God
and religion:
A new look
by Premshankar Kamble
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Foreword:
This article is an abstract from my book titled God and Religion - A
'Scientific' and Objective Analysis, for which I have a U.S. Copyright. What
I have discussed in the book is not science, it is not religion, nor is it
'heavy' philosophy. It is plain and simple common sense. It is more of an
enquiry than an answer to what is God and religion. It is intended to be an eye
opener, to enable the reader to see what is not really well with the common
understanding of God and religion.
I believe that the concept of God and religion is grossly misunderstood. I am
convinced that I am able to see clearly what may not be evident to several
people in the world. I know that a great deal of wrong is being done in this
world because of this misunderstanding, which can immediately be corrected if we
all see what I can see.
What is God?
We all learned at school that the physical world consists of a three
dimensional space. An object occupies a unique position in this space. Similarly
there is a mental/spiritual space and at any given time, we occupy a unique
position in this space.
Just as an object in the physical space has a potential energy, I believe
that all of us humans are endowed with immense mental energy, which depends on
our position in the mental space. The potential energy of a body in physical
space depends on its position, which is measured in terms of the three axes,
namely x, y and z. Our mental/spiritual energy depends on the state of our mind,
which in turn depends on our feelings.
Just as x, y, z axes (distances in x, y and z directions) form the three
dimensions of the physical space, (Fig. 1.1) the mental space is a
multi-dimensional space where the axes are our various feelings like love, fear,
hope, faith, courage, etc. (Fig. 1.2 shows only 3 dimensions for simplicity).
Our position in the mental space can be defined by how much we measure on the
feelings axes.
Just as the position of a body in the physical space determines its potential
energy, our position in the mental space (that is, how much we measure on the
various feelings axes) determines our mental state, which in turn determines our
mental energy at any given time. The probability of success for what we do
depends on our mental energy at the time when we do it.
Just as there are high potential energy points in the physical space, I
believe that there are very high energy zones in the mental space too. Attaining
God is nothing but reaching these high-energy zones in the mental space. These
are zones where the measure of confidence, love, faith, hope, etc. is extremely
high and you can be in an extremely powerful state of mind. This is where Buddha
reached, and so did Mahavir, Christ, Mohammed and Ram. We will refer to these
zones as 'Godly zones' (Fig. 2.2).
In the physical space (Fig. 2.1), if we have to move a body from point A to
point B, or from low energy to high energy, we know what force is required, and
at what angle j we need to apply that force. What made it possible is
mathematics. After the discovery of mathematics, man has mastered the laws of
the physical space and has come a long way from the days of the Ape Man.
However, we are still Ape Men so long as the mental space is concerned. We know
nothing about the laws of this space (Fig. 2.2). While the language of
mathematics describes the laws of physical space precisely, it fails miserably
in the mental space. What is required is possibly a new language, which I call
'mentomatics', which will explain the laws of mental space. Before mathematics
was devised, laws of physical space were as much a mystery as the laws of mental
space are today without mentomatics.
To reach the moon you have to fire your rocket at a specific angle with a
specific force. If you were to explain how to reach the moon without a
mathematical language, some of your followers would reach Mars, some would
crash-land on the moon, some would be lost in the space and some would not take
off at all. Only one in a million would reach the moon.
In the absence of a mentomatical language, some people have tried to explain
how to reach the high-energy zones of mental space, or to reach 'God'. It is no
wonder that only one in several millions like Buddha, Mohammed, Christ, Ram,
etc. could reach the destination and the rest of us were left groping.
Possibly in the olden days there were extremely learned rishis
(saints) who had mastered the art of reaching Godly zones. But they could not
explain this to the common man in the absence of Mentomatics. In order to
explain to the man in a language that he could understand in those days, they
created the concept of God. They gave 'God' a physical human shape because that
is all that common man understood then. Since the common man is far advanced
today and understands the basics of physical science, I am trying to explain to
you the concept of God with an analogy of physical science (though I know
today's physical science may not be able to explain it).
The concept of God was created by the rishis to help you to move
closer to the high-energy zone from wherever you are in the mental space.
So what is the concept of God? It is a method, in fact a form of
psychotherapy which helps you to get to a higher state of mind and to a higher
mental energy, and closer to the Godly zone in the mental space. And where is
God? Right within you. The high energy level that you can experience by reaching
the high-energy zone is latent within you.
How does this psychotherapeutic method work? It works by increasing your faith
in God, your love for God and raising your confidence and hope. So you move up
in the mental space closer to the high-energy zones. It is the faith in God that
works for you. When you wear a ring with special stones that are supposed to
bring good fortune to you, it is your faith in the miracle stone that helps you
and not the stone itself.
So the concept of God is the current best available method to reach the
high-energy zone. It may be slow, not very easy to follow, but it is the best
available method today. I believe that a time will come when mentomatics will be
developed, the laws of mental space will be explained and you would have a
mentomatical method to reach a high-energy state within minutes or seconds.
Sounds ridiculous? But then, TV, radio, pistol, aircraft and computers (which
are miracles of mathematical science) were unbelievable to an Ape Man too.
This essay continues below.
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What is Religion?
Religion is nothing but a code of conduct -- social norms and norms related
to hygiene. Due to historic reasons, it was linked to the concept of God.
In the olden days, there was a wide gap between the learned and the common
man. The rishis were learned and wished the welfare of the common man.
They probably knew about disease, what caused it and how to prevent it. They
wished to create the norms of good social and hygienic behavior and ensure
compliance. The best way to ensure compliance was to tell the common man that
such behavior pleases God, or in other words, the religion says so. So most of
the religious beliefs and rituals have a very scientific base. But there are two
problems.
First, most of the rituals and rules have been distorted by touts and the
half-learned so-called saints. Secondly, the norms and rules were relevant in
those days, but may not be so critical today with the advancement of science,
particularly the science of hygiene and medicine. We re-engineer business
processes today, where we re-assess the relevance of the age-old business
processes with respect to the current tools and techniques available today (e.g.
computers and the Internet). Similarly, there is a serious need to 're-engineer'
religion. Conditions have changed, technology has changed, but we still believe
in the age old rituals without looking at it from a fresh perspective.
What stops us from taking a fresh look at religious rules and rituals? Here
lies the catch. We saw that 'faith' was a very important component for this
psychotherapeutic method to be effective. You must believe in the concept of God
and religion to benefit from it. The more faith you have in the method, the more
it will work for you, and the less you will question the system.
This method, however slow, may work for individuals. But has it worked for
the world as a whole? I believe it has not. There is a serious and disastrous
side effect.
It is possible that Buddha, Mohammed and Christ reached the same high-energy
zones. They all tried to explain how they reached there. May be all of them
followed the same path. They told us that there is one destination and one path.
But in the absence of a precise mentomatical language, we understood them
differently and created several religions. The most disastrous side effect of
this psychotherapeutic method was that multiple religions sprang up and so did
religious conflicts. I understand that today there are more deaths due to
religious conflicts than due to all natural calamities put together.
So clearly the method has not worked overall. And clearly, there is a need to
look for a better method.
If man had closed his eyes and said that walking is the only way to move from
one place to another, he would never have invented the cars. If he had said that
moving along land is the only way, he would not have invented airplanes.
Similarly we can probably find a way to reach the Godly zones, a way that
will be several times faster than today's methods of religion.
I seriously believe that it will happen. For all we know, one of you readers
may be the one who may discover mentomatics. My book suggests what could be the
first step towards discovering mentomatics.
You have read about barbarians who lived on earth years ago who killed one
another for food. Several years from now, people will say, "Once upon a time,
there lived barbarians on this earth who believed that there were many Gods and
they killed their fellow beings in the name of religion."
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