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Post by Tapan Mukherjee on Sept 8, 2008 22:50:33 GMT -5
What is Spirituality? Something concerning with the intellect or what is often thought of as the better or higher part of mind. Or is it the moral aspect of life?Perhaps it may even mean a state of being incorporeal. Whatever way one may define, it may be termed as an ideal that reckons all reality in essence as spiritual. Or simply stated spirituality is one's character or quality that makes one transcend the barriers of worldliness, caste, creed and sensuality; and realize one's connection with the Truth.
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Post by Tapan Mukherjee on Sept 9, 2008 21:38:16 GMT -5
Spirituality Myth Of Compassionate God 10.09.2007
Concept of God is the very basis of every religion but it differs vastly between religions. As an integral part of our journey towards salvation, the different religions have defined God to be of different type and kind. There must be a concept of God in every religion, for without it everything about its beliefs and rituals would be meaningless. In all religions God is omnipotent and omnipresent. The difference lies in its other features. In some religions it is feminine and in some others it is masculine. In some it resembles humans and in some others it is quite unlike. In some it is of a particular form and in some others it is formless. And more interestingly, and of more consequence, God has definite characteristics in some that contradicts completely with those in others.
In today’s world, if one is religious it means that one is a follower of an existing established religion. And to be irreligious means that one does not believe in any of the existing religions. But this is not correct. Each one of those who are termed as irreligious may still have their own versions about God, unless of course one is an atheist. An ideal atheist must be one like Bertrand Russell who did not see any reason to believe in any form of God at any stage in his adult life (at least he said so). In a way atheism must also be considered a religion just like zero being considered a number. Perhaps Indian is the only civilization in the whole world which also accommodates true atheism as one of the means to realize God i.e. about its non-existence.
Proactive God
In many of the organized religions of the world, the concept of God is a proactive one. This is very clear from the well known expressions in everyday use among its followers. Most Compassionate God and Most Merciful God obviously refer to someone like us but with unlimited compassion and mercy towards the followers. And that our actions are always under the surveillance of God. Our goodness is rewarded and wrongness punished. But the questionable feature lies in the possibility of compassion or mercy for those who look for it following their ill deeds. To err is human but to look for an escape without any punishment is also equally human. It is this unfairness of humans that is most effectively and efficiently (mis)used by the designers of organised religions. And most people fall for such attractive gimmicks even when it relates to God.
In organized religions, God is considered an ever vigilant and efficient monitoring agency. Any form of monitoring leads to control and it is this remote control that is believed to keep Man in the right path. But what can happen if the control mechanism accommodates failures and adjusts for mistakes? The system will ultimately fail. The analogy of God with a vigilant but accommodative control system is an apt one. An ideal control system should severely punish deviations and reward compliance. And it should never allow any compromise with detected deviations lest wrong models become possible and wrong precedents would get set. The whole mechanism would collapse one day under the weight of accumulated wrongness. Unfortunately this is what happens in the case of followers of such wrong concepts of God.
Reactive God
In sharp contrast to the concept of a proactive God is the one with reactive features. This clearly means that either a reward or a punishment follows each one of our actions. A reactive God is normally dormant and becomes active only when an action takes place. It does not act of its own initiative but will only react to our actions. The concept of a reactive God fits in well with those of an independent fate or destiny. Each and every object in this universe has a purpose and follows a course of action. In the case of the animate we call this course as fate or destiny which they are born with. A reactive God will not have much role in the current status of any being but will only monitor and control the incremental effect negatively or positively based on the value of their actions.
The most rational way to explain fate and destiny as something we are born with is the theory of rebirths. Fate and destiny of anything animate at any point of time is on account of its accumulated karma from its earlier lives and deeds so far in the current life. The clear advantage in this concept of a reactive God is its unambiguous positive encouragement for anything good and punishment for any wrongdoings. If we can easily get away with our misdeeds by fooling an omnipotent & omnipresent God by playing on its compassion, it may be better not to have any God at all. God must be an all knowing and powerful yet impartial judge for all our doings at each and every moment in our lives. Eye for an eye must form the basis of natural justice dispensed by God.
As a rational being I consider it the solemn duty of each human being to think his or her own way through the concepts of God available in front of us. The concept of a compassionate or merciful God looks abhorrent to me personally. If I knowingly make a mistake I must be prepared for its punishment too. Those who think that the most benevolent, most merciful and most compassionate God would pardon or lower the punishment just because they are smart enough to repent in time and offer a confession are too ridiculous and cruel. Such a God could not have sustained life for so long in this world of struggle and competition. A purely reactive form of God that is tough, fair and just is the best one that appeals to me. Sinning must never go unpunished and if it is possible to escape the consequences of sin, then there is no God at all.
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Post by Tapan Mukherjee on Sept 11, 2008 22:10:19 GMT -5
I ran across a bumper sticker the other day that actually stopped me in my tracks. It went like this:
"Why is it when we talk to God we're praying but when God talks to us we're neurotic?"
Now personally I've never considered myself neurotic although I'm sure I have many family members and friends that would rise to argue the contrary, And yet I hear the voice of God everyday.
When I wake each morning and start to prepare for the day I hear God whispering, "I've given you another day my child." And as I head out the door to go to work again God says, "I've provided for you a good job and good people to work with." When I sit to eat the voice of God reminds me, "I shall not let you hunger this day." Ok, I think you get my point here. God speaks to each and every one of us throughout the day and for all our lives.
Gods voice is always present in the laughter of children, the beauty of a sunrise, the smile of a friend and in the gentle breathing of that someone you love as they sleep beside you. It can be heard in every flower and in every song.
It can even be heard in the problems and disasters that come our way, Saying, "I love you enough to make you grow, Even in ways you may not want to."
If you can't hear the voice of God, its not that the voice isn't there...its because you, my friend, are not listening.
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Post by Tapan Mukherjee on Sept 11, 2008 22:26:51 GMT -5
Indeed man himself is a great wonder. More than that what a great wonder the life of man is! And what a marvelously beautiful planet the earth is sustaining a variety of lives so long! Knowing neither the beginning nor the destination of life or the continuation of life after life the exploration about life is going on. The quest to discover the ultimate one is ever insatiable and the curiosity to know the origin of creations is never diminishing too. Though the puzzle of life is still unsolved, scientific pursuits are going on to find whether there is life as on the Earth or not or in some other form in the outer Space.
Even the laws of science we know are not useful to know anything about the Black Holes in some galaxies in the Universe. The available scientific laws are inadequate to explain all the phenomena in Nature or Universe. This is because besides inadequacy of laws the field of science among many branches has covered only up to physiology and psychology and not even touched spiritual science. So Spiritual Science has to be developed to understand many mysteries in Nature. Therefore for the present we have to rely upon philosophy to enquire into many unknown phenomena in man, Nature, Universe…
[glow=red,2,300]Nothing[/glow]
Generally there should be something, then only something can be conceived, something can be expressed and something can be done. But Indian astronomer-mathematicians like Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have proved to the world that the symbol of nothingness, Zero has the potentiality of infinity, even though Aristotle says that “nothing will come out of nothing.”
In fact only after the first discovery of fire in the stone all the developments have taken place in the world and man has become a civilized being. The latent energy in the inert stone, though incredible, is an irrefutable truth. Not only that but also the vision of the immanent and the transcendental being in the image of man is expressed in the form of divine statues in stone in the temples by man’s art say about the highest form of human culture in the world. This shows though man, a finite being with limitations, drawbacks and incompleteness, has the capacity to express about even the infinite being in art.
The temple statue is a symbolic example for man to achieve what sort of perfection he has to aim at. Simply Temple Arts have combined together religion, philosophy, literature, art, science, health, culture and spiritualism in one. That is why arts have to be regarded as quite divine. According to the maturity of the mind they reveal meanings and messages to various men and give them peace, happiness and satisfaction. All the things are hidden in the stone! Not only are the stone but also there are so many things around us having enormous potentiality hidden behind them which we may not understand. Therefore we cannot simply say that “this is nothing” and “nothing will come out of nothing.” Even the smallest of small atom has the incredibly enormous power to destroy the world means what can we say for that?
[glow=red,2,300]Nature [/glow]
Nature is simply the living scientific art revealing the philosophy of life. There is beauty everywhere. There is truth hidden in everything. There is the manifestation of love in all their activities. Naturally Nature is the friend, philosopher and guide to man. So, man gets inspiration, ideas and encouragement directly from Nature. Being a part of it he imitates nature and tries to overcome and excel it because of his wonderful mind. But can the part overcome the whole? For all the living beings- fish, foul and flower, there is birth, growth, decay and death. So also it is the same for man too. There is direct regeneration for plants, but for animals and man perhaps there are rebirths of different kind which needs to be studied further to have a correct conclusion. But the cycle of life goes on in the same way for all.
[glow=red,2,300]Culture [/glow]
The duration of life between birth and death is unknown. But within the life-time how best one can live is the wise thing one can aim at. For that the only best way to follow is culture. Based on experience and knowledge the system we follow to live in love with good manners and morality can simply be called as culture which includes love of Nature, music and books cherished in humanism aiming perfection in thoughts, words and deeds.
Even civilization without the basis of culture is unreliable. That is why modern civilization has made human life to proceed in fear and anxiety in the performance of things, increased dangerous diseases deadly hazardous to health and driven the world to the brink of savagery and destruction.
Religion may make a cultured person a divine being but culture teaches tolerance, patience, hospitality and unity in diversity and converts a brute into a human being because of its humanism which is what most needed today in the world. Further for all the problems of the world we can say that the ultimate solution is the creation of one world through culture.
[glow=red,2,300]Evolution[/glow]
Then the question of life has to be solved. What is life? It is a great question because it is a difficult puzzle yet to be solved. For the present there is an answer from the Modern Theory on the evolution of life. After the Big Bang, slowly the Earth cooled down, atmosphere appeared around and life began or rather evolved on the Earth. First the blue-green algae appeared on the surface of the water, then evolved into a life-cell called amoeba to fish, birds, reptiles, animals and man. After that there is no physical evolution.
Only mind is evolving according to the Indian Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo. From where life comes and to where life goes is scientifically unknown and will not be known, it seems from the Modern Theory. But the Indian Theory that says everything comes from and goes to the all pervading spirit, God gives a thought provoking answer which also cannot be scientifically proved as science itself has to be developed to a great extent! However one thing is clear i.e. all the matters in the Universe are made up of five elements called fire or energy, substance or solid, water or liquid, air or gases and ether or vacuum. Therefore the living matter, man is a product of these five elements only.
[glow=red,2,300]Process of Evolution[/glow]
Creation, preservation and destruction or birth, growth and death are the stages in the process of evolution which go on continuously forever in a cycle. Energy is everywhere. From this all pervading energy matter has come and in matter life has evolved. Therefore life is a part of energy. Hence the link between the inanimate world and the animate world or lifeless things and living beings must be the all pervading energy or the heat in matter. The repeated cycle of births and deaths reveals that evolution aims at perfection. But how long will this cycle of evolution go on in the inanimate world and the animate or conscious world of the Universe?
Naturally the cycle of evolution will go on till perfection or the saturation point or the ultimate end or reality is achieved. In the whole world only in the Indian Shastras both the creation and the destruction period of the Universe has been predicted as 2 Kalpas i.e. 4,320,000,000 years for creation and 4,320.000,000 years for destruction i.e. 8,640,000,000 years. The truth of this prediction is left to the thought, calculation and guess of everyone! We know practice makes all perfect. Therefore we can say that creative or constructive evolution certainly makes all perfect.
[glow=red,2,300]Liberation, Nirvana, Moksha[/glow]
So what is the way to achieve perfection or ultimate reality or ultimate destiny of creation? Man with mind is far superior to all he creations in the world. Only when the cessation of repeated cycle of birth, death and connected duties occurs the achievement of the ultimate reality is possible. Through the automatic process of evolution to reach the destiny is a long, long way to go. Therefore because of his intelligence it is possible for man to know the way by his own efforts and achieve the desired end in his own way. There are teachers such as Buddha, Sankara and Ramanuja to show us the way as guides.
According to Buddha desire is the root cause for all sorrows, sufferings, obligations, births and deaths and so self-restraint over passion, self-denial of sensuous pleasure and self-control of desires are needed to over come them. Wise thoughts, kind words and gentle action in love towards all are the way to achieve Nirvana or emancipation in life.
According to Sankara first the knowledge of the Universal Spirit should be obtained and the path of non-attachment should be followed to overcome the ocean of life, then only Moksha or the state of Brahma can be attained.
Finally Ramanuja said that with total devotion in thoughts, words and deeds the living soul can ultimately have union with the Universal Spirit.
Whatever be the philosophies, they are all left to the individual’s taste, understanding, belief and efforts. But one thing is certain, i.e. nude we come and nude we go. We come with nothing and we have to go with nothing i.e. only when we are perfect, clear and pure. Therefore though we achieve perfection in thoughts, words and deeds by our own efforts we have to be clear and pure too in heart, mind and soul, then only we can ultimately go to the desired destination successfully.
[glow=red,2,300]Ultimate Reality[/glow]
Next we have to see what we have with us by which the ultimate reality can be realized and reached. In the Universe man and all the matters are enclosed within the all pervading energy called the Universal Spirit. There is similarity between man and other things of nature and the Universe. The outer Space of the Universe is similar to the inner space of man. This shows there is certainly a connection between the two.
The outer Space starting from the Universe proceeds through Nature to the inner space through the human body or vice versa. Due to the (strong and weak) Nuclear Forces, (weak) Gravitational Force and (strong) Electromagnetic Force the Stars and planets in the Universe exist intact doing their duties without a stop. So also due to the Life Force in the human body, heart, brain, liver, kidneys, etc. function coordinately. In our closure vicinity things of nature such as clouds, mountains, rivers, plants and trees with leaves, fruits and flowers put together resemble the complex living organism called man with brain, heart, liver, hands, feet, etc.
Likewise there are so many things to compare. The only difference is that what is outside is within man and what is within is the outer form of man. The only thing that unites both within and outside man is the mind. The mind is within the body. The life force or the self or the reality or the soul or the spirit is within the mind. The part of the All Pervading Energy or the Universal Spirit is within the soul. That is the Ultimate Reality we can say and nothing else which has to be realized and reached by our own efforts! How?
[glow=red,2,300]Consciousness[/glow]
Any organism whether it is alive or dead is judged by its consciousness only. The various stages of consciousness of the mind doing myriad activities of miraculous nature undoubtedly make man a superior kind of being of all the creations known. The kinds of consciousness with minor branches such as Blood Consciousness and Stream of Consciousness are divided into 1. Sub-consciousness, 2. Consciousness and 3. Super-consciousness.
It looks the knowledge got out of repeated activities of the past or the previous birth gets recorded in the blood and becomes a habit in the subsequent births. That is why perhaps due to the blood consciousness it is possible for the birds to build nests, the ducklings to get to the waters, the people to have a sort of fear over death and to do other instinctive activities. These are some of the evidences of rebirths or reincarnations of soul occurring in the world. Another thing is the stream of consciousness. Reflections over the memories of the past experience come in a stream of consciousness to some people who have a strong memory power as in a dream or a visionary mood.
The sub-conscious activities are pulsating of the heart, breathing, dreaming, visioning, intuiting, etc. Through intuition, which is not an instinctive activity but a strenuous or intensive intellectual activity, it is possible to know the Self or soul or reality or pure consciousness and the Soul of soul, the Universal Spirit or Universal Consciousness. Conscious activities are reasoning, thinking, doing all works with awareness, etc. Finally super conscious activity is the top most super kind of mental activity by which meditation and still further mysticism are performed. Only in this highest state of mind with thorough knowledge total dedication, concentration and deep mediation realization of the inner spirit and the presence of the Universal Spirit in it can be possible and in that mood communion of the self consciousness with the Universal Consciousness the Ultimate Reality can be reached.
End
Actually the Self with the Universal Spirit within is like a prisoner kept in captivity. Only when the outer coverings are removed like the petals of the lotus open, the golden yellow of the whole spirit can be seen. That too though the fire with the luminous blue flame burning inside the empty space of the heart can be realized and reached, only after many a birth it can be freed so that the part would become one with the whole once and for all.
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