Belief in God

Nice article written in forum I think everyone should believe on God. because God is great.

In my view, there is definitely some power above us because we are not able to control our every action. Somethings may happen in our life which we cannot explain. If it is a good thing, we will say "God's grace" and if it is bad we will say "God is testing good people.Soon it will be rectified" like that.

I don't accept the fact that god is helping good people and punishing the poor. Many good people are suffering a lot and many bad people are enjoying well.

Regarding idol worship, i could not believe there will be so many gods. It's only people's imagination. They are imagining God in the way they want and making idols.

Mostly people used to make demands to god like "Give me this,that. In turn i will do this,that" etc. I don't believe all these.

I neither demand god anything nor curse god for giving me problems.I will pray for sometime daily to keep me calm. That's all.

Thank you Gulshan for staring a new thread on this topic and also sharing your story with us.I always wanted ask you this question on belief.
I want to tell you that i am also a free thinker like you.I am here not to prove anything but discuss with you and if satisfying to my thought accept your view also.I don’t have deep knowledge in religion, but i constantly think of what this whole thing is about.Now i am very happy that i got someone here to share my thoughts and discuss.

Just like you, i was born in a Hindu family.My father used to teach me about Hinduism.But he always told me not to believe, but to analyze.If found illogical, don't follow.
I understood that there are different aspects in Hinduism.Different view points and different ideas.It is actually a forum.

Once i also thought like you.I don’t see God, smell god, touch God then why should i believe.Then one day i had a thought.and i am sharing it with you.
Imagine a person without any education.A common man.He doesn’t know anything about science.One day an educated man goes to him and say...”Hi..do you know that you are walking in this earth because gravity is holding you down here.”.Now this uneducated man ask.”What?!gravity?where is it?”...So the educated man says..”It is here,it is everywhere”..the other man replies..”What rubbish.I can’t see it, i can’t touch it and i can’t smell it..and yet you say there is a this gravity??..go away.you are blindly believing in something”.
This thought changed my view.Is not possible that this force is around us.The force that govern the spiritual world of thoughts maybe soul and mind.Just like scientific laws, is it not possible to have spiritual laws in nature.Western science has very little knowledge about this.Their entire focus is on external world.But this is different.It is about the inner world.It will exist even if we deny it like the force of gravity.

According to the highest ideas in Hinduism the idea of creation is wrong.yes.The correct word is manifestation.The highest ideas of Vedanta philosophy says, there was no creation, but manifestation.This is accordance with advanced science.Now i dont have deep knowledge in this, but i will share with you what i know.

According to Advaita Vedanta philosophy, there is no creation.Everything is manifested.It says there is only one and it is manifested into different thing.Why we see it different is because of Maya.Now what is maya.?Maya is the ancient name for the modern concept of Relativity.Yes.I will tell you an example.
Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.This is what we see.Right.But is it the truth???.It is the earth that is moving.So what we see is maya.It is not the truth.It is illusion.
To realize and to know the one, you must break the maya.How can maya be broken?.It is through knowledge.Just as an educated man know that sun is not moving, contrary to what we see, spiritual knowledge will tell us that this is not real.It is indeed knowledge beyond senses.
I am very happy to tell you that science is also going in this same direction.The study of quantum physics tell you that, for a universe to exist, there must a conscious observer.It is very act of observation that makes the world we see.It is very deep science.I don’t know deep about it.

So like this goes, the study..In case of idols.I tell you, it is lowest form of worship.It is not wrong, but you can call it a lower truth.Advaita (without division) is high spiritual knowledge.
Idol worship is lowest but as well a necessity also.Idols are only for keeping our focus on something.Just to have a mental image for meditation.

So It is not about believing or non-believing, but about studying or seeking.
hope we will discuss more...

Good practice Meean..We should not expect anything.

God is great. Good article but I think if you post summary instead of big one that will good for readers.

@Santosh,
You are right.The length is too much.But i didn't plan to write article.My reply just became so long.Hope readers won't get bored.

@Meean,
When we write God it is the usual practice in English to make its first letter in capital.

Gulshan,
What you stated is clear.Idols are only idols.They can do nothing.But a question like who created God comes since we think from our frame of reference.It is beyond our imagination.

A lot of philosophical stuff has come in a flood.So friends let me give them a good read before I come back with my feedback.But it seems all of you have come well-prepared to discuss this serious topic and here I go to brush up whatever little I know.

Yes... I do believe in GOD.... Have many incidents and experiences too.

Here goes my input,friends!
As my own language may be anaemic I have chosen to borrow What Late Nani Palkhival one of India's foremost thinkers and legal eagles said in one of works.
"The Sanskrit word 'dharma' can not be easily translated into English.It has within it elements from different concepts of law,righteousness,duty,and basic morality. India had an unrivalled tradition of religious freedom and tolerance.The tradition was born of the consciousness that truth can never be the monopoly of one sect or creed. The words of the Rig Veda are world famous: "let noble thoughts come to us from every side."

The rishis realized that each man has to work out his own salvation and everyone's spiritual experience is vital to the attainment of his ultimate state of the soul's evolution.A blind obedience to authority is the surest prescription for spiritual paralysis.Mere acquiescence,even in the dictates of the sruti,is not enough.There is nothing like salvation on the cheap.There is no spiritual enrichment which money can buy.There are no fixed formulae,no rule of thumb,no prescriptions as in a pharmacopoeia.The path of the Spirit is narrow and there are yawning abysses on either side"

I don't think any elaboration on my part is necessary and I conclude by affirming my faith in each and every word he recorded in the above-mentioned paras.Thanks!

Santosh- You are correct. The post should be short otherwise this is like an article. I responded to MC. The post became a bit lengthy. The topic is controversial and needs deep study. I am happy to share views with MC and others.

Thank you abid. You have admitted that the question- who created God is unanswerable. I think that if God is self created, why this universe may not be self created. There are different thoughts on such matters and everybody believes according to his religion/ sect.

Gulshan,
One thing should be created self first.That was God.Then only the other creations occur.It is due to our very little intelligence that we are not able to think beyond it.

God is called Ajanma.. means never born.. He is eternal., ever existing.. He is beyond Time but we are bound to time. So we always think in terms of time.. In spiritual world there is no Time dimension as we have in material world.

Abid. There are various versions. according to Hindu, there are Advatvaaad, Dwatvaad and Tretvaad. There are three identities- soul, nature and God. Advaitwvad means that God, soul and nature are same aund ultimately merge. Dwaitvad believes that soul and God both are seperate and were never created. The Tretvaad believes that soul, God and nature- all three always existed independently and hence there is no creation. As MC pointed out that there are some philosophers who are atheist like Charvaak. Moreover, Budhism is in its pure form an atheist religion.
Thus, if you are not interested in religious and philosophical matter or it is not possible to think independently, there is no harm in holding your traditional views according to your family traditions. However, everyone is expected to be a good citizen and fair to all in all dealings.

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@Kumaresh,
You have made a very good point.It is indeed beyond the dimension called Time.The point of samadhi where the high spiritual knowledge is born is said to be the point where time ceases.

@Gulshan,
You are right.There are different versions.Each has its own importance and each debates with one another.The Adi Sankaracharya Advaita Vedanta stands highest because he conquered everything else in debate.
This is why there is no point in believing.It is a quest.I won't say, 'just like science'..But it is science.

First of all, Congrats to gulshan for starting such a nice topic for

discussion.Keep it up.

I am firm believer in HINDU Religion as because it is th oldest
religion.This religion never involved in any religious war till now.Take any other Religion (Islam,Christianity etc.) all are involved in bloody wars for only religious purpose.
Yes, I know that there are some aspects
of HINDU religion are not considered good in todays' context.Regarding IDOLS,they are good as well as bad too.Good in way that it help you to create an image of almighty.Bad in a way it has invited a lot of disrespect from the people itself.You can find any idol lying in nearby road or some disrespectful place.This is one of the point which make you think out idol worship. :(

Mean- You have nicely explained that God does not necessarily hepl good and punish the poor. In fact, the universe functions on set principles of physics and chemistry and has nothing to do with our existence or not. Thus according to gravitaion law, a man slipping from roof will fall to the ground and get injury irrespective of whether he is good or bad. Rewcently, we witnessed many people dying in crowded places by suffoccation of other mishappening even when they went to temples for worship. The devotees in Kumb mela are not saved by God, evenn though they pray to him.
Moreover, if there is some conscious poer, that will change rules from time to time. But we see that rules of nature do not change. This shows that there is no 'supreme power' behind nature law.

Bhanu- you have opposed idol worship for your own reasons. Some believe only in idols. I rtemeber that once Lord Krishna send Udhav to Gopis to teach them to worship the 'Nirgun' (invisible god). The gopis ridiculed him saying- 'Nirgun (the shapeless God) lives in which country. Udhav could not convince Gopis who were mad afte Lord Krishna.

Everyone has his own beliefs. All cannot be rational. all we need is to resist the harmful religious practices and misdeeds of the corrupt religuious saints and swamis.