Existence of God

I strongly feel it is important here to dichotomize the words God and Religion in the world today and the concept of God using the mainstream philosophical argument.

The word itself means different things for different people. The common argument constructed by theists to convince their atheist counterpart revolves around some essentials:

• Initial motion

All things in the universe are in motion. However, for there to exist motion in actuality (Kinetic energy) there must exist Potential energy and this potential energy can only be converted to kinetic energy by a stimulus. So everything which is in motion must have an initial stimulus. This stimulus is god.

This is a completely valid argument. My dispute with this argument is that how does one explain the seeming chronological, spatial and conceptual infinity of god? The concept is created to put a stopper to a concept that escapes the intellectual block that we humans face when dealing with the question of infinity. "God is infinite," theists would then claim. Well, if God is infinite and so is the universe, I don't see any reason to believe that one form of infinity is different from the other... both are conceptually the same. So, God is the Universe and the Universe is God. Both interchangeable words... I prefer the former to avoid the ridiculous connotations of the word "God" propagated across society through religion.

• Original causation

Everything we see around us is connected in a chain of causation similar to that of motion. So what is the original cause?... God.

This argument is parallel to the infinity concept. What is the original cause? I don't know. Many call it God. I call it incomprehensible infinity or the Universe.

• The superlative

We have formed in our minds the conceptual framework for qualitative assessment for everything in existence. The man is strong. That woman is honest. The mountains are beautiful. Every qualitative assessment is in comparison to a superlative... an entity that possesses the best of all virtues. Such an entity must be god.

I'd like to deconstruct this idea. The ultimate of all virtues, this argument claims is this singular entity of God. I would simply ask... who sets the standards here?... the standards of virtue. Isn't it humans? Our perceptions of beauty and virtues are different depending on the personalities, value systems and circumstances each of us is subject to. This disintegrates the concept the singularity of God. If each of us were to name our perceptions of the superlative as God, we'd have many more Gods.

• Original existence

We are surrounded my thronging existence. Before existence is non-existence or nothing and for something to be born of nothing is absurd. Therefore, for something to exist in the beginning from nothing, there needs to be an antediluvian (etymological religious connotation unintended, I hope!) something that instigates the creation of everything else.

The Buddhists believe in part of this concept as well. Madhyamaka practitioners stress on the importance of the fact that before existence came non-existence; before something came nothing. However, they add that nothing has the potential to create everything else. The don't detach the divine from existence and non-existence. They believe is is possible for humans to reach that state of nothingness through meditation. That is their concept of nirvana. I prefer the Buddhist way of thought where this is concerned and would like to add that if one were to claim that god was hanging around in nothing to create something and that God is something, then the nothing did not exist in the first place.

On the other hand, when one says that nothing and everything is divine, that implies that every one of us is divine. Using theist terminology, that makes every one of us God. I'd rather call you by your name :-)

• Universal governance

Nature is crafted to perfection. Every leaf, every mountain, every animal is crafted in a way so as to co-exist in functional synchrony and perfection. The functionality is a product of circumstances or environment. All this takes intelligence to design. That intelligence is god.

I feel this is the strongest argument made so far. Intelligent design has been long debated. If God is mystery and infinity and if we as humans are incapable of understanding the true nature of God the only method of knowing whether this God exists is to go by his/her intentions. These seem pretty clear. Building the universe, of which Planet Earth, our home, seems to be of barely importance but means the world to us and us alone. This god went into the detail of creating these handcrafted odds and ends like plants, animals, humans, and so on... and then we have theists who believe that this god had an intention... how? and what is that intention? The planet we're on has an expiry date on it and so does every one of us and the intention of God is an inappropriate phrase given to what it really is... the purpose of life itself. I call it life force... a power potent and intelligent enough to direct the evolution of every being in existence... and as for the non-living things, I call it physics.

True, this raises more questions than answers and that's the point. There are unanswered questions and we could start with seeing things for what they truly are instead of settling in for misunderstood, inadequate and inappropriate nomenclature and conceptual fantasies.

Religion adds more frills to this concept of God further contorting it into a melange of mysticism, customs, rituals, intolerance and shrouded ignorance all sparked by elements of shame, low self-esteem and a lack of courage to face the truth or embark on this seemingly infinite voyage of finding the truth where it isn't apparent.

Romance

What does this word do to you?

Do you think of love, bollywood and glitz?

or of a world... flushed with color and life, a world where the sky is a deep blue, interrupted only by the ragged gray mountains beckoning to your spirit, you look down to see a lush green welcoming you into its soft and endless bosom. The trees around are flowering and strong... You look down at your feet... just as strong, your arms... craving for action... you feel the breeze brushing against your naked brow, teasing your hair... the grass pushing through your toes and you realize that this is the moment you have been created for, this moment of ecstasy... just before flight... like a fountain that breaks through the rocks... like a child who learns to stand... like a moment of life multiplied a hundred times packed into a single instant.

Your pulse races as your feet lift off and you fly..... fly towards that endless horizon... a horizon blurred my seamless stretched of peaks... a horizon crying out with promise... the cries echoing in every corner of your soul... cries of delight, cries of victory, cries of passion...

Romance is wonderful!

A large part of the world would view it as baseless and fanciful. My question to them is this... Is the condition of the human spirit not a base? Isn't creation of a parallel realm of life a simple manifestation of the colors of your own soul? Why treat reality as a purely normative phenomenon?

The gift of expression is irreplaceable! Most importantly to understand yourself.

The sounds of music

"Nothing could teach you something" he heard as he swerved with the rhythms of the car that blazes along a road set against the dark sky, lights twinkling in the distance. He emerged from the endless sounds of music and conversation. He saw their lips part forming new words, he saw their eyes speaking more than their lips ever could. He saw their intentions and their masks. He saw through them.

Beautiful masks they were. He enjoyed the sight of them. He enjoyed the texture of their mood. But, he knew the texture of their being and decides to remain at the surface.

What does a man do when he refuses to play along with the currents of the river beating against him? Not because he doesn't like being carried by the river because he knows where it goes. He basks instead in the sensation of having the waves caress his chest and the breeze cooling his brow.

He dives instead into the texture of the words rather than the meaning they evoke. Because the meanings will disappoint him. He has been down that current before.

The moments spent by the river bank were soothing indeed. He decides to emerge from that feeling and walk back into the wilderness.

"One could learn a lot from such superficial conversation". Of course, I thought... I learned how to enjoy them. I learned what I enjoy most. I learned that people tend to be strongest when they move in packs. I learned that I tend to be strongest simply knowing that I am who I am.

Why MAKE conversation? Why do people see it as an asset? Why do people gather knowledge only to be able to continue MAKING conversation? Why do they want to be accepted by others? Why don't they accept themselves? Why do they not say and do whatever they want to say or do? Why do they bother about the response from another? Why are they worried about losing companionship? Why are they afraid of being alone? Why don't they love themselves enough?

I find the pretentious interactions amusing! Almost like they are trying desperately to entertain others and themselves. I must agree... observing this certainly entertains me!

Some people have souls that protest vigorously amidst all the clamor. But alas, their lips helplessly add to it.

How fortunate for me to have a home for myself in my own being from where I can sit peacefully observing these undercurrents.

A connection of choice

The psychological break-up of humans is too complex even for a variety of labels being attributed to a single individual. Our beings are composed of not only our circumstances but also the choices that we have made through these circumstances. When judging another, a simple background survey is drastically inadequate. By judging, I do not imply any moral connotation of good or bad, right or wrong. It is an amoral analysis of another personality in relation to your own. It is the groundwork to understanding a relationship.

So labeling is inadequate when dealing with people... especially those who have grown beyond conformism. Each human being is a unique entity. I make this statement even for the mobs. Every single person in a flock who draws his or her sense of security and belonging from that group has been subject to subtly or substantially different circumstances compared to the others and made some unique choices along the way as well. What defines him or her is not only the actions but also the reasons behind those actions.

So, am I suggesting that every human being deserves equal consideration owing to the uniqueness inherent in them? No.

I believe in connections, relationships that bloom from commonalities in fundamental feelings, beliefs, personality traits and actions. Though trying to give form to any "criteria" is not as esoteric as one would think, going by these beliefs (only) would be too dogmatic and superficial an approach to discovering the depths inherent in human behavior.

Self-love in the prime determinant of a holistic interactive process. If one is indulging in a relationship for reasons such as altruism, insecurity, domination or subversion, it will inevitably lead to a dependency syndrome where the people involved are drawing upon the strengths (or weaknesses) of each other.

Before relating to another human being, it is important to understand yourself and love who you are. It is critical to be honest with yourself about your intentions and feelings (whatever they may be).

One might think that this closes doors to that seemingly abstract concept of love. How can one be an egocentric and love another person at the same time. This will be crystal clear, if you understand the reason for loving another. We love another not for their weaknesses but their virtues, never with sympathy only with respect and understanding. Love is amongst equals in spirit. Anything else is a compromise.

Comfort in one's nakedness is another factor that determines the efficacy of a connection. When there need to be no facades and no inhibitions to a free flow of interaction, we have a true bond. "You" and "I" will never become "Us" if we aren't acquainted and comfortable with the nakedness of our beings, every virtue and every flaw.

This is when silences become blissful and not a burden. This is when a smile means more than a word. This is when a glance is enough to express an emotion.

Man is a social animal they say... Man is a dew drop I say, that requires a leaf to condense upon. Connections are not a compulsion. The dew drop always existed as vapors but could only take shape on the leaf. There are some things we learn about ourselves only in the presence of another who understands.

Expression

Feelings and thoughts can be so complex and unique. Most often, we use words as our means express these. There are some sensations that are painfully difficult to express in words. Nevertheless, my relentless foray into using language to the fullest continues.

"What is the alternative to words?", I kept asking myself. Why do I need an alternative to words? To get a thought across to someone who does not know about its existence and as a result does not understand it. One could choose to complement verbal expression with eyes, body language, tones, pauses, volume etc. This leads to a more consummate form of communication.

Until recently, I felt communication was necessary to express something. What when you simply know what someone thinks and feels! Makes communication redundant in this case. I do not speak of a surreal telepathic relationship but a connection where the souls are so exposed that any form of communication becomes either redundant or inadequate.

Experimentation with Expression

“I’m a bibliophile!”

“Oh! I’m just a book lover”

Hmph! Makes me wonder about communication. Expression is simply a method to communicate what one feels. So, the first step in expression is analyzing your audience. Then think about the purpose of the conversation. Then open your mouth appropriately. Then keep room for feedback and alterations. I know this makes it sound like something straight out of an ‘Effective Communication’ course book. But, it doesn’t stop there.

Spoken words communicate a great deal and the same is true for those unspoken. These unspoken words ooze from our eyes, gestures and expressions. Spoken words can be easily faked but it gets tougher when dealing with a paradox in words and body language.

Recently, I started using a different approach to communication. My new teaching job introduced me to etymology and the process dramatically improving my vocabulary in breadth and depth.

Start introducing those words into your daily vocabulary and you’ve reached a different plane. This, of course, is at the cost of getting your thoughts across clearly! The reason I started doing this was simply to add texture to my expression for myself. Though words don’t substitute emotions and experiences, it is my constant endeavor to bridge that gap as well as I can. Communication does not, in that case, necessarily involve two or more people. I could be communicating with myself.

Writing, for instance, could be done for others or for oneself. Most of my writing is for me. That is precisely the reason I can experiment so freely. Otherwise, I would have had to consider the reader and his or her capacity to comprehend my expression.