To Be Absolute Is To Be Over-Assertive
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
2 March
2023
Sanatanis Have Begun To Claim That Hinduism Is
The Absolute Faith That Has Always Existed And Will Continue To Exist Forever: Aadi
Anantam Iti Dharmasya Sanatan (From Beginning To End, Only Sanatan Dharm Exists).
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I fully
agree with Mr Ghulam Mohiyuddin that absolute certainty should be avoided.
Absolute
certainty is to be avoided in all pursuits of life but it's a must in the
sphere of religion. I'll come to it later.
Maulana
Rumi wrote in his Masnavi (volume 3) that there was a man in a small town whose
wife was astoundingly beautiful. He thought that his wife was an epitome of
beauty and the absolute barometer of feminine effulgence until he had a furtive
glance of yet another very beautiful woman of a bigger town. He realized that
there was no end to it.
There's
indeed no end to ' Spiralling Ascendancy of Quality ' (Marcel Proust's phrase).
It's like perfection. You can only strive for it, but can never become perfect.
One, therefore, needs to keep improving and evolving till the last breath.
To be
absolute is to close all doors to truth. I remember my Theology professor's
words. He was an Arab. “No religion or ideology can claim to preach absolute
truth. All religions and their moral codes are periodic and relative truths.
What appears to be absolute today, may turn out to be dubious tomorrow."
So, when someone insists that his/her
scripture is the book of absolute truths, it blocks further enquiry and
exploration.
Today,
Sanatanis are doing the same. They have begun to claim that Hinduism is the
absolute faith that has always existed and will continue to exist forever: Aadi
Anantam Iti Dharmasya Sanatan (from beginning to end, only Sanatan Dharm
exists). Muslims have been doing the same for the last 1400 years. They think,
Islam has existed forever and that Judaism and Christianity are false sectarian
distortions of Islam. Both Judaism and Christianity have books replete with
errors and interpolations. This is the general thinking of an average Muslim
whose brain has been concussed by Allah, Quran and Islam.
We must
avoid this type of toxic absolutism not only in religion but in all activities,
actions and acts.
Remember,
to be absolute is to be over-assertive. Bertrand Russell would often say, ' I
avoid the word absolute because it smacks of despotic totalitarianism. It's a
cul de sac and a dialectical dead-end. To be absolute is to pollute a healthy
discussion and vitiate an intellectual debate.'
The primary
function of human brain is to evolve and shun absolutism. Once you're absolute,
you're static for life.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/absolute-assertive/d/129226
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