Monday, September 30, 2013

Revelation and Hallucination - Are they the same thing?


I am interested in understanding human mind's capacity to communicate with the divine.
Please share your thoughts and observation from a scientific/logical point of view.

Answers that I am looking for:
  1. Exactly what was happening in the minds and bodies of prophets like Moses, Jesus, Mohammad and some of the recent claimants of prophet hood like Joseph Smith, Baha-Ullah and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
  2. What do scientists know about the inner working of human brain and how do they differentiate between Revelation and hallucination.
  3. What is the difference between a revelation and hallucination. Are they like two different radio stations broadcasting on the same frequency?

5 comments:

  1. Author Lesley Hazleton in her book 'After the Prophet' says that when verses of the holy Quran were revealed to him about his wife Aisha, the Prophet was sweating profusely. What are the other states that Prophet Mohammad was in when Quran was revealed to him?

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  2. Do we know how God spoke to Jesus?

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    Replies
    1. All 'revelations' are either honest insights, hallucinations, dreams, desires, or, for the most part, conscious fakeries, fruds and lies.

      Just read on the modern day prophets like Charles Manson. If you know one prophet, you know all.

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  3. It seems to me that the difference is evident from the outcome. For example, if someone claims to be a prophet, as a result of direct communication with God, and ends up having a huge positive impact on the society around him, then his experience can not be termed as hallucination.

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    Replies
    1. A friend of mine does not agree with this criteria. He gives the example of Joseph Smith who created a religion (Mormonism) and that religion has made an enormous impact on the world, most of it very positive.
      Is it possible that several prophets are talking to the same God and yet don't consider one another to be true.

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