Theism, Conscience and Faith

If at all there is a consciousness left after death to perceive the presence of god in case he comes/does not come in front of that consciousness, then I think it would be more disappointing to any consciousness to find out the truth after death that there is no god. I know I would feel cheated after living my entire life believing that he is there. That is only natural. On the other hand, if I live as an atheist and after death find out god, I would be very happy because it would explain a lot of things that are unexplained right now.

Attributing a personality to or personification of God is a psychological phenomenon. God is nothing but the HCV (Highest Common Virtues) of the consciences of all people in this world. Believing in that HCV and implementing it is real theism, real deification, real prayer.

God is spiritual democracy; an overwhelming majority vote for higher virtues. That is how this world is surviving. That is how this world has not completely fallen into depravity. And that is why it is important that this democracy remains a democracy and not turned into a dictatorship by the self-appointed ministers of God.

It is important here to talk about why, in many cases, we cannot escape looking at God as a benevolent superhuman who can take our pains away. Human beings are unique in that only they have the capacity for pure reason and rationality. In spite of this, in moments of crisis and deep trouble, all rationality comes to naught and we end up praying to God for deliverance. And it helps. That is called faith. And as a Little friend pointed out, it has nothing to do with rationality (thank God for that!). Faith is as irrational and useful as hope and as intriguing and beautiful as love. Faith is the intangible, unseen bridge that connects us to the God concept. Without faith, God would've been a crumpled sheet of rejected idea lying in a wastepaper basket somewhere. Without faith, humans would have been much less courageous, much less benevolent, much less patient and much more violent than they already are.

Perpetually Cursed

Red sand flowed through the desert rivers.
It sprang from a child who lied in tatters.
Tattered was his face.
Tattered was his bust.
And everything else that told you
he was one of us.

Tattered was the soul of the desert.
Tattered was the essence of humanity.
Naked, yet arrogant we were.
Shameless we went on without pity.

Oh convenience! Thou art so powerful!
It wasn't convenient for the powers too.
The bloodshed must go on.
Time and again, eon upon eon.
They didnt matter, we didnt mind.
Perpetually cursed the human kind.

And blood flows like rivers,
cutting deep across the landscape
of our conscience.
Conscience?
Whats that?
Who cares?
Let it flood.
Let it irrigate.
Let it fertile.

And blood flows like rivers,
quenching the greed of hollow men.
But it carries the fatal conscience dust.
Is it lying somewhere in your guts?
You know that you know,
but you show not and turn to go.
Its going to get you one of these days.
Perpetually cursed the human race.

Celebrity Sighting

I think eighty percent of the charm of seeing a celebrity in real life is the feeling of deja vu.

"Oh shit! I've seen him somewhere! He looks so small this time!"

Of course you moron! The last time you saw him was when he jumped off a cliff, rang the bells of a temple, swung from a tree, swept off a dame, splashed into a 5-star swimming pool and touched the feet of an elderly lady; all the while singing a duet. On top of that you witnessed this on a twenty feet by fifty feet screen. Even your extremities would look big on it!

I have had my celebrity encounters. The deja vu is just so strong! Its the same face! Has this encounter happened before? Of course thats the mock reaction. I know that thats the guy from the screen. Half the time I'm trying to figure out similarities between the on-screen and off-screen personalities. The other half is spent cursing myself at staring at him, lest I'm thought of as a desperate, servile celebrity worshiper. That is so not cool!!

PS: The rest twenty percent is feeling like a celebrity yourself- Proximity Glorification.

God is Great

The universe has been in chaos since it banged real big. The earth has been a bubbling cauldron since it got ejected out of the sun's womb. Its been more than 4 billion years since her birth and we still cant give rational credit for millions of deeds and misdeeds that occur upon us every year. Its time responsibility and accountability are fixed. God is the way out.

Terrorists gunning down poor labourers. Why? Children hacked to death after being brutally raped. Why? Street urchins freezing to death in biting cold. Who? Parents fighting and separating. How? Planeful of passengers disappering into thin air. Where? Spring in New York in the middle of winter. What?? How?? What the...!?!? Hell?

God is the sole and final arbiter of all truths. He decides, he executes. Period. At least that is where all our scientific knowledge gained over centuries hits an impregnable wall.
I can hear the top scientist speak, "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, we have not been able to find the person responsible for your mess, so you will have to do with God for the time being. But of course we are still looking for God in person. You will be duly informed of his finding as and when it happens."

In the back row of the press conference, the bishop smirks, "Find God? Over my dead body..and a billion billion years. Ha!"

The person next to him whispers, "But what if they really find him?"

Bishop replies, "Oh come on Rabbi, get real!"

The priest ponders, "We must thank him immediately for remaining omnipresent but invisible, omniscient but unresponsive, omnipotent but unaccountable! We must have a grand yagya with ten thousand pundits!"

The mullah takes a deep sigh of satisfaction, "Yes, we must thank him asap. If it had not been for him, our children would have starved to death. There is only one god and god is great!"

If one day, suddenly, god would appear in our midst, in person, what do you think we would do? I'll tell you what we humans would do. We would bow down real low in deep reverence, then we would lynch him to death, then we would mummify him for all future deification purposes. Thats how we humans would fix accountability and responsibility. A mummified god would perhaps be as useful (or more) as an invisible god.

Looking for God is perhaps as futile as looking for glasses that you are already wearing. You are looking, but are you seeing? Its interesting being a human, living in human times, on a human planet, doing inhuman things once in a while and trying to preserve humanity all along. The contradictions, contraindications, contrasts, contracts, contractions and the whole rigmarole of paradoxes just twists you around like a wet cloth being drained of water. (In the end we too are hung out to dry.) As a human, I can say that if it had not been for the small mercies that each of us metes out on our fellow creatures and on nature herself each day, we would have become extinct long ago. If you are looking for God, look for him in those small mercies.

Lazy Bones and Creative Minds

The winter this year in Delhi seems especially trying. Its such bone cracking chill outside and inside the home that I have to keep drinking tea and coffee and run to the loo every half hour. Pissing is almost as annoying as getting out of the bed in the morning. There's just too much exposure! My grey cells have gelled like the diesel in my car. My car refuses to start in the morning. My brain refuses to start forever. Even in summers. I was wondering if I'm chronically lazy. Or terminally. Or genetically, coz my brother shares some of my lazy traits. Either I'm too distracted or I'm in a stupor. Mind is either a cesspool of bubbling slimy ideas or is squeaky clean like my just harpiced toilet bowl. Well what do you know, there are others in this world who mirror me and my predicament; who share my guilty conscience. Read this interesting article on laziness - http://positivesharing.com/2006/03/my-lazy-life. My guilt at not being able to accomplish on a daily basis reduced considerably after reading it. I'm just not that! Of course I remember the days when I slogged like a beaver on a mission. But thats the point, I need a mission, something creative enough, and some freedom to think and act. Alas, 'mission' and 'creativity' have ended up becoming PR catchwords for corporations desperate to attract talent. But they don't understand that talent is developed, realised and retained; not attracted. There are three kinds of workers - Ants at one end of the spectrum and Leo Da Vincis at the other end. And transition guys in the middle. Employers should realise who is who and assign work to them accordingly. Otherwise creative people are easy to frustrate. I wish I could become the transition guy. I know I was at one time. But time and age push you towards rigidity of ways and hierarchy pushes you towards conformation to systems. Now thats another big dilemma!
I tell you, when you are lying on your bed and wondering where your next meal is going to come from, there are no dilemmas.
Thats when it helps to just close your eyes and fall asleep..ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...