The abstractness of life and death
The world is full of mysteries, some should die but live instead. On the other hand, some are more suited to life but die first. Logic is unlikely to be a suitable tool for interpreting the world. There are always extraordinary surprises for those who have already drowned in illusions. Luckily they are awakened!
Walk in the middle of depravity. A rotten scent wafted from every visible crack. The undead screamed for food. Dead humans are crushed to death refusing to eat. Life or death doesn't seem like just the beginning and the end of life.
Some forms are more abstract and interpreted more deeply than a vocabulary. That is why the scriptures almost certainly have multiple interpretations. The most foolish are those who bet desperately to defend their interpretation.
Even now, humans can die. Not in a general sense. However, those who are mired in the abyss of thought are darkest. A creature like this lives but dies. Life is useless, dying is just troublesome. His life is empty, just running a daily routine that dulls the brain. They were caught in the dark. Refusing to look up and see the slightest light.
Dead but alive? Precisely something like this is easier to understand. These people are already physically dead. His body has been eaten away by worms in the ground. Some of them were even burned. But they live in other people's hearts and heads. Spark a little light to help others reach their light.
Abstract interpretation is always attractive to those who dare to venture into the jungle of ideas. So it is with heaven and hell. There is always an abstract interpretation. Even for God. In religions, they usually come together in mystical traditions. Esoteric.
Only a few can understand the interpretation of the esoteric model. Many consider it heretical. But, I have always liked the abstract model of interpretation. And, often they are not easy to judge and claim the absolute truth of interpretation.
The Illusion of Luxury
Wherever I am, I always miss the grocery store that offers simple happiness. Two cigarettes and a cup of coffee in exchange for one thousand rupiahs seemed to drown himself in the coffee solution and fly like burning cigarette smoke.
Simplicity turns out to be able to offer happiness. This is what modern humans have almost forgotten. Today humans think that luxury is the only way to happiness. It's hypocritical to say that money can't buy happiness, with money we can bring out whatever invites happiness.
No wonder modern humans today crave money. What can't money represent? Jewellery, women, alcohol, drugs, cars, houses, and everything that provides comfort can afford the money. Is there a thought that makes us ignore money? It seemed almost impossible.
Finally, many people live to accumulate wealth. They become thirsty for wealth. They thought that piling up treasure would bring him eternal happiness. Even though Jesus once said; “Chasing the world is like drinking seawater, the more you drink the more intense your thirst. Until finally that thirst will kill you. That is more or less the extraordinarily profound words of Jesus.
It turns out that Jesus' words are true. Nowadays, there are not a few people who have abundant wealth but suffer mentally. On the contrary, their lives are filled with fear, fear of losing what they have fought for all their life. They even cling to the object, feeling that their life will be chaotic without possessions.
This is what modern humans have forgotten. We think of illusions as reality. We live in a lie of illusion. Money is an illusion. Don't the teachings of religions say that this world is mortal? Then why are we fixated on something transitory? Isn't life just a game and a joke?
When hungry we can't eat money. When stricken with thirst, we can't drink wealth. Money and wealth are fragile things, even under certain conditions they are dangerous.
Wars and killings are fought for money. Those who acquire it become dependent on it. His life was in a state of constant competition with other people who were considered his opponents. He lived in constant tension and suffering. All forms of crime also have their roots here.
No wonder so many people who already have so much wealth are still corrupt. Because they are filled with fear of loss. They are also instigated by a desire for competition to be seen as better than others. The standard of modern man is only from his material possessions.
Humans who live in this illusion should be awakened as soon as possible. Because this illusion will become an epidemic and spread to all joints of human life. It's cute at first, promising practical happiness that will tempt anyone. This kind of life is not what it is, because it is just a lie. Very deceptive mortal happiness.
We need to get out of the lies and deception that we embraced so tightly before. We need to see and understand reality as it is. From this kind of understanding, we can then live a life full of meaning and happiness.
Luxury is just an illusion. Even in today's modern world, simplicity is a new luxury. Because simplicity promises more substantial happiness. It offers happiness that is detached from matter. This is what we must try to understand more deeply.
What kind of happiness was offered that such a poet Kahlil Gibran wrote; "The happiness of the world lies in a loaf of bread and a robe." Happiness filled with simplicity, not happiness that lies in luxury.
Out of ideas
Since the last few days, the feeling of wanting to write has been overflowing with wanting to get out. This year's resolution to write every week has turned out to be a difficult resolution to enforce. Writing is not all about massaging the keys word for word. He needs a high enough idea, power of thought and imagination, and more importantly inspiration. The absence of inspiration that landed on the mind seems to be the main obstacle in realizing this year's resolution.
Maybe an idea is a living being that lives it's days in a different dimension from us. Sounds very platonic it seems. Ideas cannot be forced to come to mind. He can appear suddenly, while travelling, playing games, reading books, enjoying conversations, and various other activities. Often ideas come to my mind, but my mistake is not making it happen in a writing.
Since ideas are creatures to me, ideas should have their rights. The right of ideas is to be realized, at least expressed either through oral or written. The fault of all of us is the lack of courage in voicing the ideas that come to mind. Most of us are afraid, even though it seems that there is nothing to be afraid of in voicing ideas. We can't be punished for ideas, at least as long as they don't turn into actions.
If some forbid ideas, then they don't understand the laws of nature. Ideas just come without an invitation. How can we curb natural laws? Ah, I don't understand what to write about at this point, it's just that this overflowing feeling is asking her to come into being. I thought about how to invite creative ideas to just want to say hello with thoughts in my head so that I can become a productive writer and produce writing.
Ideas are born innocent. Innocent. It does not have the power to influence other people's minds without capital. The capital of ideas is logical arguments and facts. For those of us who are often seized by ideas that appear suddenly, it's good to arm these ideas. The best weapon for ideas is other ideas. Therefore, books should be the best friends of such a person. For an innocent idea to turn into a fierce and ready to attack the minds of others, at least it becomes a reflection in other minds.
The obligatory capital in generating ideas is an open mind. Though innocent, ideas can be very dangerous if they are owned by people who are petty and narrow minds. Such people usually feel that their views are the most correct. It's a disaster if we become this kind of person. We become real Dajjal. Dajjal is an end-time demon who is said to have short stature, curly hair and one eye. Tch, I think it's just an allegory of humans who are narrow-minded, chaotic-minded and have only one perspective that he believes is most correct.
Are we going to be demons of the last days? Not. Because that's why we should open our minds as widely as possible and not easy to judge a thought that is different from our views. Ah, I think I've run out of ideas to write so that the writing that was born this time does not have a strong appeal and a clear basis. Never mind, I better continue enjoying the night with cigarettes and coffee.
Real Face or Pseudo Mask?
One of the most popular words in psychology is personality. This is the essence of psychology, namely to understand the human soul. To understand the latent and abstract human soul, a method is needed to identify the human soul which manifests in personality which in turn gives birth to a behaviour that can be seen immediately.
Personality comes from the word persona which is taken from Latin which means mask. The world is a stage for a play, with this understanding, humans will always use masks to perform themselves in certain roles. In life, of course, we perform different roles. For example in everyday life, when we are a child at home we must wear a child's mask and behave according to the personality of the mask, namely being a cute, obedient, and always polite child.
It is different when we are in a social environment, as chairman of an organization, for example. We will also wear the mask of the chairman and suddenly turn into a figure who is stern, fierce, and merciless. Then it could be that when we leave the meeting room we meet a boyfriend, for example, we hurriedly put on another mask. Suddenly changing into a person who is very different from the figure in the meeting room earlier, we turn into a romantic, gentle and affectionate figure. There are many other clear examples, which we see as the personal mask we wear.
Just imagine if these role masks became real objects like clothes in a wardrobe. We are free to decide which mask we will use. There are various kinds of masks to choose from, there are good boyfriend masks, friendly student masks, fierce boss masks, and many other types of masks. What is clear, we choose a mask that we think is the best and most fitting mask to wear according to the conditions.
When we see people walking around or socializing with us, we do see the real faces that are conversing with us. But deep down, we must be aware that the person in front of us must be wearing a certain mask. Because it seems that no one human being has the same attitude to everyone. There must be certain people who are treated differently. It seems almost impossible not to wear a mask in this mortal life.
The question then is who are we behind the mask? Do we have an authentic face? Or do we make certain delusional masks our true faces? It seems that we are completely unaware of who we are and are enjoying the role of being the personal masks we wear without looking for a mirror to see our real face.
Can we be ourselves? Or is it our nature as beings who live in nature to wear masks for the sake of our existence? We become like chameleons camouflaging the environment to stay alive. Humans are no different from animals, which have the special ability to "trick" their enemies into staying alive.
Yes, we also wear masks to stay alive or at least still be respected as humans. Is this a natural law? If that is the case, where is honesty in life if we always wear masks to stay alive? Then why does religion so strongly condemn the hypocrites? Even in one of the verses, it says that the lowest hell is prepared for hypocrites.
'Who am I?' This is a philosophical question that will never be answered. All the sages from Buddha, Socrates, Jesus to Muhammad and many others have the same tone when they say the essence of life. They say "Know yourself, then you will know your Lord". The next question is do we exist as entities with authentic faces? Or are we just entities that can wear multiple pseudo masks?
Established thinking is a den of disease
Ideas are timeless. Time will not be able to crush it unless God has outlined it. Ideas, even though they are hit hard by the blocks of life, will remain alive even if the originator of the idea is hit. The idea is water, keep flowing and always adapt to a container that is willing to accommodate it. History has recorded it, no doubt.
Socrates, one of the best philosophers of Greece shouted to uphold wisdom against the establishment, as a result, he was poisoned to death. But, did the idea come to be buried with his body? No, it was his idea that poisoned the people to continue their ideals of struggle. Approximately 400 years after Socrates was poisoned, Jesus was killed on the cross for loudly shouting about the truth. Jesus' ideas did not end at the cross, even though he only had 12 disciples during his lifetime, the idea of Jesus even became the principle of more than two billion inhabitants of the earth today.
Ideas born from the womb of the heads of truth-seekers will never be destroyed. Because ideas are like water, they are the source of life for all creatures. Humans as the most successful species, as representatives of God on earth, need to express ideas to bring life to all creatures. It is too selfish to exploit nature only for the benefit of humans. Because ideas are water, the source of life for all living things!
Why water? Because no matter how hard the environment tries to get rid of it, it will not last. Water just transforms. Heated it to become steam, cooled it to become ice which later would still return to the water. It continues to flow, enters the ground, turns into a cloud, becomes salty in the sea, and so on. Water is not extinct, it only changes shape according to its container. In a glass, in a river, in a lake, in a pond, in the sea, and anything else it brings life to life. So are ideas!
Although it knows no extinction, the water that revives it has the potential to be deadly as well. Water that does not flow is deadly, it will become a den of disease. So are ideas! Well-established, comfortable, and secure ideas in the collective head of society or the heads of individuals will die if they don't flow. If water moves by flowing, ideas flow contemplatively, churn, and contradict other ideas.
Water that does not flow is still water, but it is no longer living water. Ideas are also still ideas, but to be useful they must flow. There can be no calm, ideas must continue to flare up with anything, whether other ideas, adapting to the environment, or the people. Anxiety must be eternal as a condition for the flow of ideas. If the idea in the head finds comfort, safety, and stability, there it is also transformed into a parasite.
Our fault today (especially those who claim to be religious) is not being able to distinguish between the contents of the container. Fussing over mountain water and river water, even though they are both water. Take for example the Muslim community which is currently experiencing degradation. Islam has ideas as its lofty ideals, but the Prophet Muhammad as the bearer of religion cannot be separated from time and space. He poured Islamic ideas through a container that was by the temperament of the social conditions at that time.
Zeitgeist is different every time. Every place's culture is different. Zeitgeist and culture are the containers, while Islam is an idea with lofty ideals. The weakness of Muslims today is that they are unable to distinguish and separate water from its container. Therefore, Muslims today are unable to distinguish Islamic teachings from Arabic culture. Not a few Muslims think that Islam is Arab and Arab is Islam. Even though the teachings of Islam are the water and Arabic culture is the container.
No wonder people who are imaged as pious and have a good character wear a robe, turban, beard, eye shadow, black pants, and black forehead. It is also not surprising that the image of women who are said to be Muslim is those who wear a headscarf to their knees, a veil, gloves, socks, to their sincerity, who are polygamous. They only captured the Islamic container at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, not it's content. Even though the verse of the Al-Qur'an which talks about the law, the percentage is approximately only 3.5%.
Compare this with a verse that talks about morals that can be found in almost every letter. How to forgive and be generous, how to be kind to everyone, how to be humble, and other good commands that are scattered in almost every letter. However, most Muslims consider people who eat pork more despicable than arrogant people. Even though there is only one verse that forbids pigs, whereas there are so many things that prohibit arrogance!
This is the condition of Muslims today. The collective idea of Muslims no longer flows even though there are reformers who continue to be agitated and nervous about the establishment of thinking of the majority of Muslims. Because security, comfort, and stability have long found a place in the collective head of Muslims, those lofty ideas have become parasites that carry disease!
Nowadays Muslims don't get tired of shouting kafir at other people, whether between or between religions. Even to physical contact because of that. They put a higher place for religion and schools of thought than God. They consider that a container is more important than its contents, even preferring a container without content rather than having to accept a container with another shape even though it is filled. Bid'ah they said. Sad, indeed.
Their heads are full of parasites, which makes it difficult for them to distinguish between the container and its contents, unable to grasp the main and secondary messages in religion, and at worst they are unable to distinguish religion as the way and God as the goal. Hopefully, this last assumption is wrong.
Something that has high benefits must have a risk that is no less high. The mind that generates ideas is highly beneficial, as well as risk. It needs to be realized that comfort, safety, and stability of thought will give birth to diseased ideas. Therefore, especially for young people, it is necessary to continue to be restless and continue to reflect. It is necessary to hit ideas in the head with other ideas so that there will be contradictions and reflections that make ideas not become parasites in the head but continue to flow to find their nature, search for the truth.
Conception of Destiny
Destiny is a word that is familiar to our ears, even very familiar because destiny always refers to a religion that is very familiar and hits almost every human mind. Destiny is also a topic that has been discussed inexhaustible throughout history. In the history of Islam, the jabariyah and qadariyah traditions have sharp differences in their understanding of destiny.
In this paper I try to discuss this problem of destiny by relying on reasoning, so don't expect that this paper will include religious propositions to strengthen my argument about destiny. It's not that I am a person who discredits religion or denigrates religion.
I have an understanding that including religious propositions to strengthen personal arguments is a form of selfishness because human thoughts are very likely to be wrong, whereas religious propositions which are the words of God are impossible to be wrong. Therefore, including religious arguments to strengthen personal arguments will only lead to distrust of religion in the next period because they are considered to be false arguments, even though people's understanding is wrong, not their religious arguments.
Destiny, in a general sense, relates to the problem of sustenance, matchmaking, and death which has been determined by God and there is no human intervention in it. I think differently, all of these things contain human interference in them. Of course, my understanding is very likely to be wrong, but of course, humans can't know that our understanding is wrong if it has never been put forward.
In my opinion, destiny is a universal rule or measure of God in his creation, is it possible to understand it? Of course, but as I have argued, human understanding is highly fallible. For example, we are given fingers and are free to move our fingers at will, we are given feet to freely run anywhere, and so on.
Referring to the example above, how does destiny work? Yes, we are free to move our fingers, but we still have limits in every movement. Can we move our thumbs beyond the limit set by God that made the base of the bone? Of course not. That's destiny in my opinion.
Then what about sustenance? Indeed, there is no choice for human children to be born in families that have more economic abilities and that is a destiny that must be accepted. Sometimes we call our brothers who were born from families with less economic disadvantages, so where is God's justice?
Is sustenance only related to economic capacity? I don't think so even though most of us think that way. It is true that people who are born to families with low economic capacity are not fortunate materially, but have we ever thought that it is a big advantage for his soul? The best education for our souls is suffering. Almost all big people were born to small families with hardships and hardships. That is the only justice of God.
Destiny in the context of sustenance as I have stated above is a universal rule or measure. In this context, if we want to get an abundance of sustenance then work smart and hard! This is destiny, whoever works smart and hard will get a reward like an abundance of sustenance. It is not simply that a child is destined or destined to become a billionaire before he is born. If in the future he does not work smart, it is impossible that he will become a billionaire.
It feels easy to understand destiny in the context of sustenance, then what about a mate? Is it true that our partners will be determined before we are born? I do not think so, I think our partners will also be the result of the efforts of humans themselves. Humans are free to choose their partners with their efforts. The proof is not a few men who have more than one wife. A married couple is not a destiny that is determined from birth, because it is unfair if God determines that someone has one and more than one partner.
We are free to marry whomever we like, but we are not free to love someone. That's a match! A soul mate is someone we love, not someone we marry, although, along the way we may love the person we marry, of course, it's different if we marry someone we love and don't. Luckily the person who marries someone he loves.
If so, is matchmaking something that is beyond our will? I do not think so. I thought that why we could fall in love with someone is not a coincidence, but before that, we had the ideal concept of a partner in mind. Whether we realize it or not, all humans have an ideal concept in mind, including about a partner. Now, once someone approaches the ideal concept of a partner, our brains work by releasing hormones that make us fall in love to get and marry that person.
How about death? Doesn't the religious argument state that death cannot be hastened or postponed? Not really in my opinion. Just imagine if someone with a lot of money gets cancer and someone who is poor gets cancer (in the same cancer status). Of course, people who have a lot of money have a greater chance of being cured. After all, they get better quality care than poor people because they don't have funds for medical treatment.
In the matter of death, we also have a stake in determining when death will pick up, although not a few are picked up by death suddenly. Apart from divine secrets, we are also obliged to maintain our health to postpone death because destiny is also a universal measure of God, who does not take care of his health, it is certain that destiny will pick up faster than those who maintain his health.
However, is there no divine intervention in our lives? Of course not. This is evidenced by the word fail. Failure is a human lack of understanding of God's destiny which is incompatible with his dreams. Maybe we don't deserve what we want, or even God wants us to get something more than we want.
We don't fully understand our destiny, just as we don't fully understand nature and many scientists agree on this. So, we cannot be completely sure of the results that will be obtained later by reflecting on our efforts because it is not ourselves who knows fully about our efforts, but God who knows best.
This writing feels like the writing of an atheist that deeply discredits the role of God, but I am not an atheist and I believe in God's existence. God's miracles are indeed true and miracles are possible. But is it not better if we obey God's universal rules or standards? Like for example, we want to be rich? So work smart and hard, want to have a partner we love? Struggle to win her over, want to have a long life? So take care of health and live healthily.
As I have stated that my personal opinion is very likely to be wrong and I hope that readers can find mistakes and correct them with the existing evidence, not just imitation without the contextualization of religious arguments because reading text very textually is blinding of reason which is also certainly a gift from God. Not caring for God's grace is not a form of gratitude that is required in religion.
Knowing about the void hole
Lying silent listening to the sound of the rain sweeping on the ground, so calmly carried the soul into the silence of the universe. The questions that were buried came back into my mind, the questions that recently disturbed my life.
Questions that may have crossed the heads of all human children, trivial questions that may not need to be taken seriously. A question that arises from the boredom of life that feels increasingly empty, a hole in the void that may not be expelled and converted by closing patches.
How do you patch the hole in the void that causes life's boredom? Most people provide input with answers; laughing with friends, drinking alcohol to just calm the mind, going to nightclubs where you can forget about problems for a moment, having relationships with other types, looking for routines that take up a lot of time, etc.
Without thinking, many people do the above activities to fill the void in their life, but what do they get? These activities only give us colour in life temporarily and will make a hole in the void bigger when we leave the activity. The answers are not sharp enough, they fail to cut the root of the problem. As a result, boredom will increasingly haunt and force us to continue pursuing worldly pleasures. So, what should be done to cover the void?
I try to dive into the bottom of the void hole, the more I dive, the more I realize that this hole has no boundaries. A hole that must inhabit every human child even though only a few are aware of the presence of this hole.
A question arises again, why do humans not realize this void? Could it be because they have made the surface of the hole bigger and bigger so that their souls are plunged into the infinite void? Goes into a hole filled with animal desires and makes us forget human nature.
Is this void called hell? Because this hole contains whispers that keep inviting to satisfy the evolutionary legacy of animals. The farther the soul is from the surface of the hole, the darker it will feel because even light cannot reach it when it reaches this point it may be that the conscience has died buried in the dark.
At this point, the boredom resulting from this void is no longer felt because the light-emitting conscience has died out. Like traditional market traders who are no longer sensitive to smell unpleasant smells because they are so used to this situation.
When the emptiness of life approaches, be grateful because it is an indication of a functioning conscience. Immediately follow up on the result that the void hole produces, namely boredom with the divine light reflected by the conscience. Reflect on your thoughts on your conscience which functions to absorb Divine light.
Only oneself can fill the void, looking for patches of worldly matter will only make the surface of the hole bigger and make the soul slip into it. All religions teach that the world is full of deception, so don't expect much of the world to fill the emptiness of the soul.
Feel the void that permeates the happiness of life, dive into the hole that makes life seem boring with thoughts and don't let the soul fall into it. Avoid void holes with thoughtful reflections. React real from within to the environment, meaning do something to the world to cover the void hole and don't let the world deceive with the seduction that it can cover the void hole.
When we crawl up to the surface to get enlightenment there will be a lot of sweet seductions from the world trying to drag them back into the void. This demon-filled hole will not be willing to see Adam's children climb up to gain enlightenment because they promise to continue teasing Adam's grandchildren. Of course, the closer we get to enlightenment, the stronger the grip will be on our feet as they try to pull back into the void.
This void will always come to the human soul as evidence of human weakness, because of that this hole will never be completely covered. The bright light provides colour to better see the beauty of life, but the hole is always ready to derail the soul if we are not careful in our steps. As long as the body is still stepping on the earth, the void will never escape from life. Make the light as a guide to be careful in treading life.
May a glimmer of Divine light save us from the void when we can be of use to His fellow creatures. Remembering the words of the great being, Muhammad Saw in a hadith; "You must love the creatures on the earth, then you will be loved in the sky."
Homo Homini Lupus: Man As Wolf To Other Humans
Humans need power, which will enable them to do their will or at least make them feel safe from the fear that comes from other parties. An attitude of selfishness is a powerful incentive, making one person the oppressor of another. Strength is the key to gaining power, and power is the goal of limitless conquest.
Homo homini lupus, a short phrase first uttered by Plautus in 195 BC, which means that humans are wolves to other humans, is an affirmation that humans consider the conquest of other humans to be natural. Human life is like wolf life in the wild. We pounce on each other, rob, hurt, and seize the property of other humans. Historically, our time span has been filled with blood and tears. And the stream won't even dry up yet.
There is no sign that homo homini lupus will be eroded by cultural civilization. There is not a single sign that humans are no longer wolves for other humans. Until now, we still kill each other, kill each other, destroy each other for obvious or unclear reasons. Human desire to dominate other humans is limitless.
Man has no fangs, no horns, no claws that make his enemies shudder. But we have heads full of cunning and rottenness. A weapon that is the most dangerous of all natural selection. Almost no limit of thought can get in the way. Soaring all the strength, hitting the entire barrier.
Until when humans will always be wolves for other humans? Will that pathetic destiny last forever until space and time stop growing? Or could man think to at least suppress his urge to muzzle his brethren. Make our life a little more civilized than times it has been.
Entangled in environmental propaganda
At this time, especially in adolescence, almost all individuals have been deprived of their freedom. Freedom from freedom to think, behave, even to dress. All this happened because of globalization and modernization. Adolescents in my country (Indonesia) have absorbed modernization without filtering, they absorb all cultures and consider modernization the same as westernization. Indonesia has lost its identity, all because modernization has paradoxically spread the notion to deify money. Money? Of course, everyone wants money at this point. By having money, everything can be owned. The law, which should not even recognize money, has now drawn a sharp sword called money. Money can make my country immune to the law.
How to earn money? People are lazy to work hard, afraid to take risks because they love their world too much, especially wealth. This minimal creativity eventually gave birth to an unproductive younger generation. Many of them play it safe to simply become employees of an institution that offers a large salary. Although currently, I am quite satisfied with the many young entrepreneurs born in this generation, I hope that the lower generations can become more innovative generations. The businesses created by the current generation are still lacking in creativity and are full of plagiarism.
These young entrepreneurs are only a small part of the total young generation today, the majority are still pursuing pleasure and are afraid to take risks and work hard because they love their wealth too much. So what is needed? Yep, achievement! As a result, schoolchildren become devoted to achieving high achievements whose last orientation is to earn money someday. By deifying values, school children do not care what methods they have to do to get high grades and achievements. Schools currently do not teach their students to be creative, they are only required to gain insight and high values.
Finally, students who excel have a greater chance of entering institutions that offer large salaries. Students who excel here are those who have broad insight and high scores. Why have broad insights if it is only stored in the abstraction of the head? What is the result? They are only good at rhetoric without the behaviour that shows that insight, the result? Corruptors everywhere. I am sure that corruptors have broad insights and good achievements. If not, of course, the high institution will not accept it.
I think there is something wrong with the education system in my country today, something must be overhauled. Moral education and the cultivation of national identity need to be done so as not to grow into a hedonist that is exemplified by western culture, people to follow westernization which is considered modernization. Of course, we cannot reject modernization whose orientation is in western society, but should westernization be followed? Not. An example of Japanese society, they are one of the leading modern nations in the world. Remarkably, they love their own culture and are not caught by westernization, maybe only a small part is caught by westernization.
The Indonesian nation has separated from its historical roots, only a few young people today still care about its historical roots. Inevitably, the historical roots of a nation are the strong glue of national identity that will strengthen the sense of brotherhood and pride in the values left by history. Indonesia is like a large tree with high productivity that does not have strong roots so that it is easily swayed by the winds of globalization and becomes a victim of parasites. It is not surprising that this nation is only able to imitate the culture of other nations.
The first step of colonialism was to erase the historical roots of a nation that it wanted to control so that they would forget their identity so that it was easy to enter. For example, Muslims had tremendous glory around the 8th century to the 12th century, but when Europe succeeded in surpassing Muslims, it is said that the first thing Europe did to carry out colonialism was to suppress libraries that kept several historical records and kill. its scholars. After doing this, all that remains is the lay people who do not understand its history so that it is easy to be possessed. Even today, in Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim, in public school textbooks, there are no brilliant scientists found in the heyday of Islam who made extraordinary contributions to science.
Likewise, when colonialism landed in the archipelago, they tried to forget historical roots so that they were easy to penetrate. The colonialists had great success with their strategy of uprooting the historical roots of a nation, even today whether because of the poor consciousness of the Indonesian people or out of ignorance, there are still traces of colonialism in the absence of awareness to restore the historical roots of their nation.
Educational institutions in Indonesia do not even care about the historical roots of this nation, history is taught but only as a formality, namely memorizing these historical events. Ideally, history lessons should not only memorize events that dull reason, but also take any values contained in a historical event.
History is a social laboratory, because surely social events of any kind have occurred considering the age of our species or if we don't want the oldest writings that exist today are thousands of years old. Quoting the great thinker from Germany, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "People who do not take lessons from three thousand years ago are people who do not use their minds".
Capitalist propaganda has tied this nation firmly, it is difficult to escape from this bond. The materialism campaigns continue to flare incessantly through all media. The books that are sold and even become best-sellers in bookstores are mostly self-development or motivational books which in my opinion only make us apathetic. These books teach us to change our mindset to be positive, it sounds pretty good, but these books encourage us to think positively for ourselves! They only teach us how to succeed, change ourselves for the better. Unconsciously we are hypnotized by these capitalist campaigns, if we are hypnotized we will become materialistic and apathetic human beings, not caring about others or at best just being useful people for the family.
We are born in this world, not for ourselves, as social beings, we should care about the social environment. Instead of the boring motivation book formula, I think if we want to be successful then we have to care about other people even though it might take a little longer than the motivation book suggests, but like a term "Trees that grow slowly and take a long time will produce. quality fruit ". Motivational books only describe how successful big people are, which I think is only one of the outermost elements to become successful people.
The motives of great people are to be useful to others, not just to be successful for themselves. The most influential person in the world to date, the Prophet Muhammad was a person who always thought of others (his people) as a result he became the most successful person of all time. The founders of one of the largest companies Google today, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were not initially IT experts. They are students majoring in history and archaeology and they realize that a lot of manuscripts and historical evidence is lost in time. Because of that, they created a search engine with the aim that no more history was lost or eliminated by the authorities and all mankind could enjoy and read all the events and events that occurred.
There are still many great people who have motives for prospering others such as Socrates, Plato, Aristoteles, Gallileo, Da Vinci, Karl Marx, Einstein, Soekarno, Gus Dur, and many more. As a result, they are much more successful than people who only think about themselves and their names will always smell good. Motivational books never tell about things like this because they do propaganda so that people tend to be materialistic, apathetic, and hedonistic so they don't care about their surroundings. When humans don't care about their surroundings, it will be very easy to construct their thoughts.
Even book readers who are seen as intellectuals have been attacked, especially with people who don't use their intellect at all? They will be very susceptible to attack through much lighter media such as advertisements, soap operas, films, songs, and many more. It is a cause for concern, a nation that has very little interest in reading. The majority of his book readers are reading motivational books and the like so it's no wonder it's a bit difficult to find quality books in popular bookstores.
In this article, I try to untangle the environmental propaganda that has attacked my nation unconsciously. No matter what religion, we are the Indonesian nation. Our idealism that will build this nation into a great nation, the idealism of the young generation who are passionate about raising this nation. Be proud as the people of Indonesia, we are a great nation that lacks manpower. The orientation of this nation has been damaged. Let's straighten out the orientation of this nation like what the previous hero aspired to be, who had his body eaten by worms.
The idea of anarchism in bitcoin
Previously, I also wrote about Bitcoin Anarchism on a well-known bitcoin forum, namely Bitcointalk.org. But here I will explain in more detail. So, do you think Anarchism and Bitcoin are related to each other? Do you think that Anarchism and Bitcoin have nothing to do with it? If you think that bitcoin has nothing to do with anarchism, you are wrong !. In my opinion, Anarchism and Bitcoin have the same link. Okay, let's talk one by one about anarchism, bitcoin, and the relationship.
Anarchism
In a language dictionary, anarchism is defined as "the teaching (understanding) which is against every state power; a political theory that dislikes government and laws ”. Even though there are anarchists who justify any means, there are also many anarchists who avoid using force and violence in realizing the social order they want.
One of the greatest examples of anarchism in action was in 1936 when the Spanish revolution took place. About five to seven million people join a social structure without a government. Everyone performs their duties according to their respective responsibilities: some work in agriculture, work in factories or schools, to withstand attacks from the military. The results of this work can be enjoyed by everyone according to their individual needs, not based on what they have given to the community.
In this example, the absence of a ruler does not produce things that citizens in general fear, such as violence and crime everywhere, people living in hunger, the law of the jungle applies, and so on. The anarchism that occurred at that time was very different from the meaning of anarchism that was introduced by the government and its media.
In a true sense, one form of anarchy that is currently developing is Bitcoin. Bitcoin, which has been around since 2009, is hotly discussed today. The busy discussion of Bitcoin (and transactions using it) made the Central Bank feel the need to conduct a study of Bitcoin. The Central Bank's move seems to make entities with an interest in Bitcoin feel the wind of attention from the payment system authorities.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a virtual currency. Everyone can get Bitcoin by mining. To be able to imagine how Bitcoin is mined, we can remember a time when our teacher taught quadratic equations in school. In the past, we were taught how to find the root of the square equation. The quadratic equation x2 - 5x + 6 = 0, for example, will produce the numbers 2 and 3 as a solution. The process of mining bitcoin is a process of finding one of the roots of the equation created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the originator of the Bitcoin concept. The first person to come up with one of the solutions to the Bitcoin equation will be rewarded with bitcoins.
The solution to the algorithm is a block of 64-bit numbers which is equivalent to 50 bitcoins. At the time of writing, 1 bitcoin is equivalent to around USD 33K. Multiply yourself to calculate the results you get if you get 50 bitcoins. A sufficient amount to buy a large urban house.
But wait. Mining bitcoins is not as easy as those calculations. The Bitcoin equation is also of course much more complicated than the quadratic equation that is exemplified. As an illustration of the level of difficulty, the number of digits in a 64-bit number is 2 to the power of 64 or 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 digits to be precise. With devices that are sold in the market, an ordinary computer device can only collect 0.00000060 bitcoins in 24 hours. With a capital of USD 200 to buy equipment plus the electricity consumed, it may take more than 6 months to return on investment.
Moreover, bitcoin is designed to become increasingly difficult to obtain over time and more and more people are using bitcoin. Every four years, the value earned from mining bitcoin halves. Thus, the value of bitcoins can be maintained against the price of goods. The number of bitcoins alone is limited to 21 million Bitcoin, which is expected to be mined by 2140. This design allows Bitcoin to maintain its value, without the interference of third parties as authorities. Bitcoin is designed to break the current economic order which is controlled by the government and supported by the banking system.
Apart from the design, the anarchic nature of Bitcoin is supported by a community of supporters. The Bitcoin transaction system is recorded in a shared database called the blockchain. This blockchain is stored by bitcoin miners who are also recorders and confirm transactions with bitcoin.
Every time a transaction occurs, the user will ask for a request to update the blockchain. If you can determine the validity of the bitcoins used in the transaction, then the update will be added to the blockchain and the transaction will be confirmed.
Bitcoin is a form of anarchy
Bitcoin is a form of anarchy in the economic system. The Bitcoin system is designed to self-rule and is supported by the application of technological advances so that it looks amazing to fans of mathematics and technology. However, given the example of anarchism that was successfully implemented in Spain, everyone must do their part in their respective roles for this concept to be successful.
Unfortunately, virtual communities are not as ideal as the anarchist community at the time of the Spanish revolution. Without any authority, there is theft, fraud, piracy related to bitcoin. Not to mention the misuse of bitcoin to buy illegal goods or services such as narcotics and hitmen. However, the biggest concern for bitcoin will occur if the supporting community no longer plays their big role, namely; trust Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's biggest weakness is that there is no underlying currency to it. Gold is recognized for its value because of its noble, shiny, anti-rust properties, good electricity conductor, and so on. If everyone suddenly stopped recognizing gold as a currency, you could at least wear it as jewellery or as a power cord which is nicer than copper. However Gold still has the benefit of its intrinsic properties.
The US dollar, although more absurd, the underlying causes can still be understood. Since the US dollar has no underlying gold deposits, the current value of the US dollar is based solely on people's trust in the American government. Thus, the value of the US dollar fluctuates depending on the performance of the American government. If at any time everyone no longer believes in the American dollar, the American government must buy all of these dollars. A little absurd, but still accepted by everyone today.
Meanwhile, the value of Bitcoin is a single 64-bit number which matches the algorithm developed by Satoshi Nakamoto. The amount is limited and not easily obtained. However, what makes Bitcoin valuable so that a seller is willing to sell his item in exchange for block numbers? Only because the seller is sure that someone else is willing to accept the payment with the number block. With such an underlying, people's belief in Bitcoin as a currency is as primitive as using shells as a currency based on trust. If people's trust in the value of Bitcoin decreases slowly until finally if that trust is completely lost, then 64 bits of that number are as worthless as the HVS paper on which USD 100 is written and drawn with the face of President Bill Clinton.
Therefore, wishing Bitcoin success is the same as expecting an anarchist social order to succeed. It seems impossible, but in fact, an anarchic social order can be carried out with satisfactory results. The anarchist social order that occurred in the Spanish Revolution described at the beginning of the article, lasted for more than 2 years before the invasion of General Franco managed to conquer areas controlled by anarchists.
As the latest information, social anarchy which is also supported by economic anarchy in Spain is carried out extremely. For one thing, the people who supported anarchism in Spain at that time burned government money. As a result, coupons (and even just trusts) can be used to get fruit and vegetables. If you support Bitcoin for success only so that later it can earn a lot of money, you are only trashing the brilliant concept of Bitcoin anarchy.
Reading the Anarchism Paradigm
When we talk or hear the word "anarchism", maybe what comes to our mind is violence, chaos, or disorder. But, is that true?
In the book ABC Anarchism, by Alexander Berkman, it is explained that anarchism is the most rational and practical conception of social life with freedom and harmony. Alexander Berkman believes that anarchism is the best and greatest thing that humans have ever thought of, the one thing that gives freedom and prosperity.
Indeed, before reading this book, my paradigm always assumed that anarchism is a matter of chaos, disorder, and is always synonymous with violence. But having read and understanding the intent and purpose of the anarchist book is not that. Anarchism is a condition of society in which all men and women are free, and also all enjoy equality and benefit from an orderly and reasonable life.
In this book, there are fourteen chapters, each of which has a relationship with the discussion from the beginning. Berkman wrote this book based on his personal experience. His original work was first published in America in 1929, by Vanguard Press in New York, under the title What is Communist Anarchism? Meanwhile, the book ABC Anarchism (The ABC Anarchism) was first published in England in May 1942, by Freedom Press.
Anarchism Is Not Violence
Most people still have a misconception about anarchism. Some people talk about anarchism but know nothing about its conception. Berkman thinks that many Socialists and Bolsheviks are saying the wrong thing about what anarchism is. They know it well, but often lie, and think that anarchism is still disorder and chaos.
The professors of socialism "Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels" have taught that anarchism will come from socialism. Marx and Engels said that first of all there must be a spirit of socialism, after socialism, there will be anarchism. Anarchism is a freer and more beautiful condition for society to live in than socialism.
In a language dictionary, Anarchism is an ideology that opposes every power of the state, a political theory that does not like the existence of government and laws. This means that anarchism is an ideology that does not like the existence of an order or a structure in a region (state) in which the structure rules in it. Namely the government, or the authorities that hinder freedom.
If the paradigm always thinks that anarchism is a concept of violence, it will be misleading. Even though it is further understood, the ABC Anarchism book considers violence is not a concept of anarchism. Even then, there is violence when there is disorder or chaos that can usually be done by the ruling authorities.
In this context too, is it only an anarchist who commits an act of violence? Hasn't a democrat, a monarchy or an oligarch ever committed "violence"? Aren't they all the same (have been violent)?
The timing of anarchism or manifestation of anarchism depends on two factors: first, the speed with which the growing conditions become physically and spiritually unbearable for most of humanity, especially the workers. Second, from the level of understanding and acceptance of the anarchist view itself.
In this 254-page book, Berkman explains that anarchism is not unified, not robbery and murder, not war and not throwing bombs. However, (again I emphasize) means that we must be free. Free, that no one may enslave, be an employer, or rob you, or even force us.
In short, anarchism means all enjoying equality and the benefits of an orderly and sensible life. The teachings of anarchism are teachings about peace and no colonialism, where there is a holy life without slavery or social class.
When reading this book, readers are advised to read or repeat it once or many times. Because in it some several sentences or terms are difficult for a lay reader to digest. However, when we understand the purpose and purpose of this book, immediately reflect for a moment on what is the purpose of this anarchism.
When the reader understands, a question suddenly arises: will a revolution occur?
An Analysis of Nietzsche Thought Regarding the Existence of God
The industrial revolution in England and France gave rise to a new human perspective on God, the world, man himself and everything related to himself. Philosophy also comes new. Descartes preceded it with his cogito ergo sum which later gave rise to modern philosophy. After Descartes, another prophet appeared in the world of philosophy who predicted the collapse of Christian hegemony in Europe. He was Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche became the main figure in the emergence of reforms from modern philosophy to post-modern philosophy. Its contribution to the world of philosophy is beyond doubt. Perhaps no philosopher is more famous than Nietzsche. His radical and controversial thoughts have become an endless hot conversation.
One of his thoughts that changed the perspective of philosophical thinkers was that the concept of God was dead. This thinking is a new thing because it breaks the old concept which is dominated by Christian thinking. Experts call Nietzsche a nihilist. Like other nihilists, Nietzsche was of the view that it was necessary to have a total *"ruin"* for an improvement.
Nietzsche the God-Slayer
Nietzsche is a unique philosopher who thinks uniquely and expresses it uniquely. His uniqueness is what makes him so special to the world of philosophy. His thoughts can never be separated from the background of his life. In fact, without hesitation, he tells a lot about his life in his writing. Besides, the way of conveying his philosophy using literary techniques is something new in the world of philosophy which has always used objectivity and language standardization as the main things.
For Nietzsche, plural truth can only be conveyed through literature. This means that the interpretation of truth will always be plural and never singular. Nietzsche thoughts on God's death are found in some of his works. One of his famous writings on this subject is in his book, *"the gay science".*
It is very important to mention here Nietzsche basic thinking about God. Nietzsche understands God like a dream. When we sleep and dream, it is as if we are in a real-world which turns out to be just a dream. Such is the case with God. Humans are unable to distinguish between actual reality and reality which is only a shadow. If we try to interpret it, Nietzsche considers God only a projection of human limitations who yearn for unlimited power.
The Meaning of God's Death
God is dead, the famous Nietzsche put it. Given the concept of *"dying"* in God, Nietzsche wanted to say that God's existence depends on synthetics. God becomes an argument that can be accounted for only in terms of time, being, history, and humans. Therefore, Nietzsche gave the concept of death in his argument about God.
With the death of God, Nietzsche then proposed the concept of the birth of a new God. When God dies, man becomes God. Jesus was the sacrifice who had to die on the cross. Death was later disguised as a pious belief in God's love. God sacrificed Jesus to be free from Himself and the Jews. God needed to kill His Son to be free from Himself and be reborn as a new universal God. That is the meaning of God's first death.
Second, Jewish consciousness wants a more universal God. With the Lord's death on the cross, God was no longer Jewish. Jews prefer to create a God who is loving and willing to suffer because of hatred. With a more universal value of love, the Jewish God has become a universal God. The old God died and the Son created a new God for us who is full of love.
The third meaning of God's death has to do with Christianity. Nietzsche defines another theology of St. Paul. Paul's theology on which many Christian teachings are based is a massive forgery. It is said that because the death of the Son was to pay God's debt. Nietzsche saw His debt too great. But then, God sacrificed His Son no longer to free Himself but for the sake of mankind. God sent His Son to die for love, we respond with feelings of guilt, guilt for the death and redeem it by blaming ourselves. So then Nietzsche called us all murderers of God with all our sinfulness.
This is the slave morality that Nietzsche criticized. The slave acts not on his grounds but the basis of fear of his master. His actions were always based on the orders of his master. Acting alone would deny one's nature and be considered a mistake. Unlike slave morality, master morality is the opposite. Master morality does not manifest what should be done but what is done. Lord morality respects itself. They are always sure, their actions are good.
Ubermensch and the Lord-Slave Morality
In the absence of God's presence in our lives. Nietzsche wants us to live not as slaves who fear their master but become masters themselves. For perfection, Nietzsche uses the term Ubermensch. Ubermensch here is not meant to be the same as superman which connotes stagnant but uses the term overman, which is continuous and in the process of becoming. Ubermensch is a term found in the book *Also Sprach Zarathustra.*
Ubermensch is a superior human being more than any other human being. For Nietzsche, a good culture is a culture that makes human beings progress and becomes superior. Whereas a culture that advocates a durschnittlich (middle/average) will only remove individual talents and turn them into a herd. The flock is the crowd. They are a means to an end not an end in itself. Humans are the means to reach Ubermensch. Changes to Ubermensch must be preceded by a critical human attitude and carry out a transvaluation, overturning the existing values until finally, the human being can determine his values. Ubermensch has always recognized himself as der Wille-zur-Macht and did not cover it up.
Will in power
Ubermensch is always connected with a purpose. The will to power is the essence of everything, including in knowledge. Not only Ubermensch but all humans. But Ubermensch's goal never refers to anything other than itself. The will to power must decisively surpass humans. This thinking is a way for Nietzsche to get rid of morality and replace it with the Ubermensch concept in which man always acts purely of himself.
At first glance, it seems that Ubermensch is a selfish human who ignores other humans. But Nietzsche disagrees. According to Nietzsche, Ubermensch has never dominated one another or sacrificed another biologically or politically. Nietzsche called the false desire for power a "demon for power" or "a fanatical desire for power."
Nietzsche stressed understanding of the will to power is more of a quality of will. It is an existential depth for self-transcendence. Humans must make every effort to achieve their goals. And that doesn't use instinct but with complete self-control.
Criticism of Nietzsche
Nietzsche philosophy is inseparable from the circumstances of his time. Nietzsche hatred for religion emerged after seeing the fact that religion at that time was only as our escape from problems that existed in the real world. It can be seen here that Nietzsche ignores other aspects and is unbalanced in understanding true religion. Hatred had too much effect on his theory.
The God Nietzsche *"killed"* was more like a psychological God. He did not touch God's existence at all. He only saw God from the human concept without being able to break through the limits of God's transcendence. This is understandable because Nietzsche has violated the limits of his scientific discipline. He did not distinguish between a psychological God and a philosophical God.
Nietzsche Ubermensch appears to be utopian because he admits that no human can be considered an Ubermensch. He was also too radical to say that Ubermensch could exist if humans first transvalued existing values to get their value. He ignores the human aspect of his relationships with others. Values that are lived personally can be disastrous for mankind because there is no single rule that is carried out as an agreement. Moreover, according to Nietzsche, the nature of truth is plural.
Ubermensch, who Nietzsche said, is a superior human who always strives for a value that is integrated into himself. This understanding does not mean we have to oppose every existing rule, but how we can live up to the values that exist around us. It is not easy, lest we get caught up in hypocrisy. Ubermensch has always gone to great lengths to develop itself not only for the satisfaction of the formators but for the greater cause for which we strive. Nietzsche criticism can be an input for us and our faith. This article will conclude with a phrase from Nietzsche. *"Making people nervous, that's my job."*
The Land of Utopia: Dreams and Wishes
Plato once wrote that a utopian country, a dreamland of peace and prosperity, once existed at one end of the world. A land where the people live in harmony, tranquillity, happiness and harmony. A country where knowledge is a common item and can be found in every individual. A place where unnecessary conflict and warfare is an item that should be thrown away.
It is unclear where the country is, and whether Plato revealed a fact or just wishful thinking. Perhaps the utopian country was only hoping for him. But perhaps the country did exist somewhere in the world. A forgotten place, a place that has been far abandoned, a place where the first civilizations were formed by our ancestor's thousands of years ago.
Every human being has their ideas about the future they hope for. And one of the dreams I have is to see a place where every human being can understand the difference from one another from a different perspective. We are in a place where the difference is almost synonymous with hatred, and every hate means war. And why humans are so fond of fighting, even though in that war every individual involved in it will suffer a prolonged trauma.
Utopia may never exist on earth, but that does not mean we are unable to create it. It is not a difficult thing to create a world full of peace and harmony. It is not a difficult thing to create a world full of knowledge, tolerance and harmony. The main condition is only desire, which is returned to every individual who steps in this world. Will each individual just follow the ancient thought that we carry from the residue of evolution, or try to make new thoughts that are much more civilized.
One day we will meet a time when humans can overcome their problems with nature, disease, and the fear of extinction of our population. However, the real threat came from each of us. Humans will remain wolves to other humans, homo homini lupus. The hatred and wars will continue, and the scale of this will be much larger and more terrifying. But if every human being were able to hold back, and think in peace, then any unnecessary bloodshed would never have happened.
What a wonderful life it is to be filled with harmony. Every human being can find their happiness in the natures that have been described. The time when hope is not a figment, but a certainty that is only a matter of time. The period in which individual interests are synonymous with common interests.
Reaching out to God
The majority of people today no longer think of anything complex because they are spoiled for indulgent technology and even explicitly imprison reason and dull reason. In this modern era, everyone wants something instant and practical because human nature loves it. Taking advantage of these human tendencies, technology exploits these tendencies for money.
Humans are exploited for possessing technology that spoils them. The world seems to arrange humans so that they no longer think about something complex, humans are formed into pragmatic creatures who only think about the world. As a result, in this modern era, there was a division related to the divine issue.
Humans who are immersed in the modern era that offers everything practically and instantaneously become lazy to think about God. From this tendency, the symptoms of fundamentalism and atheism are born.
Fundamentalism makes people allergic to think of God because according to them the way to reach God is only to obey what their ancestors, environment or people who understand religious issues say. Whereas atheism is even more extreme, they do not believe in God because of the dullness of their reason which is no longer capable of sharp thinking. These atheists only come to the stage of thinking by sense, of course, God cannot be reached through sensing.
This symptom of atheism takes people who believe in God to extremes. They think that technology has corrupted reason and destroyed the world, this symptom of atheism gave birth to extreme fundamentalists which I call radicalism. These radicals offer a solution so that people believe in God, namely by rejecting technological advances and modernization which they think have made humans forget their God. They feel as defenders of God and believe that their group will be rewarded with heaven by God, on this basis they often commit acts of violence in the name of God.
Humans need critical thinking in facing an era that is very different from the bearers of religions such as Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others. Of course, it is very irrelevant if we reject the age and return to the time of the noble human beings who carried the religion. The pragmatic attitude inherent in humans today is what makes the religious phenomenon fundamentalist, atheist, and even radical.
None of the three groups can reach God because they no longer optimize the instrument or ladder to God. Thinkers conclude that there are two stairs to God, namely reason and love (feeling). The instrument of the reason is used by philosophers, while the instrument of love (feeling) is used by mysticism to reach out to God. Not a few seekers of God also use these two instruments such as Buddha, Plato, Plotinus, Ibn Sina, Al-Ghazali, Yahya Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, and many more.
The instrument of love (feeling) or the ladder to God that is embraced by mysticism cannot be described through words because the taste is more than words. If this instrument of love is described in words, it will certainly reduce the beauty of this staircase to God.
Philosophy as an instrument to reach God is also a beautiful instrument, although it is still under the indescribable beauty of the instrument of love. As a layman and I do not understand anything about divinity, I am always amazed when I read the theories of divinity from philosophers. Even without the guidance of revelations, philosophers before Muhammad even before Jesus such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle have presented teachings that are very by religious teachings. It can be seen that the ethical theories of Plato and Aristotle, almost everything they describe in their works have a value that is by the values contained in religion. Of course, it would be very long to explain the ethical theory of Plato or Aristotle here. It is better if the reader reads literature that specifically addresses this topic.
For example, Plato suggested that a leader is someone who is intellectually mature and no longer thinks about personal pleasure. According to Plato, a leader must be concerned with the benefit of the crowd or the people. Plato suggested that humans are more concerned with common interests than personal interests. Aristotle taught his students to always be fair because according to Aristotle only human justice could achieve a harmonious society. This example is only a small part of Plato's and Aristotle's moral teaching or ethical theory. Of course, the teachings of Plato and Aristotle are by religious teachings.
Reaching out to God is something that humans can do, even though it is impossible to reach God as a whole. At least humans can reach the accessible manifestations of God in this world. God can't create man and command to worship Him without giving the instrument to enjoy a little beauty Himself.
Allergic fundamentalists talk about God and believe in God through the teachings of their ancestors and their environment, it will be difficult to reach God. Religious preachers like Jesus and Muhammad are people who oppose imitation, they oppose the teachings of their ancestors and their environment. They are very critical in sorting things related to divinity. From this, I assume that the religious heritage of ancestors needs to be explored more deeply because the story teaches us implicitly not to accept dogma from ancestors and the environment. God touches his people personally, therefore we need to reach out to God personally as well and we must be grateful that God has provided facilities such as instruments of reason and love (feeling) and even to facilitate the human path to Himself, God sent a chosen human called a Prophet.
Atheists who do not believe in the existence of God will not be able to reach God. Maybe they are quite satisfied with their rationality, but it needs to be realized that reason or reason also has weaknesses and is very fragile. How can they be sure that the world is everything if when they dream in their sleep they feel like they are in the real world? Atheists have been drowning in a sea of the arrogance of rationality, so they are blinded by this arrogance. Thinkers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle alone believed in the existence of God (in their respective languages). Common sense will certainly reach out and believe in God, these atheists are among those who have unhealthy minds.
These radicals are among the most ignorant among others. They feel the most righteous and claim they are defenders of God. Is God so weak that it needs to be defended? These are religious people who are afraid and insecure because they don't want others to disagree with them. All terrorists are born from this circle, they are ready to suppress anyone different from their circles. These circles usually monopolize God and feel that heaven belongs only to their group. Attitudes like this insult God, they even take God's prerogatives such as determining who has the right to go to heaven - hell, disbelieving others and claiming absolute truth.
God is the Most Beautiful Substance, therefore any discussion about it must be coated with aspects of beauty. Unlike the image of God from fundamentalists and radicalises who understand God as angry, harsh, and narrow. The search for God is like a journey up a mountain which is full of obstacles but always accompanied by beauty.
Reaching God is one of the duties of humans as His creation whether through the instruments of reason, love, or even both. These instruments will be very optimal if guided by revelations brought by God's messengers. As long as they do not leave the corridors of revelation, of course, these instruments will lead people to reach God.
When humans have tried to reach God, they will automatically no longer be tempted by this mortal worldly happiness. Worldly happiness is only a means of reaching God or gaining more essential divine happiness. It is wrong for humans to think that tools (worldly happiness) are the goal of humans being born in this world as thought by the majority of people today. This mistake of orientation is what makes humans uprooted from their essence and makes humans look like animals that only live to fulfil physiological needs such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and mating. Humans who only fulfil such needs are no different from animals.
It is also wrong for people to think that tranquillity is the goal of worship. Many people who claim to be religious practice worship to seek peace. Quietness should only be a tool to reach God whose enjoyment must be far above tranquillity. Good worship is worship to reach God or seek God's true blessings. To reach God can only be done calmly because all forms of restlessness are indications of worldly thoughts. This worldly mind is an obstacle for humans to reach God Most High.
This article is only a personal opinion, which of course contains a high probability of wrong because I'm just an ordinary person who doesn't understand anything. Finally, let us optimize the facilities provided by God to be able to reach Him so that we can become beings by their nature.
Philosophy Again
Recently I found my passion for reading again. Indeed, I have never lost my passion for reading before, but this time my passion for reading is getting more passionate. Maybe because it requires an escape from the dizzying proposal seminar.
As from last Friday to this Wednesday, January 19, I have already exhausted three books. A passion for reading that is quite proud at least for me. These three books are not light novels, but philosophy books that require a little bit of thought. Again I fell in love with philosophy.
Philosophy has never lost interest from me. When walking in a bookstore, when I see a philosophy book, my eyes will invite me to dance to just read the titles and recommendations of other readers that are on the back of the book. Even though I'm a psychology student, there are more philosophical books in my room on the shelves than psychology.
The majority of these books are about the philosophy of religion which interests my reading. Philosophy is divided into several branches such as political philosophy, natural philosophy, religious philosophy, moral philosophy, art philosophy, and so on. It is difficult to define philosophy because almost all philosophers have their definitions of philosophy.
Most people think that understanding philosophy is a futile act. Philosophy is considered an outdated object that is ancient and does not function in the face of the greatness of modern science which is aided by its technology. Understanding philosophy also yields nothing to their words, there is no field of work available to philosophers.
Philosophy is the enemy of religion. Makes human reasoning wild so that they dare to penetrate the doctrinal spaces that are forbidden by religion to think about. Philosophy is an imaginary science. Too far away for human reason and of no use for modern life. Philosophy is an empty verbalism because it only contains arguments or beautiful play on words to hypnotize people to believe.
Yes, that's what they say about philosophy. Humans are mostly boring. Humans are mostly adherents of popular culture who are only able to follow trends that are born from low culture. A low culture that constructs a culture of shallow thinking so that it is so active and strict about appearance. No wonder many men are enlarging their body muscles to attract women. And vice versa, women dress openly to attract men.
They only pay attention to visible things (materialist). Adam prioritizes to grow the muscles of the body and not the brain. Women try to have big breasts and not brains. They are proud of themselves if they have sex that is bigger than their friends. I don't understand where this kind of superficial culture was adopted. Why do women dress openly? Wouldn't it be more interesting if they had an open mind?
I think they need philosophy to get a little enlightened. They need a little bit of brainwork to be a little human. I thought am I too selfish if I want them all to think? Is that only their level of thinking? Take pride in wearing expensive brands that stick to him. Prestige he said. It seems like I am too selfish if I force everyone to be the same as me.
They make fun of the villagers who use charms to make them feel confident. "Musyrik" they say. Whereas the basic logic is almost the same as the metrosexual urban people who like to buy expensive things. They also need these expensive items to make themselves confident. The self-confidence of these two different groups of people is obtained from items outside of themselves, even though one is from amulets and one is from clothes, for example. The basic logic fits.
Their lifestyle seemed to have no meaning. They are forced to work hard to find money, which in turn is used to buy goods that are considered to be able to maintain their existence in society. How can their lives be organized without awareness? This is where philosophy comes in.
When people are familiar with philosophy, they will get used to thinking critically. He will question everything for a satisfying answer. That is the nature of philosophy, it will not stop as long as the world has not stopped. In philosophy, an answer will not find the final word because an answer will inevitably be slapped by the next question to find a deeper answer.
In the end, to quote the great Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, there must be a first cause from which all that exists originates and that cause must exist absolutely. This is the last answer that philosophy can offer. Yes, in the end, the philosophy that is known to be wild and daring to penetrate religious spaces also returns the answer to a question to God.
So, who says if philosophy is against religion? Both of them return the absolute answer to God. This bad stigma of philosophy must be immediately eliminated because the urgency of philosophy is very high to make the younger generation use their thinking a little to become human. Not only immersed in a sea of materialism that misleads humanity.
Philosophy is indeed an abstract thing. It is beyond the sensory dimension. Philosophy is not on a sensory level, it is at a level where the differences between humans and animals are so real. Yes, philosophical truth resides in the human head. Especially the pre-frontal cortex which regulates parts of humanity such as logic, decision making, considering meaning, and all kinds of human advantages that distinguish it from animals.
Again, philosophy made me fall in love. For me, philosophy is a medium to help the brain think more critically. Philosophy is a science about asking questions and finding answers radically and comprehensively. Hopefully, my immersion in philosophy does not make me run away from the side of humanity which is inherently embedded in the human soul.
BECOME A COCKROACH: Not Having Deadly Weapons But Still Feared
Let's have the courage to take a look at the life of this insect, hopefully we can get a valuable lesson from it.
Cockroaches, these disgusting insects that live all around us. His filthy, filth-eating place, his body that leaves behind germs, his amusing shape are some of the reasons why he is so hated by humans.
Cockroaches are also among the weakest animals. It did not have the lethal attack to defeat its enemies, it did not have any fangs for biting or sharp nails for clawing. In the food chain these insects are the food of other animals. It himself feeds on dirt or dead organisms. There are even species of cockroaches that eat human feces.
But, even though his life is dirty, dirty, disgusting and weak, we can still take lessons from him.
Among the lessons we can learn from the life of cockroaches is how they defend themselves from attack. Cockroaches that live in cities tend to have no enemies, except for us who often “fight” them. Let's see how the cockroaches survive our attacks. Sometimes he was silent as if he was dead when we hit it with a broom, after a few minutes he disappeared somewhere. Or, when we are about to attack it, the cockroach runs towards us with its fast run like it will attack, when we are shocked, as fast as lightning it turns around to save itself.
The lesson we can take is that even an insect as disgusting and weak as a cockroach will not allow itself to be intimidated by other creatures, if it cannot attack it will run to save itself.
We as human beings who have a mind and heart certainly cannot accept intimidation from anyone and in any form. We must not instigate enmity and war, but we must maintain peace as we have always hoped for. However, when other people show their arrogance to us and want us to just submit to their wishes we cannot be silent.
Peace is not subject to the will of those who do evil to us, it is subject to humiliation. Resistance to oppression is not anti-peace but rather an effort to eliminate disturbance in order to bring about true peace where we live side by side with our neighbors without disturbance. Even when we know that we cannot defeat the bully, then we put up a fight and die defending ourselves, then our deaths are not in vain, such deaths are honorable deaths because we maintain our dignity.
Learning Reconstruction Criticism
When we talk about education, education is identified with the school. In other words, education is teaching that is held in schools as institutions for educating or teaching. So, this narrow perspective limits the educational process based on the time or period of education, educational environment and form of education.
As we all know, education is a humanizing process. Then, how can effective action make humans as humans should be? Is there a school we can make this happen?
As in the history of education, it is a process carried out in spare time. But nowadays education is not a process carried out in leisure time, in its history, education has also eliminated the holistic aspect of knowledge. so that knowledge is broken down into subjects, into credits, and so on. This has an effect that warns of capitalism's demand that science must be fragmented as the need for a differentiated labour force is needed for the bolts and parts of capitalism's engine to run.
This is what causes the modernization of the era so that education is reduced to the formal form of schools and teaching it has left its comprehension as a humanitarian process. When education has been reduced to schools and institutionalized and specialized in fields and departments, this will make it difficult for students and education personnel to understand human problems holistically.
This is reinforced by Ivan Illich's statement in the concept of his work, Deschooling Society (Society without Schools) can be seen as a comprehensive rejection of formal schools that suppress human freedom and development. He considered schools inadequate for the development of children and young people. Illich firmly believed that the goal of rejecting school in society would be to enable students to gain freedom in learning without having to fight for it from society. Everyone must be guaranteed a personality in learning, in the hope that he will accept the obligation to help others to grow according to his personality.
Illich ridicules those who say that it is only from school that knowledge and skills are obtained schools are not the only modern institutions with the primary aim of shaping the human view of reality. Hidden curriculum in family life, military service, health care and what is called professionalism or the media play an important role in the institutional manipulation of the human world, its vision, languages and needs.
Illich also reiterated that "schools are much more enslaving people in a more systematic way because only schools are considered capable of carrying out their main tasks, strangely schools perform these tasks by making understanding about themselves, about others and nature, become dependent in a process that has been formed in advance. So great is the influence of school on us that none of us can hope that he can be freed from it by something else.
It seems that education is meaningful if Ivan Illich's conception is realized. Imagine if there was a society where every day, without a rigid and formal school, anyone with more mature knowledge could become a teacher. Everyone can learn at any time and anywhere. It is like talking about the world of life, the nature that is going on with its contradictions, social problems and political problems that are happening. Of course, there will be many teachers for children, by gaining knowledge and exemplary whenever and wherever they are. So that education personnel will face friends who challenge them to reason, compete without being standardized with report cards, cooperate and so on.
This narrow perspective causes a limited educational process. So that it will bring bad effects of its education; First, because almost everyone considers education to be understood through school institutions, the formalistic way of thinking is embedded in people's thinking. In the end, parents see that their children's education can only be relied on from school. They see that school is the only place for their children to acquire knowledge and mental and character formation. The bad thing is that parents do not want to educate their children because they have already received education at school and do not care about their education outside of school. Second, schools are made the only legal institution for the community as a way of social mobility. As if it was standard that if you want to get a job you have to enter and graduate from school first, the formal requirement is to get a diploma. So, it is not surprising that many business certificates or education businesses do not involve the educated in the teaching and learning process. Even though formality is not the essence.
Therefore, the certificate or school output does not indicate quality. It is not uncommon for people to attend high-level schools, but have low intelligence, mentally damaged, stunted character, and corrupt souls. So that schools will give birth to human "dehumanism" who will rob the potential of human humanity.
Such an extreme view, which does not require schooling, of course, cannot be seen as pessimism but must be seen as a "criticism" of the world of education. This means that everyone must be able to get an education and be able to express their interests in the world of education. Education must belong to the community, without boundaries of class, race, religion, or physical forms of education for all.
The erosion of the values of life
The thought of life is a subject that continues to be discussed by all human groups from all corners of the world except for those who no longer use their minds to think, maybe from the beginning of human life until now. The very basic problem of this life is "Why are we living? How should we live? And why we live ”. It could be that questions like that always come upon humans.
In essence, humans are creatures who are always looking for answers, this is what makes humans continue to be confronted by very essential and fundamental questions. Let's start with the initial problem, "Why are we alive?".
In my opinion, humans live to seek happiness, then religion directs us to live to seek goodness, beauty and truth. As far as I know, which is short and also written in the Holy Qur'an, religion is not against human nature and it should be so if the basic goal of religion is to guide humans. I interpret the essential matters of life for religion to seek happiness through the path of goodness and truth.
I believe that something we live in this world is for ourselves, for example, religion has taught us to continue to do good to others and in the end, the good we have done will affect us sooner or later and whether we realize it or not. I remember the story of a man who wanted to pursue religion in the early century AD, then he asked a Jewish wise man to seek answers through the holy book of the Torah, more or less the Jewish wise man (Rabbi) said: "Do to others what others want to do to you. , that is the essence of the Torah. Everything else is just figurative ”.
There is also a hadith which is in line with the above story, the Prophet Muhammad SAW in one of his hadiths said: "There is not a servant of faith until he loves his neighbour as he loves himself". It is not wise to consider literacy only literally textually, but universally, the biggest religion, namely Islam, teaches compassion for others as a condition for becoming a believer.
Of course, if we always do good to all creatures (especially humans), this will make other people happy and this is what will have an impact on us sooner or later and whether we realize it or not. This search for goodness is closely related to morality because it is not only an idea, morality is a matter of distinguishing humans from fauna. So, this search for goodness is a form of happiness for the heart.
In the search for truth, it would be more correct to say the search for happiness to the mind, if goodness is happiness crowned for the heart. The search for truth deserves a review of its own because it will be very lengthy.
The search for beauty in religion is a new measure that arises in my mind to give birth to happiness after reading Prof. Doctor Quraish Shihab in his work entitled "Knowledge of the Quran". In this work, especially in the chapter "Art", he describes the beauty very beautifully along with the arguments in the Koran. Before reading his work, it did not occur to me that religion pays attention to beauty to achieve happiness. It's hard to write down this size because I don't understand it, it's good that the reader immediately refers to the reference I wrote above.
One thing that is fundamental in the search for goodness, beauty, and truth to give birth to happiness is that there are no absolutes in the search for these 3 things. We cannot force goodness, truth, and happiness from our perspective on others. Because all absolute things belong to God, a kind of adage which reports "Perfection belongs only to God and negligence belongs only to man", based on this extraordinary adage we cannot claim that our opinion about all things is absolute for all.
It would not be hypocritical to claim that the main quest for man is money. All people are looking for money no matter the trick. But is it only money that can give us happiness? For me, happiness is in our minds, we are the ones who are obliged to form happiness itself without intervention that controls our happiness as humans feel today.
I think that currently, a few people who have set the standard of happiness are rich people who have lots of money, lots of cars, elegant houses and so on which are related to material abundance.
Is it true that happiness has a standard? Humans should think more deeply about this problem, maybe only a few people are aware of this problem, maybe only a few people who want to dig deeper into their thoughts about this subject because the majority of people are already immersed very deeply in a world full of deceit like happiness mortal produced by matter.
Worse yet, humans seem to have darkened their eyes by this mortal happiness, they only believe that one of the ways to be happy is the fulfilment of material needs that require a lot of money. Meanwhile, to be able to live, we only need a vision, perspective, and a board that meets the standard of worthiness. To live, we don't need to eat elegant food, have elegant clothes, and have an elegant house too. The fulfilment of elegant clothing, clothing, and boards is the fulfilment of the needs of passions that are very close to prestige and are not necessities for life.
There is a story about a teenager who is looking for meaning in his life and there are also many experiences in his life. But he didn't find happiness in his life either. This child is named Defal, he is a thinker who wants to feel happiness like his friends. He follows the way his friends get happiness in the wrong way. namely by consuming drugs. When Defal felt the pleasure of using drugs, he felt happy enough like flying, but that was only for a moment. Defal tries continuously and adds to the dosage of substances he usually consumes. At this stage, he thought whether something like this could be called happiness? Defal thinks that something like this is just like drowning in a circle that never ends because when the substance's effect wears off, he feels miserable, and finally, he decides to leave a vicious circle that only makes him happy for a moment.
How much money he spent when Defal fell into a vicious circle. Finally, he realized that this was not the happiness he was looking for. Then Defal returned to look for the happiness he dreamed of until he came to the free sex life. In this free sex life, he feels greater happiness than drunkenness, until he feels bored and realizes that this method is tantamount to using intoxicating substances. Sex only leads to momentary happiness. Defal thought again until he found that being happy with self-gratification would not arrive at the essence of happiness because humans will never be satisfied at any time.
Defal continues his search for happiness in the stories of great figures such as Socrates, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. From this story, Defal gets the meaning that the happiness experienced by this person is not on self-gratification, but with a method of making others happy and he tries to make these extraordinary figures as examples.
After carrying out life to make others happy, he finds satisfaction and inner happiness, because he feels that the happiness of others is happiness for himself. When he sees other people happy, he is also happy and at this session, he feels this happiness continues especially without spending a lot of money. Defal feels happy to feel that kind of life even though he lives simply.
In conclusion, Defal thinks what is the trick to make his creator happy, he thinks that if he makes his fellow human beings happy he has felt extraordinary happiness, especially if he succeeds in making God happy? Unfortunately, death had picked him up before he created life to make his Lord happy. Before he died, Defal wrote that even though he had not succeeded in creating life to make his God happy, he felt that if His creatures were happy, God would be happy too, even though he did not believe this assumption.
This story can share the meaning that most people today are overcome by their passions so that people will not be satisfied just satisfying their desires. reason and conscience are also subject to lust, the impact is that the dynamics of life that prioritize prestige are the majority. It is not in the least worthy that a creature whose reason and conscience is defeated by lust is called a human being, it is almost no different from an animal which is only controlled by lust. Even animals only eat minimal food and do not hoard food like people I call human half-animals.
Such a lifestyle has killed morality, morality has become an utterly useless empty verbalism. Everyone is just pursuing material wealth, from students to law enforcement, all can be paid in cash. The world is getting more and more corrupt and humans who are supposed to take care of the world are even drunk with their creations, humans have been colonized by their creations.
I remember the famous poet from Lebanon, Kahlil Gibran once composed his verse something like this, "The wealth of the world lies in a loaf of bread and a robe". Bread and robes are depictions of simple people who do not have material abundance in Middle-Eastern countries, I interpret this verse that the essence of the world's happy wealth lies in material simplicity and a healthy mental condition.
In the condition of a lifestyle that emphasizes matter, it can be assumed that the psychological condition of humans is currently sick. Morality is no longer viewed and things that are contrary to humanity are considered normal. things like this happen because we have seen such sins too often and tolerated them, which over time has the impact of making these sins commonplace.
This world is sick, healthy humans who still want to use their minds are increasingly rare. If a sane person does not want to clash with sick people who are darkened by mortal happiness, then this world will be forever sick, even the value of life will increasingly degrade if this situation is not immediately addressed properly. It is the duty of sane people who still want to think to humanize even humans who are lower than animals. Wa Allahu A'lam.
Interesting Book That Review the History of God
This is one of the most influential books in my life. Even though I didn't have many references before, I took the courage to buy and read this book. I read it over and over again, repeating several times the paragraph that I can not digest, nor often sleep attacks when reading.
When I wake up, I force to read it again, put a highlighter on the paragraph that I think is meaningful, then share some notes. This is my initial experience spending time reading this thick and heavy book. I'm just satisfied after reading it 3 times. And I can swear I don't understand.
The History of God was written by a former British nun, Karen Armstrong. His fascination with the history of religion led him to study all out. Lots of books he has produced. Some of his books are neatly arranged on the bookshelves of my room, including The Great Transformation, The Future of God, Holy War, Bible History, Battle for God, Fields of Blood, Islam, History of Muhammad, and Compassion.
My interest in religion made me read more books by Karen Armstrong. Could be the cause of the same attention. The odyssey began with God's History book. In the book, Armstrong begins by reviewing the ancient gods of Mesopotamia. The area that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A region that is often spoken of like the Middle East.
We will be filled with ancient mythologies from the Middle East. Even though it is a bit different, we want to create a common thread of similarities to mythology from Scandinavia, Greece, Egypt and so on. The names of the gods are a bit strange, although if you often play games you may hear. A kind of Baal, Marduk, Inana, Hecate and so on.
Yes, the names of gods who were thought to be superpowers by our ancestors were often immortalized like personalities in games or movies. Some kind of mighty god from Scandinavia, Thor and Loki in Marvel and Zeus in Dota. There is also from Egyptian mythology, Beerus who is Son Goku's tough opponent in Dragon Ball. And, there are many more.
Back again. After that Armstrong traced the history of monotheism in the Middle East. Starting from ancient texts thought to influence the growth of monotheism, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is said that the stories told in the Old Testament such as the great flood that Noah felt were an adaptation of the story in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The concept of good and evil and heaven and hell came from a dualist prophet named Zoroaster. This Zoroastrian belief was prolific in Persia, the Mesopotamian next door who gave birth to Judaism. Armstrong did not take very long to cover pre-Jewish beliefs. Just sharing data at a glance so that we are not historical.
After that, he reviewed in detail and at length the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The history of God is by no means a question of how God's history itself is. I was reprimanded by my mother while I was reading the book.
"When was God born? At what time? That perverted book! How could God have history! You guys have gone astray! ” said my mother while scolding me in a big tone.
Not. Not one human being who had walked the earth could explain it. God's history book describes the history of God's supposition in human civilization. Are you confused?
You see, human civilization has every assumption of its God. The ancient Egyptians had a different belief in God from the Ancient Greeks. Likewise with the Aboriginal tribes in Australia who have different views from the Indians in the Amazon. When the seriousness of the interaction between residents is still low, they often increase their respective views on God.
The new religion enforced after being officially adopted by the kingdom. Thus, when the kingdom carried out the regional expansion, religion often explored. This review is mostly discussed in his other book if I'm not mistaken, the one titled Battle for God.
Now, God's history book reviews the presumption of God in the divine religion. Most religions exist at this time. This religion has the same historical roots, is monotheism advocated by the Prophet Abraham. He reviewed the religious dogmas and outlines of the main doctrines of each religion, especially Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Other religions have been discussed very little.
Oppss, don't think if Jews are one, Christianity is one, and Islam is one. Each of them is divided into many sects that have different views about God. This is what's interesting about this book. Armstrong told it very well, although to me the language was still very heavy. Especially for me who doesn't have great intelligence.
He made special chapters that describe the comparison of assumptions about God. Among other things, there is the God of the Philosophers, the God of the Mystics, the God of the Reformers and so on. Even within the same religion, the assumption of God from Islamic philosophers is different from that of the Sufis (Islamic mysticism).
Throughout reading this book, I feel again being slapped back and forth by this book. As if my belief was battered after reading the historical facts. From let me find a lesson that faith has absolutely nothing to do with reality. If you have faith, just believe, you don't need real facts. If you need facts, not faith.
My message is, if you want to read this book, you must be prepared with the consequences. Because we want to create many historical facts that are contrary to faith. It takes an open heart and mind to continue reading alternative narratives that beat our faith. Don't forget to save lots of curiosity. Without curiosity, it is difficult to digest a thick, heavy, stiff language, and tore your faith.
In this book, we also want to create many other beliefs such as Zoroaster, Manichaeism, Confucius, Taoism, Sikhs and so on. Beliefs that are nearly extinct today. We also want to get acquainted with divine concepts such as monotheism, polytheism, pantheism and so on.
The history of God opens horizons about divinity. Armstrong would like to invite us to dive into the knowledge of divinity, which is very diverse. This kind of knowledge makes us wiser in viewing divine matters which have recently been used as noisy alibis.
We are also aware that there are thousands of beliefs that are extinct today. Some so many Gods were once considered powerful are now only characters in the game. It is almost impossible for humans today to think Zeus was real. Only crazy people and young children are sure that lightning is produced by an angry Zeus.
Yes, today's Zeus is better known as the personality in the Dota game. Will 2000 years from now (if human civilization still exists), will the God we worship also have a kind of fate like Zeus? My naughty thoughts came out in the middle of reading this book.
The Conflict Must be Stopped!
**Which of you has never dealt with conflict? why can't we separate ourselves from conflict?**
conflicts of various types, could it be conflicts that occur in the family, conflicts with friends, or maybe conflicts that occur while we are working in a company?
It's my experience in living everyday life. Conflict always occurs anywhere, anytime, and by anyone. The origin of conflict stems from the inconsistency between one person's thoughts and another.
When this real difference is blown up by us to others. There will be friction that is not by what we want and expect.
For this reason, each individual must be responsive so that the conflicts that occur do not escalate, cause bad tendencies, and of course, do not cause damaging effects to the relationship between us and others.
How do you resolve this conflict?
In my opinion, 3 important things must be had so that we can manage this conflict.
*The first is to speak according to the portion.*
We cannot deny that the conflict arises from speaking out of proportion. We may always want to talk on and on about something we believe to be true. Everything we talk about must be accepted and agreed upon by all parties. We tend to talk beyond the capacity that should be. We may always want to dominate the conversation. Many things make us want to be like that. It may be that you want to appear smarter than the others, appear more capable of providing solutions, or you may want to appear that you are the most suitable to talk.
Aren't there other people we need to allow talking to? Never assume that you are always the best when speaking. If this continues, get ready to deal with conflicts. Speak according to the portion and capacity, provide opportunities for other people to talk. They also have mouths to speak to, not just you !.
*The second is to listen more.*
We have one mouth and two ears. Therefore listen a lot rather than talk and feel the most understanding of all things. Being a good listener can reduce conflicts between one another.
Why is that? because listening to other people, means giving openness great respect and respect to the person who is speaking. Listen carefully to everyone who is talking to you, the speakers are always happy when what they are talking about is heard.
Our job is to listen first when you get the right moment to talk, feel free to talk. But remember, after talking keep listening back.
*The third is always result-oriented that can be used together.*
When that difference occurs, it means that there are inequalities in thoughts, desires, hopes, and actions that must be taken. Everyone has different thoughts, wants what they hope to be realized as desired.
For this, try to learn and instil in yourself that all these things are for common purposes. Not for your own sake. Conflict is easy to occur because each individual is not oriented towards mutual interests until finally, individualistic egoism is more prominent.
Learn from now to be able to provide solutions that lead to interests and outcomes together. Throw away all things that our desires and wishes for yourself only. Remember, providing solutions for common interests is much more effective and can provide benefits for many parties. think about it well!
From now on, speak according to your portion and capacity, listen to other people, and provide solutions that are oriented to mutual interests. Hopefully, the conflict can be resolved properly.
Don't let time be wasted
Many things make us have to believe and live in this life, that it is very disadvantageous for someone who cannot make today much better than yesterday.
Yesterday is a representation of time that has been passed, what's with yesterday? what things have we done and accomplished? is it worth the time we have used?
When yesterday is over, can we be better today? or are we stuck with a passive routine that shackles us to the same things, useless, or not as optimal as yesterday?
If we want to live, today must far exceed what we passed yesterday.
Remember, time is the number one killer in human life. He was given by God equally to humans. Everyone has the same time, 24 hours a day. not a second more !. Give a loss to us who cannot streamline God's time. Time is running out, it can't be stopped for even a second, or we can't repeat the time that has passed.
Then there is another question for all of us, shall we be muzzled by time because we spend it in vain? shall we all?
If I'm clear, I won't! Whatever we do today, there must be a significant improvement in each of us.
I give an example, for example, I usually write articles once a week, then I try to increase writing productivity by producing one article every day. There's an improvement, right?
Or, for example, in yesterday's days we used to spend 4 hours in front of the TV, then the next day we reduce and reduce it until we turn these 4 hours into useful things. for example, reading self-improvement books, studying computers, etc.
That is more useful! For this reason, we must be time controllers. Don't let time go to waste. Every second is precious.
Whatever we do today, make sure it must be better than yesterday and there must be a significant increase in terms of time effectiveness, use of useful activities and build a better person.
Rejecting Heaven
For thousands of years, the concept of heaven has been used to deceive millions of people. Heaven is considered a place, where enjoyment continues, and suffering cease, without a trace. Heaven then becomes a gift from blind obedience to religion. So much sorrow and pain have been born of this transgenerational ignorance.
Due to the enchantment of false heaven, people let go of their reason Its critical power is wasted away. The logic is lame. His actions were chaotic and damaged the common good.
Because of their pursuit of heaven, people also become arrogant. He feels better and holier than others. He felt that he could become a God who was ready to judge other humans. The different people were then oppressed and treated unfairly.
Because of the blind pursuit of heaven, people become narrow. He became a true egoist. What is in the head is just pleasure. If necessary, the life and interests of others are sacrificed, as long as he can go to heaven (which has never been proven).
This is heaven that must be rejected. It's just a hoax. It never really existed, and never will. It is only a child's fairy tale to deceive those who are lazy to think.
True heaven is not a collection of pleasures. Without awareness, enjoyment is disastrous. True heaven is not a concept for deceiving the weak. It is not a concept to dull human reason and critical power.
True heaven is a state where pleasure and suffering go away together. Concept disappeared. Language disappeared. Here and now complete, that is real life.
People then rest in life. No need to wait for death. No need to count good deeds and bad deeds. Here and now, resting in life, resting in consciousness, that is true heaven.
Memory vanished. Hope for the future vanished. People entered a wide space. This is his true self, or what many are known as "Buddha".
He is also one with everything that exists. All differences are just concepts. No me, and no you. No us, and no them. This is heaven, without the "concept of heaven".
There is no trick. No manipulation. There is no arrogance, and no urge to harm others. There is no shortage of thinking. People only live fully about everything.
This is the heaven we need to seek. It can only be found when we stop looking. We get it when we don't want it anymore. When we give up all desire, we get everything.
This is a real heaven. He's not far. He is not in the sky. It's right in front of your nose.
This is our life
Whether we realize it or not, "maybe" we have complained about why the life we live is not suitable and not what we want. When we want to be what we want, sometimes we have to be patient because there are interventions from parents or people around us that affect everything we want in life.
For example, suppose a child who dreams of becoming a painter but his parents do not approve of him, support him, and may even forbid him because being a painter does not promise a good income and future.
Or maybe, a parent who always expects his child to become an employee in big companies or well-known banks. Even though the child has the talent, talents and a great desire to become an entrepreneur. The opposite isn't it? Don't you realize, almost all parents in Asia would want their children after graduating from college to be able to get a job in a big company, a good position, and a big salary.
How to deal with things like that?
Things like this are inseparable from intervention and influence. For this reason, we should be able to assert ourselves that the life we have today is our life.
We are the ones who decide where to take our lives. We too are the ones who choose what kind of life we live.
we must be strict about the life we have, choose the life we want, live something that can make our lives happy.
If you want to be whatever you want to be. Persevere, enjoy, live, and most importantly, keep fighting your hardest to be the best for what you want.
Prove to everyone that this is our life. And no one can intervene, let alone prohibit the life we have. Strive for the things we aspire to and dream of.
Isn't working happily and happily in the future it will give different and better results. For this reason, do whatever you like and as long as you bring positive things to us. Fight for it!
If you want to become a writer, start writing and write millions of sentences that can make everyone stunned by what you write.
If you want to be a painter, start picking up brushes, colour paints, and canvas. Start using your creative imagination, draw beautifully what you want to describe.
If you want to become a president, start growing your leadership skills, and start learning about political science and constitutional law.
What is clear, move right now towards everything you want, aspire to, and dream of in your life. Keep on striving towards it all. Keep moving and prepare all the things that will help you achieve whatever you want in life.
We have the right to choose and live our lives! remember that!
This is our life! not their life!
Religion and Spirituality
Spirituality always goes hand in hand with religion. Almost can't escape. Quite a few debates about religion and spirituality. To be precise, religiosity and spirituality. Some say the two things are the same, but not a few also argue the opposite. What is religiosity? In short, religiosity is a person's attitude which is based on the teachings of his religion. So, the religiosity of each religion is different.
Muslims are considered less religious and even not religious at all if they attend mass at church. But for Christians, attending mass in the church is very religious behaviour. Vice versa. Religious people believe that religion has a set of commands to be completely obeyed. Religion provides complete insights so there is no need to look elsewhere.
If you want to survive, follow religious orders. If not? There will be a retribution scheme that we will regret forever. Easy to understand, right? Because this is what the majority of people adhere to.
How is it different from spirituality? Far away. Spirituality works in more mysterious ways. It must be admitted, religion also contains a spiritual dimension. Although it must be admitted that spirituality is not a monopoly of religion. It can be obtained anywhere. Flexible.
Questions such as: "Who am I?" "What is the meaning of life?" "What is the purpose of life?" "Where are we?" "Where are we going?" etc. are often a sign of the start of a wandering spirituality. Religion does not address such questions explicitly. However, we are quite familiar with the term: "Know yourself, then you will know your Lord". There are quite a lot of spirituality triggers if we are observant in studying religion.
Spirituality cannot be understood by just reading religious teachings. Moreover, textual reading. He is wandering through various dark alleys to find his light. Seek out your answers to existential questions. Although sometimes have to break through certain boundaries.
Spirituality is dynamic. It is fire, not smoke let alone ash. Therefore, the person who claims to be spiritual must keep moving and looking. Meanwhile, institutional religion is a product to answer the times from thousands of years ago. Unable to fill the thirst of spirituality.
Almost anything that becomes an institution will crystallize. The teachings that had been flexible turned stiff. This is one of the weaknesses of the institution, especially if it is based on a text that is tied to various conditions that were attached to the time the text was written. For me, people who profess to be spiritual must be able to go beyond institutional walls. Wander through the darkest forest full of dangers to find the original answer. One with natural motion. In my opinion, there are two typical spiritual people:
First, those who find answers outside the walls of the institution then return to offer the answers to those behind the walls. It didn't take long for this person to become cultured. His teachings will soon become obsolete. It takes a lot of people like this for the spiritual fire to continue to live within the walls of the institution.
Second, those who find answers outside the institutional walls then continue wandering into much more difficult terrain. They keep moving non-stop, starting the spiritual fire from time to time.
I am one of the many individuals who thirst for truth. However, somehow I was not satisfied with the truth offered by the institution. Everything feels bland and underhanded. Cheating in the sense that every religion has a monopoly on the truth it carries. So, which one is true then?
After all, all of them claim absolute truth. If we want to be a little sceptical and think objectively, isn't such truth dubious?
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Unemployment has reached a saturation point. Tired of starting to perch on days without activities. Wake up without a plan to do activities, pamper yourself on the bed, play games all day long with a little interlude reading books, and staring at smartphones for hours. That's more or less idle activity. Although sometimes helping a little homework, the main activity is still sponsored by laziness.
What could be expected of this kind of lazy youth? Who proudly claims to be a smart idealist. Even though there isn't the slightest bit of evidence, he is still proud to exalt himself. They don't want to serve the corporation because they think that capitalists often exploit the poor. He also did not contribute the slightest to them.
The reality of slapping you harder than usual, man. Never mind being slapped, beaten up, you are used to it, my friend. I know that very well. But this time something was different. The slap was so hard, it threw you through the wall. You can no longer be seen here, other than the rubble of the broken wall hitting you. You're so strong! I know very well.
Just live on my friend! Maybe soon that idealist soul will soon be torn apart by reality. Stay excited! Let reality step on your body, force your tongue, squeeze your sweat, tie your hands and other forms of symbolic violence. Your soul must stay alive! He must be angry when he sees injustice! He must continue to speak the truth! He must continue to seek perfection!
The little conscience is still there. Despite being buried alive with his own hands. He's not dead, it's just that his voice is getting faintly covered by the ground of reality. Should he wear a mask to beg? Willing to be raped to live up to that conscience? Tearing apart the grave of the heart?
Time answered everything they said. Not! Time only puts pressure to force an answer. He didn't answer at all. Time was mute! Deaf! And also blind. He only has sturdy hands that are always threatening. Then, should the self anchor its body to those burly hands? Allowing time to beat himself to answer? Truly, time is the best investigator!
@dark_spirit666