Imagination and the Soul of the Individual and Society.
"Just as a mental form, such as a dogma or a doctrine, can be an adequate, albeit limited, reflection of a Divine Truth, so a sensible form can retrace a truth or a reality which transcends both the plane of sensible forms and the plane of thought."
–Titus Burckhardt
"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited whereas imagination embraces the entire world, simulating progress'
-Albert Einstein.
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It is in the very nature of Man to replicate and mirror his/her external world. As the cosmos is so finely tunes, man aims to achieve point of resonance between his internal and the exterior world, and thus, a Man, society or civilization at peace with itself, resonate and manifest that which is divinely turned. This is a phenomenon found across civilizations and religion. The rituals of Islamic practices are all connected to a divine presence either by the positions of the stars, circumambulation during pilgrimage like the movement of celestial bodies. Just like the mystic Sufi dervish whirl finds resonance by rotating similar to the planets, so does a musician compose a good rhythm by finding the right nodes that resonates with nature.
The gift of imagination is akin to a super-powered, for whatever man can envision in his mind, he's capable of bringing to fruition, imagination is a touch of the divine embedded in man.
In hellenistic philosophy, the most active school “Stoicism”, held that “the cosmos is governed by an over-arching fatalistic law, and we best achieve happiness when we resign ourselves to its fate”. In Hinduism, we find the same notion of cosmic order and man’s desire to transcend beyond the material world. In fact, our daily activities are programmed by the alterations of day and night, decided by the Solar system.
Man being a microcosm of his society and the universe at large tends to replicate varying societal or universal phenomena on a smaller scale. I like using the analogy of the markets being hearts, roads being veins, law enforcement agents being akin to Red or White blood cells, Government being the brains and criminals being viruses, bacteria or fungi depending on the nature of the crime. Same can be extended to the earth with mountains being akin to skeletons, rivers as arteries and veins, the earth core as heart and the atmosphere functioning akin to the human skin. Pardon my digression.
•“We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Quran) is the truth” [Fussilat 41:53]
Man in his original condition is a blank slate, but with the aid of his senses, he begins to perceive the world and form a picture of it. His sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell serve as his initial windows to the world before subsequent additions of intellect and or inspiration.
Imagination is the bridge between faith and reality, in-that reason, is very exact and proof based while faith is at the other end of the spectrum without them being mutually exclusive, imagination eliminates the cognitive dissonance and embodies both. Or at least, opens a vortex for both to exist in same spectrum.
Every civilization reached its zenith with active encouragement for imagination and creativity because that’s the unique window of seeing the World from a higher and unique point of view.
The Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Abbassids, the European renaissance down to the 19th century America, gave safe haven to 'unorthodox' ideas which greatly enriched their cultural and societal niche, as evidenced in their music, paintings, architecture, stories, philosophies and science.
The dangers of absolute literalism and dogma were eschewed and thus reaped the abundant harvest.
•"For God is beautiful and he loves beauty"
-Prophet Muhammad SAW
Dearth of limitations to imaginations in an individual, society or culture leads to the atrophisation of the Soul and this easily withers as it lacks the dynamism to evolve to meet current challenges and realities. This I fear is our current reality and anyone daring enough to change the status quo is at best met with cynicism or at worst, condemnation and Ex Communication.
In hellenistic philosophy, the most active school “Stoicism”, held that “the cosmos is governed by an over-arching fatalistic law, and we best achieve happiness when we resign ourselves to its fate”. In Hinduism, we find the same notion of cosmic order and man’s desire to transcend beyond the material world. In fact, our daily activities are programmed by the alterations of day and night, decided by the Solar system.
Man being a microcosm of his society and the universe at large tends to replicate varying societal or universal phenomena on a smaller scale. I like using the analogy of the markets being hearts, roads being veins, law enforcement agents being akin to Red or White blood cells, Government being the brains and criminals being viruses, bacteria or fungi depending on the nature of the crime. Same can be extended to the earth with mountains being akin to skeletons, rivers as arteries and veins, the earth core as heart and the atmosphere functioning akin to the human skin. Pardon my digression.
•“We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Quran) is the truth” [Fussilat 41:53]
Man in his original condition is a blank slate, but with the aid of his senses, he begins to perceive the world and form a picture of it. His sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell serve as his initial windows to the world before subsequent additions of intellect and or inspiration.
Imagination is the bridge between faith and reality, in-that reason, is very exact and proof based while faith is at the other end of the spectrum without them being mutually exclusive, imagination eliminates the cognitive dissonance and embodies both. Or at least, opens a vortex for both to exist in same spectrum.
Every civilization reached its zenith with active encouragement for imagination and creativity because that’s the unique window of seeing the World from a higher and unique point of view.
The Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Abbassids, the European renaissance down to the 19th century America, gave safe haven to 'unorthodox' ideas which greatly enriched their cultural and societal niche, as evidenced in their music, paintings, architecture, stories, philosophies and science.
The dangers of absolute literalism and dogma were eschewed and thus reaped the abundant harvest.
•"For God is beautiful and he loves beauty"
-Prophet Muhammad SAW
Dearth of limitations to imaginations in an individual, society or culture leads to the atrophisation of the Soul and this easily withers as it lacks the dynamism to evolve to meet current challenges and realities. This I fear is our current reality and anyone daring enough to change the status quo is at best met with cynicism or at worst, condemnation and Ex Communication.
The writer can be reached via;
Email: walinajeeb2@gmail.com
Phone: +2347030758038
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