GOD, A MYTH???
March 27, 2008 by Team ASO
Venkat Raman
Few days back, an old friend of mine, who had brought the book God Delusion by Richard Dawkins went gung ho over the book and started to employ all the intellectual gyan he gained from the book to belittle me and my spiritual notions. As expected, I lost the battle of the brains while trying to prove against his arguments over whether God really exists. It was obvious. I am nothing when compared to the geniuses of the British Biologist Dawkins. After he left my place, I didn’t become curious to read the book, I was left wondering what the fuss all about was!!
What does he try to prove? And above all what is the need for such proof? Is it a paean on the superiority of human intellect and all its sophistry? Does it signify the beginning of a dangerous trend that God is no longer beyond the realms of human understanding, but a mere illusion created to fool the gullible masses??
Ask me, it seems very funny. No, I am not trying to deride his theories. I am aware that I am nothing in front of those great geniuses. What really puzzles me is how can one use intellect to understand something which is way beyond human intellect. The intellect may find seemingly plausible arguments to prove that God doesn’t exist. But the very fact that the argument stemmed from the intellect makes the argument sound foolish.
Which now brings me to the question, what is God? Vedanta Treatise, a book which I will recommend seriously for everyone in India, gives a brilliant analogy to understand this seemingly mythical concept. Lets rewind the time by several years and think of the childhood days when we learnt Algebra. Most of us, would have solved sums like this:
Solve:2x + 3 = 6. Most of us, at the advice of our punctilious teachers, write the first line of the solution as:
Let the solution be x. 2x=3 =>x=3/2. We know the fact that the answer is not x, but simply assumed to be x, helping us to find the true value of x. Think about God in the same plane. Our great ancestors, whenever they were confronted with so many mysterious phenomena in the world, found a simple answer by assuming the solution to be a fictitious super-powered entity called GOD. They realized the fallibility of the human race, whenever they were struck by natural disasters like Typhoon, Earthquake and floods and assumed God to be omnipotent. They realized the vastness of this planet and it seemed obvious that God should be omnipresent. They realized that there were many incomprehensible phenomena present in the world and assumed God to be omniscient. Bingo!! God; The Omnipresent, Omnipotent & Omniscient.
Our country, INDIA, since ages, has been a country obsessed with millions of Gods. If we were to give a holiday in our country for every God’s birthday, we would probably have vacation through out the year. (Sounds so delicious, isn’t it??) Jokes apart, I feel proud to hail from a country which has been the pioneer in bringing spiritual transformation to humanity. Our folklore is full of bountiful Avatars, traditions, festivals etc. We have Gods in every imaginable form. The great ancestors made patriarchal, powerful male Gods, mirroring the society in whole. When humans evolved and began to accept the weaker sex in the mainstream society, they also made female Gods, reflecting on the changes. Gradually, they made Gods out of every human creature in this Earth.
All these, however were mere assumptions, en-route to find out the real solution within. This is exactly where things get hazy and confusions began to seep in and that’s primarily one of the reasons why we find books like these in book stalls, along with oodles and oodles of books about God, religion & spirituality. These assumptions were made with a purpose: To find the actual meaning of God.
However, most of us are so caught up and lost in these multifaceted images and traditions that we forgot to find out what we set out for.
Infact, to make this arduous journey to find out the truth easier, the concept of religions came. The word religion comes from the term re+ ligare, meaning, that which binds oneself again. I know this meaning would seem like a joke, considering the innumerable divisions religions have created among mankind. Bitter it might be, this is the truth. Religions were mere signposts which helped us to find out the true path. However, we got so much obsessed with our signposts that we began to fight over which sign post is better, rather than moving forward in our journey.
Infact, one interesting thing about our ancestors is that they have been environmentalists too. They must have been prescient enough to realize that Oliver Ridley Turtles would be in danger in the 21st century and so they made Vishnu metamorphosing as Turtle Avatar. The significance behind making Gods out of fishes (Matsya Avatar), turtles (Koormah Avatar), pigs (Varaaha Avatar) should be understood in the present context where scant regard and utter apathy is given towards other living beings of the ecosystem. Its indeed saddening to note that despite all these traditional reverences in our country, it stands among the top in annihilating these members of our ecosystem.
We have been, instead, obsessed with questions over whether Gods (or Avatars) existed? I don’t know whether Gods lived in the Earth like humans. I am not going to discuss that further. Reams of literature have been written already. The main point is, are we understanding the significances behind these Avatars? Politicians ruling us, who talk about Ram are happily ignorant of the stories that he was a noble ruler who listened to the voices of the masses. Rather than debate over the plausibility of these epic stories, why don’t we treat these as parables, which inculcate values which are resonant with the contemporary society we are living in.
These Avatar’s lives are full of profound knowledge. Take Lord Krishna, for example. Many of us have seen his picture, wearing a peacock feather in his crown, playing flute among cows. These seemingly innocuous symbols contain world of knowledge. When, we see a peacock feather in his crown, it is a subtle remainder to all the politicians to carry their positions of power as light as a feather. Rather, we flex our moral muscles and ask questions over his seemingly philandrous nature!!
I know, I haven’t answered the question Is God, A Myth?? Had I written an answer, it would simply mean I am an idiot. And if you have come so far, reading this, wondering what my conclusion is, you are an idiot!!
How can you expect man to understand something that is beyond his intellect? assuming God does exist. In my opinion, the existence or non-existence of God is not even debatable. The truth is neither God exist nor is it God doesn’t exist. The truth is, no one knows the truth. However, if and until the truth is known, we will consider God as a concept, theory, hypothesis, faith whatever……
I do not preach atheism but this is my stand. The important thing about living a life is living a good person. Though, vaguely put, I wouldn’t want to define “good person” but to live a life with high values, not deviating from our culture may really not require a religion, it may not require a person to be religious or spiritual. Do you actually think the Hindu mythology transforms a person to some extent atleast in the positive? Do you believe, when a person worships an idol he realises and captures the significance behind it and thats even one of the reasons why he is “good” if he is?
Akhila,
When I say that God cannot be understood by intellect, I dont say that its impossible for men to realize God. God can only be felt… When u have pain, you can only feel it.. YOu cant set to prove it..When u begin to experience God, without any doubt, you will realize that with intellect, it wud have been impossible… thats what i mean by this…
Our Ancestors who experienced God , felt the need to make things simpler for laymen. They gave him a form, concept so that it becomes pretty easy to realize the divine..
N as far as Hindu culture is concerned, the reason why I mention it is due to the fact that it has always been criticised..People, ignorant of the deep profound meaning deride its theories..When someone worships an idol, he should look to reflect deep within himself… I dont say he realizes..My efforts are through these articles, to make everyone realize the deep meaning within…Idols are the supreme concept of Hinduism. Our intellect says that its made of stone.. But our hearts raise it to divine. THe stone gives an identity with the substratum of Earth. Yet the heart equates it with the infinity. Therein lies the real beauty behind worship..
Even if one person who reads these articles and begins to reflect inside whenever he is inside a temple lookin at an idol, or anywhere else..then Ill be the happiest!!
Venkat, well written. Liked the ending too.
is for each person to understand/realise/follow. The typical atheist takes into account the seemingly superstitious practices in defending his/her opinions. Indian culture (not just ‘Hindu’ culture) has a meaning for each practice. Most of the meanings have been lost in time and now we are unable to grasp the true significance of each act…
“God” (concept, theory, hypothesis, faith whatever…
As you pointed out and even as Akhila commented, if a person manages to lead a ‘good’ life, then that should be enough. If a Ramayana is believed as a fiction, let us atleast learn from them. Do we really believe foxes and crows spoke to each other. But dont we quote Aesop’s fables? And for those who believe that the characters in Ramayana once actually walked this earth, then these believers better follow the guidelines hinted in the book.
Well, if I was to counter argue, it would look like two deaf men talking cuz thats how different our angles of views are. I’m talking on a very practical view point. from a Phylosophical view point, I totally agree that the beauty of significance Hindu mythology holds is just amazingly inspiring. But the sad part is, it hasn’t solved its purpose. Its too complicated for a layman as opposed to your calim that our ancestors intended to simplify the concept of God and hence the conversions to other religions….. in voluntary cases.
We can not modify our religion or simplify it now. It will lose its essence. May be, our ancestors should have made sure it was made available to even the not-so-previlaged group of ppl in our ancient society. But that wasn’t done. Ppl were divided and subdivided and the “lower castes” were deprived of even basic education leave alone phylosophical preachings. The same scenario continues today except that now, ppl don’t have the heart, time and patience to learn and analyze the religion. (Jus thinking aloud)
U say its complicated for layman..Have u been to any slum?? You wont find a single slum without any amman temple or kaali temple.. Those laymens living at the fringes of the society have embraced religion so much… Religion has percolated to the masses n elite alike.. However there are other ppl who entirely contorted the meaning of religion n create hell in this world.. So Religion is not to be blamed..We have to evolve..
As far as ppl’s divisions are concerned, in the ancient Vedic civilisation, ppl were divided based on their professions on their inherent characteristics..Its a big separate issue..Ill write detailedly about it some time later..
GOD??…..
hmmm……. well franly speaking the topic in itself is a mirage.The question of the hour is not of whether it exists in
Temples,Mosques,Churches…..etc but the question is if it all it exists,does it exist within me or within you and within each one of us.The question is,”Work is worship but whether worship is work??”The question is,”Whether it is justified to invest crores of rupees merely for the sake of putting a stone in a Palatial buildig and offer prayers to the same adjacent to which there are thousands who are starved to death.??The question is,”Whether it is justified to keep offerings prayers to those incarnations whom you have neither seen nor touched nor ever realized at the cost of your duties and priorities??The question is,”If it all that concept has anyting to do with truth then whether that supernatural power is so selfish that it listens only to those words who keep chanting his name round the clock??Is he so selfish?? Is he so ego-centric??The question is,”If he is that powerful and possess such vast wisdom why doesn’t he remove all the sufferings from the earth??
The need of the hour,therefore is the reform.Thje need is to come out with our own stands and knowledge which has got some rationale and some sense.Observing fastings,Offering prayers,Chanting hymns and skipping from the daily work is ,to my mind nothing but merely a nonsense.Work for the cause of the society.Make each second of your life productive.There’s nothing like GOD in the universe.If it all it is,i am dead sure that it shall never desire its followers wasting time in those rituals and dogmas.It shall like each of its human beings to live for others and do someting for their betterment.
Swami Vivekanand says,”It is the salvation of others that you must seek and even if you go to the hell in doing this that hell is valued even more than a heaven”.The need of the hour is therefore to realise some concept like this within you and work acoordingly.So the need of the hour therefore is REFORM.
Well, Venkat….. Ppl in the slums have a blind faith. They do not know the significance behind idol worship. They have temples built which they visit and pray cuz thats what everyone do. They do not know the intricacies of our religion because, generations ago, they were deprived of such knowledge being imparted. And thats what reflects even today. My point is, then again, it boils down to the fact that idol worship, rituals etc, hasn’t solved its purpose which is sad.
I am not for idol worship. But I wouldnt ask people to break traditions over night.
Every creature views God in its own form.
A tiger could have a God that looks like a Tiger. so does a snake. We never know..Humans are just the dominant species current on earth.
Sorry for diluting the question….
Tell me this… Is God there really?
There seems to be lot of different views. Before this gets lost in each person’s different but strong viewpoint, lets try to understand the other person’s view.
It would be great if Akhil/Mihirja can say what _they_ think was the actual ‘purpose’ of religion and its associated practices before suggesting that these havent lived up to their promises.
Too much of discussion.Huh!!!Whether GOD Exists or not is a very tough question to answer.An analogy would explain it in a better sense.A research brings a new theory,say X, into existence and we find it in the books after sometime.One fine morning,some other research contradicts the theory and the theory X is gone,theory Y comes,and every 10 year or even more the theory keeps on changing.We being spectators do except the theory given by others,and it may also be that you(1 out of 1 million) come up with the same refined version of the theory.It goes on endlessly.The same implies to whether HE exists or not.And it’s better to realize the truth on your own than imposing theories what others have derived.Truth can never be imposed,you have to realize.It’s like trying to learn to swim without jumping in the water.You may know the procedure but never learn to swim.And I remember something from “SAAYA” that “We believe in not believing my Son”.Ya it’s true we have certain degree of freedom of speech,but not enough to conclude whether GOD exists or not.Idol worship is a just a medium to bind people,infact it’s the first stage of spirituality.Jump on the way,realise and then come back to scribble the truth here.
The most commonly debated topic … does God exist?
Each one of us have our own perspective and experiences which decides the answer to the above question. Idols represent God or not, is not the question, Its about how you feel. I am in accord with ‘incorrigibleoptimist’. A believer in God feels him every where, the sharp bright rays of the sun, waves of the ocean, fragrance of the flower et al. Why positive vibes exist around a saint and temple? If God did not exist, why would one feel good and strong when he/she prays? Do the feelings raise because of what has been told to us right from our childhood? I mean are they the result of psyhogenesis?? Ahhh… its difficult to answer the question.
Mihirja, have you ever tried any of the rituals? I guess you havent. You shd try them with all the faith once, you’ll never call them a nonsense again.
@Mihirjha,
It isn’t right to say spending money on building temples, churches and mosques are waste of money and it could better be used for a social cause. It can not be justified cuz each of us have our priorities when it comes to spending money. If my priority is studying and I’m willing to spend lavishly on that, would you say I could rather use that money to do social work? It all depends on one’s priority.
I don’t believe you have actually quoted Swami Vivekananda’s saying. Swami Vivekananda was a religious and spiritual person. Secondly, you who do not believe in God, have quoted something that talks of hell and heaven is ironical.
@ Sai
I am not denying anything in Venkat’s article at all. Every ritual and practice in Hinduism, though complex has a meaning to it.
If you ask me, I would say Hinduism is not a religion in the first place. It kicked off with nature worship and went on to idol worship etc. It is when the vedas sprouted that “Sanathana Dharma” (old name for Hinduism) meaning eternal law. God and religion was the explanation to lot many then unanswered questions. A lot many of these concepts in Hinduism have lost their purpose today is what I’m saying. Besides, when the idea is to be a good person, and you can be one without religious influence, why waste time understanding the complexity of the religion? Nevertheless, I think it needs to be preserved.
My concern is, once a person delves deep into the religion he conciously or unconciously becomes intolerant to other religions. Even otherwise, one gets so drowned in it that he starts refering to a fellow human being as a christian, muslim or hindu. Though it isn’t right to generalise it, I’m sure you can not deny its a good deal that way.
However, the beauty of Hinduism is, it doesnt have set rules that one has to follow. Religions as usually defined as a way of life, Hindu scriptures do not talk about how to lead a life. But it tells you of right and wrong and it is left for an individual to pave his path.
Hinduism is like a fully ripe succulent mango. Its hard to eat it without spilling the juice when it is so ripe but thats where your skill lies. The lesser the juice you spill, the sweeter it tastes.
@ Akhila
Your original response did sound a bit cynical but anyway I was curious to know if you could elaborate on the original-good-purpose vs seemingly-currently-contorted-application.
If I get your objective right, your views are influenced mainly by what we call as ’superstitions’. A practice becomes a superstition when we fail to understand its purpose. Ofcourse there are some ‘real’ superstitions: practices that were followed in a certain region and/or time when being continued now/everywhere when the original circumstances do not occur now. But, just because we do not understand something, we cannot term it void… People don’t seem to differentiate between Love and lust and attraction and affection. It doesn’t mean that each of these are theoretical hypotheses, do they?
@ Sai
Not like one knows for certain god exists right? Thats why I said the truth is unknown. My core points of the whole arguement are…….
1. I am not talking about superstitions. They were tagged on from time to time due to false assumptions. Idol worship, rituals themselves, though I agree a 100% have their own significance, it hasn’t been understood right. The reason I fathom are:
Hinduism is too complex
The so called learned Hindus have failed to preach the right reasoning of religious practices
2. My second concern is unrelated to the 1st and generalised for all religions. We tend to get so drowned in our religion which brings about a division among people in all senses. Only if and when a time comes when there would be a Hindu, Parsi, Muslim, Christian, Sikh in the same family yet live in harmony does it mean a religion is solving its purpose and only its purpose.
an awesome write venkat!!
was very enjoyable..yeah…is there God is the most common question people ask and there are gazillions of theory answering it.
I suggest you to read erich Von daniken’s ‘Chariot of the Gods’. there he proposes the theory that God was in fact aliens who had come from outer space. he uses many ‘Proofs’ to showcase it. easter Islands, south american statues and stuff…read it and you ll find it damn interesting
and yes, all of us are so much involved with hypocrisy by ways of creationg dogmas and rules that we forget the very purpose of religion. yes indeed we humans are very hypocritic. i particularly liked the ‘avatar’ thing.. very sensible and it took me too by surprise
a very good write once again..! i dun feel like an idiot, but rather am able to connect to your idead
Hey Vivek aka Recluse..
Thanks man for your comments. Didnt see u quite lately… Why dont u post some interesting:)article which will incite to write more criticising u…Its been quite long time…