Supreme Being

About: Supreme Being is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 192 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1615 citations.

Hulul, Ittihad, dan Wahdat al-Wujud dalam Perbincangan Ulama Zahir dan Batin

Abstract: When prophet Musa, prayed to Allah , he requested to be able to see Him directly. But when he was shown to a mountain , he saw the mountain blasted and crushed and he was thrown away and fainted. Allah is not to be seen physically (Sufi metaphysics and gnosis (al-ma’rifah, ‘irfan), because physical appearance we can see, sometimes, can make a bias to our perception and make our decision wrong.. To be close to Allah forever in such a way can not be easily reached not only because of limited abilities of our senses but also because all decision we have made are as the product of empirical, and descriptive rationality, while Allah is the most absolute existence of the Supreme Being. Thus, to be close to Allah through senses means to restrict His absolute Almighty God as the Supreme Being, to narrow His traits of God and to reduce His soul of absoluteness. However, it does not mean that to communicate with Allah (the experience of mystical union or direct communion with ultimate reality), is like to communicate in an empty tube, “.. In fact, there are many scholars of mysticism (Sufism) who can tell their spiritual experiences about the greatness and dignity of God through meditation and spiritual insight (Mujahadah, muqarabah, and muraqabah) where Islamic mysticism seeks to evaluate, contemplate and purify the human soul. Their spiritual experience in peace and harmony with God the Al-mighty is called hulul, ittihad and wahdat al-wujud. The differences of experience between both rational and intuitive reasoning causes human tragedy to the scholars of mysticism like al Hallaj, al-Suhrawardi, and Shekh Siti Jenar.. Actually, this conflict should not happen if each side could keep their emotion academically, and respect their differences each other. Why? Because this conflict, eventually, causes the development of Islamic science become stagnancy like today.

Brandie R. Siegfried and Lisa T. Sarasohn. God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish

Abstract: Brandie R Siegfried and Lisa T Sarasohn God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2014 xvi + 257 pp + 8 illus $10995 Review by KAROL KOVALOVICH WEAVER, SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish is a collection of essays that investigates the religious and scientific ideas of seventeenth-century intellectual Margaret Cavendish The authors consider Cavendish's concepts of God and Nature, her use of a variety of genres to explore issues of faith and science, and her examination of a variety of spiritual traditions including Christianity, natural magic, Judaism, and the Jewish Cabbala As with all collections of essays, some contributions stand out because of their fascinating subject matter and outstanding writing One of the main themes of the book is Cavendish's understanding of God and Nature She affirmed the power and knowledge of God as well as the authority and vitality of Nature She clearly ranked the Divine in relation to Nature, but stressed that Nature was eternal and active She also differentiated between the two by gendering each Cavendish defined God as masculine while Nature was characterized as feminine In so doing, she connected natural philosophy with real-world female practitioners and spaces Several essays directly speak to these topics For instance, Sara Mendelson's "The God of Nature and the Nature of God" investigates Cavendish's religious ideas Mendelson states, "By surveying her use of religious language as well as her comments on a wide range of theological issues, we can begin to explore the complexity of her views on questions concerning the Supreme Being and his relationship with the universe he created" (27) Similarly, Brandie Siegfried's "God and the Question of Sense Perception in the Works of Margaret Cavendish" approaches these subjects, noting "Cavendish believed Nature to be infinite and agential, made up of preexistent matter; matter, in turn, is both rational and sensitive; and finally, the world as we know it emerged from a mutual regard between God and nature" (67) A final example is John Shanahan's "Natural Magic in The Convent of Pleasure" which considers Cavendish's ideas about natural magic and the creative potential of Nature and her assertion that a feminine and creative Nature should force thinkers to recognize the innovative capacity of women and womanly spaces and discourage them from forming exclusionary scientific spaces outside the home The book's contributors mine Cavendish's works to show how she employed a variety of genres to work through her ideas about religion and science They consult her plays, her autobiography, her poetry, her fantasy works, her scientific books, and many other publications to discover Cavendish's notions about God and Nature An example is James Fitzmaurice's "Paganism, Christianity, and the Faculty of Fancy in the Writing of Margaret Cavendish" This contribution highlights that, by analyzing different sources, readers can come to understand how Cavendish defined the nature of God in multiple ways Specifically, Fitzmaurice compares her Observations upon Experimental Philosophy with her plays He concludes that Cavendish's "fancy" or imagination allowed her to "range freely, regardless of any consequences to her reputation for lack of consistency …

God as alpha male

Abstract: Reviews the book, "The power of faith: Mother Nature's gift" by Jay D. Glass (2007). In this book, Glass argues that "In the original state of nature, for both animals and humans, loyalty to a Supreme Being (aka dominant male, king, warlord, etc.) offered protection from enemies and provided the necessities to sustain life. Those that did not put their faith and trust in a god-like figure did not survive to produce the next generation." However, Glass is not suggesting that religious devotion is a peculiar anachronism that we ought to outgrow. Far from it! Instead, Glass proposes that on the one hand, "God is a fiction, a creation of our rationalizing human brain. On the other hand, the message within the answer is that if the origin of our religious faith is in our genes, we have no choice but to put our faith and trust in God, even though in the realm of logic he does not exist." The power of faith offers much to critique. Yet, it has its redeeming virtues. There is something compelling in Glass's basic hypothesis, not least the widespread human tendency toward abasement before a Supreme Being, as well as the stubborn tenacity of belief itself. It is accordingly my guess that despite its flaws, The power of faith captures at least part of a genuine and provocative truth, warranting the attention of those evolutionary psychologists interested in the biological underpinnings of religious faith. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

The Multiplicity of Ahonhom (Spirits) in the Akan Spiritual Cosmology

Abstract: African tradition and thought consider spirits to be elements of power, force, authority, and vital energy underlying all existence. There is therefore this huge fear of what goes on in the unseen world since spirits are known to operate in this realm. Invisible though this power may be, Africans perceive it directly. This has led to the adoption of all manner of strategies in order to get closer to Onyankopɔn , ‘the Supreme Being’ so that the necessary support and protection may be received. Without the spirits, the Akan feels that there is no way to reach God. In this paper I will discuss the role of Onyankopɔn , ‘the Supreme Being’ and some other spirit beings in the Akan spiritual cosmology and the various roles they play in the affairs of human. Key words: Onyankopɔn , ahonhom , Akan, ancestors, deities, spirits, abosom