A Pact with God

We perceive God according to our own level of consciousness. In a way, we have a certain pact with God and have accepted the  spiritual concept wholeheartedly.

Religions are as old as 2000 to 3000 years. Faith in god and religion and its associated customs and rituals are mechanically followed by billions of people. All the religions preach universal love and compassion. But in reality there is no love or compassion. If the adherents of religions followed the religion’s inherent spirit, the world would have been a paradise on earth.

We depend of the elusive God to fulfill our needs and desires. We believe our prayers will be heard and miracles will take place in our life.

Does the religious identity help bridge better understanding between people?

Education, science and technology have evolved but religion remains the same. The fear of God is no longer an instrument to control people. Freedom of thought is an important element to overcome from this delusion. We need religion to transform one to grow as a fearless and loving individual. Human rights, freedom of speech, acceptance of humanity as one will take us far ahead to attain our goal of speedy human evolution.

There are billions of stars, planets and moons and life in one form or other, perhaps far more civilized and knowledgeable than us. It is foolish and stupid to think that we are the only life form exists on the universe.  Let us open our minds and souls and get enlightened in the light of evolving reality.

We have to accept facts over beliefs. Let us leave behind racism, religious fundamentalism, ever growing greed, obsessive with power for dominance.

Each religion preach tolerance, love to others but it has caused more wars and bloodshed in the world. Human spirit to overcome from the dark forces within us and to evolve as peace loving person will elevate us to a higher level of spiritual growth.

All ethnic groups, nations, religions have to grow as a single community based on one goal of human emancipation.

Analytical thinking and intuitive powers are essential to arrive at truth. Our rational or irrational thinking come from the way we think.

God is characterized in different form, but it is a metaphor only. God has been described in hundreds of ways. Supreme being, the eternal, mother of all, creator of universes, all knowledgeable, almighty, providence, a friend in time of need et al.

Life evolved 3.5 billions years ago on earth. We evolved from common ancestors of apes and monkeys. We have now enlarged brains capable of understanding the mystery of life and the mysterious powers we all have. Only introspection, free from beliefs makes us to see the reality.

Religious beliefs are not subject to change as scientific beliefs. Does religion make us more humane to see the ugly reality and change it?

Freedom to think independently will enable us to attain greater happiness. Trust in human potential to overcome from all problems than faith in god.

Spirituality is not concerned width myths, dogmas or supernatural forces. It is concerned with nature and evolving reality.

Religions should contribute to the peaceful co-existence of humankind. Can religion help to start a global consciousness? Our future is not depending on the divine force, it exists in our mental and spiritual growth.

Belief backed by reason becomes faith in humanity.  Religion subverts science and saps the intellect.

If scientific analysis conclusively demonstrates certain claims then we must accept the finding of science and give up our old belief.

Freedom is the fundamental character of the universe. Cosmic consciousness is a hypothesis for understanding the nature of physical reality.

Our planet is an insignificant little dot called earth. Knowledge of this truth will bring unity and spiritual advancement of human race.

A spirit is manifest in the laws of universe.

We are part of the universe. The same spirit dwells in all of us.  Billions of years of cosmic evolution have produced us. We are endowed with unimaginable powers to overcome all manmade problems and attain higher and higher evolutionary growth.

Religion or Organized Crime?

Religion evolved during the primordial stage from superstition. Primitive men experienced a sense of awe by observing the natural phenomena and attributed it to a kind of spirit. They propitiated these spirits by prayers. The concept of God evolved later on.

God is characterized as omnipotent and omnipresent, in other words knowing everything, able to be everywhere at the same time and powerful to do everything.

We are myth makers. It does not confine directly to the objective reality. It is a state of mind rather than an external fact.

Universe can be explained without reference to supernatural power. Ages ago, universe and everything within it exploded into being. There is no beginning and there is no end. Galaxies are continued to be formed from matter.

Faith is opposed to reason. Adherents to God believe that universe and mankind are God’s creations. As Darwin said people will see what they want to see and what is consistent with their beliefs.

Do we need mediators, the priests, the cardinal, the pope, the messiah? Why are we afraid of giving up the idea of God? Why can’t we accept the fact that there is no hell or heaven? Why can’t we get rid of the fear and ask rational questions to know the unknown and reach out to the truth?

Religions, family, society, culture, philosophy and everything reflect on the helplessness of the human mind. The first experience of the child is that of fear and the last experience of a man is also fear. The mind in fact projects the feeling of insecurity created by God.

God is a hypothesis created by priests to keep you in perpetual fear. When fear disappears there is innocence.

Organized religion has emerged as a means of providing social and economic stability. Religion enhances communities in which human relations can flourish. It has also shaped civilizations, laws and moral codes, social structure, art, music etc.

 Conversion of people from other religions became a regular activity supported by religious leaders as they thought it was a service to their Gods. It also led to bloodshed, wars.

Independent thinking is opposed by religion. To search for truth one has to become free from religious beliefs. Religion convinces you to trust some outside force, such as deity. It attempts to force you to pray, attend churches, temples, mosques and even motivate you to memorize religious texts. You become a faithful adherent, unable to think independently.

Religious beliefs are a by-product of your environment and not a conscious choice. Religion rules by fear. Fear of hell, fear of excommunication, fear of abandoning. You live with consistent fear and it prevents you to make your own choice.

In the name of God, violence and terrorism are perpetuated by certain sections of people. This is  against human rights. You are prevented to choose any other religion. Women’s rights are constrained. They are subjected to diverse forms of oppression. They try to control human bodies and sexuality than their rights as a human being.

Followers of religion think that any attack on their religion is an attack on their God. Religion is used as an economic tool to exploit the gullibility of people in favor of rich and powerful for political domination of the world order. It is a biggest obstacle to scientific development and success. Religion has always been the cheapest and most effective way of controlling the masses.

Supernatural power known as God is opposed to organized religion, which controls people mentally and spiritually giving no space for any freedom. By identifying as a particular religious group your spiritual growth of accepting humanity as a whole is prevented.

The idea of freedom and responsibility comes from conscious awareness. Freedom from a rigid outlook will enable us to identify the humanity as a whole indivisible family.

We have to accept certain fundamental values such as non violence, respect off life, justice and solidarity, trustfulness and tolerance as integral values to promote love and peace on earth.

Have we ever given a serious though to what life means to us?

Life is a complex form of matter: earth, water, air and fire – all of which helps in survival.  We cannot live without food, oxygen and water, the vital ingredients which sustain life. For example: Inhaling the air around us aids in surival; and the moment the supply of air stops, we live no more. Death is the permanent termination of all vital functions of an organism.

Life when lived fully for oneself and others are worthwhile. It is an opportunity to understand oneself and the world around us. It opens many avenues to improve the world.

One small step can open a whole world, offer more experiences and it makes us feel better. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Life is a gift given to us by nature to be aware of one’s worth and builds relations with rest of humanity and nature.

Every one dies but not all live.  People living intensely have no fear of death. Life is short. We all have limited time on earth. So, we need to muster courage to question what life means to us or we lose the purpose of life.

We are faced with grave social, cultural and existential problems. Let us forget the past, forget the future and concentrate on the present. Let us elevate ourselves to live a revolutionary life and never allow the evolutionary process to take over.  We cannot escape from the stark reality and leave everything to fate. Future depends on what we do now.  

To be aware is to be alive, be aware of the existing problems and what contributions we can make to change the ugly reality. Let us overcome from doubts and despair and fill with eternal hope to live for others too. It gives a sense of destination and energy to get started.

The more we feel intensive compassion and love for the people around us, we live a worthy life. The world owes nothing to us but we owe the world everything. We are indebted to the past and duty bound to give our best to the future generations.

The purpose of life is to overcome from our slumbering consciousness and embrace the spirit of oneness. Remember, the differences are manmade. So, break the mental chain and experience the real joy and happiness.
Life must be rational and logical. One’s happiness is linked to the well being of entire humanity. We are social animals but we still fail to identify this simple truth.One of the main reasons why we have so many challenges to deal with is because we fail to understand and accept this basic truth. We remain mired in a perpetual misery.

Knowledge comes from observation, experimentation and rational analysis. We are obsessed with our past and it distracts our ability to see the reality

Whatever is alive will evolve. If something does not evolve it becomes dead. If the purpose of our living is devastating the earth and its material resources, we are not living but destroying the very human species perpetually.

Life existed for about 3.7 billion years. Life in the universe may have begun nearly 10 billion years back, billions of years before the earth existed.  Evolution of life is a small component of the universe. Cosmic evolution is the evolution of energy. Life is evolving. We can revolutionize the process. Living is solving the problems. We are on this planet for a short period and let us involve ourselves with heart and soul to solve all the problems and accelerate the process of evolution.

Let us ask ourselves the purpose of our life. Why are we here? What contributions we can make to make life on earth a rich experience? Our determination forced by imagination and unquestionable faith in ourselves and humanity with a missionary zeal and passion will take us to unknown frontiers of highly evolved human species.

Let us have a single minded devotion to achieve this goal. Listen to our inner voice and be true to ourselves. Our destiny is to grow and attain superhuman abilities so that we can explore the world around us and expand our civilisation beyond earth. Accept the truth, raise your consciousness, bridge human relations across boundaries and search for a purpose on earth. Accept the diversity of different cultures, religions, beliefs and you will find uniformity in everything.

Challenge our beliefs, examine them and experiment with a new vision.

AVERT IMPENDING NUCLEAR HOLOCAST

Nuclear weapons have been one of the ways men devised to destroy their fellow beings. Since the invention of nuclear weapons, war has become obsolete, because warfare is a means to achieve a particular end. However, in the case of nuclear holocaust, there is a risk of complete destruction (and therefore, the nations proudly announce their nuclear capabilities so that they can eschew any kind of attack from their opponents).

The nuclear arsenals mounted on bomber planes, submarines and land based missiles, in fact, have multifaceted striking capacities. They are, however, redundant as they are used hardly.  Man's search for supremacy will lead to discovery of far more superior weapons!

Current nuclear powers,  namely, USA, Russia, CineUK, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, together hold a explosive yield of 500 megatons which is about 2,00,000 times the explosive yield of the bombs used in Hiroshima.

Available official data indicates that there are 31,000 nuclear war heads with multiple yields, either deployed, or in reserve to be used in stockpiles.

A modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 1, 1000 kg produces an explosive force compared to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons of TNT. Even a small nuclear device can devastate an entire city by blast, fire and radiation. One megaton is one million times the power of 1 kiloton,

Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass murder. Destiny of humanity is uncertain.

Over the decades USA alone spent at least 8.63 trillion dollars in present day time. Global military expenditure stands at over 1.7 trillion dollars, 2.6% of world’s economy. It is shocking but true that 2.4 trillion dollars or 4.4% of the global economy is spent on military expenses. Ten military powers alone spend 1.19 trillion dollars on defence.

Military might deliver geopolitical supremacy but peace delivers economic prosperity. Imagine the price we pay to maintain uneasy peace. Why on earth humanity cannot protest against the colossal wastage of precious financial resource to destroy us? Apart from the thermonuclear weapons, there is a growing tendency to stockpile biological and chemical wagons. USA alone holds world’s 41%, followed by Russia, China and another 20 more countries.

USA is the first country to develop nuclear weapons and the only country to have used them in warfare. Japan is the victim of the world’s first atomic bomb.

Hiroshima was flattened, devastated and became a waste land where 1, 40,000 people died on impact from radiation and diseases in the ensuring years. A 12.5 kilo ton fission bomb, a merely tactical weapon by today’s standard was dropped on Hiroshima onAugst 6,1945 which transformed a city of some 3,40,00 people into hell in a space of few seconds.

The blast wave, the fire created by the thermal pulse, the deadly black rain of the mushroom cloud and the radio active fallout took a toll of 1,30,000 people who were killed instantly or died within the next  three months.

One percent of the explosive power of the nuclear arsenal if detonated in cities of sub tropical cities  it would lead to 5 million tons of smoke inthe strataspire where it will reside for many years.Aftermath of nuclear fallout have a cascading effect of global warming,  global cooling and environmental degradation. There are already taking place due to human greed.

These weapons do not serve the purpose of global security or global peace.184 nations have already made a legal undertaking neither to obtain nuclear weapons and 3 in 4 support universal ban.

Nuclear powers still consider it is their prerogative to possess these ghastly bombs. Possesing these weapons are immoral. Can we discount the possibility in a world where non-state terrorists with diabolic mental outlook possess these weapons in future?

Nuclear weapons are grave dangers no matter who posses them. Nuclear weapons do not discriminate.  If our advanced technologies were suddenly and completely destroyed how would we able to manage to survive. Everything will be destroyed several hundred times.

We are the inheritors of past and trustees of the future. Act wisely globally. Think on a larger scale. We have a special power within us to rise up against all odds and successfully emerge victories. Future is uncertain but human will to transform the uncertain into certainties distinguish man against animals.

We require developing a global consciousness instead of national consciousness. Sovereign nations have failed to reach a unanimous decision as to how can we prevent the looming danger to humanity. Concept of one world, one community and the safety of all human species and others are essential. The future of all global citizens largely depends on what we think and act to avert the dangers ahead.

DESTINY OF NATION-STATES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD

Anti colonial nationalist movements sounded a death-knell for colonialism in the 18^th century. As an upshot of the same, nation-states were established which boosted the scientific and technological developments. It was expected that it would fulfil the aspirations of billions of people for freedom.

Let us view the present scenario. There are democratic and autocratic regimes which controls the destiny of humanity as a whole.  Common man's dream still remains unfulfilled.

Transfer of power from colonial powers to national governments was expected to establish truly democratic governments. But the same has not happened. However this definitely led to rapid increase in exchange of goods, capital and services across national borders. Over 5 centuries, the technological changes have progressively reduced the barriers but it has not led to global integration.

All national governments have some vested interests to enforce their rule perpetually. When would we witness a truly democratic world? Is it a wild dream or a natural instinctive desire to live in a truly democratic world?

Most countries have become nationalistic, patriotic and more xenophobic. Most nations see other nations as their enemies without any valid reasons.

The characteristic of a nation is determined by economic, political, linguistic, cultural, religious or geographical considerations. However, nationalism is an identity concerned with boundaries, encompassing diversity. It is a soul and a spiritual desire to live together. Yet it led to extreme nationalistic movements such as Zionism and Nazism.

The current phase of globalisation is influencing shaping of world views, relations within families and attitudes of citizens globally. Globalisation could not be defined as one in which national distance nor do normal borders impede economic transformation.

Modern technology has rendered nation-states obsolete as a principle of political organisation. Our world is shrinking, distances get shortened, things move fast. We have become obsessed with consumerism as an ultimate objective of life.

If only China and India were to consume as much resources per capita as America or Japan by 2030 they require the entire planet to meet their requirements.

Globalisation has intensified worldwide.  Relations becoming widening, deepening and speeding interconnections, but hardly it have promoted even growth of economic development.

Half of humanity still lives on less than $ 2 per day and over one billion earn less than $ 1 per day. Availability of water, sanitation, medical facilities and human development are diminishing. Globalisation has not helped to meet the needs of majority of people or has it led to world peace. Since the end of cold war millions of people were killed in armed conflicts around the world. Negatives outweigh positives.

Nations are basically communities that people imagine themselves being part of. Nationalism is successor to tribalism. We still uphold the tribal mentality which stands as an obstacle to human solidarity.

Nations are not eternal .There is a beginning and a perennial end. Man is not subjected to his race, language, religion or geographical boundaries.

We talk of justice, freedom, equality, democracy but do they really exist. Nation- states have only produced wars and clashes and it will worsen as long as they prevail.

National unity, social and cultural values are changing. Ethnic diversity exists in most of the countries. Hundreds of ethnic and cultural minorities struggle to breathe freely. Across the world only a few have the level of acceptance and protection.

Nation-states may disappear when the ever increasing inter connected nature of global relations improve. Internationalism is opposed to nationalism, jingoism and national chauvinism. Betterment of humanity demands they should co-operate despite national interests.

We have to outgrow our racial, ethnic, national, religious differences so as to bring harmony. We have to promote human honour and dignity, amity, co-operation and trustworthiness and above all global outlook.

Ethics, morality and other values are creations of human mind. We can make a choice between inevitable outbreak of wars and total destruction of life on earth or total liberation from the dire consequences.

Humanity should pave the way for global-states and global citizenship.  Let us seriously contemplate and vow to shape the destiny of all an enriching experience on this planet earth.

CAN RELIGION BRING HUMAN SOLIDARITY?

Religion – Then and Today: Belief in supernatural power is as old as the human civilisation and could be traced as back as the 5th millennium. Since then, organised religion took various shapes but faith in God remained cardinal to the central idea that the universe was created by God. It led to many wars. It is believed that billions of people were massacred brutally in the name of religion. Even today, a majority of the population all over the world practice one or the other form of religion.

Why this belief? God is seen an entity that would fulfil one’s needs and desires and also someone who can give you a free ticket to paradise!

Economic and political strife: Many wars considered as religious have economic or political ramifications- control of trade, route, and acquisition of wealth, plunder, and so on. Fundamentalists always use the intra-religious struggle to further their vested interests. So many wars were waged by them in the name of religion and to subjugate people for exploitation.   

Do we really need a religion? Curiosity to know the unknown phenomena led to many discoveries and revolutionized our life. Transformation of one’s life and living conditions are no more determined by supernatural forces but scientific and technological impact.

Fear is a powerful emotion but it is not an innate drive. Primeval drives are acquisition of food, sex, and territory or material prosperity. But spirit is omnipresent. It gives individuals drive for self-esteem.

Christian, Judaic, Islamic religious believe that their holy books contain absolute truth. Truth is that there is no God, devils, no angles, no hell or heaven exists. Religion is a myth and superstition. They harden hearts and enslave minds.

Do we need God to know the right from wrong? Is it the God who is the creator of all, such as human emotions, jealousy, and anger?  Can God stop the atrocities and contradiction of society?

Human rights give freedom to think and act without harming others. Religious morals are archaic and unnecessary compared to morals and ethics of today. Religion plays a very small role in our life.

Every human knows right from wrong. It is our survival instinct. Religion has caused more conflicts than compassion. It proclaims that it is a religion of peace. But they’re responsible for large scale wars, death and destruction.

Human beings are myth makers. They perpetually create mysteries to explain the present when we are in distrusts.  People love peace and happiness. Whatever may be one’s religion, if he pursues his belief without imposing upon others their belief it will bring harmony. But reality is different.

Human solidarity is commitment to certain fundamental values which we have to follow to sustain life on earth. We have to look within us dispassionately transcending religious, national boundaries. It will liberate us from our own secluded world view. It will empower us to see the reality as realistic as possible and lead to global human solidarity.

Do we value religion more than compassion, love and ethics? We need to revolutionise our values. Each religion preaches compassion and certain ethical values to bring harmony within oneself and with others. But in reality it does not help to solve the problems we face.

Survival, expansion and advancement of our own race require certain fundamental values, applicable to all human beings, irrespective of one’s religion, racial or ethnic outlook. Human beings are finite and often do not live up to their full potential and even commit evils.

So we need to find the real reasons for human solidarity. Where there is reason for what we believe, we do not need faith. Diversity of religious beliefs constitutes as obstacles to human solidarity. Will faith in God ever help us to identify the problems we face? It requires empirical outlook and development of one’s own consciousness. So, let’s look beyond religion and gather our forces to bring peace on this earth. Amen!