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)
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)
3 comments:
hmmm..interstin..very interestin.. yes i do belive in Swami Vivekanand's beliefs. i lik his way of thinkin.
btw gud ol Arnie is it? :))
n psst, i lik greek mythology (ok this has nothin to do with the hot greek gods). :P
nice post :)
hahaha...thanx tejal for atleast being here. M honoured by your 'interesting' remarks....nevr thot any 1 would appreciate such a kinda writing...and greek gods was dat??..(psst psst waitin for ur classes on greek mythology :))
nice post!
enjoying it.
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