Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "naturalism"

The problem with metaphysics in the current mental stage of the human society, is that it often hinges on the borderline between sanity and insanity - and here by insanity, I am talking about all the mystical nonsense that the mind cooks up and holds on to, even amidst the rise of reasoning and evidence. And that's precisely where metaphysics loses its essence, for those who foster a mystical notion of metaphysics, only delude themselves with supernatural nonsense and therefore reject all sorts of scientific and philosophical arguments as well as evidence. And hard as it may sound, this cheap mystical notion of metaphysics has become the popular metaphysics of the so-called modern world.

And in the realm of popular metaphysics, the mind loses all its sanity in the name of non-conformity and takes nonsense to be a form of higher sense and supernatural insanity and fallacy to be spiritual sanity and truth. In an attempt to break free from the chains of religious orthodoxy as well as radical rationalism, these mysticism-obsessed beings end up bound in yet another form of orthodoxy or extremism, replete with the primal psychological poison of supernaturalism. Mark this my friend, breaking the conformity doesn't mean creating yet another supernatural conformity. Belief in the supernatural, doesn't make a person spiritual. The term "spiritual" might have come to existence in a supernatural manner, but time has changed, so should the definition of spirituality. And if we can't make our perception of spirituality evolve, then for the good of humanity, it would become an absolute necessity to get rid of such spirituality all together. An idea that doesn't evolve, either gets destroyed or destroys the world. And this very evolution is the life-force of metaphysics and spirituality.

If an understanding is found to be untrue, upon the rise of evidence, then the sane thing to do is to make that understanding evolve, based on the newly arisen evidence. However, the so-called believers in popular metaphysics have this delusional idea, that metaphysics is somehow beyond the bounds of evidence and reasoning. And that's precisely where metaphysics turns into metaphysical nonsense. Hence, arose my statement, in one of my earlier works - "I don’t do metaphysics. Neither do I have the luxury to talk about my beliefs." Here the term metaphysics refers to popular metaphysics, that is, the mystical and supernatural kind.

And as I have said countless times, I must rise whenever humanity is tormented by delusions and confusions - whenever they can't distinguish between natural sanity and plain supernatural insanity. So, this piece is my offering to you, my dear sisters and brothers, as a helping hand in your journey of life. None of my works is a gospel or instruction manual on how to live your life, for no one knows how to live your life, except for you - so, here I give you a diluted portion of my soul, to last with you, so long as you live, and hold your hand while you walk past the darkest of days. And never forget o brave one, no matter the age or origin, a text can never ever be the guardian angel of humanity, for humanity is its own guardian angel. And when they go astray from the path of love and conscience, they can also become their own ominous demon. And as for me, I am just your brother passing through time.

People have called me many things throughout the ages - saint, messiah, guru, divine incarnation and many more, but you know very well what I am - I am a plain ordinary human in the service of the humans - service is my oxygen, service is my water, service is my bread and service is my butter. And this service is no glorious altruistic deed, rather it is simple pure human existence, for I can't even dream of existing except for my seven billion sisters and brothers. Someone said to me the other day "you should have some fun in life, instead of just working all the time". I replied to the person "you may have the luxury to have fun, but I can't even dream of having fun while my own humanity is tormented with countless forms of misery." If humanity is in misery, it may not be my fault, but if I die leaving humanity with the same amount of misery, then it is my fault.

When I was a kid, my father stuck a little note on my reading lamp, that said "stop not till you reach your goal". At that time, I believe he wanted me to be successful in life, but what he could not comprehend, was that my goal was not like that of the most of the population. My goal - my purpose - the reason for my existence is only one - it is to ensure that humanity doesn't lose sight of its humanity, in the constant battle between beliefs - between ideologies - between opinions - between religious orthodoxy and radical reasoning. Fight, fight and fight - all they do is fight - they don't care about harmony or world peace, all they care about is to prove that they are right and others are wrong - the scientists, the philosophers, the preachers, the spiritualists - every single one of them (excluding the exceptions) just want to triumph over the other - and that's precisely what's wrong with this world - they all want victory to be their exclusive possession and defeat to be the possession of the others. This way, no amount of riches will ever bring happiness and harmony in this world, because to have happiness and harmony, we all must act together to rise triumphant as one species, and not as individuals or tiny groups.

From an insignificant bunch of apes in a corner of Africa we have become the masters of an entire planet - and still if we can't have the sense of unity, then what's the use of all this power and all the glorious intellect of which we are so proud of! Throw way such intellect that doesn’t bring people together - throw away such scriptures that create walls rather than bridges - throw away such institutions that proclaim exclusive authority over divinity - throw away such reasoning that barres you from accepting human weakness. Throw away every single trace of inhumanity, regardless of their intellectual or non-intellectual grounds. Intellect without humanity, is as dangerous as religious fundamentalism.

Similar to religious fundamentalism, unrestrained intellect can make a person blind to the psychological necessities of others, for physical necessities are much easier to notice than those of the psyche. That's why many sophisticated atheist intellectuals find it rather civilized and glorious to talk most boastfully about the harms of religion in the human society, while being completely unaware of the society's psychological reliance over religion and even when a few of them are aware of it, they somehow fail to realize in their bones, the existential significance of it all, because they talk with the force of intellect and not with the whole force of life. And that's where metaphysics comes in, for metaphysics is simply the realization of reality as it is, and not as how we believe it to be. And this belief beyond reality is prevalent, both on the side of religious fundamentalism and militant atheism or atheistic fundamentalism, for they both deny basic human necessity, if it doesn't suit their own perception.

There is no Lord Almighty up there with the divine concern for life on a tiny blue planet - that's a fact, but if we focus simply on this fact, then we shall never ever be able to diminish the differences between people. In the pursuit of proving one side to be right, humanity keeps on losing all together. So, the focus must shift - it must shift from argumentation to the solution of real problems of this planet. And we cannot do that, unless we first put aside our primal desire for petty victory as individuals or tiny groups. Remember, wise is not the one who wins, but the one who knows where to lose. So, it's time that we start thinking about collective victory over personal victory. And in fact, those who truly desire to make this world a better place for future generations, would never see collective victory to be separate from personal victory - so, if you are such a person, you would see your own victory in the victory of humanity.

Rise and realize my would be patriot, that personal defeat becomes bleak in front of the victory brought to humanity by you. Don't win as a person, do something to make humanity win. Take the steps beyond personal gain and personal pain, to bring victory upon humanity. Be the cause of humanity's joy - be the cause of humanity's cheer - be the cause of humanity's harmony - and above all be the cause of humanity's unification - even if it means walking on a road full of thorns every single day of your life. Help humanity be human again - make humanity human again, because right now, it's anything but human. Today's humans are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Liberals, Republicans and so many other things - they are everything but the one thing that matters more than anything else. In pursuit of sustaining the illusions of man-made identities, the humans have forgotten to be humans. Amidst this crisis and chaos of identities, those who can realize their biological identity of being human, have more practical metaphysics in them than all the mystics, preachers and philosophers in the world.

So, here the real question is not which identity is the greatest and highest among them all - to screw or not to screw this world, that's the question. Because, by taking labels of identity to be more significant than human life, we would only make a mess of this world, like we have done so far. So, now is the time, that we move away from that self-destructive path. Now is the time that we walk as humans and not as labels. So, rise and walk, like did Rosa Parks, MLK, Madiba (Mandela), Honest Abe (Lincoln), Mevlana (Rumi) and many more. They did their part - I am doing mine - now it's your turn.



Highly Recommended Reading:
In Search of Divinity: Journey to The Kingdom of Conscience
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost

My skin is the color of soil,
My covers are the color of soil.
My heart is the color of soil,
My blood is the color of soil.

Species that forgets the soil,
Is a lifeform abandoned by nature.
Species that values sales over soil,
Will soon be vaporized or drowned by nature.

If we have no place for soil in our heart,
How can we expect the soil to replenish us!
If we have no place for nature in our heart,
How can we expect nature to have a place for us!

Only soil is real, all else is delusion.
Advancement that has no regard for the soil,
is but aneurysm destined for degeneration.

“The building blocks of life come from nature, and upon death they merge back with nature. Afterlife is about living in people’s heart, not in some fictitious paradise. Do something so impossibly human that the humans aren’t able to forget you ever.”

“What is Afterlife (The Sonnet)

Read a few books, you live a little.
Help a few beings, you live a lifetime.
Heaven is not a place high above the sky,
Heaven is the moment you’re someone’s lifeline.
Even I enjoy a good dc and marvel story,
But it mustn’t turn you blind to reality.
To live selfish is the animal’s purgatory,
To die while living for others is humanity.
Memory is the fabric upon which time is carved.
Where there is no memory, there is no time.
Neurons are the building blocks of mind and memory.
Where there is no neuron, there is no paradise.
There’s not one but two paradise, one real, another fiction.
The real one is made of action, the other imagination.”

If I wrote God, they’d would be
kind and gentle, not vengeful and jealous.
Freedom of choice would be first commandment,
preventing wrongs they’d stand righteous.

They’d refuse to entertain suffering,
their grand design would epitomize equality.
Sure, their world would still have problems,
but it would be spared from ungodly atrocity.

Law of Nature is its lack of meaning,
as well as its lack of morality.
We needed an image to bear the blame,
and be the imaginary steward of our destiny.

True godliness lies in behavior, not belief.
Hand of God unfolds when human takes the steed.

Earth has abundant resources to suffice our need,
but no planet has enough to suffice our greed.
Earth is rich, earth is bountiful, like a doting
mother, she provides for all her kids.

There is no economic depression,
only addiction of power and money.
There is no population explosion,
only outbreak of egocentricity.

What’s the point of your architecture or engineering
degree, if you can’t build a human habitat without
destroying entire ecosystems of other living things!
And you call yourself an engineer, an architect –
a sparrow has more sense than a stupid earthling.

Reach for the stars all you want,
but anchor your soul in the soil.
Human blood deficient of salt from earth,
leads to a history of mental turmoil.

“I’m done trying to please everybody, the academic robot, the religious fanatic, the newage crackpot – I’m done tiptoeing on eggshells. Alright, maybe not please everybody, but I’ve always practiced restraint, never too confrontational to nobody, by my standard that is. For example, the following sonnet was drafted last year, but I didn’t feel at ease to publish it, until now.”



“Dogma not Divine, Myth not Holy (Sonnet 2430)

What kind of a moron demands his devotee
to slaughter his son just to prove his loyalty!

What kind of an alcoholic father
sends his son to be tortured and nailed
on a cross just to prove how much he cares!

What kind of a pervert rescues his wife
from her abductor only to abandon her,
just so his reputation as the ideal king
wouldn’t be tarnished by a violated woman!

Mythologies have nothing to do with holiness,
nor with the actual creator of the cosmos,
even if there is such a thing, at most they
reflect the mindset and morality of their time.

I never had any interest
in making a case for or against god,
my struggle is far more real,
against dogma disguised as divine.”

Like many streams finally meet in the sea,
we are all born of nature, and ultimately
disperse into nature, our identity,
our memory, emotions, everything –

then the only place we exist is
in the memories of other people, whose
lives we might have influenced in some way.

There is no transference of soul,
the way our primitive ancestors believed;
soul is just electrochemical response of
uniquely individual makeup of organic matter,
once that individual makeup breaks down,
the individual soul simply vanishes.

Your soul disperses as your body does,
but not your role in other people’s lives.
Entity can be wiped out, but not existence,
existence that has ignited a few lives.