Just a few days ago, on last sunday, I had to accompany my parents to the temple again, grudgingly. I don’t know why I just didn’t refuse to go to the temple. They told me that according to the Indian astrology, my timing is not good at the moment. So I should go to the temple and do some simple rituals that might neutralize my bad time. I was really reluctant to go, but I didn’t want to spoil the my day and their day, so I went with them eventually.
Yesterday, I had a chat with my friend and he told me that no one can be an atheist. He just felt it strange that I was an atheist. Here is a snippet of the conversation we had on gtalk:
(Some parts have been edited)
Friend: But what is he definition of GOD in your sense? You say GOD doesn’t exist, so no definition?
Me: I say supernatural GODs don’t exist.
Friend: But I say GOD exists in the form of energy, waves and vibrations. Wherever there is life energy, there is GOD. GOD is full form of energy…
Me: Ok.
Friend: So I believe there is energy within you and around you…so how can I say there cannot be any GOD? GOD is energy… So focusing this energy, our old people gave GOD a form. Form of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.
Me: Ok.
Friend: So when we pray brahma, we focus on the power energy of creation and creativity. Shiva energy is to burn your negative in around. Vishnu is to hav awareness to protect. So if you believe GOD is energy, you cannot say you are an atheist.
Me: Ok. I’ll say this again, friend, just for your clarification. I don’t give a heck for supernatural gods who punish us or send us to hell and all that. But I believe that man is God. That God is energy, the force. I believe in the ability of man.
Friend: Yea.. life is within you, you are GOD as said in Anbesivam.
Me: I completely agree with that.
Friend: See… we just naming that energy GOD. If you believe in the existence of energy, then how can you become an atheist? … No one in this world can be athiest.
Me: Why?
Friend: As you and I said, GOD is energy, you believe in energy. It means indirectly you believe in God’s existence as energy.
(End of conversation)
Well, later it all came to the conclusion that we were just playing with words; semantics. This chat with my friend made me think a lot on this subject. I have to think about my own belief system and do a little soul-searching. Do I really believe that GOD is energy? Where does energy come from? They say energy cannot be created, nor can it be destroyed. But where did that birst of energy come from in the first place, to bring about life on earth? What is this energy that moves us all? If energy cannot be created, then how can there be a GOD? If we can control that energy and manipulate it to suit our needs, then how can GOD be energy? How can GOD be manipulated if GOD is something above us? A lot of questions to think and ponder about. A lot of things to analyze and sort out.
My friend above puts this question forward to me. I say that I don’t believe in GOD. So I should naturally have my own definition of GOD, something that I believe in. But it doesn’t mean that all atheists have their own definition of what or who might GOD be. Then my friend postulates that if I do believe in that definition of GOD, how can I be an atheist?
Therefore, I have come to this conclusion. As an atheist, according to me, there is no such thing as GOD. My definition of GOD is a supernatural being who has been postulated to have created this universe and all it’s life forms. I say that kind of GOD does not exist. I also do not want to advocate metaphorical meanings to GOD, because people usually misunderstand that, like my friend did. It is still a vague concept and people will not buy it. I believe in natural phenomena. This energy that my friend talks about and I talk about, this mind power, the power within us and all that is just natural phenomena. Something that pertains to nature. I don’t want to name these as GOD, in case of any misunderstanding. I just want to name these natural phenomena. In this sense, I am an atheist.
In the conversation above, I have said a lot of things on the spur of the moment without thinking my response out. But writing this post has made it possible for me to lay out my thoughts. My friend said here that no one in this world can be atheist. But it is definitely possible. He might just have to look at them carefully and realise that there are people out there who completely do not believe in GOD. They might have a lot of reasons. Some find it unbelievable. Some lose faith on GOD and hence deny its existence. Some think scientifically and therefore deny the existence of GOD. There are a lot of reasons.
If you want to believe in energy, power and all that, just believe in yourself. Everything is within you, and whatever is within you is around you. So just believe in yourself and do not rely on external things like GOD and such crap. I say people like that are cripples. They have not learned to walk without their crutches. I have learned it the hard way, but now I walk on my own. I feel proud and independent. You might call me arrogant. I do not care what people say about me, because I know what I feel. I know if it is arrogance or self-confidence.
I say they are cripples because everytime people are broke, or sad they want something or someone to hang onto. They desperately need that pillar of consolation and most of them find it through GOD or spirituality. Nothing is wrong here. But it is definitely not going to help them any better. Just take my case as an example here. My mum says that according to my astrology, it’s slightly bad time for me. In such a case, going to the temple and praying helps to relieve her and make her believe that nothing bad is going to happen to me. Now, in the first place, if she had not believed in the astrology thing, she wouldn’t have to do anything and nothing would have happened. It’s like GOD commands you to become the president of United States and therefore you become one. When will people realise that GOD is an invention made by man? Do you certainly believe that there is something above all of us?
I welcome all comments from my readers who are both atheists and theists.
Priya Jayagopi 
Your friend seems to be inspired by some pseudo scientific interpretation of hinduism. Waves, vibrations, energy? Your friend is bullshitting you just the way he/she had been bullshitted earlier by some other bullshitter into believing that crap.
We are part of an ecosystem that makes us depend on sun, water and such natural resources for existence. We can believe naively that since these are automatically available for us that there is a god providing these to reward us and manipulating these to punish us. It’s the simplest explanation to give ourselves and fool ourselves.
And like you say some men are cripples without god. The same thing can also be said of ‘believing in yourself’ crap. Men just live their lives trying to survive, not for some purpose. The purpose is thought about just to fill their lives and judge their own actions and that of others. I love Roark, but I also loved the fact that he didn’t go around talking about individualism. It was Dominique who did it and it seemed a bit odd that she is just a stupid writer who would be useless in any kind of productive society dreamt by Ayn Rand. But then if you think that writing is art and it deserves some space in man’s life to provide for exploring man’s purpose in life and to influence thought, then religion does the same. Both are equally irrational.
The question of god is redundant. Nature is not dictated by some mystic force. The question of individual is also redundant except to the man concerned.
Thanks for the comment, Subhash. I don’t know where you base your justifications. I don’t get your basic philosophy. Are you perhaps, a nihilist? Or maybe I’m wrong here. I really appreciate your comment, because I admire people who make me think more. You just did it. Thanks:)
I think about why some people are so attracted to philosophy. I can think of one reason, self righteousness. People want to feel good about themselves, which is acceptable. So they often talk about stuff they never understood, they don’t have personal experience with. Lets take Ayn Rand for example. I was amused by her attack on state sponsored scientific research in Atlas Shrugged. I can safely assume that she knows nothing about Physics or how research is carried out and why it must be sponsored by public funds and not be privatized. The internet is a wonderful example of what opensource can do to technology. Ayn Rand would have definitely scoffed at this thing called opensource. But it achieved in 5 years of explosion what Microsoft or any other proprietary product could achieve in 15 years.
I am not suggesting that research must always be state sponsored and that’s the best way to move forward, but it must be decided by scientists, not by economists or philosophers who don’t know shit about science. You see objectivism overestimates human’s potential, just like statism underestimates human potential. Both are useless philosophies. A man must make his own decision (objective or subjective) and should live with the consequences.
Another thing I have against philosophies is that it assumes a perfect world is possible, when it is not. It never will be. Do you think people will be able to live without conflict? Can you watch a movie that has no conflict in its plot? Its boring.
Of course, prefect world is not possible. But that is what everybody is trying to achieve when they come up with philosophies and solutions to new problems. Everyday, lots of people dedicate their lives to perfect the way we live today. But perfection is not possible. There cannot be any omnipotent being in this world who is perfect in everything it does.
What to you mean by conflict here? And can I also ask, what do you mean when you say objectivism overestimates human’s potential? Where in the philosophy does this overestimation come into play? Sorry, I just don’t see it yet.
By conflict, I mean some kind of problem that you should find solution to.
Alright, let me confess that I have never understood objectivism because I haven’t read enough about it. I stopped with reading Rand’s novels and didn’t touch her philosophical books because I found it rhetoric. From what I understand, Objectivism overestimates human potential to control his emotions and make an objective decision on every damn thing in his life. It works for someone like Roark, who doesn’t have self-doubt, doesn’t cry when he gets kicked around. He is so sure of everything. It never happens in real life. I have seen child prodigies turn to drug use (don’t tell me its because they didn’t follow objectivism), talented people always doubting themselves never achieving their potential (eg. Richard Gasquet). Objectivism is fiction like Rand’s novels and it must treated with the same respect. May be Objectivism is how rand wanted to lead her life.
did you watch the movie “The passion of Ayn Rand”? It’s interesting but I don’t know how far it is true. If its true, rand truly led a sad life. And people around her suffered too.
On the subject of Gasquet, I think he is the most talented among the newcomers. He has a game that everyone would like to watch and is a genius on the court. His thinking ability on the court is way beyond anyone can imagine in his age. And when he has the urge to do well and the means to put his game together, he will be one of the best players ever to have played the game. But he still doubts himself. He is not sure which shot to play under pressure when he has so many options. Thats why people with limited options like Nadal and Djokovic do better than Gasquet.
And that’s why Federer keeps hoping that Gasquet will do well, because he makes tennis a watchable sport. Just like what happened when Hewitt was dominating the sport before Federer blew him off the court from 2004.
No, I have not watched the movie that you say about here. Although I have read her biography. She did lead a sad life, i guess. But who really knows for sure? It might seem sad to us.
Haha:) I can see you like Gasquet a lot. You must have fallen in love already. I have seen him play only once during the wimbledon. And I was hoping he would make it to the finals. But sadly, he didn’t. I like Djokovic. He bet Federer right? If I’m not wrong.
You might want to read more on objectivist epistemology. (I’m not saying you must.) Her philosophy and writings on concept formation are really brilliant. I’m slowly reading them, ’cause it’s taking me time to understand her philosophy and what she really means. There is a lot more to her than meets the eye or the conscious mind. This is what I think.
Djokovic did beat Federer recently, although Federer beat himself technically. I like Djokovic too, but I don’t find him special because he plays an aggressive ordinary game that talented youngsters at the age of 21 play. He is predictable. Gasquet is not, he is brilliant. That’s why one day he can beat Federer and the next day he can lose to some unknown pakistani player.
Technically his backhand is one of the perfect shots in tennis next to Kuerten’s and I am in love with his beautiful backhand. There’s nothing more to it.
Inspite of what I say, deep down I thank Ayn Rand for writing those novels. They made me realise a lot of stuff about myself. But to utilize those concepts beyond a point stifled me I guess. She is brilliant, but her work or anyone’s work in philosophy for that matter will be far from comprehensive. There is no better teacher of philosophy than everyday life. Books don’t really serve that purpose.
well priya.. i dont get you wat u exactly mean by that post..but i understood your point of view over god and energy.. u know that scientists are now conducting a
mindblowing and disastrous experiment with nuclear energy..they gonna create a new small universe with it..coming to the point
* that atomic experiment will show the origin of universe and the growth of atoms and energy,which is the damn basic concept for the step by step growth of ape to man
* most of us think god created world,that experiment will prove there is no god..! and all of us are created by a speck of atom
*adam,eve stories turns false and the expriment results would shake the world
*who is god? it is simply an imagination by a human..he thinks that there is a superior power that has created everything ..
* how this thought came to him???
its just because of his parents,grand parents thought about god..
now we are in a multidimensional technology world..communication network reached its peak ..so we,the 2000 generation rule the world..but our parents and grandparents havent enjoyed these technologies..they simply blame this generation..our generation can do minblowing miracles in science technology.
now there is no religion problems and fights in well developed countries because they believe in science,but developing countries like india are getting worser day by day..many in the world dont know about the off side of india and some poor counties..in india the thirupathi temple gets a collection of 2 to 3 crores a month..what the temple organisation do with tat??.they are spending it on luxurious and filthy decoration to their temple.if they offer it to poor,orphans and handicapped ..,their life would be better..shit !!.. humans created gods! and those created gods spoil many lives of people ..gods and temple are just an imagination and we just use them for mind relaxation..we pray to god to reduce our stress and problems and as he is just
a imagination,it cant do anything.. i dont know about *&*&isms but this is the fact just think practically u get to know.. no more religion!!!!!!!!!!
humans is the only religion
60 % of the world enjoys their life like us..but the remaining are struggling their day today life to eat,earn and maintain their family..why is this partiality? and these happens only in developing and undeveloped countries..and those sort of countries have religion fights,filthy politics,black money,dowry system,bribes,antisocial elements .. if their is god what the hell he is doing now?? is he watching these like a cricket match?
and finally
puranas,myths and some old books wrote by some typical oldies of ancient period havnt any knowledge (simply idiots),they exaggurated the power of science as the word *god* and that 3 letter word is getting followed still by now and it may get followed until our earth expires..those ancient pupil wrote those books just for enriching their language literature and they mixed a theme called ‘god’ to make those puranas fictionous.
note: na kadavul ilainu solala .,kadavul irundha nalla irukumenu solren..
hey guys this is my personal opinion towards god..plz dont take it serious.. if the comments hurted anyone am really sorry for that
well priya.. i dont get you wat u exactly mean by that post..but i understood your point of view over god and energy.. u know that scientists are now conducting a
mindblowing and disastrous experiment with nuclear energy..they gonna create a new small universe with it..coming to the point
* that atomic experiment will show the origin of universe and the growth of atoms and energy,which is the damn basic concept for the step by step growth of ape to man
* most of us think god created world,that experiment will prove there is no god..! and all of us are created by a speck of atom
*adam,eve stories turns false and the expriment results would shake the world
*who is god? it is simply an imagination by a human..he thinks that there is a superior power that has created everything ..
* how this thought came to him???
its just because of his parents,grand parents thought about god..
now we are in a multidimensional technology world..communication network reached its peak ..so we,the 2000 generation rule the world..but our parents and grandparents havent enjoyed these technologies..they simply blame this generation..our generation can do minblowing miracles in science technology.
now there is no religion problems and fights in well developed countries because they believe in science,but developing countries like india are getting worser day by day..many in the world dont know about the off side of india and some poor counties..in india the thirupathi temple gets a collection of 2 to 3 crores a month..what the temple organisation do with tat??.they are spending it on luxurious and filthy decoration to their temple.if they offer it to poor,orphans and handicapped ..,their life would be better..( their is lots and lots like these stupid habits and culture) shit !!.. humans created gods! and those created gods spoil many lives of people ..gods and temple are just an imagination and we just use them for mind relaxation..we pray to god to reduce our stress and problems and as he is just
a imagination,it cant do anything.. i dont know about *&*&isms but this is the fact just think practically u get to know.. no more religion!!!!!!!!!!
humans is the only religion
60 % of the world enjoys their life like us..but the remaining are struggling their day today life to eat,earn and maintain their family..why is this partiality? and these happens only in developing and undeveloped countries..and those sort of countries have religion fights,filthy politics,black money,dowry system,bribes,antisocial elements .. if their is god what the hell he is doing now?? is he watching these like a cricket match?
and finally
puranas,myths and some old books wrote by some typical oldies of ancient period havnt any knowledge (simply idiots),they exaggurated the power of science as the word *god* and that 3 letter word is getting followed still by now and it may get followed until our earth expires..those ancient pupil wrote those books just for enriching their language literature and they mixed a theme called ‘god’ to make those puranas fictionous.
just think in all angle of view about the (IMAGINATION) god..
note: na kadavul ilainu solala .,kadavul irundha nalla irukumenu solren..
hey guys this is my personal opinion towards god..plz dont take it serious.. if the comments hurted anyone am really sorry for that