There are a lot of thought seeds that we dont wish to plant afresh or review a 'ratoon' thought. One such seed is the view on 'God'.
A recent question from my agnostic friend made me review my understanding of God. Surprisingly enough, I stumbled upon a piece of paper which had, though already known, an interesting interpretation of God.
The question in fact was the same I heard from my friend, the oft repeated - 'How do u prove God exists? And how is he seemingly present everywhere?'.
1. There is no effect without cause.
If there exists something such as the world, there is a cause to it. Earth, humans, water, space everything has a causal factor for its existence. This cause is what we call God.
2. One cause may have multiple effects
Clay can be the cause for pots, as a building material, utensil etc. Clay being a single cause, can manifest into 'n' forms. The same way, God being the single cause of creation, manifests into different forms of living and non living entities. Hence the Expression, 'God is everywhere and omnipresent'.
3. Symbolism of Om
Om is the Hindu symbol for the absolute.Om is not a word but rather an intonation, which, like music, transcends the barriers of age, race, culture and even species. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. Om provides a dualistic viewpoint. On one hand, it projects the mind beyond the immediate to what is abstract and inexpressible. On the other hand, it makes the absolute more tangible and comprehensive. It encompasses all potentialities and possibilities; it is everything that was, is, or can yet be. It is omnipotent and likewise remains undefined.
Aa-Au-Ma covers the whole range of sound vibrations.It represents the omnipotent and the undefinable 'cause'.
4. Interpretation of Avatars
The infinite, all-pervading Truth, donning the finite form of a human being, gives the impression that the God's ambit is limited. This idea of the illimitable Truth seeming to be limited is well brought out by the fact that Krishna is said to have been born in prison.
In Sanskrit, the world Krishna means "dark", indicating the Supreme Consciousness. Pure Consciousness is said to be "dark", not as opposed to "light," but in the sense that it is unseen by or unknown to one as long as one remains footed in earthly experiences, experiences limited to the realms of perceptions, emotions, and thoughts gained through the physical body, and the intellect.
The incarnation of Krishna represents the descent of the infinite Brahman to the material world.
The one infinite Reality has become the world of endless forms. Therefore, every form in the universe is, in a sense, but a representation of the single 'Cause' - God.
6 comments:
Hi,
It was a very very eloquently written post! Though I may not agree to your assertions, I find the entire post to be borne out of deep thought, rather than random rambling.
In defining Om, have you contradicted yourself? Or have I read it incorrectly? At one end, you tried explaining what it is, and have conveyed what it represents, and concluded that it is undefined.
If incarnation of Krishna represents descent of the infinite Brahman to the material world, what does incarnation of Rama represent? If I remember correctly, the Mahabharata ends with death of Krishna. Should we take this at literal meaning (of end of bodily living) or some deeper meaning (end of something else / beginning of something else)?
My questions above are born out of curiousity. I don't want to be drawn into an argument on this topic, that of Theism vs Atheism. I am supporter / opposer of neither group, though I am fascinated by discussions on the same.
Cheers!
sooper maappu...
especially the last para that you have drafted - is really good one.
@ sai sir - on Om - instead of calling it "undefined", you can call it "infinite" so "unexplainable".. thats what exactly all the vedas says... explains some part of the syllable and ends up saying, no one can explain it (meaning "in full")
really i cudnt comment for your avatar questions... cause all these were considered as a "divine play". just cant explain any logic (ex., rama not doing devasam for his father, but did samskaaram for a bird - jataayu... Krishna, the conqueror of the universe gets caught in a rope tied to a stone by his mother... what to call those except for a divine play)
this question is already addressed by all the alwars and vedas and the answer that they got was - "divine play". of course someone can always argue it as a blackhole in logics...
Hi long time no see! (atleast here)
Hmm what can i say about this one! For me two distinct points to be made. Both these points have made a significant impact on my comprehension or appreciation of religion.
These beliefs were borne not by other s preaching to me, but by my own deep contemplation.
(Credit is also due, to Sai sir for reinforcing these beliefs of mine in a few vague conversations)
And believe me when i say i spend / waste (same difference as between cost / loss) a lot of time thinking on this.
Again this is belief and hence can be correlated with the term hypothesis which needs to be proved rather than a theory which is proven.
1. The concept of Hindu Religious practices (say sandhya vandhanam) is distinct from the Concept of Hindu Gods. The religion part is based on sound concepts of human biology and psychology. And for those who are not aware there exists as part of the "Upangas" of the identified hindu sacred texts the text called "Meemamsika" which gives recognition to the Concept of Athiesm!
2. Hindu Sacred Texts are actually scientific texts. Where science is disguised or encoded in the form of Religion. Example: The "Bhagiratha prayatna" which is a famous hindu fable is seemingly religious, since it involves a lot of divine intervention from Vishnu, Brahma and Predominantly shiva. But there is hard core (let me see if i can give the source in a short while) evidence to suggest that it is actually a great engineering effort of the king Bhagiratha metaphorically disguised as a religious story. The Shiva parts intonates Kailash, The Vishnu parts indicating the Great ocean Bindusaras (was supposed to exist in modern day tibet, however no existant now). The necessity for such encryption was (and still is) due to the fact that Religion sells, is awe inspiring and is in consonance with our primal feeling to attribute all things unexplainable as God. (Contd...)
The Mahabharatha is also an example of this. Leave out all the mojo as sai sir puts it and look at the Characters say krishna , karna and you will notice that it is a great Literary work which is a historical description of the Politics, Social Demographics, Cultute and Economy of that time. This perspective has deeply drawn me to the Mahabharatha and i recommend everyone incl. sai sir to read or view (i have the cd s if you want) the Mahabharath from this perspective. It will blow your mind.
Now this being said how is any of this relevant to this post! - The Concept of a singularity can be correlated with the Concepts of the Higgs Boson, which CERN scientists are striving to discern even today! It could also refer to the fact that all life forms are different manifestation of the Primary particle the atom and all its subparticles! Hence the Concept of Singularity. Again all these are hypothesis and there is no way i can prove them at present.
And i would be the last person to say that my view remains static in this front. At this point of time i have other views on the same 2 beliefs that i have mentioned, but that is for another day and another place.
Cheers!
@sai sir. the meaning of Om shud ve been undefinable. May be flow la i used the wrong word.
We can either assume these epics either as works of art or as biography of persons. If it is the latter, u cannot attach meaning to every action but if it is the former, u can try deciphering more meaning from every event of the work since there is a possibility that all events may have an inherent logic imposed by the author.
In a far fetched example, u can link Krishna's leaving of material world that Death is inevitable even for celestial beings who come to this world. All avatars represent the descent of infinite Brahman to the material world but each showcase different facets of personalities.
If u see the order of Dasavathar, it is in the order of evolution based on which we can assume Rama & Krishna avatar as more contemporary and that may explain many people's connect with that avatar than the other 7.
@shriram Is "Divine play" generally for a reason which we are unable to comprehend?
@Mat hey. Reg. Singularity theory being unproved. I believe that if there is a theory that stands the test of time, then it can be considered as true.
I believe that since our religious texts and the concepts proposed by the same have remained largely unquestionable till now, they are true.
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