Ways to prostrate

The famous poet Rumi once wrote (and I am paraphrasing... it's translated from Persian anyways, so I'm sure I won't botch it too badly), that there are hundreds of ways to prostrate, hundreds of ways to bow in prayer...

I was thinking about that, and I realized that it's true in a very devious way.

Every individual has their own conception of what the Divine is... even those who choose not to recognize any form of a Divine presence at all, still choose to conceive of Divinity as non-existent.

So, even a complete atheist recognizes that there could be a Divine presence, but they are choosing to follow a set of facts, evidence and beliefs that imply that there is no Divinity.

In this recognition of the possibility of Divinity, we see a deep seated expression of humility.

Even the most staunch believer or disbeliever in God will have to acknowledge that at the end of the day, we do not know. One who does not believe in God would have to say that nothing is completely certain, and they cannot disprove God's existence (the null hypothesis cannot be fulfilled), even if hundreds of pieces of anecdotal evidence point towards their set of beliefs. Conversely, a believer, even one who is completely staunch in their beliefs would have to agree that they can never comprehend God. God is far beyond the human psyche, God extends past what any individual mind can conceive, therefore, one can believe in God, but one cannot rule out the possibility of God not existing, simply because God cannot be conceived of by the human mind... therefore, anything pertaining to the existence of God, would also be beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

with me so far?

Thinkers from the era of the Fatimids (a Muslim Dynasty that ruled Egypt and area extending from North Africa to Sindh about a thousand years ago) worried about this contradiction as to the human definition of God. How could the human mind think on God without a definition? How could God be defined with the limits of language? Could God be proven?

Ultimately they settled on a simple definition called the Theory of Double Negation. It states that, God is Not a thing (i.e. does not exist), and (that's the inclusive and for my logic speaking friends) God is Not Not a thing.

That was the best that the brightest minds of the world could come up with.

Looking at this and going back to the beginning we see that humility abounds in this.

If we cannot prove or disprove God's existence, then the existence of the concept of God serves it's own purpose. It shows us that we are NOT infallible, that we are not perfect, that with some things we will never have all the answers.

If we don't have all the answers, then isn't that the perfect expression of humility? The simple concept of God, acts as a shield against our own pride. We cannot prove or disprove God, we can never truly know. Just as we can know the position of an electron but not it's speed (and vice versa), similarly, we won't know about God.

So, what if we're wrong? What if there is no God and we believe? ... well, as long as each faith tradition is lived fully and truly and one recognizes the importance and sacredness of human life and ethical living... it doesn't hurt to bow down in any way that we see fit.

And the other way? What if there is a God and we don't believe? ... well, if God is truly as merciful as He claims to be, I'm sure He won't mind us using the gift He gave us, our intellect in a way that we see fit.

Just as long as we think about it.

Trust

How do you know you can trust someone?

The question is more an oxymoron than most realize... Once you know, it isn't trust, it is knowledge.

Trust is a blessing, we trust others who are close to us, we trust others who are distant from us with regards to ideology, morality, status and location. However, the important thing is that we are able to trust others.

This concept of trust relates to another concept... altruism. The ability to help another, even if that action does not benefit one and may in fact cause harm. With very few exceptions in nature, human beings are amongst the only creatures that actually can act altruistically. This means that we can do something completely selfless, we can go so far as to sacrifice our own lives for a stranger if we choose to do so.

Why?

Because we love others? That no doubt plays a role, however I feel that trust is another key component. We can trust... we have been given this gift of being able to trust and to keep our trusts, to keep our promises and to act in a selfless manner to further these trusts.

How do you know you can trust me? You don't, you have to believe that you can... and that belief has another synonym... faith.

No one can prove that God exists, no one can disprove God's existence (or state of non-existence if you subscribe to the theory of double-negation). However, one can have faith, one can trust that no matter what happens, there will be someone or something out there to hold your hand.

In the Holy Qur'an it is written that those who believe should keep their trusts... I know that I have violated many trusts in my life, however I pray that I can keep praying, and that you can too.

No Answers?

I used to have answers... I would be asked so many questions, about spirituality, about God, about existence, meta-physics, and philosophy... and I would always have some answer. Whether it was satisfactory or not... well that was another matter, but questions were meant to be answered... at least that's what I thought.

A few months ago, I was asked a question to which I didn't have an answer - in fact, I still don't despite extensive research and questioning. So, I've re-evaluated everything.

We don't need answers to everything, creation, life, existence, these are all things that may not have a definite answer (or as some believe, there may be an infinite number of answers to each question). Looking at it logically, I believe a person eventually will see that logic can't work (love the oxymoron there). Allow me to explain. If (and this is the big assumption here) we assume that there is a God, then we have to take a host of other assumptions as well tied to the concept of God... All-Knowing, Infinite, Absolute, Powerful, Omniscient, etc... Having made the assumption that there is a God, we know that the concept of God must lie beyond the concept of man. The very existence of God would be a hypothesis impossible to prove, because God by definition would be beyond proof and beyond comprehension. This is where logic (our friend and trusted companion up to this point) must leave us. Since God is beyond comprehension and logic, the only way to truly understand the deepest questions of life, the deepest questions of spirituality would be to experience them. Yes, our minds and bodies are limited... however, our ability to experience and our potential? That is limitless. This region of experience, this ability innate in each of us, surpasses all the knowledge that rote memory can ever bring. Through this grace, a pauper can exceed a king, for the pauper will understand what the king cannot... God.

But this explanation falls short, for even this limits God to the realm of human experience. This is why it's so difficult to articulate what God is... and why it is so important to us to keep trying. We are bound to fail, however, the attempt to articulate the infinite is an experience in itself... one that I propose is essential on the path to truly experience God or at least that which we are given leave to experience.