Idolatory - Muslims and Christians Too are Idolators !!!!!

ANSWERING   A    MUSLIM' S   DOUBT  ON IDOLATORY   & MONOTHEISM

The Doubt : (received through Whatsapp  Msg.
"[8/10/2015, 3:38 PM] Bahadurbhai: Heara Enakku oru doubtu. You said there is only One God who is the Supreme Truth. Then why are there so many temples for various gods. Somewhere I read there are more than million gods from trees, various animals and human beings and legendary gods with wives and children and gods specific for Tamil speaking Hindus etc. There are also many many arakkans and devathais.  Could you please shed some light on this. I am pretty confused."


ANSWER given  in  the background of current events.

Quran Verse 2:44 , TO THINK .
This verse exhorts to read and think. Now most people do not read their own religious texts. And those who read, the majority of them do not try to evaluate and understand its contents. Most read the scriptures mechanically , thinking  in their mind that it is just another religious obligation. Just read to earn 'Sawaab' for the hereafter.

IGNORANT LEADERS  &  MEAT

I can say with surety, majority Hindus in India do not read own   scriptures. Many do not have even the 'basic' texts in their homes. A devotee(of Swamy Chinmayananda)   remembers  that Swami Chinmayananda used to say that 'He has got regular professional listeners.' What he meant was that  during each Gita Yajna(discourse) in a particular place, he sees the same set of listeners, and he felt that they listen without proper understanding. He would have judged them while interacting with  them before and after the Yajna.

If ignorance of  religious texts  is common amongst the Hindus, one can imagine about their political leaders. They are having scant knowledge of their texts. .

In  the great epic Mahabharatha you come across  events, involving meat as sacrificial offeing, a no of times. Meat was distributed as 'prasada' , ie.left-over of sacrificial offerings  and distributed to those who participated in the ancient ritualistic Yajnas.
But finally the Mbh gives the message that if one wants to liberate oneself from the bondage of this world, it is essential that he  abstains from meat-eating. And further, refining of oneself,  means  abstaining from all food, and depend only on water and air. One may make this choice.(the free-will is limited to this extent.)

Further in the Apad-Dharma Parava of MBh, (Chapter 121)a story is told that  the great Sage Viswamithra, ate dog- meat and that too as per the prescribed rituals. Well this action is contextual.(We must use discretionary/discriminative thinking when reading this story). He had done so in the time of extreme adversity in the kingdom. The dog-meat he had tried to steal from the house of a Chandala/Paraya, when the latter was asleep.But the Paraya wakes up, and there is a very interesting conversation between the Paraya and the sage.All these stories point to a time,when learned and thinking men were in charge of our society, and those times our society had prospered well.


NOW consider the   English versions of Quranic verse(cited above) from two translators. http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=2&verse=44


(1)Version Sahih International: "Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?"

(2)Version Muhammad Sarwar: "Would you order people to do good deeds and forget to do them yourselves even though you read the Book? Why do you not think?"

The idea is more or less the same in the two translations. ie One must read (scripture) and  think. Maybe during those times, Scriptures(Jewish & Christian) might  have been the one and only reading source, in the deserts of Arabia, and that too in its urban centres.

COMPETITION SHAPING IDEAS & GROUPS

Now one must consider how  this valuable bit  of advice was overlooked or  ignored during the time of Prophet Muhammed (PUBH) itself. Is it because of  the competition existing between various groups/communities during that period in that place? (Arabia/Middle-East). Consider Verse 2:213 "Mankind was a single community, then God sent prophets to bring good news and warning (ie good and bad news), and with them He sent the Scripture with the Truth, to judge between people in their disagreements. It was only those to whom  it was given who disagreed  about it after clear signs had come to them, because of rivalry  between them. So by His leave God guided  the believers  to the truth  they had differed about: God guides whoever He will to a straight path."

The Prophet was keen to win  in this competitive environment. And the competing groups consisted of various tribes, eg: Desert Arabs (Verse 9.97), and the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians.(Verse 9.62). To win over the competition, one copies various ideas and strategies  adopted by the rivals, especially of  those  that are winning or have won. This explains most of the commonalities of  Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. The second chapter of  Quran  shows that it has borrowed heavily from  Jewish and Christian religious thinking. At the same time leaders also try to highlight  the differences in ideology and conduct, to stress the distinguishing characteristics between various groups. All  these group dynamics had been played out in the Middle-East. It is played out in modern India too. All political parties irrespective of ideology  stress  'development' as their goal. To differentiate themselves, one  talks about a common civil code, the other stress about  secularism & privatization and the third talks about nationalisation of productive assets of the nation.

IDOL WORSHIP - MEANINGS DIFFER.

One amongst the core tenets , which is common to  Jews , Christians and Muslims is the abhorrence of idol worship.How this thinking came to them is steeped in mystery !!!? Was  the Patriarch Abraham or the men(Prophets)after him, trying to distinguish themselves  from the Pagan tribes around them? The wikipedia article about idolatory gives a fairly good 'picture'  of Middle-Eastern thinking  on this matter.

MIXING OIL & WATER

Mixing  Indian version of idolatory with that of  Middle-East is akin to mixing oil and water. First consider the etymology of the word  idolatory as given in wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idolatry . It is related to "image, figure" etc. So the idea and understanding connected with the word in the Middle-East & Europe deteriorates to  image and figure worship. The Sanskrit terms for  "image and figure" is, "bimba, pratima, roopa, chitra" etc. The Sanskrit term for worship is 'aradhana'. And 'idol worship' in Sanskrit is 'Vigraha-aradhana', which is not at all equal or equivalent to  idolatory or idol-worship. One does not use the words Krishna-bimba, Krishna-pratima or Krishna-roopa when refering to figurines used for worship. One only says 'Krishna-vigraha'. The act of worshiping God is called 'Vigraha-aradhana' or 'Vigraha-pooja'  and NOT 'bimba-pooja'  or 'pratima-pooja' or 'roopa-pooja'.

And one of  the meanings (which is prominent )of the term    'Vigraha' is- that which is not easily understood or difficult to understand or conceive. Therefore to aid in our conceptualisation  or imagination or picturization  which develops and advances our learning and understanding,(of any subject) a symbol or figure is made and it initially becomes the object of our contemplation and respectful worship. The inconceivable cannot be worshipped by none, and some reference point(eg. facing the Kaaba) or place is absolutely essential  for worship, thereby showing our reverence to that humanly unimaginable Being. A story illustrating this idea is given in the Brahma Purana, which is considered to be the first out of the eighteen Puranas.

GEOGRAPHY  CLASS

Situations similar to the  conceptual difficulty in imagining the unimaginable (ie. GOD) are encountered during  learning of various subjects , which is solved with the help of scaled down models and drawings. Those who had learned Geography in their school days , must be aware of this. When we hear the word earth, the  picture or image that is most likely to come to our mind will be that of  the miniature globe  on its slanting axis held in  a C-shape bracket on  the staff-table. The continents with nations marked on it in different colors along with the oceans painted in blue  -this image also will spring to the mind. Further to learn and understand  about the earth in a more refined way we draw lines ie. longitudes and lattitudes on it.(the model). This is to learn about time, seasons , etc. And now those who are using Google Maps  will know how this kind of learning and understanding is helping car-taxi drivers in cities.

When we mature in our thinking, if we further dwell on the topic, it strikes us immediately that, in reality the earth is not having any lines drawn on it, it is impossible to draw any such lines on its surface. And we do not consider as having fooled ourselves when we see NASA pictures  of our earth. We know that such practical studies(using the model of the earth) only had helped NASA  in taking the pictures.

WORDS  ARE ALSO BUILDING BLOCKS FOR IMAGES.

We  have heard about the proverb 'that a picture is worth a thousand words'. It also means that picture and words are interchangeable. One may draw a picture using pencil or brush on paper or on a wall. The artist is copying the picture on his mental wall (??)  on to paper or other medium. Similarly  an author is trasferring the picture in his mind to paper or parchment  through words. Thus God is picturised through words in the Sacred Scriptures. Is this not akin to constructing graven images through words ? Thus the Religious Texts thesmselves are forms/idols crafted out of words !!!!  (Why everyone graduated from plain sms to whatsapp ??? Because it can transmit images and videos.  Imagine the same picture or video,  one  conveying through words? The volume of words required will be very huge. ) Images or figurines thus are a great means to convey spiritual and religious ideas. Eg. The cross, the crescent moon, Arabic caligraphy, picture of Kaaba. While constructing a place of worship , say a  Church or Mosque, certain rules  apply. Similarly, well-defined rules are there for the carving or casting of Vigrahas.(eg. stone vigrahas and panchaloka vigrahas) This also serves to express artistic talents of many and also livelihoods to many.

MENTAL IMAGINING OR IMAGINING
How can anyone deny fundamental human characteristics.? Can anyone insist that human beings should not be hungry , or try to  delibrately snuff out thirst without giving  water ? Can any creed  be obstinate enough to say that men should not sing or dance ? These are all natural to human beings . Mental imaginining is a similar  process in humans which cannot be prevented by any means.  One must consider the image conjured up in the mind when each verse of the Quran is read.

Based on  the Indian thinking on this subject, all Religions practice 'Vigraha-aradhana'. (Buddha had said not to make his statue, but finally Buddhists could not do without it.)

MONOTHEISM  -IMPRACTICAL DOGMA
The corollary to  the above idea of  mental imagery,  is that ,'MONOTHEISM' is an untenable idea. The crores of gods in the Hindu pantheon, is the mental image of as many no of people, all trying to reach out and experience God. And thus the infinite  Almighty is conceived/grasped through infinite images/idols. Finally trying to reach the one and only God in their own ways. Who are we to stop them reaching God in their own ways?

My appeal to all,especially youngsters, when you read scriptures read critically and above all
READ  &  THINK !!!!!

LECTURE - A common & Widely used method in EDUCATION - IMPLICATIONS OF THIS IN RELIGION !!!!

'Modern Researchers' say that the self-reported average amount of concentration during lectures was a mere 10 minutes, as per a report in the Science & Tech. column of the Hindu dtd 27/02/2014. Apart from educating us about  the ineffectiveness of lectures (Robin Sharma, Sean Smith !!???) ,the researcher's point out towards an interesting insight, which were already  known to Indians for ages . Quote "Another insight from neuroscience research is the surprising finding that learning is a highly individualised process — after hearing the same set of facts, every student creates his /her own meaning and a unique set of memories, based on his/her own beliefs and experiences. In other words, information cannot simply be transmitted passively from one mind to another, like say we can with a music file. "

That means for each one of us , there is a very private world (lokam), a fortress which  none can penetrate and invade. This knowledge was commonplace with Indians and majority carried themselves around accordingly. Through the following   two statements of Gandhiji coupled with  the 'above modern research finding', superstitious Indians stand vindicated on this Shivrathri day !!!!!
(1) There are some things  which are known only to oneself and one's Maker. These are clearly incommunicable.(Gandhiji's own introduction to his autobiography dtd 26 Nov. 1925, para 4)
(2) In reality there are as many religions as there are individuals. (Hind Swaraj, Chapter X, para 3)

From many quarters, scorn had been poured over the poly-theism of Indians !! But it can be easily discerned that , from the 'modern research findings' and as per Gandhiji's statement, when the population of India was 33 crores and odd, we had as many GODS and now that figure will be approx 120 crores !!!! That is the total population of India including Muslims and Christians. X's Jesus & Heavenly Father will not exactly match Y's Jesus & Heavenly father. Similarly A's Allah & Prop. Muhammed with B's. 

CONCLUSION :That means there exists only POLYTHEISM in this world !!!!!!

Link http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sci-tech-and-agri/revamping-education-why-we-dont-learn-from-lectures/article5731066.ece

Revamping education: why we don’t learn from lectures

In a recent poll of 1,000 students, the self-reported average amount of concentration during lectures was a mere ten minutes

Breaking tradition:Active or experiential learning — that requires students to reflect and apply ideas in solving problems is an alternative to conventional lectures.— Photo: n. rajesh

“Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep”. Albert Camus

The lecture — a one-two-hour-long, one-size fits all, largely passive, transfer of information — remains the most widely used method of education at schools and colleges worldwide. It is a ritual that has been repeated for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Students, parents, and educators assume the lectures have been very helpful (especially if the lecturer is famous or a great orator).

However, beginning in the 1960s, research in cognitive neuroscience and psychology turned these assumptions upside down. Thirty five years ago Johnstone and Percival observed students in over 90 lectures, given by 12 different lecturers. They noted the longest attention span in a lecture was about 18 minutes and that during a lecture there were many periods of inattention such that by the end of the lecture, attention had dropped to 4 minutes. Hartley and Davies, in a 1986 paper, noted that after a lecture, student’s recall of facts from the first 10 minutes of the lecture was more than three-fold higher than from the last 10 minutes. These studies suggest that how good or bad a given lecturer is has only a small bearing on how much information students retained after a 60 minute lecture — much of it is determined by how our brains are wired to process information.

Another insight from neuroscience research is the surprising finding that learning is a highly individualised process — after hearing the same set of facts, every student creates his /her own meaning and a unique set of memories, based on his/her own beliefs and experiences. In other words, information cannot simply be transmitted passively from one mind to another, like say we can with a music file. Research also shows that passive teacher centric instruction does little to develop problem solving skills — a reason why companies increasingly find that today’s graduates are not prepared for the work force and end up having to retrain them.

Clearly there are many factors that affect learning, and as with any field there are disagreements about some of the research findings. But in today’s hyperconnected environment with an abundance of distractions, the attention span of a student is likely to be compromised even further than it was several decades ago. In a recent poll of 1,000 students, the self-reported average amount of concentration during lectures was a mere ten minutes!

If students zone out for significant portions of most lectures and if what was learned in the first part is erased during the second half of the lecture, then clearly long lectures are not the most effective tool. Why then is the 60 minute lecture so prevalent?

Before printed books were widely available, note taking during lectures, with or without understanding the material, was a means of gathering information. Lectures became widespread in the 1700s when the Kingdom of Prussia launched an 8-year basic primary education programme to prepare the masses for a growing industrial workforce. Subsequently this model of education spread throughout the world for both school and college education, and remains largely intact today due to habit, resistance to change, and ignorance of the alternatives.

What’s the alternative? Active or experiential learning — a form of learning that requires students to reflect and apply ideas in solving problems. It is more student centric and often involves collaborative (peer) learning. How good is the evidence that active learning is better?

One of the most impressive demonstrations is from a 1998 study that compared 2084 students taking 14 traditional science courses versus 4458 students taking 48 “interactive” active learning courses. The study found that measures of conceptual understanding were vastly superior in the active learning group — by a margin of 2 standard deviations! Many other studies, across multiple fields, show that active learning outperforms passive teaching.

Change is coming and many leading institutions are beginning to de-emphasise passive learning. For example, at Duke-NUS medical school in Singapore, unlike traditional medical schools, students learn before coming to class (through online materials and lectures), take a test when they come into class to ensure they do the pre-reading, sit through a short 15 minute lecture and then retake a test. They then apply the knowledge to solve case problems in small teams.

An active peer learning model is also now being adopted by high schools — at the Spectra Secondary School in Singapore, several weeks of class lectures are made available online so students can progress at their own pace and even ahead of the class. Quick learners of mathematics can help their fellow student slower learners individually.

By reducing time spent in passive lectures, colleges can free up time with more active problem solving and team based learning strategies. The return on investment from tuition and education would then be greater to both the student and society. To empower the next generation of students, we would do well to heed the observation by Sophocles that, “ one must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try”.

DR. P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, DR. MOHAN CHILUKURI, DR. K. RANGA KRISHNAN

(Murali Doraiswamy is a Professor at Duke University;

Mohan Chilukuri is a physician and educator with the University of North Carolina;

Ranga Krishnan is the Dean of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore)

WISHFUL THINKING OF A MISSIONARY - THE FAMOUS WILLIAM CAREY

The wicked, disrespectful  and intolerant mind of a Missionary is reflected in this poem. Most Hindus , especially those belonging to priestly vocation, will never compose such a poem, condemning the dieties/prophets of another religion.

Composed in Bengalee by Mr. Carey and translated  into English by J.Fountain.

The Indian  renouncing Heathenism, and embracing Christianity.  (p.309) www.wmcarey.edu/carey/staughton/308-309 .jpg

11.     In serving vain idols, why thus spend my days,

Since  nought but destruction attends all my ways?

The Lord of the world did descend from on high,

And was born in our nature all sin to destroy.

22.     Hitherto my whole soul, full of darkness has been,

And like other people I’ve gone on in sin,

With them I was drowning in misery’s deep,

And on earth I discovered no way of escape

33.     Seeb, Doorga, and Kallee, could  give me no aid,

No Debta nor Debbee, no offerings were made,

No Brammhan, no Yogee, no deed done by me,

No, not all these united can set my soul free.

44.     These all are quite useless, I’ve found them all vain,

From the power of JESUS some hope I obtain:

These heavens and this earth are the work of his hands;

He animates all things; all superintends.

55.     My sin,  and my holiness, now are my shame!

My passions, my wishes, my honour, my name;

I now lay all down at CHRIST JESUS’ feet,

And trust, though a sinner, I mercy shall get.

66.     Ho! All sinful people, this good news attend,

Salvation and Righteousness, now apprehend;

This, this is the order he gives unto you,

And then after death you to glory shall go.