Do I believe in God?

 

Do I believe in God? The honest answer to this question is – I don’t know. That is right, I do not know whether I believe in God or not.

How is that possible, you might wonder. How can I not know about my own belief or the lack of it? Valid question.

I do not know whether I believe in God or not for the simple reason that I do not know who or what God is. For me to believe or not believe in something, I first need to know who or what it is, right?

Now, different people might give different answers for the question ‘Who or what is God?’. But if it is true that there is one God and one power that everyone worships by different names, then who or what is it that is worshipped by different names?

Words are signposts

It is said that language and words are signposts. Each word represents a certain concept or an idea. It is important that we go beyond the word itself and grasp that concept. However, most of the time, most of the people remain hung up on the words without the slightest understanding of the concept. The word God has met the same fate.

Call it God, supreme power, cosmic consciousness or any other thing, we need to step beyond the words and labels and try to understand what it means. But the word God and what is supposed to be the word of God is taken literally. I mean, how many people have you met that question the concept of God taught to them? How many people question what is supposed to be the word of God?

Yes, there are atheists, agnostics and rationalists. But their number is very small compared to the general population. By and large, people go with whatever is told to them.

A bigger problem

There is however, even a bigger problem. Simply believing what you are taught is one thing. If you are just following your beliefs, fine. But things do not stop here.

If you travel to remote parts of the country, especially during election times, you find that people put up pictures of their favorite leaders and their party symbols on signboards and milestones. Often, this results in a fight between members of two parties over who should remove their pictures and who should not.

This is exactly what people and religions of the world have done to the signpost called God. No one is bothered where the signpost points and where they are supposed to go. What everyone is bothered about is who owns the signpost!! (Only we can put up the picture of our leader on this signpost. Everyone else has to remove theirs. Also, what are you doing putting up picture of that leader? Our leader is the only true leader. If you do not believe in our leader, we will kill you.)

This is ironical…

If it is happening in India, this is ironical. Because India is not a land of believers, but a land of seekers. The Indic tradition has always encouraged healthy debate and seeking. Believing or believing not is based on your experience. This is the only land and culture where you can be an atheist and still be considered a saint. You can not only question the scriptures but also reject them publicly and still be a leader / king / saint.

If the people here are stuck on the ownership of the signpost, it is ironical. (This is a land where you can reject the signpost, refuse to go where it points and still be a great person depending on your karma.)

Coming back

Coming back to the question ‘Do I believe in God?’…

Well, let me first see where this signpost points to and what or who is there. Once I find that out, I will decide whether I believe in it / him / her or not.

Till then, let it be a mystery. I am Ok with not knowing what God is. I am equally OK with not knowing if I believe in it or not.