Gardens of Wisdom

Ali Ridha reportedly said:[/b] “The greatest of miracles of Allah is the human mind. It allows ideas to be thought through and reasoned out. Islam appeals to human reason. Man must accept Allah through reason and not through miracles.”

We are talking of the mind today because we could not start from elsewhere. Our mind is us. It is the light that makes our existence (as conscious creatures) a reality. Mind simply means consciousness.

There are two phases to human existence on earth: the phase of childhood and the phase of adulthood.

As children, all human beings are at the mercy of nature. Learning is so free that despite evil exploitation of the situation by some adults, all human beings grow up into adulthood with the basic information upon which life at adulthood is based.

All of us here today have experienced life enough to accept or deny some basic assertions in life. At least, we all understand that there is TRUTH as well as FALSEHOOD. Our intention in this discussion is to base all the explanations on those basic facts that are acceptable to all of us.


THE WORLD (TO THE MIND) IS INFORMATION
Every human being enters and starts life with a blank mind – a mind without memory. Whatever a human being knows today is taken from the universe. The mind can only pick from the universe. The universe is our world.

The only conscious access a human being has to the world is by the senses and the brain. All his feelings (subjective as well as objective) are channelled through the nervous system.

All human problems and all the solutions are sought, recognized and executed through the brain. All human motivations are channelled through the brain.

The central nervous system deals only with information – information is taken to and from the brain. The mind is connected only to the brain.

Consciousness is thus Information. All that a human being is aware of is information and it is his world. Allah’s communication with humankind (in whatever form) is nothing but information which is channelled through the brain.


MEMORY AND STORAGE
The store house of the mind is divided into three apartments: the Working memory; the Surface memory; and the Buried memory.

The working memory is the attention.

Our surface memory is the memory of our present selves, our relevant history and the beliefs that we depend on for most of the time.

The buried memories are those memories that are old and have become displaced by new learning and habits. They are retrievable to the working memory through the surface memory.

Knowledge or awareness is the reality of a person and it is made up of beliefs – the beliefs are arranged into a hierarchy. The mind is programmed naturally to move towards the central meaning of life.

Information is first taken to the working memory then to the surface memory.

The duration of a bit of information at the working memory is directly proportional to the strength of storage of that particular bit of information at the surface memory.

The frequency by which particular information is returned to the mind determines the closeness of that information to the working memory.

While it is easier to retrieve closer information, it is harder to forget information that is strongly registered (i.e., highly integrated).

Both the working and surface memory are limited hence, irrelevant information is pushed onto the buried memory. Buried memory has unlimited space.

The mind organizes bits of information into beliefs. The beliefs, like keys, are kept at the surface memory while the details are pushed into the buried memory. Any bit of information in buried memory that is not related to a key at the surface memory cannot be retrieved – it is therefore considered lost.

When the beliefs become too numerous, they are again grouped into a more general belief at the surface memory and then pushed into the buried memory. This is how we grow in awareness and make the best use of our limited surface memory.

The mind has a default setting (an original setting) which is very helpful to prevent total collapse of the system; nonetheless, it is not adequate to guide a human being. It is like the machines – while the default setting would work in most of the conditions, it is always not the best setting and in some situations, not even a good setting.

SELF is a force by which a human being is enabled to reset (train) and monitor the mind.

The mind is a fertile land for farming. If the owner does not cultivate and look after it, others exploit it or it is dominated by weeds. The mind can never be barren.

While every human being learns inattentively, the wise ones attentively organize the learning. While every human being thinks inattentively, the wise ones think attentively.

When learning or thinking is done under the watchful eye of the self, it is said to be attentive. A person who attentively organizes his information is said to be educated.

Information (whether attentively organized or not) is meaningful when it is beneficial if not it is meaningless and is soon lost.

Benefit of information is measured by the scale of pleasure and pain. A human being loves what pleases him and hates what pains or deprives him of pleasure.

The level of benefit attached to any sort of information is dependent on how much pleasure and pain are involved – this is regulated by thoughts. Pleasure and Pain sum up together constructively or destructively depending on the situation.

A benefit is either direct or indirect.

A person who eats because he needs nutrient in the body is eating for direct benefit of the self. A person who eats not because he needs the food but because someone has promised to reward him handsomely is eating for an indirect benefit to the self.


ESSENCE AND BEHAVIOUR
Among the reality we have accustomed ourselves to in our experience of life is that we are limited in understanding. We can vividly see our limitations in the body and what we can sense. Comparing our superior life to that of Plants and Stones, we have come to believe in the possibility that something else might just be superior to us. Nonetheless, our mind remains the judge.

Since our mind is the only access we have to the world and since the mind is so exclusive in experience, it is not going to be possible for any human being to understand the essence of mind; nevertheless, this does not mean that we can not understand what we can perceive by the mind.

Some people had attempted the study of mind by retrospection but failed. Modern psychology is based on the behaviour of the mind rather than the essence.
The mind perceives the world as OBJECTS in the dimensions of SPACE; time is the fourth dimension of space. Space is an entity while time is not.

An object is anything that can be measured in the dimension of space. Space is not a material object but yet an entity made from No-Thing. No human being understands the extent of space or time.

The mind can only perceive concrete objects. Abstract objects are ideas extracted from the interaction of concrete objects.

Already we have understood that without mind there is no memory and without memory there is no mind. What would be the use of consciousness that we can not remembered?

Therefore, the essence of the mind is what we vaguely understand as space. Objects are not contained in space; instead, they are measured in space. Space is the opposite of ‘Thing’ and it is displaced by it.

Time is not a physical reality – it is a meaning giving existence by memory.

Without objects, there is no time and there is no space. Without memory, there is no time and without mind, there are no objects. An object is anything that exists as a physical entity in life.
We need mind to acknowledge the existence of an object.

The essence of the mind, as far as we can understand, is space.

The statement like ‘empty space’ is absurd because the mind cannot comprehend absolute nothingness – we talk of nothingness in a relative term.

The mind, as we have understood, extracts information from the concrete objects. The concrete objects are the only physical reality perceptible to the mind. The extraction of information is also known as abstraction. The mind only deals with information.

If we consider the word ‘Idea’ to be the generic name for all forms of abstraction, we can begin to categorise ideas into various dimensions of abstraction.

Every abstraction is treated as an entity in the mind. We must always remember that consciousness is a bit experience. The bits are integrated by the aid of memory.

Every concrete object is represented symbolically in the mind as it appears to be.

When concrete objects are compared and contrasted against each other, similarities are discovered or there is new information. Similarity leads to grouping – this is a natural process and it is continuously done by the mind. When the information or a group like this is given a name, we generally refer to it as abstract noun. An entity like this is an abstract object. Our language is dominated by abstract nouns.

Another form of abstraction is what we refer to as EVENT.

An event is the study and grouping of the interaction between the concrete objects.

An event takes place in time and space but the abstraction itself (as a meaning) is devoid of time and space because it is not a concrete object. We need not be confused by the name.

All concrete objects are created from two basic components under a single law - the explanation comes later Allah willing.

All interactions of objects in life (events) are organised into cycles and rationally built up into a hierarchy. Science, as we have it today, is yet to do justice to this aspect of learning. How much easier learning could have been if we had followed up the cycles? We shall make attempts Allah willing.

Isaac Newton observed that an object continues in a state of rest or motion unless acted upon by a force. Workers in the field of physical sciences have so far identified four forces while they continue to search for a universal theory.

Let it be known today that the only force that acts on objects is ‘life’.

The other category of extraction is what we refer to as VALUE.
Value is the measure of importance attached to a concrete or abstract object. Importance is the measure of pain and/or pleasure. The explanation comes later insha Allah.

IDEAL, as another category of extraction, is an imagination. An idea is an imagination so long it is not an exiting reality. We shall throw more light on this in the later part of the disussion insha Allah.

Among the behaviour of the mind is to perceive the whole before the details then the whole again. This is so fundamental to the world of meaning that without it there would be no organised life that human beings are known with. The mind is geared towards a single meaning to life.

The mind sees the world through the senses. The senses are coordinated and analysed by the brain.

Meanings and values are attached to the information provided to the mind by a force known as the HEART.

Apart from ‘life’, the heart, ash-shahwah and al-Aql which are known collectively as the SOUL there is no any other form of reality that can be referred to as the spirit. It is yet to be explained what is meant when a thing is regarded to be spiritual.

The mind naturally seeks conformity and chooses to standout only when there is no option.

The mind ultimate goal is to fulfil the desire of the heart.

The mind naturally learns and modifies itself. The mind is hasty and hardly waits for options to reach a conclusion.

A mind without ‘SELF’ is a disaster but unfortunately, for the majority of the inhabitants of earth, minds are the kings.



BRAIN
Contrary to the popular belief, there are just two things in existence: the concrete objects and the forces acting on them. The forces (collectively) are known as the Soul just like the objects (collectively) are known as the Body.

The only force that acts directly on the concrete objects is known as LIFE.

Mind, as a force, acts on a living brain. The mind is only aware of what goes on in the brain.
It is the brain that is in direct touch with the concrete objects. The brain is in touch with the concrete objects via the senses.

There are three senses in every human being: the sense of feeling (which includes the sense of taste and smell), the sense of hearing and the sense of sight.

Apart from the sense of feeling that has direct contact with the concrete objects, the senses of sight as well as hearing only scan the objects. As we shall see later, the Heart is only aware of the sense of feeling.

The brain, as the centre of the central nervous system, coordinates all the bodily activities and at the same time responds to the mind.

While we may never understand how the mind interacts with the brain, we do understand something about the interaction.

Allah, in the holy Qur’an, talks about the existence of Angels and Jinns and He made it very clear that they are material objects like us. It is not all concrete objects that are visible to us. We scan by light and sound waves which are themselves among the concrete objects (no matter how infinitesimal).

Apart from Allah, there is no anything that is immaterial as far our mind is concerned. Allah (to the mind) is a meaning.

We do accept our limitation in understanding as regards forces.



THE BRAIN
The Brain can best be described as Human Computer because it manipulates the Sensory Inputs. The brain has incredible ability to retain and manipulate data.

As a living thing, the brain goes through stages of growth during which its ability to manipulate and retain facts is enhanced.

With no apparent new nerves added to the initial ones at birth, it is believed that about 30,000 new nerve connections are made in each second of the first two years of life.

The brain retains and retrieves information in a highly complex manner that our interactions, no matter its complexity, have become somehow instantaneous.

This spectacular neural integration however, does not keep on growing throughout our life. At young adulthood, it reaches its peak and at middle adulthood, it begins to decline. It is believed that human beings shed about 1,000 brain cells everyday which are not replaced.

Fortunately enough, this loss of brain cells and decline in neural integration does not affect our Crystallised Intelligence as it does to our Fluid Intelligence.

Fluid Intelligence is the ability to invent new neural settings in integration and manipulation of facts.

Crystallised Intelligence is the ability to apply one’s neural settings to situations.

This is how Allamah Tabatabai sees al-Qur’an in al-Islam:
The religion of Islam is superior to any other in that it guarantees happiness in man's life. For Muslims, Islam is a belief system with moral and practical laws that have their source in the Qur'an.

God, may He be exalted, says, "Indeed this Qur'an guides to the path which is clearer and straighter than any other" [XVII:9]. He also says, "We have revealed to you the book which clarifies every matter" [XVI:89].

These references exemplify the numerous Qur'anic verses (ayat) which mention the principles of religious belief, moral virtues and a general legal system governing all aspects of human behaviour.

A consideration of the following topics will enable one to understand that the Qur'an provides a comprehensive programme of activity for man's life.

Man has no other aim in life but the pursuit of happiness and pleasure, which manifests itself in much the same way as love of ease or wealth. Although some individuals seem to reject this happiness, for example, by ending their lives in suicide, or by turning away from a life of leisure, they too, in their own way, confirm this principle of happiness; for, in seeking an end to their life or of material pleasure, they are still asserting their own personal choice of what happiness means to them. Human actions, therefore, are directed largely by the prospects of happiness and prosperity offered by a certain idea, whether that idea be true or false.

Man's activity in life is guided by a specific plan or programme. This fact is self-evident, even though it is sometimes concealed by its very apparentness. Man acts according to his will and desires; he also weighs the necessity of a task before undertaking it.

In this he is promoted by an inherent scientific law, which is to say that he performs a task for "himself" in fulfilling needs which he perceives are necessary. There is, therefore, a direct link between the objective of a task and its execution.

Any action undertaken by man, whether it be eating, sleeping or walking, occupies its own specific place and demands its own particular efforts. Yet an action is implemented according to an inherent law, the general concept of which is stored in man's perception and is recalled by motions associated with that action. This notion holds true whether or not one is obliged to undertake the action or whether or not the circumstances are favourable. The Qur’an in al-Islam – Part 1 - www.almjtaba.com



METHOD OF PERCEPTION
Perception is our mental experience of the world – what we extract or understand from the world.

Perception is often used as synonym to sensation but we shall be differentiating between the two words in our discussion here.

We shall use the word ‘SENSATION’ for the physical act of sensing and the word ‘PERCEPTION’ for a processed or analysed sensation.

Generally, our perception can be categorised into three (3) categories: Sight, Hearing and Feeling.

We see by a special sense known as the eye; we hear by ear; and feel by various senses spread across the body.

The Brain is the centre where all the various sensations are processed into perceptions.

The eye (as a specialised sense) is designed to interact with light. Light is a material object among the objects of life. What we see by the eye is interpretation of this interaction.

When light collides with a bigger object, the light is either absorbed into the object or is reflected or it is partly absorbed and partly reflected.

Light (as a whole) is made of various colours. Our sense of colour is from light rather than the object being analysed.

When an object completely absorbs the light colliding on it, nothing is reflected from it to the eye so the object appears black. Conversely, when all the light rays falling on an object are reflected, the object doing the job appears white to our sight.

Depending on what is absorbed or reflected from light falling on an object, we have the sense of various colours perceptible to the sense of sight.

Our ears (ear drums) are designed to vibrate in accordance to the disturbance of air around it and thus produce the sense of what we now know as sound.

We perceive two types of feeling by our sense of feeling: objective and subjective feelings.

Objective feelings are the common feelings of pain, pressure and temperature and they are wide spread.

Subjective feelings are those special feelings that are produced within the mind e.g., joy, fear, desire etc.

The sight areas in the brain have set of predetermined sights likewise the auditory areas with regards to hearing.

Our sight or hearing is due to the configuration of those original settings in accordance to the stimulation coming from the sensory input.

Invariably, we see but our sight is based on pure analysis of light reflections and waves.
It is by this analysis that we detect the size and distance of an object; the colour and the position.

When there is no light, there is no sight.

Bats, instead of light, analyse sound to see.

Unlike us who have to depend on light from an external source, bats produce their own sound and wait for the reflection to analyse. Bats therefore can see in darkness while we cannot.

For the fact that sound unlike light, cannot travel in a vacuum, bats are blind in a vacuum.

Since our sight is pure analysis of another medium, it means that correct analysis of general data can provide us with sight that is brighter than the sight of the eyes.

The sensory sight is just one of the stimulators for the actual sight which is the heart.

The sight of the heart continuously grows and it is by it that we see Allah not by the ordinary eyes.

It is not necessary that what we perceive today be the real world - what is important is that we are able to encode 'whatever it is' and decode it and we have learnt how to respond or use it to our satisfaction.

If computer can encode sound and decode it into writing that we can interpret successfully and apply usefully, it becomes immaterial whether the writing is exactly the like of the sound or not.

If we can have a concept of ultraviolet though we don’t see it and can respond successfully, what else do we want?

What is presented to the mind is processed sensation known as perception. The reaction of the mind is again processed and re-presented to the mind.

The mind influences the processing through beliefs and habits which are stored in the memory and which are formed based on the responses of the mind.

For any sensation that is worth of perception, the mind generates a set of background information upon which the sensation would be analyzed and assessed.

The more a person has an encompassing view over what he is doing, the better he will be gaining insight into it and making discoveries.

A conscious creature uses the senses only as the gateway to meanings. What matter really are the meanings. We create meanings and feelings based on the information we receive via our sense organs.

A conscious creature lives by the meanings as if the sensations do not exist. The sensations fade into the meanings like the glass of mirror fade away into the reflected object.