On Faith, God and Everything In Between!

I was never planning to do this post here. Not in the near future anyway. But Vagabond’s response to my previous post “Do You Believe In God?” warranted a response for which a follow up comment was woefully insufficient and consequently, this post became inevitable. Once again, thank you Vagabond for taking this blog to places it had never really considered and wouldn’t have ever stepped into but for your regular and remarkably insightful comments.

God.

The fascinating, confounding entity that continues to baffle a large section of humanity irrespective of their belief system and the fact of whether or not they believe at all.

But who is God? What is God?

I don’t know.  In all probability, nobody does. What I do know is that there is a Higher Force…some abstract divine consciousness that is indefinable, formless and ultimate. But that is because I believe.

Many don’t. And do perfectly fine.

But even those who don’t, do usually have something they rely on. For some, it is life. For some it is logic. For some it is hard work. And for a whole lot of them, it is their own self.

What is important here is that belief…or idea of having faith in something is important for us as human beings. We ought to repose our faith is something…or someone. It may be an abstract entity, it may be a school of thought, it may be another human being…it may even be our your own very self. As a matter of believing in your own self is actually a very widely recognized school of spiritual thought that is based on the philosophy of Aham Brahmasmi (I am the Divine Flame).

The idea of faith is independent of the entity. In fact, if we were to believe in the idea of a Higher Consciousness as an abstract, fluid entity, it automatically translates into the idea that this Higher Consciousness will then manifest as per our own individual belief system, no matter how atheistic. And so, if you believe in yourself...you are in fact believing in the Higher Consciousness that manifests as your own very self via self realization in your particular case. The Higher Consciousness can manifest as anything from the version of God you believe to the soul of the departed loved ones you believe are looking over you. It can manifest as kindness of the strangers, as affection of a beloved, as reward of hard work, as surprise turn of destiny, as your confidence or will power, as your ability to fight and survive…even as a leap of plain, old logic.

If you believe, manifestations are just another detail. And of course, there are no coincidences.

The fallacy lies in anthropomorphizing the idea of God. To think that He is a human equivalent, which as I had said in my previous post, automatically implies that in our understanding, He exhibits all the good and evil that humans understanding can encompass.

It is oversimplification. Because if there really is a Force…a God powerful enough to helm the entire Universe, His…for the lack of better term, qualities would be way beyond human understanding or comprehension. Human sentience, human good and human evil would be nothing more than a pale shadow of whatever He stands for and is comprised of.

Theist, atheists, agnostics—they are human categorizations. And like every other human categorization including caste, race, color, religion and gender—they are incomplete. A mere piece of a puzzle, I am pretty sure the God…or the Higher Consciousness is way beyond such petty human categorizations. What is fundamental here…what would matter in the larger scheme of things is the idea of faith, irrespective of the entity that it is reposed in. Because faith is a force…a force which in its true form can actually alter the Universe, change the rules of the game and alter destinies.

If faith is so powerful, then why do disasters hit the faithful? Why is there so much suffering around us? How is a loving God letting so many people languish? Why is there so pain in this World?

God is love. God is faith. God is also personal.

The pain, the sufferings, the tragedies…they are an inevitable part of the cycle of creation and destruction that is essential for this Universe to survive. Just for a second, imagine a Universe where this God ensures there is no pain, no suffering, no tragedies. It is Utopia. And the kind that everyone thinks is ideal.

But is it?

Will good hold meaning without the bad? Will love hold meaning without hate? Will life sustain without death?

These are complex philosophical questions. They have no right answers. Just your answer…and my answer.

The point is, to say that God doesn’t exist because there is evil and suffering and pain around is a little problematic.  It is not wrong…because after all, it is a matter of personal belief and the Higher Consciousness would be meaningless if It did not respect personal beliefs and choices. But the argument, per se, is in broad brush strokes.

Besides, instead of drawing second hand conclusions, if we actually ask people who have been through immense personal sufferings and tragedies, we will find an unbelievably large chunk of people who will tell you how they found THEIR GOD right in the midst of their tragedy, their pain and suffering. Of course, there would be an equally large number of unbelievers borne out of those very tragedies. But the fact that faith manages to sustain for such a large number of people in face of insurmountable human catastrophes and nearly impossible circumstances by itself speaks volumes about how faith, the Higher Consciousness and human sufferings interact in real human situations.

The value and function of faith in human lives are complex and multi layered. And while the idea of faith being an actual Universe altering force may be a doubtable, the importance of faith as a veritable coping mechanism is undeniable. And since this can of worms has already been opened, it makes sense to explore the idea of faith and its facets in a little more detail. This post, however, is already in the philo-spirituality overdose zone and any further additions here would be overkill. If you are not already brain dead with boredom, do check back for the final and concluding part of this rare series of serious posts on this blog on God, faith and everything in between!

Do You Believe In God?

A regular reader of this blog (they are rather rare to find and Choti Mata is insanely grateful whenever she can locate one. So, thanks a ton, Vagabond!) asked Choti Mata to answer this simple question.  So, Choti Mata did. Try to answer the question that is. It is still a try because no matter how simple the question sounds, it just isn’t and by the time Choti Mata was done with this post, she thinks she had figured why truth seeking ascetics tend to end up in the Himalayas. She is still not sure if Himalayas do really hide those elusive answers in their frozen caves but she definitely relates to the frustration that might lead to the belief that they actually do.

Do you believe in God?

It is a trick question. Almost…if you take into account the fact that this question, if not in so many words than in some form, format or variation is perhaps the single biggest reason behind few of the bitterest and often the bloodiest discords of our times. 

This, however, is not a post about those discords and their nuances. This post is not about theists and atheists. Or about seculars and religious fundamentalists.

This is personal. And I shall answer it, personally.

Personally, this is perhaps the best time for me to answer this question.  Personally, this is also the worst time for me to answer this question.  This is not a rambling paradox. And this is not a contradictory statement made for impact. The timing is indeed complicated. There are real reasons behind this complication. Perhaps, at some point of time in future, I will elaborate on those reasons.

This post, however, is not about those reasons. Or about my abstract philosophical musings.  I chose to touch upon them because timing is relevant.  For a question that follows us along the crests and troughs of our life, timing is fundamental. Because it is easy to say ‘YES’ when you are at the crest. And it is awfully easy to go with ‘NO’ when life has thrown us into a trough.  The answer is variable and every version is as true as the other at least in those given circumstances.

The best time to answer this question is when you are neither at the crest nor at the trough. When you are on one of those never ending curves that are so complex that you don’t even know if it is a definitive rise or an outright fall or somewhere in between. The uncertainty of that journey is the true test—the point where there are no easy answers. Not to that question at least.

I am at that curve right now. Which why, this is the best time to answer this question. Because the answer would be a lot more accurate. And this is the worst time, because the answer is not easy.

Or maybe it is.

Before I get into the rambling, philo-spiritual discourse that this question warrants, I will give a straightforward answer to this question.

Yes. I believe in God. Absolutely, unequivocally…and hopefully, irrevocably.

I believe in God…or more accurately, I believe in the idea of a Higher Power or Higher Consciousness. I also believe, as do most spiritual disciplines in some form or spirit, that while this Higher Power/Consciousness is universal, its manifestations are a matter of personal faith and hence variable—not just on the basis of our religious/cultural beliefs but our experiential realities as well. And hence the multiple identities that are attributed to it—God, Universe, Life, Destiny or Self.

Each of these manifestations is as true as the other, as powerful as the other and as divine as the other. It is this fascinating multiplicity of the Universal that makes this whole idea so enthralling and intriguing and yet, so difficult to comprehend.

But as I said before, this post is personal. And I am going to focus on the God that I believe in.

God for me is not an idea borne out of religion—although religion does play a crucial part in how I identify the manifestation of my God that I can relate to and also dictates, broadly, how my initial relationship with my God was formed. This is further bolstered by the fact that I belong to a family that is extremely culturally inclined and where daily prayers and elaborate rituals are, to date, a sacrosanct tradition.

Traditions are a part of the culture I belong to. They are a part of my identity. And they add value—not necessarily the kind of value that conservative fundamentalists tend to insist on—but there is undeniable value in social, familiar and spiritual currency.  The value that continues to justify organized religions in our societies despite their evident drawbacks.

I enjoy traditions. I am well versed in them.  There have been many memorable occasions where I almost ended up in an altercation with the priest designated to perform a certain ‘puja’ because he had messed up the order of the said ‘puja’ or done something that I knew was not what was traditionally done. 

Yes, I am that well versed. 

I am aware of the rituals and pujas and all sorts of traditional practices.  I am also a professed liberal who prides herself in her open mindedness and who doesn't believe in most of those traditions. I participate in a whole bunch of those very traditions because they are fun. I have no affinity for long drawn rituals that make no sense.I don’t subscribe to senseless taboos and illogical superstitions. I don’t perform rituals just because I have been told that performing them will ‘please’ certain Gods or not performing them will ‘anger’ them. But I do perform/participate in the ones that I really and truly enjoy (usually because there is great food at the end of it and/or the whole family gathers for it and ends up having a blast).

Yes, paradox is the theme of my life. 

Personally, my culture/tradition repertoire includes several chants, Rudraksh and quite an elaborate establishment of Gods that my mother has lovingly created at our home. Again, I don’t do this because I want them to fulfill a wish. Or because I am scared. I do this because it helps me make a real spiritual connection with my God. I do what feels right…and what makes me happy.  I do what I think helps me connect with my God. And that is a conscious, personal choice which can vary drastically from one individual to the next.

I believe in God. But I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t believe in the commonly perpetrated image of the God where he is projected as some sort of a strict guardian with a stick in hand, waiting for us to make that minor/major slip up so that He can bash our heads at every available opportunity. I do not believe in the idea of a God who is cruel or capricious; who hands out harsh punishments and needs to be placated and pleased with bribes and offerings; who is unpredictable and who needs to put us through rigorous ‘tests’ to ensure that we are up to some sort of an elusive mark.

That is one scary God. And definitely not the God I believe in.

If there is a Higher Consciousness…if there is a God, I think He would be an embodiment of infinite compassion and understanding. Given the sheer scale and diversity of the Universe that He has created, I believe, He has to be infinitely liberal and open minded…and empathetic beyond all human limits. To attribute human follies to our God—human follies like anger, greed, impatience, narrow mindedness and hatred—is not only problematic but fundamentally wrong and against the very idea of having a God in our Universe, no matter what religion, sect, timeline or geographical location is being taken into account.

God is a beautiful idea. My God is a beautiful idea. He (yes He…irrespective of my feminist bearings, my God is a He…and for good reasons). He is the reason why I exist…why I can get up in the morning and fight for my dreams. He is my biggest support system…my greatest strength…the light of my life…the peace for my soul.

He is my soul.

He is my everything.

Believing in God, for me, is like breathing. You take Him away…I am as good as dead.

Some of the most powerful spiritual traditions of the World talk about having a relationship with your God—a relationship that is rooted in pure love and faith. That is the kind of bond that is considered to be truly spiritual—the real path to peace and happiness.

To think of God as an overbearing, almost scary force alienates us from His love—prevents us from understanding the spiritual depths of our souls. A bond borne out of fear, no matter how pure or sacred, is bound to be fragile and to a large extent unfulfilling. If we seek fulfillment and joy, we need to stop being afraid of our Gods. We need to start forging a relationship with them.  In my limited experience, uncomplicated faith and unconditional love are the simplest and shortest route to our God, no matter who He maybe. 

Believing in God is fulfilling and sustaining.  Those of us who have been blessed with this gift of faith are lucky.

The true bliss, however, is for the luckiest of them all—the ones who are in love with their God. Sufi traditions believe in an all encompassing version of love that they feel for their beloved, their God—a love that has no boundaries, definitions or segregation of any sort. A love that is so complete that it transgresses all limits of human understanding; fills every void in the human soul and is enough in absolute terms. It sounds a little impossible but I am more than a hundred percent convinced that it is not. That love of that kind is exists and is attainable.

That love…that is my kind of aspiration.

In Defense Of FOOD! a.k.a You Should Eat That Chicken! Love, A Vegetarian Soul.

Choti Mata's Notes: Choti Mata has just been informed by Bear Grylls on her television that she can eat a particular variety of scorpion raw, if she manages to remove its stinger. He has skipped the part where he was supposed to tell us that it is imperative that we do not shriek like a banshee and faint the moment we spot that scorpion anywhere within a 100 meter radius of our person. He, however, did not skip the part where he told us, matter of fact, that it is entirely possible that we might be dead before we manage to take the first bite of this culinary delight. Choti Mata thinks Bear Grylls is badass and should never ever consider turning into a vegetarian. She also thinks food is a choice and gets severely offended when someone passes a judgment on that choice.

Choti Mata is a vegetarian. Vegetarian. Not vegan. Which means that she loves her daily glass of milk and prefers it to be sourced from four legged creatures of the bovine family instead of some foul plant derivative that works too hard to pass itself as milk. She also loves cheese in all its forms and versions, including the ones that she cannot pronounce to save her life. And threats of an expanding waistline notwithstanding, she refuses to give up butter and believes that she is a valid option should Amul decide to replace its famous Amul girl with someone who looks a little more human and a little less cute.

Choti Mata is vegetarian who has nothing against eggs either. Google tells me that this means I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. And for a moment there, I had actually believed that there wouldn’t really be a term for people like us—that civilized society has not really matured enough to accommodate our freaky kind who refuse to fit in the well defined boxes of eating habits.

Apparently, the civilized society is more mature that I was giving them credit for. At least within the confines of Google search pages.

I am vegetarian. And it is not a religion issue. It was at some point of time. But it is not anymore. I continue to be a vegetarian because I think it is a gentler, kinder way of living and I do not intend to alter it as of now.

That in no way implies that eating non-vegetarian food per se is vile and cruel. It is just a comparative idea. So may be, being a vegetarian is a little more kind. A little more gentle. But I totally am with all the non-vegetarians on the idea that there is a particular way the food-chain had been set up in nature and that human beings are omnivores. But you dare throw the ridiculous argument at me that ‘plants have life’ and that ‘vegetarians too are guilty of murder…of plants”; I will first throw something at you, something that will be solid and will hurt like hell and then, I will tell you that if nature really wants me to ‘kill’ something to feed myself, which it seems it does, I will rather kill something that does not spill its guts all over me when hacked with a knife, does not scream in agony when its throat is slit and does not taste like blood if undercooked. If that means I have to hurt a few plants’ feelings, I think I am okay being that monster.

This is a ridiculous line of argument no matter how you look at it. And it is pointless. As I said, it is a pretty much a matter of personal preference that should ideally need no arguments, idiotic or otherwise to justify it.  

I don’t eat animal flesh. Or beef. Or poultry. Or sea food. But believe it or not, I have absolutely nothing against those who do.  I do not automatically make moral or religious or character related presumptions about people based on their eating habits.  I just wish everyone around me returned the favor.

Being a vegetarian had interesting ramifications. Like our persistent inability to find five decent things to eat everywhere we go. And the presumption that we will bite the head off anyone who dares mention the word ‘chicken’ in front of us. It is believed that it is the principle of things.

It is not.

Being vegan is the new fad. Being a vegetarian is pretty close to being a vegan. So, I am counting them in. Still, the fact is, we are and perhaps shall always remain in a painful minority. I don’t mind being in minority. What I do mind is when it is automatically presumed that being vegan/vegetarian means I am a prude. Too stuck up to enjoy life. That all vegans/vegetarians deserve sympathy because we are missing out on vital, shiny parts of life.

Newsflash, we are not. Not really. And you would have known if you had bothered to ask.

It is a universal issue. For people who don’t drink. For people who don’t stuff their faces with animal flesh. For people who genuinely do not like shiny bright lights, random sweaty strangers and deafening loud music in the middle of the night and therefore, do not like the idea of parties.  

I’d know. I am all of these people.

Having fun is a subjective idea. Different people have fun in different ways. Just like different people have different tastes. And like to eat different things. It would really be a very sad, monotonous world if everyone likes the same thing in the same way at the same time.

As a general overarching idea, I am having fun. Irrespective of what I eat/drink/do, I usually work very hard to ensure that I am having fun. Just like, I presume, everyone.

Going back to where this post originally precipitated, I work really hard to not label people as savage monsters just because they are sitting next to me digging into a bucket of chicken pieces so huge, it makes me want to mourn the loss of mother hens, all 25 of them and shed silent tears.  As I said before, it would be nice if everyone around returned the favor and stop labeling me as a grass eating whatever. Because not only is it offensive, it is a little reductive in an ill informed sort of a way. Vegetarian food is not grass. And even when it is, it is usually a very well tasting grass. And for anyone who is willing to give it a try with an open mind, vegetarian food, without exaggeration offers incredible variety in terms of options and is scrumptious if done right.

This, however, is not a pitch to turn everyone into a vegetarian. This is not even an argument. Because honestly, I don’t care. In that sense, I think I am more sensible and have more life than several governments and politicians put together. 

Food is an incredibly personal choice. It is sacrosanct. And I firmly believe that nobody has any business interfering in what one chooses to eat or not eat. And more importantly, nobody has any business passing judgments on that choice.

I am vegetarian today. I may turn into a flexitarian tomorrow. And a non-vegetarian the day after. I can change my mind. And I am pretty sure that if I do, I will not sprout fangs. Just because I am eating something today and something else tomorrow, does not mean I have changed as a person. Or maybe I have…but food has got nothing to do with it. So long as I do not switch to cannibalism and start hacking fellow human beings for food, I don’t think it matters.

Food is a choice. A luxury. A gift for humans who have been blessed with the ability to taste and savor and enjoy their food. Food choices are personal. And a lot of times, a function of our socio-economic settings as well as our given circumstances. Sometimes they are a part of our identity, religious and otherwise. Sometimes they are a part of the journey that we undertake to discover our identities. And a lot of times, they are just a wonderful exercise of a privilege that has been exclusively bestowed on the human race.

It is easy for me to convert this post into a representative piece about choices and our innate right to exercise them without being restricted or judged. But even that would be a disservice to an idea that is as beautiful and intimate as food. Food is one of those rare human necessities that are also an absolute pleasure. And it is the only one that is mostly non-controversial (the other one being sex…but it is hardly non-controversial).  

I think we will do everyone a favor if we stopped making food a moral or a religion or a character issue. Or an issue at all. Food should be uncomplicated. And enjoyable. It isn’t half as difficult as it sounds…and is totally worth it!

This Is Not About Feminism! This Is About Free Will Folks!!!

          

Choti Mata's Note: Choti Mata's limited and woefully insufficient social media exposure informed her about the back and forth that is driving the internet nuts ever since Deepika Padukone's "My Choice" video came out. Predictably, it was quickly followed by a barrage of views, opinion, arguments and a "male counter version" no less. The theme is 'choice'.  And since free will has long been Choti Mata's favorite playing ground (and also since everyone and their grandmas are having a field day on the issue, Choti Mata figured she also qualified), here are her two cents. 

This is not about feminism. 

Nope. Not at all. 

Surprisingly (or probably not so much) I agree with both the videos (the Deepika Padukone version and the  very tellingly titled unofficial male version) that currently seem to be competing for 'who can rattle more intellectuals/chauvinists/liberals/everyone else' spot. And contrary to what the common opinion seems to believe, I think both of them are essentially making the same point. The fallacy lies in the perception...in believing that these videos are about feminism and its opposing forces (masculinism!?). 

They are not.

They are about choice. Free will. A concept that is pretty much universal and applies to all human beings, gender notwithstanding. The free will, the choice to wear what I want, be who I want, be with who I want to...or not and so on. Nobody seems to have a problem with any of those parts, theoretically at least. The part that concerns everyone is the part that contains sex (doesn't it always?) and the derived concept of adultery and cheating. 

The male version apparently does not support cheating or adultery. Which is fine. Except that I really don't think I would need or want anyone to 'support' my adultery...or cheating, should I choose to resort to it. It would be my choice. And like every other choice, it would have consequences. Which I would 'choose' to take on as well when I make that kind of a choice, however hypothetical.

(Just to clarify, for the purposes of the rest of this post, consequences do not imply 'bad things', no matter how threatening the word seems to sound. It is simply referring to the inevitable, minus any value judgment at all)

The problem is, choice is a complicated concept. And to view it only from the lens of feminism or anti-feminism or any other 'ism' for that matter will inevitably lead to oversimplification. As it has in the current instance. Nuances will be lost and somewhere, so will be the idea of choice.

Of course cheating or supporting cheating is not empowering. Having sex outside marriage is not empowering...for men or for women. But, the choice to do so, if they are willing to face the consequences. definitely is. And that is a fine line.

The argument is not about sex. Or clothes. Or partners. Or professions. It is about having a choice. Choices will have consequences. I will not cheat if I do not want to be cheated with. But, I may be okay with the idea of open marriages and then the whole arrangement takes an altogether different and much more complex hue. The simple part is the choice and the consequences that go with it. 

Videos like Padukone's too tend to oversimplify the idea. Because of course I have the choice to have sex outside marriage. But that shall entail a responsibility of accepting and respecting others' choices to do the same as well.  If my order is your anarchy, I will have the responsibility to bear with it when it is vice-versa. Feminism  cannot be anybody's get out of jail free card. Which is a point that the male version of the video is also trying to make. 

Pot can be biggest feminist in the World. It still does not get to call the kettle black.  

This is not about feminism. This is about choices. Choices have consequences. Free will always comes at a cost. It is not the punch line of a tragic story. It is the truth. What is also a truth is that there is a whole bunch of us out there, again gender notwithstanding, who understand the costs and are willing to bear it. All they want is the choice to make those choices. They can live with them. Or perish. It is their prerogative. And that is the core of all empowerment...that is all that matters!