Note: This post is not related to Ayodhya verdict as the title may seem to suggest to some readers
Disclaimer: The comments and views expressed here are the author's own and not aimed at hurting anyone's beliefs and feelings. If you are offended, author seeks apology and wishes to inform that these are author's personal thoughts and he is free to so express. Content here is not endorsed/sponsored by any institution or group
Previous post on the subject:
My views on God in my last post might have made me sound like an Atheist. Which is also true to some extent. I do not wish to out-rightly disregard the existence of deities and spiritual powers but the essence of my previous post is somewhat motivated by a long standing confusion. The confusion arising from two contradictory facts. One, that God wishes no harm to anyone, means no hatred, is compassionate, forgiving and knows all. Second, that the one who worships him, kneels before him, prays in front of him for material objects, happiness and peace, only such person shall be blessed and granted her/his desires.
If God knows the insides of the insides of our souls; if He knows what we think, wish and believe about Him and His creations; where does the need for communication of our desires, wishes, etc arise? What would be the significance of a prayer that in itself happens as a consequence of His will directing a mind to move to a temple and pray?
Since long, I see people pray. I see people kneel down and scribble on the floor with their noses, in a gesture to display the humility that they owe towards the greatest giver of all. To impress Him? I see people routinely donating to His places, in His name. I see them never miss a day when they have not visited His temple.
And...
I also see the very people badmouth about others. I hear about the acts of greed, hatred, jealousy of the same very people. I hear them quarrel over dimes, over supremacy. I see them flaunt the very gifts they have been demanding from Him in front of the less lucky ones. The same very people who have been playing the loyal servant of God are, in another role, now playing a reckless, greedy human being who would, at a moment's notice, harm a fellow human with words or actions to demonstrate their might and supremacy over rest of them as much as possible.
Isn't it so that the God also watches them playing this new role? Is it that it is only when inside the temple that their deeds are visible to Him? Is God so innocent that He is driven away by their prayers and their acts wrongdoings are all waived off?
In contrast to this, a person who perceives Him in all His creations; who respects all beings for they are also His creations. Whose expression of love for Him only lies in performing the duties that He has ordained for this devotee who humbly carries out all His commands and abides by all His actions that happen to test him and his devotion. Such a person is in continuous state of prayer, no matter what she/he is doing. His Karma is his devotion. Such a person needs not to walk up to a temple to pay his obeisance rather for such a being, the whole world is home to God and he is always worshiping. Such a person is always able to communicate his thoughts to Him no matter where she/he is.
But if it still holds that praying and wishing to Him is required in order to get all our Karma to be accounted for and that we have to bow and kneel in his temples, no matter how humble we are in our deeds and expectations from Him, I would say that is in contradiction with the very nature of God that we are taught since we were able to comprehend human expression, that God is forgiving, he expects nothing but only gives and gives.
In this manner does that also holds that a creature, no matter how he treats fellow beings, shall be forgiven for all his ill deeds in his temples? Even if it is a way of life for him to steal and ask for forgiveness the very next day? Which one is the true way to appease God? Or does one (true way) even exist?
All the above unanswered questions stem from my varying beliefs in the concept of God and how I have been trying to rationalize and reconstruct them over years as I experienced and observed others' experience of what is called the acts of God and His will (Bhana). Since childhood onwards, like everyone else, my understanding of God has been changing based on my own experiences and observations. I hope someone will relate to those when I discuss the same later.
Disclaimer: The comments and views expressed here are the author's own and not aimed at hurting anyone's beliefs and feelings. If you are offended, author seeks apology and wishes to inform that these are author's personal thoughts and he is free to so express. Content here is not endorsed/sponsored by any institution or group
Previous post on the subject:
My views on God in my last post might have made me sound like an Atheist. Which is also true to some extent. I do not wish to out-rightly disregard the existence of deities and spiritual powers but the essence of my previous post is somewhat motivated by a long standing confusion. The confusion arising from two contradictory facts. One, that God wishes no harm to anyone, means no hatred, is compassionate, forgiving and knows all. Second, that the one who worships him, kneels before him, prays in front of him for material objects, happiness and peace, only such person shall be blessed and granted her/his desires.
If God knows the insides of the insides of our souls; if He knows what we think, wish and believe about Him and His creations; where does the need for communication of our desires, wishes, etc arise? What would be the significance of a prayer that in itself happens as a consequence of His will directing a mind to move to a temple and pray?
Since long, I see people pray. I see people kneel down and scribble on the floor with their noses, in a gesture to display the humility that they owe towards the greatest giver of all. To impress Him? I see people routinely donating to His places, in His name. I see them never miss a day when they have not visited His temple.
And...
I also see the very people badmouth about others. I hear about the acts of greed, hatred, jealousy of the same very people. I hear them quarrel over dimes, over supremacy. I see them flaunt the very gifts they have been demanding from Him in front of the less lucky ones. The same very people who have been playing the loyal servant of God are, in another role, now playing a reckless, greedy human being who would, at a moment's notice, harm a fellow human with words or actions to demonstrate their might and supremacy over rest of them as much as possible.
Isn't it so that the God also watches them playing this new role? Is it that it is only when inside the temple that their deeds are visible to Him? Is God so innocent that He is driven away by their prayers and their acts wrongdoings are all waived off?
In contrast to this, a person who perceives Him in all His creations; who respects all beings for they are also His creations. Whose expression of love for Him only lies in performing the duties that He has ordained for this devotee who humbly carries out all His commands and abides by all His actions that happen to test him and his devotion. Such a person is in continuous state of prayer, no matter what she/he is doing. His Karma is his devotion. Such a person needs not to walk up to a temple to pay his obeisance rather for such a being, the whole world is home to God and he is always worshiping. Such a person is always able to communicate his thoughts to Him no matter where she/he is.
But if it still holds that praying and wishing to Him is required in order to get all our Karma to be accounted for and that we have to bow and kneel in his temples, no matter how humble we are in our deeds and expectations from Him, I would say that is in contradiction with the very nature of God that we are taught since we were able to comprehend human expression, that God is forgiving, he expects nothing but only gives and gives.
In this manner does that also holds that a creature, no matter how he treats fellow beings, shall be forgiven for all his ill deeds in his temples? Even if it is a way of life for him to steal and ask for forgiveness the very next day? Which one is the true way to appease God? Or does one (true way) even exist?
All the above unanswered questions stem from my varying beliefs in the concept of God and how I have been trying to rationalize and reconstruct them over years as I experienced and observed others' experience of what is called the acts of God and His will (Bhana). Since childhood onwards, like everyone else, my understanding of God has been changing based on my own experiences and observations. I hope someone will relate to those when I discuss the same later.
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