SHACKLES OF LIE

SHACKLES OF LIE
There is a difference of only one letter"f" between life and Lie, that is ironic.

You need money, which is a creation of the system. You need to behave as the system directs you to be a part of the system. You are not allowed to exit the system; you must fit into the system. If you want to live up to the system/fit into the system, you need money.<-- Now read the sentences backwards.

-The Loop

The world is screaming Freedom, and the leaders claim to have provided the pinnacle of it. Capitalizing on sheer ignorance of people has been the ultimate tool of controlling the masses while deluding them into thinking that they have been provided with freedom. While freedom is the only thing that is being mined away from them.

YOU ARE CHAINED TO SOMETHING THAT WILL EVENTUALLY EXPIRE WITH YOU EXPIRING. UNLESS OTHERWISE.

Lie after Lie after Lie is the new recipe, and you are the one consuming the final product of this recipe- a food full of filth, humiliation and degradation of identity.

I heard a man say- “I want to marry another man, this is a free country- who I marry is my choice.”

I simply say- If I created a cheese sandwich for which I paid- one buck for bread and another for the cheese, I have (maximum) authority and ownership over it. If someone in a remote village created the same without your knowledge and miles apart from you. Can you declare your OWNERSHIP over it and right to do anything with that sandwich. No, It would be extremely vague and legally punishable.

So, you have NOT/could not make Yourself.

You did not/could not feed yourself.

You did not/could not learn from yourself.

You were not nourished by yourself.

When your existence came into being, your were nourished and provided for from that which you have not created either.

Then how in the world does one come to the conclusion of ownership of their lives?

What is it that you have done? Could you plan what you do now from the influence of society when you were nothing but a “cell” in a DROP?

But that is another discussion in totality, the real question is- while you live with this LIE that you are the owner of yourself, that it was you who nourished yourself through these years-

Ask this to yourself- Are you really FREE?

Let’s breakdown this concept of freedom-

In a developed country, a new born baby is dressed in nothing less than branded clothes. Clothes are decided by any company which succeeds in advertising over its other competitors and successfully positions itself as the safe, socially high class and comfortable choice for a baby.

This tender age of learning is governed by HOURS and HOURS of television and music.

Television is FULL of two things-

1)      They want you to think what they want you to think and

2)      They want you to think what they want you to think.

Before the baby knows about anything he has already stored Colgate somewhere in his brain, Lux is endorsed in his mind, iPhone etc. The strategy to sell for the next 30 years has been devised and customers recruited during this tender age. While these advertisements play in between, songs of love, sex, violence and evil are fed into their heads. Parent see the baby so dearly engrossed into T.V and smile about it, little do they know that it is them who does not understand the music while the baby is storing everything in his record system(brain). He may not know what it means now, but 10-15 years later he will associate his life and words with what was created at that time.

The next step is the tender age of 6-10. Parents are dressing their children in clothes exactly like teen stars on television. Modesty is slowly perishing.

You already know about all this- Lets fast forward.

The young/youth age of 16-30 :

Basically, men want the women open and uncovered for them. It’s not something they can remove from their instinct but they can control their desires if they try. The urge in men will remain, because it is needed in both (men and women) to continue the survival of mankind (Human beings) but it can be controlled by men/women if moral values are instilled in them. But that urge is not just the thing-

Women/men dress to conform to the society standards and to attract men/women at large[consciously and unconsciously].The fault is NOT with women nor is it of men. But few people sitting at the top of business must keep their business alive and they will go to any extent to achieve it.

Men will go head over heels for beautiful women-

So most of the products that men need- are sold with a little bit of women.

Ever been to a man’s favorite toy exhibit?

AUTO EXPO?

Women dressed in something that looks like opaque cello-tape or few handkerchiefs and extreme make-up. Hand-picked models showcasing the cars? Hoarding next to the car saying- The new ride is here. Guess who is holding the Board?

The girl who does not know much about the car, they are just there to keep the people into thinking that if they buy this car, they will have a girl like her. Once you ask questions about the engine and other things another person walks up with glasses on his/her face and an engineering college degree to back him/her up or great sales record.

Why is she selling if she doesn't know much about the product at all? What is she selling?

Curves and a beautiful face?

Does she really want to sell that part of her?

NO! She does not.

But she needs to live up to her friends, society, peers, other models, handbags, phones, shoes, one-piece dress, earrings, make-up etc…..she needs money for all that.

It is a loop- You need money, which is a creation of the system. You need to behave as the system directs you to be a part of the system. You are not allowed to exit the system; you must fit into the system. If you want to live up to the system/fit into the system, you need money. It starts and ends with “you need money”.

It is not just a LOOP, it’s a perfect loop.

Have you seen what Poverty does to people ?

Is poverty a result of lack of water, food, shelter and electricity?

No, it is the lack of paper(money) in the pockets. ~ Interesting.

No wonder India produces so much food(high quality) and yet highest death rate due to under nourishment.

No wonder the richest lands are the lands of Africa and YET the poorest half of the world. Poor because they don’t have enough paper(money) to buy or grow food. Yet India exports enormous quantities of rice and Africa attracts enormous wild life thrill seekers.

The system and fashion drives the kind of appearance one keeps of himself.

Chained to SYSTEM!

The real problem with a system is that it is NEVER consistent-EVER!

It keeps falling apart and adding new features and deleting old features. The things we like to associate with (materialistic) die out eventually or the users have perished themselves.

Basically, something that is designed to keep us busy until we are dead.So, where is this is so called FREEDOM?

The night Clubs are full of men who are dressed more and women who are dressed less, it is a space for insulting women to the level that their worth is only in what they are able to show. Almost all such clubs will not work if the special free drinks/free passes etc . are not provided to women to attract them into the clubs, which would then attract men and other women into the clubs who would shell out some real money to buy drinks/prostitutes/entry fee/drinks for others etc.

Advertisements need models or film stars to show that their shampoo is the best. Cold drinks are not much about taste, but rather a status symbol, homes are not much about comfort but rather a home in that elite class society- You can yourself go on FOREVER and realize that we are living how the products, system and large organizations want us to live.

We are always busy about this thought consciously or unconsciously- “What would people think?”

Some people don’t want to face people in some situations to such an extent that they commit/plan suicide. (Shackles turn into a rope hanging from the ceiling)

When I see women covered all in black, who are not interested in impressing anyone at all with their physical appearance-- a sincere question can be asked to them- Why are you all covered and chained?

All of them who have understood it and then taken up this habit have a common and interesting answer - “I feel liberated”

How can she be liberated? She looks oppressed.

Well, she doesn't spend hours of make up just to fit into the office culture, she is not a slave to what people and peers think about her. She doesn't want to have those heels and stylish walk just to keep up with the society culture, she is NOT locked into a cage of “ what would people think” she just looks at herself in the mirror, throws a quick loose cloak over herself and walks out of the house.

Yes, she is liberated from the shackles of a society which is itself not permanent and is a slave of money.

She doesn't want to live the way a television set tells her to live. She is just smart. Others are ignorant.

I started my article with this underlined word “ignorant” and have ended with it. But I wish from the depth of my heart-

If you started this article in ignorance, I hope you didn't end as an Ignorant.

The Magic Trick effect

Alfred Borden: The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything.
-The Prestige

Alfred Borden: Never show anyone. They'll beg you and they'll flatter you for the secret, but as soon as you give it up... you'll be nothing to them.
-The Prestige

One apple plus one apple equals two apples. But it does not create two apples for you.

-Author

If you impress someone with a magic trick, the more they see you do the act the more they would be caught up into it, unless they somehow find out how it was achieved. If you were to disclose it to them, they would never ask to see the trick again and the whole effect and attention received earlier would vanish. It is the trick itself which is interesting, once it’s decoded-it becomes a boring mechanism of fooling the other.

The lovers of science are always trying to understand the way things work around them. It is a trial and error world. The moment they know how it works they feel like they own it and as if it is them who made the amazing act of nature happen. If they modify it in some way, they feel thrilled to think they created a better version of what they had.

The problem with this is- No matter how efficient the equation gets, one apple added to the other only gives us the logic of how it happens. It does not actually fill the stomach with two apples at all.

When science witnesses the greatness of nature, perfection of universe, placement of life, coordination of all the elements in the universe to support life they end up trying to describe the reason to its perfection and not appreciating the perfection in itself.

There are 4 kinds of reactions to a simple observation-

1)      Look at the sun, its nothing but a chemical reaction and a result of nuclear fusion.

2)      Look at the sun, what an amazing creation of God.

3)      Look at the sun, how perfectly has it been placed for us and how interestingly the simple changes of energy millions of miles away provide us with just the precise amount of energy we need... Praise for the creator.

4)      Look at the sun, it is such a coincidental perfection and everything else that’s around it is also such an interesting coincidence.

I appreciate the third opinion the most. It is a very humble form of appreciation for both- i.e the understanding of how the nuclear reactions happen, its necessity for us and how magnificent the creation is, and thus, how magnificent would the creator be.

I am usually surprised at the reaction of people. They look at a machine, (say a brand new Lamborghini Huracan) and say “Amazing!! What a fine car! What a lovely piece of design and great automotive feat”, with their jaws literally dropped open and heads turning to take another look. Yet, they fail to appreciate the ability to be able to comprehend the machine itself (animals cannot understand it, they will walk by a Lamborghini just as they would walk by a cycle- a dog would lift a leg and piss on both without discrimination); they fail to appreciate the ability granted to be able to put together such a machine, to have the resources for it and to have the dimension of time to invest into the making of it. They fail to appreciate the creator itself.

If you appreciate this machine so much for its beauty and technical superiority, what makes one to not appreciate the night sky lit by millions of bright twinkling stars, endless beautiful green forests

with trees older than centuries, brightly colored insects that would mesmerize any man, the glorious rivers and an entire world in itself beneath the oceans.

Saying that a butterfly is spotted only because it is saving itself from its predator by its apparent appearance is not a false idea, but don’t let the ‘explanation’ of magical placement of God’s nature tarnish the need for its appreciation. It would rather be better to be always mesmerized by the beauty and curiosity than to know the trick itself.

Diminishing the beauty of something as small as a butterfly by saying that its bright colors and large spots are only to fool the predator into thinking of it as a risky snack is a sad and half eye view of the moment. It is rather the appreciation for the magical effect it creates which is more soothing than the explanation for it which makes it reduce the its worth.I rather wonder, how the butterfly thought of evolving its wings to have large spotted figures to make the predator think of it as eyes. A brain less insect was intelligent enough to discover and implement it thousands of years ago and it took us millions of brain cells and thousands of years to finally understand why it was so.

The creator is the common factor in any equation. Can we not breakdown every element and arrive eventually at the same base substance-a combination of protons, electrons and neutrons. Does that not point to one single source of creation? How naively we look at iPhones, iPads and iPods and recognize the source of creation as one organization and appreciate their technical expertise and yet we look at the entire universe made for us with the same building blocks and we reject that it isn't from one single source and technical expertise beyond our comprehension. We praise an extra ordinary CEO who could create the pinnacle of success through phones and musical devices and read stories, biographies and quote from his experience, not acknowledging the fact that the same person could not reverse or stop the process of returning to the creator and yet we don’t want to fully appreciate the creator himself who has placed among us an ocean full of such CEOs and other infinite miraculous examples. I don’t mean to tarnish the work of Steve Jobs, nor will I ever make the mistake of comparing a creation’s creation with that of the creator’s creation. Neither will I make the mistake of comparing the creator with anything at all, because he is nothing like anything that we know of.

The evidence is all around us.

So,





Don’t let the secret of the magic trick, discredit the magical effect itself.

-Irshan


I extend my humble courtesy to the photographers for their efforts. I don't know who or where they are but they have done a wonderful job.

Short Story : The Unseen

Short story-

It was one of those days when I needed my coffee served the way I liked it best, i.e while I surfed the internet reading various topics of interest. As I entered the local café I noticed busy tables and waiters taking orders here and there, I always wondered how they managed to keep up with the impatient and desperate crowd all the time.

Looking across the lounge I found a corner with a vacant space for two. I rushed towards the seat, in my head it played like a mission with the finish line separated by other occupied tables.

I won. Mission accomplished. I was seated.

The waiter walked up to me with a pretentious smile, as if I was the customer that he had been waiting for his entire life; I smiled back and ordered a tall glass of black coffee. He rushed away to take another order form an adjacent table.

I pulled out my laptop and just as I had felt like I had this whole corner and privacy to myself, it was breached. A handsome and well suited man took the seat opposite mine and threw a big smile that said- I hope you don’t mind.

I do, said the voice inside my head. But I smiled back and said, “Please” gesturing a welcome hand sign.

Once settled, he drew his weapon of choice-a latest version of Apple i-Pad and started doing his extremely important thing. I looked around at the expressions of others- everybody seemed to be into cellphones and computers and had this look like they were about to save the world with that final stroke of a key. I think I had it too.

My coffee arrived and the waiter started unloading his tray onto my table and just as he was about to do everything perfectly, he lost his balance. The cup jumped in his hand while I held my breath for Touch-Down. “Brace for impact” played in my head from a documentary that I had watched earlier this week.

But this waiter had some amazing reflexes. I wonder if it was due to his daily-loss of balance-routine that he developed this skill of-catch it just in time- or if he was a waiter for “cover up identity” and worked secretly as 007. Whatever he did in his private life, he had saved my day at the very last moment.

I managed to speak a few words as the horror swept away from my mind, “Thank God!”

“I am so sorry”, said the waiter with a short bow.

I smiled back and nodded. He walked away cheerfully, glad that he had just pulled of an impossible stunt and saved the day. He was a hero in his head. I didn't object.

“So you believe in the Unseen?” spoke the man who had just occupied the seat opposite mine.

“I am sorry”, I questioned, not sure about what he had just asked.

“So you believe in the Unseen, God.” He responded, raising his tone slightly higher so that I could hear.

“Don’t you?” I asked while taking a sip from the cup which had almost burned me. Good coffee, said the voice inside my head.

“I am a man of science” he said, taking pride in his words like he knew something that nobody had known and it somehow made him much smarter than those (allegedly) less intelligent beings who believe in the unseen.

He seemed like a rational person and not the kind who would deny logic or truth, he seemed to be a person who believed in facts and things that he could see, feel, touch or taste.

I smiled back at him or rather at his interesting question and praised his bold stand on his belief.

Interesting..

I took a deep breath and then I spoke,

“You see sir, the world was once flat for science. The earth was the center of everything, the moon was an unknown mysterious object and microorganisms were a joke to the most learned of the doctors and surgeons. It took time for science to evolve, trial and errors on rats, humans and monkeys led to most of what we have today, but God, through his religion, sent down the guidance that held mankind united and together for several millenniums. Where was science then?"

Before he could intervene, I continued..

"Every second science rejects its self, a new hardware is developed that claims that the earlier one was not good enough, a new process is developed which opposes the methods of development used earlier as harmful and less efficient, as we speak a new software code is written that would denounce its earlier version as bugged and unnecessarily lengthy.

The Legends of science shouted and rejected everything in the world when they thought we were the center of the universe, they looked down upon those who could not comprehend the idea and praised their exceptional knowledge based upon mathematical theories and scientific tools available at that time. And soon after, they rejected what they believed a few years ago to believe in the newly found knowledge -we may not be the center of the universe but rather the sun is the center of the universe. And then later-like it wasn't already too late- they changed it as per their new discoveries.

So, I differ on this point. I accept science but I will not reject the fact that it contradicts itself every single day of my life. Lift up today’s newspaper and look up the gadgets section and you would notice that a lot of them claim to be better versions of their previous unreliable ones. Lift one tomorrow and you would see them rejecting what you see today.

Religion on the other hand, is stable. It does not contradict itself and fits for an endless period of time. It was religion that was giving hope and guiding people while science was busy rocking the cradle and learning the ropes.

So, what I say is this- yes I believe in something more stable. And yes, I believe in the unseen. Besides, science has no answers about life. Science has not been able to explain what happens to us after we die…..…”
Just as expected, he broke me off at this point, “Science is learning, I agree. And one day science will have an answer about After-life too.”, he said

“Which day?” I inquired.

“One day”, he reassured me.

“Have you had a vision or a breakthrough?” I asked.

“No” He laughed, “But I am sure that it will happen one day”, he announced.

I observed him for a second, wondering if he understood his stand.

“And then you say that I am the one who believes in the Unseen”, I concluded.

He paused and looked at me for a minute or two. He was out of words and a little confused.

I sipped my last bit of coffee, lifted my bag and nodded-Have a fine day- and walked towards the exit of the café leaving behind an extra tip for the fine reflexes of the waiter.

You did well.

The truth is, we all believe in the Unseen. It is all about choosing something more reliable and moral.

Life is a vacation

If you were asked to make a home on a beautiful Island

- With all your wealth and technology......and then once it was completed and you stayed there a few days...you just had to leave it for someone else to move in, and go to some other place by compulsion.

Would it be a Logical deal to build it in the first place ? Would it be of any use ? Would it mean anything at all ?

Is someone stupid enough to do that ?

Well, everyone is doing that-

There is ONLY one thing that will surely happen to everyone in this life-

It will END.

So, the life that we build here, the home that we build to last for decades here and the relations that we work so hard to make and keep---- Will all END here

.

This Life is that home on an Island.

What ever you do here is not Permanent.

So, make the effort to search for what is permanent.

Its the next one. Its the promised life. Only a fool would not prepare for it. Only a fool will not seek to know about the next life. Only the greatest of the fools will deny it.

The purpose of Life- is to prepare a Home that would last forever in the next one.

The Message

The Message-

We have all played Chinese whisper in our childhood. If you haven’t, try playing it now with your friends.

Times have changed. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed. It is not wrong to think that in the next hundred years the entire world population (that we have now) is most likely going to perish and be eaten by the soil, burnt on wood or incinerated in chambers or left in the oceans. The world as we see it will be run by new people altogether. Large corporations under great leaderships will be run by new leaders and all the employees who built it will be gone and replaced by new faces. Everyone we know now will DIE. This is not new, entire world populations have changed several times over and over and over again over centuries and millenniums.

     Some of you don’t know the names and characteristics and the life spent by you grandfather. It is not unnatural but understand that your grandchildren may not know you too. The hardships that you went through, the love of life that you found, the great things you achieved, the sad lonely feelings that you felt, the happiness that you really wanted to share, the things you did to take care of your children who would go ahead and father the next generation etc. none will be known, and in some cases a name will be remembered and in some others you will be well remembered-but at one point or the other your existence will be forgotten. You will, not even be mentioned-let alone remembered. You will disappear with every trace.

     We discuss ancestors today, we will be ancestors tomorrow. Some of us will be forgotten in the lapse of time while some will be remembered through pictures and words and stories. Unconsciously we all feel that this is all that there is of life, but the truth is far from what we think. Is this our purpose? A small segment of life which is barely significant to the overall system (current world) and almost insignificant as compared to the length of time. Is it really a "purpose" SO SMALL? Do you feel that about yourself? That you are here for just an insignificantly small span of time and this is all that you have and deserve?

     Or do you feel that there is something more to it. A story bigger than yourself.

If yes, read on.

     Ever since time can remember there has always been an importance given to Mankind. People have lived and people have tried to survive. Entire races have disappeared, entire kingdoms have disappeared and only a few can be witnessed from what remains of the monuments that they had built.

     Who lived in them ? Who had put that brick in the ancient wall ? What was he thinking at the time of his work ? What did he eat on that day if he ate at all, will never be known.

     But when we seek to understand why we are just a tiny little part of an infinite picture we must try to locate something that has not changed and remained core and intact for centuries. Even if people passed away into the next dimension- They have left behind something- A message. They have all received a Message. Every nation has received a message and a messenger, every kind of people have received a message and a messenger and the core message has remained intact until now. Right from the very beginning of time, until this very moment as your eyes slide across the this text.
     
     The most powerful, the most influential, spiritual and emotional connection that people have faced since their arrival is religion. People have united under religion, lived religion, fought to support and protect their belief, and lived their entire lives of sacrifice and love all for the sake of religion and religious beliefs.

     So, is it possible that the message in the religion has remained the same since the time began? Is it possible that these messages have originated form the same source? Is it possible that all the messages delivered in different “times/era/age”, hundreds and thousands of years apart carried the same core message implying that the source or sender of the message is same, single or one.

     Let’s find out if the source is single and unique and "One" source for all-

     The oldest religion to exist is Hinduism(it is the oldest is a general agreement). Hinduism is a modern term coined by the people to refer to people living south of river Indus. This was a trade related term. However, it can be used to refer to a certain sect. of people mostly present in the Indian sub-continent.

     The religious knowledge of this Dharma is immense. It is a deeply spiritual religion and the religion in itself is vast and filled with one of the largest and oldest religious literature available to mankind. Though it has a large number of persons under its flag very few even know the language (Sanskrit) of the religious books and very few negligible (in count) persons have even read and tried to gain knowledge about their own identity by which they are referred.
     
     The only knowledge people have is of Cultural Events, their own theories, methods of their parents, and methods of Pundits who can/claim to tell the future and set the financial and emotional future right through their predictions about various things such as marriage planning and financial decisions.

     People have forgotten the real “Rishis” of the past. The Rishis who claimed to possess divine knowledge and brought the message of God and sang the Vedas.
     
     No one bothers to read or even understand what God is himself trying to say to the people of the past through various messengers. These messages were recorded in the past and even altered to some extent by the powerful saints as per their interpretations of the message. Great stories were imagined and spoken and written down over the period of time.
     
     So, what is the core message? How does God describe himself in these scriptures?

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
[Bhagavad Gita 7:20]

People who are "Materialistic" worship demi-gods.

Example : A saint walks into your house and says that he has predicted the future and if the people keep a turtle in the left corner of the third sun-facing room they will benefit and become rich and gain success in future.

     And people follow the Saints/Panits/Babas and they gain success in future and soon start placing a picture of the saint and light fluorescent candle sticks and agarbattis and glorify and pray to this Saint and even the saint allows this to happen. How is this possible? Have the Babas rejected the Vedas ? Verily, they have.

     Rest assured- You have violated the very will of God himself and rejected the Gita. God does not like people who are materialistic and people who believe in a god or demi-God for worldly favors. It is the money these people believe in. If a frog jumped on the right number of lottery ticket this frog is sacred and believed to be an avatar of god or God himself. This is not the message of God, but rather a deep insult to his Greatness. These are false saints, false beliefs and a straight out clear cut announced opposition to the word of God as per Gita i.e "One must not seek God in those things which/who fulfill materialistic desires."

It also denies demi gods.

     The more authentic and core religion which the Pundits will hide(hidden through language barrier) from the normal people as the risk of losing money making business will crash are-

1) "Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1

2) "Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2

3) "Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3

iv. "Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."

"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4

Yajurveda

The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:

1) "na tasya pratima asti
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]5

2) "shudhama poapvidham"
"He is bodyless and pure."
[Yajurveda 40:8]6

3) "Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."
[Yajurveda 40:9]7

Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.

4) The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."
[Yajurveda 40:16]8

5) "Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."
[Rigveda 8:1:1]10

     Hence, he is formless. He is not born to someone. He is One (not divided) and there is no other like him. He cannot be seen.

     God, in his most authentic form of Hinduism religion and scripts, the undisputed final source of true knowledge (Vedas) is asking his saints and Rishis to convey that God is not of any form, he is alone and there is no lord above him. He cannot be seen through the eyes.

     So, if you think a Hindu is to wake up and believe in that poster, to bow down to man-made idols and to divide and think every object is GOD. Then you are only being fooled by the ones who are capitalizing on this Great religion by emptying your pockets in the name of idols and Mandirs. They are fooling you to make themselves rich in exponential levels by destroying one of the oldest and most spiritually connected religion of the world.

     You really believe Hinduism is as small as a belief in an idol that sits in your home manufactured on an assembly line? You think GOD is something manufactured on a machine and and in a industrial plant that was created by some Chinese or American company to produce more efficiently. Do you think the die/mould used to manufacture idols does not exist ?  Is Hinduism so small that it is nothing but a poster that is printed on normal printers and framed in glass and aluminum frame?

     No, Hinduism is far from this. It is a spiritual journey in itself. A story of a world long forgotten and a message that would stay the same for thousands of years. Truth is, Hinduism is bigger than its people, because people have forgotten its roots, beliefs and even the language.
     
      We will now move to a set of people who are among us and are considered to be disappearing as time passes by.

Zoroastrians

The Parsi people have contributed a great to the world. The TATAs are originally Parsis and same goes for Godrej.

      The book of the Parsi where their message has been recorded is called as the AVESTA. The messenger of the Zoroastrains is Zoroasther.

Following points are courtesy of-link

God (Khoda) in the language of the older Zoroastrian scriptures is Ahura Mazda.

There are no Zoroastrian images or representations of God.

The Nature of God, Ahura Mazda

Based on Sad-o-Yak Nam-e-Khoda, the Hundred and One Names of God:

· God (Khoda) in the language of the older Zoroastrian scriptures is Ahura Mazda.

· There are no Zoroastrian images or representations of God.

· The Zoroastrian concept of God is that:

o Understanding the true nature of God is beyond human comprehension (an-aiyafah).

o God is not of human form (aekh-tan) i.e. non-anthropomorphic and without gender. God is a spiritual entity (mino-tum) and thereby formless (an-ainah) and invisible. God has no human frailties (a-bish) or emotions (rakhoh). God shows no anger and no favour (a-sato).

o God is without duality (a-dui).

o God is uncreated and without end (abadah), without cause (a-chem), the great cause (jamaga), the cause of all causes (chamana), and the root of all creation (bune-stih).

o Other texts state that while the eye cannot behold God, and while the mind cannot conceive God, God is nearer to us than our own corporeal selves [cf. Pursishniha in possession of Ervad Tahmuras Dinshaw Anklesaria, 1842-1903 CE (also called Tahmuras Fragments) 58, 59].

     This is strikingly interesting. In a distant Arab land of Iran are people who have their own messenger and message. The core message is not so different from the one in the Vedas-

i.e There is no image of God. He is without duality, i.e He is without a second. An eye cannot behold GOD !!

     Time has passed, geographies have changed, people have changed but the core message is remaining the same. Why ?

     As we read in my previous article- A 30 person hypothetical society we understood that as time passes by and generations change the next generation rejects the beliefs of the earlier as they feel that they are empowered with more "knowledge" and technological advancements and they can come up with a better system of governance than the old one.

     So, the same message was being delivered to people across the world through time and space but it would be rejected as time and generations passed by and distorted with time.

     The factor of time is not applicable to God, i.e only if we try and comprehend the idea that God is not born and hence, there is no start or end to God that we will be able to understand the first. In other scripts God mentions himself as The perfection i.e being the only one of his kind and perfect.

     This means both Hinduism and Zoroastrianism were from the same source. However, they were for a different time and different set of people.

Let us now come to another great message-

     The message is in the form of "Torah" which is the central message for the Jewish people or central book of Judaism and their messenger is Prophet Musa (A) or Moses.

     Moses is the prophet who would bring down the tyrant and evil ruler of Egypt. The builder of the pyramids and the great Firaun or Pharoh. The central message of Moses was or is-

13 Principles of Faith

The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely-accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Rambam's thirteen principles of faith. These principles, which Rambam thought were the minimum requirements of Jewish belief, are:

1. G-d exists

2. G-d is one and unique

3. G-d is incorporeal

4. G-d is eternal

5. Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone and to no other

6. The words of the prophets are true

7. Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets

8. The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses

9. There will be no other Torah

10. G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men

11. G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked

12. The Messiah/Messenger will come

13. The dead will be resurrected

G-d is One

     One of the primary expressions of Jewish faith, recited twice daily in prayer, is the Shema, which begins "Hear, Israel: The L-rd is our G-d, The L-rd is one." This simple statement encompasses several different ideas:

1. There is only one G-d. No other being participated in the work of creation.

2. G-d is a unity. He is a single, whole, complete indivisible entity. He cannot be divided into parts or described by attributes. Any attempt to ascribe attributes to G-d is merely man's imperfect attempt to understand the infinite.

3. G-d is the only being to whom we should offer praise. The Shema can also be translated as "The L-rd is our G-d, The L-rd alone," meaning that no other is our G-d, and we should not pray to any other.

The same message again.

     This is different people, a different time/era/age and a different world altogether and yet the message is same. The message is more intense than it was in the earlier stages. It not only states that God has no image and there is no materialistic form of God, it goes on to express that God dislikes those who put their beliefs in the materialistic world and try to give God a materialistic form or image etc. This means that the same message was delivered again with more clarification that God not only is formless but he also dislikes those who give him a false form out of their imagination.

     The message is same as we read earlier that he is formless and he has no image and he is Alone, there is no second to him and he is perfection- Thus, only one.

     Let us now move on to the another message which is not very far in terms of our time.

CHRISTIANITY

     The message is called as the Bible or Angeel and was received in Hebrew language. The Messenger was Isa(AS) or Jesus. This message has an exact time of its delivery; about 2000 years ago the message was delivered.

     What is the core message about who is GOD?

Concept Of God in OldTestament:

1. God is One

The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from Moses (pbuh):

“Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad”.

It is a Hebrew quotation which means:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord”

[The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]

2. Unity of God in the Book of Isaiah

The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:

(i) “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.”

[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]

(ii) “I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me.”

[The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]

(iii) “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.”

[The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]

3. Old Testament condemns idol worship

(i) Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.”

[The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]

(ii) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy:

“Thou shalt have none other gods before me.”

“Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth.”

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.”

[The Bible, Deuteronomy 5:7-9]

     Again the message is exactly the same but with more detailed commands and not just explanations. Here, God says through his message- He is one, there is no one like him. There is no image or shape of him and he is formless. If you explore further, the concepts are exactly the same in most parts in all of the above discussed messages. God is eternal is a name and property associated to God in all the descriptions of God through his messengers. He is formless and shapeless is always clearly said and God does not like materialistic people who make things as God, money as God, their own creations as God or try to give any materialistic form or image or shape to God or invent demi-gods in their various pursuits or worldly desires. A farmer who survives on selling milk makes the cow his God. A cow is a creation of God; no doubt it has to be respected. But it is not God itself. It is God’s. 

     Centuries and Rishis and messengers and books and time immemorial has been saying and delivering the same message about ONE God. The creator of everything, who has no form or shape or limitations or is not in some form or animal or thing walking around us. Of course, his creation is all around us and he tells us about it too-describing "Mankind" as the best of it.

Let us come to the most modern times and message-

Islam

The people of this message are called as Muslims, their messenger is called as Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and their message is directly God’s speech in the form of Quran.

In Quran, God is called as Allah. This message was delivered about 1450 years ago in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. A different time and place and era.

How does Allah describe himself in Quran ?

Lets see it-

Surah Al-Ikhlaas

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem


Qul Huw-Allahu Ahad
Allah-us-Samad
Lam yalid wl lam yulad
Wa lam yakul lahu kufuwan ahad

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Say: He is Allah, the One!
Allah, the eternally Besought of all!
He begetteth not nor was begotten.
And there is none comparable unto Him.

      The message starts with, he is one. [The Muslims also accept anyone as Muslim who testify or accept that God is one and believe in the messengers of God(If you think God is one and you believe in the message and messenger, you are a Muslim)]. Meaning one entity or alone or single.

     He is eternal, that means the time factor is absent for Allah. He was not born neither he gives birth(as most of the above earlier text mentioned) and there is no one comparable to him, that means he is none like the other.

This is the same message !

      The previous messengers before Mohammad (PBUH) talked about the final messenger. They always mentioned that there will be a final messenger and described him. Vedas and Bhavisya Puran go on to name the messenger and all his details directly within the religion and saying that the arrival of the final messenger is remaining and awaited and describe Mohammad as the final messenger. Read about the final messenger mentioned in the books here.

Is there a wrong feel about this?

     No, the core message is the same. The same entity, GOD is delivering the message in different times and for different people. When God delivered through Mohammad(PBUH) he asked him to tell the people that this message is not just for a time and a particular area or people. This is the last of all the messages. This is the final message and this is till the end of time and for all the people- unlike how it was before.

[There have been 1,24000 messengers since time.]

     Era has changed, world has changed, times have changed and entire populations have changed. Yet the core message is same.

THE MESSAGE- is the ultimate truth. It is all from the same source. Pick up Buddism and you will discover the same message. All the messages also talk about the final messenger. That can be studied in a different book and can be provided on request to readers. Pick up any major religious sacred scripture and you will discover the same message about one God and his formless being.

To sum it up-

     There is one God. He has no form or Image. There is no other like him. He is eternal. He is the lord of all that exists. We must not give shapes and forms to God. We must only worship that One God whose message has existed since time immemorial. While people and worlds have disappeared he has not- and he does not die. Our ancestors have died but he has stayed to send the message upon us.

     We are all people of the same GOD. Don’t give God an image or shape. Don’t divide God. Find out the Final message and follow it. Because learning from parents is good but not enough, learning from saints is good but not enough. We must Follow the creator and not the creation.

THE MESSAGE DELIVERED.

Author's note- I don't claim to know everything. I claim to seek knowledge and pass it around. I learn from sources and try to put it together. These are my words but my work. 

Parts of the article are God's words.

Life Minus Body

In the previous post we discussed a question- Can we escape religion?

We understood that irrespective of the belief of a person in one religion or the other or being an atheist, one cannot escape religion of some kind or the other.

Let us look into a simple thought that most of you have had at some point in your lives or will have at some point.

Let us consider a simple (fictitious) situation-

We have a body of a young 24 year old person who has died due to some unfortunate event. In this case due to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Sudden cardiac attacks or failures are on a rise. A person in a perfectly normal state with no noticeable symptoms or signs of any kind just drops dead at a very normal event such as walking, eating, sitting, talking, playing, driving etc.

In our case the person was sitting in the hospital visiting his friend who had a small surgery done on him. While he came to greet his friend with flowers, he suddenly felt uneasy and dropped. The hospital staff rushed to him and an effort was made to revive him, unfortunately he could not be revived and was declared dead.

What has really happened here?

About an hour ago the person was perfectly normal and walked into the hospital and talked and did normal things. Even now he can be seen on the hospital bed calmly appearing to be asleep.

It is the body pump which has died as per the reports. Can an artificial replacement of the pump(heart) be done now?

Will the reports of death which point out the cause allow us to fix the cause and bring the person back to life?

Should we just plug him into a pumping machine and see if he suddenly starts talking?

It does not happen that way.

Even if you have a human body which is perfectly normal in all other forms and only a heart needs to be changed, you still cannot bring the person back to life.

Why won’t the person become totally normal even after we have got all the gadgets right?

If a car’s fuel pump fails, a change of the fuel pump will make the car normal again. The car does not go DEAD! If the system is back in place it becomes as normal as new.

This means that there is something else besides just a perfectly laid out body. Let us call this “something else” as ”X”.

Mathematically, we can say-

Body+ X = Alive

Where “X” is the unknown additive that keeps a person alive or is a sum of factors or a single factor that keeps a person alive.

We can say,

Body –X=Death.

Also,

Body = Alive–X

There is an X factor; some have termed it as Soul.

At this moment you are not just a body, you are a body with the X element in you. The moment it leaves, you will not be able to even stay as it is without immediate aid. Ants will start consuming you; your body will start decomposing right away.

What is X made up of?.......discussed in coming soon section…..

Is some form of nourishment needed by ‘X’ also?

Like yogurt helps your intestinal aura, calcium rich food helps your bones, vitamin A helps your vision etc. Is there food needed by this X factor also? It is very clear that this element is separate from the body in terms of design; therefore its food if needed by it is also most likely not going to be like the one needed for the body. … Discussed in coming soon section…..

Layman’s term: A car needs fuel; its driver needs fuel too. And they both are incomplete without one another. But the food for car which is various oils and coolants etc. is not what the driver eats or consumes to keep on going. In the same way, a body is just a vehicle and soul is the driver. They both consume different forms of food.

So what does the Soul feed on? Discussed in coming soon section...

A 30 Person Hypothetical Society

Let us set up the environment of the Hypothetical situation.

Geography

The world is surrounded by water. There is an island and the Island has the following,

1) Cave

2) Trees with fruits

3) 30 persons, 15 women and 15 men. Not all are alike.

4) Wild animals

5) The people have basic intelligence of weapons and identification of basic food.

6) Wild animals and domestic animals (but not yet domesticated)

7) Fresh water pond

8) You as "Creator" are in full control and are currently letting the system work by itself. You will intervene only when you think the system is itself at stake.

9) Humans are unaware of where they came from.

10) They have a language and can communicate.

11) They have all lived and experienced the basic needs and threats and instincts. And they will now unite in one system.

The system begins.

15 persons (all men) meet each other outside the cave. They are all carrying a spear each. They meet each other and form opinions about one another in their minds. They enter the cave and find shelter. It is raining outside and hence, they must stay inside. They ask each other about who they are and where did they come from. Nobody knows. (Technically they should fight over the cave and kill each other, for argument sake we will let them continue)

One of them is creative and he suggests that he saw a deer giving birth to a smaller deer and hence we are born from something.

Another is intelligent so he adds that it is likely we are born from each other.

The third is intelligent and far sighted. He knows survival is not going to be easy and this question is constantly repeated about who we are. He says or rather lies for the greater benefit of the community that we are all coming from the Sun/lamp. Because it is only the sun that protects us and allows us to see, feel the warmth and stay safe. He also claims to know this for sure and he has talked to the sun and the sun has some rules for us. People agree to his logic but cannot understand how we were born from the sun.

That is when they hear voices. These voices don’t scare them. They are not scary like those of the animals. Rather soothing and comforting. There are women in the cave.

They meet their other similar kind and start talking and exploring mentally. There is immediate attraction.

The society is confused now.

The women were happy and exploring their own world. They had their own theory about where they came from. They felt that it was land that was where they came from as one of them had noticed that the land gave food to them and the animals. These animals become food to others and then all the animals disappeared into the land eventually. They would kiss the land every day to show their respect.

The men were already singing songs when the sun came up. They praised the sun.

So the sun met the earth.

The immediate attraction to women was the new thing for the men. The same was for the women.

However, one man was the most attractive of all and one women the most attractive of all.

But by nature of humans- Everyone wanted the best female.

So the fight begins. The strongest one takes the best female. The political one convinces three other less intelligent men to follow his command as he is the one who is close to the sun and gave the knowledge of the sun. He convinces them that the strong bully man who has taken the best women and few others for himself cannot be allowed to survive and must be returned to the sun. So the three attack the Bully and take him down. Just as they are about to smash his head open-

YOU INTERVENE (in their minds) as you cannot let a killing spree begin-

Beware! It is I who created you. I am your Master. I don’t die like you do and neither am born from something like you. You shall not kill your own kind and neither hurt the other.

One of them is a good man. Who is only involved in doing things like bringing water, calming people down and does not lie and does not think about hurting anyone. So you think he is worthy of a gift.

You, Oh ! Righteous one. You shall be my slave who will monitor these people and set things right. If no one follows my command I will make them do it.

Tell them, that I know the liar who said that the Sun is where you came from. He only made a story to use you. You have all witnessed him using the three to kill the bully.

Each man shall have one woman only and not touch or even enjoy the speech of the other man’s woman. So shall be the same for the woman.
No one should lie even if it benefits them. And I will punish those who do the same.

Was there another way to control the society and system?
Yes, but that was some other theory with some other rules.

The society must have rules.

Our society has its own in the real world. We have learned with time and created the constitution. Is the constitution fair to everyone? No. Constitution is more like a tool to neutralize the strong and empower the weak. To reduce the able, and push the disabled. But it does help to stabilize the society. Every time the society changes, the rules of constitution change.

The society cannot sustain without boundaries form the very beginning. The food will be fought over. The land will be fought for. The water will be fought for. The women will be fought for. People will be deceived, leaders will rise, massacre will happen. A simple experiment or hypothetical situation seems like an impossible situation as soon as it starts to form (A more imaginary version can be studied in the amazing book titled Lord of the flies-William Golding). There is no way people will cooperate in a society with scarce resources or abundant resources. The people will have to be bound by rules. Rules that will exist through the nature itself- such as the rule that you must eat, you must drink, you must sleep, you must protect yourself etc. everything that happens to you is a laid out set of rules for the nature itself. The pain you feel after a cut is a rule for the human body, it must happen. The fish must not come out of the water, you must have food to survive, you must breathe to live; are nothing but rules and they are of pinnacle importance as deviation from them is possible, but the effects of the deviation are disastrous.

But ‘free will’ is uncontrolled and yet driven entirely upon rules that exist around us. If ‘free will’ is given into the hands of the people without any rules-

The bully will want everything for himself.

The leader will make his followers take down others and keep everything for himself.

The intelligent will invent his own useful methods to take down the other and keep everything for himself. (Let’s not forget technology- Hiroshima and Nagasaki are two words enough to justify the thought)

There will be good men who would only want the best for everyone. But they will not be allowed to perform as their ideas will make everyone equals. In reality-The leader is no equal, the handsome is no equal, the white is no equal the black is no equal the tall is no equal the fast is no equal…everything and everyone is different and unique. And all of them aspire to be the best, and to get the best. Men are greedy by nature only because of the element of free will.

A person can think as much as he likes, but the ONLY possible solution to a society is rules.

Rules will exist in one way or the other. There is no escaping that. The rules will also be hard for one type of person and easy for another. Imagine a rule in the society that the strong shall not kill or hurt. This is going to destroy the one who is strong and make the weak’s chances of survival better. The rule would soon need to be modified to- No one shall kill the other.

Because the physically weak may be intellectually strong he may not need to fight the other at all and yet cause destruction of his enemies.

There is no possible way that a system can survive without rules. Otherwise it will be just a system which never develops and is propelled by pure instincts. It will be a system that is more like the behavior of animals. We are not animals. We can improvise.

The question really is- who will set out the rules for us.

It has to be someone from outside the system. Someone, who cannot benefit or take any loss from creating the rules, someone, who is Just and understands us completely. You know the society cannot function without rules.

So what is a religion?

A set of rules, some clearly benefitting and some seemingly odd.

Imagine our hypothetical 1:1 society. Because of the ratio of one is to one of male to female we had to implement the rule that one shall have only one woman. That is just the beginning as the immediate retaliation of the people would be- who will have which one. So you could come up with an idea to stabilize your society- let a coin toss decide or let them decide for themselves (disastrous) or let the parents decide or let the chief or most loyal man decide etc. Immediately, millions of doubts will arise. Who is the most loyal, how do we decide the most loyal. What if the parents are wrong, what if the parents are being selfish what if the parents make a match that is fighting each other, who will toss the coin..etc..WHO WIL DECIDE!!

It is impossible to manage people like this. There has to be a deeper set of rules. The eventual result of all these rules will form a religion.

The question is this- Whether we like it or not we will always need to have and follow a set of rules. Some of them, we may never understand and yet we should know that they are just a set of rules for the benefit of every individual as a whole. Not for just a type of people or a kind of people or for the benefit of one over the other. It is benefit for all. And those who reject it are only trying to come up with rules that will benefit them.

Is this happening?

Yes.

The Americans want to be the only ones to have nuclear technology.

A few countries (countries were created due to greed, before it was just rules) are calling themselves the 5 powerful countries whose decisions decide the fate of the world.

All nations have a trade policy to benefit for themselves FDI is just one example. Employment has rules about the category of people who will be employed. Many countries demand their kind of men should have compulsory openings. India has caste wise jobs; gulf has their own country employment programme.

All inventions are patented. Africa has AIDS but only few countries have the control mechanisms which are sold at unbelievable prices for benefits. The whole pharmaceutical industry is a set of patents. No one is thinking about the benefit of the whole world because once we modify the rules they are always bound to be biased. The rules MUST be from outside the system.

And these set of rules must be from a JUST source and a Perfect source. Who will decide this perfect source?

Each individual who will decide it from his free will and then follow the rules all together as a whole without really challenging them because, challenging them happens because you need something that benefits you or you don’t seem to understand their benefit. Looking for the benefit is again a selfish cause.

In our 30 person society we said one man for one woman. That may not make sense to the strong person. For him it is easy to handle all 15. But that would leave 14 other men sad, and women sad and loot the society of emotional and physical needs.

In our society, after you intervened and fixed the situation. Everything was all right. But as the society will grow old new generation will think and wonder why I can’t have two apples, two lands, more cattle etc. The rules will have to be reminded to them. They will require proof for the rules because it will not be benefitting them individually and they will also consider their ancestral knowledge as out dated and only useful for the ancestors and modify their rules as per the benefit to themselves.

The fact is- we cannot escape rules and hence we cannot escape religion.

You as Creator will have to intervene in every aspect of the society and tell them what is best for them. Otherwise, people will invent you and upon you they will invent rules. A butterfly is born pre-programmed to travel thousands of miles, birds are preprogrammed to duck when a predator appears in the sky and raise their heads when their parents appear for food, a baby deer runs at the sight of an animal that could harm it and sucks without being told the milk it needs for its thirst, birds of different generation manage to migrate to same places as their previous generations have even while they haven’t seen it before, a human baby cries for the food it badly needs and yet a grown up person doesn’t cry the moment they are hungry, humans try to follow something or the other in their lives because they are also built with the thirst to realize that there is something that they are looking for and it goes on forever. Nature has been preprogrammed. (By nature itself? That is a different chapter in the coming soon zone…)

What this very simple food for thought is trying to say is-

1. We need a set of rules from outside the system. Call it religion or call it the way of life or call it anything that you want. But that is necessary. If it doesn’t exist it will still be created anyway and that would be unfair unless it is from outside the system and from a source that does not benefit or lose from the rules and is Just. We see it in the world clearly millions die because of hunger yearly and one example is clear enough to tell us that our rules are selfish.



2. Mankind cannot escape rules.



3. A set of rules is religion and hence mankind cannot escape religion. Either they will accept it or reject it, a group of persons rejecting it are only forming their own rules or rather religion.

Hence, it is only natural to have a religion in once life.

If you say you are an atheist. You just have your own definition of rules. That is all.

A very detailed approach to the subject can be taken describing the conflicts and resolution on every single issue that would arise in a hypothetical society. However, the purpose was only to understand the simple idea that there is no way that one can escape rules and regulations in a society and hence it is impossible to escape religion. One can only be a part of a different school of thought but cannot escape the thought itself.

(The sole purpose of this article is to understand religion and NOT in any form compare anything or anyone with God)