Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Angelic Verses: My conversations with God - IV

So yeah there was no Angelina. I suppose everyone had got it by now. There was no other angel also, and I had no conversation with God. Because, quite simply, there is no God. The world runs as the world runs. I refuse to accept an idea of God that will try to test our belief in him as much as I refuse to accept an idea of God that allows various earthquakes and volcanoes and tsunamis and floods to create destruction on the earth.
God had to be invented in order to give people something to fear. It was basically a way to keep people from going awry, by scaring them about a higher power. The reason was, that the fear of God will prevent people from acting too selfish and stop them from sinning and a life of crime - and all religions seek to attain this.
The other reason for religion is that it gives people hope - which is the most important of things. The reason to live this stupid life, which always promises you a lot but always falls short of expectation. The hope that there is something else which awaits at the end, and which will give our life a meaning. Anything you do over a course of your lifetime - topping that exam, sitting in a limousine, partying like a wild party animal - often turns surreal over a period of time, and people desire change. But often in life, it is not that easy to change. You are stuck in your job way longer than the honeymoon period. This is where religion comes into place, and makes people believe that if they do a,b,c and d in life, as all normal people do, they will have something promised in the afterlife - either heaven or Moksha or Nirvana. Because otherwise people will just feel depressed, and maybe kill themselves or turn suicidal and stuff.
Which means religion is just an addiction - just like a drug or whisky. It makes people believe in stuff they do not see, and gives them a reason to feel happy about themselves, the same effects induced by alcohol, or more commonly, by drugs. Talking of which, yeah, Angelina was an hallucination.
I used her following the JK Lakshmi Cement Ad motto - catch attention, deliver message. The first 21/2 posts of this series were to catch the attention of the reader, and hence featured sex - as Neha Dhupia says, only SRK and sex sell in India, and I am not too sure about SRK - and the last half post was the actual message. But no one really got it, the message of life, universe and everything.
The message being there is no meaning to life. All those trying to find one are just fooling themselves. We are here because of a scientific pool and are like a simulation. There are infinite other universes in which our Earth does not contain life. We are here because we are, and we are not special. That might depress you, for a while, but it might also give you happiness. For you are no longer addicted. To any fucking religion and following it. No dhams or prayers can help you. For you need no help. Nothing really matters. So you might as well be happy than being sad about the truth.
The best we can do in such a scenario is to actually do what we want to do. Because when you think about it, religion stops you from having fun. That is the bottom line. So have as much fun as you like, for you are not going to be judged. Not in your afterlife anyway. But because you are going to be judged by other people around, you might as well do something for the benefit of others. For there is no greater satisfaction, and happiness than in making others happy. And that is the basis of my religion. Be happy, make others happy, and enjoy.

51 comments:

akshiv said...

I was reasoning out exactly the same thing to some person some time back. That if you assume that god is only a man made concept, nothing is really going to change if rest of the people dont know that its a concept. And the reason for the concept was again as you have described - hope and fear, basically something to fall back on, to put blame upon, to get that imaginary support. However, as for me, I dont think I can be fully convinced towards either side.
and to expect goodness without belief in god might be asking too much, seeing the current situation with the belief.

sunny said...

Nice :) Me too trying to follow your religion. And I hope you are right.

arts said...

Hah! And as you said, this one won't sell. Just verify looking at the number of comments

aashish said...

life seems empty in only enjoyment,dnt you think?
and are you the one who lives for people?wait till you meet some ingrates.
my thoughts,your words.

anon said...

Seriously,Is this a mere repetitive rant?,or you desire to seek religion to slake your thirst,and outlast the fire that sex fails to douse?You(like anyone,everyone else) are stuck in a lifeloop, but have u given up on religion or you do differentiate and rather anchor faith in spirituality?
Knowingly,life would be one hellish ride if everything happens as you deem it fit.Conversely,the real-surreal transcendence of life is not available to slug in terse tetrapacks either,to be begotten in a cheap Buddhist sale. Religion(spiritual conscience) is no reductive drug or drudgery,realised by intuition n not intelligence,but in your case it is the untrodden way lying unexplored just yet…Making people happy will not pay in the long run either,as there is no limit to which you can please as they too cohabit the ditch of life.And yes, this sexually transmitted disease called life has no meaning,but it does have a purpose.
Seek hard enough that you shall eventually find.
P.S-it is nice u ponder questions asked by less and searched by lesser still.
meanwhile,you will always sense pain in pleasure,find pleasure in pain.
It is also a way of life.

zubin said...

@Akshiv: But a state of unaddicted happiness is definitely better than a state of addicted happiness that these religions force upon you, right? And yeah, it might be too much to ask, but maybe we can make an effort. One at a time.
@Sunny: Thanks, man. I am sure I am right :).
@Aarti: This is the fastest I have gotten five comments on this page. It will sell. :).
@Aashish: When does life actually feel complete? All feelings become surreal after a time. Temporary enjoyment is better than toiling away to nothing.
@anon: Thats exactly my point. You using the term "ditch of life" illustrates it. Why does life have to be a ditch? Just be happy in the fact that you are, and there is nothing more to it. And the purpose is also a transient state, because after each purpose you go, what next? And life is a chase after the horizon, you see it but are never able to catch it. So just be happy and enjoy. And life will be so much better, and not a ditch.

aashish said...

dont you ever think that there's a higher purpose in life that eludes you,with the very realization of a vacuity that happiness be but a bottomless pit? elation,if ephemeral,is not happiness at all.And don't tell me to live in the present,for we all slog keeping a better future in mind.
u claim to have some juicy morsels thrown your way by life,but are you not asking the same questions?are you ny happier?

zubin said...

@Aashish: No I dont think there is a higher purpose to life than happiness. I live in the present, have quit my job, I party, I write, and I will only start working again, when I need the money which will allow me to live happily (as in allowing me to party more and travel).
And as for the second question, I am actually happier since I decided to be happy. That all there it is to it. There are slight moments still where I am not too happy, but they come only from my wavering self-belief. And seriously, I am much happier. And I live in the present.

aashish said...

guess you lost the subtle point i desired to convey...predictably enough,you will reach a plateau.
Net some stars in this jobless spell.

zubin said...

Ah! Subtlety was never a strong point for me.
About the hitting the plateau part, at least I will be satisfied and contented and happy till I reach that plateau. Unlike most of the people who are climbing up the hill, getting tired, hating it, seeking the promised land, and do not even know what to seek their. I do not seek. Coz there is nothing to seek in the future. It is all the present.

chumki said...

it's scary and unsettling...but perhaps there is no God...and Religion is man-made. So it's as perfect and as flawed as anything man-made.

And now, I must go and catch up on my Durga Puja shopping...:)

Cheers !

sid said...

happy belated birthday bro!

apoorva gupta said...

wow!!!
hats off to you man!
you just wrote what i had in my mind from a long time. so true..

yes religion is addiction, it is hope, it is an invisible thread people follow with faith coz it takes all the responsibility over "god" and forgives you.....leaving them on a path to regretless peace.

i am adding on a quote i liked on internet today-
"This is a good world. We need not approve of all the items in it, nor of all the individuals in it; but the world itself-which is more than its parts or individuals; which has a soul, a spirit, a fundamental relation to each of us deeper than all other relations-is a friendly world."

Anonymous said...

hi!
few days back i wrote over common topic- "I still think God is just a word to end up all your miseries, a full stop to put upon all your questions. A psychological solution to human brain work.Easy and reliable, Controlled by an institution named religion. They will make you do everything what they want on your own will because they talk to god. Brain's work becomes easier.Once you choose your sides your mind has nothing else to do.Everything else is written, guided and commanded.Just as you want,even easier coz just with your birth you are assigned with those sides till you question it and become the one who has entered one- way from wrong direction.

Anonymous said...

hi!
few days back i wrote over common topic- "I still think God is just a word to end up all your miseries, a full stop to put upon all your questions. A psychological solution to human brain work.Easy and reliable, controlled by an institution named religion. They will make you do everything what they want on your own will because they talk to god. Brain's work becomes easier. Once you choose your sides your mind has nothing else to do. Everything else is written, guided and commanded.Just as you want,even easier coz just with your birth you are assigned with those sides till you question it and become the one who has entered one-way from wrong direction.

ankit said...

ahoy comment section has a debate generated.what engineering has done to you man,finding it difficult to reconcile science and God,or groping for faith when most godmen are exposed as dogmen.Religion is not economic,political or social,it is an individual pantheism.contrary to neitzche's "god is dead",I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't.

rohit said...

zubin,happiness is not deliberate or even a choice,it's where you wanna find it,be it party or prayer.
and if you trash religion,do you rubbish morals too,as a part of conditioning?

Anonymous said...

Nothing in this world confers everlasting happiness,but only a few are privy to this soporific bliss of God.one cannot comprehend God with limited knowledge armed beforehand with denial and disbelief.Are you then only a fleshy manifestation of chemical adn biological reactions?even if God exists,why should He reveal himself to you?

zubin said...

@Chumki: This is same as the saying, "Poori ramayan sunke poocho Sita kaun thee?" :D
@Sid: Is there some kinda sarcasm here that I have totally failed to get?
@Apoorva: Totally agree with your comments. And nice blogs.
@Ankit: I don't think religion is an individual pantheism, as you like to point out. We have had crusades and jihad over it man. And everyone awaits the Ayodhya verdict. And about the God thing, yeah.
@Rohit: Interesting question, but happiness actually is a choice. Try following it. As for morals, they are always a personal choice. To take bribe or not to take bride, to indulge in pre marital sex or not, it is all a choice again. Those are individual choices neways, and I intend to keep them that why?
@Anonymous: Why shouldn't soporific bliss of God be for everyone? What is it that makes God differentiate among his children? And my question would be, why should not he reveal himself to all of us - why this entire believe in me philosophy?

Anonymous said...

"What is it that makes God differentiate among his children? And my question would be, why should not he reveal himself to all of us"--why did you get into iit and not others?why were they discriminated against?
you read the mahabharata,now read the gita(not a girl).Bet you won't be able to parody it and dude,the web of cosmos is too tangled to be contained and imparted to a faithless brain in tidy cut and dry epigrams.You are not that desperate to get to the truth and moreover,you are not seeking hard enough.

Anonymous said...

The final stage---I bet this is bliss, bliss of being connected to everybody, bliss as of a child inside the womb of society, bliss where you don't do anything and it happens like the getting in a local train in Mumbai during peak hour, bliss where all answers are there, bliss where the questions coincide and annihilate, bliss we can achieve, bliss that makes us one, bliss that will stop the time or, to say, stop the change---religion is I feel is just a mnemonic

rohit said...

treasure trove bliss is within.an undiminished brimming happiness that you do not locate in the external gross world but in the profound recessess of the soul...it is when life is no longer a mystry of random cause and effect,but unspools why life is the way it is,and leaves no loose ends to tie or happiness for one to chase.that is not a flame that flickers and dies off but enlightens with an incandescent white glow.
any source of happiness that relies on the outside is highly unrealiable as it is momentary.

zubin said...

@Anon: I have read the Gita. It just talks about the might of a man, who was disillusioned about himself and who made up arguments to justify killing in the Mahabharat. And anyways, as he says in the Gita, if we are just agents to do what is supposed to happen, we have no free will, do we? Now that thought is not very helpful is it? Moreover, regarding why should God reveal himself to me, a) what did Arjuna do to deserve it? b) The only man to have actively searched for truth and God (in both Eastern and Western histories) was Gautam Buddha, and he doesn't talk about God at all. Jesus' and Mohammad's 40 days of fast pale before what Siddharta did. If someone should have seen God, he should have.
@anon2: But does religion give only bliss to people? It makes people fundamental in their approach now. Which religion is better? What is the truth?
@Rohit: Exactly my point. Religion is external. It is a drug administered externally. My happiness on the other hand is internal. In other words, it is like Buddha said, the key to happiness is a freedom from all desires.

Anonymous said...

Does religion give only bliss to people?
No. As I said religion is mnemonic and thus after some extent redundant and even harmful. To understand fundamentalism understand it like a father beating a child who wants to touch live wires. Note when he grows up he can become an electrical engineer. Regarding external and internal stuff, one does not live in vaccum it is I guess not possible to ignore all the external things in the world, so a natural conclusion comes why not merge in the world as in enjoy what is there. Note you cannot demand merger, you should command it by making yourself internally blissful. I am not contradicting you!

Anonymous said...

uh?oh!
a) why was dhritrashtra born blind?was krisna a casanova swinging babes?read
"interpretation of the gita".
b)you had almost no free will to speak of,think of the face/family you were born with,the enviroment born into,situations bombarded with,the time ya will be knocked off.
c)dammit! never meant "ReligioN",but spiritual conscience.
d)success goes to head,suffering touches the heart,find Him thru the pumping organ.
e)free from desires?so,bunny boy,no babes or booze for ya,eh?
singe your desires in the fire of spirituality and do not let them germinate.
God is difficult than all competitive man-made knowledge,laws or exams.mayb,you should'nt just get the golden key.
but i assure you He will be found only when He becomes a need n not a want.
'nuff said

sid said...

tehehe...
kyun lad rahe ho bhailog
find god in parents,goddess in girlfriend and religion in daaru.yey.
happy belated birthday bro;)

lurker said...

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the King's horses and all the King's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

postlapsarian fall from grace fella.

zubin said...

@Anon1: So we finally agree? Happiness may be found in whatever, as long as it is true. All I am saying is the happiness from religion is same as the happiness from drugs - as in it hallucinates people into believing something which may or may not be true.
@Anon2: a) For me, Krishna was a shrewd Yadava, who ensured that the crown of Hastinapur went back to its original claimant, a descendant of Yadu. Mahabharata was a ploy for the same. For all we know, Gita is a much later addition to the Mahabharata. And you should read my interpretation of the Mahabharata.
b) We all have free will, it is just that we dont exercise it. Siddhartha did.
c) What was this a response to?
d) But my question again is, why should I find him. Why should he not come to me easily? Why does he even test my faith?
e) You have just run out of arguments now havent you? And I will be happy without booze or babes - not that I have any of the second to boot about :D.
And God if he exist should not be this difficult to find.
@Sid: Yeah that is a philosophy, except that I really need a goddess. And again, its not my birthday..nor was it newhere close.
@Lurker: Haha, whose fall? Humanities or mine? You want to believe that story of Adam and Eve?

Anonymous said...

Yes dude we finally agree. To me we always agreed. We just need to develop a taxonomy of true happiness. Just telling people to be happy need not be enough and might increase frustration. But yeah we dont have to solve all the problems in the world.

zubin said...

@Anon: Gr8! Or maybe a taxonomy does exist. The freedom from desire. The Buddha concept. Though that is where Buddha and I differ. I believe a man should actively pursue happiness, while he had the entire eight fold path thing.

Anonymous said...

I also think so happiness is in activity. Goal is to train yourself to do some activities that others will yearn to follow and slowly those activities would become so commonplace that nobody has to wreak his brain to find which activity to follow that will give them happiness. The ultimate could be the simple harmonic motion:) to achieve that a lot of streamlining has to be done, a lot of friction has to be removed, a lot of leakages have to be plugged, so on...hard job dude...but someone got to understand it and someone got to do it:). My language is not streamlined but hope you get the point.

zubin said...

@Anon: Totally agree. Alls well that ends well.

Anonymous said...

a) For me, Krishna was a shrewd Yadava, who ensured that the crown of Hastinapur went back to its original claimant, a descendant of Yadu. Mahabharata was a ploy for the same. For all we know, Gita is a much later addition to the Mahabharata. And you should read my interpretation of the Mahabharata—hehe,you knew govinda?your great chummy?krishna was with justice till the war became inevitable.Did kabir,the peerless saint talk about any God except ‘Ram’,which was the name of his Guru?
b) We all have free will, it is just that we dont exercise it. Siddhartha did--are you carried away by same things as the tathagata was?does your mind think in the same way as a terrorist?are all men born with a similar mindset?does not your free limit has limitations/restraints?even if you exercise your free will can you get your girl back?
c) What was this a response to?—distinguishing btwn God and religion .Why you always have to connect god with a strict religion? Religious sects are man-made,is your soul man crafted too?
d) But my question again is, why should I find him. Why should he not come to me easily? Why does he even test my faith?—Bah! back to square one.you want happiness.don’t you?why do you take competitive exams?is that not a test?why not test your faith then?have you read book of job?u shoul find him because he is the only truth and the only bliss.the aim of life.The soul’s sole purpose.
e) You have just run out of arguments now havent you? And I will be happy without booze or babes - not that I have any of the second to boot about :D.
And God if he exist should not be this difficult to find.—
I’ll watch how long your delight lasts.
you can pine for a chick,but God you relegate to a harlot?

I leave at that.maybe I just can’t get it across too you.
Time is a great teacher.u’ll learn,surely,mayb in a few more lifetimes.

Anonymous said...

and yah,you'll find god in misery,suffering,sadness,helplessness,despondency adn surrender than in success,power,pleasure,parties,wine,women,dope or drug.

zubin said...

@Anon: Thanks for the second comment. You have answered yourself here. Why is it that God is found in misery and suffering rather than success and power? It is because when you are suffering is the time when you actually do require a God, to give you some hope in this supposedly evil world.
And as for your points, yeah you are really not able to convey your point coz in my limited wisdom, I am unable to understand your seemingly incomprehensible comparisons between things. And I do not want happiness. I am happy. But I think we will have to wait for a few lifetimes to see you happy as well.

Anonymous 2 said...

It must be humiliating for God when He is compared with human actions and vice versa.
And if He is truly the God, faith in Him should be the last thing he be testing for doling out favors to human beings. If He is so selfish, He cant be God.

zubin said...

@Anon2: Totally agree.

Anonymous said...

Alls well that ends well...to me it is a good starting I guess:). It was nice talking to you. I agree with the fellow saying that God cannot be selfish. Bye for now, have fun!

sid said...

bhai,tera janamdin kab aata hai?

Vector said...

Leave Dhupia aside....and Darwin said man exists for two things, to survive and reproduce...and by extension to survive to reproduce...everything you do is just to reproduce...your studies, degree, jobs, increments, success, power and everything perceivable to attract the opposite sex. To ensure that you are "fuck-worthy" and prove that you are worth it to create a replica of yourself in this world.

zubin said...

@Anon: It was nice talking to you as well. But well, I hope the next time you comment is not as an anonymous :).
@Sid: Add me on fb, and know :).
@Santosh: Dude, please not I do not believe in Darwin. I mean, its a theory yes. The one which might be truer than others. But why would you want to leave a piece of you in this world is beyond understanding.

Anonymous said...

:@

Witness said...

Wow...you have got this post almost perfect!!Happy is present-or should I say only what is present can be happy:)reminds me of Buddha(i still conisder him almost there)-there's no way to happiness, happiness is the way.(So there go religion, search for higher truth, and blah!)

dhamma said...

http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/

dhamma said...

http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-found-these-quotes-on-atheist-website.html

TRUTH said...

THE FINAL TRUTH

Life and it’s meaning---------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=few-CN5OywQ&feature=related

zubin said...

@Anon: I could not really get what you were trying to say.
@Shweta: Thanks. And you should check out this blog by dhamma.
@Dhamma: Awesome blog. Thanks. We should discuss life and its meaning sometime.
@Truth: Awesome!! I wanted to say the same things he has. Especially about 99% of world's religion being hallucinatory. It is the sum of experiences. Life is. Except for the initial part about not questioning what life is.

Anonymous said...

Zubin,

please watch this.

mind is society’s garbage bin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYPn3VRetbQ&feature=related

TRUTH said...

allow this last one too...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkG0fKJt3dE

TRUTH said...

finally,


happiness
inner engineering



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxTN6OySkPo&feature=related





couldn't resist sharing

Nikhil said...

Zub: Interesting debate. There is one interesting point you should think about...till the supercomputers didnt arrive, we couldnt have solved the value of pi till its 100th decimal place and yet today we probably added a million more zeros to the entity. So when you these questions about life, why, how, etc...just know that you may not know the answer now, or even in a lifetime...but there just might be the solution to this equation after all...its just beyond computable right now !