Reason and Belief in God

October 30, 2020.

• Whatever we have a been living with becomes normal to us. Whatever violates common sense and experience and seems impossible, becomes a limitation on us. This sense of possible and impossible takes the form of a law.

• All laws of physics and logic of mathematics are formulations of our own experiences – our possibilities and our limitations, as perceived by us.

• These laws are true so long as we are bound and unaware of our boundaries. For example, a) 2+2=4, is true so long as the law of conservation of mass holds, and b) Newton’s law of gravitation was true, so long we were moving slow.

• These laws are nothing but our own creation. Down the line we lose the sight of this relationship - we forget that we are the creators of our laws and start thinking that the laws are supreme and govern us.

• A belief that this world is a machine and follows certain fixed laws, is a belief. It is quite possible that someday these laws may change – who has seen the future?

• A belief that Sun would rise in the east because it has been doing so for ages, is a belief. Someday earth may change its rotation - why not?

• Whatever law is working today will continue to work same tomorrow, is a projection – all projections and inferences are beliefs.

• Disbelief in God is of our own creation - there is no law or logic which denies the existence of God. Those who do not believe in the magic do not believe in God and those who believe in the magic believe in God. For God is nothing but a ‘Magic’ which transcends all laws (i.e. our limitations).

• In reality, everything is a wonder – creation of the world, the evolution of life, the evolution of mind, the law of gravitation, etc. all are a wonder – there is no reason for them to be there except by a miracle. There is no law which says gravitation shall be there; there is no law which says that energy and mass shall be interconvertible.

• You may believe in science or in the laws of nature, if that suits you. On the contrary, you may believe in magic, if it suits you. Either way, it is a belief.

• Science neither denies nor affirms God – it only puts the human experiences in mathematical formulations.

• Finally, whether you believe in God or you do not believe in God, is your Choice. Both are beliefs - there is no science, nor any logic in it. Don't fall into the self-gratifying illusion that being an atheist is being rational. 

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October 30, 2020. Excerpts of the discussion on this issue, between 'X' and 'I' elsewhere: 

X: I am an atheist based on arguments for or against the existence of God.

I: As if arguments are complete in themselves. If you look dispassionately, all arguments are based on faith.

X: Based on evidence and logic, neither is faith.

I:  2+2=4 is faith. I hope this makes sense.

X: No it doesn't. How is mathematical logic, faith?

I: Wrote the above Blog.
X: Fair enough. There is no scientific proof of non-existence of God. But this is similar to Bertrand Russell's teapot, small invisible in orbit between Earth and Mars around the Sun. If you do not believe it is there, the burden of non-existence proof is on you.
I prefer the scale formulated by Richard Dawkins 1 being a believer and 7 being an atheist. I am about 6. There is an utter lack of evidence. Hence, it is not faith, but a lack of evidence that suggests that the probability of God's existence is very low. I rest my case.
I: "If you do not believe it is there, the burden of non-existence proof is on you." No, it is your problem - if you want to prove God is not there - it is your problem; if nobody has been able to prove the non-existence of God, you must prove it, because you want proof. But if you want to believe God is not there, it is perfectly fine, - you are free to believe whatever you want to.

"Richard Dawkins 1 being a believer and 7 being an atheist. I am about 6." Wherever you are on this scale - it is your belief. What I am saying that you can't escape believing - even science is a belief. I am not arguing for or against the existence of God, I am simply saying wherever you place yourself, it is a belief. so both believer and non-believer are on the same footing.

 

Opinions, Conflicts, Ego, and the Real ‘I’

 (A letter to IITD-82 Bachelors – a WhatsApp Group)

 Let us Disrobe Ourselves and find the Real Self

This write-up refers to a post in response to X’s on this forum suggesting that we should not post controversial messages on this forum.

Pardon me, I differ: Do we really want to limit this group to jokes and memories of hostel days? If we do so, will any vitality and purpose be left in the group?

Our environment has changed - we need to change: Almost all that we liked during IIT days is no longer relevant to us now. Even the warmth we feel when we meet now is short-lived. I have seen those meetings – they are full of joy for a while, but the joyous moments do not last for long. We have all changed with time; our tastes, preferences, and constraints have changed. Therefore, we need to change our ways – old ways and old memories no longer have the same attraction and thrill.

Virtual groups are large and diverse, and we have grown old, stiff, and wise. Therefore, ego clashes are natural: In pre-social-media days at IIT, our groups were small, and we had the choice of choosing and changing our friends. Moreover, we were still in the learning process. Therefore, the conflicts were less, and we could go along well within a small group. But things have changed now. Our social group is large and diverse - it encompasses all – even those who differ and contradict. Moreover, we have grown old and wise - there is hardly anything left to learn or worth learning. Therefore, ego clashes on the Whatsapp group are but natural.

We are different and limited – there is still much to learn: Instead of blocking the irritant and sleeping comfortably in our cocoons, we need to learn, change, and grow with time, for - 

a)     Our knowledge and experiences are limited, both in time and space. 

b)     Our friends, social groups, books, and other sources of information are limited. 

c)     Our ideals, goals, preferences, and concerns are different. 

d)     Our heritage - religion, language, and caste etc are different.  

Thus, our perceptions, conclusions, and opinions are spontaneously different. Knowing that we are all limited and different, we must continue to remind ourselves that perhaps I do not know the Truth, perhaps my idea is not the supreme. Or it is enough, it is all – we have reached the peak.

If there are higher peaks, we need to follow some rules: If we are aware of our limitations, this group can be quite beneficial to us for we can learn from others what escaped our attention. But for that, we must follow a few rules. 

a)     We shall not presume that one who is opposing our views is casting aspersions on us. He is simply putting his views on the table. We can accept or reject his views. 

b)     When somebody shares his views, we need not condemn it, outcast it or drown it. We can accept or reject his views. 

Perhaps, we have noted that any conversation has many ingredients – information, analysis, opinion, and an effort to dominate or justify oneself. All this is mixed and rides in involuntarily on our words. We need to be vigilant – we can enrich ourselves with the information, learn from the logic and ignore the opinion and the ego content.

Thus, if we do not take things personally, avoid being touchy, and keep our emotions under check, we can avoid conflicts. In turn, we can learn much from the opposite and annoying that we had missed or not accounted for.  

Let us not wear a blind: What ‘X’ shared might have hurt some, but I think what he did was right. It was an eye-opener, at least for me – I came to know of a harsh reality which I did not know before - of course, I had to contain my emotions to view the video; nevertheless, it was informative. It is for us to accept or reject what is shared – but to stop anyone from sharing his views – I think it is to imprison oneself. 

Share with an equanimous mind: But how should one, who is sharing anything, operate – he should do so with an equanimous mind and simply share his experience and knowledge without condemning or opposing anyone else's views, without a sense of superiority for all that we know is incomplete and imperfect.

Can we go back to ragging days and disrobe ourselves - we will find the Real ‘I’: Beyond this exchange of information and opinions, there is something more fundamental that we must not forget – i.e. we are different from our opinions. This is one basic fact which we always tend to forget, and it is the major cause of all conflicts. 

a)     We were neither born with a view nor we will die with the view we possess now. 

b)  We picked up the view we have now in the course of life, we are changing even now, albeit unknowingly, and we will continue to change in future. This is what life is – ever-changing, ever-growing. The moment we stop changing, we die. Then why are we stuck up with any view?

Once you know that you are different from your opinion, you will find that behind the change and growth there is something that remains fixed - that is the awareness of oneself – the Real ‘I’.

Love thy opponent: The day we understand that we are different from our opinions, the problem of conflicts of opinions will be automatically resolved. No more we will associate our opinions with our real ‘I’. No more we would hear the undertone of ‘holier than thou’ or ‘brighter than thou’. Instead, I would love my opponent for he gave me a chance to unrobe, enlarge, and move nearer to Real ‘I’.

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Suicide - It is not the end of the game

Death does not Liberate ! 

(First time, this article was published on this blog, on Friday, 18 November 2016. Edited minorly on June 15, 2020)

At times we are overwhelmed by our problems which normally are more psychological than physical. Finding no way out of the web, believing that the world is only what we see and concluding that our ordeal will end with our death, we take the ultimate plunge into the abyss of death.  

But, Death is not an escape to eternal Peace. Seers of India, who see beyond the material world, see this world differently. They have a different view on suicide. In this context, I have put the words of two great people on Death and Suicide, hoping that it will make us wiser, courageous, and help us choose Life instead of Death. 

Important takes from the words of Paramahansa Yogananda and The Mother given below:

1. We do not die - we just pass from this world to another world.
2. Death doesn't liberate us. We start the next life exactly from the state we left.
3. To change one's situation, one has to make efforts and all the efforts can be made only on earth while one is alive. Thus an act of suicide doesn't solve one's problem.  
4. If you leave before your work is finished you will have to come back to do it again under much more difficult conditions.
5. On earth, our body acts as a protective sheath and saves us from terrible attacks from the vital world. After death, one doesn't go out of existence. One has to pass through a vital world that is made of all these passions and ignorance. So the troubles one wanted to avoid in this world, one finds again after death and now without having the protection which the body gives. 

Paramahansa Yogananda:

"Don't depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections. You are exactly the same after death as you were before. Nothing changes; you only give up the body. If you are a thief or a liar or a cheater before death, you don't become an angel merely by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now and become angels at once! Whatever you have made of yourself thus far, so will you be hereafter. And when you reincarnate, you will bring that same nature with you. To change, you have to make the effort. This world is the place to do it."

Ref: (Paramhansa Yoganada on Death n Suicide)

Ref: (Teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda)

The Mother (Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pudducherry):

Q.    Why does one suffer when one commits suicide?

Ans. "Why does one commit suicide? Because one is a coward….When one is cowardly, one always suffers."

Q.   In the next life one suffers again?

Ans."The psychic being comes with a definite purpose to go through a set of experiences and to learn and make progress. Then if you leave before its work is finished it will have to come back to do it again under much more difficult conditions. So all that you have avoided in one life you will find again in another, and more difficult. And even without leaving in this way, if you have difficulties to overcome in life, you have what we usually call a test to pass, you see; well, if you don’t pass it or turn your back upon it, if you go away instead of passing it, you will have to pass it another time and it will be much more difficult than before.

Now people, you know, are extremely ignorant and they think that it is like this: there is life, and then death; life is a bunch of troubles, and then death is an eternal peace. But it is not at all like that. And usually when one goes out of life in an altogether arbitrary way and in an ignorant and obscure passion, one goes straight into a vital world made of all these passions and all this ignorance. So the troubles one wanted to avoid one finds again without even having the protection which the body gives, for- if you have ever had a nightmare, that is, a rash excursion in the vital world, well, your remedy is to wake yourself up, that is to say, to rush back immediately into your body. But when you have destroyed your body you no longer have a body to protect you. So you find yourself in a perpetual nightmare, which is not very pleasant. ---"

Ref:. (https://www.saccs.org.in/texts/mcw-index/mcw-indexed-texts/07-023.php)

Psychic - is a growing soul, that doesn't die with body and moves from one life to next life. It is psychic that gives us a character and individuality. 

Note: Emphasis by colour and highlighting are by the author.

'Time to Soar' - A Short Poem

Time to Soar

The world analysed, understood, and conquered,

He stands victor on top of it.

The thirst for Truth remains,

Earth’s waters could not quench.

Heavens calling, he lifts his hand again.

It is time to soar, let go. 

The Issue before the Mankind and the Way Out

Sharing with you a talk given by me, titled “The Issue before the Mankind and the Way Out” This talk is based on the writings of Sri Aurobindo and our scriptures. The main theme of the talk is that Science is limited to the material world while the human world is very complex and vast. Therefore, science can’t solve our problems beyond a point and we have to look elsewhere for solution to our problems. 

The talk gives the way out as described in our scriptures.

Please click the following Link:

The Issue before the Mankind and the Way Out

Or paste the following url in the browser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvqg3K8gKYw

Corona Pandemic, Spirituality and Faith in God

Covid-19 is spreading its tentacles with ever-accelerating speed, almost threatening to engulf the entire humanity. It is an unprecedented situation. Many countries are under lockdown. People are worried and scared. Some are discussing the origin of Covid-19, the politics and economics of the pandemic, the way out, and the future of humanity. Some others are trying to understand the hidden/spiritual message behind the pandemic. While few others are wavering in their faith on God and even questioning the existence of God.

I received a few questions from my friends. I tried to answer them for myself. In the following paragraphs, I am putting down my answers to them.

Question-1:

What do we understand from the Closure of Shrines due to Corona Pandemic?

There can be no single inference on the closure of shrines for all our conclusions depend upon our observations, state of our mind and our worldviews. Therefore, different people draw different conclusions about the same occurrence. Some of the conclusions, I can think of, are -

• God is indifferent to human problems. He has no message for mankind in the closing of the shrines. It isn’t God, rather, it is man who has built these places of worships for himself and it is the man only who is closing them now. It is man who created this problem, it is man who shall face it - God is unconcerned and aloof.

• Or, it is a sign of God’s wrath – man has committed so many sins and this pandemic is His way of punishing man for his sins. God is disillusioned with the stupidities of man, He has disowned him and turned him away. Man needs to make penance for his sins.

• Or, God is untrustworthy - when man needed him most, he left him alone.

• Or, God is powerless and helpless and therefore He withdrew.

• Or, there is no God; He is an imagination of the human mind. It is simply a secular issue. Man built shrines for himself and closed them to save himself.

All these are subjective interpretations of the human mind and everyone is free to draw his own interpretation.

How do I interpret this situation? I view opening and closing down of the shrines a superficial occurrence which has no designed or predetermined divine message in it. Man created these places for his own self - it reminds him of God and helps him connect with God but now, when they have become a threat to the very existence of man, he has rightly closed them. Instead of being orthodox, he is being rational, and rightly so. Science, Religion and Spirituality are not against each other; they just operate in different domains. Man shall use all/anyone of them depending on what is useful to him at the moment.

Yet, I see a message in this occurrence. It is -

• A situation that is questioning the wisdom of mankind and the direction he is following.

• A situation showing man how incapable and weak he is,

• A warning to man to rethink about his goals and means,

• And, a signal asking the man to stop, think and change his direction. 

Question-2:

Who is GOD - some power away from this planet earth or all elements on it who support and interact with each other?

Make no mistake - unless one has seen/met God, God is only an idea or a concept to him. 

What I am telling about God in the next paragraph is also only an idea of God which I formed for myself after reading spiritual texts such as Gita, Upanishads, Savitri, etc. I am not sure myself if it defines God fully well.

God is all that is - the whole existence or all that is manifest (ॐ तत्सत्, वासुदेव सर्वं इति) and all that is Unmanifest (असत्). God is not only all that is and all that is not, but also beyond the Manifest and the Unmanifest, i.e. the Transcendental (परात्पर). Even when he is Transcendental, He is the Lord (ईश्वर), the Sanctioner (अनुमंता) and the Overseer (साक्षी). He is Impassive (उदासीन) and Indifferent (तटस्थ), yet the Lover (प्रियतम) and the Mother (जगदम्बा). He is Immutable (अपरिवर्तनीय) and Ineffable (अनिर्वचनीय).

All this seems self-contradictory to a human mind because the human mind is incapable of knowing God. It is a human heart that knows God. (The only solution available to man to know God is either to believe the sages or to find Him through his heart.)

This or any other definition is only a concept until it is realized.

Further, everyone is free to accept this or any other definition that appeals to him and helps him in his journey. 

Question-3:

How does spirituality explain this crisis?

To understand the present crisis caused by Covid-19, we need to first understand the working of God/Nature.

• God encompasses all the opposites in Itself; He is both – the Good and the Evil, the Right and the Wrong, the Beautiful and the Ugly, the Pain and the Pleasure, the Death and Life, the Rich and the Poor, the Strong and the Weak, the Saint and the Sinner, the Demon and the Angel, etc. There is nothing that exists outside God.

• He uses all these seemingly opposite characters/forces/beings to execute His will.

• Nature is not merely a conglomeration of material things governed by some unchangeable physical laws, it is a conscious entity. Nature has a purpose and a direction and also uses Destruction to hew its way. Death and Destruction are integral parts of Nature's working.

• Nature has created man; it is wiser and more powerful than man. It knows what it is doing. Unfortunately, man doesn't know the direction in which Nature is moving and invariably moves against its will.

• Death is not bad. We are afraid of death and consider it bad because we don’t know that we don’t die. We continue to live even after our death but we are no longer visible or perceptible to others and unable to communicate with the people we have left behind. 

• Death is a blessing in disguise - it helps us to take up a new birth, a new path and a different and higher goal.

• Death is a means by which Nature forces us to leave all that was dear to us in this life and that we were not ready to leave.

• Destruction is a predecessor to Creation. Death paves the way for a new and greater life.

All these conclusions are derived from ‘Shastras’ and not verifiable by the physical science man is enamoured of. Nevertheless, they explain the situation very well.

Thus I see Corona-Pandemic, as

• A situation that is questioning the wisdom of man and direction he is following.

• A revelation to show man how incapable and weak he is,

• A warning prodding man to rethink about his goals and means,

• And, a signal asking the man to stop, think and change his direction.

Note and Disclaimer: 

I am a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I have had good exposure to science, reason and spiritual philosophy. I find no conflict between Science, Religion and Spirituality, because I find that they belong to different domains.

I have presented my views on the above topic the light of the writings and teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Yet I may be wrong; I am not an authentic interpreter of their writings and teachings.

Feel free to accept/reject these views.

Covid-19; Social Distancing - Only Solution

Listened PM’s address to the nation on Covid-19 pandemic and realized the gravity of the situation. In the following lines, I am sharing with you, how I understand the gravity of this unprecedented situation.

1)  We are currently going through Stage-1 and Stage-2 of Covid-19 pandemic, which essentially means that the source of infection is identifiable. But if proper precautions are not taken at this stage, we will soon enter Stage-3, when it will not be possible to identify the source of infection and then it will be impossible to control it (Stage-3 is known as community spread).

2) Two weeks quarantine is a very good strategy (and the only solution). If everyone isolates himself for two weeks, we will be able to identify almost everyone who is infected by Covid-19 and then it will be far easier to control the spread of Covid-19 by isolating the affected people. Therefore, it is very important that as many of us must socially isolate ourselves as possible.

3)   Please note that Covid-19 infected person can infect others even when symptoms of Covid-19 have not manifested in the infected person. This is called ‘Asymptomatic Infection’. There is no way we can know that the person we are meeting is Covid-19 infected or not.

Therefore, Social Distancing is the only effective solution to combat Covid-19 pandemic. There is no remedy except Social Distancing, in the foreseeable future.

Please cooperate.