The Inevitability of the Notion of God

The Inevitability of the Notion of God

     Swami Vivekananda says “as long as there is fear of death and fear of loss, the notion of God will be alive”.

     If you look at the studies made by Anthropologists all over the world, in all tribes in every corner, there is the notion of a God like deity and rituals associated with that belief [refer author Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo].

     Now, like the theme of marriage, family, education of children, native medicines for treating ill health and other practically evolved beliefs and customs, God is ubiquitous.  The level of “Violence” of the God is lesser with more evolved civilized societies and more with aboriginal societies.

     Coming then, to the question of whether “Your God is better than my God”, [the question asked to Guru Tegh Bahadur (the martyred Sikh Guru), the answer is, “it is a different spiritual plane we are comparing and only the actual experience can be shared which is indescribable”.

The Guru paid with his life for that answer. He refused to perform a miracle to prove that his God is better.

     

So much for religious bigotry. The proselytizing religions have propagated over the centuries, their religions through guns, swords, deceit and by appealing to greed using money. That doesn’t mean that they are the only ones worth following by humanity.

     We often forget that as in other things in life, “the proof of the pudding lies in the eating”. It is not by the notion of a God who terrorizes,  through heaven and hell or the proclamations of “love of humanity” that religions shall be evaluated, but by observing how actually, those human beings professing the religion behave to fellow humans. 

     As author Randy Pausch said in another context “see what they do  ,and not what they say”, the record of popular religions is invariably poor.

     The conclusion then, lies in identifying one’s own shortcomings and spiritually cleansing oneself [with or without the help of other people or organized religions)

The Computer Aided Thinking [The folly of]

The Computer Aided Thinking

[The folly of]

     When I was studying in the Engineering College, during my undergraduate days, there was a postulation that AI (Artificial Intelligence) will be the “be all and end all” of the future.

   I am now seeing such developments in many areas in my own lifetime (like air traffic controls, airplane flight navigation, data mining and Business intelligence etc.)

     I am also seeing that nowadays due to the development and mass penetration of the communications and Information Technology developments (ICT), youngsters (and some older people too) abdicate their thinking responsibilities and expect the computers to do their thinking for them.

     In my opinion “clear thinking” is the most difficult thing in life and most of us do that in a “foggy” manner. The modern gadgets have made this “foggier”.

     Anything in our life should be analyzed from first principles and we should “think them through”, to their logical conclusion. We are mostly too tired or too lazy to do any sort of ‘thinking” and we leave it to others to do the thinking.

     Elders of valuable experiences who have lived a “full-life” are our best guides in this matter. We will never get that guidance from the internet or from any computerized DATABASE.

     For this, we should seek out and cultivate their company. Reading of biographies, listening to their speeches, discussing with them in person etc. Most of them , will not misguide us and also in case we have any such doubt, we can always cross check it ,with another well experienced persons also.

     Interact with worthy elders and derive the full benefit of their experience. You will get an asset for your whole life time. You may never get a chance to know about what they know and that will make your life poorer .

Protection Of Health

Recently I met Ben , a 23 years old person. He is fair, hardworking and well built. He works in an ITES  company in Kochi.

 We were discussing about incidents of crisis in life. He shared a crisis he had recently. He works long shifts in office.

 He donated blood to a relative who was about to undergo surgery. The “sister” who took his blood in the hospital blood bank told him that she sees some abnormality in his profile.

 Later he had a medical checkup to verify what his problem is.

 He said, other than ‘Kidney’ all other parts have started failing.

 He says the main reason for this is

a)      Ordering Pizza, Burger etc., and eating from office regularly.
b)      Eating home delivered readymade chicken from popular fast-food.

c)      Lack of exercise.

Now he says he has been directed by the doctor to run for 2 hours daily morning and restrict his food habits and control his weight.

All the above is due to lack of awareness and detrimental life style practices followed (weight control, food control, exercise)

We ‘know’ all this.

 But we will not follow, because we believe that ill-health will 

“Never happen to us, it happen to others only ". 

Meaning of Existence knowledge Bliss - [Sachidanandam]

Whenever we see the messages from the centuries of awakened souls, the repeated essence is ‘existence, knowledge, bliss’ and that ‘thou art  that’.   [Tatvamasi]

      What I understand from the above is, we have to realise that focused time and concentration on the present, will give us bliss. Also that there is no difference between my pain, hunger, happiness and that of another person. The only difference is in name and form. [Otherwise all are the same]

    

     This mainly requires a certain level of emotional detachment , to comprehend. Otherwise we will be wallowing in our own perceived misery, pain, feeling of loss and hence not see things as they really are. As a person known to me put it, “everybody thinks, the whole world is running because of my presence/ intervention”. Also we are being jealous of others and guarding our possessions.

     Nothing could be more far from the truth. Ego is the main reason for this. We should steadily practice emotional detachment, concentration and clear thinking and slowly the self-realization will dawn upon us. No other tool from outside is needed.

     Clear thinking is the most difficult thing in the above, People run away from thinking through, to logical conclusions. Emotional attachments and blind spots arising from those attachments are the reason. This short life is not to be wasted worrying, we should cultivate clear thinking.

     In fact, our own “personal” perceived, problems are nothing, compared to the majesty of the universe and its own inexorable laws. Everything is perfect in it.

     Let us learn to see things as they really are, “enjoy the bliss of this movement” and “be of use” as long as we are here. Life will become lighter and free.

happy life

01/2012 Better Management Newsletter

For A Happy Life

1. Accept the man with his defects. You will get the best out of him.
2. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
3. Physical strength is measured by what we can carry. Spiritual strength, by what we can bear.
4. Don’t hesitate to say

• a. I don’t know.
• b. I made a mistake.
• c. I need help.
• d. I am sorry.

5. Never compromise on your integrity.
6. Never underestimate the power of love and forgiveness.
7. Hear both sides before judging.
8. Be your spouse’s best friend.
9. Wear out, do not rust out.
10. Compliment at least 3 people daily.
11. Give people a second chance and never a third.
12. Stop blaming others.
13. Live beneath your means.
14. Gratitude is an important attitude.

Excerpt from ‘Happy Life’ Sankara Publications.Chennai

love medicines and miracles - book

recently completed this book by dr Bernie siegel ,a cancer specailist.
the book is full of practical wisdom.
it helps you to see life with a different stet of eyes
worth reading.