On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 10:32:21 -0800 (PST), JS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > G: I guess there might be a question of what kind of knowledge and what > kind of intellect is more important, And what kind of knowledge is > related to spirituality. > J: I would say that religion is necessary for the advancement of material > civilization, spiritual civilization, as well as the progress of the > individual.
It depends on how you mean. The growth of material civilization should certainly be guided by spiritual principles. Advances in technology (communications, the internet, industrialization, cloning, reproductive technology, etc.) should certainly be guided by moral and ethical considerations. And what you are saying, fine. Let me just say it this way. I get the impression that some Bahais think Western technological and material advances show some kind of Western spiritual superiority over the Muslim world. Is that what you are saying? If not, then we are fine. If so, then I think you are mistaken. [Regarding the Quranic verse "Shall they who have knowledge and they who have it not, be treated alike?"] Gilberto: > I'm not convinced that > the primary meaning is that countries with microwave ovens and cell > phones are supposed to be spiritually more advanced than the countries > which don't. > J: Just because one is spiritual does not mean that one should through away > the material. Gilberto: Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying to throw away technology and live in a cave somewhere. (or at least if I were going to say that I would probably do it in a hand-written letter instead of on an e-mail list) I'm just saying that technological advances are one thing, spiritual advances are another. And one doesn't prove the other. And I would add that they probably tend to be in a kind of tension rather than going up and down together because there are only so many hours in a day. And so a society where large numbers of people spend time working in labs, doing calculations, programming computers, etc. would tend to leave less time for praying, meditation, acts of charity, etc. And vice versa. > [Regarding China] [And whether when the Prophet said "Seek knowledge even unto China" should that be a special endorsement of technology or does it mean spiritual knowledge. And the argument was that it meant technology because the Chinese are a bunch of pagans and so obviously their religion wasn't intended] > Gilberto: I actually wouldn't say that. > > J: Muslims in Iran do say that. Understood, you don't agree with them. > There are actually a whole lot of Chinese Muslims and alot of them didn't just reject the previous Chinese religions (Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism) by just dismissing them outright. There was alot more engagement. There is a book called "The Tao of Islam" which touches on this. There are alot of examples in Islam about how certain things can be thought of as coming out the interplay between apparent opposites. The right and left hand of God, The jamal and jalal. The tablet and the pen. male and female. heaven and earth. There are interesting ways of relating yin-and-yang to Islamic philsophy. Then there is also a book called "Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light" which contains translations of Chinese Muslim writings and talks about the history of Islam and China. Another book is called Sufism and Taoism. It just makes sense that *some* prophets were sent to China and that some aspect of their teachings could have survived in the form of their contemporary religions. Personally, I've been wondering whether the I Ching might be an actual scripture. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
