Thinking Through Religion - Essay Example

Essay, Religion and Theology Topic: Thinking Through Religion 1. The assertion, "The unexamined life is not worth living", by Socrates is great for the clear-cut and straightforward message it gives. No ambiguity is involved and it gives no scope for doubt. No purpose is served in the life of an individual, who is born and walks up to the grave! Every human being is endowed with an inner world to delve deep into it and to understand the real purpose of life and develop the technique to lead a spiritual life. The nobler instincts are more powerful than the desire that draws one to the secular comforts. The core desire of a human being is to search for meaning and purpose of life. The divine beauty of the inner world is the subject of practical experience. Wise men have written millions of pages about joy and happiness, but unless one crosses the barrier of mind and reaches the level of transcendence to enjoy the state of bliss, one’s life remains unexamined and it is the state of incompleteness. When one possesses the will to grow, not being satisfied with the state of status-quo, take it as the beginning of progress. The process of investigation is the continuous one and inner search means practical spirituality in which state every thought and action is positive and the individual visualizes divinity and unity in the working of the cosmos. He sees unity in diversity. Man’s search for meaning of life is the fundamental force of life and it is within everyone. With the procedure detailed in the sacred texts, the practical vision of divinity is attainable reality and that is the true purpose of life. To know the essence of human existence is the be all and end all of life. Each individual has to find the answer to his question, with investigation. Life is a continuous process of search of the unknown and the challenges on the path of investigation provide an opportunity for an individual to test his determination and will. Personal growth and spiritual growth are alternative beats of the same heart. Moreover, it is equally important to know that ones life happiness does not come from or depends on the other or though conditionings in the external world. Others can only contribute to trigger feelings, but an individual must search one’s own happiness. Thus, ones life is worth living when one remains involved in the process of self-examination in order to find true meaning and happiness of life. An unexamined life is not worth living. 2. Anthropic Principle means relating to human beings or their existence. Our existence on this Planet Earth depends on many cosmological considerations and even if a slight deviation in those factors would mean that we will not exist at all. The cosmos functions on countless alignments. The question arises, is it possible that such an arrangement exists merely by chance? Philosophers and the well-meaning scientists conclude that it is God who has that ultimate and immeasurable capacity and He has fine-tuned this Planet Earth for our existence. The recent advances in astronomy and physics have led the scientists to strongly conclude that there is ‘the soul at the heart of the universe’. This has led them to the process of self-examination and questions like: Who are we? Why are we here? What is God? For the first time in the known history of humankind, the contemporary scientists, theologians and mathematicians are likely to arrive on a common platform and their unanimous decision about the existence of God! “The Soul of the Universe”, is a remarkable program (video) on this fascinating and mind-boggling issue. I entirely agree with the anthropic principle and it goes in tandem with the spiritual truth. In fact, spirituality is the science of sciences. That which is not practical, and amenable to experiments, cannot be spiritual either. Consider the structure of protons. It has direct bearing on the livability of our Planet and consequently on the life of humankind. Some more examples that go to prove the Anthropic Principle are the unique properties of water, earth’s atmosphere, earth’s reflectivity, earth’s magnetic field, earth’s place in the solar system, our solar system’s place in the galaxy, and the color of our sun etc. Anthropic principle is one hundred percent accurate. Creation and maintenance of this Cosmos of which Planet Earth is a small part is the engineering skill of the transcendent Master Mind. 3. In his book “Human Experience of God” Fr. Denis Edwards argues, “In Catholic Christianity it is generally recognized that God is knowable in two distinct ways: by faith and by reason” (ix). The meaning of faith is evident and requires no further elucidation. Light is bright, and it is evident. Milk is white and it is evident. Similarly for an individual with faith, experiencing faith is everything and it is the ultimate purpose of life. He has no questions and therefore, he does not seek answers. Faith is the divine instrument for him with which he tries to establish his connectivity with the divine. Whether he succeeds in establishing the connectivity or not, is another issue. Edward further argues, “The philosophical proofs of God’s existence are attempts to state in rigorous form what is grasped in an imprecise, informal and spontaneous way by untrained minds” (ix). The second option to know God is by reason. This is impossibility! Every reasoned argument has the reasoned counter-argument with no chances of conclusion. Divinity transcends the mind and the reach of reason is only up to the level of mind. One has to transcend the barrier of mind, to experience the land of bliss. One can knock the door of the final frontier of the mind, for Ages, with no possibility of establishing contact with divinity. For transcending the level of the mind, there is the prescribed spiritual procedure. For example, for the glow it is necessary to light the bulb. For enjoying the taste, it is necessary to masticate and eat food. Just by watching the game from the gallery, one will not be able to gauge the level of enthusiasm that goes on in the heart of the player on the ground. To know that he has to be the player, take active part in the game, and reach the ground, after practicing the rules and regulations of the game. For a student of science, it is not sufficient, if he learns some theorems and the theory part of the syllabus. He has to reach out to the laboratory to do the experiments. On the same line, in the field of practical vision of God, only study of texts, discussions and meditation, are inadequate to reach the goal. 4. Faith according to me is the five syllable wonder that is the foundation of the secular and spiritual life of an individual. After the word faith no question mark exists, because it is beyond any questions. Faith does not demand any proof, it is unconditional. Faith is the fertile land without any doubt. Though the word faith is generally associated with the religious principles, it has lots of importance as for the secular world as well. Feelings dominate in the world of faith than practical vision. It is a gift of God, because only a noble heart can be the springboard of faith. It does not demand any logical proof or scientific evidence. It does not rely on facts gathered through elaborate research. It is the acceptance of God’s will and observation with equanimity of mind and to challenge all trials and tribulations of life. Faith is the foundation of all types of spiritual superstructures one builds in the journey of life. Trust: The dividing line between faith and trust is wafer-thin. Trust involves assurance based on strong evidence, may or may not be logical. Trust is based on a track record when you have conviction and the actions are based on confidence. Trust involves an element of risk, and your trust is liable to be taken advantage off, by the person upon whom you repose trust. Betrayal of trust hurts deeply and may lead to hostile reactions. Relationship between two concepts: The connotation of faith relates more to the divine and spiritual world and whereas trust is more of a secular concept. When your actions are in accordance with your words, the process of building trust begins. Faith relates to the emotional world, whereas trust is more practical. A man of true faith does not question the faith of another. Each individual is born with the different levels of spiritual progression, and lives life as per one’s perception. Questions and cross-questions, arguments and counter-arguments are up to the level of mind only. When one transcends the mind, that is the state of bliss, and no differences exist in that zone of peace. The issue of questioning the faith of the other does not arise at all. 5. This assertion by Edwards has opened up new vistas within me to pursue the path of spirituality. He writes, “It should be noticed too, that we cannot develop a theology of revelation which is not built upon and understanding of our experience of God. If one denies all possibility of encountering with God, then the possibility of revelation is either denied or reduced to something entirely extrinsic”(5). This statement puts limitations and implied even faith is not the established conduit to reach God and moreover its application is not universal and people will not subscribe to the theory of faith alone. The reach of the reason is also up to the level of mind and as such it is surely not the procedure to reach God, as divinity transcends the mind. Now the question is what is that procedure for the practical vision of Divinity, as revealed in the scriptures? The revelations of all the scriptures are divine and they are nothing but truth, they are unchallengeable and they merit implicit faith. Based on these premises one has to tread the path of spirituality. Mere reading of the books, listening to the spiritual discourses and Sunday sermons are fine but they will not provide the final solution and the revelations at the transcendental level are one and the same. The problem arises, when the mind-level pundit, preachers, and mullahs interpret the revelations as per their understanding, which can never be uniform. Works Cited Edwards, Denis: Human Experience of God. Paulist Press; 1983, Print . Read More