Ishwar Religion and Human Mind:Lalit k kaul

 

Ishwar/Allah/Khuda/God Religion and Human Mind                                                                                            Lalit K Kaul

There are two distinct theories about creation of our universe. One that answers the question: who created it and the other that answers the question: how it was created. The first one also details out the process (how) for its creation whereas the second one derecognizes any concept of creator. The theory that deals with both ‘who' and ‘how’ of our creation is dealt with very profoundly in the Upanishads and Purans and the theory that deals with only ‘how' of it is Big Bang theory.

In short, the Big Bang is how astronomers explain the way the universe began. It is the idea that the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now and is still stretching! The universe began, scientists believe, with every speck of its energy jammed into a very tiny point. This extremely dense point exploded with unimaginable force, creating matter and propelling it outward to make the billions of galaxies of our vast universe. Astrophysicists dubbed this titanic explosion the Big Bang. The questions that remain to be answered are: what caused that single point to expand and stretch? What is causing it to keep stretching? What caused the explosion? If anybody has answers for the posed questions, I would like to get educated.

For example, in a pressure cooker, if the safety valve fails to operate then there occurs explosion due to steam energy accumulation within a limited space and the cause for building up of that energy is the heat energy that feeds it. Remove the heat and leave it there, there will be no explosion in case of safety valve failure.

On the other hand, the Upanishads and Purans lucidly explain the cause-and-effect relationships related to the dynamics of creation of our universe and the associated evolution of different levels of consciousness (lowest to highest). It all starts with a Cosmic Point (Cosmic Egg).

Physical Systems and their Mathematical Formulations:

Physical systems are classified to be of two types, 1) Causal and 2) Non-causal. Causal systems are those whose response follows a given stimulus; meaning that there is no effect without a cause, no output without an input, etc. Non- causal systems are those where response precedes stimulus; output without any presence of an input, etc. While it is possible to design causal system it is impossible to design non-causal systems.

There are two types of responses for a causal system, 1) Free Response and 2) Forced Response. In the former case, the stimulus is within (internal) and in the latter case, the stimulus is external. In both cases the system may or may not settle down to a steady state. But the fact remains that the system's response is due to a stimulus.

So, if the “single point expanded and stretched” then for such dynamics to roll out, there ought to be a stimulus within, because a non-causal system is not realizable. The Vedic philosophy of creation and evolution recognizes that stimulus within which became the cause for the birth of what we call as universe.

The physical world as we see, observe and analyze and the physical systems that we design and analyze based on the laws of nature (as mathematically conceptualized) are all causal in nature and they all being a sub-set (part) of the unfathomable universe, the creation of the universe cannot be a non-causal dynamic. So, I recognize the presence of a stimulus in creation of this universe. Some attribute it to Allah, some to God, some to Khuda and some to the Will of Ishwar. The Creator, that is, having different names. Hereinafter, Creator implies all of them, if, indeed, there are multiple stimuli!

The Creator:

To deny Him is tantamount to being imbued with “scientific temper". It is commonly heard people saying,” I am an atheist". “I am a theist”.  The history of our planet is replete with instances of how civilizations were vanquished, societies dehumanized by over-zealots who were indoctrinated with the thought that the name they gave to the Creator was supreme and, therefore, all the peoples of the world must bow to Him alone! Do these pronouncements and claims matter? Does the Creator give a damn to all this? No, not at all, indeed. Why? Here is the explanation.

Whatever one may choose to do in one's life either by choice or compulsion; confining one's conduct within the societal definitions of “right" and “wrong"; “good" and “bad"; “ethical" and “unethical"; “moral" or “immoral", the Creator does not intervene. Based on the circumstances as obtained by one's own doing or otherwise, when one is in the process of chalking out a course of action to either make good of the obtained situation or come out of it, the Creator does not intervene to advise/suggest a better course of action or approve/disapprove of one’s chalked out strategy. The Creator does not motivate anyone to be a faithful or rebel; theist or atheist. Therefore, the Creator doesn't care whether one is being spiritualistic or hedonistic; believer or non-believer. Therefore, why bring Him/Her/It in the matters that concern human societies and the physical world that humans perceive.

Nobody can claim to have been face-to-face with the Creator. If the creation of our universe was the outcome of a Free Response, then the stimulus (Self Will) can't have an existence that's gross and if it was the outcome of a Forced Response, then also the external stimulus can't have a gross form. To allocate a form to the Creator is to conceive a situation where this universe was created the way a potter creates various shapes implying that there was this Being to Whom all the raw materials for creation of various shapes and forms were available and that our universe is the outcome of the stupendous effort of the Creator; both the Big Bang theory and Vedic philosophical explanation for the birth of our universe don't contribute to it.

The Religion:

The self-proclaimed custodians of religion who delight in functioning as moral police and conscious keepers of their religious community have the kind of indulgences that even a highly depraved person would shudder to think of. No religion professes the need for custodians for its survival because then it would be void of any content and therefore any message to the humanity. The self-assumed custodians of religions need to understand that any religious doctrine/philosophy comprises only broad guidelines insofar as human conduct in a given society is concerned and therefore no religion can come in the way of (or impede) evolution of human societies as they have evolved from, say, Stone Age to contemporary technology driven world.

That one belongs to a particular religion is only accidental in that a new born is brought up on the tenets of the religion that his/her parents belong to. That doesn't make this new born any superior or inferior to new-born in other religious groups. The mental and physical capabilities/incapablities of any human being are not a function of his/her religion. Religion cannot confer these capabilities on humans. It is said “Religion is for Humans and Humans are not for Religion". How appropriate!

It should be an interesting experiment to do like, pick up a number of children from a wide cross-section of religious communities and then bring them up in an environment that hosts no pictures/idols/images/signs of Ishwar/Allah/Khuda/God. Bring them up like any parents would do within their means and then observe how different or similar their responses are to obtained situations in comparison to those brought up under the umbrella of a religion. In my understanding, their conduct with each other and others would be as human or inhuman as it could be because humans respond to a given situation depending upon how they perceive it. And that has nothing to do with any religion, because no religion has any control over one's internal world. Its one's internal world that dictates responses of an individual to obtained situations; that's why different people respond differently while being placed in same situation at the same time; that's why people have their own likes and dislikes and that's why it is not possible to indoctrinate all (not even a majority) by a religious and/or a political ideology.

The Human Mind:

Of all the living specie in our planet, the human beings are endowed with highest level of consciousness. Their mind has been ever evolving since the inception of their existence on this planet and this dynamic has been independent of the birth of many religions.

The mental faculties of males and females that make them inquisitive and therefore motivate them to acquire knowledge about the dynamics of Mother Nature and the Laws of Nature are not subject to any religious affiliation. The urge to know and to contribute in finding solutions for day-to-day problems as may arise in a society are not subservient to any religion. The flight of a mind is under no external control and to enforce restrictions, in the name of religion, on males and/or females is to deny them their innate dormant talent that they are infused with. To deny freedom to contribute towards growth of society/Nation, as per one’s mental and physical capabilities, is to oppose onward flow of Time and that causes turbulence in a society.

While religion of an individual is by accident of birth; the grey matter, ethics, morality and internal world of an individual are not due to accident of birth. Many instances can be cited where the progenies of such people who created history and left a mark in the plane of human endeavours passed in to the Eternity without leaving any foot prints while on the other hand those born in poorest of poor families created history and left indelible foot prints on the canvass of human endeavours irrespective of their caste, creed, colour, race and gender.

Indian sub-continent is birth place of many religions that all have World View different from one another and they branched out - based on differences in philosophical interpretation of the very basis of the Universe and its relationship with Man - to be recognized as sects of the mother religion, but all this did not impede the evolution of Indian society from Stone Age to Copper Age to Bronze Age to Iron Age as also progressing from being a pastoral society to an agricultural one. The fact of the evolution of human civilization based upon ever increasing understanding of the relationship between Mother Nature and Homo sapiens alongside of the birth of religious philosophies at different points of time is proof enough that religions don’t dictate evolution of human mind which in turn causes evolution of civilizations. That which is stagnant is dead and the one that’s ever flowing is live and any attempt to impede progression and thrust regression is a sure prescription for creating such a turbulence in a society that may lead it to a chaotic state and in total disarray.

The Bottom Line:

The concept of Creator, the religious doctrines/philosophies and the evolution of human mind are three disjoint sets. Let the evolution of human mind not be sought to be impeded by bringing in the Creator and religious doctrines. Let Humans be humans and let them have the freedom to define their own relationships with the Creator and the freedom to reject or accept any religious dictates.

Let there be no middlemen/God men between an individual and his/her Ishwar/Allah/Khuda/God and let there be no self-declared guardians of respective religions. If this state of existence is realized, then that shall be true civilization.