{"id":2902,"date":"2019-09-18T19:20:44","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/?p=2902"},"modified":"2019-09-18T19:20:44","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:20:44","slug":"that-i-may-tread-safely-into-the-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/18\/that-i-may-tread-safely-into-the-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"That I may tread safely into the unknown…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>

\u201cHow often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?\u201d Sherlock Holmes, \u201cThe Sign of Four\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

We\u2019ve discussed Science; we\u2019ve talked about Empiricism, and Rationalism. We\u2019ve even appealed to Tradition (listen to our latest podcast<\/a>). <\/p>

Now, we venture forth into what\u2013in today\u2019s postmodern world\u2013might be considered by many to be (for all intents and purposes<\/em>)\u2013the unknown\u2026<\/p>

In this blog, we are going to start taking a look at the world\u2019s religions and their \u201csacred\u201d texts from the vantage point of epistemology. Is it possible\u2013as Sherlock Holmes might say\u2013that one of these religious texts might prove to be a source of ultimate truth?<\/p>

According to one website<\/a>, the oldest religion in the world is Hinduism. And it\u2019s associated group of texts is called the Vedas.<\/em> It seems that the Vedas were written sometime after the Aryans invaded the Indian subcontinent (c. 1500 BC). They were based upon oral traditions which seem to be much older. The Vedas tell us that the Hindu religion involves the worship of many gods, which does not seem that unusual, but they also include rules for something called the caste system,<\/em> through which the earlier (pre-Aryan) peoples\u2013called Dravidians\u2013<\/em>began to be considered to be \u201cuntouchables.\u201d<\/p>

One interesting feature of Hinduism is the idea that God (Brahman) and the universe are one. He (it) is \u201ceternal, conscious, irreducible,\u00a0infinite, omnipresen<\/a>t.\u201d The purpose of life for the Hindu is Moksha<\/em>\u2014 \u201cconsidered the most important meaning of life and (offering) such rewards as liberation from reincarnation, self-realization, enlightenment, or unity with God.<\/a>\u201c<\/p>

Think of Odo and the \u201cGreat Link\u201d from Stark Trek: Deep<\/em> Space<\/em> Nine<\/em>.<\/p>

\"\"
https:\/\/memory-alpha.fandom.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

For Odo, his physical form is something he takes on for the sake of his interaction with humanoid<\/em> (\u201csolids\u201d), but his \u201creal\u201d existence is something other-worldly<\/em>, a condition which is often associated\u2013especially among westerners\u2013with eastern religions, in general, and with Hinduism, in particular.<\/p>

Terms that have come into the West from Hinduism include: Maya<\/em> \u2013 the idea that the physical world and all that is in it is an illusion<\/em>, and that \u201cthe real nature or essence of this world is divinity alone<\/a>.\u201d Adherents (and proselytes) are encouraged to \u201csee\u201d real reality through \u201cspiritual wisdom\u201d obtained through yoga.<\/em> They are also encouraged to achieve ethical standards through dharma<\/em>, a kind of general moral law (but which also includes specific laws to be followed \u201caccording to one\u2019s class, status, and station in life<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>

It is thought that the Aryans were a originally a nomadic nation of Central Asian cattle-herders that actually conquered and subjugated the previous (<\/a>pre-vedic<\/a><\/em>) culture of the surprisingly -sophisticated Indus Valley Civilization<\/a>.<\/p><\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?\u201d Sherlock Holmes, \u201cThe Sign of Four\u201d We\u2019ve discussed Science; we\u2019ve talked about Empiricism, and Rationalism. We\u2019ve even appealed to Tradition (listen to our latest podcast). Now, we venture forth into what\u2013in today\u2019s postmodern … Continue reading “That I may tread safely into the unknown…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,31],"tags":[33,32],"class_list":["post-2902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-worldview","tag-education","tag-worldview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2902"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3519,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions\/3519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}