Analysis of the Qur’an’s Bismillah Verse by Nadeem Haque
The Qur’an’s Bismillah Verse is the most repeated verse in the Qur’an; however, it is argued in this article that the current understanding of this verse in the nominal Muslim world is certainly not the way it was understood by the Prophets over the ages. This article focuses on the internal Qur’anic evidence to support its proper meaning, which, if understood correctly, has vast implications for the resurgence of Muslim society that has tragically strayed away from the Qur’an, which advocates reason and evidence. See http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/340
Science & Spirituality: A Perfect Standoff by James Kowall & Pradeep Deshpande
The scientific basis for spirituality is discussed in the context of a recent book by Amanda Gefter. This book demonstrates why there is an impasse in the reconciliation of science with spirituality. This impasse is about the nature of reality, specifically what we mean by "reality", and about our basic assumptions about the nature of the world, the nature of consciousness, and the nature of the ultimate reality underlying both the world and consciousness, which is summed up with the slogan "Nothing is ultimately real". See http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/341
My Story: Cosmic Consciousness & Me by Hyman Sarfatti
It has been the general experience of all true Gurus or spiritual Master, that first they had to attain intellectual knowledge of God and the spiritual path leading to Him. Then they had to develop a love for God and a longing to attain Him equal to one in the desert thirsty for water. Was I not that little child in the crib thirsting for the Water of Truth and not the drinking water? Only by attaining the Cosmic Consciousness can one know God, experience Him and become one with God. The term Yoga means `union with God', which is the goal of the Hindu philosophy and religion. It is also the goal of Buddhism. Our bodies are the Temples of the Living God. We can only find God or realize God within our own bodies. Meditation, fasting and prayer is the process of involution by which we gain the experiential knowledge of God and finally merge into Him. This is the true meaning or definition of Salvation and Eternal Life in God, or Cosmic Consciousness. This is the true inward spiritual journey or spiritual path. Here is where we find true peace of mind, satisfaction and happiness. See http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/342
Nature, Violence, Consciousness, Sexuality & World Religion: A Roadmap by Chris King
In this work, the author strives to provide the knowledge to empower individuals to resist the fallacious claims of religious imperatives and act to correct the diabolical mistakes of the past; to liberate human consciousness, replenish the Earth, protect the tree of life’s diversity and safeguard the passage of the generations. If you are a scientist it is a comprehensive source-referenced research review. If you are religious it serves as important reading to understand the actual roots of your beliefs. Thus, this work may serve as a road map to exorcise the founding scriptures abetting violence and homicide in religious traditions. Humans since the dawn of history have used meditation, deprivation and visionary plants and fungi, to enter into internal conscious states that form an inner cosmology, complementing the external cosmology of nature and the physical universe. We need to accept that the pursuit of knowledge requires an attitude of social freedom for individuals to explore their own inner conscious states using visionary species and substances first hand rather than the second and third hand doctrines of prescriptive religions, and accept the lessons of nature in developing our notions of morality as a mechanism to reduce intra-social strife, to in turn achieve social and religious dominance over others. See http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/343