tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-459759060211433221.post7857948859189799068..comments2024-03-05T06:12:18.739+05:30Comments on Sublimation: SPIRITUALITY 2 - MY FAVOURITE GODSublimationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561426211416097425noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-459759060211433221.post-53762147502317608742013-02-13T23:21:13.489+05:302013-02-13T23:21:13.489+05:30 I have been following the discussion on spirit... I have been following the discussion on spirituality keenly. I am of the opinion that the idea that science can replace religious beliefs is based on the assumption that man is a purely rational being. But unfortunately the rationality of man is only an outer shell. Inside the shell he is a completely irrational being pushed around by emotional upsurges which can be traced to his animal ancestry. The modern man, in spite of his great scientific achievements is emotionally quite often at the same level as the street dogs. Evolution has mucked the human condition. Imagine the street dogs quarreling with each other with nuclear bombs and biological weapons. We are coming to a critical stage where the very existence of mankind is threatened by the scientific discoveries. <br /> The problem can be solved only if mankind can evolve emotionally in tune with his intellectual advancement. It is here where the concept of God and spirituality plays its role. The idea of God as the unifying supreme force brings harmony and emotional solace to man which science at no stage could provide. People who deny the need for God are people who do not have any understanding of the duality of the human psyche.<br /><br /> Unfortunately we are having competing concepts of God which in itself is generating strife and disharmony. But I think this will be a passing phase and synthesis of these religious concepts will take place after a crisis. I am an optimist. Induchoodannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-459759060211433221.post-74378109151175470582013-02-10T09:26:24.471+05:302013-02-10T09:26:24.471+05:30God, karma, faith, belief are those that we need t...God, karma, faith, belief are those that we need to guide us through the maze of life.<br />It is a concept which we give a form so that we can visualize that power and live life as we wish to.<br />We all seek divine help from someone superior to us in times of fear, anxiety or distress. We all pray diligently and lo and behold we feel comforted by the fact that the help is coming to us. We feel fortified and meet the challenge of our life with the grit, courage and determination that is needed at that time.<br />So who came to your rescue? The powerful one within you. When they said God lives within you, what did THEY actually mean?<br />Having a favourite God is a personal choice. Calling and identifying oneself as a believer or non believer etc is also a matter of personal choice. <br />As long as we pick the correct teachings, do not be fanatics, respect every human being without discrimination for his/her ideologies, Religion and belief do not harm mankind. Rather it is good as followed correctly they teach people the correct things to follow in life. Varsha Uke Nagpalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08728878466770147072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-459759060211433221.post-65322792870998327642013-02-10T02:54:33.586+05:302013-02-10T02:54:33.586+05:30Another quote from Bakker, one that resonates with...Another quote from Bakker, one that resonates with what you say in your piece :) "The vulgar think the God by analogy to man and so worship Him in the form of the Gods. The learned think the God by analogy to principles and so worship Him in the form of Love or Truth. But the wise think the God not at all. They know that thought, which is finite, can only do violence to the God, who is infinite.<br />It is enough, they say, that the God thinks them."Raonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-459759060211433221.post-12791875057538700272013-02-10T02:46:28.314+05:302013-02-10T02:46:28.314+05:30First, I get the general import of the article and...First, I get the general import of the article and I will quote, tongue-in-cheek, one of my favourite lines from Scott Bakker's Warrior Prophet: "...for the sin of the idolator is not that he worships stone, but that he worships one stone over others". <br /><br />But more seriously:<br />"...it is Hope that matters, and in this context to me ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ offers a way of living that will give us the necessary courage to face the travails of life, and the supreme vision of something that cannot be defined or within the comprehension of the human mind." I have several (slightly rhetorical and somewhat tangential) comments:<br /><br />1. Does it still matter if it is <i>false</i> hope? Does objective truth not matter at all?<br /><br />2. Ignorance can be confused with courage; more knowledge in almost all cases leads to more worries (which is what God was essentially telling us in the Bible, it seems to me). Does that mean we give up trying to know stuff and 'embrace the mystery' of the universe?<br /><br />3. something that cannot be defined or within the comprehension of the human mind - Yet(if, by this, you mean the universe in general, for which I presume I could say God is a stand-in)!<br /><br />For me, even if I were ever to accept that there is a God, the idea that He/She/It is fundamentally unknowable seems a tad defeatist about humanity in general and contrary to the principle of a benevolent God. Surely, a compassionate God who condescends enough to bother with human affairs would also make it so that He is easily comprehensible with a minimum of effort?<br /><br />I also think this is a bit ambiguous: "The very negation of a concept will give rise to its existence" - the negation of a concept merely acknowledges the existence of a contrary /view/, not the existence of the fact in question itself. So it is good to have labels, if only so that we can have a discourse between different groups.Raonoreply@blogger.com