Thursday 24 December 2015

Presentation Knowledge and Belief


Man and Knowledge

All of the beings in the universe show that they were organized and formed by knowledge, a will and a consciousness. The discovery of the existence of this knowledge is only possible through the eye of the mind as light is necessary to see things. The creation of things so artistically and wisely is only possible through an endless knowledge.

When we look around carefully, we see that everything is created through knowledge. There is a widespread knowledge in everything, from sub-atomic particles to galaxies, and the existence of endless branches of knowledge that deal with the discovery of this knowledge from particle physics to astronomy is only possible through the existence of a high and deep knowledge. The fact that each being is created in an orderly manner and with the most precise sizes shows knowledge. To act in an orderly manner and in precision necessitates a sound knowledge. 

Wonderful ease in the creation of beings points to a perfect knowledge. To carry out something easily can be through knowledge and wisdom. 

For instance, if someone invented to make an egg out of grass, grains, etc that hens eat, he would be appreciated and admired, and people would talk about the advanced level that knowledge reached and the wonder of the human brain for days – even if it was necessary to set up a huge and expensive factory to realize it. However, the fact that hens which have no claims about mind and knowledge produce eggs that are wonders of art and knowledge in their small bodies, in a dark environment without human touch and hygienically does not attract the attention of anybody. The eggs are produced so easily that it looks as if they are created out of nothing. 

The fact that the egg which is kept at a certain temperature becomes a chick which is a wonderful masterpiece of art and knowledge, in a dark shell without human touch, points to an unsurpassed, deep knowledge. Similarly, the fact that a seed sown into the ground becomes a tree extremely easily and leaves are woven out of the raw material of soil and fruits are produced – for instance, under unhygienic circumstances pomegranate arils are arranged like clean pearls in a wonderful order, clusters separated by white tulles wrapped in a biodegradable material and exhibited on branches- leaves no doubt about the existence of an endless knowledge, will and might. 


The veil of familiarity that conceals the wonders in the universe 

If someone invented a machine as big as a watermelon that made eggs out of the waste meals and rotten vegetables and fruit at home and transformed the remaining into fertilizer that we could use for flowers – and if the cost of the machine weren't more expensive than a watermelon and it were as beautiful as a curio to be placed in a corner of the kitchen – wouldn't everybody including the scientists applaud admiringly the wonderful knowledge adorned with art and aesthetics in this person? Wouldn't everybody including the scientists get in line curiously and try to see how it was produced? And wouldn't we cry Incredible if these eggs were maintained at a certain temperature for 21 days and each egg turned out to be an egg machine and each machine grew up with the waste meals and started to produce eggs? Wouldn't we say I should be dreaming and pinch ourselves if this machine could see, went out and took a walk? Wouldn't we make a fuss over this inventor? Wouldn't we award him the most prestigious science medals? If we were neurotic people, wouldn't we believe in the speculations that will render our minds weak and render our level of knowledge ridiculous about this person he must have come from a planet where technology is much more advanced than ours? 

However, unfortunately, the veil of familiarity that covers everything like a dark cloud prevents us from seeing thousands of the wonders of technology – living wonders – around us. 


The Light of Knowledge

The fact that everything in the universe is carried out through knowledge and that knowledge gleams out of beings indicates the existence of a widespread light of knowledge that penetrates into everything – just as the gleams of light on a diamond indicates the existence of a widespread source of light around. Then the manifestation of a widespread knowledge that penetrates into everything, which is beyond time and place, exists in the world like the force of gravity. This light of knowledge that comes from the spiritual world can be perceived not through the material body eyes but through the spiritual heart and mind eyes. 

The light we know reaches our eyes by two ways; either directly from its source or indirectly by being reflected from beings. In the former case, the light reaches by maintaining its pure and original state. In the latter case, the gleams reaching our eyes can vary depending on the interaction of the object with the light. For instance, the light that reaches our eyes after striking an orange has the color of orange predominantly instead of the seven colors the mixture of which we perceive as colorless. Therefore, it may be delusive to try to understand the nature of the light that comes from the source of light by examining the light reflected from the objects. 

In accordance with this analogy, it may be stated that there are two ways of perceiving the light of knowledge too. The former is the absorption of the light of knowledge directly by the eye of the heart, which is the spiritual center of the man; the latter is the perception of the gleam of the light of knowledge reflected from objects by the minds eye. The former is the source of a pure knowledge coming from inside; the latter is the source of the dispersed knowledge coming from outside. The former is like refined sugar, it is absorbed immediately; the latter is like carob or sugar cane, it has to be grinded and cleared off the sediment first. 


Mind is enlightened by knowledge 

Mind needs to be handled adequately in order to perceive the dispersed light of knowledge coming from the objects – just as the diamond needs to be processed elaborately in order to reflect the light in fascinating beauty. The way to handle, develop and brighten the mind is to tend to knowledge and to be occupied with knowledge and to digest it. Then it is necessary to classify the gleams of knowledge, to grind them through the mill of reasoning and to separate the essence from the covering and the ore from the cinder. The light of knowledge refined like this and made ready for digestion enlightens the mind and glorifies a person scientifically. The way to observe the beings tending to receive the dispersed light of knowledge and to observe the happenings is open to everybody, and everybody can brighten their minds as much as their talents let them and continue brightening – as long as they try hard enough. 


Inspiration

Direct perception of knowledge is its sudden reflection in the heart and sensing. This sense, which is different from five senses, which has no material organ and which is noticed by everyone, is called the sixth sense or inspiration; it is also expressed as feel in one's bones. This sense is present in everybody in different levels; it may be a sound source of information depending on the purity, sensitivity and development of the heart – as long as a person makes himself an active receiver and maintains this position. The knowledge belonging to animals called instinct, which cannot be denied, is of this kind, that is, inspiration. The animals that have the greatest inspiration are bees, silkworms and so on, animals with small bodies but big skills. A happy person is someone whose minds eye and hearts eye are open and who receives knowledge through two channels. That is, his mind and heart should always be alert and receiving. Thus, he should fly to the peaks of the knowledge not by one wing and with difficulty, but with double wings and by gliding. 


The source of knowledge is not the brain

The source of new knowledge is not current knowledge or the brain but inspiration. Therefore to produce new knowledge is not the natural outcome of learning a lot of things. That is, previous knowledge cannot produce new knowledge. If it could, computers loaded with the most information or high technology robots would produce new knowledge. In other words, current knowledge cannot be the source of new knowledge. The known knowledge has no unknown part, so how can the known knowledge be the source that part? If it were, that part would be known as a part of the known knowledge. 

It is necessary to say the following to the people who think that the source of knowledge is the brain: The carbon in the brain is no different than the carbon in the coal, nor the hydrogen in the brain is different than the hydrogen in the water, nor the electrons that enable the electric current in the brain are different than the electrons flowing in the electric wiring in the houses, and there is nothing like knowledge in these atoms or particles. Since the things that are non-existent in the part cannot exist in the whole, the idea that human brain is the source of knowledge is nonsense. The reason why the people who discover and state new knowledge are generally well-educated people is not the change of brain through education but the development of the ability to receive the light of knowledge by dealing with knowledge.


Can an information card make a building?

Some people see DNAs as the code of life and claim that the secret of beings have been revealed by the drawing of the gene maps of living things. According to them, the formation of beings is carried out in accordance with DNA codes. Therefore, many things that were a secret in the past can be easily explained today. That is, according to them, it is quite natural for an orange seed to crack and to germinate after being sowed into the ground and then to develop branches and become a tree. Everything is carried out in accordance with the DNA codes in the seed. It is no wonder that the tree yields oranges and all of the plans and programs of the orange tree are coded in each orange seed. All of this information is present in DNAs. Many people regard this explanation that a seed sowed into ground becomes a tree and yields fruit without any outside intervention as reasonable because they have seen it many times and become familiar with it. 

Based on the same reasoning, could a building emerge if we made detailed plans of a building and the fixtures in it and loaded these plans into a CD or memory card and sowed this CD or the memory card into the ground? Or similarly, if we loaded all of the technical information and detailed drawings of a car into a memory card and sowed it into the ground, would a car emerge? If somebody said his house or car emerged like that, wouldn't we laugh at him? Wouldn't we tell him that plans and detailed drawings couldn't do anything on their own because they had neither consciousness, nor will nor power nor eyes, nor knowledge nor artistry?

How can a mind that rejects without hesitation the emergence of a car or building through plans and detailed drawings on their own accept the emergence of a fruit tree, a bird or a man out of gene maps on their own? While many architects, engineers, foremen and workers with minds, will and knowledge are necessary to make a building or a car, doesn't the fact that these beings that are all creation miracles form without almost any human touch and wonderfully indicate the existence of a being with will, wisdom, power and knowledge behind the veil? 


The evaluation of Badiuzzaman about knowledge is appropriate and original:

All the instances of wisdom apparent in all beings point to the knowledge of Allah. For to carry out work with wisdom means to do it with knowledge.

And all favor and adornment point to such knowledge. He who works blessingly and gracefully certainly knows and does knowingly.

And the well-ordered measuredness apparent in all beings, their shapes cut out in accordance with purpose and benefits, all demonstrate an all-embracing knowledge. For to carry out work with order means to do it with knowledge. He who works skillfully and with measure and balance is surely relying on a powerful knowledge.

Certainly, the giving of well-ordered and different forms to everything, as well as a particular shape that is appropriate and beneficial to its life and existence, occurs through an all-encompassing knowledge; it could not occur any other way.

And mercy's benevolence, which encompasses all beings and is in a form appropriate to each of them, demonstrates an all-embracing knowledge within a vast mercy. Because, for example, the One Who feeds the offspring of animate creatures with milk and assists the plants of the earth needy for water with rain, most certainly knows the young and their needs, and sees the plants, perceives how necessary rain is for them and then sends it; and so on. All the manifestations of' His wise and kind mercy demonstrate an all-comprehensive knowledge.

And the care and attention, the artistic fashioning, and the skillful decoration present in the art in all things demonstrate an all-embracing, knowledge. For choosing an orderly, adorned, artistic, and purposeful state from among thousands of possible states can only occur through a profound knowledge. This choice apparent in all beings demonstrates an all-encompassing knowledge.

The complete ease in the creation and origination of things points to a perfect knowledge. For the ease and facility in achieving a certain situation is commensurate with the degree of knowledge and skill. To whatever degree a thing is known, to that degree, it will be carried out with ease.

Thus, in consequence of this fact, we see from beings, every one of which is a miracle of art, that they are being created with ease and facility, without trouble or confusion, in a short period of time, in a wondrous, indeed a miraculous, fashion. That is to say, there is a boundless knowledge which is expressed with boundless ease. And so on.

There are thousands of voracious signs like those mentioned in the examples above to the fact that the Being Who has free disposal over the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge; that He knows all the attributes of all beings, and then he acts.

Since the universe's Owner has such knowledge, for sure He sees human beings and their actions, and He knows what human beings deserve and what is appropriate for them. And He deals with them and will deal with them in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mercy.
 


May 2008. 
Prof. Dr. Yunus ÇENGEL
Nevada University, ABD




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