Fire and wood are directly connected because one needs wood to make fire. Ashes i.e. earth is the byproduct. From Earth, comes mineral and metals. Elaborate how from metals one gets water which connects back to wood. Hence, all these elements are connected. Elaborate what each element means
Moreover, the seemingly superstitious connotations associated with five element readings actually has a deeply logical and structured foundation based on the exact science of reading the texts and arriving at individual’s behavioral predictions.
Faizal: All this sounds good in theory but have you experience it in actuality?
Rena: Yes, my dad went for such a reading and they pointed out a deficiency of fire which stands for Drive and motivation. He tried to correct this internal imbalance by color balancing, semi precious stones energy (Elaborate) etc. I have personally seen that over the past 5 years, his drive and ambition has improved significantly.
Faizal: Initial agreement. Furthermore, there is truth in many other spiritual practices involving readings and fortune telling like Tarot cards, shaman reading etc. Narrate Old blind lady in Botswana, Yam, shells, turned direction.
Rena: So basically, it can’t be denied that there is some level of correctness in the predictions made by a host of spiritual fortune telling practices, so this real life issue unearths a deeper knowledge issue: ON WHAT BASIS CAN SPIRITUAL PREDICTIONS BE CONSIDERED AS KNOWLEDGE?
Faizal: Types of knowledge overview… rationalist, empiricist and logical necessities. Also, speak about the various ways of knowing like reason, intuition, emotion, perception, language and culture.
Rena: So for my great grandmother, she personally can put her experience as empiricist knowledge and her way of arriving at this ‘spiritual knowledge” is her own Perceptive experience. But can this tool of individual perception be trusted in knowledge acquisition and in the process of making knowledge claims? Moreover, beliefs and assumptions mar perceptions too, don’t they?
Faizal: Highlight some of the loopholes in using perception as a way of knowing and how to avoid such pitfalls. Introduce the topic of areas of knowledge and how some ways of knowing are more attuned to certain areas of knowledge e.g. in the areas of mathematics and science, logical reasoning is the primary way of knowing but in art and in religion, it is mainly emotion, perception and intuition. Lastly, establish the fact that Perception (Experience) is a trustworthy way of knowing in spiritual circles.
Rena: I agree with you that in terms of spiritual predictions, perception or intuition can be used as a valid and trustworthy way of knowing.
Faizal: Having established the fact that spiritual predictions do indeed belong in the realm of knowledge, our next knowledge issue in question is To what extent does the knowledge of spiritual predictions affect human behavior?
Rena: (Skeptical argument) Self fulfilling prophecy, placebo, power of mind… so all in all although the effect is as desired, the cause of success might not completely lie with the spiritual reading itself. The spiritual reading might have just given the person a relaxed frame of mind which might have alleviated the problem. How will we ever know whether spiritual predictions are really effective?
Faizal: One may beg to differ that spiritual predictions have any real positive effect, but it can’t be denied that there is a multi-billion industry surrounding spiritual predictions like Vastu, Feng Shui, Astrology, Palm reading, Five element readings, fortune telling etc. The widespread faith that people all over the world have in such predictions indicates that they do receive some solace and enlightenment through it.
Rena: Yes, that is true. In fact, check this video out on one of the world’s leading feng shui interior designers. (Please search for something – 2-3 advertisement etc on a top notch company and how they play with peoples’ minds)
Faizal: That is interesting. Actually, we don’t have to go so far to site uses of spiritual predictions. In Singapore, Marina bay sand, feng shui master, not win, they report million dollar quarter profits (Please elaborate) (Real Life situation 1). In Hong Kong, (Real Life situation 2) Hong Kong rich guy, window closed and then business is good. (Elaborate)
In conclusion, even though logical reasoning or reason might not really hold as a way of knowing in spiritual predictions, intuition, perception and emotion are powerful tools that humans use to establish the truth of these spiritual predictions and put them in the realm of knowledge. Their widespread use only indicates that, in arts, religions and spiritual circles, the heart is a better tool to make knowledge claims than the mind.
by
studiousity (student)
