Islam Rediscovered
1. Search for Truth
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1. The search for truth, by its very nature, is entirely
an intellectual exercise. Its findings too are
intellectual in nature. It is succesful when the
seeker finds rational answers to the questions he
poses about the universe and his own existence.
The search for truth is not a vague matter. It
begins from the conscious mind and also
culminates there.
The case of mysticism is quite different.
Mysticism, essentially based on intuition, is not
really a conscious intellectual process. As such,
the mystical experience is more an act of spiritual
intoxication than an effort to apprehend the truth
in intellectual terms. A drug user undergoes an
experience of inner pleasure which is too
vaguely and unconsciously felt to be explained
in comprehensible language. Similarly, what a
mystic experiences is a type of unconscious
ecstasy, which does not amount to a consciously
sought after or properly assessable discovery. On
the contrary, the search for truth is an intellectual
exercise from beginning to end.
