An Advanced Course In Miracles

HAVE YOU SEEN A MIRACLE?

I had written an article on how the ' famous' fish therapy of Hyderabad has been found by drug research laboratories NOT TO BE A THERAPY AT ALL.

miracles Tizu7 16298

In response I got several angry replies asking SO WHAT. SCIENCE CANNOT EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.IF THE FISH THERAPY IS CURING WHY OBJECT TO IT?

Now I have come across many situations where this kind of argument is made— that this is beyond science.

Thus some practitioners of alternate remedies including homeopathy tell us that their therapy is' beyond science'. 'If it cures why object?' is the refrain.

Followers of gurujis when asked to explain their miracles like materialising gold rings from thin air retort—our guruji's miracles are beyond science.Really?

I asked my ' Ayappa' devotee friend Samir to explain the light at the top of the mountain at precisely the same time same day every year for ' centuries'. His reply was—this is a miracle and is beyond science.

Now I suspect that statements of this sort—that this is beyond science—is really an attempt to evade careful scrutiny, to prevent questioning and detailed investigation.

h When challenged to give details of success stories of 'cures' for example, the answer is invariably nothing more than a few anecdotes usually of people who cannot be easily reached. In any case anecdotal evidence is no evidence

Let me tell you about the makaravilakku at the famous Iyyapa temple in Kerala. Investigations have shown that this miracle light is no miracle—the temple authorities send some paid cronies to the mountain top to light the lamp.They have been doing this ' miracle' for any number of years.YET MILLIONS FLOCK EVERY YEAR TO SEE THIS MIRACLE AND THESE INNOCENTS HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THIS IS BEYOND SCIENCE!

As for alternate remedies even the term ' alternate' needs to be avoided.There are only two types of remedies— proven through rigorous testing or not proven. Even the so called allopathic medicines have to be proven through a tortuous process of clinical trials that may last a decade .

Thus if the claims made about fish therapy or any other remedy are to be taken seriously then a double blind randomized test has to be done. This is the only way in which patients can be protected from quacks

The reason why this subject leads to strong emotions— and these emotions cloud reasoned judgment-- is that the discussion descends to a US vs THEM debate .This is most unfortunate.

Thus when I ask that medical claims and claims of miracles be subjected to scientific scrutiny all that I ask is that the claim be supported by credible evidence gathered under controlled conditions.

Thus in the case of the makaravillaku when subjected to this kind of scrutiny—without the knowledge of the secretive temple authorities—the 'miracle' stood exposed..When a guruji claims to materialise a gold ring from thin air all that we ask is that he produce something bigger than his body or that he produce a ring dressed in only his undergarments.

To portray such evidence based thinking as a case of science vs religion or allopathy vs alternate remedies , is to miss the point.As far as I am concerned even a pharma company of world fame that claims to have come up with a treatment for say diabetes HAS TO STAND THE RIGOROUS TESTING PROCEDURE OF RANDOMIZED DOUBLE BLIND TRIALS. In fact the medical community expects that the new drug must be BETTER than the best drug available in the world.

As for science vs religion I have noticed a curious phenomenon People who profess one faith are willing to or even eager to demand ' SCIENTIFIC' evidence—of the kind I have been writing about in this piece—ONLY FOR MIRACLES OF ANOTHER RELIGION BUT BELIEVE BLINDLY IN MIRACLES OF THEIR OWN FAITH.

Thus when I asked my friend Sequeira if he would believe that a certain Hindu guruji was born like Jesus Christ -Immaculate Conception—he scoffed at the idea. I did not wait to ask him why he did not apply the same rigorous standard of ' evidence' to his belief.

There is another phenomenon that needs attention. Science and scientists are ready to admit that the human race is not able to understand and explain trillions of phenomena. Scientists are always willing to admit that all that we consider as ' certain knowledge' today may one day be proved wrong. All scientific ' truths' are really tentative hypotheses. These are ' true' given the current state of knowledge.Thus usually they talk of probabilities, rarely about certainties.

It is the 'prerogative' of religion and superstition to talk of certainties. Hence a scientist is humble but religous leaders seem cocksure!We can see the irony. A scientist who has performed tests a million times under controlled conditions to ascertain the advisability of drinking coffee, is still not sure of the reliability of his findings. But religous people who have never seen God are absolutely certain that they know about God and actually pray that God save those of other faiths who seem to have lost their way!.

To say thay something is ' beyond science' is to say that ' we do not wish to be subjected to impartial scrutiny'.

But my investigations hold out hope. Practitioners of alternate remedies are becoming smart.They tell their patients NOT to stop their current allopathic line of treatment.This a welcome departure motivated maybe by fear of lawsuits. But this also works to the advantage of the alternate remedy practitioner. Some patients are so gullible that when healing takes they can be persuaded that it is the alternate remedy that did the job. In case the patient died one can blame allopathy.

Practioners of miracles when caught red handed now say that these miracles are really sleight of hand that serve the purpose of a calling card We are told that once attracted by such ' miracles' people will flock to the Guruji who will then proceed with his ' true mission'' to guide them on the right path.

K.R.RAVI