Redefining the Almighty

It took me a bit of time to put this...lazy me..[:P]..and hey if you haven’t read the previous post ‘That Forbidden Fruit’, then its going to be a bit difficult explaining you what this one means[:D]. So if you could please...:)

God. Answering anything about this word…..the ‘who’s, ‘how’s and ‘why’s is a daunting task. But recently I landed myself in the mind of a great soul (I am not even trying to praise...because I know I will fail miserably :P) Honestly, I was fortunate to come across him (not in person of course :) and had you been in my place, reading his book, you would have been astounded by the simplicity of his words; of how practical and down-to-earth are his thoughts. The man is no secret. It’s Swami Vivekananda and the book is the Life and Works of Swami Vivekananda.

And a possible explanation to God is what I found in those enlightening pages. Here’s what he has to say:

“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.”

“This universe is simply a gym in which the soul is exercising (sounds pretty weird…but makes a lot of sense!); and after these exercises we become gods. So the value of everything is to be decided by how far it is a manifestation of God.”

Now daring to explain what meaning I drew out is, overwhelmingly straightforward : It is the perfect human who is God….or in his words it is… all human beings are inherently holy beings but the one who reaches perfection is christened by the title ‘God’…

If that went above your head (as it did happen with me for the first time :D), here it is in plain words…like we all have biceps, in the same way we all have godliness in us. But just like having biceps doesn’t make u look like our good old Arnie (ahem…Arnold Schwarzenegger), in the same way having the qualities of godliness doesn’t make you God. Just as one has to sweat out in the gym to get a jaw-dropping chiseled body, in the same way human beings have to work out their thinking muscles to become divine. And the one who has reached such a level of perfection is revered as ‘The Almighty God’….. :) (yeah!..as simple as that ;) )

You will see this answers a lot of questions…some of which I want to throw a light upon…

Why we pray? – People pray with out understanding what or why they are praying! It’s really sad. We don’t (read shouldn’t) pray to ask for boons or to grant our greedy wishes. Its really silly to expect that…rather God is like the idol we look upto....something like a novice cricketer would do with Sachin Tendulkar. God is the perfect one….and we ought to be inspired by his perfection and may be when we are all down….ask him to give us strength, courage….though m sure no one is listening [:P]

The riddle behind ‘Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient’ ? – Omnipresent is just another way of saying that he is present in all i.e. again we all are ‘potentially divine’ and every thing in this material world has the ability to reach perfection whether it’s your mixer grinder or a redwood tree. [:)] ; Omnipotent and Omniscient are words which showcase how perfect he is...that he knows all and is all capable…talking in a practical sense.

The various Avatars or faces of God (even Christ and Allah!) - They are just manifestations of human needs. There are millions of material pleasures in this world…..and to achieve them a God with a different face was a useful tool to show the common man the different facets of the same god…to show people that it was all achievable; like Lakshmi for wealth and Saraswati for knowledge can after all be the one same God ( and yes also a goddess…..just a different attribute of one :) ) Greek mythology actually identifies its gods as real with a lineage!; Apollo being the God of healing and medicine, and of music and poetry... :

Well this list could just go on…its after all a question of how you look at it and not how it is! But do not make it a bone of discontent…perceptions differ and trying to forcibly change them can be disastrous as you will see in my next post…this one is already so long ….hehehe… (Again the post above and not below... :P)

Sounds too good...aint it?

Your Learning Style: Curious and Brilliant

You are a very abstract learner. You can grasp even the most complex theories. You Should Study: Astronomy Biology Chemistry Computer Science Linguistics Mathematics Philosophy Physics Psychology Hey there is no fighter pilot as an option here!! [:~] ..guess i was never made for it..rather it for me [:D]..and how so true that i cud never have been one...

What Should You Study?

dont knw hw this will help...but hav put up anyway:

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

here r other troublesome ones [:P]:

The Part of You That No One Sees

You are balanced, peaceful, and sincere. You're the type of person who goes along to get along. And you're definitely afraid of rocking the boat. Underneath it all, you fear your world falling apart. You'll put up with a situation that you don't like in fear of changing it. Disruptive and forceful people intimidate you - and sometimes exploit you.

What's the Part of You That No One Sees?

what does this mean...belive me i never lied!! [:|]..ok just see this...

Your EQ is 160

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick! 51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese. 71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely. 91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that. 111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt. 131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin. 150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

That Forbidden Fruit!

Amazing as it may seem, but I had never imagined myself writing something of this sort. But it became inescapable because of this very simple question: ‘Who is God?’ And before I embark upon defining (rather redefining!) God, I think there is another word which has to be understood first…And if you are toooo busy to relish what life has to offer…ok chill!....then jump to the 6th paragraph. (You will repent! ..You will be cursed! [:P])

Before I start off with the real idea, let me clarify that I am no Preacher, Philosopher or a bhakta of any Swamiji. I am as much in dark about life and its subtle meanings as you are. But being a curious soul and an inquisitive human, I haven’t been able to refrain myself from questioning every answer that life has given me as a taken-for-granted gift…

In this pursuit of answering questions and questioning answers, I was stumped by a blatant fact : What am I looking for? What are we all looking for? Answers which shall answer questions?? To the question of hunger we have the answer food, to loneliness we have company, to despair we have love, to losing we have winning,….Yet, taking a bird’s eye-view of our own lives….we can see these small acts do not fit in well enough as a jigsaw puzzle to give us the complete picture….At least I know I don’t think eating removes hunger completely (u will again feel hungry!) or winning makes you a winner or that a Mercedes makes you happy …You see …underlying all these events is a momentary, fleeting answer…That ceases or evaporates….leaving you and me an empty bowl; still yearning for more happiness, for more love, for more success...and blah blah.

We are always under the notion….I know this has been fed into us…that we must look for that first prize. But can life always be a competition?...that we must look out for happiness in a relationship. But is happiness the only ingredient that makes a relationship work? Isn’t a bit of grief, a bit of sorrow equally important?....then what should we want out of life? What must we look for? What should be the goal of life? And mind you...a goal has to be an incentive that drives you every day, in every moment….edging you nearer and nearer to where you want to be….

Now….its evident that happiness, success or pleasure can never be that forbidden fruit for which we live our lives…and if you do (…and I know most of us do including me up till now!!) you are bound to be disappointed…thoroughly, badly[:(]. It’s like catching soap-bubbles in thin air; the moment you catch them, they burst…and you start looking for more bubbles to catch!

So while I was looking at my Granny putting jhoti (...It is different from Rangoli in the sense that here no colours are used…rather powdered rice paste[:P]), I realized that she wasn’t doing this task out of happiness or because someone would scold her if she didn’t! [:P] Yet, she curved her fingers, squinting at it from a distance and again adding a line here and there….so immaculately…so flawlessly…or so PERFECTLY!

Yes. That’s the word. PERFECTION. Honestly, if there is anything that PRACTICALLY qualifies as an ultimate goal of life...it is PERFECTION! Not the first prize, not what we like or dislike, not success or joy, not heaven (hahahohho...now who says this is?) and not even moksha or GOD (yes..my dear!!!). Even when I am peeling potatoes, writing this enlightening piece (or bull-shit as you may call it!), caressing my dog, loving my love, hanging out or smiling, thinking, eating, talking…just anything!!!....there is just one thing that I am moving towards…or rather trying to…that’s perfection. And this goal applies to every thing that we do in our whole lifespan.

You see…even if you did not realize this, but, your every effort in life has always been aimed towards achieving perfection in what ever you have done….just that you and I and all never thought about it! We were the lost ship, always trying to adjust our sails according to the breeze (which would ultimately land us at some shore!) but never tried to know which shore we WANTED to land at!

Don’t know if this sounds convincing enough…but that’s my hypothesis, my reason …which answers quite a lot of questions and which provokes me to carry out whatever I want to (or have to!) with ease. Sometimes I do fail (and fail miserably! :D). Regardless of my failures, I know what my purpose is and am no more stretching out to catch the rainbow…

PS: It’s very important that you understand this if you want to understand what the next write-up (the one above and not below[:]…it will come up in a short while [:D]) is all about…..Perfection and its purpose in life ….that’s what you need to by-heart[:P]