P.Susheela’s name in Guinness Book; her songs in our ears, lips, hearts and lives.....

The Melody Queen P.Susheela has entered the Guinness book world records and Asia Book of records as one who has sung more number of songs in Indian languages.

Her voice and the subtle intonation she did depending upon the meaning of the lyrics have made most of her songs hits and super hits. There would be at least one song by her which could have touched the imagination or feelings or life of any listener. To that extent the lyrics played a big role in the success of her songs. Those lyrics got life in her voice and the emotions she effortlessly portrayed through her voice.

This award seems to have come very late though she could have reached the top long ago and would retain the slot never to be surpassed. I could not avoid thinking of Ilayaraja in this context as it was rumoured that he shunned P.Susheela saying that her voice lacks emotion. What a mistaken view from a music maestro!  But later he patched up with her and made her sing in his compositions. But with his arrival in Tamil cinema, the down trend in the career of P.Susheela had started. If not for him, P.Susheela would have crossed even the current mark of 17,000 plus songs.

As far as I am concerned, her song “Oru naal iravu pagal pol nilavu” worked like medicine for me as it made me overcome the loss of my mother at a young age by consoling myself that my mother indeed was singing from heavens for me.... Even today, this song is in my lips and in my heart. The last stanza had all the emotions that make me cherish a hope reserved for my next birth....

This one, “Maalai pozhuthin mayakkatthilE” is something which Susheela herself would find difficult to surpass...

Beautiful and simple romantic song...”naan pesa ninaippathellaam”

A soul-stirring song enacted by a beautiful Jayalalithaa.  

From my choice of songs I am moving to my choice of an article among the various articles on P.Susheela that we are reading nowadays about her Guinness record. This article is from Times of India. 

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From

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tracking-indian-communities/eternally-on-song-susheela-singing-voice-that-made-beauty-permanent/

Eternally on song – Susheela: Singing voice that made beauty permanent

April 4, 2016, 3:11 PM IST Vamanan 

The Guinness Book Of World Records recognises her prolific career, but her USP is quality.

P Susheela has never lost her position among lovers of Tamil films. Her glorious days may have been over but for them Susheela was and still is the archetypal female singing voice. Ask a Tamil who sang “Gangai Karai Thottam”, and he would say, P Susheela, even if he didn’t know for sure. It must have been Susheela. Who else could it have been?

So when the announcement about the Guinness Book of World Records came, it was only a reminder that she indeed is among the most prolific singers in this part of the country. The news has warmed the cockles of the hearts of her myriad admirers, including yesteryear heroines, who have flocked to her residence to express their joy .

Though she is a Telugu, and her film songs in her mother tongue handsomely outnumber her Tamil songs, she was the key female voice of the golden age of Tamil film music. The prolific lyric writer Vali made his debut writing for her “Nilavum thaarai yum” in Azhagar Malaikalvan while SPB of a thousand duets sang his first with her in “Aayiram Nilave Vaa”.

But it’s more the quality of her numbers than the quantity that earned her the love of music lovers.The sheer melody, lyrical significance, musical excellence and popularity of many of her songs have made her an iconic singer. Many of the jewels of Kannadasan, Tamil cinema’s lyricist par excellence, are immortalised in Susheela’s inimitable voice. A winner of many national and regional awards, she is also the recipient of the Padma Bhushan.

Hailing from a musically inclined family in the princely state of Vizianagaram, Susheela acquired a diploma in music in a college in her town and came to Chennai for further studies. Her first singing offer came easily enough with Pendyala Nageswara Rao choosing her for a duet with A M Raja in ‘Petrathaai’ (Kannathalli). Starting out as a staff singer for AVM studios, Susheela honed her Tamil diction and imbibed professionalism. Though she speaks Tamil with a strong Telugu accent, despite her 63 years in Chennai, her songs set a benchmark for excellence in Tamil pronunciation. That’s why Susheela was chosen along with T M Sounderarajan to render the state song “Neeraarum Kadaluduthu” by the Tamil Nadu government in 1970.

The 1950s were competitive times with many female singers in the field, and Susheela had to struggle her way up. That she progressed steadily can be seen from the fact that a musical genius like G Ramanathan trusted her with great numbers like “Mullai Malar Mele” and “Inbam Pongum Vennila”. She was often fancied for dulcet duets with A M Raja with the latter himself opting to sing with her in the enormously successful ‘Kalyana Parisu’ (Vaadikkai Marandhadhu Yeno, Aasaiyinaale Manam).

‘Paava Mannippu’ set the stage for a new musical phase that crowned Susheela as the queen of Tamil film songs. There was an upsurge of innovation, melody , meaning and orchestral colour. As Susheela’s voice shone in melodious songs like “Paalirukkum Pazhamirukkum”, master composers like Viswanathan Ramamurthy and K V Mahadevan tried new tunes to exploit her voice to the hilt.

It’s significant that chief minister J Jayalalithaa recalled Susheela singing for her mother Sandhya. The classic images of some of the most charismatic heroines like Devika (“Sonnadhu Nee Dhaana“), Saroja Devi (“Unnai Ondru Kaetpaen“), Savithri (“Malarndhu Malaraadha“), Sowcar Janaki (“Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakkathile“), Padmini (“Mannavan Vandhaanadi“), and Jayalalithaa (“Unnai naan sandhithaen“) mirror a greater charisma because of Susheela’s song. The actresses knew that their fleeting beauty would be remembered especially when paired with the evergreen melodies sung by Susheela.

Musical instruments too acquired their signature passages in her songs. Mangalamurthy’s superb accordion accompaniment in Susheela’s entrancing melody “Athaan En Athaan” drew attention to the instrument. Satyam’s soaring notes on the shehnai in “Aalayamaniyin Osaiyai” masterfully underscored the serene atmosphere of the song. Hanumatha Rao’s consummate tabla playing lent “Maalai soodum mananaal” an ineffable grace. Nanjappa’s honeyed phrases on the bamboo flute rang out memorably along with Susheela’s vocals in “Kannukku Kulamedhu”.

Susheela was extremely receptive to musical ideas and fast in grasping them. She was also uncannily sensitive to microphone positions and the needs of sound engineers to get a recording right. The latter decades of her career saw a great deal of competition emerging and singer-music composer politics leading to her being sidelined, but she was not to be disheartened. She wisely patched up with Ilaiyaraja after some initial misunderstanding. She is a woman of much poise and reserve but can be scorchingly sarcastic in private. She has a piquant sense of humour too.She once remarked about ragas in the general run of film songs -“One can say they represent an all-India raga. Even if you search all over India, you won’t be able to find the raga!” At eighty , Susheela still rocks.

March Garbottam confirms rains during Navarathri!

 The Garbottam observation in March shows an exciting re-confirmation of the 8th day of the Solar Garbottam that indicated rainfall towards the end of Navarathri. This year Navarathri starts on October 1^st with Maha Navami (Saraswathi Puja) coming on October 10^th, 2016. The exciting feature of March Garbottam is that from October 5^th onwards there will be rainfall in the first half of the night going till midnight on all days until Ayudha Puja (as per the observation until the time this article is written on 2^nd April, 2016)

The 8^th day Garbottam looked very pronounced after 12 PM on that day. Look at the sun hidden behind dark clouds of aquatic shape after 12 PM on that day.

Garbottam after 12 PM on 6^th January 2016.

In the corresponding fortnight between 26^th September and 10^th October 2016, rainfall can be expected in the last quarter. The last week of March corresponds to the 195 day period for this last quarter. And we could see fish like clouds and huge dark clouds hiding the sun for 2 or 3 times in the morning / forenoon times from 28^th March onwards. The brief Garbottam in the forenoon on 28^th March can be seen in the photograph below.

Sun seen as a small disc behind dark clouds before noon on March 28, 2016 – corresponding rainfall date – October 5, 2016 (4^th night of Navarathri)  

This date (28^th March) was unique on two counts (1) on that day a mini cyclone like condition prevailed in the south east Bay over Srilanka and South Tamilnadu with many parts of South Tamilnadu receiving rains. (2) That date saw the exact conjunction of Venus and Ketu within one degree.

Looking at past records, rainfall (of SW monsoon) started on the day Venus became conjunct with Ketu on 31^st May, 2010.

Then after a hiatus, rainfall once again resumed on 30^th June, 2010 when Mercury became conjunct with Ketu.

Again in 2011, when Venus was in conjunction with Ketu, it had rained heavily causing floods.

But in all these occasions, the rainfall combination of planets was there in considerable strength. Particularly the closeness between Mercury and Venus was there on those occasions.

This year on March 28^th, the most important rainfall combination of closeness between Mercury and Venus was absent. The gap between them is increasing day by day since 23^rd March 2016. Therefore whatever was noticed as movement of favourable winds in North India could not bring rainfall. 

However just one feature of Conjunction between Venus and Ketu created a flutter by bringing some rainfall in South Tamilnadu. In addition planets such as Saturn, Mars, Sun and Mercury were there in watery signs at that time.

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These days are very crucial for observing the meteorological conditions and relating them to planetary movements. As such the following are some of my observations.

Observation  no 1:-The closeness between Mercury and Venus is very crucial for rainfall or snowfall or cold air wherever applicable. The last such closeness ended on 24^th March 2016. Ever since it started on January 15^th, some place of the globe had witnessed snowfall or chill airs and an escalation in cold conditions (wherever applicable).

As far as I could observe, the snowfall and cold winds ended in northern latitudes by 24^th March.

In India, as per IMD reports the air / cyclonic circulations or rainfall got dissipated after 24^th March.

Observation no 2:- Conjunction between Venus and Ketu is important trigger of rainfall. Venus became conjunct with Ketu on 28^th March, 2016. Cloud cover and rainfall was reported in south Tamilnadu and Srilanka.

If this conjunction is supported by closeness between Mercury and Venus, the rains could have been more and widespread.

In the coming rainy season, this conjunction is not going to recur. However, Venus will conjunct with Rahu (means exact opposition with Ketu) on 15^th August 2016. The February Garbottam chart shows that there will be heavy rains on 15^th August. Some trigger element or presence of some rainfall feature will be there on that day when Venus conjuncts with Rahu / Ketu.

Observation no 3:- Moon became conjunct with malefics like Saturn and Mars between 27^th and 30^th March. This gives rise to hail storms and thunder showers on the 195^th day. But it looks possible that such conditions could prevail on the date itself in the rainy or pre-monsoon season. It was reported that Belgaum experienced hail storm on 28^th March.

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In the coming days, Venus, Mercury and Sun are going to be together in Pisces (watery sign) while Saturn and Mars will be in another watery sign (Scorpio). But there is absence of closeness between Mercury and Venus until May 10^th, 2016. 

The solar Garbottam for the next 2 days (9th and 10th days) also does not support rainfall in April 2016 for Chennai. 

The dates to be watched to link a meteorological event with planetary movement:-

(1) 24^th April 2016:- Venus enters Aries where it joins Sun and Mercury.

(2) 30^th April 2016 :- Mercury begins combustion.

(3) 8^th May 2016 :- Venus begins combustion.

(4) 10^th May 2016:- Mercury and Venus begin moving close to each other.

(5) 10^th May to 7^th June 2016:- Rainfall.

(6) 13^th to 14^th May, 2016:- Venus overtakes retrograde Mercury – sudden spurt in rainfall or some event can be expected.

(7) 20^th May 2016:- Venus enters Taurus and joins Sun, but comes in opposition to Saturn and Mars. Rainfall may be affected after this. The combination indicates earthquakes on or in the days after this.

(8) 13^th June 2016:- Venus enters Gemini and is ahead of Mercury. Good for continuing rainfall. 

March Garbottam

(Previous months' Garbottam are reproduced below for easy reference)

Click the figures to see the 7th (time of rainfall) and the 8th column which is about rainfall in Chennai in general.

February Garbottam

January Garbottam 

Mewat Muslims claim themselves to be the descendants of Arjuna!

Meo Muslims belonging to Mewat near Alwar in Rajasthan consider themselves as the descendants of kshatriyas coming in the lineage of Arjuna of Mahabharata. A proof of this claim lies in the story of Pandavas known as Pandun ka kada in their dialect that is recited by them even today. This story consists of 800 verses of ‘dohas’ and last for more than three hours when they musically present it. This composition specifically deals with the last year of the exile of the Pandavas when they remained incognito. What makes this composition a subject of interest is that it ends with praises for the writer of this composition, one Sadullah Khan of the 18^th century, as the descendant of Arjuna!

Mewat's Meo Muslims recite the Mahabharata as a folk narration at the Pushkar Mela in Pushkar, Rajasthan on Thursday, October 29, 2009.

(Picture courtesy:- http://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/mewats-meo-muslims-recite-the-mahabharata-as-a-folk-news-photo/92746340 )

The Meos have retained many traits of Hinduism including the names, the worship of Hindu Gods and Gotra identities, but were known to have been converted into Islam by Sufi saints in the 11^th century. Today rabid Islamisation is making them shun and forget their ancient roots. It is said that only a few remember the Pandun ka kada and recognise their ancient roots linked to Mahabharata times.

That this connection is an honest expression by their forefathers and therefore authentic is made out from the fact that their connection to Pandavas was not a general or a casual statement but something connected to only the 13^th year of exile of the Pandavas in the kingdom of Virata. It is interesting to note that many places of Alwar where Meos are found have connection to incidents of the 13^th year exile of the Pandavas.

The Sariska wildlife sanctuary in Alwar has all the trappings of a dense and unpopulated region where the Pandavas could have spent their time in exile. Pandupol in the hills in the centre of this place is believed to be the place where the Pandavas lived during exile.

It is in Pandupol  that Bhima was said to have cut open the hillside with his mace and made way for the water to gush through. (Pic below)

(ASI monument number N-RJ-144. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pol_at_Pandupol.JPG )

This is also believed to be the place where Bhima met Hanuman who refused to give way to Bhima. There is a famous temple of Hanuman in reclining posture here.

    

This place has another connection to Pandavas of the exile period. There is a village called ‘Taal vrikskha’ in Alwar where Arjuna was supposed to have hidden his weapons before entering Virata’s court as Brihannala. Bairath, near Alwar is believed to be Virat nagar and as the name suggests Virat changed to Bairath. All these regions deserve an extensive exploration to bring out an indisputable proof of Mahabharata.

The Meo Muslims stand as a cultural proof of their roots to the Mahabharata period. They could as well have been sons of the soil of Virata kingdom and had kinship with someone in the lineage of Arjuna. The specific narration of the one year exile period of Pandavas in the place where Meos have lived from time immemorial goes to show that their claim is not a figment of imagination.

There had been similar claims by Velir tribes as having come in the lineage of Krishna. They had relocated from Dwaraka (Byt Dwaraka) about 3500 years ago and settled in today’s Tamilnadu, Kerala and South Karnataka. (This is mistaken as displaced Dravidians from the Indus civilisation). Today they are lost in the crowd but their claims remain as strong proof of history in Tamil Sangam literature.

Yet another claim from Ithihasa period is the continued lineage from Vaali of Ramayana fame. An inscription by King Vikramadhitya VI talks about one Dadiga (Dadimukha?) coming from the clan of Vaali of Kisukad (Kishkindha). There is in existence another inscription on one Durlabha devi, wife of Pulikeshi-I who it was mentioned as coming in the lineage of Vaali. (Read here for details).

Seen in this backdrop, the prospects of Meo Muslims coming in the lineage of Arjuna requires serious research. That they have become Muslims is a serious aberration of heritage brought out by lack of awareness and pride about their roots.

Related reading:-

Signs of Muslim youth joining Indian mainstream – its time Muslims know their historical and genetic past.

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=yXylLu3qQbsC&lpg=PA84&dq=meo+muslim+rajputs&pg=PA84&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

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From

http://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna

Meet the Muslims who consider themselves descendants of Arjuna

By

Saba Naqvi

Like other capital cities of the world, Delhi is a city obsessed with itself. The capital’s influential and always-expanding tribe of intellectuals often pontificate on and plan the state of the nation without stepping outside the city limits. And in the last decade, perhaps no subject has received as much attention as the Muslim community.

Reams have been written on the Muslim “psyche”; on the community’s response to the emergence of the Hindu Right; on the orthodoxy’s hold on the community; on terrorists being bred and the flip side of the “fear psychosis” gripping it. And come election time, every publication devotes precious newsprint to speculating on that mythical thing called the “Muslim vote”. Every reputable columnist in the city has, at some time or the other, expressed an opinion on the Muslim community.

But all these opinion-makers – whether belonging to the liberal Left or the Right – tend to describe the Muslim society in absolute terms. Hindu society is plural but Muslims are believed to constitute a huge monolithic mass. The facts belie this view.

The only thing uniform about the Muslims of India is their diverse cultural zones.

Even the brand of Islam followed by Indian Muslims varies from region to region. Few seem to be aware that there are numerous Muslim communities who profess Islam but remain steeped in the local Hindu ethos.

For instance, just outside the city boundaries begins the large pocket where the Meo Muslims live. These Muslims profess Islam but follow a fascinating composite culture that accommodates many Hindu customs. They trace their origins to Hindu figures such as Rama, Krishna and Arjuna and celebrate many Hindu festivals like Diwali, Dussehra and Holi.

And the Meos are no obscure tiny sect; they are a 400,000- strong community found in the region known as Mewat, which is spread across the border areas of the three states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. In Uttar Pradesh, they are found in the Chhata tehsil while in Haryana, the Meos occupy the Nuh and Ferozepur tehsils of Gurgaon district. But the area where the Meos dominate and have been able to preserve their unique culture is the Alwar district of Rajasthan, just a two-hour drive from Delhi.

The Meos are famous across the Mewat belt for their narration of folk epics and ballads. Their oral tradition is a rich source for studying and understanding the community’s history. Among the epics and ballads sung by the Meos, which are derived from Hindu lore, the most popular is thePandun ka kada, the Mewati version of the Mahabharata.

Many Meos also trace their origins through the epic which describes them as descendants of Arjuna.

The Meos have a distinct identity, separating them from both mainstream Hindu and Muslim society. Their marriages combine the Islamic nikaah ceremony with a number of Hindu rituals – like maintaining exhaustive gotras, a distinctly Hindu practice.

One fascinating tradition still preserved by Meos is the tracing of their genealogy by Hindu genealogists known as jaggas. The jaggas are an essential part of any lifecycle ceremony in the Meo community.

The Meos are believed to have gradually converted to Islam between the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries. Their Hindu origins are evident from their names, as most Meos still keep the title “Singh”, revealing the syncretic nature of the community. Ram Singh, Til Singh and Fateh Singh are typical Meo names.

I met Fateh Singh, a Meo balladeer in a village on the outskirts of Alwar. After reciting the Pandun ka kada, he spoke at length on what he believed to be the community’s origins.

Fateh Singh and his fellow villagers firmly believe that they are Kshatriyas descending from Arjuna who gradually converted to Islam under the influence of Sufi Pirs. But they told me that the Meos are gradually giving up the celebration of Hindu festivals. “If you go into villages in the interior, you will see that the Meos are just like Hindus. You will not be able to make out the difference between Meos and Hindu villagers. But near the city, more and more people are giving up Hindu customs and rituals.”

It is not difficult to trace the reason for this. The Ayodhya agitation and its aftermath succeeded in infusing the communal virus even into the peaceful Mewat belt. The Babri demolition had resulted in violence in the region. Ever since, political alignments and mobilisation has been on community lines.

In 2011-'12, there was vicious communal violence in Mewat and the Muslim community there accuses the State government of targeting them in a shooting that left over ten dead in a village.

The identity question in the Mewat belt, therefore, is being raised in a complex and changing landscape. Moreover, as one Meo villager told me when I travelled there in 2011: “Ever since the RSS and the BJP became a powerful political force in the State, more and more Meos have begun to identify themselves as Muslims.”

The orthodoxy naturally has an opportunity to show the faithful the correct path according to them. There is, therefore, a far greater self-consciousness about being a Muslim. As Chandan Singh, a schoolteacher put it: “Increasingly, the mullahs tell Meos that they are bad Muslims and that they must give up celebrating Hindu festivals if they want to be accepted by the Muslim society.”

According to him, one can see evidence of the slow Islamisation of the Meos in the number of mosques that have sprung up over the last decade. “Earlier, most Meos never went to the masjid. Now, so much money has come in for the construction of masjids from religious institutions funded by Gulf money, that the Meos are increasingly turning to the Islamic way of life.”

Earlier, all Meos traced their origins to Arjuna through the Pandun ka kada. But as a result of this deliberate Islamisation, epics such as theShamsher Pathan and Behram Badshah – which suggest that the Meos came from Arabia – are also gaining in popularity. Caught between the pincer of Hindu fundamentalism on one side and Islamic puritanism on the other, most syncretic communities in India are undergoing a gradual transformation and the Meos are no exception.

But what is remarkable is that they have still retained much of their old ways of life. One does not have to search too hard to find a Meo singing the Pandun ka kada or celebrating Dussehra. They still remain a fascinating testament to a shared history, a shared culture in the subcontinent.

Excerpted with permission from In Good Faith: A Journey In Search Of An Unknown India, Saba Naqvi, Rupa Rainlight.

We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.

Conflict between Science and Religion lies in our brain – but not necessarily for a follower of Hindu Thought!

Scientific studies done until now had shown that analytical thinking always discourages belief in God. As per this a scientist cannot be expected to be a believer of God whereas the available data shows that nearly 90% of the Nobel laureates had faith in God. It has always been believed or rather hypothesised that the brain has two conflicting centres of function, one that does analytical thinking and the other that makes one religious.

In this background the current study done by the researchers of Case Western Reserve University and Babson College had shown a marginally different result. This study shows that analytical thinking does not give rise to disbelief in God. On the contrary it was found that those who exhibited empathy happened to be more religious or spiritual. This means that one can be analytical and at the same time empathic and therefore spiritual. In other words there is no tension or conflict between those regions of the brain that support analytical ability and belief in God.

The confusion was due to the existent belief to some extent in the western countries and in agnostic and atheistic societies that religion and religious beliefs are absurd and unscientific. But coming from the background of Vedantha that forms the basis of Hinduism, we have no confusion between analytical approach and religious thoughts, for, Hinduism is based on logical concept of God and evolution of man to Godhood. The basic tenet is compassion which is signified as Sattwic Guna which is what the Almighty is personified as. The basic approach is analytical or what is known as inquiry into the nature of both material world (prakruthi) and consciousness (Purusha or the Individual self and the Universal Self known as God). So this requires the use of both parts of the brain that the researchers have subjected to analysis.

A nutshell of what this Vedanthic religion requires us to do has been given in the 1^st verse of “Vedartha Sangraha” – a collection of Vedic thought given as lectures by Acharya Ramanuja in front of Lord Venkateswara in Thirumala. It runs as follows:

“The individual self is subject to beginning-less nesceince, which has brought about an accumulation of karma, of the nature of both merit and demerit. The flood of such karma causes his entry into four kinds of bodies – heavenly, human, animal and plant beginning with that of Brahma downwards. This ingression into bodies produces the delusion of identity with those respective bodies (and the consequent attachments and aversions). This delusion inevitably brings about all the fears inherent in the state of worldly existence. The entire body of Vedantha aims at the annihilation of these fears.

To accomplish their annihilation, they teach the following:

(1) The essential nature of the individual self as the transcending body.

(2) The attributes of the individual self.

(3) The essential nature of the Supreme that is the inmost controller of both the material universe and the individual selves.

(4) The attributes of the Supreme.

(5) The devout meditation upon the Supreme.

(6) The goal to which such meditation leads.

Vedantha aims at making known the goal attainable through such a life of meditation, the goal being the realisation, of the real nature of the individual self and after and through that realisation, the direct experience of the Brahman, which is the nature of bliss infinite and perfect.”

The conviction about these views and the practice of the same require a logical and analytical mind tinged with sattwic attitude of which compassion and empathy are supreme attributes. When one is tuned with compassion and empathy, one is indeed Godly at that moment.

Rama, the most adored God of the Hindus, had once expressed to Sita that compassion was his supreme Dharma. 

Sita expressed this to Hanuman in Ashoka Vana - आनृशंस्यम् परो धर्मः त्वत्त एव मया श्रुतः (Valmiki Ramayana – 5-38-41).

 (anR^ishamsyam parO dharmaH. Tvatta Eva mayA shrutaH.) 

Meaning “You yourself (Rama) told me (Sita) that kindness is the best Dharma” The part of the brain that induces one to be kind to others cannot run repellent to analytical thinking.

I wish these researchers take practicing Hindus for their study!

Related articles:-

Why people with better IQ fail to ‘detect’ God?

Can intelligence fail to grasp God?

Can intelligence fail to detect God?

Can we ‘see’ God?

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From

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.in/2016/03/the-conflict-between-science-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheArchaeologyNewsNetwork+(The+Archaeology+News+Network)#.VvkGb-J97IU

The conflict between science and religion lies in our brains

The conflict between science and religion may have its origins in the structure of our brains, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and Babson College have found. Clashes between the use of faith vs. scientific evidence to explain the world around us dates back centuries and is perhaps most visible today in the arguments between evolution and creationism.

To believe in a supernatural god or universal spirit, people appear to suppress the brain network used for analytical thinking and engage the empathetic network, the scientists say. When thinking analytically about the physical world, people appear to do the opposite.

"When there's a question of faith, from the analytic point of view, it may seem absurd," said Tony Jack, who led the research.

"But, from what we understand about the brain, the leap of faith to belief in the supernatural amounts to pushing aside the critical/analytical way of thinking to help us achieve greater social and emotional insight."

Jack is an associate professor of philosophy at Case Western Reserve and research director of the university's Inamori International Center of Ethics and Excellence, which helped sponsor the research. "A stream of research in cognitive psychology has shown and claims that people who have faith (i.e., are religious or spiritual) are not as smart as others. They actually might claim they are less intelligent.," said Richard Boyatzis, distinguished university professor and professor of organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve, and a member of Jack's team.

 "Our studies confirmed that statistical relationship, but at the same time showed that people with faith are more prosocial and empathic," he said.

In a series of eight experiments, the researchers found the more empathetic the person, the more likely he or she is religious. That finding offers a new explanation for past research showing women tend to hold more religious or spiritual worldviews than men. The gap may be because women have a stronger tendency toward empathetic concern than men.

Atheists, the researchers found, are most closely aligned with psychopaths—not killers, but the vast majority of psychopaths classified as such due to their lack of empathy for others.

The new study is published in the online journal PLOS ONE. The other authors are Jared Friedman, a research assistant and recent graduate in Philosophy and Cognitive Science who will begin his PhD in organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve in the fall, and Scott Taylor, assistant professor of organizational behavior at Babson College.

Brain structure

The research is based on the hypothesis that the human brain has two opposing domains in constant tension. In earlier research, Jack 's Brain, Mind & Consciousness lab used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show the brain has an analytical network of neurons that enables us to think critically and a social network that enables us to empathize. When presented with a physics problem or ethical dilemma, a healthy brain fires up the appropriate network while suppressing the other.

"Because of the tension between networks, pushing aside a naturalistic world view enables you to delve deeper into the social/emotional side," Jack explained.

 "And that may be the key to why beliefs in the supernatural exist throughout the history of cultures. It appeals to an essentially nonmaterial way of understanding the world and our place in it."

Friedman said, "Having empathy doesn't mean you necessarily have anti-scientific beliefs. Instead, our results suggest that if we only emphasize analytic reasoning and scientific beliefs, as the New Atheist movement suggests, then we are compromising our ability to cultivate a different type of thinking, namely social/moral insight."

"These findings," Friedman continued, "are consistent with the philosophical view, espoused by (Immanuel) Kant, according to which there are two distinct types of truth: empirical and moral."

Experiments and results

The researchers examined the relationship between belief in God or a universal spirit with measures of analytic thinking and moral concern in eight different experiments, each involving 159 to 527 adults. Consistently through all eight, the more religious the person, the more moral concern they showed. But no cause and effect was established.

They found that both spiritual belief and empathic concern were positively associated with frequency of prayer, meditations and other spiritual or religious practices, but neither were predicted by church dinners or other social contact associated with religious affiliation.

While others theorize that mentalizing—interpreting human behavior in terms of intentional mental states such as needs, desires or purposes—has a positive association with belief, the researchers found none.

Like other studies, these experiments showed that analytic thinking discourages acceptance of spiritual or religious beliefs. But the statistical analysis of data pooled from all eight experiments indicates empathy is more important to religious belief than analytic thinking is for disbelief.

So why can the conflict between science and religion become so strong?

"Because the networks suppress each other, they may create two extremes," Boyatzis said.

"Recognizing that this is how the brain operates, maybe we can create more reason and balance in the national conversations involving science and religion."

Using both networks

The researchers say humans are built to engage and explore using both networks. "Far from always conflicting with science, under the right circumstances religious belief may positively promote scientific creativity and insight," Jack said.

"Many of history's most famous scientists were spiritual or religious. Those noted individuals were intellectually sophisticated enough to see that there is no need for religion and science to come into conflict."

They refer to Baruch Aba Shalev's book 100 years of Nobel Prizes, which found that, from 1901 to 2000, 654 Nobel laureates, or nearly 90 percent, belonged to one of 28 religions. The remaining 10.5 percent were atheists, agnostics or freethinkers. "You can be religious and be a very good scientist," Jack said.

The researchers agree with the New Atheists that suspension of analytical thinking—at the wrong time—can be dangerous, and point to the historical use of religious differences to persecute or fight wars.

"Although it is simply a distortion of history to pin all conflict on religion," Jack said. "Non-religious political movements, such as fascism and communism, and quasi-scientific movements, such as eugenics, have also done great harm."

The researchers suggest, however, that taking a carefully considered leap of religious faith appears be an effective route to promoting emotional insight. Theirs and other studies find that, overall, religious belief is associated with greater compassion, greater social inclusiveness and greater motivation to engage in pro-social actions.

Jack said the conflict can be avoided by remembering simple rules: "Religion has no place telling us about the physical structure of the world; that's the business of science. Science should inform our ethical reasoning, but it cannot determine what is ethical or tell us how we should construct meaning and purpose in our lives."

To dig deeper into belief, the researchers are planning studies to learn if individuals who increase their empathy then increase their religious or spiritual belief, or vice versa.

Source: Case Western Reserve University [March 23, 2016] Posted by TANN on 4:00 PM.