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THE REAL ESSENCE OF MATTER The Formation Of Perceptions In The Brain Is Not Philosophy But Scientific Fact Materialists claim that what we have been saying here is a philosophical view. However, to hold that the "external world", as we call it, is a collection of perceptions is not a matter of philosophy but a plain scientific fact. How the image and feelings form in the brain is taught in all medical schools in detail. These facts, proven by the 20th-century science, and particularly by physics, clearly show that matter does not have an absolute reality and that everyone in a sense is watching the "monitor in his brain". Everyone who believes in science, be he an atheist, Buddhist, or anyone who holds another view has to accept this fact. A materialist might deny the existence of a Creator yet he cannot deny this scientific reality. The inability of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Georges Politzer and others in comprehending such a simple and evident fact is still startling although the level of scientific understanding and possibilities of their times were insufficient. In our time, science and technology are highly advanced and recent discoveries make it easier to comprehend this fact. Materialists, on the other hand, are flooded with the fear of both comprehending this fact, though partially, and realising how definitely it demolishes their philosophy. The Materialists’ Great Fear For a while, no substantial backlash came from the Turkish materialist circles against the subject brought up in this book, that is, the fact that matter is a mere perception. This had given us the impression that our point was not made so clear and that it needed further explanation. Yet before long, it was revealed that materialists felt quite uneasy about the popularity of this subject and moreover, felt a great fear all about this. For a while, materialists have been loudly pronouncing their fear and panic in their publications, conferences and panels. Their agitated and hopeless discourse implies that they are suffering from a severe intellectual crisis. The scientific collapse of the theory of evolution, the so-called basis of their philosophy, had already come as a great shock to them. Now, they come to realise that they start to lose the matter itself, which is a greater mainstay for them than Darwinism, and they experience an even greater shock. They declare that this issue is the "biggest threat" for them and that it totally "demolishes their cultural fabric". One of those who expressed this anxiety and panic felt by the materialist circles in the most outspoken way was Renan Pekunlu, an academician as well as a writer of Bilim ve Utopya (Science and Utopia) periodical which has assumed the task of defending materialism. Both in his articles in Bilim ve Utopya and in the panels he attended, Pekunlu presented the book Evolution Deceit as the number one "threat" to materialism. What disturbed Pekunlu even more than the chapters that invalidated Darwinism was the part you are currently reading. To his readers and (only a handful of) audience, Pekunlu delivered the message "do not let yourselves be carried away by the indoctrination of idealism and keep your faith in materialism" and showed Vladimir I. Lenin, the leader of the bloody communist revolution in Russia, as reference. Advising everyone to read Lenin's century-old book titled Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, all Pekunlu did was to repeat the counsels of Lenin stating "do not think over this issue, or you will lose track of materialism and be carried away by religion". In an article he wrote in the aforementioned periodical, he quoted the following lines from Lenin:
These words explicitly demonstrate that the fact which Lenin alarmingly realised and wanted to take out both from his mind and the minds of his "comrades" also disturbs contemporary materialists in a similar way. However, Pekunlu and other materialists suffer a yet greater distress; because they are aware that this fact is now being put forward in a far more explicit, certain and convincing way than 100 years ago. For the first time in world history, this subject is being explained in such an irresistible way,. Nevertheless, the general picture is that a great number of materialist scientists still take a very superficial stand against the fact that "matter is nothing but an illusion". The subject explained in this chapter is one of the most important and most exciting subjects that one can ever come across in one's life. It is rather unlikely that they would have faced such a crucial subject before. Still, the reactions of these scientists or the manner they employ in their speeches and articles hint how shallow and superficial their comprehension is.
For instance, in an article where he exclusively discussed this subject, Senel accepts that the external world is perceived in the brain as an image. However, he then goes on to claim that images are divided into two as those having physical correlates and those that do not, and that images pertaining to the external world have physical correlates. In order to support his assertion, he gives "the example of telephone". In summary, he wrote: "I do not know whether the images in my brain have correlates in the external world or not, but the same thing applies when I speak on the phone. When I speak on the telephone, I cannot see the person I am speaking to but I can have this conversation confirmed when I later see him face to face." 212 By saying so, this writer actually means the following: "If we doubt our perceptions, we can look at the matter itself and check its reality." However, this is an evident misconception because it is impossible for us to reach the matter itself. We can never get out of our mind and know what is "outside". Whether the voice on the phone has a correlate or not can be confirmed by the person on the phone. However, this confirmation is also imagery experienced by the mind. As a matter of fact, these people also experience the same events in their dreams. For instance, Senel may also see in his dream that he speaks on the phone and then have this conversation confirmed by the person he spoke to. Or, Pekunlu may in his dream feel as facing "a serious threat" and advise people to read century-old books of Lenin. However, no matter what they do, these materialists can never deny the fact that the events they have experienced and the people they have talked to in their dreams were nothing but perceptions. By whom, then, will one confirm whether the images in the brain have correlates or not? By the shadow beings in his brain again? Without doubt, it is impossible for materialists to find a source of information that can yield data concerning the outside of the brain and confirm it. Conceding that all perceptions are formed in the brain but assuming that one can step "out" of this and have the perceptions confirmed by the real external world reveals that the perceptive capacity of the person is limited and that he has a distorted reasoning. However, the fact told here can easily be captured by a person with a normal level of understanding and reasoning. Each unbiased person would know, in relation to all that we have said, that it is not possible for him to test the existence of the external world with his senses. Yet, it appears that blind adherence to materialism distorts the reasoning capability of people. For this reason, contemporary materialists display severe logical flaws just like their mentors who tried to "prove" the existence of matter by kicking stones or eating cakes.
The atmosphere of panic sweeping through the materialist circles in Turkey of which we have mentioned only a few examples here shows that materialists face an utter defeat such as they have never met in history. The fact that matter is simply a perception has been proven by modern science and it is put forward in a very clear, straightforward and forceful way. It only remains for the materialists to see the collapse of the entire material world they blindly believe and rely on. Throughout the history of humanity, materialist thought always existed. Being very assured of themselves and the philosophy they believe in, materialists revolted against God who has created them. The scenario they formulated maintained that matter had no beginning or end, and that none of it could possibly have a Creator. While they denied God just because of their arrogance, they took refuge in matter which they held to have a real existence. They were so confident of this philosophy that they thought it would never be possible to put forth an argument disproving it. That is why the facts told in this book regarding the real nature of matter surprised these people so much. What has been told here destroyed the very basis of their philosophy and left no ground for further discussion. Matter, upon which they based all their thoughts, lives, arrogance and denial, vanished all of a sudden. How can materialism exist when matter does not?
God entrapped materialists by making them assume that matter exists and so doing, humiliated them in an unseen way. Materialists deemed their possessions, status, rank, the society they belong, the whole world and everything else to be existing and moreover, grew arrogant against God by relying on these. They revolted against God by being boastful and added to their unbelief. While so doing, they totally relied on matter. Yet, they are so lacking in understanding that they fail to think that God compasses them round about. God announces the state to which the unbelievers are led as a result of their thick-headedness:
This is most probably the biggest defeat in history. While growing arrogant of their own accord, materialists have been tricked and suffered a serious defeat in the war they waged against God by bringing up something monstrous against Him. The verse "Thus have We placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot (and burrow) therein: but they only plot against their own souls, and they perceive it not" announces how unconscious these people who revolt against their Creator are, and how they will end up (Surat al- Anaam, 123). In another verse the same fact is related as:
While the unbelievers try to plot, they do not realise a very important fact as stressed by the words "they only deceive themselves, and realise (it) not!" in the verse. This is the fact that everything they experience is an imagery designed to be perceived by them, and all plots they devise are simply images formed in their brain just like every other act they perform. Their folly has made them forget that they are all alone with God and, hence, they are entrapped in their own devious plans. No less than those unbelievers who lived in the past, those living today too face a reality that will shatter their devious plans from its basis. With the verse "...feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan" (Surat An-Nisa, 76), God has stated that these plots were doomed to end with failure the day they were hatched, and gave the good tidings to believers with the verse "...not the least harm will their cunning do to you". (Surat Aal-E-Imran, 120) In another verse God states: "But the Unbelievers,- their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts, which the man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing" (Surat an- Noor 39). Materialism, too, becomes a "mirage" for the rebellious just like it is stated in this verse; when they have recourse to it, they find it to be nothing but an illusion. God has deceived them with such a mirage, and beguiled them into perceiving this whole collection of images as real. All those "eminent" people, professors, astronomers, biologists, physicists, and all others regardless of their rank and post are simply deceived like children, and are humiliated because they took matter as their god. Assuming a collection of images to be absolute, they based their philosophy and ideology on it, got involved in serious discussions, and adopted a so-called "intellectual" discourse. They deemed themselves to be wise enough to offer an argument about the truth of the universe and, more importantly, dispute about God with their limited intelligence. God explains their situation in the following verse:
It may be possible to escape from some plots; however, this plan of God against the unbelievers is so firm that there is no way of escape from it. No matter what they do or to whom they appeal, they can never find a helper other than God. As God informs in the Qur'an, "they shall not find for them other than God a patron or a help." (Surat an-Nisa, 173) Materialists never expected to fall into such a trap. Having all the means of the 20th centry at their disposal, they thought that they could grow obstinate in their denial and drag people to disbelief. This ever-lasting mentality of unbelievers and their end are described as follows in the Qur'an:
This, in another sense, is what the fact stated in the verses comes to mean: materialists are made to realise that everything they own is but an illusion, and therefore everything they possess has been destroyed. As they witness their possessions, factories, gold, dollars, children, spouses, friends, rank and status, and even their own bodies, all of which they deem to exist, slipping away from their hands, they are "destroyed" in the words of the 51st verse of Surat an-Naml. At this point, they are no more matter but souls. No doubt, realising this truth is the worst possible thing for the materialists. The fact that everything they possess is but an illusion, is tantamount, in their own words, to "death before dying" in this world. This fact leaves them all alone with God. With the verse, "Leave Me alone, (to deal) with the (creature) whom I created (bare and) alone!", God has called us to attention that each human being is, in truth, all alone in His presence. (Surat Al-Muddaththir, 11) This remarkable fact is repeated in many other verses:
This, in another sense, is what the fact stated in the verses comes to mean: Those who take matter as their god have come from God and returned to Him. They have submitted their wills to God whether they want it or not. Now they wait for the Day of Judgment on which every one of them will be called to account. Though however unwilling they may be to understand it...
The subject we have explained so far is one of the greatest truths that will ever be told to you in your lifetime. Proving that the whole material world is in reality a "shadow being", this subject is the key to comprehending the existence of and creation by God and of understanding that He is the only absolute being. The person who understands this subject realises that the world is not the sort of place it is surmised to be by most people. The world is not an absolute place with a true existence as supposed by those who wander aimless about the streets, who get into fights in pubs, who show off in luxurious cafes, who brag about their property, or who dedicate their lives to hollow aims. The world is only a collection of perceptions, an illusion. All of the people we have cited above are only shadow beings who watch these perceptions in their minds: yet they are not aware of this. This concept is very important for it undermines the materialist philosophy that denies the existence of God and causes it to collapse. This is the reason why materialists like Marx, Engels, and Lenin felt panic, became enraged, and warned their followers "not to think over" this concept when they were told about it. As a matter of fact, such people are in such a state of mental deficiency that they cannot even comprehend the fact that perceptions are formed inside the brain. They assume that the world they watch in their brain is the "external world" and they cannot comprehend the obvious evidence to the contrary.
You can explore beyond this point by using the power of your personal reflection. For this, you have to concentrate, devote your attention, and ponder on the way you see the objects around you and the way you feel their touch. If you think heedfully, you can feel that the wise being that sees, hears, touches, thinks, and reads this book at this moment is only a soul and watches the perceptions called "matter" on a screen. The person who comprehends this is considered to have moved away from the domain of the material world that deceives a major part of humanity and to have entered the domain of true existence. This reality has been understood by a number of theists or philosophers throughout history. Islamic intellectuals such as Imam Rabbani, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi and Mevlana Cami realised this fact from the signs of the Qur'an and by using their reason. Some Western philosophers like George Berkeley have grasped the same reality through reason. Imam Rabbani wrote in his Mektubat (Letters) that the whole material universe is an "illusion and supposition (perception)" and that the only absolute being is God:
Imam Rabbani explicitly stated that all images presented to man are but an illusion, and that they have no originals in the "outside". This imaginary cycle is portrayed in imagination. It is seen to the extent that it is portrayed. Yet with the mind's eye. In the outside, it seems as if it is seen with the head's eye. However, the case is not so. It has neither a designation nor a trace in the outside. There is no circumstance to be seen. Even the face of a person reflecting on a mirror is like that. It has no constancy in the outside. No doubt, both its constancy and image are in the IMAGINATION. God is He Who knows Best. 214 Mevlana Cami stated the same fact which he discovered following the signs of the Qur'an and by using his wit: "Whatever there is in the universe are senses and illusions. They are either like reflections in mirrors or shadows". However, the number of those who have understood this fact throughout history has always been limited. Great scholars such as Imam Rabbani have written that it might have been inconvenient to tell this fact to the masses and that most people would not be able to grasp it. In the age in which we live, this fact has been made empirical by the body of evidence put forward by science. The fact that the universe is a shadow being is described in such a concrete, clear, and explicit way for the first time in history. For this reason, the 21st century will be a historical-turning point when people will generally comprehend the divine realities and be led in crowds to God, the only Absolute Being. In the 21st century, it is the materialistic creeds of the 19th century that will be relegated to the trash-heaps of history, God's existence and creation will be grasped, such facts as spacelessness and timelessness will be understood, humanity will break free of the centuries-old veils, deceits and superstitions enshrouding them. It is not possible for this unavoidable course to be impeded by any shadow being.
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Rennan Pekünlü, "Aldatmacanin Evrimsizligi", (Non-Evolution of Deceit)
Bilim ve Ütopya, December 1998 (V.I.Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-criticism,
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1970, pp.334-335) |
