Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Blind men, the Elephant and the Shroud of Turin

If you are interested in  my book the Coming of the Quantum Christ you will find details at my Living Free blog.
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As I have written, more than once, I find the community skeptical of the Shroud of Turin much like the blind men and the elephant. This morning, exasperated as usual by the "experts," who seek to cram the issue of Shroud authenticity in their area of expertise (like the art historian who claims to have solved the "mystery" of the image) I decided to do a little (very) research. My view is that there are three general disciplines with subgroups that must be addressed and an approach founded on only one or two of them will always come-up short: Religion, History and Science. Perhaps I should admit to a personal bias in that grouping because on graduation from high school, I won the gold medals in all three and although I did not pursue a career in science and religion, they have remained a life long interest. I have kept current.

It was 50 years ago that I had a moment of doubt about my faith in the existence of God when I learned that all of existence at the quantum level was subject to the law of probabilities. I resolved that issue intellectually when I asked myself the question: whose law is the law of probability? Why should cosmic chaos be organized in any way? Eventually, I arrived at a definition of God as the "primordial consciousness" from which our existence sprang. 

Yet, when I say some understanding of Science, History and Religion is essential to study of the Shroud, I must confess to a somewhat impish self-indulgence.

Yet, I can not escape my observation that when I read and participate in discussions and debate about the Shroud, so many are either side of the authenticity side of the argument seem like blind men (and women) arguing about the nature of an elephant. This morning I did a little research on the blind men issue and found on the web via Wikipedia the following couplet which is attributed to Buddha:

"O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing."

Jainism and Buddhism. Udana 68-69:
Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant



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