OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET

What is planet Earth?
What is our beautiful planet? Is it flat, round or some other shape? Can we reach other planets or are we actually stuck here?

According to Christian tradition
Our world was created in six days and God took the next day off to admire His handiwork.
The Gospel of Saint John. Chapter one, verses 1-4.
In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and
Without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Brahma creates the material world, which is often called the “one-quarter creation,” expressing that it is far smaller than the spiritual world (the “three-quarters portion”). Most souls are liberated, just as in the state most people are free citizens rather than imprisoned.

Lord Shiva is called the destroyer and, through his dancing, brings about universal destruction. He is also the male creative principle in the world, injecting the souls into the womb of material nature (shakti).

There is no one simple account of creation, and there are many detailed and inter-related stories. Central is the narration of the sacrifice of the primal being (purusha), found in the Rig Veda. On the metaphysical level, the universe is created from sound (vak). Sound corresponds to ether, the subtlest of the five material elements. According to such sankhya philosophy, the elements develop progressively from subtle to gross.

The atman, more subtle than any matter, generates his own successive material bodies.This world and its creatures are here to facilitate the soul’s self-centred desires, and ultimately to enable his return to the spiritual world.

Key Points
The material world is endlessly created, sustained and destroyed through the agency of the Trimurti (see The Trimurti).
It rests in Brahman, from whom it is generated, by whom it is sustained, and into whom it merges upon annihilation.
There are many enclosed material universes.
There are three main material worlds – lower, middle and upper.

A Useful Analogy – The Prison House
The material world is but a small portion of God’s kingdom and a place for those who wish to become the centre of enjoyment.

The material world and its suffering is not really God’s desire, just as a government would prefer that there were no prisons.
Though the government provides and organises the prison service, the criminal is responsible for his or her situation. Similarly, though God creates this world, the soul creates his own happiness and distress.
The world is a place where fallen souls attempt to enjoy existence separately from God.
The ultimate purpose of the world is reformation of character and attitude, by which the soul can attain liberation. The soul suffers not so much through his location but through his rebellious attitude.

source – https://iskconeducationalservices.org/HoH/concepts/key-concepts/creation/

According to Rogers and Hammerstein – The King and I

Prince Chulalongkorn

‘Father, yesterday Misses Anna teaches us that the world is a
round ball which spins on and invisible stick through its
middle. Everyone knows that the world lies on the back of a
great turtle who keeps if from running into the stars’.

King
‘Well, this ball. It stick through it… I believe!’

Prince Chulalongkorn
‘You believe. Does that mean you do not know? But you must
know, because you are king!’

King
‘Good. Someday when you are king, you too shall know everything.’

According to Islamic teaching

Passages relating to creation occur in the Qur’an in different places, such as: “Verily in the heavens and the earth are signs for those who believe. And in the creation of yourselves, and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are signs for those of assured faith. And in the alternation of night and day, and that fact that Allah sends down sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds, are signs for those who are wise” (45:3-5).

Big Bang?
The Qur’an says that “the heavens and the earth were joined together as one unit, before We clove them asunder” (21:30). Following this big explosion, Allah “turned to the sky, and it had been (as) smoke. He said to it and to the earth: ‘Come together, willingly or unwillingly.’ They said: ‘We come (together) in willing obedience’” (41:11). Thus the elements and what was to become the planets and stars began to cool, come together, and form into shape, following the natural laws that Allah established in the universe.

The Qur’an further states that Allah created the sun, the moon, and the planets, each with their own individual courses or orbits. “It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course” (21:33).

Expansion of Universe
“The heavens, We have built them with power. And verily, We are expanding it” (51:47). There has been some historical debate among Muslim scholars about the precise meaning of this verse, since knowledge of the universe’s expansion was only recently discovered.

Six Days?
The Qur’an states that “Allah created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in six days” (7:54). While on the surface this might seem similar to the account related in the Bible, there are some important distinctions.

The verses that mention “six days” use the Arabic word “youm” (day). This word appears several other times in the Qur’an, each denoting a different measurement of time. In one case, the measure of a day is equated with 50,000 years (70:4), whereas another verse states that “a day in the sight of your Lord is like 1,000 years of your reckoning” (22:47). The word “youm” is thus understood, within the Qur’an, to be a long period of time — an era or eon. Therefore, Muslims interpret the description of a “six day” creation as six distinct periods or eons. The length of these periods is not precisely defined, nor are the specific developments that took place during each period.

After completing the Creation, the Qur’an describes that Allah “settled Himself upon the Throne” (57:4) to oversee His work. A distinct point is made to counter the Biblical idea of a day of rest: “We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, nor did any sense of weariness touch Us” (50:38).

Allah is never “done” with His work, because the process of creation is ongoing. Each new child who is born, every seed that sprouts into a sapling, every new species that appears on earth, is part of the ongoing process of Allah’s creation. “He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. He knows what enters within the heart of the earth, and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven, and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wherever you may be. And Allah sees well all that you do” (57:4).

The Qur’anic account of creation is in line with modern scientific thought about the development of the universe and life on earth. Muslims acknowledge that life developed over a long period of time, but see Allah’s power behind it all. Descriptions of creation in the Qur’an are set in context to remind the readers of Allah’s majesty and wisdom. “What is the matter with you, that you are not conscious of Allah’s majesty, seeing that it is He Who has created you in diverse stages? See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (glorious) lamp? And Allah has produced you from the earth, growing (gradually)” (71:13-17).

Life Came From Water
The Qur’an describes that Allah “made from water every living thing” (21:30). Another verse describes how “Allah has created every animal from water. Of them are some that creep on their bellies, some that walk on two legs, and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills, for truly Allah has power over all things” (24:45). These verses support the scientific theory that life began in the Earth’s oceans.

https://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/iscrst.htm

The Plaza Mayor
Madrid’s famous market square is an ideal
spot to watch the world go by from a cafe table

The Spanish royal arms in the national flag.
Showing the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, Aragon
and Navarre, with the Bourbon dynasty arms in the centre.