Last year a youngster asked me if there was a need for a God in our lives. He wanted to know if “God” was an imagination to counter the “fear” we harbour. It was a very valid question and i dint had a correct answer.
I said."Your question is very interesting and it has along history. Humans have understood to believe at some point in their evolution that there exist powers beyond their control or there exists some power controlling everything. The nature of their understanding has depended on the level of their evolution. They have prayed snakes, and powerful animals and their concept of god has changed from an evil entity that punishes us to something that is merciful and ever forgiving and loving. Our human civilization was travelled a long journey from being god fearing to god loving. We already see people talking about seeing the divinity in others.Based on the above premise "Fear" is no longer a basis for this belief. It seems that the reason behind this belief is our nature of scientific inquiry.
Its is our scientific temprament which encourages us to find answers ;answers about the origin of universe , about who we are where we came from and where do we go hereafter and so on. One could continue to ask simillar questions. We create problems to solve them. The worlds best brain continue to grapple with the question of conciousness. Those who claim to have found the answers to this question say that the basis for conciousness is something which we have learnt to define as God."
at the end to escape from any further argument i said...
"Your question can be answerd properly if we know your approach towards this question and the motivation behind it. One can justify and at the same time deny any need for the concept of god. But in either case it would be based on a specific context. It's needless to mention that you should not and will not belive just by reading something. And thats the reason i feel that this forum is not the right platform to restart this perrenial debate. Perhaps it cannot be answerd properly for it is you who has to decide what suites you after doing all your research on this topic."
I intentionally replaced "philosophy with "scientific inquiry". Scientific inquiry goes on to explain the "how's" which ultimately would lead to the why's" of things around us, which philosophy cater to directly. Urging him to find his own answer seemed teh safest approach. Even Swami Vivekanda in his first speech in Chicago said that “A hindu when confronted with this question says I don’t know”.
And as i tried to search for a better answer to his question in books i was amazed to discover that more questions on this line have been asked and more answers have been documented than i could concieve of. More experiences have been documented than what i could possibily experience in the next ten lives. More original concepts have been caught than i could grasp. As if, the answer to every question is already present and its for us to read them.
The amount of information available and the nature of information made me extreemly pensive. Every feeling that I felt and every thought that dawned to me has been experinced & documented before by millions before! There is more that I can experience or explore in this lifetime. Should I not then not sit quietely and keep reading and exploring throught the life instead of wasting my energies reacting to the external stimulus which results in a predictable and predefined set of outcomes ?
What I liked was that people had devoted their lives, crossed mountains & oceans and persisted in their search for years in search of answers.
We live life without even attempting to explore a little. We don’t have time. A watchman also says he does not have time. Lack of time gives a person sense of importance i think.
But if once explores a bit. There is no turning back. You first realize your prosaic existance. Going to office, come home, Eat, and Sleep, Movies, Money, loads of feelings to handle, innumerable desires to be fulfilled and emotions to tackle.
Yes, You are not alone, partner. This lifestyle has also been lived and documented before. Everything is predictable. Millions have lived like this. Yet we put a viel of pretence. Yet you
find it unable to relate with others. Simillar desires, simillar aspirations, simillar thought patterns and yet there exists a strong sense of individuality.
Yes there is no turning back. There has to be reason behind everything, or not ?
Nothing happens without a reason after all, isn't it ? Or does it?
There has to be a reason for what we experience and why we do it ?
-- If no then why are you subjected to experience what you do ?
-- Am you subjected to, or do you choose to ?
-- If you choose to, How much free will do you have ?
-- Why have you chosen to experience suffering ?
-- Do all the emotions you experience have a basis in something or are they constants in all living beings ?
-- If they are variables, can they be manipulated?
-- Should they be? And if yes, why?
-- And what is this "i" that you are talking about.
-- From where does this ego conciousness come from?
-- If the soul is the experiencer why does it loose its identity after entering the body?
-- From where does it come from and where does it go? Why does it go?
-- Is there any end to this experiencing phinominon?
-- Who is controlling this? Is ther any one who does it?
You see one question leads to another. Is there a need to find
the answers? Would you want to think on thse lines ? Do you have time to think about it ?
Here it comes. Back to ground zero you see. Had i asked these questions to that young lad he would definately declared me crazy.But thats the nature of this topic. Can't help it.
I hope till the time he starts exploring answers himself, my explanation of scientific temprament would keep him at peace with himself & with civilization around him.
