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.