In our interview with Dr. Charles Townes from California, a Nobel laureate, the core message of the lead article is further developed; Townes notes “the most fundamental and human question is the meaning of life.” According to Townes, religion and science are much more consistent with one another than people think and questions like “why are we here and what should we do? How did life begin, why is the world the way it is?” can be answered by studying both.

In this issue we have two pieces on music. In our interview with Dr. Jeffrey Thompson he notes that sound is used in all cultures on earth “as a prominent technique in healing or religious rites or as a means of attaining a change of consciousness, one way or another.” Starting from being a fetus in our mother’s womb, human beings are first exposed to sound at a younger age and more predominantly than other senses, like sight. Sounds can provide a form of relaxation therapy when the right tones are found and played in a way that connects us to our primordial state, taking us away from the din of our daily activities.

Julie Ann Cunningham discusses the healing power of music in human history and today. She explains how healing was made possible in ancient civilizations from the priest-physicians of Egypt to musicologists and mystics of India to Abu Bakr Razi, who treated patients suffering from depression more than a thousand years ago. For Cunningham, “music is a language that crosses the barriers of human vocal languages.”

Above all, it should be said that this saying is weak in regard to the hadith criteria. However, there is a verse in the Quran that expresses the same idea: “In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for the people of discernment” (Al Imran 3:190). In one hadith the Messenger of God emphasizes the importance of contemplation: “Whoever reads this verse and does not contemplate on it, shame on him.” In addition, it was reported by Umm Salama and-according to another narration-Aisha, that the Prophet cried when this verse was revealed or when he was reading it.

Contemplation has a very important place in the life of a believer. However, for this to be the case we must understand what contemplation means. First of all, contemplation is based on prior knowledge. Blind and ignorant contemplation is dry imagination and in time it will lead to frustration. Later, a person will begin to see such a practice as meaningless. For this reason, a person must first be familiar with the subject they are going to contemplate or, in other words, they must have some prior information.

Understanding the orbit of the moon and stars, their relation to humanity, the revolution of atoms which make up human beings, and their movement is a step towards contemplation, but looking at the movement of the moon and sun and becoming overwhelmed with poetic inspiration about the mind-boggling beauty of the universe is not contemplation. There are a number of lonely, strange, handicapped naturalist poets who think like this and plunge into their imagination. They are not contemplators; rather they are fanciful people who have lost their hearts to Mephistopheles.

They also can sometimes think and talk about the beauty of the universe. Worldly beauty can be made to be legendary with words, inspiring people to feel and hear the beauties of Heaven. Sometimes poets can write such epics about the splashing of water, the tapping of raindrops, the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds that a person feels as if they are in the middle of the heavens. However, this is not contemplation; moreover, it promises nothing for the life of the heart and spirit. In this way no advances are made and one has not passed behind the veils. There is no benefit from such contemplation. Regardless of how deep the dreams are, such contemplation gains nothing for a person.

As mentioned above, before contemplation it is necessary that there first be some information. In respect to the knowledge humanity has now attained, people will make new syntheses and analyses with the previous knowledge, probing deeper and arriving at different conclusions. Using these conclusions as an introductory basis for future conclusions, new results will be produced. These new results will be contemplated more deeply; one-dimensional thinking will become multi-dimensional and multiple-contemplation will be achieved. All of this is dependent on there being information. It is impossible for people to contemplate without information.

For this reason, it is necessary to do a lot of reading. Later, it is necessary to study the path and method of contemplation and finally the rules that are operative in nature and the signs of creation therein should be studied so that we can create the possibility of steady and sound thinking.

If a person contemplates soundly for one hour, the fundamental principles of faith will develop in that person. Later, that person will love God and a profound love for the divine will appear in their heart. Meanwhile, they will attain spiritual pleasure and take flight towards the beyond. Sometimes with this kind of contemplation a person can reach a horizon that another person has not reached with a thousand years of worship. If one with such an understanding and consciousness does not turn towards their Lord, then even after thinking superficially for a thousand years, the distance they will cover will not equal the distance covered by one hour of contemplation. However, this should not be understood to mean that this one thousand years of worship was in vain. For in God’s presence neither a bow or prostration or standing or a short rest between movements can be lost. In accordance with the verses, “whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it” (Zilzal 99:7–9), everyone will gain something in accordance with their actions. A person who performs worship will have fulfilled their devotion to God. However, they will not have gained the depth that is derived from contemplation. In this sense, contemplation is worth a thousand years of worship.

Everyone can broaden their ability to contemplate with portions of the scripture and remembrance, and they can strengthen their relationship with God. Who knows, maybe because of the enthusiasm that this contemplation will give us we can succeed in renewing ourselves. May God reform us inside and out!

Finally, it is also asked: “Do verses that direct one to contemplation and silent prayer count as contemplation?” If the meaning of these is not understood, then, although one will receive merit for them, they are not contemplation. For contemplation stems from reflection and means bringing together events from yesterday and today, making a synthesis, and establishing a connection between the causes and effects. Strengthening our relationship with God is the most important fruit of this. Any remembrance or verse or, in fact, even listening to the scripture from the mouth of Gabriel himself would be merit, but it is not contemplation. To be considered as contemplation there must be a concentration, focus, a serious investigation and a deepening and strengthening of our relationship with our Lord.

What is most lacking today is contemplation. In this respect, it is not an exaggeration to say that in general believers are deficient in contemplation.

Just like it is unimaginable to be in love with anything without considering its reasons and motives, it is unlikely that everyone is receptive of inner dimension at all times. Some are born as receptive while some keep on developing this aptitude of theirs for a whole lifetime, then subsequent to a certain term, they attain a capacity large enough for encompassing space and time in their entirety. Such individuals lead their lives in an appetite for inner meaning and metaphysical profundity on an infinite scale and throughout the path they live as if their hunger is insatiable. Many others obtain material and corporeal phenomena to achieve fulfillment but time and again grow weary as this often turns into routine. However the ones with their spiritual lives that are transcendent above the boundaries of reality at full speed and with an endless yearning, walk on new paths, stop over at different places, associate each visited place with a wisdom in the real time context and in connection with the past and future stations; in search of divine knowledge, love and spiritual delight, they roam with incessant desire, just like lovers seeking each other, running from one horizon to another.

The created’s relationship of intense, ecstatic love and yearning with the Creator is for mortal and ephemeral beings the horizon of metamorphosis and becoming immortal by attaining a second existence via their essence. Considering a different perspective, such a relationship is a lover’s stripping of his or her existence and growing radiant and spiritual, thereby melting in the beloved’s existence and submitting altogether to His will. Having reached to such a spiritual culmination, each soul is purified to the extent of decency in the heart, even as it is a mere particle, it reaches a breadth huge enough to encompass the entire creation and becomes “the perfect pattern of creation.” Such a relationship that commences with belief and develops through divine knowledge, deepening with love and attaining eternity through passion, is a sort of reply we give to what God, the All-Truth, seeks in us. Thanks to such a relationship God’s presence is always felt free from any limitations of quality or quantity in the course of which an infinite bliss flutters about constantly. Except for such a horizon of delight which turns thousands of souls proceeding on the line extending from all prophets and saints, as well as – irrespective of any differences in considerations – such heroes of love like Musset, Pascal, St. Augustine, and Jeans into moths to the flame; a manifest chain of calamities are Pharaoh-like tyranny and vanity, Nimrod-like decadence and deviance, delirium and insanity, lack of vision and utter dejection that befog humanity’s atmosphere of thought, invade their hearts with doldrums, and even turn their lives into a void within a void. Contrary to the former group’s use of this world as a spiral of human perfection and turning celestial, the latter, by indulging in the darkness they bred within their own souls, sentenced themselves to eternal death.

Those who are open to spiritual life from the very beginning or those who have waken up for such a horizon after a surprise favor from God – no matter if their paths at times intersect with murky darkness – lead their lives as one with light and chase light for a whole lifetime. Just in that way, their every distress is the outset of a new expansion and each suffering is the travails of a new birth.

Almost all respites across the globe have always been nurtured by hardships and developed on the bosom of oppressions. Each period of love and enthusiasm has materialized throughout an episodic span of suffering and tribulation. Just like Greek philosophy gained its perfection through love and ordeal in the valleys of reflection and inquisitiveness, the Renaissance movement too developed after nurtured by love of truth and ardor for research. The inner dimension of the cycle of other historical recurrences in the same extent is yet another topic entitled to special consideration…

In the realm of the faithful, ardor for eternity, love for truth, systematic reflection and inquisitiveness experienced a phase of eruption to an extent out of bounds and either directly or indirectly radiated the world for centuries. How we wished the continuance of such a golden age! How sad it is that time, in consequence of countless reasons and throughout subsequent periods, has revealed unpredictably agonizing interpretations against our favor. In the present era we are in need of superhuman efforts to imbue the flow of time with our own colors. Not only shall we live in utter misery until the time we display such an endeavor, put forward our genuine character and aptitude by means of sufferance and anguish, and crochet our lacework of thought and life in accordance to these; neither does it seem possible to form a moral movement which is nurtured by a unique array of faithful life, art or science. Just like individuals devoid of love and divine knowledge, the nations experiencing the same deficiency are also doomed to collapse and disintegrate.

Individuals or societies, who are sealed against metaphysical thought and without profundity in essence, one day, after losing their entire vital dynamics altogether, get strewn and scattered around just like autumn leaves. In such a condition, cultural movements stagnate, slowly the society, with the young and the old, with its numerous walks of life, grows tired and educational institutions succumb to formalism. Words of thought and learning lose their real essence and context, then as a consequence everything becomes a means of conceit and airs for the administrators of the ill-fated educational institutions. Conversely, in Ancient Greece, across the Islamic world (especially in the fourth century following its advent), and during the Renaissance years in the West, those stunning developments had always sprouted in the condition of countless pangs; were nurtured by the love for truth and passion for divine knowledge; depicted through arts and technology, then were entrusted to history by way of reconciling them with the societies’ spiritual and essential values.

For the last one or two centuries a major part of the world has been experiencing complete loss of sight, severe spiritual infirmity, and arrhythmia in hearts. The condition is such that eyes can see nothing, ears cannot hear a sound, and consciences cannot make their voices heard amidst the din of those who seek everything in material. In such a world science is blind, religion is lame, art is paralyzed, government is incoherent and is caught in the web of oppositions and overthrows. Politics is linked to interests and acclaims, people of science are in pursuit of medals and awards, young generations are light-headed, carefree and in delirium, the mighty are locked in on despotism and tyranny-in the face of all these things the masses moan under misery and humiliation. In such a society there may be many people who read, think, do research, and dream of arts. However, among them only a very few rise against various privations, each making a retreat to the depths of their hearts and strive to explore their spiritual strength. On the other hand, there are innumerable individuals, each of whom follow a different idol and are in vigil of a different expectation; those who are disrespectful to knowledge, insensible for morals, superficial on the passion for truth and extremely unfaithful to upholding their own values. Curious enough, in such a society the ever-despised and disdained popular crowds display through their voices discourses and traits, a more coherent stance than a group of insincere elites whose minds are as disorderly as their hearts and whose emotions are as inconsistent as their thoughts.

Seemingly, we need nothing else but the “hearts of fire” who will deliver us from such an extent of misery and indolence, and make us hear the voices of our own souls. It seems that until the time each of these sincere hearts – by means of erupting streams of lava from their magma-like bosoms – will form everywhere new avenues for our society and channel us towards the horizon of our fortune; we will always suffer from the disadvantages of our indolence. We will undergo stifling anguish around the clock and will never be able to get on our feet again. On these days, as people turn to metaphysics and spiritualism, we wish from God to bestow vigor on our willpower and radiance on our horizons.

Original Article: Gibson, D.G. et al., Science Express (2010).

A team of genome researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in the U.S recently announced that after almost 15 years of work and with a budget of $40 million, they had finally built the first bacterial strain with a completely synthetic genome. In the study, researchers chopped the genome of Mycoplasma mycodies into 1,000 pieces in the computer, chemically synthesized these fragments and assembled them into an artificial chromosome in yeast cells. The reconstructed artificial genome was subsequently transferred to a closely related bacterium Mycoplasma capricolum, whose genome was removed. Remarkably, the strain with the artificial genome was able to guide the protein machinery of the host cells, produce the necessary enzymes and macromolecules for a bacterium to survive and most importantly to grow and divide. Team leader Prof. J. Craig Venter, best known for his pioneering efforts in human genome mapping project, commented on their findings as “we created a ‘synthetic cell’ and it is the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is computer.” Many media sources also publicized the study as the first successful creation of the artificial life. As much as the scientific community agreed that the synthesis, transfer and retention of a functional synthetic genome is a breakthrough, most of the scientists have found Prof. Venter’s comments and the media’s reflection on the study to be somewhat of an overstatement. It would be quite unfair to call the new bacteria an example of “artificial life.” The synthesized genome was a copy of another living bacterium with slight modifications. The genome is a blueprint, whereas the proteins perform the actual cellular functions. This new approach shows that we can copy the book of cellular blueprints reliably but it brings no new parts to our inventory. Moreover, the synthetic genome had to be assembled in live yeast cells, processed with biochemical extracts from mycoplasma cells and finally transplanted into another (closely related) live cell. In other words, “natural life” was absolute prerequisite for the so-called “artificial life.” The generation of a fully functioning organism directed by machine-synthesized genome certainly represents a major step in our ability to manipulate large chunks of genetic material. It is clear that this study will positively influence many scientists, especially synthetic biologists, to try writing novel “synthetic” software to recruit the variety of organisms’ cellular hardware for solving various global problems like energy shortage or environmental pollution. However, the philosophical questions that probe the essence of life, like: “Can we reduce life to material? Is the human being ever going to be able to build a live cell from only a few chemicals?” will likely remain as major controversial issues for many years in the age of molecular biology.

2- Sharing the powers of Spiderman

Original Article: Vogel, M.J. & Steen, P.H., PNAS (published online before print on February 4, 2010).

The adhesive powers of Spiderman, jumping from one building to another and walking on the walls, attracted most of our interests. The recent invention of scientists from Cornell University brings this power from science fiction cartoons/movies to the real life. Inspired from a little creature, leaf beetle, which can stick to leaves by generating a force exceeding 100 times its body weight, these researchers designed a device which can stick to surfaces by using the adhesive powers of water. The device consists of a plate not thicker than a credit card with hundreds of tiny holes on it. The water is pumped through these holes, which builds liquid bridges between surfaces and thus generates a strong adhesive force. Simply pushing back the water un-sticks the device in a controllable and switchable manner. There are no solid moving parts nor any kinds of glue used in the system, and this makes device even more promising. The capabilities of the device are not at the level of the leaf beetle yet, but the inventors believe that it can be improved by building on the same principles. The system can potentially be used in many practical applications, such as robotics, and it can also be implemented into shoes and gloves allowing them to stick to surfaces. Accordingly, it is no longer improbable to imagine sharing the sticky-powers of Spiderman and walking on the walls very soon.

3- Igniting a Supernova

Original Article: Gilfanov, M. & Bogdan, A., Nature 463, 924 (2010).

upernova: the Rosetta stone that may help us put together the missing pieces of the cosmic jigsaw puzzle; one of the most energetic and most luminous explosions in the universe, putting out energies equivalent to what our sun could produce in 10 billion years. Yet the mechanism that produces these explosions still eludes us. Once our sun consumes its remaining fuel in another 5 billion years, it will shrink into a “white dwarf.” These compact stars are believed to produce subsequent explosions leading to supernovas if they reach beyond a critical limit of mass. One way to gain mass is to steal material from a companion star through an “accretion” process. Accretion was thought to be the most common means that might help push the mass of a white dwarf beyond the critical mass limit, until a recent study revealed that two clashing (in-spiraling) white dwarfs might be the missing fuse that ignites supernovas. German astronomers measured the X-ray flux of four nearby elliptical galaxies and the core of the Andromeda Galaxy to see whether the amount of X-rays from these galaxies are consistent with predictions based upon the accretion mechanism. Contrary to expectations, the observed X-rays were 2–3% of the amount that would have been produced if accreting white dwarfs were the primary trigger of supernova explosions. Hence, perhaps merging white dwarfs are more commonplace in the cosmos after all.

4- Strategy of bats finding their way

Original Article: Yovel Y et al., Science 327, 701 (2010).

Bats, dolphins, shrews and swiftlets use sound waves for navigation and hunting. They emit short sonar pulses and listen to the echoes reflecting back from solid objects. Microsecond differences in the arrival times of echoes are coded by detector neurons and used as a main cue for positioning objects in an environment. This phenomenon is known as biosonar. A recent study published in Science reveals one unknown part of this perfect sound processing strategy. The study shows that bats do not center the sonar beam on the target. Instead, they aim to match the maximum slope of the beam to the target in order to increase the signal-to- noise ratio. Around the sharp edge, small variations of the target position can be detected as a clear signal change in reflected sound intensity. Furthermore, the researchers showed that if the environment is very noisy, bats could bias this critical point to increase amplitude of the echoes. This powerful technique has already been employed by humans in engineering and used in various technological tools such as atomic force microcopy. Whether this strategy is used in general by other echolocating animals remains to be answered.

Is life unpredictable? Do we choose our own thoughts or our own path through this life? Are we beings who truly have the free will to decide which path we will take or which choice we will make? Or do we live and breathe in a completely deterministic world? Are we merely an aggregation of particles that react and respond in predictable ways? Most scientists would agree that on the atomic level there is a certain amount of predictability, but what about the curious behavior of particles on the subatomic or quantum level? And what does this strange behavior have to do with us?

Here, let us explore the quantum theory and what it might be able to tell us about ourselves and how we interact with the people and the world around us. If we live in a world where the behavior of particles cannot be predicted, then can we conclude from this that human beings and the human mind are just as unpredictable as quantum particles? We met with Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Charles Townes in Berkeley California. Townes is the inventor of the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) which led to the laser, something that has changed our world in profound ways. He received the Templeton Award.

Scientific discoveries

Matter & Beyond: The spirit of adventure, this wanting to wander from the beaten path, do you think that this goes hand in hand with being not only a scientist, but a scientist such as yourself who makes incredible discoveries?

Well I think exploration and trying to see new things and look at things that other people haven’t seen are all part of invention and a part of scientific discovery. So you need that attitude of exploration.

M&B: In your book How the Laser Happened you mention some responses when you started talking to people about your initial theories. Ike Bowen said, “Well, I’m very sorry to tell you but I don’t think radio waves are ever going to tell us anything about astronomy.”

Yes. Ike Bowen was a very famous professor and very intelligent; he’s done excellent astronomy and so on, but he didn’t think radio waves would work. One of the things you have to do to explore is to try things other people don’t think will work. There are many times in my life when I’ve done that. For example, when I was trying to build the first maser, I was told by two Nobel Laureates, “oh look, that’s not going to work, we know it’s not going to work, you know it’s not going to work, you have to stop; it’s a waste of money and time.”

M&B: Isn’t this an example of how some scientists box themselves in by trying to measure what is unknown only with what is known?

Yes, it’s very common that people close their eyes to really new things. But one should be able to disagree if you think there really may be something there; you should try it out. That’s what I did. I tried it out, and radio astronomy has turned out to be a very important field.

M&B: You had this feeling about it, but Ike Bowen didn’t.

I was rather more familiar with radio waves and microwaves than Dr. Bowen was. That may be part of it; but one’s instinct is also involved. Where do revelations come from? Where do new thoughts come from? It was something that I thought might be there, but I did know a little more about microwaves than he did.

M&B: Looking back what would you tell fellow scientists – would you give them advice based on this?

Perhaps my advice is think about the things you think might pay off and don’t be too persuaded by what other people think. Be willing to differ with other people, but think very carefully about what you’re doing. Be sure that you think it’s likely to work.

Religious discoveries

M&B: In addition to the Nobel Prize you have also won the prestigious Templeton Award. How did you become interested in this dialogue between science and religion?

Firstly, I’m both religiously oriented and scientifically oriented. In spite of many apparent conflicts between the two, in my mind there is no actual conflict. They’re much more consistent with each other than people think; in fact they help each other. Each can learn something about one from the other, and I felt it was time to point this out to people and emphasize it.

M&B: According to what you say in your acceptance speech for the Templeton Award, you started expressing your ideas about science and religion as early as the 1960s?

First I was asked to give a talk about it and then I wrote an article. It eventually became very, very popular and I was asked to give many more talks. So my ideas began to spread and I think this had an important affect on thinking at the time; this is why I received the Templeton Award.

M&B: Were you surprised at the reaction you received to this article?

I was surprised how fascinated people were about it, yes. In fact, it was the editor of Think Magazine who telephoned me and asked me if they could publish it. Think is a publication by IBM. I said, “all right; if you’d like to publish it that’s okay.” So he published it, then everybody began to read it and wanted to publish it in other places. I was impressed how interested people were; I was also pleased. I thought it was very important to try to understand the correlation between science and religion. Both are very important to us and to understand the correlation between them is important.

M&B: Where do you think the popularity of this comes from? This obviously resonates in many people.

I think religion is very important to many people, as it is to me, and science is important too; religious people want to try to understand it. They’re also pleased to learn that a scientist thinks that science and religion are consistent with one another; they want to learn more about such ideas.

M&B: Would you like to comment on the limits of scientific knowledge versus the limits of spiritual or religious knowledge?

Both are limited, as I have mentioned before. A set of assumptions are made and we use logic to try to derive things from that; but we can never be sure that these assumptions are consistent. Now, in addition we know that there are many puzzles in science. We are finding fantastic things. For example, many scientists, including Einstein, didn’t think the universe could have a beginning. Of course how could it possibly have a beginning; it couldn’t have started from nothing. Now we know the discovery of the “Big Bang.” The universe did indeed have a beginning. That was previously a religious view, but not a scientific view. Now suddenly we learn it had a beginning and this shows that science can shed some light on religion.

M&B: So what do you think are the most important and fundamental human questions; perhaps the top three?

A: Well, I suppose the most fundamental and human question is the meaning of life. Why are we here and what should we do? The meaning of life is a very important and interesting question. How did life begin, why is the world the way it is? We know the universe has to be almost exactly the way it is for us to be here, but how did it turn out to be that way? So there are many very basic and interesting questions, and of course how we should live depends on what we think this is all about. These are very fundamental and interesting questions.

M&B: Some say that science answers the “how” and religion answers the “why.” How do you react to this statement?

It’s something like that. I would say science is an examination of what the world is like, or what the universe is like. Even humans: science tells us what we are like and how we work. Religion examines what the purpose and meaning of the universe is, as well as that of humans and human life is. If there is a purpose and meaning, they must have something to do with what we’re like, and what we do, and so on. How we work must have something to do with this purpose and meaning, and so, if we understand one very thoroughly maybe we will be able to understand the other.

M&B: What can science learn from religion and what can religion learn from science?

I think some religious people have been too absolutist. Some scientists are too absolute as well. They think; science really understands that, this is all there is and nothing else. I think in both cases we should recognize that we don’t understand everything and must be ready to change our views to some extent. Maybe in general we know what is approximately right, but we must recognize that we don’t understand everything. Actually, religion has helped science and vice-versa at various times.

M&B: Could you give us some examples from the past about how religion and science interacted.

I would have to say that I believe science was a result of religion, and religion was monotheistic with a single God who created this universe and planned it. This has substantially affected early scientific views. The Greeks, for example, felt they could figure out what the world was like just from logic – they thought that it had to be a certain way and they thought about it using logic, trying to figure out what the world was like. Now, if there’s a God who created the universe, then God created the universe and made it the way He wanted it. So let’s find out what it’s like; if God created the world, then it should be consistent and reliable. So that, I think, was the background for the beginning of basic science. What is this universe really like and is it consistent, can we rely on it and predict it? So the religious idea of a single God that created the universe was basic to the beginning of science, or at least European science.

M&B: So that’s how religion inspired scientific questions. And how does science shed light on religion?

The Greeks, as I said, thought they could figure out everything just from logic, without observations. Now we have observations, we have to see what the world is like. As we learn what it is like this will shed some light on its purpose and meaning. I’ve already mentioned that we have discovered that there was a beginning of all things. We are able to understand more and more over recent years. The laws of science have to be almost exactly as they are if we are to be here. Atomic forces and electromagnetic forces have to be almost exactly the way they are for the chemicals that we need for our bodies to be here. Nuclear forces and gravitation have to be almost exactly the way they are for the stars to be here and to last so long. The sun, for example, is here for billions of years, shining on us and keeping us alive. Our life depends on the laws of science; they have to be almost exactly the way they are. We recognize that now; but why are they this way? Well, that’s the origin of the expression “intelligent planning.” Somehow it was planned, (intelligent planning) to make it come out this way, why else would it be otherwise?

M&B: But still, there are some alternative explanations as well.

Some people think that maybe there are billions and billions of different universes and each one is a little different. Well, that’s a possibility, but why would the laws of science differ from one universe to the other and so on? That’s an arbitrary assumption, but maybe. Otherwise one has to say: gee, maybe it was planned. For everything to come out exactly this way will shed some light; perhaps this was a planned and created universe. Science and religion interact and shed some light on one another; and I think as we learn more about each they will interact more.

Undiscovered territories: quantum mechanics and free will

M&B: With the birth of the quantum theory, there are some religious people who say that this gives us a clue into the true nature of reality. They have made the leap and they’re saying that our perception of something actually changes the nature of it. Would you like to comment on this?

Quantum mechanics describes how atoms and molecules behave and so on; that’s very important to us. But quantum mechanics is very puzzling in many ways. It’s really changed our views of what physics is like and what the world is like, fundamentally and philosophically. But it’s also very puzzling because it says that if you send a small particle through a hole, it may go this way or that way, and one can never know which way it goes until you look at it. But before you look at it, it may be here and it may be there, or it may continue to be in a combination of both places; but once you look at it, then it’s definitely there as you see it. Now why humans – why the observations of humans – have such an important effect, that’s a little puzzling. What role is it that humans really play in deciding just where the atom is and so on? In any case, quantum mechanics is a really remarkable and strange phenomenon which we don’t understand at all. It says that things are unpredictable and it’s changed our ideas of a deterministic world to one of a non-deterministic world. It is non-deterministic and one can never predict what it will do exactly.

M&B: Could you explain this to somebody who is really not a scientific person; do you think you could walk me through it?

Well, maybe. Now if we throw a baseball, once we see it start going we think we know what way it will go. But if we throw an atom, then quantum mechanics says that’s not predictable. It even says the baseball isn’t completely predictable, but it’s almost predictable. So it’s predictable with a precision we can measure. But for an atom, which has a much smaller mass, it’s not predictable and it may go this way, up, down, left, right. The laws of physics says that it can go all these different ways and we don’t know which way it’s going until we actually measure it. If we detect the atom here, then we know, “okay, it’s going this way.” But until that time, the atom is maybe in all these different places at the same time or at least in any one of them. We don’t know. Now that also means that in a sense all of life is unpredictable. We are made of atoms and these atoms do things. So, while we can assume roughly what’s going to happen in life we don’t know for sure.

M&B: Some people are making the leap, suggesting that because of the laws in quantum mechanics one’s thoughts somehow interact with the macro world. How would you respond to that?

There is no evidence of that at all. I don’t think quantum mechanics allows that. I know people have thought: well maybe this will allow some new things of that type, but it doesn’t. As noted earlier, one of the great problems is free will. How can we have free will and what is consciousness and what is free will? Science doesn’t allow free will, but that doesn’t mean that science is complete. Our present science doesn’t allow free will and we should recognize that. If we have free will then there is something new and different that we have yet to understand.

M&B: Some people think that the principle of uncertainty is a basis for free will; what are the arguments and counter arguments to this?

It is sometimes thought that because of the principle of uncertainty things are not predictable; this gives us a freedom of choice. But it doesn’t. We have a theory that’s being developed which shows how we can test whether or not there can be any outside force of any kind coming in to affect quantum mechanics; we carry out experiments that show that this cannot be. Thus, we do not have free will in accordance with our present understanding of science. It’s tempting to think that maybe this is not the case, but unfortunately it is.

M&B: Well, when you say that science doesn’t allow free will, my first thought is “so what? as a human being can I not decide that I want to live my life this way as opposed to that way ?

A present understanding is that science doesn’t allow free will. There has to be some new laws, something new, perhaps a new dimension somehow, a spiritual dimension or some new dimension. Something has to be happening if we have free will. Maybe we don’t have free will; however, if we really believe that we have free will, there must be something completely new that we don’t understand. This is an example of science and religion interacting and shedding light on one another. Our belief that we are able to decide this way or that is just an illusion; we merely think that we’re making a decision. There’s also the question of what is it that leads us to make a decision, where is this thing? Where is the human you envision? How do you define a human, where and what is this thing that has free will?

M&B: Do you believe that we can be reduced to being kind of a skin encapsulated computer, just a brain sitting on top of our shoulders?

Personally, I think we have free will. Most people think we have free will, even if science doesn’t allow for it. I am only saying that there is something new here we don’t understand; we have to go on from there.

M&B: What most excites you at the present time?

Well, I’m more and more impressed by what a wonderful world this is. I’m very curious and I’d like to learn more about it and have better instincts and more insight into it. It is truly remarkable.

Interview conducted by Mustafa Tabanli for Ebru TV for the Emmy Award winning television series Matter and Beyond. For more information and the full episodes visit http://www.ebru.tv

Here is our vision on the eve of our journey: Pregnant women go through a period when they feel hungry for a great quantity and variety of food. This is because of what is growing in them; what is buried in the night of the womb. Similarly, when somebody is seeded with an inspiration or when one reaches a time in life that marks the activation of a potential, one feels hunger according to the needs of that inspiration or potential so that it can realize itself in this physical world. A child needs to eat in order to build his body; hence, they feel hunger for food. Adolescents need to become separate individuals by finding their own personalities; hence, they feel hunger for freedom. As young people grow, they reach a time when they are ready to establish a family; hence they feel hunger for beauty and loyalty. The elderly experience the hardships of this life more intensely, and they feel the proximity of the end of their lives; hence, they feel hunger for relaxation and eternity.

On the day of our journey, as we reflect on our vision of the past night, we conclude that depending on the way it is created, each organ of the human body feels hunger, and needs food accordingly. The hunger of the body is satisfied with food, the hunger of the mind is quenched by knowledge, and the hunger of heart by inspiration and love. This list can be extended for the other organs or faculties of a human. Therefore, as human beings, we need not only food to sustain the life of our biological body, but also food for our other faculties such as vision, hearing, spirit, mind, and so on.

As our ship sails through the ocean, we experience a storm in the early afternoon. The clouds make the day seem like night. As the hours pass, we feel saddened. Since we have already been craving light, the nightfall brings a definite darkness to the world outside and inside. This sad state shapes the vision of the second night. We come to understand that we need light and, therefore, we feel hunger for light. The daytime corresponds to our period of feeding with light, and the nighttime to the period when we feel hunger for light. Thus, alternation of day and night also becomes a part of our spiritual lives, aside from the astronomical sense.

Interestingly, just as night and darkness on one side of the earth correspond to daytime on the other, the hunger of one part of the human body corresponds to the feeding time of some other parts. For example, the spirit is fed by keeping away from the material world, and conversely, our body is fed by the material world. As we feed our spirit, our body becomes hungry; then, as we feed our body, our spirit becomes hungry. This is the state of a healthy human character. Trying to make the day of one part permanent will result in the collapse and death of the entire system. Therefore, too much indulgence in worldly pleasures or an extreme refusal of the world are both unhealthy attitudes. This fact brings us to the conclusion that change is a blessing for the continuity of our biological, spiritual and mental lives.

With these thoughts in our minds, we get up the next morning to bright sunshine. As we inhale the fresh air, our contemplation brings us to the conclusion that we need opposites or contrasting experiences in order to appreciate the value of the blessings we have in our lives. The continuity of blessings without their opposites leads to a degeneration in our perception of them. For example: a child who has caring parents does not understand how valuable it is to have such parents; people who do not suffer from hunger cannot appreciate the value of the food they eat; people who have never been poor would take for granted the peace derived from being able to find what they need. Given that the manifestations of God’s attributes are the provisions to quench the varying hunger types arising from our organs and senses, a lack of appreciation of these foods means ignorance of God. To save us from this innate ignorance, God changes His creation periodically so that different kinds and levels of hunger make us understand, feel and experience all levels of qualities in God’s works.

After so much sailing in the spiritual and mental realms, our body falls hungry, and we share lunch with friends. The minor rain shower in the afternoon reminds us of the vision in the previous night, which was inspired by the analogous relation between daytime and feeding, and nighttime and hunger. Knowing that these alternations are omnipresent, the entire universe becomes a palace filled with different kinds of feasts that address the hunger of all our senses.1 An explosion of gratitude towards God shakes us.

During the night, the clouds disappear from the skies, and the face of the heavens draws our gaze with irresistible beauty. Our eyes remain locked on deep distances, as the fresh waters of inspiration flow into our hearts. The level of satisfaction we feel at that moment recalls the moments before setting out on this exploration, and there comes the vision of the night: all this started because of our desire to learn what was hidden behind the question regarding the kind of pregnancy to which everybody is entitled. Desire is a kind of hunger. For anybody, the possibility of change depends on the level of desire, and hence the level of hunger, and hunger is a means of education. Many people can remember how they changed during their adolescence when they felt intense hunger for beauty. Even animals can be trained to perform certain actions based on a hunger-feeding cycle that reinforces those actions. Also, it is reported that God tested Satan with very many different things upon his rebellion. Each time, Satan would not give up his rebellion. But when he was tormented with hunger, only then he said, “You are my Lord, and I am Your slave.”

By now, it has been several days since we left the comfortable lands, where we did not have these questions in mind. At this moment, we are in the middle of the ocean with no land on the horizon, no clue to the answer to the initial problem we set out to solve. It could be that we have undertaken all this toil in vain, that everything was just a figment of our imagination. What if we cannot even go back, and instead we drown in this ocean of questions and visions? No, no, all this cannot be a mere lie. But what if …

We are in a deep and vast ocean, nobody knows the way back home, and nobody knows if the new land really exists. Our food is almost gone, and the extreme uncertainty of the future increases our tension. We need someone who can turn our night into day, someone who knows where we are and where and what our imagined reality actually is. Along with the imaginary character of our visions, the alternation of day and night betrays us; we are stuck in a night of uncertainty and sadness. We need someone to make them alternate. “Please! Save us!”

The following night, in our dream, we see ourselves in the front line of an army ready to fight. We think that this fight is, maybe, the price we have to pay to deserve the answer to the pregnancy question because, without sacrifice, the answer would not be legitimate food for our mind. At the end of the battle, with the excitement and joy of victory, we cry out to people, “This is a realization! ‘God is the friend of the believers; He takes them from layers of darkness into the light.’” With that, we wake up. Pondering the dream of the night before, two flashes of lightning illuminate our minds. The first flash is a further understanding that hunger is a means of education. Our most sincere prayers come in times of misfortune, which take the veil from our eyes which keeps us from seeing God as the only and the ultimate point of help. Therefore, if we are patient enough, our Lord wants to further our relationship with Him, that is, our faith, by answering our sincere prayers. In the light of the second flash, we see that hunger is not only a means of education but also a means of examination because our inner condition is revealed in the face of the uncertainties inherent in the challenges throughout our lives. Hunger forces us to move towards the sustenance that is going to satisfy it. However, there are both legitimate and illegitimate ways to find sustenance; and also, there is legitimate and illegitimate sustenance. Are we to diverge from the straight path, blinded by our hunger? Or are we to keep upright with God’s pleasure as our only and ultimate goal? Thus, hunger reveals what is inside, and in that way, eliminates the immature and the hypocritical.

Hunger has an inherent link to hardship. So, the properties of hunger can be observed in hardship as well. Times of hardship are times when we feel a strong desire for that which is going to deliver us. Therefore, similar to hunger, hardship is a time of education and examination, too. To use another analogy, just like hunger is linked to the nighttime, hardship is also like the night that brings a break in the flow of our lives. That is why we feel under pressure in times when we have to resist the great momentum of events in our lives. Therefore, with the motivating hunger it brings, a night of hardship provides us with an opportunity to evaluate ourselves for a new start. As prayers and worship performed in the lonely hours of the night are invaluable, so too are actions and intentions during times of hardship very important; not only because they are the basis of a new start, but also because they are part of the reason for our existence in this world: to worship God. Therefore, we have to pay the dues of the night.

After a final night of hunger and hardship, the land appears in the horizon as a distant darkness enshrouding the fertility, and we realize that if we are in a period of hunger, then we are pregnant with a new personality and life.

Sermed Ogretim has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University. He has a special interest in psychological fiction.

Notes

1- Nursi, S., Second fruit of fifth branch, 24th Word, The Words, Kaynak 1997.

2- Nursi, S., First Aim, 30th Word, The Words, pp. 240, Kaynak 1997. This is the place where Said Nursi describes the three journeys to the other side of the earth. At the start of these symbolic journeys, he explains the darkness covering the side he departs from, and expresses his desire for light.

3- Quran (3:190–191), “Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for the people of discernment. They remember and mention God, standing and sitting and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth.”

4- Nursi, S., First Aim, ibid, pp. 228–229. “An entity that is absolute and all-encompassing has no limits and no terms: it cannot be shaped or formed, it cannot be ‘determined’ in any way such that its essential nature can be comprehended.”

5- Quran (2:155), “We will certainly test you with something of fear and hunger and loss of wealth, and lives, and fruits (earnings); but give glad tidings to the persevering and patient.”

6- Nursi, S., Ninth point of second section, 29th Letter, The Letters, Vol. 2, Kaynak 1995.

7- Quran (3:27) “You make the night pass into the day and You make the day pass in to the night, …”

8- The quoted text is a part of a verse from the Quran (2:257).

9- Quran (3:138-140) “This is a plain exposition for all people, and a clear guidance and an instruction for the God-revering, pious. Do not, then, bee faint of heart, nor grieve, for you are always the superior side if you are believers. If a wound has touched you, a similar wound touched those people. Such days – We deal them out in turns among people so that God may mark out those who Believe and select from among you such as bear witness to the truth;”

10- Quran (2:168-169) “O humankind! Eat of what is on the earth provided it is lawful, and pure and wholesome; and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan; indeed he is a manifest enemy to you. He only commands you to evil and indecency and that you should speak against God the things about which you have no knowledge.”

11- Quran (51:56) “I have not created the jinn and humankind but to worship Me.”

We invite you to embark on a journey with us to explore some fascinating perspectives that shed a light on our relationship with sound and music.

Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, the Founder and Director of the Center for Neuroacoustic Research in California (www.neuroacoustic.com), is recognized as a worldwide expert in the field of acoustic pacing frequencies that are incorporated into musical sound tracks. A consummate musician and composer in his own right, he has established a method for using modulated sound-pulses that change states of consciousness for optimal “Mind-Body” healing. Dr. Thompson believes that the sounds in nature resonate with us because they take us back to the beginning of our journey and our primary senses.

Matter&Beyond: Why are sound and music so central for us, both culturally and personally?

I don’t think I’ve found a single culture on earth which at some point hasn’t used sound as a prominent technique in healing, in religious rites, or as a means of attaining a change of consciousness in one way or another. I think the tradition probably dates back to the first use of sound as a soothing or healing means for mothers; that is lullabies for babies.

M&B: Is this our earliest experience with sound? Is this what you call primordial sounds?

If you go back to before the lullabies, we’re talking about womb experiences and it’s one of the primal things we all share; this is what I call primordial sounds. Certain type of sounds have the same influence on anyone who hears it, no matter what age you are, what sex you are, what culture you were brought up in, what language you speak; womb sounds fit that criteria.

M&B: Why is it sound, but not the vision?

Because at 16 weeks, when the fetus is very small, the nervous system is developed enough that all the senses are functioning; however it is dark, so the eyes aren’t working, no information is being received and the nose and the mouth are filled with fluids, so there is no tasting or smelling, but sound travels through water five times better than it does through air; therefore the ears are working but amplified by five times, and the largest sense organ we have, the skin, is a huge sense organ for vibrations. Thus, we’re experiencing vibration and sound for nine months in the womb and that sound environment is a very specific type of environment; the amniotic fluid sounds, the watery bubbly sounds, the mother’s heartbeat through the placental artery, respiratory sounds from the diaphragm, noises of the internal organ; it’s a rich complex, three-dimensional sound environment that is exactly the same for everyone of us; we all experienced this in the same way.

M&B: How does the fetus perceive this sound?

Remember the fetus is small and the ear is small; the eardrum is extremely small. If the eardrum was blown up to the size of my eardrum and the mother’s heart was blown up in proportion it would fill this room. So what kind of sound would such a heart make? It wouldn’t be the sound that you would expect it to be listening to the adult’s heart with a stethoscope from the outside; it would be a very large, slow sound, a large thumping sound.

M&B: How is this related to the use of sound in therapy or for relaxation?

Most of us who have gone on vacations and have explored nature feel a peaceful, beautiful return to nature; why?

Because if you take the sounds of the amniotic fluid and you slow those sounds down, they sound a lot like the ocean. The size of the sound waves compared to the eardrum would make these watery sounds sound like they have also slowed down. So many of the watery sounds in the womb sound like other sounds that we can hear later in nature. This can spark a similar kind of primordial recognition which is beyond the control of the rational thinking mind.

So when we build up these kinds of sounds on a soundtrack you can then push the button and the body will automatically go back to what it felt like to have a natural experience; when we combine the sounds of nature with music this makes a relaxation tape. So I would say that the sounds of nature provide secondary primordial sounds, as not all of us would have heard the same natural sounds in our lives.

The idea is to extend the power of the primordial recognizable components of sound in order to create a physical response. The technique is to connect with a primal recognition at a subconscious level; this will tap into experiences that you have had in the womb and at other times.

M&B: You not only use sound for relaxation, but also in order to combat stress. Could you please talk about this?

When a person has a fight-or-flight response, a stress response, we know very precisely what happens physiologically. The very first thing, the most sensitive organ, to respond to stress is the heart and thus when we look at the heart waves we can gain important information.

M&B: Why the heart and not the brain?

The reason for this is that the heart is the perfect system in the nervous system; it is called the autonomic nervous system or the automatic functioning nervous system; it knows how to organize and control my organs and glands and body chemistry and perform biomechanics that I’m not aware of and can’t control.

My rational-thinking brain can control physical body movements and thinking processes, but there’s another section that controls the automatic functioning of how my body runs. There is another control of this autonomic nervous system, which has two large branches of nerves that innervate all the organs and glands; these two branches of the nerves are the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.

While the sympathetic nervous system switches on, the parasympathetic switches off and mobilizes energy from the higher brain centers, from my digestive system, from my elimination system and from my immune system, it pulls that energy into my muscles to fight for my life.

This is when the brain freezes when you take an exam. You’re frightened about the exam; it is your final exam and you’re frightened that you’re not going to pass it or that you’re not going to do well. That fright causes the sympathetic system to switch on and drain the energy out of your brain; this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don’t have a brain left, because all the energy has gone to your muscles. At the moment the sympathetic system switches on, it mobilizes the pituitary which signals the adrenal glands; these fires adrenaline, the adrenaline starts the heart and the respiration and a number of other things. At the same time it suppresses the pancreas and lets loose extra glucose so you can fight for your life more and so what you end up with is the very first thing that happens.

M&B: What is the normal stress response and how do we return to a normal state?

When a person is required to carry out special tasks, like running or fighting for one’s life, then the sympathetic nervous system has to switch on, mobilize the energy from various places and send it to my muscles. If I am injured, but I survive and win, then the parasympathetic system is going to switch on and build up; that energy will be sent to my immune system, healing centers and recuperation areas for my muscles; when this is finished these are basically switched off, because we don’t need this energy anymore. This is certainly the normal way of functioning.

Thus, there are certain normal ways in which the body should function when a person is okay and normal. When the patient comes in and lies down on their back we hook them up and look at what’s happening in the autonomic nervous system. Normally when you lay down for three to five minutes your system should relax. Gravity isn’t affecting you, your heart doesn’t have to do extra work to pump the blood up to your brain; as a result the muscles relax and the sympathetic system and parasympathetic nervous systems should be at a level playing field. Now they can conserve their energy and this state of balance in the autonomic nervous system is known as homeostasis. The best state of health you can have is in homeostasis, where you’re not using energy in an unnecessary way. Homeo means unity, one, within my body, while stasis is a perfect state of rest.

M&B: What are the results of your studies to date? How many of us return back to homeostasis in three to five minutes?

Clinically what I see is maybe two patients with a normal response; I’ve been checking every patient with the real time heart rate variability system now for 7 years. This means thousands of patients; in all of that time I have seen one, maybe two patients with a normal response. I hook the patient up, and see what the response is. Most people’s response is abnormal; what this abnormality says is that after five minutes they have not attained a balance, and they have a good strong, healthy, dominant sympathetic stress response which never stops.

M&B: What do you think is the reason for this?

This state is constant because of the artificial, extremely stressful world that we have artificially created for ourselves. It wasn’t supposed to be like this; you are supposed to wake up in the morning and grab your spear and go catch a rabbit and that’s your workday; when you get there and you see that rabbit the sympathetic system turns on and the heart rates increase, the same thing happens with the rabbit, and it’s all going to be over in a couple of minutes. You’re going to catch the rabbit or he’s going to get away and then everything goes back, the clutch pushes in. Let’s say you get the rabbit, and the clutch pushes in; everything is fine and you are going to go home. Now you hear a growl behind you and there’s a saber tooth tiger looking at you, thinking about dinner; now the sympathetic system switches on, the heart rate is up, and you are running and he is running. It is all going to be over in a couple of minutes and either you are going to get away or you’re not.

But what I’m talking about here is that the nervous system, at its core, and its stress response are both designed for a sprint and not a marathon; but what we have had in the twenty-first century and throughout the twentieth century is a marathon of stress; but these are the kind of stresses that we can’t see, i.e. invisible stresses. They’re electromagnetic frequencies; the walls in this room, television channel frequencies, military frequencies, microwave frequencies, air pollution, food pollution and traffic jams when going to work to a job that doesn’t pay enough money for a boss who has the emotional development of a three-year old are all problems for us. The stress goes and then it’s back again; it’s time to get dinner for the kids and watching 7:00 news. This doesn’t stop; the nervous system’s solution to surviving this is to invent a mechanism of merely stepping on the gas, switching on the emergency sympathetic system on and bulldozing your way through the stress for the rest of your life with great momentum; but at nighttime, when it’s time to go to bed the nervous system doesn’t want to let go of this momentum that it has built up to get through the day.

M&B: And this has devastating effects on our health?

You can’t keep running in high gear for the rest of your life without some horrible consequences; the body’s not designed for it. You can only do this for a few decades before your heart or your brain blows up, the two biggest killers in Western society are heart attacks and strokes – there is also high blood pressure and diabetes. But what can we expect if our sympathetic nervous system is all the time working, which means by definition that our heart pressure is up and the pancreas is suppressed, so there is extra glucose being sent out? So people who don’t have the constitution to handle the stress blow a fuse; they have no way to handle the stress and as a result they have immune system problems, digestive problems, and problems that come from that colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune diseases, allergies.

M&B: You are using sound in order to help people return to their normal healthy state. How does this work?

I’ve come up with a way to use sound to force the autonomic nervous system to push in the clutch, removing us from a place of high stress from which you can leave by using sound; we do this by using the heart-rate variability to see how bad the heart rate is and then explore various precisely tuned sound frequencies which will actually force the nervous system to push in the clutch. There will be a very specific tone for every person; this is like a glass vibrating if I sing the right note. An opera singer can sing the right note to make the glass vibrate. Well, now let’s imagine that your autonomic nervous system is the glass and we’re going to explore various sound frequencies that are very precisely tuned to find out which one affects your autonomic nervous system function; when we find it the response will be like pushing in the clutch and sending it into a state of relaxation. So we hit the right note and we get the response; this is what I’ve been looking for. Now we can see this phenomenon clinically. Once we’ve got the tone that’s associated with the pushing in of the clutch of the autonomic nervous system we can use that therapeutically through a specially designed sound table that I have made; this consists of low-frequency sound components which drive the low frequencies right into your cells via headphones. This relaxation mode is introduced to your nervous system over an extended period of time. We can burn this sound onto a CD and you can take it home and work with it at home on your stereo; it is like an internal training program. Every time your nervous system pushes in the clutch, the ability to push in the clutch grows, just like working a muscle in a gym.

This is a kind of high-tech stress reduction training program for the nervous system with sound. This is one of the three components I mentioned earlier; there are three parallel processes using sound for healing. This one is the idea of using the physical resonance to cause an effect on the nervous system to relax people.

M&B: This is what is called a sound table, right?

Yes, the sound table I needed had to have specific requirements, which is why I had to make my own to attain the exact clinical results I wanted. The power in the table actually delivered more power to your body than I wanted to be delivered. Therefore, I had to be able to have the sound that was coming from the table split into the right and left speakers, but none of those that were available on the market could do that. So I had to have it specially designed. As a composer, musician and audio engineer I was able to design the sounding board of that table and the transducers so that a lot of free sound could be delivered and spread out, therefore it is much more effective and delivers the sound to your body via headphones. Thus there is a lot going on in that table that you cannot see and this is what makes it work properly.

Interview conducted by Mustafa Tabanli for Ebru TV for the Emmy Award winning television series Matter and Beyond.

Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful.
–Plato

Music surrounds us. We may not always be attuned to hear it, but it is there, whether it is recorded music, the music of nature, or sounds inaudible to human ears. The ancients believed that even the stars in the heavens sang. They called it the “music of the spheres.” Pythagoras (sixth century BC) said, “there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” The Bible speaks of the heavens praising God: “Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!” (Psalm 148:3–4). And the Quran says, “All that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth glorifies God, the Absolute Sovereign, the All-Holy and All-Pure, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise” (Al-Jumuah 62:1).

Music has the power to heal or destroy. The nature of music is such that it can lift us into the heavens, or drag us down to the pit of hell, depending on what kind of music we listen to. Music can make us weep or dance with joy; it can bring us sanity or drive us mad. Music can bestow peace upon our souls and minds, or stir us up for battle. In short, music has power. Few other things touch us so deeply. We hear it with our physical ears, yet it is in our soul that it resonates.

All life resonates with and responds to sounds and rhythmic motions. Musical sounds, when combined in a certain way, can have a powerful effect upon the mind, body and emotions. The human body itself is like an instrument, humming with rhythm, vibrations and tonal frequencies. The very center of the human body, the heart, is a rhythmic instrument.

Music is a universal language. It speaks to everyone and everything. By feeling the vibrations through their hands, even the deaf can “hear” the music and feel the rhythm. It is a language that crosses the barriers of human vocal languages.

Plants and animals also respond to music. In various experiments, plants grew better when certain kinds of Western classical music and traditional Indian music were played. Dairy cows were found to prefer slow music, and produced more milk when it was played.

Because music has such power to affect us on such a deep level, it has been used for centuries to heal man’s body and soul. Many ancient civilizations, such as Greece, India, Israel, and Mesopotamia knew about and used music in their healing practices.

Ancient Greeks used music to help bring beauty and harmony, which they believed would then help the body to heal. Democritus believed that many diseases could be cured by the sound of a flute. Hippocrates used music to cure diseases. Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras all recognized the healing power of music, and Homer recommended music to counter negative emotions.

The priest-physicians of Egypt called music “the physic of the soul,” and used it to heal physical illnesses, nervous disorders and to lessen childbirth pain. The Ebers Papyrus (1550 BC) is the oldest preserved medical document in existence. Recorded in it are incantations that were chanted to heal the sick.

In ancient India, musicologists and mystics believed that health “is the balanced flow of energy through all the energy circuits of the mind and body.” When that flow was interrupted or hindered, the body got sick. They used sound therapy to restore harmony and rhythm to the body and mind.

The core study of Indian music/sound therapy was learning how to arrange different tones for different times of day and night, and for different seasons. In order to bring balance back to the body, therapists also had to know how all the tones affected body chemistry. In other words, they chose which melody, or raga, they played based on which particular disease they wanted to heal.

In the Middle East, during the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1257), the healing arts blossomed. Hospitals and medical schools based on Greek-Arab medicine were built throughout the Muslim world. A holistic approach was used in medicine, and included various types of therapy such as music therapy, aromatherapy, water therapy, and reading the Quran. The recitation of the Quran has been used for healing since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, and it has been referred to as a “book of healing.” Doctors found that music therapy worked especially well with patients who were depressed, or had other mental illnesses.

During this period, three brilliant men emerged who contributed much to the field of learning, including music as medicine. Abu Bakr Razi (834–932) worked with melancholy patients, most likely suffering from depression. Included in his list of beneficial activities to ease depression was listening “to songs which are sung by beautiful voices.”

Abu Nasr al-Farabi (870–950) was a man gifted with many talents. He invented and skillfully played a number of musical instruments. He also developed an Arabian tone system that is still used today. Farabi wrote in his book, Kitab al-Musiqa, “Music promotes good mood, moral education, emotional steadiness and spiritual development. It is useful for physical health. When the soul is not healthy, the body is also ill. Good music, which cures the soul, restores the body to good health.”

Ibn Sina (980–1037), who was known in the West as Avicenna, was greatly influenced by Farabi’s works. He said, “One of the best and most effective of treatments is to strengthen the mental and spiritual strengths of the patient, to give him more courage to fight illness, create a loving, pleasant environment for the patient, play the best music for him and surround him with people that he loves.”

During the Ottoman period (1299–1923), Dr. Musa bin Hamun, who was a palace doctor during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (1491–1566), used music therapy in treating dental problems and childhood mental disorders. Sultan Giyasaddin wrote in his book, Kitab as-Sinaat, that, “scholars of India recommend that physicians study melodies and the theory of music. This science is necessary for the doctor, just like his search to understand the subtleties of diagnosing the pulse. In addition, some illnesses may be cured when the patient listens to certain melodies.”

For centuries, in various cultures and religions, music and dance have been combined to worship God. According to the Old Testament, King David of Israel danced with all his might before the Lord as an act of worship (2 Samuel 6:14). Likewise, in the Islamic tradition Prophet David’s worship and glorification of God was so powerful that even mountains, plants and animals joined his praise and responded to his voice: “And We subdued the mountains, as well as birds, to glorify Us along with David” (Al-Anbiya 21:79.

The Sufis were well aware of the power of dance and music together, and have used both in their religious practices, as well as in healing mental and nervous disorders. Even the musical instruments they used were believed to have different healing properties. The ney, a cane or reed flute, was an important instrument. Neys have been found in excavations at Ur, and in tomb paintings in Egypt. It was believed to help relieve stress and promote healthy sleeping patterns. The oud, or ud, is similar to a lute, and was supposed to be good for relieving headaches and melancholy. The naghara is a drum that was used to ease melancholy, as well as physical and mental exhaustion.

The harp is an instrument that has long been associated with angels and heaven, as well as being a symbol of relief and comfort. The ethereal sound of the harp is indeed “heavenly.” It is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Many ancient civilizations used the harp in their healing practices. Pythagoras saw the harp strings as symbols of the nervous system. In ancient Israel, David, when he was only a shepherd boy, played his harp to ease the mental suffering of King Saul when he was afflicted with an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14–17, 21–23).

Europeans, before the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, also used music in healing. The great medieval abbey of Cluny, in southern France, used chant and hymns, as well as the harp, to bring healing to the sick and comfort to the dying. In The Anatomy of Melancholy, written in the seventeenth century, Robert Burton wrote, “. . . beside that excellent power music (sic) hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy against despair and melancholy, and will drive away the devil himself.”

As science advanced and the belief in reason and rationality took hold in Europe, the idea of using music as medicine was cast aside. The new analytical approach to medicine meant that few physicians would use, or at least admit to using, music to treat a patient. The connection between the health of the soul and the body’s health was also largely dismissed. Music simply became a form of art or entertainment, unless it was used in the Church. The healing power of music was forgotten in the West, and would not re-emerge until after World War I.

Today, we are rediscovering what al-Farabi knew over a thousand years ago: when our body is sick, something is wrong in our soul. Music as therapy began to emerge in the United States after World Wars I and II. Local musicians, both amateur and professional, went to Veteran’s Hospitals around the country to play music for the recovering soldiers. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a world-renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon, began playing tapes of Sufi music before, during, and after surgery. He found that, as a result of listening to the music, patients were less depressed and less stressed. They healed faster, and left the hospital sooner. Dr. Oz wrote in Healing from the Heart, about the results of using Turkish makams with coma patients in his clinic. He found that 29% of the patients came out of their comas after listening to the makams.

One study found that students who played in the school orchestra had higher than average SAT scores. Learning to play an instrument has been shown to help develop the bridge (corpus callosum) between the left and right sides of the brain. Campbell says, “. . . the corpus callosum of musicians is thicker and more fully developed than in other people, reinforcing the idea that music enlarges existing neural pathways and stimulates learning and creativity.” Another study showed that “music majors and music education majors had the highest reading scores of any students on campus, including those in English, biology, chemistry, and mathematics.”

Just as an instrument out of tune in an orchestra causes disharmony, negative thoughts, events, or actions can result in a body and mind in disharmony. Ill-health – physical or mental – is the result. More research has to be done to explore music as a potential catalyst that can unlock and release buried emotions which may be making us ill.

The essence of music is an intangible thing. It can be measured by vibrations, sound waves, and resonances, yet those factors alone cannot explain music or why it affects us the way it does. Perhaps the best way is to say that music is a gift from God, meant to ease our suffering in this world, to remind us of His goodness, His mercy, and most of all, to help us connect with Him at a deeper level. It is a way for us to catch a glimpse of heaven.

Julie is a writer and musician who lives in Morgantown, WV, with her husband, Daniel, also a musician. She has grown twin sons who are also writers and musicians.

References

1. http://www.brainyquote.com

2. Roop Verma. “Nada Yoga: Sacred Music and Consciousness.” http://www.roopverma.com.

3. Rahmi Oruc Guvenc, “Music Therapy in Turkey,” Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, (March, 2006). http://www.voices.no.

4. Farid Alakbarov, “Music Therapy: What Doctors Knew Centuries Ago,” Azerbaijan International, 11.3 (Autumn 2003) 58-59, http://www.azer.com.

5. Pinar Somakci, “Music Therapy in Islamic Culture,” http://www.turkishmusicportal.org.

6. Alakbarov (2003), 58-59.

7. Unal, Ali, The Qur ’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, NJ: Tughra Books, 2008, pp. 670–671.

8. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Wikipedia. http://www.answers.com/topic/music-therapy.

9. Don Campbell, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit (New York: Avon Books, 1997), 192.

10. Ibid, 177.

When the Prophet was forced to immigrate to Medina, the population was “a mixture” (akhlāt) of many different tribes (predominantly Arabic and Jewish), who had been fighting for nearly a century, causing “civil strife,” and it was for this reason that the Prophet was summoned there (Peters 1994, 4). Tribal fighting and a lack of governance in Medina (known as Yathrib) meant disputes were dealt with “by the blade” on many occasions, which deepened the divides and fueled conflicts. Karen Armstrong explains aptly the mentality and workings of the tribal system dispersed through war-torn Arabia, where the Prophet was striving for peace (Armstrong 2006, 19). “The tribe, not a deity, was of supreme value, and each member had to subordinate his or her personal needs and desires to the well-being of the group and to fight to the death, if necessary, to ensure its survival” (Armstrong 2006, 24). Such a system was, in a political sense, representative of the little cooperation between the tribes in the Yathrib. In this region reigned power hungry strategies, an emphasis on arms and strength in military, and a belief that clearly mediation was unachievable except by a trustworthy outsider who had no connections to the issues or the tribes. Not only did the Prophet fit these prerequisites, but his personal ambition as given to him by God was also one of spreading peace and unity, creating a community, or ummah, made up of diverse groups, through the teachings of the Quran and in the name of Islam.

The Quran states that the Lord “teaches by the pen” (96:1–5). This is indicative of the Medina Charter in that it is a reflection of these verses, which show that God is educating people and changing thought patterns through discussion. In this case, the discussion resulted in peace achieved through contemplation and through seeking agreements in which tribes felt they had benefited from the charter and had not been robbed of status or unresolved antagonism from the past. “Many Islamic rituals, philosophies, doctrines, [different interpretations of] sacred texts, and shrines are the result of frequently anguished and self-critical contemplation of the political events in Islamic society” (Armstrong 2006, 14). Islam places great emphasis on reason – the reasoning of the universe, of life, and indeed, of religion too. Al-Ghazzali (1058–1111) said, “Doubt is to find truth. Those who do not have doubt cannot think. Those who cannot think, cannot find truth.” Although this quote is more in reference to the philosophical side of Islam, it reverberates from the heart of reason – something that is central to Islam. Yetkin Yildirim writes about the use of one’s own knowledge and the absolute approach of reason. If the answer is neither in the Quran, Sunnah, or Hadith, then one’s own reasoning or ijtihad is required (Yildirim 2006, 109–117). So the Prophet, through the Medina Charter, was practicing Islam through action. For with reason, discussion, and contemplation, a peace treaty was created.

The mere formation of the Charter and peace were tremendous feats, and the content of the Charter itself reflects this magnitude. The formation of an ummah through respect and acceptance resulting in pluralism shows us one of the ways in which the Prophet combated jahiliyyah, or ignorance – the state of mind causing violence and terror (Armstrong 2006, 19). Examining some of the clauses in the Charter also shows how the Prophet managed to take leadership and create a lasting peace. The first clause, “They are a single community (ummah),” (Sajoo 2009, 94) depicts the ultimate message and goal of the rest of the charter. It marked the creation of a community, and the Charter served as a unifying document in a city of diverse groups, cultures, religions, and languages. The Prophet came to Medina with tolerance – an aspect of Islam which is fundamental to the manner in which the religion operates in foreign lands. “It is for this tolerance in the Islamic view that Muslims have looked at the religion of the people in the lands they conquered with respect; they did not intervene with their beliefs nor touch their churches” (Can 2005, 172). Clause 25 epitomizes the level of tolerance in the charter and also serves as an example of Islam in practice. “The Jews … are a community (ummah) along with the believers. To the Jews their religion (din) and to the Muslims their religion” (Sajoo 2009, 96) This statement ties in with the verse from the Quran (2:256) which says, “There is no compulsion in religion.” For in the eyes of God, as it says in the Quran “… those who believe … Jews, Christians, and Sabaeans … and does right – surely their reward is with their Lord” (2:62).

The Medina Charter reflects pluralism both in the content and in the history of the document. F. E. Peters explains that “the contracting parties, although they did not embrace Islam, did recognize the Prophet’s authority, accepting him as the community leader and abiding by his political judgments” (Peters 1994, 199). As there is no account of an uprising in history books and because the Prophet was there at the suggestion of the tribes, we know that he was never rejected. Because of the laws he introduced, the existing groups clearly did not feel threatened by his new presence or his new governance. The society was pluralistic, and it was not repressive. The Prophet – as clause 25 shows – never imposed Islam upon the people of Medina, which meant that they could still practice without disruption their religions and customs, aspects of life that were important to them. He did not create an ummah through denouncing all ways of life except for Islam or by recognizing Islam as the singular religion; instead he united all inhabitants of the city under one banner of ethical living and moral principles – commonalities between all humans and all religions.

The Prophet drew upon the essence of unity, respect, tolerance, and love to combine and create a pluralistic community. Clause 40 exemplifies this: “The ‘protected neighbor’ (jar) is as the man himself so long as he does no harm and does not act treacherously” (Sajoo 2009, 97). People were safe and respected and free to exert their beliefs and would be protected in doing so. This protection, however, could not shield them from treachery or wrong doing.

The Medina Charter is arguably the first constitution ever written incorporating religion and politics (Yildirim 2006, 109–117). And even though the politics of the region have changed since it was written – in recent times for the worst – Islam’s values have continued to spread and are lived throughout the whole Muslim world. Despite the hold of power that some governments still have over their people, the true face of Islam shines through in how people live, communicate, and approach life. I speak from personal experiences when I traveled through Iran, Turkey, and Northern Iraq in January, 2009. And despite what the media had to say about the people in those lands, my time there was spent in the houses of complete strangers, who showered me with hospitality that transcended any I had experienced before. Although the governing body has changed, the points of the Medina Charter and tenets of Islam preached by Prophet Muhammad still exist amongst the people. My heritage was accepted with curiosity and respect – just as the Prophet implemented in Medina between the tribes. My place in the society was welcomed with honest enthusiasm, and I felt a part of a community – like the community that Prophet implemented in Medina. I was exposed to mainstream Islam, which we hear so little about in the West due to the confusion which unjustly joins Islam and extremism together. I saw tolerant Muslims who saw me as another person who wanted peace and respect – not treachery. This is what the Prophet also accomplished in Medina – a community which was not based upon religion or ethnicity but one built on unity and acceptance. One built on tolerance. One built on peace. It seems the Prophet was aware that spirituality and faith cannot be governed, and for this reason alone, he sought unity and respect as opposed to discriminating between tribes and their beliefs.

In contemporary times, an analysis of the Medina Charter can give us insight into Islam and religious pluralism (Sachedina 2001). Medina marked the first real occurrence of coexistence between religions and groups in Islam and mirrors the Quran which “in its entirety provides ample material for extrapolating a pluralistic and inclusive theology of religions” (Sachedina 2001, 26). The Quran is the unquestionable and the absolute; therefore, it is the key to understanding religious pluralism in Islam. Clause 39 of the Medina Charter says, “The valley of Yathrib is sacred for the people of this document” (Sajoo 2009, 97). And so too is the universe, which is sacred to all of humanity. The Quran reveals that “the people are one community” (2:213), so if we are one (which we are) in the world, in the universe, then regardless of religion, it is God’s mercy and compassion which will save us. By differentiating between beliefs, we neglect that under one sun we all pray to a greater entity, a greater being. We were all created by God, so unity seems imperative and practical.

The Medina Charter is very relevant to current tensions existing between the Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Unfortunately, it seems that ignorance and fear, suspicion and disrespect plague the interaction and stereotypes that exist between these three great Abrahamic religions. In the post-September 11th era, a new wave of antagonism has arisen, and people around the Western world generally fear Islam. Sadly, people confuse the actions of nationalists and fundamentalists, who so unjustly hide behind a Holy Book claiming that their intentions are those of God, with what the actual religion promotes. As Rumi believed, the essence of all religions is the same, for they all teach love. The deep philosophical and even deeper spiritual teaching of Rumi is based on a state of mind that seeks mutual vision and dialogue, which I hope will be achieved one day, breaking down the polarized world of different religious thought. Another verse of the Quran emphasizes this need for dialogue, unity, and tolerance: “Surely this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord; so worship Me” (21:92).

The Prophets action’s in Medina prompt us to use reason in our approach to the wide, diverse beliefs of the world – from Europe to Asia, North, Central, and South America to Africa and everything in between. It prompts us to understand how “the spiritual space of the Quran […] was shared by other religions” (Sachedina 2001, 23). Such an understanding reveals that Islam is a monotheistic religion that respects the rights of other faiths (Stewart 1994, 207). In a globalized world where we are connected so easily, unlike any other period in history, our mutual understanding of one another and our beliefs are the most important means to achieve peace and stability. It is in a contemporary sense, in a globalized world, that the Medina Charter is of such necessity. Inter-religious discussions took place with the Prophet in Medina, for Boase writes about a time when Christians performed their prayers in a mosque after a meeting with the Prophet during their visit (Boase 2005, 252). We can learn how in every country, a community, an ummah, is the single most effective way to produce a pluralistic state. The Medina Charter was a fusion of attributes which all world religions teach: peace, love, freedom, acceptance, and tolerance – resulting in stability.

Peace was achieved in Medina, not through the might of arms or the scale of wealth, but through the unyielding principles of Islam – tolerance, love, reason, and a belief in God – whether the God in the Bible, the Quran, or the Torah. The Medina Charter, arguably the first charter ever written, shows that Islam rejects the use of compulsion in religion and violence and that over centuries of human existence, the most effective way to resolve conflicts comes through mediation. The Medina Charter is an example that should be discussed and referred to in current conflicts. The creation of a community, or ummah, offers pluralism to everyone. For people are not judged on their beliefs, but on their actions. Persecution is the instigator of all tensions, and reason and tolerance is the essence of all peace. Just as in the streets of Medina, through tolerance and respect, we too may one day have a world-wide ummah, where a passing Christian will say, “Peace be upon you” to a Muslim, who will reply, “Peace be upon you too.”

Sean William White has a degree in Islamic history from Monash University, Melbourne.

References

• Armstrong, Karen. 2006. Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time, New York: HarperCollins.
• Can, Sefik. 2005. Fundamentals of Rumi’s Thought, New Jersey: The Light, Inc.
• Lecker, Michael. “Waqidi’s Account on the Status of the Jews of Medina: A Study of a Combined Report,” in Uri Rubin (ed), The Life of Muhammad, Great Yarmouth, 1998.
• Peters, F. E. 1994. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, New York: SUNY.
• Ramadan, Tariq. 2007. The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad, London: Allen Lane.
• Boase, Roger. Ecumenical Islam: A Muslim Response to Religious Pluralism, in Roger Boase (ed.). 2005.
• Islam and Global Dialogue, England, Ashgate.
• Sachedina, Abdulaziz. 2001. The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism, New York: OUP.
• Saeed, Abdullah. 2006. Islamic Thought: An Introduction, UK: Routledge.
• Sajoo, Amyn B. 2009. Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas, London: Institute for Ismaili Studies.
• Stewart, P. J. Unfolding Islam, Lebanon, 1994.
• Yildirim, Yetkin. “Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Medina Charter,” Peace Review, UK: Routledge, Vol. 18, Issue 1. January 2006.

Notes

1. Muhammad B. Waqidi, ‘Umar al-Waqidi. Kitab al maghazi. Ed. M. Jones. London, 1966, as taken from: Michael Lecker, ‘Waqidi’s Account on the Status of the Jews of Medina: A Study of a Com- bined Report’, in Uri Rubin (ed), The Life of Mu-hammad, Great Yarmouth, 1998, p. 23.
2. www.ghazali.org

In order to answer these questions, let’s first take a closer look at the nature of leaves and how they function. Simply put, leaves are nature’s food factories. During spring and summer the leaves serve as factories where most of the food necessary for tree growth is manufactured. The process of transforming water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis, which means literally “putting together with light” (Figure 1). This food-making process is performed by the chlorophyll molecules that are present in the leaf cells. Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight. While the water is sucked in from the soil by the roots and carbon dioxide is inhaled through the pores of the leaves, chlorophyll synthesizes carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch. During winter, when this process cannot continue due to lack of light or water, the trees rest and live off the food they stored during the summer.

What is most astonishing is that it is again chlorophyll that gives the leaves their green color. Along with the chlorophylls (green pigment), spectrums of pigments, such as carotenoid, anthocyanin, and xanthophyll, give different colors to the leaves (Figure 2). When chlorophyll is abundant in the leaf cells, as it is during the growing season, the green color of chlorophyll dominates and masks the colors of any other coloring pigments that may be present in the leaf. Thus, the leaves of summer are characteristically green. When for some reason the number of chlorophylls decreases significantly, the color of other pigments paint the leaves, such as in the fall. For example, maple and acer leaves turn to bright red because of the carotenoid and anthocyanin pigments while sugar maple leaves turn yellow due to xanthophyll pigments.

Time to change colors

At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the length of days and the average temperature begin to decrease. Then the trees “know” that it is time to get ready for winter, their sleep-time, and the leaves stop making food. Since there is no longer a need for them, the chlorophyll molecules break down, and so the green color begins to fade. As we, the grieving viewers of this process, say farewell to the color of life, we are surprised by the splendor demonstrated by vibrant colors ranging from yellow to orange.

All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf becoming visible during the fall season. For the realization of this beauty, mixtures of pigments give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others offer the sugar maple its brilliant orange or yellow. In some trees, like the maple, a red pigment will be formed in the fall if the days are warm and the nights cold. These trees produce sugar in the leaves during the day, but this sugar cannot move out when the nights are cold, and the leaf’s connections to the tree begin to break down. After that the high sugar concentration favors the formation of a class of pigments called anthocyanin, which is red. Thus, the leaves left out in the sunlight turn red through this process. The brown color of trees (like oaks) that appears after chlorophyll breaks down comes from plant wastes left in the leaves. The autumn foliage of some trees is only yellow, so it is the combination of all these things that makes the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.

Thanks to scientific research, today we know the details of leaf color change. The approximate size of these pigments is so small that hundreds of millions of them, put edge to edge, could measure only 1 meter. Isn’t it amazing how the beauty of autumn is exhibited through the hands of such small and blind painters?

Abdullah Akpinar is a graduate student in Planning and Landscape Architecture at Clemson University, Southern Carolina.