atheist

Spirituality and science have common aims

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

music violin

It just so happens that in the so-called ‘West’ there has been a rapid development of science in the last few centuries. If we want to understand how things work, if we want to develop technologies and medicine, we turn to ‘Western’ science.

Also, it just so happens that when it comes to introspection and exploration of subjective inner states of consciousness, the so-called ‘East’ has had the historical monopoly. There have been a few thousand years of rigorous exploration of consciousness through meditative, contemplative, tantric and various other practices. This has allowed humans to discover and access mental states in which truths about our minds and subjective experience can be discovered and experienced first-hand without the need for belief. Continue reading →

Sufism: Infinite ways to an infinite god (even if you don’t believe in God)

~ Tom Das ~ 13 Comments

soul and loaf bread

There are infinite ways to an infinite God; there are as many ways to God as there are people or beings: I have often thought this to myself, so whilst leafing through a newly purchased book (pictured above), I was pleasantly surprised to read a quote by Sheikh Abol-Hasan, a Sunni Muslim and Sufi from 10th century Persia, saying just this:

There are as many paths to the Lord as there are grains of sand and drops of rain…whomever seeks, eventually finds his way There
Sheikh Abol-Hasan, saying 141 from ‘The Soul and A Loaf of Bread’

These infinite ways are just variations of the One Way. And this One Way, for the purposes of exposition, can broadly be subdivided into two: one path for those who believe in God and one path for those who do not. Continue reading →