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But without being subjected to any indoctrination, a moment of thought would make one realize an astonishing fact: From the moment we come into existence, we confront only the copies of everything that surrounds us. We can never reach the external originals of the world, human beings, animals, flowers, their colors, odors, fruits, tastes of fruits, planets, stars, mountains, stones, buildings, space. To further clarify this, it will help to examine the senses, the agents that provide us with information about the exterior world. All of man's sensory faculties-sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch-function in the same way. Stimuli (lights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures) from objects assumed to exist in the external world are carried through nerves to the sensory centers in the brain. All these stimuli that reach the brain consist of electric signals. For example, during the process of vision, light rays (or photons) radiating from sources in the exterior world reach the retina at the back of the eye and, through a series of processes, are transformed into electric signals. These signals are transferred along nerves to the brain's vision center. There, a colorful, bright and three-dimensional world is perceived within the space of a few cubic centimeters. The same system applies to other senses as well. Cells on the surface of the tongue transform chemical traces into electric signals that become tastes. Odors are transformed into electric signals by cells in the epithelium of the nose. Special sensors lodged beneath the skin transform impulses of touch (such as the sensations of hardness or softness) into electric signals, and a special mechanism in the ear does the same with sound. All these signals are sent to appropriate centers in the brain, where they are perceived. But you are wrong, because you can never reach the real nature of the beings you perceive. This obvious fact has been proven by science today. Any scientist would tell you how this system works, and that the world we live in is really an aggregate of perceptions. The English physicist John Gribbin states that our senses are an interpretation of stimulations coming from the external world-as if there were a tree in the garden. He goes on to say that our brain perceives the stimulations that are filtered through our senses, and that the tree we "see" is only a stimulation. So, he then asks, which tree is real? The one formed by our senses, or the tree in the garden?50 No doubt, this reality requires profound reflection. Until now, it's entirely likely that you assumed that you dealt with the originals of what you see in the outer world. However, as science also verifies, there is no way to reach the originals of the objects in the outer world. Mountains, plains, flowers, people, seas-briefly everything we see and everything that God informs us in the Qur'an that exists and that He created out of nothing is created and does indeed exist. However, people cannot see, feel or hear the real nature of these beings through their sense organs. What they see and feel are only the copies that appear in their brains. This is a scientific fact taught at all schools primarily in medicine. The same applies to the book you are reading now; you can not see nor touch the original of it. The light coming from the original book is converted by some cells in your eyes into electrical signals, which are then conveyed to the sight center in the back of your brain. This is where the view of this book is created. In other words, you are not reading a book which is before your eyes through your eyes; in fact, this book is created in the sight center in the back of your brain. The book you are reading right now is a "copy of the book" within your brain. The original book is seen by God. The subject, briefly touched on here, is one of the most significant facts you can come to realize in your life. Millions of Colors in a Pitch-Black Location
Considering this subject in greater detail reveals some even more extraordinary truths. Our sense centers are located in the brain, a three-pound piece of tissue. And this organ is protected inside an array of bones called the skull, which neither light, nor sound, nor odors can penetrate. The inside of the skull is a dark, silent place where all smells are absent. But in this place of complete darkness occur millions of color shades and sound tones, as well countless different tastes and smells. So how does this happen? What makes you perceive light in a location without light, odors in a place without smell, sounds in total silence and the objects of all other senses? Who created all of this for you? In every moment of your life, a variety of miracles take place. As mentioned earlier, anything your senses can detect in this room you're in, are sent as electrical signals to your brain, where they then combine. Your brain interprets them as a view of a room. Put another way, while you assume that you are sitting in this room, that room is actually inside you, in your brain. The "place" where the room is assembled and perceived is small, dark, and soundless. And yet a whole room or a whole landscape, regardless of its size, can fit into it. Both a narrow closet and a wide vista of the sea are perceived in the exact same place. Our brains interpret and attribute meaning to the signals relating to the "external world." As an example, consider the sense of hearing. It's our brain that in fact transforms the sound waves in the "external" concert hall into a symphony. That is to say, music is yet another perception created by our brain. In the same manner, when we perceive colors, what reaches our eyes is merely light of different wavelengths. Again, it's our brain that transforms these signals into colors. There are no colors in the "external world"; neither is an apple red, nor the sky blue, nor the leaves green. They appear as they do simply because we perceive them to be so. Even a slight defect in the eye's retina can cause color blindness. Some sufferers perceive blue and green as the same, some red as blue. At this point, it does not matter of what color the outside object is.
The prominent thinker George Berkeley also addresses this fact: At the beginning, it was believed that colors, odors, etc., "really exist," but subsequently such views were renounced, and it was seen that they only exist in dependence on our sensations.51 In conclusion, the reason we see objects in colors is not because they are actually colored. The truth, rather, is that the qualities we ascribe to objects are all inside us. And this, perhaps, is a truth you have never considered before. What Exists in the External World? So far, we've shown that we live inside our brains and cannot actually perceive anything other than what our senses convey to us. To proceed one step further: In order for us to see and hear is there any need for the external world? Actually, no. In order to perceive, no external world is necessary. Given the right kind of stimulation to the brain, sensations of touch, sight, and sounds, can be recreated in the brain. The best example of this process is dreams. During dreams, your body typically remains still and motionless in a dark and quiet bedroom, and your eyes remain shut. Neither light nor sound nor any other stimuli from the exterior world is reaching your brain for it to perceive. Yet in your dreams, you still perceive experiences very similar to real life. In your dreams you also get up and go to work, or go on vacation and enjoy the warmth of the sun.
Furthermore, in dreams you never feel doubts about the reality of what you experience. Only after you wake up you realize your experiences were only dreams. You not only experience such feelings as fear, anxiety, joy and sadness but also see different images, hear sounds and feel matter. Yet there is no physical source producing these sensations and perceptions; you lie motionless inside a dark and quiet room. René Descartes, the renowned philosopher, offered the following reasoning on this surprising truth about dreams: In my dreams I see that I do various things, I go to many places; when I wake up, however, I see that I have not done anything or gone anywhere and that I lie peacefully in my bed. Who can guarantee to me that I do not also dream at the present time, further, that my whole life is not a dream?52 Is Our Brain Distinct from the Outside World? If everything we know and experience is only perceptions produced internally, what about the brain which we think does the seeing and hearing? Isn't it composed of atoms and molecules like everything else? Along with everything else we call matter, we also deal with the copy of the brain, which is a piece of tissue that we perceive through our senses. This being so, what is it, if not the brain, that perceives everything-that sees, hears, touches, smells and tastes? At this point, we face the obvious: That man, a being of consciousness who can see, feel, think and exercise reason, is much more than a mere assemblage of atoms and molecules. What defines a human being is the "soul" granted to him by God. Otherwise, it would be highly unreasonable to attribute his consciousness and other faculties to a three-pound piece of flesh, which is itself essentially a perception: He Who has created all things in the best possible way. He commenced the creation of man from clay; then produced his seed from an extract of base fluid; then formed him and breathed His Spirit into him and gave you hearing, sight and hearts. What little thanks you show! (Qur'an, 32: 7-9) The Being Nearest to Us Is God Since a human being is not merely a lump of matter but a "soul," then who makes that soul feel the sum of perceptions which we call the external world? Who continues to create all these perceptions, ceaselessly? The answer is obvious. God, Who breathed into man the spirit He created for him, is the Creator of all things. He is also the real source of all perceptions. The existence of anything is possible only through God's creation. God informs us that He creates continuously and that whenever He stops creating, everything will disappear: God keeps a firm hold on the heavens and the Earth, preventing them from vanishing away. And if they vanished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving. (Qur'an, 35: 41) Some may tend not to accept the reality because of the indoctrination they've received over so many years. However, no matter how he strives to ignore this fact or avoids it, the truth is obvious. All the perceptions presented to a human soul can exist only by the creation of God. Furthermore, not only the external world but all actions one takes on his own come into existence by the will of God. It is simply impossible for man to act independent of God. In the Qur'an it is stated as follows: . God created both you and what you do. (Qur'an, 37: 96) . you did not throw when you threw; it was God Who threw. (Qur'an, 8: 17) What! Are they in doubt about the meeting with their Lord? What! Does He not encompass all things! (Qur'an, 41: 54) Both East and West belong to God, so wherever you turn, the Face of God is there. God is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 2: 115) What is in the heavens and in the Earth belongs to God. God encompasses all things. (Qur'an, 4: 126) When We said to you, "Surely your Lord encompasses the people with His knowledge.". (Qur'an, 17: 60) . His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Qur'an, 2: 255) God's knowledge and ability surrounds us from the front and back, from right and left-that is to say, He encompasses us completely. He observes us everywhere, at every moment. He holds absolute control over us, from inside and outside. He, the Owner of Infinite Might, is closer to us than our own jugular veins.
50. John Gribbin, In the Search of the
Big Bang; Ta?kyn Tuna, Uzayyn Otesi (Far Beyond the Universe), p. 194
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To clarify the point, assume that you're drinking a glass of lemonade.
The hard, cool surface of the glass you're holding is transformed into
electric signals by special receptors under your skin and sent to the
brain. Simultaneously, the smell of the lemonade, its taste, and yellowish
color all become signals that reach the brain. Likewise, the clink you
hear when the glass touches the table is perceived by the ear and transmitted
to the brain as an electric signal. All these perceptions are interpreted
in the brain's relevant centers, which work harmoniously with one another.
As a cumulative result of these impulses, you sense that you are drinking
a glass of lemonade. That is, while everything is really taking place
in your brain's sensory centers, you assume that what you're dealing with
is the real nature of these beings.
Faced with such facts, one must conclude that the only absolute being
is God. Nothing is absolute except God, Who encompasses everything in
the heavens and the Earth:
