From: Khalil (khalilm@netcomuk.co.uk)
Date: Sat Feb 28 2004 - 11:40:31 GMT
Dear David
I would agree with you but from a different angle. Everything already is perfect its only our perception that makes it appear otherwise. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder so is perfection. If you yourself are perfect then everything that you perceive will appear as perfect. Can we become perfect? The closer we draw to the One, the closer we draw to pure Quality, the closer we draw to perfection.
Rgds
Khalil
----- Original Message -----
From: David MOREY
To: moq_discuss@moq.org
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 9:52 PM
Subject: Re: MD MOQ and Islam
Khalil:
I don't see that the point of religion is to create paradise on earth. Religion in its purest form is the guidance for man to find meaning and purpose in his life. And having knowldge of good and evil is at the heart of being human.
DM: You know the funny thing is paradise is a possibility that is actually available to us right now.
If only we could drop all the dualistic and binary stuff that divides us, share things equally,
joining together to combat real problems like food production, disease, stray rocks from space
that sort of thing, population management, energy science, space travel, rather than the artifical competition of capitalism,
despite its role in getting us to our current powers of production.
----- Original Message -----
From: Khalil
To: moq_discuss@moq.org
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: MD MOQ and Islam
Hi All,
Regarding religion and theology. In Islam there is no word that relates entirely to religion the closest is Din which means Way or Path. It is a way of return but also a way of being, a way of living, a way of understanding. To say that its just subjective in a rather dismissive way is to miss the point. Ultimately that is all we have our own subjective experience of who we are. As the mystics would say there is nothing only You.
When you have a group of people who find that they have a commonality of subjective experience it is called a culture and from this culture comes society and its social framework.
Theology is nothing but a yelping about God whereas the subjective religious experience at its highest level is a direct communion with God.
Its important to understand here that for the Sufis the centre of true knowledge is the heart. The Sufis talk of "tasting". You can intellect all you like about an apple, disect it, analyse it, write music and poetry about it but its only when you taste it that you will undestand what the apple is all about. So it is this tasting that is the essence of our experience of reality and this tasting takes place in the heart. And just as the heart feeds the brain with oxygenated blood via the jugular vein, so the illumined heart feeds the mind which seeks to find meaning and understanding from what it has witnessed.
I know what Pirsig means when he says "The Quality which can be named is not the eternal Quality" but in another sense the name is the same as the thing named. The name of a thing contains within itself, within the sound and its vibration the very essence of the thing named and in this is the tasting.
I don't see that the point of religion is to create paradise on earth. Religion in its purest form is the guidance for man to find meaning and purpose in his life. And having knowldge of good and evil is at the heart of being human.
For Islam this guidance comes from the Qur'an, unique amongst all the scriptures of the world in that it has remained completely unchanged in the 1400 years since it was revealed. This is static quality of the highest quality and the ultimate static latch to use MOQ terminology. This is not to negate other revealed scriptures but only to say that others have become corrupted or distorted over time. To use the analogy of a map. a map that has been altered or has bits missing can be misleading although it still provides valuable information and guidance.
The problem with all religions and this is especially true of Islam today is that the interpretation becomes fixed and stagnant. But this doesn't have to be so language itself is dynamic and has several layers of meaning.
rgds
Khalil
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