Nemili Bala Thunai..
One of the most recurring debates i have come across all these days is why we should believe in God - a non existent entity. The arguments given for justification of Atheism range from 1) Why we are not able to see God, sense His or Her presence? and most importantly 2) If God is there , why He/ She is silently witnessing all the miseries unfolding here/ why keeping mum at a time innocent souls and children are being massacred.
There are no direct answers to these questions. But with my very limited knowledge of having heard/read religious texts and interpretation of epics, i have realized/ have been made to realize some insights into this:
1) Where is God/ why are we not able to realise Her/His presence:
That humankind being at the top of the pyramid of 'evolution of intellect' is known. We have made mind boggling scientific advancements all along and have made preparations to establish epicurean comforts for ourselves. But does that make us the ultimately intelligent here? The answer is no.
What we are able to learn and understand, subsequently inquire, engineer and create are based only on what we are able to logically comprehend. We confirm our understanding of a substance only if we are able to discover its presence with our five senses. We subscribe to a philosophy, only if we are able to establish its validity based on the answers to how,what,why,when and where .
When Arjuna is perplexed and emotionally overwhelmed at the thought of killing his own kinship, Krishna preaches he should do so for the sake of establishing Dharma. Even when showing his Virata roopa to Arjuna at his request, Krishna sermonises He can and is capable of destroying Adharmis all at once by his own hands, but urges Arjuna to do so because it is his Karma. The whole philosophy of Karma yoga emphasizes the importance of man performing actions and good deeds by himself for the benefit of everyone. If God himself can do everything why should there be a need for creation, and a cycle of birth and death.
Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna was brought up by Krishna. Krishna was particularly fond of Abhimanyu. Even though he knew Abhimanyu would be killed in a most cruel way he didn't prevent it from happening. He was at Arjuna's side riding his chariot. According to Krishna that was the way destiny was orchestrated to establish Dharma in the end.
One of the most recurring debates i have come across all these days is why we should believe in God - a non existent entity. The arguments given for justification of Atheism range from 1) Why we are not able to see God, sense His or Her presence? and most importantly 2) If God is there , why He/ She is silently witnessing all the miseries unfolding here/ why keeping mum at a time innocent souls and children are being massacred.
There are no direct answers to these questions. But with my very limited knowledge of having heard/read religious texts and interpretation of epics, i have realized/ have been made to realize some insights into this:
1) Where is God/ why are we not able to realise Her/His presence:
That humankind being at the top of the pyramid of 'evolution of intellect' is known. We have made mind boggling scientific advancements all along and have made preparations to establish epicurean comforts for ourselves. But does that make us the ultimately intelligent here? The answer is no.
What we are able to learn and understand, subsequently inquire, engineer and create are based only on what we are able to logically comprehend. We confirm our understanding of a substance only if we are able to discover its presence with our five senses. We subscribe to a philosophy, only if we are able to establish its validity based on the answers to how,what,why,when and where .
An excerpt from Quora:
When he turned 50, Einstein granted an interview in which he was asked
point-blank, do you believe in God?
point-blank, do you believe in God?
“I am not an atheist,” he began.
“The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the
position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in
many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.
It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they
are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the
arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to
me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.
We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but
only dimly understand these laws.”
position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in
many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.
It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they
are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the
arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to
me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.
We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but
only dimly understand these laws.”
We think we have understood everything about us being at the top of the Intelligence ladder. Reality is our senses are constrained and capable of understanding and performing only things to guarantee the sustenance of our species.
The things that happened right after the big bang and creation of cosmos conforms to our scientific notions of how things are 'being'.But we take for granted a vague theory of uncertainty principle that caused the Big Bang in the first place.
Being a atheist is far more convenient than being a theist. Mere logical comprehension is enough to justify atheism. Being a theist requires faith, sadhana and transcendence of our bodily senses to realise the Super-intelligence that pervades us.
It is because of this reason that some atheists debate God is merely a creation of man. They further justify this saying that this is merely done to justify the virtue of righteousness and civility among humans, but not being quite right.
2) Why God doesn't come down and save us from all the evils:
I happened to see a absurd post that quips the opposite of religion is atheism. People who accuse God of not saving those who undergo suffering from social ills or otherwise, let me ask a question. If you don't believe in the presence of God why don't you go, help and dedicate a life towards serving others? Let me dumb it down - how many of us (that includes me) have adopted a way of life that is aimed at serving others. I know we consider and do indeed some kind of charity or a help a soul in need occasionally. But do we give a collective voice against societal ills, get into activism/ shout unitedly against disparity.We know that our personal/social life and self-needs need to be prioritized for the sake of our family , giving it a lion's share of our time but haven't we come across people who dedicate their entire lives to some kind of activism. And do they raise a anti-god debate? Except for a crop of people who fervently maim the faith of believers and harbour hate against them under the pretext of rationalism, the answer is no.
If we look into Bhagavad Gita (atleast for the sake of its literature and philosophical value) with a open mind, Krishna emphasizes the importance of Karma Yoga all along. Bhishma being one of the most virtuous parampurusha was criticised for being one of the reasons for not preventing the great war.Why? Had he not taken the oath of never ever taking up the throne of Hastinapura purely for his personal reasons (the reason being his commitment to the word he gave to Satyavati's father ), the great war would have never emerged. Dharma would have prevailed all along.
Of course in any religion there is a risk of getting pit-falling into the traps set by some fake middle-men of God. What is needed is to tread carefully over this.
A power- much intelligent and much superior to us exists and pervades all around us. We just need to be open to the idea and existence of this divinity.
(I have been asked many times in time pass debates in the past with friends/colleagues why there is a need to believe in divinity which doesn't conform to the rationality of human senses, hence this post :))
