Week 6

Week 6
1. Inner Visions and Running Trains – Chand believes that all gurus are ignorant about the real cause of the miracles and visions attributed to them. This realization first dawned on him during a military battle in Iraq in 1919.

He says that during the battle and seeming to be in a weakened position with his troops preparing for battle with very little ammunition, he began to worry until he had a vision of his guru advising him not to worry and that the opposing army was just going to come by to pick up their dead. Upon returning, he was being praised and worshipped for saving the lives of his soldiers. Chand didn’t understand the praise. He then comes to the conclusion that God or a higher power comes in many forms and is created in the mind.
2. The Zahir – Jorge Borges states that "The Zahir stands for beings or things which have the terrible power to be unforgettable, and whose image eventually drives people mad." This quote stood out to me because of the contradiction within the quote. To use the adjective “unforgettable” is usullay a good thing. Unforgettable has a positive connotation, but here, Borges uses it negatively.

Borges is saying that the Zahir is unforgettable and its image can drive people to insanity. I think the Zahir is supposed to represent God or some higher power depending on one’s belief. When I look at it like that, then I can see why Borges believes this. People can be very passionate about their beliefs, their religion, and their God.
3. Cusas writes of something he calls “learned ignorance.” Learned ignorance is defined as something that people are ignorant about but they are taught to believe to be true. There have been many instances of learned ignorance. Some of the most familiar examples of learned ignorance are the earth being flat and the sun revolving around the earth—the earth being the center of the cosmos or universe.
4. Tolstoy had a somewhat dark outlook on life and its “meaning.” He was famous and well-respected and had many things to be happy about. He also reflected on suicide.

He believed that suicide was a sign of strength and that it was the strongest mental state of a human. This belief seems to counter how suicide is viewed by most. Although it requires an extraordinary amount of passion to end one’s own life, it is viewed as a cowardly act due to the notion that suicide is an “easy” way out as opposed to facing the problems or circumstances that have led to such an act.
5. Darrow in “To Be Agnostic” writes that physics (science) is everywhere. The same laws of physics apply to everyone regardless of gender, race, age, or beliefs. Things like gravity do not change.

I think he is making this point to show that we live in a diverse world and people tend to judge others on their “otherness,” rather than looking at the similarities. And in thinking about it, different cultures share similar things whether it’s a rite of passage, traditions, and beliefs. They are just variations of each other. Physics, or science, is universal.