A New Path
What is GOD anyway?
This was my birthday and I was in some childhood memories I realized something that I thought worth sharing. So here we are.
In childhood influenced by the notion of GOD so much from the environment that we all used to ponder a very subtle yet profound question — “What is GOD ?”
There is not any absolute answer to this question and since our parents and society know this they have tricked us ever since. Unable to satisfy our quench for truth and knowing that whatever they say will be accepted by us they started teaching us that the very question itself is wrong. They taught us (at least in popular hinduism) that Gods are super natural human being with exceptional qualities and supreme power over the whole universe so the question “What is GOD?” goes out of the window.
They instead taught us that the right question to ask is “Who is GOD?”. As we grow up we acquire more and more information about the existence of GOD. With all these added information our question starts to deepen a little bit, the more we think we know the more we want to know and hence the questions started to include more and more specific details.
Different religions try to explain the answers in their own way. For example if you are Hindu they would teach you that there are 330 million GODS and GODDESSES (this is really outrageous - Although I do have an explanation about this 330 million thing but this essay will be drifted so let’s accept that THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS). Similarly in different religions they have their own numbers and faces.
So based on the culture and religion we grow up, we start to settle at the answer for “Who is GOD?” and strive for a more elaborate view of the world by asking questions like “Where is GOD ?”. At some point in our life we all used to think that GOD is in heaven, up in the sky, looking at us all the time (GOD is watching)
When I was very young watching cricket and saw bats man look at sky when they hit century, I thought they are thanking the GOD or when a bowler is disappointed with his performance he look at the sky the same way (with a little pale facial expression). So I too believed that GOD is somewhere up. But as we start to realize that there is nothing heaven above the sky we tend to bend towards the religions for the answers.
All religion teaches at some extent that “GOD is within us and within every living organism”. This is healthy. This belief makes us morally high & strong and help us being a good human being (at least good by the standards of society). It helps us identify what is good and what is bad, what is doable and what is not. It also teach us to respect and value nature and the list goes on and on. As I said it is indeed healthy.
However healthy it may be yet this is also just a work around because as we all know that we are made up of millions of microorganisms. Those microorganisms are also made up of cells. Cells are made up of bio chemical elements and at those too are made up of atomic structures so at the end we “the living things” are made up of the same atoms that constructs “the non living” things. And the question remains unanswered “Where is GOD ?”
Then we have friends and families and people to please and people that please us and fun and school homework and exams and higher study and more exams and job and work and marriage and children… life goes on and we forget about the question because we have so much “important things” to focus on.
But then an irony happens, when we have children they also come up with the same questions. The history repeats itself and we then do what our parents and society have done to us… we trick them. We change their question, then they also suffer this spiritual dogma !
So how we can transcend this ? It’s simple. Don’t settle, don’t try to escape, don’t trick. Just keep finding the answer to the right question. “What is GOD?”
Is there any answer yet ?
We have had some really wise people throughout history. These people from Buddha to Einstein have tried to find the answer in their own ways, I am not sure that any of them have found the answer but they were wise enough to understand that the very tendency of escaping the question will not help either and were courageous enough to find them.
They have dedicated their life finding the answer and shown us that we also can elevate ourselves to the highest a human being can ever be if we just pursue the right question. “What is GOD?”
I want to know the answer to the question. I don’t think I am capable enough of finding the answer, in fact I don’t think any single human being is capable of doing that. Some people have tried to showcase themselves as the messengers of/from GOD they are already a terrible failure (My advise — they should try eating “vegetable sandwich with green chatni” or something) anyway some people though have progressed way beyond normal capacities.
That’s all fine, but… what’s the point ? What we can do ?
I think we should take their life and wisdom as a precious gift and start our journey on the path that they have shown not blindly but with our own conscience and discernment. Unlike our so called religions based on blind faith we should be self conscious and start our journey towards the GOD.
From my point of view the religion is nothing but the path towards GOD. It is not an endeavor like “let’s leave the home go to Himalayas, take sannyas”. No that is not religion. Religion is living the life to the fullest, living it towards serenity. Its a path and everyone have their own different path.
Someone’s path may be knowledge like Einstein, someone’s may be service like Mother Teresa, someone’s may be love like Meera, someone’s may be multidimensional like Krishna. Everyone have their own individual religion, it doesn’t matter what is it because all religion in the end is about dissolving individuality.
We should be grateful that we have such great people who have shown us their path. And so should we thank them by putting some thoughts in their life and start our journey by finding our own path.
A new path.
