Understanding Miracles
Shaky as the subject of thaumaturgy (the performance of miracles or magic) is, let’s begin with a basic definition of a miracle.
A miracle can be called an event, which is not producible by the natural causes that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs. Intervention by a supernatural agent is often cited, cause and effect theory suspended, something science—which essentially deals with the natural, the predictable—doesn’t account for.
Yet miracles don’t necessarily contradict science and its laws, only lie outside the scientific realm.
J.P. Moreland, the noted philosopher who wrote
Christianity and the
Nature of Science, illustrates divine intervention with the following example. According to the law of gravity, if you drop an object, it will fall to the earth. But, if an apple falls from a tree and you reach out to catch it before it hits the ground, you’re not violating or negating the law of gravity; you, with your free will are merely intervening, overriding the natural causes operative in that particular circumstance. According to Moreland,
God intervenes in a very similar fashion causing what we call ‘miracles’.
Pantheists explain miracles as supernormal, not supernatural. Fritjof Capra’s book, The Tao of Physics, an updated version of the pantheistic doctrine, concedes that all matter is, at heart, mystical, as those will agree who have plumbed the secrets of the atom. Miracles, to pantheists, are a manipulation of natural law. Great masters Sri Krishna, Buddha and Christ used their superior level of awareness and experience to manipulate certain universal natural laws and hidden natural energies. But to the ignorant multitudes beholding the event, they were ‘miracles’.
Miracles have the distinct purpose of glorifying
God and directing humanity to Him. Being revered while remaining invisible at the same time can be tough, and unless some small part of
God touches the material world He will remain inaccessible forever to those
seeking Him. Through occasional astonishing events that we term miracles, He reveals Himself, reaffirming faith in Him.
Deepak Chopra in How to Know
God suggests the existence of a ‘transition zone’ between
God and the material world, implying a space where
God and humans meet on common ground. This is the space where miracles occur along with holy visions, angels, even hearing the voice of God. It bridges the two worlds—human and divine. And because
God is a benign, nurturing force, miracles only produce and promote the good of humanity.
The Christian definition of a miracle has three basic elements that are reflected in the three words associated with miracles in the Bible: power, sign and wonder. The power of miracles comes from a
God who is infinite. The
nature of miracles inspires awe and wonder in those who experience them. They are definite signs, which convey and confirm God’s message of love.
A kriya
yoga newsletter says that miracles occur solely to serve a true and absolute spiritual goal—to initiate individuals on the path or speed up spiritual evolution. Tremendous effort and energy is required to create miracles on Earth, in the extremely dense and low vibration of this planet.
Understanding Miracles
Shaky as the subject of thaumaturgy (the performance of miracles or magic) is, let’s begin with a basic definition of a miracle.A miracle can be called an event, which is not producible by the natural causes that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs. Intervention by a supernatural agent is often cited, cause and effect theory suspended, something science—which essentially deals with the natural, the predictable—doesn’t account for.
Yet miracles don’t necessarily contradict science and its laws, only lie outside the scientific realm.
J.P. Moreland, the noted philosopher who wrote Christianity and the Nature of Science, illustrates divine intervention with the following example. According to the law of gravity, if you drop an object, it will fall to the earth. But, if an apple falls from a tree and you reach out to catch it before it hits the ground, you’re not violating or negating the law of gravity; you, with your free will are merely intervening, overriding the natural causes operative in that particular circumstance. According to Moreland, God intervenes in a very similar fashion causing what we call ‘miracles’.
Pantheists explain miracles as supernormal, not supernatural. Fritjof Capra’s book, The Tao of Physics, an updated version of the pantheistic doctrine, concedes that all matter is, at heart, mystical, as those will agree who have plumbed the secrets of the atom. Miracles, to pantheists, are a manipulation of natural law. Great masters Sri Krishna, Buddha and Christ used their superior level of awareness and experience to manipulate certain universal natural laws and hidden natural energies. But to the ignorant multitudes beholding the event, they were ‘miracles’.
Miracles have the distinct purpose of glorifying God and directing humanity to Him. Being revered while remaining invisible at the same time can be tough, and unless some small part of God touches the material world He will remain inaccessible forever to those seeking Him. Through occasional astonishing events that we term miracles, He reveals Himself, reaffirming faith in Him.
Deepak Chopra in How to Know God suggests the existence of a ‘transition zone’ between God and the material world, implying a space where God and humans meet on common ground. This is the space where miracles occur along with holy visions, angels, even hearing the voice of God. It bridges the two worlds—human and divine. And because God is a benign, nurturing force, miracles only produce and promote the good of humanity.
The Christian definition of a miracle has three basic elements that are reflected in the three words associated with miracles in the Bible: power, sign and wonder. The power of miracles comes from a God who is infinite. The nature of miracles inspires awe and wonder in those who experience them. They are definite signs, which convey and confirm God’s message of love.
A kriya yoga newsletter says that miracles occur solely to serve a true and absolute spiritual goal—to initiate individuals on the path or speed up spiritual evolution. Tremendous effort and energy is required to create miracles on Earth, in the extremely dense and low vibration of this planet.