secretions of the encephalon.

I was helping a friend with formulating answers for a university application and that amalgamated with my visit to Mr. Mistry’s religion class invigorated so man concepts. These concepts that I have been exposed to and that time from time I explore, but lately none of my classes or involvements have provided me with any opportunity to delve deeper into these unconcluded ideas/theories or learn new ones for that matter.

The question on the application was: what is a question that should never be asked (I am paraphrasing). So we went through taking a lot of different approaches to the question to begin with it seemed like a good idea to use a question such as ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg’; a question which is repetitive to say the least and has been left with no face value. But when explored it could cover one of the biggest philosophical debates which is the discussion of ‘is there a God?’ And my more scientifically inclined friend, pointed out that from a scientific/evolutionary perspective you would say the chicken came first because it probably evolved from a different species or such…From a creationist perspective you could debate either way but for arguments sake you could justify that God would have created the egg first. But then the ‘fatal flaw’ in answering the question with this question is that (other than the fact that it initiates a circular debate and might be impossible to answer) why shouldn’t you ask that question. It might be a challenge but you should never cease to explore something because of the uncertainty of its answer right? Or at least that is not the image you want to portray to the panel of judges reviewing your application. In the end the question that she used was ‘How do you transcend (in terms of world vs. divinity)?’ I tried to help her with a lot of the background knowledge that I gained in religion class last year, and other social science courses and also from books I have read like Siddhartha. The justification of why that question shouldn’t be asked goes somewhere along the lines of because asking it is the antithesis of transcending itself. Buddha only achieved illumination or enlightenment when he stopped trying to do so. I believe it is in Hinduism, in which the goal is to eliminate karma, but you can only do that by not ‘willing’, because will in the truest sense even if not acted upon is something done. It may create “good” karma or “bad” karma but just having a will is creating karma. So to cancel out karma, or to transcend you must not do anything, you must not will. Ironically (for those on whom the irony is lost, Islam is the religion I prescribe) I am having a hard time simplifying this concept in relevance to Islam but think of transcending through rituals such as prayer. We pray to achieve salvation, to achieve a ‘reward’ and the more we pray the more reward we reap. So are we not praying only for self-interest? To perform a ritual you must have the purpose of it in mind and our purpose (this is debatable) is to reap the reward or gain salvation but by focusing on that you are ruining the act of praying because it should be out of love for god. Those were a few examples but I am sure you can broaden the concept, remove the boundaries of using religious references. Not transcending, but exploring the non-spiritual parallel of it would, I think, indeed lead to the same paradox. I think self-actualization (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) might be the non-spiritual parallel of transcending.

I volunteered to assist Mr.Mistry in his classrooms. My exact role has not been established yet but so far I have spent two periods just observing the class. I started conversing with him about the dynamics of his class and the changes in him as a teacher. I went to talk to him today during lunch and it turned into a stimulating discussion as is usually the case with him. We were kind of just bouncing ideas off of each other and it really helped me refuel my desire for learning. Something that I have been thinking about since last year but was reminded of whilst talking to him perceived God as a concept rather than an entity. In Islam God is not ‘given’ any physical attributes but it is said that God is a light. My interpretations are very metaphorical in the sense that maybe God as ‘light’ refers merely to awareness, enlightenment, elimination of ignorance, perhaps discovering that is the path to ‘heaven’? I don’t know. If ever, it will be a long time before my ideas become conclusive. I just needed to take an opportunity to document my thoughts in a manner that might be beneficial to my inquiries, perhaps acquire some feed back?

Readers (the less than handful that you are), I am sorry this post was so extensive. I, myself never would have bothered to read it if I had stumbled upon it but I felt the need to express and reflect on these subjects.

Because, my God I am desperate for some intellectual stimulation. You know how the stereotypical image of a man/woman that has not been ‘laid’ for, say, more than a week is irritated/ intolerant/edgy/crazy/ annoying etc… Well, I feel like that is how I am because my brain isn’t getting any ‘action’. So for those who care about me or are afraid of my insanity, indulge me please.