The recent passing of the Hindu guru Sathya Sai Baba brought up an interesting discussion recently, and I want to share my views here. For those unfamiliar with the name, this man was considered by many to be an ascetic with healing powers - some even go to the extent of calling him a reincarnation of god.
On the one hand, if you were to presume that the quality of a man's life is judged by the tears shed when he is gone, then one can only conclude, by the thousands that wept at the Sai Baba's funeral, that he was a leader and shepherd of men. Superficially, this seems like a reasonable conclusion to draw from a reasonable presumption.
But, all this is just that - on the surface. There is this basic human need for fulfillment and belonging that is met somewhere in the process, but we are prepared to endure so much pain, just for those few moments of happiness. Why else would people lead their entire lives believing in "gods" and ideas that have no basis in reality and fact? When viewed objectively, these are just blatant lies, aren't they? They are a jigsaw of all the little pieces of fiction created along the way to make our lies seem like a intangible truths backed by the conviction of faith. Take the time to think about this.
When someone says, "I don't know that God exists, but I believe", it is tantamount to an admission of pure ignorance. Ignorance isn't bliss. Ignorance is painful. The reason our lives are filled with so much pain and internal turmoil is simply because we refuse to acknowledge the fact that most of the groundwork we lay for our lives is not based on anything real! Things that go wrong because of our lapse in judgement or action become "the mysterious ways in which the lord works". Think about how easy it is to pass the buck to this fantastic character : God - your perfect personal life insurance policy! All the important aspects of our lives are in our control, but just in case, just in case we screw up, we need coverage from the divine insurance policy. And in case we don't, what do we do? Why, we do what any rightly indignant customer would do - complain.
There is a distinctly satiating clarity that comes from accepting the Unknown as what it simply is - unknown. A clarity that we will never achieve by being shepherded by anyone other than yourself. Simply doing this gives us something we unconsciously spend our whole lives searching for - a sense of purpose. It is this sense of purpose that will pave the path to true knowledge of ourselves and of the universe, of which each of our lives is a microcosm.
On the one hand, if you were to presume that the quality of a man's life is judged by the tears shed when he is gone, then one can only conclude, by the thousands that wept at the Sai Baba's funeral, that he was a leader and shepherd of men. Superficially, this seems like a reasonable conclusion to draw from a reasonable presumption.
But, all this is just that - on the surface. There is this basic human need for fulfillment and belonging that is met somewhere in the process, but we are prepared to endure so much pain, just for those few moments of happiness. Why else would people lead their entire lives believing in "gods" and ideas that have no basis in reality and fact? When viewed objectively, these are just blatant lies, aren't they? They are a jigsaw of all the little pieces of fiction created along the way to make our lies seem like a intangible truths backed by the conviction of faith. Take the time to think about this.
When someone says, "I don't know that God exists, but I believe", it is tantamount to an admission of pure ignorance. Ignorance isn't bliss. Ignorance is painful. The reason our lives are filled with so much pain and internal turmoil is simply because we refuse to acknowledge the fact that most of the groundwork we lay for our lives is not based on anything real! Things that go wrong because of our lapse in judgement or action become "the mysterious ways in which the lord works". Think about how easy it is to pass the buck to this fantastic character : God - your perfect personal life insurance policy! All the important aspects of our lives are in our control, but just in case, just in case we screw up, we need coverage from the divine insurance policy. And in case we don't, what do we do? Why, we do what any rightly indignant customer would do - complain.
There is a distinctly satiating clarity that comes from accepting the Unknown as what it simply is - unknown. A clarity that we will never achieve by being shepherded by anyone other than yourself. Simply doing this gives us something we unconsciously spend our whole lives searching for - a sense of purpose. It is this sense of purpose that will pave the path to true knowledge of ourselves and of the universe, of which each of our lives is a microcosm.
while its absolutely acceptable to believe or not believe in the existence of God, i wonder why it should immediately mean that one should not co-exist with the other (the ideologies i mean). Analogies are not answers. Ur argument that someone says ' I dunno if God exists but i still believe in Him ' is an acceptance of ignorance and that ignorance is not always bliss is quite true in that sense of everything around u. Let me put it to u this way, do u know the working principle behind everything natural/man made in this world ? Say u visit the hospital and take an MRI scan, do u really know how it functions (when i say u, put aneone in that position) ? But yet u believe in it. As an educated 20th century individual ur answer will be " Yes i dunno about it, but there are people who know, there are texts about how this works and with all the due background knowledge that one needs to muster up enough basis, one can understand how it works" Then my question would be, " Can u say so for every single existing man made / natural technology ? " ur answer at best can be " Yes, i accept that in the lifetime that we have we can never exhaust all the working principles of every single technology out there in the world. But if needed we can approach people who will know of these ... the respective scientists ... "
ReplyDeleteThis is the same for God. There are established practices which unless sincerely taken one can never really get an answer for this question in a real convincing way. But does that mean God does not exist.
I didnt build the chair i sit on, but does that mean i dont trust that the chair wud stand my weight or suit me just fine to hold me together ? Do i each time perform tests on how strong or whatever it is before i sit? Dont i BELIEVE in its capability ? Doesnt life exist in BELIEF ?
After all, we believe in our mom when she says she is our mom. U wud say that u can do a DNA test to confirm that. However i can alwasy argue that no scientific tests confirm the exact occurence of these DNAs. All they can give u is a window of error (as narrow as possible). So theoretically u will have to bring in every single human on this planet and do the test (including people dead now but alive just before ur birth) on all these. Foolish isnt it ? I myself wud rather not test at all and go ahead with what is bestowed upon me at the time i can make my own decisions. Life runs in belief.
Again i beg to differ in that one most salient point which is that, to believe or not believe is an individual's wish. And my take is to accept an individual as he is.
Hey,
DeleteFirst off, thanks for taking the time to read and reply.
My point was simply this - once you choose to either believe, or disbelieve - without knowing or experiencing - you have shut off every possibility of you ever getting to the truth. And with the stakes so high - the fundamental issue being the root of your origin and your ultimate destination - I just think "faith" will not get you anywhere. It might keep you warm and safe - but it will NOT get you to the truth. Again, when I speak of "believing" - I certainly wasn't reflecting on existentially irrelevant issues such as the sturdiness of a chair - but since you brought it up, let me give you my opinion - if your experience tells you that the chair will hold your weight, you sit on it. If not, you pick the one that looks or feels like it will, don't you? Think about this - you've never seen a chair in your life. You've never experienced what it looks like, feels like or sounds like. But someone has told you, in no uncertain terms - that this particular chair controls your destiny and your life - are you telling me you'd be able to go your whole life just "believing" that this is true? Or would you, or would you not, want to FIND OUT what actually is? The same goes if you choose not to believe. What if that chair actually DOES control your destiny? Can you really afford to take that risk?
Of course, believing in what you want to believe is your wish!! And the question of "not accepting" someone for their belief never entered my argument - I was simply trying to open my reader's mind to an alternative. An alternative that they completely discourage when they have blind faith - "what if?". Life doesn't run on belief, my friend - life just..runs. Whether you believe in something or don't believe in anything - life will simply go on. It is just sad that we unnecessarily complicate our already intricate lives with a myriad of assumptions and beliefs, instead of accepting our ignorance. Just a thought :)