I read somewhere the Atheists argument that if God was so omnipresent and forever how come no one worships Thor and Zeus, the Gods who were so powerful just a few centuries ago.
What Atheists forget is that the names of Gods like Zeus, Thor and others are just a way of making Gods look human.
Why? You will ask, of course. Why try to humanize God?
I tried to analyze it and my personal explanation is that the attempt to humanize God was made to make people aware of the various attributes and powers of God.
It is clear that appearances are important and even atheist are ready to convert if they can see God. If the educated class (that is what Atheist try to project themselves as) also believe only in the existence of objects that can be seen how can they not understand the needs of the less privileged.
Our ancestors understood this very well that it is easier to explain to people with form. The recognizable attributes were given form to make people connect directly with God.
Slowly, people forgot the purpose of the creation of form for Gods and started worshiping the idols. It is convenient for certain sections that people get attached to idols and forget that God is formless, omnipresent and most powerful.
Religion which starts as a way of life becomes a slave of rituals and diminishes the sanctity of the thought of God.
When people realize that the forms are not needed to worship the forms loose their importance . Zeus and Thor are forms which outlived their utility as people understood that the attributes that Thor and Zeus represent are actually part of the same God everyone wants to be close to.
Zeus and Thor and several other forms just represent the attributes of God who is formless, omnipresent and all powerful.
Manoj
Showing posts with label feelings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feelings. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
The tough path to goodness - Difficult being honest
Two events in my recent personal experience have shown how difficult it is to be honest about small things.
It is so confusing and difficult to decide.
I stumble on the path to goodness as I find how difficut it is to be honest. I gather myself and do the next best thing. I confess.
But is confession of dishonesty going to change the course of the events that are done and dusted.
It becomes complicated as I struggle with what I should do.
Help me.
- Last friday while playing cricket I went in to bat when the team had lost a few wickets and nine runs were needed in some 15 odd balls. A ball on the legside took the thinnest of edges while I tried to glance it and the wicketkeeper took a clean catch. I should have walked but I hesitated. The wicketkeeper had not heard the nick and also the bowler did not appeal. Meanwhile the batsman at the non striker's end had taken a few steps down the pitch. The wicketkeeper saw this as a run out opportunity and threw the ball hard at the bowlers end. The fielders backing up were not prepared and the ball went for overthrows. After that we won easily. I know I should have walked but then nobody had appealed or noticed and if I had walked it would have become tough for the team to win. So I did not walk.
- The again on friday I clicked on the notification on my desktop that said updates are ready to be uploaded. This is a second hand desktop and I had no idea that the operating system is not genuine. Since then I am being reminded time and again that I am working on a software that has failed the genuineness test.
- I have already decided that I will get rid of this desktop but does the fact that I have used it for the past several years make me a cheat?
It is so confusing and difficult to decide.
I stumble on the path to goodness as I find how difficut it is to be honest. I gather myself and do the next best thing. I confess.
But is confession of dishonesty going to change the course of the events that are done and dusted.
It becomes complicated as I struggle with what I should do.
Help me.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Two Questions Test on God
An educated man also an atheist meets a pious man and they start discussing religion, god and faith.
The theist responds calmly to all his questions and seeing that he is heading nowhere the atheist decides to subject his debater to the two question test on the existence of God.
The questions were:
If god exists what is his form? and
What is fate?
The theist who had been calm till then rose from his seat, walked up to the questioner and slapped him hard.
Why? asked the questioner.
To give you an answer, replied the theist. Do you feel pain? he asked.
Yes.
What is the form? If you cannot give me the form of the pain how do you say that the pain exists. This is the answer to the first question.
Did you know that I would slap you? Did you dream yesterday that I would slap you? This is fate and this is the answer to your second question.
Too simplistic, my friends would say. But then I would answer "why should everything be defined by some complex formula."
The theist responds calmly to all his questions and seeing that he is heading nowhere the atheist decides to subject his debater to the two question test on the existence of God.
The questions were:
If god exists what is his form? and
What is fate?
The theist who had been calm till then rose from his seat, walked up to the questioner and slapped him hard.
Why? asked the questioner.
To give you an answer, replied the theist. Do you feel pain? he asked.
Yes.
What is the form? If you cannot give me the form of the pain how do you say that the pain exists. This is the answer to the first question.
Did you know that I would slap you? Did you dream yesterday that I would slap you? This is fate and this is the answer to your second question.
Too simplistic, my friends would say. But then I would answer "why should everything be defined by some complex formula."
Thursday, June 25, 2009
DO YOU NEED TO CONFESS IF YOU START ON THE PATH OF HONESTY
Hello,
Being honest is not easy at all.
But confessions of dishonesty in the past is far more difficult.
If you start on the path of honesty late in life several people are likely to point fingers and say "what the hell, he had lied about so and so a few months ago" or "If he is so honest why does he not say that he had not been clean in his dealings in the past".
It will be likened to a cat becoming pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.
So how do we get rid of the baggage we carry.
Is a public confession the only way out?
Take the example of Mark Sanford. He cheated on his wife and then confessed on TV. They say he has committed political suicide. OK, so what at least he is making an effort to save his marriage and his wife appreciates the effort. And maybe this honesty will actually help him.
But he was the Governor of South Carolina and a front runner for the Republican Presidential nominations for 2012. He was cornered and if he had not confessed it would be dug out by the press that turns brutal in such matters. So in this case public confession was actually the only way out. Now if he is back into public life he can confidently say that he had been dishonest and has confessed. If he now takes the path of honesty he can save his marriage and then come back into the presidential race at a later date.
In contrast, if a layman like me decides to walk down the path of honesty what does he do with the old baggage he is carrying. I do not have access to TV and my confession would mean nothing to the TV viewers. But I have been dishonest in the past. So what do I do?
I choose the person, if any, who was hurt by my dishonesty and confess. I suppose this should suffice. Here is the guy who was hurt by my dishonesty and by confessing I give him a chance to forgive me and forget the past or punish me and get even. Once this is done I can start on the path of honesty I have now chosen.
In case I am scared of doing that I do the next best thing. I confess in front of God. I say it aloud and take it out of my system. I confess in front of the almighty that I had been dishonest. I beg forgiveness and start on the new path of honesty. The beauty of this option is that you are assured forgiveness and there is no one taking advantage of your confessions which can weaken your resolve to being a better human being. This would suffice as well.
There is no harm in the cat trying to turn pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.
Because now it chooses the difficult path. The path less trodden. The path to God.
Regards,
Manoj
Being honest is not easy at all.
But confessions of dishonesty in the past is far more difficult.
If you start on the path of honesty late in life several people are likely to point fingers and say "what the hell, he had lied about so and so a few months ago" or "If he is so honest why does he not say that he had not been clean in his dealings in the past".
It will be likened to a cat becoming pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.
So how do we get rid of the baggage we carry.
Is a public confession the only way out?
Take the example of Mark Sanford. He cheated on his wife and then confessed on TV. They say he has committed political suicide. OK, so what at least he is making an effort to save his marriage and his wife appreciates the effort. And maybe this honesty will actually help him.
But he was the Governor of South Carolina and a front runner for the Republican Presidential nominations for 2012. He was cornered and if he had not confessed it would be dug out by the press that turns brutal in such matters. So in this case public confession was actually the only way out. Now if he is back into public life he can confidently say that he had been dishonest and has confessed. If he now takes the path of honesty he can save his marriage and then come back into the presidential race at a later date.
In contrast, if a layman like me decides to walk down the path of honesty what does he do with the old baggage he is carrying. I do not have access to TV and my confession would mean nothing to the TV viewers. But I have been dishonest in the past. So what do I do?
I choose the person, if any, who was hurt by my dishonesty and confess. I suppose this should suffice. Here is the guy who was hurt by my dishonesty and by confessing I give him a chance to forgive me and forget the past or punish me and get even. Once this is done I can start on the path of honesty I have now chosen.
In case I am scared of doing that I do the next best thing. I confess in front of God. I say it aloud and take it out of my system. I confess in front of the almighty that I had been dishonest. I beg forgiveness and start on the new path of honesty. The beauty of this option is that you are assured forgiveness and there is no one taking advantage of your confessions which can weaken your resolve to being a better human being. This would suffice as well.
There is no harm in the cat trying to turn pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.
Because now it chooses the difficult path. The path less trodden. The path to God.
Regards,
Manoj
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
DOES GOD ACTUALLY EXIST
Many people question the existence of God, forgetting conveniently that they question their own existence with their doubts.
They ask whether one has seen God and if not then how can one believe in his existence they say.
There are others who are great believers but say that they are yet to see God. These people also forget that when they say that have not seen God they question their own existence.
God is present in every human being. He is omnipresent, he is form and he is formless.
Questioning the presence of God is like questioning the presence of feelings, the joy of triumph, the sorrow on the departure of a loved one, the love for your child, the empathy for a fellow being. This is God. Being Human and feeling Human is part of God.
Man can say he has not seen God only if he can confirm that he has not seen his feelings and if he says he has seen his feelings then he can never dispute the existence of God.
Next time a person asks you if you have seen God ask him in return if he has seen joy, sadness, love and empathy. If his answer is yes then your answer is not required.
They ask whether one has seen God and if not then how can one believe in his existence they say.
There are others who are great believers but say that they are yet to see God. These people also forget that when they say that have not seen God they question their own existence.
God is present in every human being. He is omnipresent, he is form and he is formless.
Questioning the presence of God is like questioning the presence of feelings, the joy of triumph, the sorrow on the departure of a loved one, the love for your child, the empathy for a fellow being. This is God. Being Human and feeling Human is part of God.
Man can say he has not seen God only if he can confirm that he has not seen his feelings and if he says he has seen his feelings then he can never dispute the existence of God.
Next time a person asks you if you have seen God ask him in return if he has seen joy, sadness, love and empathy. If his answer is yes then your answer is not required.
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