-Dr. Joram Beda
I am no atheist and I have a firm belief in God, a god that is omnipotent, omnipresent and all powerful entity neither in the skies above nor in the temples, mosque, church or monastery. I believe in God that's for everything in this universe, not just we humans. I believe in a God that's beyond religion and sectarianism. I believe in God that's social and scientific, and spiritually all-encompassing. I believe in god because it makes me realize divinity and my relationship with God is personal; I don’t need no pundit or priest, I don’t need no rituals to confirm my conversation with God. I am not here to appease God, I am just a God fearing man with a firm belief that judgement day will be right here on earth, in our very life time. I fear no berth in heaven or hell or for that matter in my after-life because none do exist. I am just one of the zillionth entities created by God in this universe; I am just a cog in the wheel. So while I exist, all I will live by is to realize and execute my purpose. I was once a narcissist but later my narcissism made me realize God in its truest form. I am no preacher, I am just a biological entity as any one of you but I had enlightenment of sorts which I want the rest of you my brethren to ponder.
Sometimes I wish I could share this enlightenment with elephants, yeasts and the rocks, but then conscience is the realm of Human beings. It’s only in the species of Human beings that has a sense of morality, principles and society. Our concept of God emerged as a consequence to curiosity to explain natural phenomenon. Our concept of God emerged as a consequence to uncertainty of life around, that we could confide our fears in something almighty. No matter how glittery and majestic paraphernalia surround the dozen odd religions of this world, our belief in God boils down to these basic ingredients of our thought process – fear and curiosity. Every population around the planet came up with the concept of God because we all are humans beset with the same anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, no matter what race we belong to. Just as the concept of family, marriage and society evolved with the same purpose but in its own unique ways around the planet, the form of practice to realize divinity through God evolved in its own unique ways separated by Geographical factors. Thus we have Judaism and Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, Jainism and Buddhism, Shintoism and Sikhism, so and so forth. It’s not difficult to comprehend why every religion has a strong cultural tinge of its roots. Religion as we comprehend today is a gross misunderstanding of the scheme of things. We brawl, bicker and bitch on religious issues only to make a fool of ourselves. When we demean any other religious belief, it’s akin to spitting on our own face. God is one; religion is just a man-made concoction about the path to realize God, nothing more, nothing less. So we have different rituals, practices and institutionalization across religions but in the end, everyone comes to God for peace of mind.
Religion has a strong sociological dimension. It’s a prescribed discipline and approach towards God. According to the famous psychologist Abraham Maslow, ‘need to belong’ is one of the basic needs of Human psychology. The universe seems chaotic but there is a tendency to homogenise. Humans as well tend to homogenise with respect to race, beliefs, culture, ethnicity and all that social parameters. It’s not uncommon to see groupism on the lines of political ideology, football club, job, locality, names, etc. Religion is also just a single instance of this humane tendency and need to belong. I am not particularly averse to the concept of religion but I fiercely refuse to identify myself with any religion. I always have a penchant for the ‘larger picture’ in life and in my scheme of things; religion is one of elements of the larger concept of society which again is one of the million many elements of my larger concept of mankind. So while my fellow brethrens bang their heads over the issue of religion, I can only share a smile with God. As I said I am not averse to the concept of religion but I am certainly averse to rituals in religion. They make things look more complicated than they actually are. I agree that rituals have some significance, mostly psychological but it’s he who is the ignorant will need such a psychological impetus. In medicine, we have something called placebo effect. These are dummy medicines which have no pharmacological properties but when given to a patient making him/her believe that treatment is being given, perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition occurs. It demonstrates the potency of psychological state of mind. Religion and its rituals are in many ways akin to the placebos.
The choice of religion to realize God is a noble act but to think that one path is better than the other is outright stupidity. If anyone guaranteed you a berth in heaven to be a believer and hell for the rest, I tell you nobody is making a mockery of the self and yourself than any other soul in the universe. I wouldn’t want to contradict others belief in heaven, hell or after-life but honestly, I am averse and allergic to such notions. All your deeds will be accounted for in this very life and then you will return to be the elements of nature – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, and then get recycled somewhere sometime. So while you exist, always endeavour to be good and do good. When one attains true peace of mind, the sense of divinity will automatically prevail and then does a person become one with God. A person in a state of peace will be kind, will not hate others and won’t hurt others. That’s godliness in itself. So why trouble ourselves with mis-guided preachings by narrow minded people who pretend to know God. We all are sinners because even sin is a relative concept. There is nothing like an absolute truth, everything is relative. One only attains a clearer picture towards the so called absolute truth when he acquires more and more knowledge. But belief in God is not all about sins and good deeds, blessings and curses. It’s more about self discipline and morality. I fear doing wrong not because I am afraid of god’s wrath but because I will lose my own self-esteem and that’ll dilute the very purpose of my life.
The human world is a concoction of sorts. It’s a maya. First we spin a web around ourselves to make us more secure and social animals, and then we get ourselves entangled in it. Human intelligence is unsurpassed but we have become a victim of our own prized attribute. It’s only he who have freed their minds from the ‘matrix’ will see the larger picture and will not be susceptible to any placebo effect. The pain in the case of these mortals may be more than the rest of the population, but then they are free from the fear of pain too.