She was wearing a baseball hat and jeans with a blue shirt. She held a big pair of garden scissors.

-” I am definitely going to plant next year after this whole remodeling mess is cleared up.”

-“You should. It’s delicious, a lot of fun, and clears your head.” Jennifer said pruning a branch.

-“I can’t wait. They look so beautiful.” She continued, looking at the abundant flowers of the plants proudly. The weather was getting cooler and the wind was picking up.

“It’s almost dinnertime. We have to go.” said Hannah. “Say bye to aunt Jen, Henry.” The nine month old boy looked at her and gave a huge smile. Then he went back to sucking his thumb. The two friends chatted a little more on the lawn and eventually parted. Jennifer waved at Hannah and watched her pushing the stroller with a knot in her stomach .She took a deep breath of fresh air. “Tomorrow is the big day,” she thought.

She was startled by a figure a few feet away from her. “Hi, Mrs. Field” said Daphne, her neighbor’s daughter. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

-“You didn’t scare me. How are you?”

-“Good. I was with Tonya working on our math test.”

-“Are you ready for the test?”

“Not yet. I still have three more days.”

-“You know I can always help. I like to tackle those math problems.”

-“Oh! Mrs. Field I would love that. But I know you are so busy. I don’t want to bother you.”

“If you plan well, you can do anything and everything. Matt is working late tomorrow. We can meet at seven and continue until about 8:30.”

-“Thank you Mrs. Field.” the girl said with a huge smile. “You helped so much last time for the science test.”

-“I’ll be at your door at seven.”

-“Okay Mrs. Field.”

Daphne had light brown skin and shoulder length straight black hair. She was a timid, precious child in seventh grade; the oldest of four kids in the family .Their house was not the best place to study. It was noisy all the time. But Jennifer knew her mom would not let her go out after seven. Her father worked in real estate. The mom and dad spoke with an accent which Jennifer couldn’t make out. She remembered asking the dad about where they were from. It was somewhere from the Middle East but she could not remember exactly where. For her, those countries were all the same anyways. Hot, gloomy, and generally unsafe to visit. The people ignorant and the women oppressed.

The wind was getting stronger. She felt the chill in the air and went inside. Suddenly, the thought hit her : What if it didn’t work? Her pulse quickened. She tried to brush the thought away. We planned everything to the last detail, she thought. Dr. Brown is one of the best doctors in this area with a great staff. I took all my injections right on time. I rested. We went over all the possible complications. I didn’t miss any of my appointments. The ultrasounds and blood tests looked fine. She thought and thought. She felt a little better.

She switched the TV on and turned up the volume. Maybe the sound of that would bury the “What if?” in her head.

Then her thoughts swung the other way. That made her whole chest feel with happiness .Finally it would happen…after waking up extra early to catch her appointments, injections, side effects of the medications, all her planning would pay off. She spent three weeks just to find the best doctor in the area. All she wanted was a curly haired little girl. She would have her nose and Matt’s eyes.

Jennifer was hard-working, organized, responsible, polite, educated. She deserved it. The sound of the TV could not stop her going back again to that first day with Dr Brown. He explained her different methods to do this. They chose the most expensive and invasive one, with the best probability of a positive outcome. Jennifer Field didn’t like small numbers when it came to chances, an attribute of hers which made her very successful professionally.

The whole process was painful, but especially the day they harvested her eggs. She even had to take 2 days off of work after the retrieval because of the pain, discomfort, and nausea that came with anesthesia. Every minute of it was carved in her brain.

She could hear the even stronger wind now. It was unusually cold for this time of the year. She took a book, a heavy blanket, and went to bed. She assured herself that everything is going to be okay and it is going to be the happiest day of her life. They would celebrate on Friday with Matt. She already made the reservations for a nice dinner.

When she woke up with the alarm at five, Matt was sleeping next to her. Matt had a shop in the mall and usually came late and went to work a little later than she did. She checked the weather, got dressed, gave Matt a kiss and went out. It was chilly. She braced herself and held onto her scarf. The doctor’s office was a 20 minute drive. Luckily, today she would stay less than usual there, only to give blood for the pregnancy test. The nurse was polite as usual.

“Today’s the big day!”

Jennifer smiled back.

“I’ll call as soon as the results are out.”

The rest of the day was like a dream. It was as if she was living in a movie, waiting for the happy ending. “Mrs. Field! Your test result is positive! Congratulations!”

She would dream about it over and over again. Her day at work came to an end. Still, no call…

Half an hour later she parked her car on her driveway. Suddenly, she remembered to check on her tomatoes. She was turning to the back of the house her phone rang and she jumped…

Then it all came crashing down .The pregnancy test was negative, her tomatoes which made her proud every year all frozen and dead, her perfect yard and house disorganized and dirty after all the “taking it easy” for the last month.

She felt the tightness in her throat. She ran into the house. She needed a hug. She called Matt, but it went to voicemail. Where was he? Where was he ever when she needed him? She felt so angry. She went outside and started walking hurriedly and aimlessly on the streets. She didn’t know where she was going or how long she had been walking. She just kept going and going in the cold. Her white cheeks were red. She desperately wanted to cry but tears wouldn’t come.

Was it because of that night she got the injection 15 minutes late? Was the nurse checking her ovaries a little too quick? Did the doctor really prescribe the best meds? Her phone rang. It was her mom.

“Honey, you’re very young. You can always try again.”

“Mom, I’m 32. I’m not so young anymore.”

“You call that ‘not so young ‘? Don’t be silly. Besides don’t worry about anything you can’t change. It’s going to be okay in the end. Believe me. Your baby is going to come. It is just not time yet. “

She felt so cold inside out. She wanted to go back home and curl up in her bed. There was a reminder on her phone. It said: “Study with Daphne in half an hour”

She thought about canceling but didn’t want to disappoint her. For an unknown reason she just wanted to see her and talk to her. Also she didn’t want to face Matt. At 7:30 she was at their door. Daphne opened the door with her big smile. The mom was obviously frustrated with the two-year-old, holding her screaming baby. She said hi to Jen and disappeared with the baby and the toddler. The dinner was not cleared up yet. There were scattered toys and clothes everywhere. The five-year-old boy was bouncing like a ball off of the walls in the living room. Walking into Daphne’s room,Jennifer felt the anger rising in her. “This woman cannot even deal with this many, and she has them all. And me…”

Then she remembered the youngest child being a special-needs baby with cerebral palsy and felt bad for him and his mom. She thought about having a baby with the same needs, and saw that it scared her too much. It did not fit in her perfect world somehow.

Jennifer felt a calm come over her and she talked, studied, and laughed with Daphne. She didn’t realize two hours had passed. Daphne was yawning. Jennifer got up to leave. When they got out of the room they saw that it was very quiet. “The kids must have slept.” Jen said. She was about to leave when Mina, the mom came to the door. She had changed out of her clothes. Her hair was wet.

“Thanks a lot,” she said with the same accent her husband had. “Not a problem.” Jennifer said humbly.

“I was just making some tea for myself. Please join me. We haven’t really got to meet. “

The last thing Jen had in mind right now was to meet and talk with this woman who had four kids. From where she was standing she could see her driveway. Matt was home. She hesitated, weighing her options. Stay here and have tea with this woman, or face Matt to give him the bad news.

“I would love to,” she said.

Daphne went to her room and the two women went into the kitchen. Jen took a chair next to the table. Mina put a pot of water on the stove, and started adding things on it. The first was something that looked like a dark piece of wood Jen couldn’t recognize. If this woman was trying to poison her, she didn’t care right now. She texted Matt that she was next-door and would be late.

“Your tomatoes are famous in the entire neighborhood.” She said and kept adding pieces and teabags to the water.

Jennifer’s face fell. Mina looked concerned and sincere. She asked “What happened?”

Suddenly in this warm house, with the aroma of cinnamon and cloves in the air, with this nice woman offering her tea , she wanted to pour out everything inside her. She felt her throat closing again, but she tried to hold herself tight.

“All of the flowers and most branches are frozen and dead. I planned everything. I made sure it was all done perfectly, and on time. The plants were lush, green, and healthy. I picked up a sunny spot .Then this happened. “

All the scenes about the procedures she went through for this pregnancy were playing in her mind. She couldn’t hold the tears anymore and didn’t want to.

Mina knew this was more than tomatoes. She sat next to her quietly and let her cry and gave her tissues. Then she said: “People plot and plan, but Allah is the real planner.” This caught her off guard.

“When you say it that way I feel so powerless.”

“Aren’t you?” Mina said.

Jennifer remembered the time she fell ill with a viral infection and couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks.

“You can have the most fertile soil and the best seeds. You can use the most expensive fertilizer and cleanest water. But you can’t give life. You can’t control the weather either.” Mina brought her back.

“Also you can have the best doctors, the best medication, the best nurses, but you don’t have the power to make it happen.” Jennifer thought. Then she said:

“But shouldn’t we work as hard as we could to get a good result or be successful? Should we just sit and wait, and not do anything.”

“Of course not. That is the other extreme. The stuff that we do to get a good result in something like this, is like knocking on the door of a generous person. If you knock hard enough, or long enough you will probably get an answer. But God is under no restrictions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything is in need of him every moment for everything, in every way. And he gets to choose whatever he wants.”

When she sad this, an angry thought of the negative pregnancy test came to her mind.

“What does that have to do with …. uh… my tomatoes?”

“Your tomatoes, other fruit, vegetables, rain, wind, clouds ,they all come from his treasury of mercy. Not from the soil or wood or anything else. It is as if he offers those blessings with the hands of trees, air, or soil.”

Jennifer couldn’t believe her ears. She was listening words of wisdom from a woman that she has looked down upon for so many years.

“A tree can bear fruit one year. The following year, with all the causes present and even better, it might not produce any.”

Saying this she also poured the tea and offered her banana bread. Jennifer took a sip. It was delicious. She took a bite from the bread and loved it too.

“He put laws in nature. If you don’t water your plants, they’ll die. You have to work hard if you want to be successful. But there are also exceptions to the laws. They make you see beyond the causes and appeal to the real doer of things, ” she continued.

“I don’t remember ever praying for my tomatoes.”

“Doing the right things to get the best result as you did in your case is also a type of prayer. There are different types of prayers, and there are different types of answers as well. But listen! Have you ever seen anybody praying for the sun to go up in the morning?”

Jennifer laughed.”Of course not; everybody knows that it will come up and when.”

“Exactly!”

“What do you think God is trying to tell me?” She asked. She wanted her to talk more. The tea in her body and her words were giving her an unexpected relief.

“I don’t know. You have to figure it out.”

“What you said is making me more modest.”

“I feel the same way. But I also feel relief. I can only do as much as I can. I’m not responsible for every outcome of my doing, after I did all I could. That is a big load off my shoulders and feels nice. “

“It’s nice unless it makes you lazy.”

There was silence. After a little bit she continued:

“My pregnancies were more or less the same. I try to eat right, exercise and all but then Ali … “she said and stopped. Her eyes were all teary. Jen put a hand on hers. They stayed quiet for a while.

Jen broke the silence.

“I took so much of your valuable quiet time.” she said.

“No, it’s great to have a conversation with an adult.”

Then she showed Jen her stash of chocolates. The two woman women sat on the sofa together. They talked, and laughed together. Then they ate, and talked and laughed some more. Both realized how much they had in common, and also how different they were. Then they watched the end of an old movie and cried. It was 2 o’clock at night when the baby woke up and needed to be fed. Jen said bye and left. Standing outside alone, breathing the crisp air she felt peace. She thought she would have a baby growing in her. Instead she found a friendship to grow and nurture.

Life brings you so many unexpected and wonderful things. And she was somehow confident it was pregnant with more.

Some would have you believe that these muscles are useless, or a simple quirk of human development. But in studies, ear muscles were found to contain spindle shaped fibers. There’s a wisdom behind this: spindle shaped muscles are resistant to long term contraction and relaxation. This is because when all the muscles stimulated by the facial nerve contract, the outer ear muscles also work with them. Most people assume that the auricula muscles do not contract and relax. However, when the facial muscles contract and relax, the outer ear muscles do so, too. Thus, spindle shaped muscles that are capable of extensive contraction and relaxation are required for the activities of the external ear. Calcium ions make these muscles so resistant to moving.

A strong connection

The auricula connects to the temporal bone at the side of the skull via muscles, ligaments, and skin. It is attached to the skull with five surrounding ligaments and three external auricula muscles.

The six muscles that bind the crumpled shaped cartilage frame to one another are called inner muscles. The outer muscles, which connect the external ear to the head, are specifically created to form a strong and functional ear. The curvy elastic cartilage section (Figure 2) is tightly connected to the skull via skin and ligaments.

Many animals also have moving external ears. For instance, a dog moves its ears towards the direction of a sound and pays closer attention. A dog’s ear is perfectly shaped for this task, just as the human outer ear is perfectly shaped with special curves and folds to channel sounds to the eardrum and to generate a balanced vibration in a cone-form structure.

Muscles protect the outer ear

The outer ear is a cartilage tissue of 0.5–1 mm thickness. It has a specific folded, curvy shape. When its anatomic structure is observed, three sets of folds follow each other. In addition to collecting sounds, the outer ear also has to detect the direction and location of these sounds. These outer ear muscles have a duty to gather sounds, sense their directions, and yet not become deformed.

The protection of the cartilage folds is mostly based on the contraction force of the outer muscles of the ear, working together with the inner muscles. In a study, the relationship of m. transversus and m. obliquus, as the inner auricula muscles are called, with the outer ear cartilaginous folds was evaluated. Individuals with post-natal flatness on the first groove of the outer ear were the subjects of this study. The cause of the flatness on the first upper groove (the scapha) was determined to be the lack of the m. transversus and m. obliquus muscles at birth. Hence it is understood that the contraction of all muscles are necessary for the morphology and protection of these folds. Prenatal events such as muscle weakness, abnormal attachment, and muscle deficiency were seen as inhibiting factors for outer ear folds.

A twelve year old girl had a flat upper ear (stahl ear) without folds. In this ear type, there is no third projection (scapha) on the upper groove. This projection can give a pointy look to the ear (some would describe it as a “Mr. Spock” look). She underwent surgery to eliminate this flat shape. During the operation, an anomaly was noticed at the location of the m.obliquus auruculare muscle. It was discovered that when this muscle fails to attach to its position prenatally, it causes ear deformities. The surgery then made a small incision on the cartilage to move the muscle to its normal location. After three years, an improved look was achieved. 1

Muscles provide balance

Three muscles located on the outer ear, named m. auricularis posterior, anterior, and superior balance the pulling force of the inner muscles that cause the outer ear’s folds.

Usually there are no serious problems in most of the birth related outer ear anomalies (malformations or deformations). Malformations stemming from prenatally ingested drugs or genetic code mistakes occur between the 5th and the 9th week of pregnancy.

If there are no inner ear muscles present at birth, the outer ear stays saggy, soft, and in a loose position. In cases where the outer ear muscles are deficient at birth or are attached in the wrong places, due to the forward pull of the inner muscles, a specific look known as “flap-ears” appears. With surgery, a tip of a muscle taken from the back of the ear can be positioned towards the front in a corrective autoplasty. The earlier these operations are made, the better the results. 2,10

Furthermore, due to the pressures applied on the ear from incorrect prenatal postures, the outer ear can also lose its form (deformation anomalies). Apart from surgery, with special applications like casting, these deformations can be fixed within three months. 3

Veins in the ear muscles

Our ears turn red and purple in very chilly weather. The reason for the color change is the expansion of blood vessels in order to provide nourishment and warmth to the outer ear. These vessels are located inside the outer ear muscles. Due to the wise, meticulous placement of blood vessels inside these muscles, not only are the blood vessels protected, but nourishment to the outer ear is enabled. In addition, muscles provide warmth to the ear due to their constant activity.

Cooperation and communication

The muscles of the outer ear are connected to the center of the cardiovascular and nervous systems; they flex apart from the other muscles and organs of the face. Their operation is united. Their stimulation and reflex responses take place with the same nerve. They feed from the same artery and dump their blood to the same lymphoid and vein system. They are inseparable parts of a single entity. There have been many experiments completed on this subject.

For instance, during a facial stroke, when the facial muscles are paralyzed, the outer ear muscles are also seen to be paralyzed, as they are stimulated with the same nerve. If the stroke is permanent, single-sided loss of movement, hearing, and flattening of the outer ear curves are observed. 4,12

In another study, electrodes protruding behind the ears were placed among the projections of the mastoid bones. The reactions upon stimulation are found to be very intense in the ear muscles as compared to the earlobe. 5,9

In another study with 19 facial stroke (hemi-facial paralyses) patients, the reflex stimulation applied on the eye muscle (orbicularis oris) of the paralyzed side reached behind the back of the outer ear in everybody except for two patients. 6 In opposite situations, stimulation applied on the outer ear’s posterior muscles generated lateral eye movements. 7,11

The response of the outer auricula muscles to stimuli stems from the reflex center of the primary motor neuron. In patients who suffered a facial stroke after a surgical operation or a trauma, properties of the brain stem reflexes were observed after sound stimuli. Contractions were observed on the outer ear muscles upon application of sound stimuli over the eye. This is believed to happen via transmission of signals from the eye to the spinal cord. 8,11

We can see that every organ and every tissue in our body is created to serve a purpose. The absence of even the smallest organ or tissue means the termination of a function. Like so many other wisely created pieces, these ear muscles also carry out important roles. They are hardly “vestigial.”

Notes

1. Yotsuyanagi T, Nihei Y, Shinmyo Y, Sawada Y. Stahl’s ear caused by an abnormal intrinsic auricular muscle. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 1999 Jan;103(1):171-4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9915179.

2. Karaaslan O, Sonmez E, Silistreli OK, Can M, Caliskan G, Bedir YK. Splitted posterior auricular muscle flap combined with traditional otoplasty. The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. 2013 Jul;24(4):1350-2. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0b013e31828b6afc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23851805.

3. Porter CJ, Tan ST. Congenital auricular anomalies: topographic anatomy, embryology, classification, and treatment strategies. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2005 May;115(6):1701-12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15861078.

4. Cho HJ, Kim HY. Interesting sign of Bell’s palsy in an ear wiggler. Neurogical Sciences. 2009 Aug;30(4):345-7. doi: 10.1007/s10072-009-0096-9. Epub 2009 May 30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%22+auriculares+muscles%22.

5. Matas CG, Neves IF, Carvalho FM, Leite RA. Post-auricular muscle reflex in the Middle Latency Evoked Auditory Response. Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology. 2009 Jul-Aug;75(4):579-85. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19784429.

6. Kiziltan M, Sahin R, Uzun N, Kiziltan G. Hemifacial spasm and posterior auricular muscle. Electromyography and Clinical Neurophysiology. 2006 Sep;46(5):317-20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17059105.

7. O’Beirne GA, Patuzzi RB. Basic properties of the sound-evoked post-auricular muscle response (PAMR). Hearing Research. 1999 Dec;138(1-2):115-32. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10575120.

8. Kiziltan ME, Gündüz A, Sahin R. Auditory evoked blink reflex and posterior auricular muscle response: observations in patients with HFS and PFS. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. 2010 Jun;20(3):508-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2009.07.009. Epub 2009 Sep 19. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19767218.

9. Bérzin F, Fortinguerra CR. EMG study of the anterior, superior and posterior auricular muscles in man. Annals of Anatomy. 1993 Apr;175(2):195-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8489041.

10. Zerin M, Van Allen MI, Smith DW. Intrinsic auricular muscles and auricular form. Pediatrics. 1982 Jan; 69(1):91-3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7054769.

11. Lovell M, Sutton D, Lindeman RC. Muscle spindles in nonhuman primate extrinsic auricular muscles. The Anatomical Record. 1977 Nov;189(3):519-23. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/144446.

12. Iurkianets EA, Matiushkin DP. [Electrical activation of human external auricular muscles (at rest and during perception of acoustic signals)]. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1973 Mar;75(3):16-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4804634.

Let us start with the building blocks of the system, which are the nerve cells (also called neurons). The main function of nerve cells is the transportation of signals through electrical pathways. The morphology of neurons is entirely different from that of other types of cells, and this is what helps the nervous system function effectively.

The typical nerve cell can be broken down into three parts: the dendrites, the body, and the axon. The signal enters the nerve from the dendrites, runs through the body, and leaves the cell by way of the axon. The head of the nervous system is the brain. As only one part of the system, the brain is formed of about 80 billion neurons. Apart from the brain, there are billions more neurons in the nervous system, which runs throughout the body. Other than the neurons, there are neuroglia in the brain, which consist of approximately another 80 billion cells. In the brain alone, there are over 160 billion cells whose only purpose is to transport signals. But where do these signals originate from and where are they taken to?

The functions of the nervous system are performed through three main categories. The first category is the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. This part is the center for decision making. The second category includes all the cells in the body apart from the nervous system, such as sensory cells and muscle cells. The final category is the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which seeps through the body and is the messenger between the CNS and the rest of the body. The whole function of the nervous system boils down to the transfer of electrical messages between these two ends.

An example is when a finger touches a flame. The sensory cells on the tip of the finger produce a “Hot” signal, and pass this electric signal on to the PNS. The PNS then transports this signal to the CNS, where electricity is translated into a meaningful message. The CNS then produces a “Withdraw” signal and sends it via the PNS to the muscles of the finger, which in turn withdraw the finger from the flame. This reflex does not even reach the brain and is processed in the spinal cord due to its simplicity. It is as if the brain cannot be troubled with such petty tasks. Slightly more complex tasks go up a little bit further to the brainstem. The tasks brought to the brainstem are not sudden reflexes, but do not require thinking, either. Some examples are chewing, swallowing, maintaining balance, and eye movement. The brain, however, performs the most complex tasks, such as sight, language, learning, and emotion.

Now that the signals’ pathways are clear, we must ask how exactly do cell groups in the central nervous system know how to react to various situations? How can a small group of nerve cells in the cerebellum (attached to the brain) decide to make the body lean to the left while falling to the right? How does a tiny spec of neurons in the pons (located in the brainstem) know when to start secreting saliva in the mouth? How are miniscule unconscious cells entrusted with decisions concerning the well-being of the entire body? They cannot see the area they are controlling. The only thing that comes to these cells is electricity. How on Earth do these cells know so much from only electric signals?

Let’s look at balance, but keep in mind that every mechanism is totally unique and they cannot be categorized into three or four groups. Our journey begins in the depths of the ears. There are three canals called the semicircular canals, which are all perpendicular to each other. The tip of each canal is filled with a thick fluid called the endolymph. On the bases of these tips are hair-like receptors. The thick fluid flows within the canal in accord with gravity, thus tilting the hair-like receptors. If these receptors tilt to one side, they generate a large amount of electricity. If they tilt to the other side they generate a small amount. Each canal represents one axis, and signals from all three canals make up a 3D world. Signals from each canal continuously flow to the small group of neurons in the cerebellum and are combined to make up a map of how the head is positioned. For example:

• The signal from the X-axis canal is high intensity. (This may mean the head is tilted right.)
• The signal from the Y-axis canal is low intensity. (This may mean the head is tilted upward.)
• The signal from the Z-axis canal is high intensity. (This may mean the head is tilted to the front.)

These three signals combine to give the coordinates of the position of the head. In this example, the variation is in the intensity of electricity. But in other signaling pathways, the variation may be in other features of electric signals, such as the frequency, the pattern, or the combinations of all of these. So by “reading” these different inputs of electricity, blind and deaf cells can “comprehend” complex situations and act accordingly.

It really is unbelievable how such sophisticated information can be simplified. This system may ring a bell to some of you: the main operating principle of the computer is exactly the same. Mere numbers, 0 and 1 (the signals), can combine to form complex information that the processor (the brain) can use to complete tasks satisfactorily. Yes, the brain is effectively a supercomputer capable of processing millions of signals every second in order to keep the body in check. It is capable of increasing its processing speed and can be trained to learn new things. Its memory capacity cannot be filled throughout a lifetime of learning, and it has a supporting system (the neuroglia) which optimizes its performance. It does not require any updates and can work without rest for over 100 years. It is compact and extremely lightweight. Of course, such a wondrous supercomputer requires a lot of resources in order to keep functioning. Although the human brain represents only 2% of the body’s weight, it receives 15% of the blood pumped from the heart, consumes 20% of total body oxygen, and utilizes 25% of total body glucose.

What we have talked about so far concerns around 80 billion neurons. Well, what about the other 80 billion we mentioned earlier? They are called the neuroglia and their main purpose is to lighten the neurons’ load. These cells form the environment in which nerve cells can operate most efficiently. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, we need to consider the fact that neurons handle delicate cargo. The signal formed by one end of the communication channel has to reach the other end with no change or loss in its features (frequency, intensity, pattern, etc.). A single mishap may generate serious consequences. The environment that the neuroglia are entrusted with includes molecular content, temperature, electrical stability, blood flow, and much more. No wonder there are 80 billion of them assigned to this job!

Let’s take a look into the types of neuroglia and what they do. First of all, there are the microglia. These guys are the bodyguards of the brain. They are actually specialized macrophages, which are a part of the immune system. In the case of brain damage, they sweep the area clean of any bacteria that may have infected the site.

Another type of neuroglia is the astrocytes. These cells are in charge of the blood flow to the neurons. They connect the nerve cells to the blood vessels and control the flow of blood by either dilating or constricting the vessels. They also constitute the majority of the “blood-brain barrier”. The blood-brain barrier is the border between the regular blood of the body and the fluid the brain swims in. The astrocytes in this barrier are like the chefs of the brain, selecting what is in the neurons’ menu. They allow only specific molecules through the barrier, meeting the needs of the brain during high activity and preventing waste during low activity. A third type of neuroglia is the ependymal cells. These cells produce the fluid the brain swims in, called the cerebrospinal fluid. Together with the astrocytes, they help form the optimal vital fluid for the brain. One final type of neuroglia is the oligodendrocytes. Oligodendrocytes form the specialized “myelin sheath,” which can be compared to a blanket. This sheath wraps around the nerve cells in the CNS, isolating them electrically. This isolation is key in the preservation and fast transportation of electric signals.

To conclude, the nervous system is extremely complex. Within this complexity, we find beauty beyond speech. How are these seemingly distant cells and organs in touch with each other through just electricity? With what decision-making mechanism can mere unconscious cells make such critical moves? We only have surface level knowledge of these mechanisms. But one other crucial question is how these cells managed to form such a complex system in the first place. They couldn’t have gone through the process of trial-and-error because error means certain death for such an intricate mechanism. So, did the cells gather around and engineer this perfect system by brainstorming? Were they capable of combining limited organic resources to design a brain that all of mankind could not even come close to after thousands of years of advancement? Ask your brain!

Some have explained ecstasy as the spirit’s being unable to bear the turmoil caused by love during reflection on God, invocations to Him, and recitations of His Names. It has also been interpreted as being the amazement, excitement, and trembling that the heart undergoes when it receives special favors from God that originate in His Grace and Majesty.

Although derived from the same root word, wajd (ecstasy) and wujud (finding) are different from one another. While finding, as will be explained later, means passing beyond the sphere of the influence of the carnal soul and the limits of corporeality and finding the Desired One as He is, free from all qualitative and quantitative considerations and restrictions, ecstasy is the overflowing of the heart with feelings of love, yearning, zeal, respect, and exaltation. Ecstasy is a surprising and unexpected emotion. The next step is the state of being in constant ecstasy as the fruit of a continuous recitation of God’s Names and His praise, glorification, and exaltation.

Ecstasy generally manifests itself in two ways:

• Some Divine gifts and manifestations of His Glory emerge in the heart, without the person’s willing or intending it. We also call this “disclosure” or “unveiling” (mukashafa), which cannot be related to any cause originating in human beings themselves.
• Ecstasy manifests itself also in the form of spiritual pleasures and zeal, or amazement and These feelings pervade the whole being and arouse in the person feelings of awe, tearfulness, and crying. This kind of ecstasy is mainly witnessed in circles where people recite God’s Names or study Divine truths together. These feelings arise unintentionally in the hearts of people. Enraptured by the sounds of the hammer used by Zarkubi in Konya, Mawlana Jalalu’d-Din Rumi^[2] said:

The souls that have clung to water and clay,

are pleased on being freed from them,

and begin to dance in the air and breezes of love,

becoming perfected like the full moon.

If ecstasy appears as the result of willful concentration and by being forced, it is called willful rapture (tawajud). This can be seen in initiates, especially at the beginning of the way. Our master, upon him be peace and blessings, advises: “Weep when you are reciting the Qur’an. If you cannot, force yourself to.”^[3]

If we add willful rapture and the finding (wujud) to the two kinds of ecstasy mentioned above, we can divide the subject into four titles:

1. Willful rapture resembles ecstasy, the difference being that it emerges as a result of forcing the self and spiritual concentration. It is witnessed in initiates who are still on the way and is the lowest degree of the actions of the
2. Ecstasy is the unexpected overflowing of a heart which has been equipped with belief, knowledge and love of God, and with spiritual pleasures, with yearning, zeal, spiritual joy and the Divine gifts. It is the main topic being dis-cussed here, and is the state which is based on the hadith: “There are three things which show that one who has them has tasted the pleasure of belief: loving God and His Messenger more than anything else, loving for God’s sake whatever or whomever one loves, and being careful with the things that lead to Paradise and ”^[4]
3. Constant ecstasy is the state in which the heart is favored with a continuous spiritual tension, with spiritual experi-ences, and varying, uninterrupted Divine gifts by virtue of the depth of its relationship with the Necessarily Existent Being and the Giver of Life, and the heart’s committed search for the ways of nearness to Him. The verse (18:14), We made firm their hearts and they rose, proclaiming: “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never call anyone apart from Him God!” expresses this sort of love and excitement.
4. Finding is the highest point of excellence; it is mentioned in a Prophetic Tradition as worshipping God as if one were seeing Him,^[5] and the effusive feelings of excitement and astonishment result from being favored with the burning manifestations of Divine Existence.

In itself, ecstasy has also degrees:

• The lowest degree is that which arises from reflection on God’s signs and using the other senses and faculties to have a sound and deep relationship with God. A heart with this degree of ecstasy experiences the pleasure of belief in and knowledge of God, closing itself to all others than the Almighty.
• The second degree is that, in proportion to the profundity of the heart, and owing to the gifts that stream into it, the conscience or conscious human nature is awakened to the illumination and inspirations far beyond the receptive capacity of the ears, eyes, and mind.
• The highest degree is the inconceivable state of seeing, knowing, and thinking of Him alone in everything and always feeling His company without considering any other being, by virtue of the fact that all human faculties having taken on His color (with which He has colored the whole universe). One who has attained this degree can achieve amazement (dahsha) if able to take half a step further, and will fall into a stupor (hayman) if proceeding the full step. It is difficult to understand and interpret these two states with our normal human capacity of perception and reason.

O God! Your light has been completed and You have guided us to the truth, so all praise be to You; Your Clemency has overwhelmed and forgiven us, so all praise be to You. And bestow blessings and peace on the one, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

[1] The Attributes of God can be understood as, broadly, of two kinds, with two kinds of manifestations. One kind are the Attributes of Grace—such as Mercy, Compassion, Love, Forgiving, etc. The other kind are Attributes of Majesty— such as being overwhelming, compelling, punishing, etc. (Tr.)

[2] Jalalu’d-Din Rumi (1207–1273): One of the most famous Sufi masters of the Islamic history; founder of the Mawlawi (Mevlevi) Order of the whirling dervishes, famous for his Mathnawi, an epic of the religious life in six volumes. (Tr.)

[3] Ibn Maja, Sunan, “‘Iqama as-Salah,” 9.

[4] al-Bukhari, “Iman,” 9; Muslim, al-Jami’us-Sahih, “Iman,” 67.

[5] The hadith is: “Ihsan (Perfect goodness or excellence) is that you worship as if seeing God. Even if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you.” The hadith mentions two degrees of excellence: worshipping God as if seeing Him, which is the greater one, and worshipping Him in the consciousness that God sees His servants. al-Bukhari, “Iman,” 37; Muslim, “Iman,” 1. (Tr.)

It has been well known for a long time that the metabolisms of smaller animals are faster when compared to the metabolisms of larger animals relative to their body size. In 1883, German physiologist Max Rubner tried to define a scaling principle based on the laws of thermodynamics and geometry. The metabolism of an organism works like a perfect machine that continuously converts one form of energy into others. It also releases energy while doing so. Metabolic speed can be described as the speed at which cells convert nutrients into energy. This energy is utilized for the execution of cellular functions and the construction of new cells.

Calculations have shown that the speed of metabolism is directly proportionate to body mass. For instance, the biomass of a hamster is eight times bigger than a mouse. According to this ratio, one would expect the metabolism of a hamster to be eight times faster than that of a mouse. Similarly, the body mass of a hippopotamus is 125,000 times larger than a mouse; therefore its metabolism would be estimated to be 125,000 times faster.

The problem is that a hamster generates eight times more heat than a mouse. Furthermore, the total body surface area, which is how the heat energy leaves the hamster?s body, is four times bigger than the surface area a mouse has. Consequently, as the body of an organism grows, its surface area develops more slowly compared to its mass.

This situation is shown in Figure 1. Here a mouse, a hamster, and a hippopotamus are represented in spheres. As the spheres get larger, their volume and surface area also gets bigger. In geometry we know that the volume of a sphere is given as? ?(r is the radius of the sphere). The surface area of a sphere is also expressed as . In this case we can say that while the volume of a sphere is scaled with the cubed radius, the surface area of a sphere is scaled with the squared radius. In other terms, the volume of a sphere is directly proportionate to the cubed radius, as is the surface area of the sphere to the squared radius.

Figure 1. The scaled features of a mouse, hamster, and hippopotamus. Taken from Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell, Oxford University Press.

Figure 1 displays the first model used by scientists when the relation between metabolic speed, body mass, and surface area was being investigated. According to this early model, the association between body mass, surface area, and volume was studied with spheres that encased organisms. As the volume of the sphere approximately provided the volume of the organism, the sphere?s surface area also represented the surface area of the organism (of their skin). According to this, the radius of the sphere containing the hamster is nearly twice as large as the radius of the sphere with the mouse. Therefore, it can be claimed that the volume of a hamster is approximately eight times the volume of a mouse, and its surface area is four times larger. When it comes to the hippopotamus; the radius of the sphere is 50 times larger than the one with the mouse; this shows it has a 2500 times wider surface area and a 125,000 times larger volume compared to the mouse.

As it can be seen with these examples, while the radius of the sphere increases, its surface area does, too, but at a slower ratio compared to the volume ? in other terms, it gets scaled.

Based on this model, since the surface area is scaled (enlarged) with the square of the radius, and the volume with the cube of the radius, it can be estimated that the surface area is scaled with 2/3 the power of the volume.

The interesting point that all these rough calculations take us to is that the surface-area width of the living things is adjusted in a way to permit the release of energy they generate into their surroundings in a healthy pattern. If a hamster generated more heat than the amount corresponding to four times its surface area, this would lead to the hamster overheating.

In a similar way, if you elevated the heat in a hippopotamus, which generates 125,000 times more heat than a mouse does, by eight, the hippopotamus would suffer from heat exhaustion. This is because the surface area of a hippopotamus is only 2500 times bigger than a mouse. This is called the ?surface hypothesis,? and until it was discovered that it does not correlate well with the experimental data, scientists carried out investigations based on this model for nearly 50 years.

Around 1930, Swiss animal scientist Max Kleiber performed a series of studies involving the metabolic speed of various animals. The data he collected showed that the metabolic speed is scaled to ? the power of body mass, or Metabolic speed = body mass3/4.? This is called the power law in science. Instead of the 2/3 power in the first model, the correlation of 3/4 power with the experiments demonstrated that animals, especially large ones, have higher metabolic speeds than the first model predicted.

In summary, the establishment and maintenance of this equilibrium requires knowledge beyond geometric calculations, and makes it impossible to explain via random occurrences.?

In Figure 2, the scaling of different animals in regard to their body mass is charted. The horizontal axis shows the body mass in kilograms, whereas the vertical axis marks the speed of their average basal metabolism in watts. The symbols displayed as dots are real values measured from different animals and the fact that these dots align almost on a line show the correlation of the metabolic speeds of organisms with 3/4 the power of their body masses. This points to an extraordinary order in the universe, one that has been created with perfect harmony built into it. ?

One feature of the ?power law? is that when the two axes are drawn logarithmically, the relation between the two physical magnitudes appears as a line. Here, a similar situation is present and this power law is called the ?Kleiber Law.? This law successfully provides the metabolic speeds of mammals, birds, fish, plants, and even single celled organisms.

There are also other scaling relations pertaining to these that have confounded biologists for a long time. For example, the bigger a mammal is, the longer its life span is. There are examples, like humans, who do not fit into this general principle. However this is applicable for many mammals. The life of a mouse lasts two years, typically, whereas the life of a pig is around 10 years ? and elephants live for 50 years. If you chart the average life span of many different species across their body masses, the value of the power law is seen as ?. In other terms, for mammals, the average life span is scaled to ? of the body mass (directly proportioned).

As another example of proportion and scale, if you draw a graphic displaying how the average heart beat speed changes against the body mass of different species, you will once again find the scale of the power law to be ?. This means that the larger the body mass of a mammal, the lower its heart beat is.

Biologists are trying to solve the mysteries among the relations of many power laws like this one. There is no doubt among scientists regarding the fact that these power laws manifest certain common features in living things as an important sign pointing to the presence of very significant common features for all organisms.

Figure 2. Metabolic speeds of different animals according to their body masses. Taken from Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell, Oxford University Press.

The creation of living things according to a power law, which is a relation between their metabolic speeds and body sizes, is a wisdom that requires thanksgiving. To safely release their generated energy, the metabolic speeds of living things must be scaled to ? the power of their body mass. A lower value would cause a higher body heat, and a higher value would lead to very low body heat. In both situations it would not be possible for organisms to sustain their lives in the physical world. Our bodies are perfectly scaled for us to survive.

Note

Experimental values were obtained from the book of – K. Schmidt-Nielsen, Scaling: Why is animal size so important?, Cambridge University Press, 1984.

Reference

• Complexity – A Guided Tour, Melanie Mitchell, Oxford University Press, 2009.

Focus is the key – that and good intentions. Being laid-low by fasting helps us to do what we always know is right for us. I read from a mystic source about a man being asked if he loved humanity.

“I do, indeed,” he said.

“Then why,” asked the mystic, “do you treat yourself so badly?”

Today, there are 1.6 billion Muslims fasting – and me, a non-Muslim. Of course, there are plenty of other non-Muslims who undertake the fast. The Christian fast would have been perfectly accommodating, but Lent somehow simply came and went. There would appear to be less emphasis placed on fasting among Christians.

In my efforts, I have one advantage: I am a senior citizen! No office awaits me. No traffic jams. No heavy labor. In theory, I am in a perfect position to undertake the outer and inner fast. No food, alcohol, or nicotine during the daylight hours; these are the basic requirements. The inner fast means the subjugation of bad thinking, arguing, philosophizing, and sex.

The day drags on! At around noon, the pangs of hunger are insistent. I need a diversion. But where? What to do? Devout Muslims spend these difficult parts of the day in prayer. I, on the other hand, have been known to simply sit around, being quiet. My wife frowns.

The evening comes and at the proscribed moment – when the sun has set – it is time to eat. But how awfully vulgar, to await the moment with ravenous fervor. One’s eyes stray to a clock at ever-decreasing intervals. The mind has only one fixed object. The mouth waters. I feel that I deserve this break in the fast. Then comes the first nudge of shame, for I have slogged through this first day with dogged determination. I have succeeded, but the entire day has been of the mind. Perhaps, later, there will be more of a feeling of inner sincerity. As mentioned above, the experts and the experienced know that relief, which generally means freedom from the demands of the body, comes after about three days. It is a physical fact. Nevertheless, it is best not to forget that God is behind everything.

Pre-dawn on the second day. I am too lazy to get up to drink water. Common sense tells me that it should be otherwise. I slump back onto my pillow. Since I have not even had water for breakfast, this will be another long day.

Many years ago I enjoyed a daydream about equanimity, which for me meant a quiet mind. I read of the mystic who said that he was walking around, feeling quite happy, with nothing much on his mind. What a wonderful condition that must be. Envy is my lot and it simply adds to the confusion. In my daydream I pictured a desert riad, the sublime architecture of which makes my stunned mind the place of dreams. There will naturally be the prerequisite inner courtyard. There will be a colonnaded walk around the divine fountain, which gurgles ever so discretely. I am wearing a robe and soft slippers. I walk sedately among the columns, murmuring a few verses from something or other – perhaps even from the Quran. It would be the time for finer feelings to emerge and for the passions to diminish as I slowly lose myself. I suppose that I would dwindle into nothing, to then be confronted with the possibility of seven demons entering my inner world to replace the one’s I had been rid of.

In the everyday world, of course, the vast majority of Muslims do not possess a riad and they do not have the energy to murmur anything at all beyond a fervent wish for the clock to show a different face, so to speak. Still, there are plenty of devoted souls out there, doing their best to survive the onslaught of a secular existence, which is insistently temporal. It is said that by four in the afternoon, the cigarette smokers are going out of the minds. I am grateful that smoking makes me ill.

I understand what Jiddhu Krishnamurti has called the folly of wishing to repeat pleasure. More of the same does not necessarily mean more pleasure because we are talking sensory overload. What in Arabic are called nafs can be comfortably translated into English as appetites. My nafs lead me on. My tongue is a sponge-like nuisance, saturated with saliva. I must be diligent though! A slip in awareness will have me slathering into a cream cake in no time. I remember reading about an ascetic in India who martyred his desire by holding a succulent bunch of grapes next to his mouth as he marched along in the customary 40 Celsius heat of the subcontinent.

The fourth day, my wife’s birthday. One feels inclined to celebrate. We do celebrate and I half promise to add an extra day to the fast to compensate for my misdemeanor. But to be fair, she is not exactly a lady of unprecedented desire; her nafs seem modest compared to mine. If anyone is to blame ’tis I.

Day six. Or is it? I’m losing track. We are too active in the world. An invitation to visit a daughter means that she will cook for us and one can hardly refuse. We eat and drink. I am to eventually count four alcoholic drinks during the month.

Aesthetics loom large in my mind, and I am convinced that God in His mercy has led my mind to such finer thoughts. I loved reading about Shibui, the Japanese concept of rightness, or appropriateness. Like many people I first read about Shibui in James Michener’s Iberia, which is perhaps the definitive travel book about the Iberian Peninsula. Michener also mentioned the Spanish notion of Duende, which describes, or imbues, an almost Zen-like quality to something. It is about grace, but not so much in a religious sense, but all the more in respect of something being graceful. Duende has found, I believe, an up-to-date expression in ‘zone,’ from ‘flow’ psychology. If you are in the zone, everything flows.

The next day and I have stopped counting. I am feeling slightly well. That ‘feeling slightly well’ appeals to me as a figure of speech; it sounds like an original concept. I am able to breathe freely from my stomach. This means wellness for me. I am happy to have thoughts about creativity. They may be just thoughts, which are usually a nuisance, but at least they seem creative as opposed to being damaging. The mystic, again: ‘You can do anything you like in this world as long as you don’t hurt anybody.’ Thoughts arising in this way are also a blessing because I am not thinking anything of a bloodcurdling nature. God is good.

Ramadan seems to be going fairly normally. I no longer have ravaging pangs of hunger. I only occasionally have the desire for an ice-cold beer. That Muslims don’t drink alcohol at all doesn’t seem to help. I have lost a couple of kilograms, however. Common knowledge has it that a one-liter carton of milk weighs one kilogram. Thus, the loss of ten kilograms in body weight can be easily fathomed as not dragging ten cartons of milk around with you. I have read extreme stories of people losing 15 or even 20 cartons.

More diversions. I have just been reading bits of art philosophy: ‘If you can’t use it, it is probably art.’ Thebest quote, however, comes from Shaker philosophy: ‘Don’t make anything unless it is necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.’ Shaker furniture is exquisite; the epitome of minimalism coupled with elegance. Yet looking at it makes me feel sad. Perhaps this is the message: you are not supposed to look at it and be made happy; you are supposed to be happy with or without beautiful possessions. God would have it so.

We drove through a small town this afternoon. A large man strolled casually, obliquely across the road in front of our car. His insouciance was insulting. Anger flared within me. I slowed but gunned the engine as we passed him. If there were minus points to be acquired I acquired the maximum. Sudden anger. Afterwards I sat and gazed, fairly emptyheaded, feeling an awful sense of nothingness. It would lift, I knew. Perhaps sleep would diminish the dull gloom.

I remember the three days in Herat on the border between Afghanistan and Iran. I was rotten with diarrhea and barely able to move from my mud-built room to the muddy hole in the floor ten yards away. I was extremely weak and perhaps even a little delirious. The mosquitoes seemed as big as small birds. You could easily see them coming. I emptied my body until there was nothing more to empty. I was still very young; a skinny youth. It was at times like that, when the situation was dismal, that I laughed. It all seemed so ridiculous, suffering diarrhea in Herat in a mud-built hotel.

“What?” I remember saying to myself. “Are you going to die here?” Then I laughed, perhaps slightly hysterically. It was fifty years ago and in those days I had been able to lift everything I owned in the world with a little finger.

Visitors, again. I ‘borrow’ one cigarette, eat one small thing on a cocktail stick, and drink half a glass of water (with the cigarette) and one small cup of black tea. The visitors fortunately refused wine. I am convinced that hospitality should be shown so that guests are not embarrassed or feel unwanted. A lovely excuse. I don’t feel too bad but I know the time is coming when a more serious attitude will have to set in. My Muslim friends would be appalled at my shortcomings.

Today I am feeling listless. When one puts one’s appetites (those naughty Arabic nafs) on hold, they sulk. This sulking reflects on my own mood; I, too, sulk. Thus listlessness is my portion. What it really means is that I have previously been functioning through the willing energies of my appetites. This would be okay regarding work, but not the finer aspects of one’s life. Confusion is the result and one’s own small blobs of chaos will be added to an already chaotic world. Ramadan is about personal responsibility.

I sinned inwardly, romping into a philosophical debate. Felt the nafs having a field day. I really must get quiet, but it is so very difficult for a writer to acquire grace. In the case of a writer it can only come despite himself. On the other hand, isn’t that always the case? God is not only great, He is wily.

By day 20, I know that writing a journal is not exactly useful for achieving the aims of the fast. I write now after Eid-al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Intellectual activity may be wrong, but I can’t help feeling sorry for myself, which loves to write, and the millions of poor Muslims who have little opportunity to be free of the material forces raging around our planet. I have also come to realize that good intentions are of the essence.

I stagger through the last ten days of this month of fasting. For a brief period I experience what Christians call ‘the peace that passeth all understanding.’ This experience and other experiences, according to the lights of the recipient, come during the so-called ‘night of power,’ when God’s grace is poured down from the heavens. These are the blessings that make Ramadan such an inspiring endeavor.

This year has been pretty much a disaster for me. There have been no Muslim brothers and sisters nearby. One friend sends the traditional apology for mistakes made during the year.

I am reminded of a past Ramadan and an Eid-al-Fitr celebration in Indonesia. The Muslims and I awaited the arrival of three imams. They arrived and a mind-stilling hush fell over the gathering. I felt an opening, a slight tingle above my heart. The crowd formed a shuffling line and we approached the three imams to beg forgiveness. The imams begged forgiveness in return. Then each person stood next to the imams to eventually form what became a large circle of human forgiveness. It was astonishing to realize the obviousness of an apology that benefits not one but both parties. I had felt a part of it all. Nobody had questioned my right to be there.

Inner worship is a prayer that prays of itself. Something inside a person – the soul – begins to pray. Submission is obviously a must.

Algae plays a huge part in two natural cycles. They convert solar energy into chemical energy in aquatic environments and thus make the first ring of the food chain. Marine algae also produces two thirds of the world’s demand for photosynthetic carbon: the oxygen necessary for life is provided by the photosynthesis algae carries out. After fulfilling this role, they are then consumed by zooplanktons, which along with phytoplankton are eaten by small fish; bigger fish then eat the small fish; and these are eventually consumed by humans and larger carnivores. When these larger predators die, they become food for insects and bacteria, while also leaving their remains as nourishment for plants.

At first sight, we may see organisms in a struggle with each other; however, when we observe the entirety of life, we notice that all creatures are made to assist one another without being aware of it.

Algal foods and health care

Algae are also used directly in food for humans. Especially in Ireland, Wales, and Asian countries, algae is an important food source. It is rich in A, B1, B2, B6, and C vitamins, in addition to niacin, iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium. Approximately 70 types of seaweed are consumed in China; in Japan, around 20 different kinds are used in cooking.

Seaweed can be eaten raw, cooked, or in other forms. In China and Japan, brown seaweed (Laminaria, Undaria or Ecklonia species) is consumed in dehydrated form. These help as expectorants and as a source of iodine. Algae is also recommended for cancer treatments in Chinese and Indian literature. In Korea, mothers follow a seaweed rich diet for three months after giving birth.

Various vitamins are also produced from these organisms. Certain algal species are cultivated as “supplementary foods” and sold in packaged forms. Much of the worldwide demand is fulfilled by Ireland, Scotland, and Norway.

Products prepared from brown seaweed can also be used as antidotes. Iodine and other elements contained in the seaweed prevent the absorption of some radioactive materials in the body. In recent studies, the active ingredients obtained from Undaria brown seaweed were found to eliminate harmful aromatic substances in mice. They were also shown to play a role in the prevention of infections related to the EBV, HSV, and HIV viruses, which can be associated with cancer and cause cold sores, chicken pox, and shingles. Furthermore, an algae rich diet was discovered to improve health and increase disease resistance in sheep and cattle.

The brown seaweeds Laminaria and Fucalesgrow naturally, especially on the American oceanic coasts. There are nearly 30 different types of these seaweeds, and they are the natural sources of iodine, which aids the thyroid and is important for human metabolism and development. Due to well-known benefits, there are many commercial brands of shampoos, soaps, creams, vitamin supplements, and diet products that include brown seaweed.

Algae in the pharmaceutical industry

In recent times, algal products have gained significance due to their cholesterol lowering, anti-cancer, and immune-system enhancing effects. As a sulfate containing polysaccharide that is exclusively found in brown seaweed, the antioxidant and anti-tumor effects of fucoidan have been demonstrated. Fucoidan helps the heparin sulfate receptors in charge of preventing in-vivo clotting of blood. It has also been shown in experiments performed on animals that fucoidan is a very powerful antiviral: it is in charge of the leukocyte transport to tissues and helps prevent metastasis.

It’s possible that seaweed heavy diets have contributed to the frequency of breast cancer in Japan and Korea being nine times lower than in the West. During experiments on animals, it was shown that brown seaweed and products derived from them help fight breast cancer, lung metastasis, and leukemia. The presence of iodine, tryptophan, fucoidan, or vitamins in the bodies of animals supports this conclusion.

The long life span and health of the Japanese people residing in Okinawa is associated with their seaweed-enriched nourishment.

Algae as a fertilizer

Algae have a positive impact on soil productivity and plant growth. It’s widely used in agriculture. Studies have shown that algae regulates the soil structure and improve its moisture capacity. The alginic acids contained in seaweed react with the metals in soil and become inflamed in humid climates. As result of this, the soil is rich with particles and nutrients. It becomes enriched with plenty of macro and micro elements (N, Ca, Mg, Mn, B, Br, I, Zn, Cu, Co) in addition to plant growth hormones (Auxin, Cytokinin, Gibberellins) and compounds like betaine. These are broken down to support the growth of beneficial soil bacteria (Rhizobium etc.). As such, root systems develop better, and the plants grown from the soil are healthier.

Oceans and seas host one vital ring of the worldwide food chain because of the algae they shelter. Algae serves mankind not only as a food item, but also because of its rich compounds that aid both natural and pharmaceutical growth. Though often overlooked, algae is one of our great blessings.

Some additives obtained from algae

Thickening and emulsifying agents are used to process meats like sausage or bologna, as well as in other foods. Some of these substances are derived from algae. These are primarily substances like “alginate,” “agar,” “carrageenan,” and “gel.” Large amounts of algae are collected for this purpose.

Carrageenan: It is first obtained from the red Irish seaweed. One of the important features of carrageenan is that it can form gels of different textures when used in low concentrations in water and milk based foods. Therefore it is used in the food industry as a gelling, binding, thickening, and stabilizing agent. Carrageenan is utilized in dairy products, dairy gels, in pie fillings, frozen foods, frozen desserts, and in pasteurized and sterilized milks.

Alginate exists as the insoluble salts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium in the cell walls of brown seaweeds. This substance is used for improving fruit structure, in frozen gel preparation, for extending storage time of potatoes, to obtain a softer texture, and to delay the formation of ice crystals in ice creams.

Agar has different features depending on the seaweed of origin and production method. It can have a very elastic jelly structure or be very fragile. It is used as an agent to enhance the lifespans of fruit pie fillings, cake creams, filo dough, and similar bakery products.

Reference

• Helen Fitton, J., Brown Marine Algae: A Survey of Therapeutic Potentials, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, February 2003.

The Qur’anic “come to know each other” can serve as an instructive interpretation of the deeper meaning of education. The main ambition of this essay is to show the beautiful synergy between this verse and the concept of education by referencing further, largely Qur’anic-inspired interpretations. Understanding education as “coming to know each other” is important because, although it is a noble goal, it is also an elusive one, as evidenced by the continuous strife and violence between different groups of people. Reflecting upon the deeper meaning of education may serve as a small, but crucial step towards a new understanding of difference that fosters peace and avoids strife.

This essay will proceed by describing the deeper meaning of ‘education’. Then, in the sections “Divine Differences” and “Human Manifestations,” I submit that many of our differences are God-given, yet we misappropriate them too often towards conflict. The section “Our Minds and Our Souls” describes how our own mind or soul can condition us towards this conflict. In “Jihad and Transcendence,” I show how the often misunderstood Islamic concept of jihad is to overcome these inclinations and transcend human differences.

Education

Most of us understand education the way a Merriam Webster dictionary does: as “the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending a school, college, or university.” This accepted definition demonstrates a collective mentality of instrumentalism and goal orientations; at the same time, it perpetuates instrumental (and superficial) mentalities. The result is an increased alienation from our ideational and spiritual mentalities – and from each other.

True education is about something much different. The origin of the word ‘education’ is Latin, composed of the prefix ‘ex’ (in words like ‘exit’, meaning ‘out’) and the verb ‘ducrere’ (in words like ‘conducting’, meaning to lead). Put together, ‘ex-ducere’ translates into “leading oneself out of oneself.” While for many this journey of leading oneself out of oneself may suffice as an aspiration in itself, as it enables perspective-taking, others may ask: “Where shall one lead oneself to?” There can be various answers, but one worthwhile one is: To Aime Cesaire’s “rendezvous of victory” which the Martinique writer describes in his Notebook of a Return to My Native Land:

[T]he work of Man is only just beginning, and it remains to man to conquer all the violence entrenched in the recesses of his passion. And no race possesses the monopoly of beauty, of intelligence, of force. And there is a place for all at the rendezvous of victory.

Cesaire was writing about colonialism and limited himself to referencing “race,” but we may feel at liberty to agree that also no nation, ethnicity, tribe, nor any other grouping has “a monopoly of beauty, intelligence and force,” and that there is “a place for all humans at the rendezvous of victory,” regardless of their particular identity.

Cesaire’s poetry is simple, yet shattering. With one stroke he defeats our want for being better and more deserving than others. With the same stroke he introduces us to a new humanity and dismisses our instincts to indulge in the false boundaries that have given a sense of belonging, but pitted humans against each other throughout history. The rendezvous of victory is not a locale of limited resources for which a particular race, nation, or tribe ‘wins’ at the expense of others. It is a place for all.

True education is not about something instrumental, but about something ideational and spiritual. It is about a journey in which, as the Qur’an says, we shall “come to know each other” with the purpose of transcending how we understand differences. It is this new understanding that will help us reach Cesaire’s rendezvous of victory. Yet, education can be still more. The purpose may also be a journey towards the Islamic realization of al-Tahwid, which beyond its meaning of the oneness of God, also induces the consciousness of a spiritual kinship among all of humanity.

Divine diversity

The destinations of ex-ducere are good, but the paths are arduous. Transcending our understandings of difference is not easy, as the world is host to a plethora of differences among people – and many of them have divine purpose. The Qur’an states, “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your language and your colors” (30:22). It states further, “and so amongst men … are they of various colors,” which contributes to the different nations and tribes (35: 28). And as humanity came to inhabit different areas across the globe, it developed different customs, traditions, and cultures. In a religious reading of the world, these differences are divinely sanctioned.

In interpretations of the Qur’an, we read about God’s intentions in creating a world with differences: It is our distinctiveness that gives vitality to society, making us interesting and attractive to each other. It makes our interactions mutually enriching, and thereby compels compassionate competition towards the (divine) good. Yet, although the Islamic faith rejects all national, racial, ethnic, tribal, and other segregations, these seem to be the reality we live every day. Too often, people of difference do not come to know each other through respect and love. Instead of racing each other for the good, they are committed to ugliness or violence against each other. The noble destinations of ex-ducere are too often too far away.

Human manifestations

How can one understand the divinity in the creation of differences and their apparently associated conflicts? One answer lies in what various social sciences teach: While there is divinity in the origins of many of our differences, their manifestations are often void of divinity. God has created distinct nations, races, and tribes, but nationalism, racism, and tribalism are man-made. The same applies to many other exclusionary “isms” and ideas. We are socialized into these.

Socialization is a necessary experience, but it also bears aspects of indoctrination. Our families and friends, the schools we attend, the media we consume: all socialize us into particular beliefs and perspectives. We find ourselves embedded in a certain cultural environment, a certain socio-economic environment: an environment that emphasizes certain truths and dogmas and ignores others. Socialization is often about categorizing and particularism, and not about universalizing and holism. Here we can see hurdles to the Qur’anic mandate of “coming to know each other” and obstacles to the aspirations of ex-ducere.

Our minds and our souls

Yet, the socializing of human association lies at the foundation of the Qur’an’s positive vision of human diversity. Moreover, our particularism is cognitively conditioned and its workings are also divinely sanctioned. The cognitive sciences teach us that the process of particularizing is fundamental to cognition. It serves a basic function – the organizing and the structuring of our knowledge about the world. Humans have a need for cognitive parsimony, and without a process of categorization, the world and its vast array of people, objects, and events would present itself too complex and cognitively overwhelming.

Our particularized world becomes meaningful through our practice of labeling and the connotations that labels bring. To assume readily retrievable meaning, categorizations need to be labeled and these create content and value-laden identities for whoever is categorized. It is through the process of labelling that we come to “grasp” others. Categorizing and labeling are cognitive necessities. Categories order the environment, labels make it meaningful. These traits are imbued in us by God because of His infinite wisdom. They have many functional benefits, including the facilitation of our general orientations, as well as our daily decision-making.

Yet, our particularism is also the fertile ground for aforementioned isms and exclusionary ideas, and for the human desire to be better than the other. As individuals we want to be better than other individuals; as groups, we want our group to be better than other groups, whether we understand these to be tribes, races, nations, or other associations. In Islamic theology, the first instance of arrogance was committed by Iblis. He refused to grant his respect to Adam, reasoning that he was better than him. As the Qur’an accounts the scene, after God finished his human creation, He “bade the angels bow down to Adam, and they bowed down; not so Iblis; He refused to be of those who bowed down.” God asked, “What prevented thee from bowing down when I commanded thee?” He said, “I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire and him from clay” (7:11-12).

The traits of envy and arrogance did not remain reserved for the devil only. Subsumed by the Arabic term kibir, they became a human temptation and they are anchored in our inner self: our soul, our nafs as it is referred to in the Qur’an. After God condemned Iblis, the latter pleaded, “Give me respite till the day they are raised up” (7: 14). God responded, “You are of those allowed respite,” and since this day Iblis is engaged in tempting the lower wants in our nafs.

To be sure, the nafs has a fundamental duality to it: it can incline towards the good and towards the bad. “And [by] the soul and the One who proportioned it; then He inspired it [to discern between] its iniquity and its righteousness” (91: 7-10).

It is our experiences of socialization, and the necessary but also compromising functioning of our minds, that condition us away from the ideal of ex-ducere and dispose us to exclusionary thinking. However, the ultimate culprit is the intangible nafs and its defilements. It is these that dispose us towards envy and arrogance. The outcome is, all too often, not only exclusionist thinking, but also the establishment of apparently irreconcilable racial, cultural, ethnic, political, ideological, or other barriers.

Jihad and human transcendence

Yet, given the ongoing strife in the world it remains a divine duty to educate ourselves; to lead ourselves out of ourselves so as “to come to know each other” as the Qur’an prescribes. This journey of ex-ducere is enabled through a purification of the nafs and, for Muslims, this is the challenge of jihad, the highest form of which is the struggle to cleanse oneself from the vices of the soul. This particular jihad is known as jihad-al-nafs. Accordingly, the Qur’an states, “By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right – Truly he succeeds [who] purifies it” (91: 7).

Conventionally understood, jihad-al-nafs is concerned with the suppression of the ‘bad’ in one’s self. What is not recognized as often about jihad-al-nafs is that it is also a cultivation of the ‘good’ in one’s self. While we have been imbued with a temptation for envy and arrogance, we have also been imbued with the capacities for self-reflection and deliberate intention, which, in turn, lend us a unique capacity for freedom of action. Through these capacities we are able to control, we call upon the good in ourselves while suppressing the bad.

In Islamic exegesis there are many reasons why those who purify their souls will succeed. One reason becomes evident when equating the process of purification with a process of emancipation, which is essentially a process of ex-ducere. In this process of leading ourselves out of ourselves, we are emancipated from the boundaries that we’ve been socialized into; they start to crumble and are eventually erased. Hurdles to “coming to know each other” are being overcome and the fertile grounds for the temptations of the nafs are withdrawn.

As true education leads us out of ourselves and as we come to know each other, we are venturing towards Cesaire’s rendezvous of victory, which is a state of mind more than a locale. We start to understand difference in a more nuanced, rich way than we are intuitively inclined to. As the famous Persian poet of the 14th century, Shabistari, put it: Zuhur-i jumla-yi shya bi diddast – “The manifestation of all things is through their opposite.” Whatever our identities are, they become meaningful only through the existence of otherness. Otherness is not something to be feared or shunned; it is something to be embraced. Whether these realizations can be attained through mere intellectual understanding or whether it requires something more, like love, is a question that must be answered.

Yet, the journey of ex-ducere can go further. It can lead us towards the Islamic realization of al-tahwid. Although al-tahwid in its ordinary sense refers to the theological conviction that there is only one God, it is its metaphysical or ontological meaning that is of relevance here. In these understandings the term denotes meanings such as “the act of making one or integration,” or “union”; it helps us to understand God’s creation as emanating from a single source—from the Divine. The Qur’an states, “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women” (4:1).

It is with such verses that the Qur’an engages in a narrative of an inherently interconnected humanity. Implicit is that every single human being has a shared spiritual origin and existence. The acclaimed Muslim mystic Rumi takes this realization to a beautiful conclusion in the following poem:

Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make sense any more.

This realization seemingly does require love. It is grounded in a further realization, namely that all of us originate from the same Source. While each person remains an autonomous and accountable individual, we nevertheless realize our spiritual oneness. And this is what love is – the disappearance of boundaries that distinguish “self” from “other.”

Towards peace

The task of education, when we understand it as leading ourselves out of ourselves and “coming to know each other” as the Qur’an dictates, is to embark on a journey of emancipation where we transcend how difference is understood, reach the rendezvous of victory – and perhaps journey further, towards seeing our inherent kinship with other humans. These new understandings of each other will enable us to compete not against each other, but compassionately with each other for the good, as the Qur’an asks us to do. This is the path towards peace.

Life springs from streaming waters,
Melodies rise from swans,
And rivers wishing a reunion,
Warble from mountains towards seas…

Everywhere is opalescent like artful carpets,
The harmony phantasmic
Languid mornings enjoy the freedom of blue.
As valleys, highlands and golden brooks,
Compete with Paradise in dreams.

Coy trees rise their heads to the heaven,
Sounding the melodies “Hu, Hu” at their highest tone;
A specific tune of prayer is heard every other moment,

Water and soil are knit together by life,
Leaves flash smiles on flowers;

This wheel of life rotates within a joy
Dimples are seen along the lovesick horizons.

Here where love and enthusiasm seethe,
Souls sail to reunion bit by bit;

Within every desire a different joy is felt,
By those who sense the divine truth in conscience every moment.

Nerve cells that fail to establish connections with other cells (nerve, muscle, or secretion gland) within the initial 6-12 month period following birth are destined for a programmed cell death (apoptosis). For example, if the eyes of newborn animals are kept shut for a couple of weeks, vision-related neurons in the brain cortex die and the animals become blind. If the initially present neurons cannot perform their duties or are not used properly, they are terminated. This situation is expressed as the “use it or lose it” principle.

The notion that there is no recuperation for injured or dead nerve cells or tissues, in addition to the recovery of bodily functions related to the damaged neural tissues, was dominant in the medical field for years. Even though this is the case for adult individuals, at least most of the time, it has been proven that this is not true and applicable all the time, especially for children. It has been discovered that lost brain functions can be recovered, even if only partially, and this potential for recuperation is present at birth. This is called the neuronal plasticity or regeneration (renewal) capacity.

Neuronal regeneration is the auto-healing process of nerve tissues that have lost their integrity, functions, or been damaged due to trauma, oxygen deprivation (ischemia), infection, or many other reasons. For example, in patients with polio, certain arm-leg nerve fibers become dead and the muscle stimulated by that nerve suffers a stroke. However, neighboring nerves manage to recover the paralyzed muscles by extending new arms. This situation may resemble the installation of a parallel phone line from your apartment to your neighbor when the old line is cut, which benefits both units with the same line. Certain short projections can grow from the root of a damaged or broken nerve fiber (axon), and in some cases healing may be achieved by this growth. According to the neuronal plasticity theory, the brain is a dynamic, flexible organ, and is open to changes. It is not static, and it can adapt to new conditions. Based on this theory, a brain that has lost an ability, such as vision or hearing, can regain these functions; an individual can hear or see again. However, there is still more research to be done on this matter.

Regeneration is a mechanism that supports the plasticity theory. The proliferation of stem cells is triggered by plasticity. The reassignment of the tasks of the dead nerve cells to other cells occurs; the surviving nerve cells are induced to develop new branches (dendrites or axons). With the discovery of the plasticity and regeneration processes, some diseases that have been considered untreatable have shown signs of being treatable. For instance, during cerebral palsy in children, imperfections take place regarding motor movements, perception, and intelligence, depending on the oxygen deprivation experienced in the brain tissue before, during, or after birth. The brain goes through an adaptive process to execute the missing functions. Especially during the early stages of life, it is understood that the brain cortex is created with extraordinary reorganization abilities after an injury.

Plasticity not only manifests itself via an increased neuron count, but also with an increase in the number of axons and dendrites, in addition to an abundance of synapses among nerve cells. Nonetheless, the onset of all the positive changes on the neurons requires a stimulator or a trigger. In recent years, certain drugs were developed for this purpose. The laboratory works showing that neuronal plasticity and regeneration were successful for polio also give hope that adult brain disorders might be treatable. Brain recuperation via neuronal plasticity is not only dependent on drugs, but also can be achieved by alternative methods like acupuncture, touching, and massage therapy. Apart from these, sports like swimming and horseback riding are known to stimulate and trigger regeneration in damaged neurons.

The studies briefly explained here have proven wrong the belief that the central nervous system cannot heal and recover to its normal mode of functioning. Mechanisms that have been established in the system (the genetic structure) are being newly discovered by mankind. New studies are needed to find out what other aspects of human biology can be discovered as the science advances. Such discoveries remind us of what a remarkable creation human beings are.