these supernatural occurrences helps one understand that where there is faith, the human mind is capable of building on the illusion of life to fix their problems. One could insinuate that they are hallucinating, but the very nature of our perception of life can be deemed an illusion. We have brains that create life into a image that is fitting for understanding of the world we live in, but not all that we see is actually there or we see less than what is there. So Chand, and many other philosophers say, that life is just an illusion. We intertwine our faith with our existence and perceptions. Faith can be viewed as another filter for the stimuli we receive. It shapes how one sees everything.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
I believe the phrase, “philosophy done well is a science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy,” means that when philosophers are through and strategic about how they formulate their philosophies they are using a scaffolding similar to scientist. Additionally, most early Western philosophers (such as Pythagorus) used math and observation of nature as a starting point for most of their philosophies, again, akin to science. According to Mac’s dictionary, science is, "the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Philosophers do experiments in the traditional scientific way, but they do test their philosophies out against other philosophers or use logic to make sure their arguments are sound; at least when that philosopher is doing philosophy well.
Faqir Chand’s experiences with his followers are important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions because he admitted that he had not desire for fame or guruship, he just wanted to be closer to God. People followed him on their own accord and subsequently attributed miracles and visions to his spiritual power and gifts. In the book The Unknowing Sage, he says “I do not initiate anybody. People regard me as their Guru according to their faith. Sant Tara Chand Ji told me that I helped him in reaping his (farm) crops in the scorching heat. But I know that I did not go to help him (p. 49).” Chand suggests that people receive these transformations in their lives because they give their lives over to God. They worship God through Chand and therefore, God’s image is manifested as Chand. Chand even said that he told people to accept god in any form.
Chand even tells of a time that he was in the Army and he hoped that all would go well as he meditated for hours. There came a time were he was needed but he was in deep meditation, yet, later his colleagues made mention of how he spoke to them and diffused a situation. He was shocked because he was in his room that whole time. This image that they saw could have been manifested by Chand’s prayer that all would go well. His spiritual energy (and I assume the spiritual energy of his colleagues and their faith in him as a leader) set the perfect scenario for God to take Chand’s place to diffuse a situation Chand had prayed about.
Faqir admittance to not having anything to do with these supernatural occurrences helps one understand that where there is faith, the human mind is capable of building on the illusion of life to fix their problems. One could insinuate that they are hallucinating, but the very nature of our perception of life can be deemed an illusion. We have brains that create life into a image that is fitting for understanding of the world we live in, but not all that we see is actually there or we see less than what is there. So Chand, and many other philosophers say, that life is just an illusion. We intertwine our faith with our existence and perceptions. Faith can be viewed as another filter for the stimuli we receive. It shapes how one sees everything.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
I believe the phrase, “philosophy done well is a science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy,” means that when philosophers are through and strategic about how they formulate their philosophies they are using a scaffolding similar to scientist. Additionally, most early Western philosophers (such as Pythagorus) used math and observation of nature as a starting point for most of their philosophies, again, akin to science. According to Mac’s dictionary, science is, "the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Philosophers do experiments in the traditional scientific way, but they do test their philosophies out against other philosophers or use logic to make sure their arguments are sound; at least when that philosopher is doing philosophy well.