“Do you believe in God?”
Well, that’s a question I’ve asked many of my friends, and have got different answers every time. For those who said that they do believe in God, I asked another question, what they think God is. And for those who did not believe, my question was why they did not. I showed them equal interest, but deep down my heart, I found the atheists more interesting. Let’s focus on what the latter group said.
Most of them said that God’s existence cannot be proved. Moreover, they stated that they believe that it’s not God that makes us do things, but it’s just us that do things. Our efforts make things happen. I found one argument very interesting, though. If God was there why would He let His own children fight amongst themselves, why would He let all the wrongs to happen? He is supposed to be Omnipotent, so why can’t He stop all the injustices in the world? Is it just that He doesn’t want to or He’s too busy to do it? Then He can’t be thought to be perfect or good.
Those who believe in God said that there must be someone above who controls us. Someone who sets every move of the game called life, and we are nothing but puppets in His hands, moving as we are meant to. Some even say that they believe in God because it helps them in their day-to-day activities, and gives them courage in times of need. According to this group, without this supreme power how could the world run so systematically? Some go back to the origin of the earth and life on it, in order to prove their arguments. What led to the formation of the earth, and for that the Universe itself? How could life originate on the earth, even if it was formed by some means or other? And even if life originated, how could it evolve to such high degree of perfection and complexity?
Considering all these arguments, I would like to place forward my personal views on the matter. I am a believer in the existence of God. I believe that some supreme supernatural power exists that helps us in doing all the small and big things in life. When I look out into the nature around me, I’m compelled to believe in this supernatural power. Who set the rhythm of life? When I look at the flowers, the birds, the trees, the colours, the smells all around us, I am but amazed and ask just this one question to myself: who painted the world so beautiful? If I do not believe in God, then I can’t find any answer to this question.
“God helps those who help themselves” – the truth of life that we learned way back in our childhood. It is our efforts that make all our works possible. It is true that if we don’t work, we cannot achieve anything. But that does not disprove the existence of God. Like when a baby learns to walk, the mother lets him walk himself, and only catches when he falls. We do not learn without making mistakes. God lets us make mistakes so that we can learn from them. All the injustice and wrongs happening in the world are just the mistakes made by mankind. We learn from these mistakes, and as long as we ourselves do not realise our mistakes, no power on this earth can make us correct them. So, it is our conscience where God dwells, not in some mythical heaven. The heaven lies in our own minds, which thinks for the betterment of mankind and the world at large. As Swami Vivekananda said, “The only God to worship is the human soul in the human body”. In his words, “After so much austerity, I have understood this as the real truth – God is present in every Jiva (living being); there is no other God besides that. ‘Who serves Jiva, serves God indeed’”.
I believe that what we call God is an immense source of energy that lies within each and every one of us. It is what I call as will power. It gives us the power to do all our jobs inspite of all odds, it helps us to face danger and come out of it without fearing, it gives us the confidence to do what is right and just. If we exercise our wills, we can achieve every end. Most of us pray to God only when we face some trouble. But what I think is that by doing so we revitalise our own wills and this gives us the courage to face the situation. I believe very strongly, that if one really wants to do something, then however impossible the task might be, he finally achieves it. This is just what I call as applying the will power.
Some people have the belief that science opposes the concept of God. But this is not the case. Science deals with the laws of nature, and nature is nothing but a creation of the Almighty. Science brings out the facts relating to how the universe works, and it has till date done nothing to disprove the existence of God.
This is a controversial topic – whether God exists. I have hereby just put forward my viewpoints. These viewpoints have convinced many that there is some supernatural power that exists. I believe that deep down, everyone believes in the existence of a power that can control us, that can show us the way when the road seems dark. Whether one admits or not, but every one of us have prayed to the Almighty at least once in our lives, when we have faced danger or trouble. So, deep down everyone believes in the existence of God. And I am no more but one of them.
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Nice, thoughtful post. Atheists should realize that although the existence of God cannot be proven, neither can it be disproven, because Spirit is by definition immaterial, and not subject to material proofs. I personally believe that the entire Universe is Divine and is God; we mortals simply don't comprehend it. My Atheist friends sometimes ask me, "Why Divine?" And I answer, "Why not?" I find that many Atheists have a rather gloomy assessment of life. One could say that the difference between an Atheist and a Deist is that Atheists are pessimists and Deists are optimists. I believe that the essence of Spirituality is the recognition and respect for the Spirit in all things, particularly 'living' things, so to me being a vegetarian is a more Spiritual act than any ritual or prayer.
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Gregory,
thanks a lot for the comment and for sharing your views. I agree with you that believing in God makes people more optimistic in life, as they can always rely on the power above (or the power within) and crack less under pressure. It is true that believing in God doesn't mean following rituals and being orthodox. Belief in God should, on the other hand, broaden one's mind. Believing in God to me is best shown by being honest and true, to oneself and the world, and cultivating the ideals of humanity and morale in oneself.
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P.S. To the Atheist, the Universe is 'it'. To me it is 'Mata' or 'Baba'.
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Gregory,
thanks a lot for the comment and for sharing your views. I agree with you that believing in God makes people more optimistic in life, as they can always rely on the power above (or the power within) and crack less under pressure. It is true that believing in God doesn't mean following rituals and being orthodox. Belief in God should, on the other hand, broaden one's mind. Believing in God to me is best shown by being honest and true, to oneself and the world, and cultivating the ideals of humanity and morale in oneself.
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P.S. To the Atheist, the Universe is 'it'. To me it is 'Mata' or 'Baba'.
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