Do You Believe in God?
In 2008 April, I was in Sunnyvale, CA to attend a 3-days seminar. I have met a public relations manager of a technology firm. She was an Indian from Karnataka. She said she have noticed my name and searched on me since I was the only Indian in the group. She had read few articles then. She got acquainted with me and later invited me for dinner.
We went to “Saravana Bhavan” to have south Indian vegetarian food. It was heavy rush there. So we decided to have a quick dinner and then take a walk in the street to spend some time together.
Priya Kamat (not real name) told me about her whereabouts – She wanted to talk to me as we are of the same community and speak the same mother tongue. She is a single mother having a seven year old daughter. Her husband had cheated and abandoned her. She is facing real trouble as she has to work on double shift – as a PR in one firm and later as a press release writer in another firm. Priya has to take care of the child and send money to her old parents and younger sister back in India.
She told me about her sad life situation. Then said: “GOD has been unkind to me. I have been praying a lot. But GOD has never listened to me…”
I didn’t say anything. Tears were trickling down her cheeks..
“Do you know any moola mantras (God-specific prayers) or special poojas (offerings to god) to please GOD, Uday? I have read few of your articles. So I know you are experienced in ancient Scriptures and stuff…” her question arose from her heart.
I still didn’t reply. Priya continued: “I want to please GOD, so that GOD will be kind enough to end my miseries…Do you know what are all I did to please GOD? Lot of poojas, sevas, vratas, mantra japa, pilgrimage etc….nothing is working – I am totally unlucky. I have never committed any wrong things or sins in life…Still GOD is not showing any pity….”
I just nodded.
“Why, why are you keeping mum….don’t you believe in GOD?” Priya asked
“Priya, my belief is not important here. You said GOD is not listening to you and not taking care of your wants, despite you being good and doing all that needed to please GOD, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Most of us have similar complaints. All those rituals or offerings we perform to please GOD sometimes works for some people. Not everything works for everyone…So we cannot generalise on this. In other words, there is no guarantee in anything. BTW, did any GOD tell you something like: “If you do this; I will do that”…”
“GOD didn’t…but learned men, sacred scriptures, holy books, messengers, our ancestors, gurus, babas, mathaas, pundits and swamijis – everybody tells that…”
“If that is the case, why didn’t it work for you, Priya? If this is not applicable to all, how can you have such generalized beliefs?”
“I don’t understand”
“Priya, you are eager to accept teachings or opinions of a guru or the scriptures because you want to be on a safe ground. We look for psychological support in everything that we do. We are not interested in the truth, but are simply seeking mental security…That’s how our mind works…Mind is happy with beliefs, not with absolute truth- GOD is absolute truth. But mind wants a concept to structure belief in GOD”
“Uday, can you be clearer?”
“Do you know the story of six blind men and an elephant…?”
“Yes, I know – a group of six blind men touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one feels a different part, but only one part, such as the leg, trunk, tail or the tusk. They then compare and learn that they are in complete disagreement…”
“Yes. The blindness symbolizes concepts or conditioning. Different people say different things about GOD, based on the concepts or ideas or conditioning that they have…No Guru or Scriptures can be an absolute authority like the Cosmic consciousness (or GOD) itself.”
“So, you mean to say, those Holy books and Holy Scriptures about GOD is not true…”
“No…It may be telling truth….But there are different layers of truth…For instance, we are walking…what’s our speed, could it be 3 kilometers per hour, right? We are moving, earth stands still. Truth?”
“Yes”
“But is earth still? No…It’s the second layer of truth. How fast is the Earth spinning in its axis? 0.5 km/sec…But we don’t experience this truth”
“That’s also true; we have learned it in schools…”
“Now, the third layer of truth……Earth is also revolving around the Sun. How fast? 30 km/sec. Can you believe it? This truth can be experienced when you come out of earth or when you are stationed in the Sun, right? There, you will tell another truth – earth is moving around the sun, but Sun is stationary…Is that true? No. This is fourth layer of truth. The entire Solar System is moving around the Milky Way Galaxy at a mind boggling speed of 250 km/sec…You can’t even imagine such a speed. But you never experience that…”
“Wow…that’s true…”
“And, our Milky Way Galaxy is moving in the Local Group of galaxies at the speed of 300 km/sec – this is fifth layer of truth…And so on…So, everybody is talking truth -like blind men who touched the elephant….but there are many layers….If you say, your concept is true, you are in one among those layers and you don’t experience other things…that’s all..”
“Amazing, but true.”
“One more instance – what’s the colour of the sky? Blue…But is it true?”
“No- we have studied it in the high school – sky appears blue because of the scattering of light by small particles of the atmosphere…”
“Yes- we have difficulty in understanding transcendental truths…Our brain and mind has limitations. It needs concreted concepts with boundaries. Our mind cannot contain absolute truth of GOD – Can a spoon contain the entire Ocean? We are trying to give images, perception or concept depending upon our conditioning….”
“Hmmm…Somewhat logical….”
“Even logic won’t work when it comes to GOD – it is definitely beyond our logic…Read any holy book without conditioning or prejudice, you will see that those are just perception and concepts that compel you to believe in the writer’s concept of GOD. The writer is dead. But there are people who want to make a living and make money out of those writings – so they market it well….mostly like a multi-lvel-marketing (MLM) industry…and people like us fall for it, defend it, fight for it or even die for it…”
“What’s your concept of GOD?”
“I don’t have any – I am trying to unlearn all concepts…”
“Do you believe in GOD?” she asked again.
“I don’t want to connect the words like belief, faith and fear with GOD. I just want to experience GOD…”
“How to experience GOD?”
“We can experience GOD only after de-conditioning the mind and remove the concepts of GOD imbibed by others….because, GOD is a personal experience – that is the first lesson I had learned. I have developed a healthy disrespect to what I learn from others…I know they are telling truth – but their personal experiences or versions of truth. But everybody’s is a unique expression of life and experiences of two people won’t be the same.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Priya, I will tell you a Buddha story…”
– Buddha was giving sermon in a village. A man asked him “Does GOD exist?” Buddha said: “No, absolutely no.”
Then another man asked, “Does GOD exist?” Buddha said: “Yes, absolutely yes.”
A third man came and he asked, “Does GOD exist?” Buddha closed his eyes and remained utterly silent. The inquirer too closed his eyes. Something transpired and the man bent forward and touched the feet of Buddha reverentially. He said, “You are the first man who has answered my question” and left feeling grateful.
Buddha’s main disciple, Ananda, was very much puzzled: “Three answers for the same question? What is really the truth?”
Buddha said, “The first man who came was a theist, the second man who came was an atheist, the third man who came was an agnostic. My answer had nothing to do with GOD; my answer had something to do with the questioner. I was answering the questioner; it was absolutely unconcerned with GOD…”
All beliefs are barriers to the realization of the truth. Theist or atheists they are all tied to their own beliefs and systems!
“People follow certain concepts and ideas and they want to confirm their beliefs. All beliefs are barriers to knowing the truth…A right seeker has no belief, hence there was no question of destroying any ego or concepts. So Buddha kept silent. That was the message to me: Be silent and experience…”
“So we have to reach GOD ourselves…”
“Yes” I said. “A believer can never ever seek truth.”
“Do you know any technique or moola mantra for that…”
“Oh my GOD, you are still in the realm of mantra and tantra? I know those are great things. I also recite, I also go to temple, I also attend every rituals – these are part of my culture and I absolutely love those experiences….some things will work sometimes for some people – but not for all. If you visit a temple, you might get benefits, but that won’t happen in everybody’s life…lot and lot of inter-dependant factors and variables are involved…”
“Lot of contradictions in what you say…”
“This contradiction is the path to absolute truth. Our mind need definite, black and white or yes or no answer for everything. That won’t work in cosmic…”
“So what do you suggest…?”
“There are only two things you can do….either go ahead with your concepts of GOD or experience the absolute GOD…”
“Can you explain more?”
“See…your mind has already formed a concept of GOD, based on the beliefs that have been imbibed to you by our parents or community or religion or Guru or scripture, whatever. That concepts or beliefs conditions the mind and it becomes ego. And mind won’t allow its ego to get hurt- it will defend the ego…”
“So…”
“So the entire life -some people may call it spiritual life (Incidentally spirituality is a Semitic idea and nothing to do with Hindu Dharma) – will go on defending, establishing and using modern science to explain the concepts. Even blunders in the Holy books are being manipulated to prove that it is scientifically true! This argument will continue with self or with others…if any of your concepts didn’t work, then again, you will find an explanation as to why it didn’t work so as to satisfy ego…this will continue throughout your life. Or worst-come-worst case, if your belief and concept didn’t work for you, you will convert to some other concepts or faith system. But you will never ever even think that those are just another set of concepts or perception on a layer of truth”
“That’s true…First I tried some poojas, then upasana and pilgrimage to Indian temples…that’s very true…Then I understand, GOD is not just your wish-make-true factor…”
“That’s another concept. Who said so? Sometimes GOD makes your wishes true. I also had lot of concepts, some of them formed without my knowledge…”
“For instance ?”
“I have long pooh-poohed stupid childish stories on the concept of a personal GOD, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as “divine messengers” and “prophets” time-to-time, demanding us to worship him or punish us. But then, one day I realised, I already have a concept of GOD so, these stories are against my conditioning. My ego is getting happy when I say “shameful” to those ignorant believers. That means, I am at fault. Let them believe whatever they want. Why can’t GOD come as a silly autocratic emperor who wants others to respect him or fear him as in the case of some religions? GOD is all contained – good and bad, silly or broad-minded, whatever.”
“Hmm…bit heavy for me…”
“Now let me see – tell me, what’s your concept of GOD?”
“First thing is that GOD is infinite…”
“What does that mean?”
“We are finite, and GOD is infinite…”
“Do you know what is “finite” and “infinite”? Finite means having limits. Infinite means being without limits. However, as soon as we put a limit around something and declare it to be finite, we simultaneously define its other which is infinite. But you know infinite contains finite, right? Otherwise how it can be infinite? So what’s the point in segregating anything into water-tight compartment? That helps only our conditioned-mind (or ego) and our thought process (which is linear)…”
“OK…I understand now. So you don’t believe in GOD in human form”
“I do. I have experienced GOD in many forms…So I think GOD is both personal and impersonal. If anybody wants to see GOD in the form of Rama, GOD will come as Rama – this is neither my belief nor truth – this is my personal experience, and I go by my own experience – everybody has unique experience”
“I am more confused now…You tell me in layman’s terms…Is Krishna a GOD? Rama a GOD? Were they alive?”
“Yes…GOD assumes any form imagined by the devotees…For me, Rama and Krishna were historical characters who were elevated to the level of avatars as they followed dharama…Those may be stories or myths for others. Or a simple reality….But then what’s the difference between reality and non-reality? Does it matter now? GOD is both manifest and un-manifest. ..So you cannot define GOD….for some religions, especially Semitic, GOD is personal. Even among Hindus a majority believes in personal GOD, though our scriptures do not clearly say about it…GOD can come as Rama or Krishna or as a Tsunami or plague or whichever form you want to see GOD, that’s my understanding”
“Hmm. So Rama and Krishna were GODs…”
“You still want to get definite and concrete answers because you are still in the realm of mind’s vicious circle. Mind always want a definite answer. If you want to believe in Rama and Krishna, go ahead and believe it – why do you need anybody’s affirmation or acknowledgement? Why should you defend your beliefs? Because you are not sure about it…”
“But if it is truth, shouldn’t we defend truth?”
“Truth doesn’t need a defender at all. For instance, we know the existence of sun as truth – believe or not, worship or not, pray or not – it does exist. It doesn’t make any difference for sun if you believe it or not. Sun doesn’t change its karma if you are killing or dying for it…Whether you pray or not, whether you worship or insult, for the Sun – everything immaterial…You will disappear after few years, right? But Sun will still remain as truth…That also is a transcendental truth…Sun has a life-expectancy period…”
“Ok I understand – my second concept was surrendering to GOD”
“Surrender is not an easy thing. Killing the ego is next to impossible. Ego will come in disguise. It can remain subtle. Ego is in-famous to develop even pseudo enlightenment. It is only when GOD Himself by His grace show your conditioned-mind to yourself that a complete surrender can be achieved. EGO is essentially the short form of “Edging God Out”. A person with EGO can never experience GOD…GOD cannot be realized by a mind that is hypocritical, calculating, or argumentative. To the sincere, GOD is very near; But GOD is far, far away from the hypocrite…So surrendering is not an easy task…”
“So you agree to the second concept – that surrendering will work…but how to do it…”
“Have you ever watched National Geographic or Animal Planet? Have you observed the life of Cats and Monkeys in the TV?”
“Yes – while I was in India in the childhood I had a Cat at home”
“OK – Can you tell me how the Cat takes care of her kittens?”
“Yes. The kittens don’t move by themselves. It just goes on meowing. So the mother cat lifts the kitten by holding its neck with its teeth, with gentle love and affection. Then it goes from place to place and deposits the kitten wherever it wants.”
“Very good observation. Now tell me, how mother monkey takes care of its little one?”
“The baby monkey holds firm to the underside of the belly of its mother and the mother moves from place to place. Sometimes it even jumps from branch to branch of trees at great height. The baby monkey just holds firm its mother and doesn’t let go…”
“Exactly right. Even if the baby monkey is bruised in the process, it doesn’t let go since instinct tells it that death is certain if it relaxes its grip. Thus in both cases, the mother carries the baby. But what a contrast? Right?”
“Yes.”
“In Sanskrit, they are known as Marjala Kishora Nyaya and Markata Kishora Nyaya… Like the baby monkey it is responsibility of a devotee to hold on to his favorite GOD in spite of any troubles…till he understands his ego and de-conditions his concepts…”
“Then”
“Then one day you will realize that you are free from your concepts and your ego dissolve…the devotee becomes like a kitten and it now becomes the responsibility of GOD like the mother cat to take care of the devotee…That’s total surrendering….”
“That’s great…good…I…I…”
After a moment of silence,Priya abruptly asked: “So, there is no use in prayers too?”
“GOD didn’t tell us to pray…But some writers or Gurus told us prayer would help…that may be true or just their perception. As I told earlier, sometime it works. Don’t search for security in anything. So I cannot generalize…”
“Do you pray?”
“Yes – you said you have read my articles. I have already written about my prayers…- sometimes I pray, sometimes I won’t…sometimes it works, sometimes not…But even before I plan to pray GOD knows about it, right? I don’t think that GOD would be petty enough to think:”let her pray for 100 times, then only I will listen to her”…If GOD is such petty-minded, there is no use to pray to such GOD…”
Priya closed her eyes and observed for a minute. Then said: “So what to do – I sincerely want to know how to reach GOD?”
“Why should you reach something that’s already in you? Take a glass in your hand – the air is inside and air is outside too…Similarly, you have GOD inside as well as outside.
In the GOD, you are also included, but you don’t know about it. When you experience the GOD, you will know that you are part of the GOD.
Everything is contained in the GOD. So you are always with GOD, never been away from GOD. …so go the next option – experience the GOD…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“GOD is a cosmic experience to be experienced. It cannot be described or explained. It is a unique and divine experience…My experience of GOD will be different from yours…”
“But? How? Meditation? Special prayers?”
“Oh GOD, again techniques or methods….you don’t need to do anything to experience GOD…everybody has unique experience…”
“So, GOD is everything, not confined to anything and it is easy to experience GOD”
“Yes – But only after realizing about your perception, concepts, and ego. Only after de-conditioning your mind. At present, you think that you are an individual, that there is the universe out there and that GOD is beyond the cosmos. So there is the idea of separateness. All concepts of GOD is based on this separatism….If you really want to experience the GOD this idea must go. For GOD is not separate from you or the cosmos….You are just part of the cosmos”
Priya again closed her eyes for some time and stood still in the pavement. I didn’t say anything.
“Uday, tell me how to experience GOD?”
“Shall I tell you another story?” I asked. Priya nodded her head
Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean…It wanted to tell others how deep the water was…. “What are you” asked the salt doll. “Come in and see” replied the Ocean with a smile. So the salt doll waded in. The doll started dissolving in the water….The further it went; the more it dissolved till there was only a pinch of it left. Before the last bit dissolved the doll exclaimed in ecstasy, “Now I realized what I am” It didn’t understand what the ocean is, but it realized what the “I” is.
“So, you can realize what you are, the limitations of you before dissolving into GOD…that’s all you can do…”
Priya closed her eyes for a moment and said: “I feel like crying…The story was like a silent prayer…”
“This story is told by Sri Ramakrishna. Now, tell me can this salt doll come back and tell you about the Ocean?”
“Not of course…”
“Those who experience GOD will become silent. Those who don’t experience GOD will fill their own mind and other’s with concepts, ideas and perception about GOD”
“As soon as our salt doll went in the ocean, it melted and became one with it. So, who remained to come and give the information? Those masters who are still in one of the layers of truth are telling you to follow their concepts and ideas…They may be sincere and earnest. But their experience may or may not suit you…And if you find it suitable, you can follow it…But that is no guarantee that you will experience GOD…”
“So we have to experience the existence of GOD every moment, every time, that’s what you say…in my breath there is GOD, I am happy to know that…and I am feeling more confident that I can directly be with GOD” her eyes were moist.
“Yes – see around you those trees on this road-side – have you ever noticed? They are silently announcing their existence and happily moving its leaves in harmony with wind – they are enjoying the divine experience….that light reflected in your tear drop is also reflection of GOD…it can be seen everywhere, every form, every moment and in everything….If you see GOD in everything, then every moment of life will become a festival of happiness”
“Thank you so much…I don’t know, but I feel very relaxed now…” her voice was shaky.
I didn’t say anything.
“How would you look at GOD?” Priya asked, “You were evading such questions without giving direct answer…”
“If GOD has created the world it is GOD’s business to look after it, not mine. So, I would tell GOD to mind your business,” and I winked at her:”then GOD would pinch me in my ears and would scold me, “you rascal, wait till I teach you a lesson.” There would be love and affection in GOD’s voice that my mother used to have when I say something naughty.
Priya laughed.
I said I was not joking – “that’s the freedom I have with the GOD and that’s the freedom GOD has given me – for, my definition of GOD is freedom. That freedom comes from my love to GOD and GOD’s love to me. I see GOD in everything – he, she and it. It is all contained. It is beyond definition. That’s my GOD – so loving, so caring, so sharing….”
* * * * *
P.S: Next day morning Priya called me in my hotel number. She asked: “See, Uday, you didn’t tell me how to deal with my problems….I was totally immersed in GOD and forgot to discuss about how to handle my problems…”
I replied: “You said, everything in the universe is creation of GOD. Yes, except one thing: Our Mind. It is a creation of human conditioning. So it can go wrong. So mistakes and errors happen. And we blame it on GOD…That which moves is mind, that does not move is GOD – this is the gist of all Indian philosophy in a nut-shell, as far as I have learned. Since you have a mind, you move. So stop trusting your thoughts…The reason for all your problems is simple: you trust all your thoughts and chase it. Stop this habit. Then you will see the solution very clearly.”
By
Udaylal Pai
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I am impressed.still I have doubts. I am exploring. Will come back. Thanks for the blog.
God is Love. Therefore experience and express love for the Creator. Worship the creator and not the created. Condition the mind to go through every emotion and feeling that Love demands and practice them in life. And pray without ceasing, with faith and belief that prayers are answered. This could be a sure way to experience God.
Hi uday sir
I was a bit upset over the concept of god to my understanding he is everywhere omnipresent as well as omnipotent …i dnt require any books ,preachers ,temples or shrine to help me believe his existence …but the contradiction is that my flatmate is a christain and all her friends are very religious and pious i love to see their love towards jesus as their saviour …for them to reach salvation and beyond the realm of hell is through jesus …i started going to church and started reading bible to know what does it say …for me god is indescribable he is beyond my imagination …i started taking interest in all the prayers …and it was a great experience but the trouble came when i was told that there is no other religion and hinduism is a religion of foolish people …i didnt feel like answering back but they proved me that if they dnt hv tolerance for my faith or for that matter me being hindu they are not following there morals …….god has no form he can be shiva ,jesus ,allah or any name or form which i want to see him in …i was utterly heart broken so i thought of reading your article to relieve my mind …thanks uday sir for sharing and caring
Respected Sir,Udaylal pai ji Namaskara ,sir no dout I liked the article of yours very much and I have got something to learn from your presious article.But I have some queries could you please reply me on my email ID. Sir, it is said that, before a devotee (swami) goes to shabrimala for Ayappa’s darshan, he has to be pure externally and internally through Vratas by Kaya,Vacha and Manasa. If he is not in a shuddha then he has to face misseries,problems or even death while travelling through the hill forests. I went to shabrimala last year, our GuruSWAMI said some of the incidents which he had witnessed.Apart from that I myself heard some incident and also seen the victims family. A muslim guy by his wish he wore the tulsi mala from guruswamy. He was given the instruction of do’s and don’t but still he on the 31st dec went to celebrate the 31st. He drank some sort of alcohol,ate non-veg foods and that night he enjoyed with women. Inspite of that he went to shabrimala. The strange thing happened is that on the makarvilaku day he was not able to see the makara jyoti and on the spot he gone insane (mad). Then guru swami got to know the past incidend (31st) of his and so for Parihara,he asked his family to apologize to the deity every year in the local Ayappa temple and his younger brother to go to shabrimala every year. Now the guy is somewhat ok in condition. So ,I want to know what is this all about ? Is this also a concept or perception of a conditioned mind? Pls,make it clear….thankyou.
Respected Sir,Udailal pai ji Namaskara ,sir no dout I liked the article of yours very much and I have got something to learn from your presious article. I have some queries could you please reply me on my email ID. Sir, it is said that, before a devotee (swami) goes to shabrimala for Ayappa’s darshan, he has to be pure externally and internally through Vratas by Kaya,Vacha and Manasa. If he is not in a shuddha then he has to face misseries,problems or even death while travelling through the hill forests. I went to shabrimala last year, our GuruSWAMI said some of the incidents which he had witnessed.Apart from that I myself heard some incident and also seen the victims family. A muslim guy by his wish he wore the tulsi mala from guruswamy. He was given the instruction of do’s and don’t but still he on the 31st dec went to celebrate the 31st. He drank some sort of alcohol,ate non-veg foods and that night he enjoyed with women. Inspite of that he went to shabrimala. The strange thing happened is that on the makarvilaku day he was not able to see the makara jyoti and on the spot he gone insane (mad). Then guru swami got to know the past incidend (31st) of his and so for Parihara,he asked his family to apologize to the deity every year in the local Ayappa temple and his younger brother to go to shabrimala every year. Now the guy is somewhat ok in condition. So ,I want to know what is this all about ? Is this also a concept or perception of a conditioned mind? Pls,make it clear….thankyou.
Dear Udayji,
Could you kindly forward me the reply to the query asked by Mr.Naveen Shettigar. The query is dated Oct 20, 2013 at 7:52 am.
Regards,
Ram Narayan
excellent. the arcticle though mind boggled priya . but the real truth is self realization. it comes with time. knowledge of books. meditations. everyone is on the ladder of spirituality . in each rebirth he climbs one step. u never know which rebirth is the year of your enlightenment, one thing is for sure each creation in this universe is potentially divine , it is we who are ignorant who cannot realise it …..
Believing in God or not believing has no meaning. God is a Bundle of Perfect qualities, Accept some qualities and follow it in life. Do your karma truthfully, Do Dharma also selflessly. Then god will sit in the inside mind called Manasakshi. Act accordingly. This is the only way for perfect living.
Brilliant explanation of GOD as explained in Vedas.
Words are finite set of literals, the verb God is an exception though
I loved and relished every bit of your lines. Currently, I am reading Autobiography of Yogi. I see shades of comments given by Sri Yukteshwar Giri to Yogananda. I love this abstract theory of defining god. I wish I can realise it some day within my life span. As of now, I would like to keep it simple, think good and act good. All other falls in place. That was one nice post! Good Work!
AWESOME
Really, excellent article. Wisdom and Sanskar can spread piece and knowledge about God. You are among those who really understood the creation of this universe. I would like to share with you my understanding about God and Culture.
1) As you said in your article about personal God for each family. It is called Kuldevata. When aryas were there, the concept was to keep some deity house for each village called Kul Deity which is to prevent negative energies entering into the village. As evolution continued it changed to individual family God.
2) To clear my thought about God to Mrs Priya. We all go to temple not to fulfill our needs, Those who pray to fulfill their needs, they finally blame God for their dissatisfaction which is absurd. When we enter the temple we just ring the bell to divert out mind to the present state. Mind is Pendulum which goes to past and future and never stays in present. So the bell in the temple brings our mind to present. Secondly, underneath the idol, there are lots of copper plates and other magnetic particles which generate electromagnetic field around the idol. You feel relaxed when you sit in temple and you relieve your stress. This is all because of positive energy.
3) I am really luckiest person in the world that I am born in GSB and proud to have great parents and siblings. Our Sanskar teach us to do just good things in life and help others. Because we are God. God is within ourself. Do good Karmas, positive energy gets multiplied. Karta mat bano, karma karo ……..
4) Just one more ex: We all do fasting and do not eat non vegetarian in the month of Sravanas. People say its to please God. Its wrong. Kindly read Upanishad and Vedas. Its not for God but for ourself and the Nature. Sravan is the month of breeding season for majority of species and habitats. By not eating non veg, you help the nature and further nature helps us. By doing fasting for one month (Skipping lunch), you save money. The entire community should donate this saved money to poor people. This is the concept regarding one month fast.
5) We all live hectic life and get stressed due to day to day problems. We have to do meditation, yoga and poojas to purify our body and not to please God for our future benefits. God had to take care of whole universe and not one tiny ant size earth. We always forget good things happening in our life and blame God when something goes wrong. perfect example of Kedarnath flood. It is man made disaster. negligence to nature’s beauty and distruction of nature lead to such calamity. But I can prove with this live example that God exists. Just look at the temple which is thousands of years old, Not a single damage.
There are lot of things to discuss. But I am proud that our religion believes and respect diversity, other religion and Karmas……
3)
How lovely to *understand* the concept of God.
Respected Mr. Pai,
Once I was reading a book named “The ATOM”. in that book, at one place the following was written about CHARGE….
” Q. – What is the physical significance of the Charge?
A. – There is nothing like a Red Paint on a ball, on the particle. Only the behavior of the particles forces us to assume the existance of Charge.”
Now since last few years only I have started to corelate CHARGE in this answer to GOD in the human life / world / universe.
It is the only MAN who needs the GOD ( for psychologically support ).
Example for belief in god which you quoted is an eye-opener to all, marjara kishora nyaya and vanara kishora nya. It is very simple to any one who needs explanation about belief. What about Karma and its Phala? Do there any after death period in which we are supposed to go heaven or hell? In Bhagavatham explanation about 64 narakas are there. What about this? Is there any re birth to us? I think these are all symbolic and just moral stories by which we are guiding to a better path of life. Please, give explanations. Thank you.
I am very much enlightened with this concept.I believe in doing my duty to part with humanity and mankind.
Things which appears to be Complicated is explained in simple words. Scriptures were explained in many languages and many forms…
What is written ..is again by someone who understood certain things and transformed them in words.
Truth always remain the truth..
syam
Dear Udaijee:
Nice. Thanks.
Suresh
Very nice way of putting all the definitions of faith, god, belief, experience, etc.. It’s really true one who can experience the kindness of god can really explain what it’s all about. Bit those who can’t experience the very feeling of god becos of partial faith land up to lots of confusions in life. Immense and limitless are really short words to describe his Krupa and shrishtirachna.
Dear Uday,
Your articles are enlightening & an eye-opener for every believer in God in order to understand its concept and definition.
I have one question – Does Law of Karma exist ? Is there any concept of re-birth ? OR we live our lives simply once.
Rgds-Girish
oh’ again i found god here .u made it so easy Dr, Uday
TOP 25 COMMENTS ON SPEAKING TREE
Krishnadas Menon
Aug 06, 2012 at 02:43 pm
How can I express my happiness? I did see God in your Blog….You cannot explain Hinduism better than this…Thnak you Sir….
Deepaks Shukla
Aug 07, 2012 at 01:59 am
Experiance of reading this blog is no less than experiencing God , indescriabable ! Thanks for nice experiance .
Sumita Kataria
Aug 06, 2012 at 01:57 pm
Wonderful write up very beautifully crafted
GOD is truth and Truth is not based on our conditional thoughts it is an experience of our true inner self with complete awareness cannot be described or explained.
Ishwar Hamesha Saath Hai
Nita Agarwal
Aug 06, 2012 at 03:32 pm
Udaiji, beautiful article. Yes experience of God is very personal. As long as we keep on asking God to solve our problems we are never satisfied because our mind is focused on that problem and we forget the other good things happening in life. The moment we accept life as it comes as blessing of God. Difficulties become surmountable and bounties don’t throw you off balance. Very nicely explained.
Colleen Dick
Aug 08, 2012 at 10:50 am
I love the part where there are three different answers about God depending on the disposition of the person asking. We are scattered and God speaks our language so as to bring us together. Thank you, it was lovely.
Mann Belani
Aug 06, 2012 at 04:35 pm
Dear Sir,
This blog has a complete questioning on god,really nice. All I can say from my bad experiences in life, I have learnt a lot:- I have become better!
I would say if one purifies one’s nature to being humble / kind / loving to all.
Shree Krishna will himself pour True Love in that person! Krishna consciousness should be our aim. Every incident happens to beautify our personality!
Hari Om!
Prathima Shenoy
Aug 06, 2012 at 05:04 pm
Hare Krishna…nice blog….GOD has given a freedom of choice of action to one …but not the freedom of fruit of the action of one’s choice…When one is a creation of LORD..so is the MIND within the Body is creation of the LORD…when one allows the mind to travel without holding it’s reign…one will be totally lost..HOPE and FAITH in GOD helps one to take the rough path with ease…everyone have their own mind and their own thinking …one cannot explain the existence of GOD..to others’ but a sincere devotee will surely experience HIS presence…just like the butter which is present in the milk cannot be seen..so is the LORD who is present everywhere cannot be seen..to see butter one has to make curd from the MILK and then churn it to get butter…so to see HIM one has to give one’s mind to HIM and allow HIM to churn it to see HIM clearly…Keep posting.
Kanchan Priya
Aug 06, 2012 at 05:56 pm
Very very informative article Uday ji..Whats the point in segregating anything in a water-tight container?
Beautifully explained concepts about The infinite God..
Meera Panigrahi
Aug 06, 2012 at 06:39 pm
Vry well explained . Difficult concepts made simple
Vandanavandana Vandana
Aug 06, 2012 at 07:50 pm
🙂 very nice blog ……… We look for psychological support in everything that we do. but are simply seeking mental security…That’s how our mind works…Mind is happy with beliefs, not with absolute truth………
a b s o l u t e truth ….. we are trying to tune into 🙂
Venkateshwar Pandey
Aug 06, 2012 at 07:54 pm
This is a wonderful blog. The author is rational and logical in his approach about a concept which is beyond logic and rationality.I have become his admirer. The concept of salt doll is the best way to explain or not to explain God.
रहिमन बात अगम्य की कहनि सुननी कीनाहि. जे जानत ते कहत नही कहत ते जानत नाहि
THERE IS NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT OR LISTEN ABOUT HIM, THOSE WHO KNOW HIM DO NOT TALK ABOUT HIM AND THOSE WHO TALK ABOUT HIM DO NOT KNOW HIM .-Rahim Das
Neeraj Sharma
Aug 06, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Lovely Uday jee,
The best Blog on ST i evr read on the concept of god…..
Thanks sir for having such a beautiful concept of god ….evry person is unique and has unique experience with god ….
Tejal Sathwara
Aug 06, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Hey it’s really heart touching explaintion about god and his existence many of my query had become crystal clear after reading this….but stil have some which wil clear after some time thanxs a lot for sharing dis link wit me…..:) m glad reading………
Dilip Trasi
Aug 07, 2012 at 12:35 am
Everything in the article seems all right — almost everything– until you come to the last Para
“You said, everything in the universe is creation of GOD. Yes, except one thing: Our Mind. It is a creation of human conditioning. So it can go wrong. So mistakes and errors happen. And we blame it on GOD…That which moves is mind, that does not move is GOD – this is the gist of all Indian philosophy in a nut-shell, as far as I have learned. Since you have a mind, you move. So stop trusting your thoughts…The reason for all your problems is simple: you trust all your thoughts and chase it. Stop this habit. Then you will see the solution very clearly.”
Science believes in evolution spirituality believes in involution. If mind is an evolute of matter then matter is an involute of the mind. In other words, if mind arose from matter through a process of evolution then mind was involved within the matter, it was latent in the lower forms and became patent in the higher forms. If you accept God created matter, then per se, God also created mind along with it. Science believes mind is nothing but brain. Spiritualists believe brain is an expression of the mind.
All this becomes apparent when you follow the processes laid down for spiritual development by the sacred texts such as Patanjali Yoga Aphorisms, or Yoga Upanishads. There are four Yogas, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana and Raja. Follow one which suits you the best. Then progress will be fast. Yoga gives supernatural powers which convince you of the validity. Your powers can be verified by others, so you are not imagining. Powers are obstacles so give up and proceed ahead to liberation and self realization. Your problems have ended. Be happy.
Veenaga Bhushan
Aug 07, 2012 at 06:41 am
Dear Uday,
You are up to the layer of god, the truth, the nest immediate layer is true, we are already drowned in the God, as salt in the sea. But we drowned and never loose our identity, till we are breathing him. At the first breath,we cry for care when we are bare. Mr.Nobody is our God, G is generator O is organizer and D is destroyer. Here we are misunderstanding the God. He is the destroyer because, he wants the continuous process of recycling to make new life, who can think in other the way the person who is no more, but in another form. Fire is the representative of the Sun, he survives only with air, no air no fire. Fire is the developer of dust, by destroying. We are the destroyers of food, hence we are Gods. Every individual is a God with his experience. Read some of my blogs posted in this week and comment, which are from Taitriya Upanisad by Swami Chinmayananda. Spread them to prove the spirit which catches fire without a wick, which gives no recedue to research.
Sunita Gupta
Aug 07, 2012 at 08:27 am
Beautifully written article and reader’s delight so, good morning to you .
yes, one has to get over self to feel and realize god with in self only and moment this wisdom rises then i feel all is god only. –thanx once again for such a balanced and educative post.
Tony Joseph
Aug 07, 2012 at 11:06 am
After reading this I was awe-stricken for at least ten minutes! What an experience !!! Only a writer with your caliber can make such profound and toughest subject in a ridiculously simplest form. I am forwarding this link to my friends and relatives – especially youngsters. I didn’t know how deep were my concepts and conditioning. This is an eye-opener to believers as well as non-believers.
“THANK GOD”
Rajesh Shiradwade
Aug 07, 2012 at 01:09 pm
Sir,Nice explaination about omnipresent god /superconcious.He is right here ,right now and everywhere seperated from us by ignorant isolation layer called ego .
Thanks for reminding us his omnipresence !.
Narayann Swaami
Aug 07, 2012 at 02:33 pm
Excellent article for de-conditioning your mind. Whatever your beliefs, you have clarity of thought. You are on your way. I have added this article to my diary and will point to it when someone needs it. From strength to more strength. Thanks.
Mohammad Saleem Hanfi
Aug 07, 2012 at 03:32 pm
Friend, your article is very complex it does not provide a simple way to reach God besides i think basic knowledge of God and its properties(properties revealed by God in scriptures) are mandatory to reach God like God can not be comprehended,any thing that comes in our mind is not God,God is beyond all imaginations and perceptions,universe is not God rather creation of God like human being,God does not manifest in human form,why should He? ,God is beyond all these things besides people confuse themselves thinking soul as God,soul is a creation of God like universe,animal,heaven,human etc…. in simple words “GOD IS UNLIKE AND UNCREATED” one can not explain unlike and uncreated………..when you have basic knowledge of God in your heart leave everything else except God and break all connections with people just God be in your heart, i know it is very difficult and one can’t do it living at Home that is why soofi saints or darwaish go to jungles for Mujahida nafs(struggle to remove self properties and wills) and “qaut do apnay dil ko yaad-e-Ilaahi mein” means only God should be your target and remember God every single moment…….then by the grace of God you might get annihilated in sufism it is called FANA-FI-ALLAH it must not be confused as unity with God,unity with God is not possible, FANA-FI-ALLAH is also known as FAQEER about whom God said “FAQEER WO NAHI KAY JISKAY PAAS KUCH NA HO FAQEER WO HAI JIS KAY LIYE COMMAND HAI HAR CHEEZ MEIN JISKO KEHDAY HO JA TO HO JAAYE”….this is though difficult but tried and tested way to reach God……..all saints like khwaja moinuddin ajmeri(r.a) and hazrt nizamuddin(r.a) have choosen this way to reach God…Thanks
Poonam Pal
Aug 07, 2012 at 03:59 pm
Very nice and inspiring blog. Thank u so much for sharing divine knowledge. Was able to experience God while reading and even after reading, feeling like ‘With God’ only (divine feeling).
This article will definitely help the seekers to find solution to their queries.
Looking forward to read more of your blogs.
Achilles D Sylva
Aug 07, 2012 at 06:42 pm
Jesus Christ had addressed God as ‘Our Father’. After knowing this, I never felt a need to further understand what God is. Every father has best of intention for his children. A father loves his children, grandfather loves more and great grandfather loves even more. By this premise we can imagine that God being our first father too must love us, and how great that love would be. We often complain that God is not seeing to us, but God right now is tending those who need his help the most. If we are able to help ourselves, then we must ask God for strength and courage to carry on in our struggle and meanwhile help god in helping those who need his help the most.
Rajeshwari Sopan
Aug 07, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Wonderful post….Well explained ….enjoyed reading it…
Prof Tkg Namboodhiri
Aug 07, 2012 at 11:17 pm
A really revealing story! Congratulations to Dr. Pai for enlightening us on God through a simple conversation. Yes, God has to be experienced, it cannot be described. It is beyond our thoughts. No book or scripture can tell us who God is. In the ultimate, everything is God.
In fact your writing made me feel as an ignoramus. What do I know about God?. All my knowledge is second/third hand. Experiencing Him is the real aim of life. Thanks for lightening my path.
Sekhar Ray
Aug 07, 2012 at 11:36 pm
As more as I read your blogs ,I become astonished realising your great knowledge & ability to analyse……
Hats off…..
Hemu Karkera
Aug 08, 2012 at 01:41 pm
SIMPLY BRILLIANT !!!!!
The above statement still could be a response from the conditioned mind which still discriminates.
Perhaps S……….I……….L……….E………N…… …C……….E is the best response. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Mary Joseph
Aug 09, 2012 at 10:34 am
Beautiful explanation of expereincing God!
Yes as you said one can discuss and fight about the taste of honey for years and years..about its color, taste, chemicl composition and what not..
but it takes a second for the real wise to take a lick of it..and experience the taste of honey…
similary experiencing God is all that matters…knowledge about Him really doesnt make any diffence to anybody…God is sweeter than honey…all those who experience Him proclaim it!!
Rajendran P Koru
Aug 09, 2012 at 06:58 pm
Beautiful presentation of the incident! The article style, writing skill of the writer are projecting, from the beginning to end, off course has a professional touch in the entire words. In content, it is wonderful, at a glance the articles seems very simple and trying to convey very simple idea about God, but if we are going seriously in to every questions and reply, have a very depth knowledge and experience.
In brief, it is a matchless blog Dr.Udayjee not only in the serious nature of the content but the professional way of presentation, I bow in front of your knowledge and wisdom Sir!
I am not repeating the content, hope everyone who reads are understands well, after many years of research, reading, experience, pilgrimage, I too is following the similar philosophy in my life, but your presentation is more beautiful and attractive..
For the new generations, those does not have the real knowledge about the existence of God can see this blog as a reference guide, I wanted to write here a holy quote that Sree Krishna advices to Arjuna that, “Whatever knowledge I am conveying to you, do not trust or accept as it is, but think about it, understand well, and get aware about it, if and only if this knowledge is digestible to you accept it”………………..
Dr Padma Shankar
Aug 09, 2012 at 09:32 pm
Dear Dr Udaylal ji,
I am awe stuck by the explanations given by you about the belief in God.
It shows the amount of research and thought you have given to this simple but a perennial question in every body’s mind.
I also sometimes wonder whether I have to do poojas and follow rituals and sometimes since I don’t want to hurt the person who tell me out of concern I follow their suggestions. Of course it also depends on who says it?
Sometimes people make me feel guilty for not following their Godly advices, I get angry and say a silent prayer to the God; I believe that He has to forgive and he should be knowing!
As you rightly said we have to experience God.
When I look back in my life experiences I have seen Gods presence at many occasions.
Our thought is the strength — positive or negative. I strongly believe in God’s presence in everything and that he has reasons for giving us something or not giving us something.
I thank you for this informative article.
When we come across like minded people you feel more confident.
That is the frame of mind for me now.
Thanks for sharing such a valuable thought.
Dr.Padma Shankar
Medhavi Jain
Aug 10, 2012 at 12:11 am
Really I don’t have words for this wonderful article. The way you depicted everything is just marvellous. Thanks so much Mr. Uday for sharing this experience with all of us. Here I’m sharing the theory which is behind the story of elephant and the blind men. The name of this theory is Syadvad or the theory of sevenfold predications. According to this theory truth can be understood in seven different ways, they are:
1.Syād-asti — “in some ways it is”
2.Syād-nāsti — “in some ways it is not”
3.Syād-asti-nāsti — “in some ways it is and it is not”
4.Syād-asti-avaktavyaḥ — “in some ways it is and it is indescribable”
5.Syād-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ — “in some ways it is not and it is indescribable”
6.Syād-asti-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ — “in some ways it is, it is not and it is indescribable”
7.Syād-avaktavyaḥ — “in some ways it is indescribable”
When I got to know about Syadvad, my life changed forever. The more one think about this theory, the more we get curious to know about it. Today only I read this quote on FB, Truth always has three sides, yours, theirs and the truth’s. I found this quote simply amazing.
Thanks so much once again Dr. Uday. Regards
Poonam Mehra
Aug 11, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Incredible!!!!!!!!!! Amazing post Sir …….. The last para “You said, everything in the universe is creation of GOD. Yes, except one thing: Our Mind. It is a creation of human conditioning. So it can go wrong. So mistakes and errors happen. And we blame it on GOD…That which moves is mind, that does not move is GOD – this is the gist of all Indian philosophy in a nut-shell, as far as I have learned. Since you have a mind, you move. So stop trusting your thoughts…The reason for all your problems is simple: you trust all your thoughts and chase it. Stop this habit. Then you will see the solution very clearly.” is the crux …….. u have explained it so simply!!!!!!!!! Thanks for this amazing sharing …… Regards.
Biresh Sinha
Aug 12, 2012 at 03:40 am
“I see GOD in everything.” “GOD is Freedom.” Beautiful.
Wonderful Article.
Sir, Please continue sharing yourself on Speakingtree for the benefit of Mankind.
No word like Thanks will be appropriate here.
Kiran Sood
Aug 15, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Awesome article,in a way it leads to right path which is right in front of us but bcoz of conditioning of our brain cant see.now its illuminated ,million thnx
Courtesy: http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/do-you-believe-in-god (Please visit this link for more comments and discussion)
awesome, very well explain, infinite blessing