Over the years, at various points in my life, I wondered what the answer to the God question was:
I was raised in a home that was spiritual, slightly philosophical, and tolerant of other faiths. Traditions were followed as long as they did not hurt anyone. We changed customs sometimes, in order for them to make more sense. Even though mythological stories reinforced the idea that God makes sure "good" thrives in the world and that God comes back in human form whenever evil seems to be taking over, I was taught to be kind to people because it was the right thing to do and not because God would punish me otherwise.
When I was a kid, God was real and very personal. I prayed regularly. I was told that God would protect me and my good behavior would be rewarded and I behaved like I was answerable to God for my actions. If I ever got into trouble, I'd pray to God that I be spared that once and that I would be careful the next time.
As I was growing up, my prayers became more of a routine, without a lot of thought going into who the recipient of those prayers was. Since they were not supplications for physical things, I never bothered about their fulfillment. More often than not, I prayed for health or happiness of people around me, and that I be content with what I have. Not that I did not want material things. It just struck me that those kind of requests were seldom granted unless I actually deserved them. When I deserved something, I felt that there is no need to petition to God for it. Every once in a while, I would get something which I didn't really lay claim to. Times like that, I used to thank God for his benevolence and be happy at my good fortune.
Overall, this is what I understood about how God operates with me - most often, I get what I worked for. Sometimes, I get more than what I deserve, without even asking for it. Some other times, I don't get things that I felt entitled to, even when I begged for them.
As one can imagine, the logical consequence was that I stopped asking God for things. To be it all broke down to this: Actions, Consequences and Random Chance.
Whenever you do something, those actions will have consequences. Combined together, Hindu philosophy calls it karma. It is an understanding that action and conseqence do not exist independently; that they are inseperable. To some Hindus, a person can neither indulge in actions nor bear consequences without divine allowance. It is also believed that every once in a while, God changes the consequences to our actions to suit His purposes. Each person has their own explanation about why He does that.
In a simple world, a Newton's Third Law kind of deal would apply to all actions and consequences and each action would have an absolutely identifiable and definite consequence. Things would have been plain and simple. However, that is not to be. There is a third factor that qualifies the consequences to all our actions - random chance.
Chance meddles with outcomes and sometimes favors the undeserving or the inefficient, making people wonder why; why it was that they got something or didn't; why it was that life was sometimes unfair or too kind. Depending on the outcome, chance has been both the greatest fillip for humans as well as our greatest detractor. Temples were built, wars were fought, lives were ruined or millions liberated, all because of chance. Philosophers, academicians, theologists, all try to find a pattern and explanation for how this works. Everyone is convinced that they are the closest in figuring out the answer and keep trying to convince others that they are right.
Random chance, in my opinion, is the one defining factor that has led the majority of people on this planet to believe in God. Different people give it different names - luck, miracle, destiny, divine grace, answer to prayers - but most of them pray to God to try and tip this factor in their favor. Some pray to please God who is controlling the strings from up above. Some others pray to thank Him for his kindness in what has already transpired.
To me, chance is invariably random, and God, regardless of whether or not He's controlling it, is definitely not steering it in a particular direction just because that would please us. Prayer works, but only to tether the mind down in the face of uncertainty.
- Is there a God?
- Does He (or She or It, if that's your thing) control my life?
- Does He expect anything from me?
I was raised in a home that was spiritual, slightly philosophical, and tolerant of other faiths. Traditions were followed as long as they did not hurt anyone. We changed customs sometimes, in order for them to make more sense. Even though mythological stories reinforced the idea that God makes sure "good" thrives in the world and that God comes back in human form whenever evil seems to be taking over, I was taught to be kind to people because it was the right thing to do and not because God would punish me otherwise.
When I was a kid, God was real and very personal. I prayed regularly. I was told that God would protect me and my good behavior would be rewarded and I behaved like I was answerable to God for my actions. If I ever got into trouble, I'd pray to God that I be spared that once and that I would be careful the next time.
As I was growing up, my prayers became more of a routine, without a lot of thought going into who the recipient of those prayers was. Since they were not supplications for physical things, I never bothered about their fulfillment. More often than not, I prayed for health or happiness of people around me, and that I be content with what I have. Not that I did not want material things. It just struck me that those kind of requests were seldom granted unless I actually deserved them. When I deserved something, I felt that there is no need to petition to God for it. Every once in a while, I would get something which I didn't really lay claim to. Times like that, I used to thank God for his benevolence and be happy at my good fortune.
Overall, this is what I understood about how God operates with me - most often, I get what I worked for. Sometimes, I get more than what I deserve, without even asking for it. Some other times, I don't get things that I felt entitled to, even when I begged for them.
As one can imagine, the logical consequence was that I stopped asking God for things. To be it all broke down to this: Actions, Consequences and Random Chance.
Whenever you do something, those actions will have consequences. Combined together, Hindu philosophy calls it karma. It is an understanding that action and conseqence do not exist independently; that they are inseperable. To some Hindus, a person can neither indulge in actions nor bear consequences without divine allowance. It is also believed that every once in a while, God changes the consequences to our actions to suit His purposes. Each person has their own explanation about why He does that.
In a simple world, a Newton's Third Law kind of deal would apply to all actions and consequences and each action would have an absolutely identifiable and definite consequence. Things would have been plain and simple. However, that is not to be. There is a third factor that qualifies the consequences to all our actions - random chance.
Chance meddles with outcomes and sometimes favors the undeserving or the inefficient, making people wonder why; why it was that they got something or didn't; why it was that life was sometimes unfair or too kind. Depending on the outcome, chance has been both the greatest fillip for humans as well as our greatest detractor. Temples were built, wars were fought, lives were ruined or millions liberated, all because of chance. Philosophers, academicians, theologists, all try to find a pattern and explanation for how this works. Everyone is convinced that they are the closest in figuring out the answer and keep trying to convince others that they are right.
Random chance, in my opinion, is the one defining factor that has led the majority of people on this planet to believe in God. Different people give it different names - luck, miracle, destiny, divine grace, answer to prayers - but most of them pray to God to try and tip this factor in their favor. Some pray to please God who is controlling the strings from up above. Some others pray to thank Him for his kindness in what has already transpired.
To me, chance is invariably random, and God, regardless of whether or not He's controlling it, is definitely not steering it in a particular direction just because that would please us. Prayer works, but only to tether the mind down in the face of uncertainty.
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