jamesesz12. Interactions
Dear Mr Hasib,
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How are you, Mr Hasib?! Is everything well with you (and family)? The economy seems to be adversely affecting everyone. My luck have been a little bad (at least relatively speaking) as I have just recovered from dengue (which hit me during my final exam)!
Recently, I have been working on a little pet project of mine which was inspired by moral philosophy and of course my experience with you and with Islamic Banking. However, due to my limited ability in language and many other things, my work seems at least in my view, full of flaws and unanswered questions.
It would really be helpful to me if you could have a look at it (even a glimpse would help) and give me your opinions on the subject. I know that this is a BIG favor I am asking for and please do not feel obliged in any way to help me.
My essay can be found at this address:
http://jamesesz.wordpress.com/the-meditations/
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Thank you!
It is so nice to hear from you..Please do not, even as a Muslim feel obliged to help me in any way..I like you am but a servant of a supreme creator..However, you will forever be my teacher and thus above me..Islam has always been and interest to me (I have the English and Malay version of the Holy Quran at home)..But as of today and I fear forever, I will never be able to completely understand it.
I have heard arguments (forgive my improper use of arguments here) that Islamic Banking may be a solution to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. From your teachings I indeed agree that certain principles stress by Islamic Banking is really relevant in solving the current situation..Keynesian economics is only a temporary solution and is not sustainable in my humble opinion..
Please let me ask for forgiveness in advance should I in my ignorance have been impolite in any way. Please also let me thank you for the past knowledge and experience you have given me and also for the future interactions yet to come!
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The First Interlude – Man Against Woman and The Downfall of Man
Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer (1507)
~ This is a true conversation between a girl (who is and still is, a dear and close friend of mine) and I. Since this is the byproduct of the two of us, I cannot claim sole ownership of this dialog. However, the critique I have written below is of my own opinion, and any responsibility for a biased, one-sided, or prejudicial article is mine and mine alone.
Man: I love you! You are the only person who would ever understand anything I say besides my parents.
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Woman: I think that’s a compliment..
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Man: It is and it was.
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Woman: Really?
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Man: It is like the ‘Iron cross’ or the ‘Purple heart’! It is the highest form of honor and respect that I can give.
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Woman : Thank you. I am so honored!
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Man : You could say I love you too and I would have taken it literally.
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Woman : That was so unexpected, but pleasant all the same.
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Man : I am full of randomness though I believe in fate. Don’t you think that tedium is the greatest sin of them all?!
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Woman : Is that why you said all that? Just to put a spark into the mood?
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Man : Of course not! The last statement was a product of the former and thus the former statement is the cause and the later statement an effect.
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Woman : Cause and effect. The principle of causality…….
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Man : But in a sense it is duality because unconsciously I might have said something to ’spark’ the mood. That however does not make my statement less sincere.
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Woman : I suppose I should agree with you, since what you said made me happy. So I suppose it’s alright, sincere or not.
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Man : So in a teleological view whereby the ends justify the means, I have done the right thing!
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Woman : The ends justifies the means?
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Man : Yes! But this principle is not absolute. For killing your would-be murderer is not really right either.
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Woman : But your life would be spared!
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Man : At the expense of another person’s life! And what if your would-be murderer tries to kill you for the sake of stealing bread for his family. A family that consists of his grandma, grandpa, 5 children, 2 wives, and a dog!
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Woman: If a man has two wives, that is reason enough to justify his death!
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Man : Only to you! For ‘my’ man married two wives because the second woman would be condemned to death if she stayed a widow!!
(Widows were condemned to death (by burning) in India until the British made it illegal by law)
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Woman : What about ‘my’ man?!!! He has a family too!!!!
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Man : How many members are there in his family?
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Woman : More than his to-be murderer!!!!
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Man : ‘Your man’ might be the next Hitler and kill more people than he saves!!!!! ‘My man’ on the other hand, might be the next Gandhi and thus saving ‘my’ man would save more people than saving ‘your’ man.
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Woman : Who do you think you are?!!!!! God?!!!!! The effects of killing Hitler’s family and saving Gandhi’s family would be unknown until the end of time!!!!!!!! I hate you and I will never talk to you again!!!!!
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Man : But I love you!!!!!!
Man Offering a Glass of Wine to a Woman by Pieter de Hooch
A Critique of The First Interlude
This dialog may be more relevant to you but also to me in more ways than we may think possible. Although it is written with the first party being a man, and the second party being a woman, it is safe to apply the logic behind this argument as written here towards any two individuals regardless of gender.
The dialog starts of with sentences coated in honey and although man and woman have their differences, their views and opinions are relatively able to coexist. Then in disbelief, woman questions the sincerity and the truthfulness of man.
Man, like any individual reacted by throwing up a wall of defense by appealing to woman’s logic, emotions, and ethics. However, by doing so, man betrays his own position as it is common that no two individuals share the exact same logic, emotions, and ethics.
Woman thus in calm fortitude understands that a good and solid offense is the a good and solid defense and questions the stand of man concerning the various aspects of his belief and philosophy. At this point, man claims that the ends justify the means and therefore the greatest good for the greatest number is the absolute philosophy, way of life, and truth.
Yet woman, like any other individual took man’s defense as an offense and as a personal attack upon her position and her ‘raison de tre’ (reason for being/existence). She then proceeds to raise her voice and question whether saving the majority with an act that in nature is fundamentally wrong would be justified. Sadly, this interaction has ceased to contain calm rationality (order) and the duo is now fighting for the sake of fighting (chaos).
To make matters worse, man whose nature is made more agressive and egoistic, treats woman’s insubordination as an insult to his pride and his own ‘raison de tre’. He then proceeds in an aggressive manner to undermine the logic behind woman’s arguments in all ways that he finds possible.
However, woman who chooses to end this conversation which was in the beginning sweet and colourful but now bland and meaningless reminds man of his mortality and lack of authority in forming an absolute judgement. Man now realizes that he is defeated but returns in a loop by trying to claim love for the sake of love yet again.
Sadly, this scenario that could happen in many forms that are distinctively different but fundamentally the same has caused both divorce (not literally), and death. Is it not better for both individuals to have formed a common ground that in humility and tolerance would enable them to coexist happily?
Ironies of ironies and vanities of vanities that humanity is confined to mortality and thus be forever unhappy!
Naked Man and Woman by Jacob Van Loo
What is the Baha’i faith? A Little Insight….
The School of Athens by Raphael
Let me clarify things before I begin. This is a conversation I have had with my friend who is a Baha’i. First and foremost, I was and I am still a Christian and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, I find it a responsibility both as a Christian and a thinker to understand the other religions and beliefs. I invite any Baha’i to comment on this dialog and hope that some will correct the any flaws my friend has in his explanation.
The first individual is called the teacher as he represents someone who knows while the second individual is a philosopher who under this circumstances, knows that he do not know.
~ ESZ, James
Teacher: Greetings!
Philosopher: Greetings! I am interested in the Baha’i faith.
Teacher: What is it you wish to know about the Baha’i faith?
Philosopher: To what I understand, Baha’i is a relatively ‘new’ faith (though age does not matter) how do you view this? ]
Teacher: I agree Baha’i is new. Baha’u’llah declared His mission on 1863
Philosopher: Do the Baha’i faith believes in one supreme creator?
Teacher: Yes
Philosopher: Who are the prophets that you recognize?
Teacher: Prophets like Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Mohammad, Zoroaster, Moses and etc
Philosopher: How bout Jainism, Sikhism, Shinto, Taoism?
Teacher: In my opinion, it is less likely because if you look at the creation and development of these religions, they might share lesser common traits than the rest. But that itself is not a strong proof as we also must examine the creation of the religion
Philosopher: Do a Baha’i believe in the afterlife and salvation?
Teacher: Of course. It is more like a distance between us and God
Philosopher: What kind of afterlife do you believe in? Which of the following: Reincarnation, heaven and hell, resurrection?
Teacher: We believe in heaven and hell, but not in the terms understood as in heaven and hell is not a place it is the nearness of God when one is near to His creator, He is in heaven.
Philosopher: What must man do in order to gain salvation?
Teacher: Well in the first verses of the Holy book, it writes the first and foremost duty prescribed upon man is…. (paraphrasing here) the recognition of Him who is the Daystar of Divine Guidance. After having recognized that, he must obey and abide by the laws for the Day so the first is the recognition of the Manifestation of God for the Day that is what confirms the “validity of every past prophets and Manifestations.” When they say they are the ones that will lead men to God in the time of Christ, Christ was the Way and the Bread the laws that God hath wrought for this day is written in the Book of laws is not just abide by the laws only, it is also upholding the principles such as equality between man and women, freedom of prejudice etc. for the Law, it would be such as the prohibition of alcohol, obligation to pray etc.
Philosopher: You mentioned the Holy book. I am curious to which Holy book you are referring to
Teacher: Well Baha’u’llah is referred to as the revealer of Books so He has in His lifetime revealed many scriptures, prayers and writings but the book I am referring to is the Aqdas – the most Holy Book, which contains the laws and obligations and then there is the hidden words which contains some teachings of virtues and then there is the “Iqan” which is called the book of certitude
Philosopher: If man fails to achieve a nearness to God, will he suffer? Furthermore, if one do ‘bad’ (this is relative) things, will he be punished?
Teacher: I think hell is not a punishment it is that you are self-depriving yourself from the Bounties of God and hence you are far away from Him the suffering is because you are far away from Him. If you do not eat, you die eventually and so we eat. We eat because it satisfies our physical existence. But why do we obey and carry out our spiritual duties? This is because we want to satisfy our spiritual existence. So when God says do something beyond the obvious benefits that we may find in this world we obey it because it explains the spiritual makeup of our soul and so we satisfy it. God doesn’t need our prayers but we say them. I believe we all need to also find out the meaning of spirituality. Is spirituality a set rules to be obeyed? If this is the case then no wonder people are less and less interested in spiritual because they are “hungry.”
The meaning of spirituality is likened to the mirror and the sun. The mirror can reflect the sun provided it is clean and wiped so God is the sun and we are the mirrors. All acts of obeying His laws are but polishing the mirror so that we can reflect more of His attributes that is why it is said in the genesis “We make men in the Likeness of Us” spirituality is in the end of the Day.
Philosopher: If you were asked to sum up your faith in a simple sentence, what would that sentence be?
Teacher: Baha’i Faith is a world religion whose purpose is to unite the people and races of the world in one common Faith, one universal Cause.
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The Second Interlude – Woman Against Man and the Ascent of Man
Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques Louis David (1814)
This is yet another true dialog between me and a girl that of course was published with our joint consent. And so it came to pass that the first interlude was published and read by many people with different thoughts and ideas. While many disagree with man, there were also many that disagree with woman. But all of us agree on one thing and that is we all may still agree that we disagree. And thus, life goes on.
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Woman: I prefer to have some intellectual conversation between men and women.
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Man: Men and women? Plural? Why an ‘intellectual’ conversation not between you and me?
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Woman: Singular works just fine.
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Man: However, even if we had an intellectual conversation, you know I would lose……in order to win.
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Woman: Damn you!
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Man: Oh, please do not get angry. I do not want to win and therefore I win by losing.
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Woman: What is the consequences of winning the fight/conversation?
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Man: I would feel bad for not being a gentleman. And frankly, whatever hurts you, hurts me.
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Woman: Do you still think that you are a gentleman if you let a lady think she has won even though she has lost?
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Man: Of course not! I am a gentleman by letting everyone else think you have won..
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Woman: Utter nonsense! At the end of the day, you know that you have won! However, looking from this another perspective, is this not a world that the majority wins? So if the majority thinks the lady has won, who is the gentleman to think he has won?
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Man: Here is where you are ultimately wrong. For this is a world where the majority votes and the minority rules. Any form of government and political system in the world has a structure that the minority rules the majority.
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Woman: But this minority is voted by the majority!
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Man: But the majority can never rule
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Woman: You cannot have the majority to rule the minority! You cannot have a government that outnumbers the people! If that were to happen, there would be no nation at all!
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Man: Exactly! Thank you for supporting my stand!
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This concludes the second interlude. The reader can now see the paradox that plagues humanity. For even if the power of the minority comes from the majority, in reality, the majority can never rule. Furthermore, the purpose of this interlude is not some petty squabble over politics but to show the two different forms of thought and opinions by two different individuals.
Let a hundred flowers bloom and let a hundred school of thoughts contend. ~Chairman Mao
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How Can We Prove that We exist?
This is a reply I received from a friend and fellow philosopher!
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The Third Interlude – Man and Woman
The False Mirror by Rene Magritte
This is yet another true dialog between me and a girl that of course was published with our joint consent. The world as we know is not perfect and will never be perfect. Yet, should we live our lives in optimism or in pessimism? Is it really better to be in the house of mourning than the house of mirth? Yet one thing is for certain and that we are not perfect and the world we live in is also not perfect.
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Woman: Men have motives when they flatter a girl. They claim to be sincere but their flattery is but a part of their grand scheme which is to derive pleasure in holding power over a girls heart.
Man: But surely at least one man in three is worthy of the word sincere?
Woman: Maybe, but how do I know which one is sincere and which is not? For men are imperfect and thus liable to the faults of mortality.
If a man treats a woman with all gentleness, a woman is sure to doubt his sincerity. It would not matter if a man treats a woman with no gentleness as long as the man does not have a hidden agenda. Would it not be better for man to treat a woman indifferently but retains all sincerity?
Man: But a woman is unhappy when a man is either too gentle or lacks gentleness. And is not a gentleman held as the perfect virtue in society? So I bid that woman makes her choice. For in my opinion, sometimes a man gains happiness by making a woman happy.
Woman: How is that possible? Do you not see that men are taking advantage of women to satisfy their own desires?
Man: Surely not all men are like the beast of the field as surely as not all birds can fly.
Woman: Oh, but I agree, but disagree for there are more men who are of the beasts than of the bird and this fact alone is enough to question the sincerity of all men.
Man: But even you must agree that man clear of motives exists. And if this is so, a man pure at heart is not like the beast of the field but akin to a rose among the thorns and a candle in the darkness of the night
Woman: I do admit that men pure of motives may exist. But reality is cruel and men like clear water are so hard to find because men in their nature are egoistic creatures. However, most of the time a woman is flattered that a man speaks courteously to her although she knows that it is probably insincere.
Man: It is sad that two perfectly innocent beings are doomed to suffer from imperfection. But at least give your heart some space for hope!
Woman: Indifference is less cruel than a facade of lies, for in showing your true color, one does not rouse false hope. Though world cannot and will not change, maybe the individual can.
Man: Yet against all odds one may still find a piece in a jigsaw puzzle that fits your own shape and by doing so augment you and your weakness with his strength while gaining strength from you to overcome his weakness.
Woman: However, like a box of jigsaw puzzle, there is only one piece in many that can perfectly fit and thus the difficulty in forming a perfect bond between man and w0man.
Man: But life is a war against the greater odds and can sometimes be portrayed as a knight charging into an army of phalanx.
Woman: I suppose the only thing we can do is live as we have no say in when, where, and why we were born.
Man: Live and Hope!
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SONNET 138
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When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties.
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Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue;
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
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But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O love’s best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
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Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
~ William Shakespeare
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me said
You must spend a lot of time pursuing your passions – reading and thinking. I share the same passions. Thinking sometimes gets in the way for me as modern life in Singapore doesn’t seem to accommodate cogitators but rather doers – those that get the job done and lead and motivate, else start and run a business. I do feel happy that someone knows his strengths at a young age and I hope your career can be a literary else philosophical one. Should you see opportunities for further personal development in other fields, there may be the obvious difficulty of having the luxury to think less.
Best wishes
San San
jamesesz said
Dear San San,
I am studying Banking and Finance now….LOL….Wish I could have taken Philosophy or History..
Your’s Sincerely,
James Ee