Religion, Customs, Traditions, Rituals, Vedas/Scriptures, Advaitam !!
How do we establish the existence of the Supreme Being ?.
Do our scriptures point in the right direction in this regard ?
Does following our customs, traditions & rituals help us?
Can the rituals influence our well being ?
How do all of this relate to our Advaita philosophy?
Lets use the word “i” to represent a human being and then derive what this “i” is…
If “i” does a lot of hard work in this life, then this “i” gains good things – money, property, family, etc..
If “i” does a lot of good in this life – helping others, charity, etc.., then this “i” gains “good” things – good family, good health, good luck etc..
If “i” does a lot of bad in this life, then “i” gain “bad” things – bad family, bad health, bad job, etc..
If “i” goes & enjoys life too much – alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.., then this “i” gains “bad” things – Health problems, diseases, etc..
If “i” suffers a lot for years, then this “i” gets to see “good” times – better life, family, good fortune.. like the couple who struggled all their life working in menial jobs – won the jackpot lottery, etc..
Now the above is well known & verifiable, hence this “i” gains good or bad fortune based on “i”’s own actions. Hence the Karma theory is verifiable & “i” enjoys or suffers from its actions.
So now, what happens if the “i” does a lot of “bad things” & does not get to suffer in this life – like the suicide bomber who kills many & causes untold suffering. So this suicide bomber “i” should logically suffer for this?. Similarly the “i” that does a lot of good things & does not get to enjoy in this life. Hence it is reasonable to say the “i” must have an existence beyond this “human lifetime” !! Hence carries the Karma Phala into the existence beyond the human life – prarabhda karma or purva janma karma !!!
If the “i” has an existence beyond this life, then it is possible – it can go to different worlds, can exist as a Angel, as a Ghost, reborn in another human body, etc.. so the Karma , rebirth theory are highly plausible.
Now lets look at the creation in the Universe.
All “secondary creation” are all manmade – nations, cities, infrastructure, aircrafts, etc… are all manmade. Hence the “i” is responsible for all “secondary creation” in this universe.
So this “i” is the “creator”, also the “destroyer” by going to war, and also the “sustainer” by ruling nations & providing stability for its people.
So now lets translate this “i” = “human consciousness” = “consciousness”
So human consciousness is the cause of all secondary creation, destruction & sustenance in this world.
So if all “secondary creation” is caused by “human consciousness”, then by logical extension, “advanced consciousness” should be the cause of the “primary creation”
Lets look at the animal/human kingdom, humans are far ahead of the animals in terms of ability to reason, Intelligence, etc.. so it is fair to say, there are “multiple levels of consciousness”, so some are more advanced than others. And even within the humans, some are more advanced in their faculties than others, some are more good than others, etc…
Lets call the “most advanced consciousness” = “supreme consciousness” = “supreme being”
So now if the human consciousness is the cause for both Good & the Bad in the human world, then the “supreme consciousness” should be the cause for both “Good Consciousness - God” & “Bad Consciousness - Evil”.
Now between the human consciousness & supreme consciousness, there can be multiple levels of consciousness – so angels, & demons can exist.
Human consciousness can also communicate with each other, we all know that if we think about someone for long, they in turn also start thinking about us. If someone spews hatred towards us, we can feel the huge negative energy.. so by logical extension, the advanced consciousness can communicate/influence the human consciousness.
So this “creation” is a complex play of all these “levels of consciousness – human consciousness, angel consciousness, demon consciousness, God consciousness, Evil Consciousness, etc.. all influencing the events on earth. So this lends credence to how Gods intervened in the Ramayana & Troy & our puranas to make their respective people win in this world.
So these “higher level consciousness’ can influence our life in positive or negative ways !!
So reasonable to say some of our ancestors if not all, are now in an higher level of consciousness & can influence our lives etc… hence our rituals seek our ancestors to help & protect us.
Our kings & queens fought to protect our ancestors so we all could continue our lives, & these Kings/Queens could be in higher level of consciousness now & be able to influence the events in our life – so they can protect us from the bad things, they did in the past.
So the story of the 33 crore Gods & Goddess are not necessarily far fetched, infact if all human consciousness evolves into higher level of consciousness, one can have multiple Angels, Gods, Ghosts, etc.. !!
What about Idol Worship – so why do we need Idols ? now lets go back to how the human consciousness interact with each other - if I keep thinking about my friend in another city, he then starts thinking about me & calls me at the same time. So how do I think about my friend?, by mentally picturing his image – the way he or she looks!!. Hence by having an Idol in front of us & mentally picturing the God, we are able to focus & communicate to the “advanced consciousness or the God Consciousness” to help us in this life !!
Finally only in our human bodies (apart from the animals), consciousness can reside & expresses itself. So it is reasonable to say, that since the supreme consciousness is the cause of primary creation – include us humans, the supreme consciousness can also reside in our Human Body – giver of life. !!
Hence our religion & advaita philosophy are absolutely spot on & the various rituals/customs are designed to help protect us from the various evil that lurks around all of us !!!
How do we establish the existence of the Supreme Being ?.
Do our scriptures point in the right direction in this regard ?
Does following our customs, traditions & rituals help us?
Can the rituals influence our well being ?
How do all of this relate to our Advaita philosophy?
Lets use the word “i” to represent a human being and then derive what this “i” is…
If “i” does a lot of hard work in this life, then this “i” gains good things – money, property, family, etc..
If “i” does a lot of good in this life – helping others, charity, etc.., then this “i” gains “good” things – good family, good health, good luck etc..
If “i” does a lot of bad in this life, then “i” gain “bad” things – bad family, bad health, bad job, etc..
If “i” goes & enjoys life too much – alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.., then this “i” gains “bad” things – Health problems, diseases, etc..
If “i” suffers a lot for years, then this “i” gets to see “good” times – better life, family, good fortune.. like the couple who struggled all their life working in menial jobs – won the jackpot lottery, etc..
Now the above is well known & verifiable, hence this “i” gains good or bad fortune based on “i”’s own actions. Hence the Karma theory is verifiable & “i” enjoys or suffers from its actions.
So now, what happens if the “i” does a lot of “bad things” & does not get to suffer in this life – like the suicide bomber who kills many & causes untold suffering. So this suicide bomber “i” should logically suffer for this?. Similarly the “i” that does a lot of good things & does not get to enjoy in this life. Hence it is reasonable to say the “i” must have an existence beyond this “human lifetime” !! Hence carries the Karma Phala into the existence beyond the human life – prarabhda karma or purva janma karma !!!
If the “i” has an existence beyond this life, then it is possible – it can go to different worlds, can exist as a Angel, as a Ghost, reborn in another human body, etc.. so the Karma , rebirth theory are highly plausible.
Now lets look at the creation in the Universe.
All “secondary creation” are all manmade – nations, cities, infrastructure, aircrafts, etc… are all manmade. Hence the “i” is responsible for all “secondary creation” in this universe.
So this “i” is the “creator”, also the “destroyer” by going to war, and also the “sustainer” by ruling nations & providing stability for its people.
So now lets translate this “i” = “human consciousness” = “consciousness”
So human consciousness is the cause of all secondary creation, destruction & sustenance in this world.
So if all “secondary creation” is caused by “human consciousness”, then by logical extension, “advanced consciousness” should be the cause of the “primary creation”
Lets look at the animal/human kingdom, humans are far ahead of the animals in terms of ability to reason, Intelligence, etc.. so it is fair to say, there are “multiple levels of consciousness”, so some are more advanced than others. And even within the humans, some are more advanced in their faculties than others, some are more good than others, etc…
Lets call the “most advanced consciousness” = “supreme consciousness” = “supreme being”
So now if the human consciousness is the cause for both Good & the Bad in the human world, then the “supreme consciousness” should be the cause for both “Good Consciousness - God” & “Bad Consciousness - Evil”.
Now between the human consciousness & supreme consciousness, there can be multiple levels of consciousness – so angels, & demons can exist.
Human consciousness can also communicate with each other, we all know that if we think about someone for long, they in turn also start thinking about us. If someone spews hatred towards us, we can feel the huge negative energy.. so by logical extension, the advanced consciousness can communicate/influence the human consciousness.
So this “creation” is a complex play of all these “levels of consciousness – human consciousness, angel consciousness, demon consciousness, God consciousness, Evil Consciousness, etc.. all influencing the events on earth. So this lends credence to how Gods intervened in the Ramayana & Troy & our puranas to make their respective people win in this world.
So these “higher level consciousness’ can influence our life in positive or negative ways !!
So reasonable to say some of our ancestors if not all, are now in an higher level of consciousness & can influence our lives etc… hence our rituals seek our ancestors to help & protect us.
Our kings & queens fought to protect our ancestors so we all could continue our lives, & these Kings/Queens could be in higher level of consciousness now & be able to influence the events in our life – so they can protect us from the bad things, they did in the past.
So the story of the 33 crore Gods & Goddess are not necessarily far fetched, infact if all human consciousness evolves into higher level of consciousness, one can have multiple Angels, Gods, Ghosts, etc.. !!
What about Idol Worship – so why do we need Idols ? now lets go back to how the human consciousness interact with each other - if I keep thinking about my friend in another city, he then starts thinking about me & calls me at the same time. So how do I think about my friend?, by mentally picturing his image – the way he or she looks!!. Hence by having an Idol in front of us & mentally picturing the God, we are able to focus & communicate to the “advanced consciousness or the God Consciousness” to help us in this life !!
Finally only in our human bodies (apart from the animals), consciousness can reside & expresses itself. So it is reasonable to say, that since the supreme consciousness is the cause of primary creation – include us humans, the supreme consciousness can also reside in our Human Body – giver of life. !!
Hence our religion & advaita philosophy are absolutely spot on & the various rituals/customs are designed to help protect us from the various evil that lurks around all of us !!!
