Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "supernatural"

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

Throw away all stupidity of IQ and EQ,
They are but stain upon mind's honor.
To quantify intelligence is stupid,
To quantify emotion is even stupider.

When the feeble psyche seeks reassurance,
It craves comfort in all sorts of nonsense.
Most times it resorts to the supernatural,
Exhausting that it resorts to pseudoscience.

It is no mark of mental progress to replace
supernatural bubble with pseudoscience bubble.
No matter how they try to sell you security,
Know that, human potential is unquantifiable.

IQ is no measure of intelligence,
EQ is no measure of emotion either.
But craving for IQ and EQ is symptom
of a shallow and feeble character.

I don’t like writing from thought,
Writing from thought is dull and boring.
It’s when the subconscious does the writing,
That the words manifest magically awakening.

It takes some time to get used to,
You gotta trust your brain with the magic.
Lose yourself in your one chosen path,
Out pours the pearls of profundity terrific!

Let your subconscious do the writing,
Use thought afterwards to mend inaccuracy.
When absorbed in an unbending vision,
Like a ghost writes your mind almighty.

Most of my magic is born in transcendence –
Nothing paranormal, just atypical neuroactivity!
There is no spirit outside the domain of neurons,
We’re just unaware of the extent of our capacity.

“Miracle and Migraine (Sonnet 1370)

Words are my leisure,
Words are my life.
Words are my gift to thee,
Use ’em wisely for light.

Kind words cost us nothing,
Cruel words will cost us all.
Faith in people costs us nothing,
Systemic mistrust will end us all.

It is common knowledge in the circle,
I don’t control words, I get visions.
However, every miracle takes its toll,
Hence, the migraines are getting worse.

I don’t mind, so long as I am ointment.
You keep the magic, I’ll keep the pain.”

“There is nothing supernatural about visions – or to be more accurate, contrary to traditional belief, it’s not messages from some extraterrestrial domain. Visions are indeed messages from a mysterious realm alright, but like the everyday realm of human perception, the transcendental realm as well is creation of brain chemicals. I won’t go into details here, as I already did that in my early days. One of my earliest works, Autobiography of God, contains a detailed analytical account of the neurobiology of transcendental experiences. However, the question is not whether there is an explanation, the question is, is it worth explaining! Because, while sometimes the lack of explanation facilitates superstition, some things are better left unexplained – such as, love.”

Neurons giveth,
neurons taketh away.
By neurons we forge self,
with neurons we fade away.

Within neurons cosmos comes to life,
within neurons worlds come to end.
Neurons are building blocks of walls,
as well as the instrument of bridges.

There is not one but two cosmos,
one made by nature, another by neurons.
We are the makers of observable reality,
shaped by hopes and biases of our own.

Neurons are the birthplace of God,
Neurons produce all ghosts and goblins.
Life is a concoction of neurochemistry,
Boon and bane are both our own making.

Consciousness contains the cosmos,
cosmos contains consciousness,
all rooted in specks of jelly,
firing in frenzy inside our head.

When neurons fire, we see light,
lack of oxygen conjures a tunnel.
Nearing death, hallucinogens kick in,
thus we experience kingdoms mythical.

Neurons forge the fabric of reality,
within neurons our paradise is born.
Neurons concoct our fabled purgatory,
thus our strong beliefs rule perception.

Neurons are the birthplace of order,
within neurons order comes to end.
Neurons are the root of mindlessness,
as well as the instrument of mend.

“I'm done trying to please everybody,
the academic robot,
the religious fanatic,
the newage crackpot -
I'm done tiptoeing on eggshells.”



“Superstition in Our Marrow (Sonnet 2428)

Earth is a planet of apes,
ivory tower apes diss faith out of reason,
pulpit apes diss reason out of faith –

then there are the newage apes,
chasing goat yoga, chakra penetration,
fortune cards, and aura farming,
who diss both conventional religion
and science, for they’ve found a more
self-absorbed method of hallucination.

Superstition runs through the marrow
of the human race, with each new generation
it merely changes costume.
Religion is superstition,
intellect is superstition,
newage spirituality is superstition –

from the sharpest of reason to the blindest of faith,
eventually all end up in superstition,
because in pursuit of a meaning higher than life,
we get disconnected from simple miracles of nature.”

“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.

No matter what the apes want you to believe,

it’s not weakness to abandon suspicion,
it’s not weakness to discard judgment,
it’s not weakness to practice empathy,
it’s not weakness to be considerate –

it’s not misdemeanor to denounce primitive
practices that our ancestors thought sensible,
it’s a sign of wisdom, not stupidity, to admit
ignorance, rather than succumb to supernatural.

My favorite answer of all is, ‘I don’t know’ –
in the absence of rigorous investigation
that’s the answer I fall back on the most;

then there are times when logic is immaterial,
there I avoid all mention of knowledge, and
take the humane course, despite reason or ritual.