MAN CREATED GOD OR GOD CREATED MAN

By Promod Puri

God is the creation of man! Or man is the creation of God.

Which one of these statements is right, and which one is wrong, or both right, or both wrong? One more question: if God is the creation of man, then is it an act of God as well?

The creation debate has been around for quite some time. The basic reasons which aroused the dubious puzzle, are man’s ability to seek rationales, his perceptions, and capacity of understanding of the nature’s phenomena around him.

The debatable topic is imperative to fathom the nature of God even He is a fabrication of man.

The creation of God by man could be part of evolution of human culture from its very beginning when life was crude, brutal and disorderly. As civilization started taking roots management of the society began. And in that management, God was invented as a symbol of discipline to bring in some order for an acceptable behavior in the emerging civic society.

In this social construction, along with the evolution of man, there has been evolution of God too.

Over the millenniums, God has been not only personified as a Super Being, but He was also set up into a sacred institution run by priests and revered by believers. 

The institution itself branched into several orders, referred as religions. These are identifiable and mired by their corresponding rituals, customs, and traditions along with divers names of God based on respective linguistic and cultural diversities.

HEAVEN AND HELL

His residency is believed to be up in the celestial world. Besides governing, or misgoverning, the affairs of this universe, and other universes, the man-made God also runs heaven and hell to reward or punish humans according to their deeds during the time lived on the earthly aboard.

As the man’s deeds are believed to be recorded in God’s books, the reverence towards Him is impacted by fear factor promoted by the priest class.

Along with man’s submission to fear, God is also responsible for infusing fate into an individual’s life. He writes the destiny as His way to conduct a person’s life journey. “What is written down by Him will happen”, that is the will of God embedded in man’s psyche.

Besides these psychic experiences of fear and fate, the institutional development of God lead to more attributions to Him based on man’s social needs and circumstances, his emotions, and imaginations. And as the society advanced God was given more space in every aspect of human thinking and activity.

It is in this transformation, God became an independent entity. His creator, the man, became the created one.

Still, in the history of God, man has always been the contributing factor to give added meaning to His existence and development. 

In this development, man’s intellectual, philosophical, metaphysical, and scientific faculties contributed more towards expanding the nature of God. As the process continued the constitution and expanse of God seated Him on an omnipresence status.

PROGRESSIVE AND PRAGMATIC APPROACH

The magnanimity of God finds space in every atom or sub-atoms constituting our worlds.

However, besides these somatic existences, His residency is also sought in our minds and thoughts which influence our deeds. And this is where a progressive and pragmatic turn in our study and understanding of God in the contemporary society can take place.

 

In this forward-looking engagement, our review and awareness of God begin by re-establishing His image that He represents the supremacy of perfection representing the ultimate in human values based on purity of thought. And He is part of the commitment and relationship with our environments including animals, plants, rivers, mountains, etc.

But God’s symbolic image for the humanity and His commitment towards the environment have been soiled by religious rituals and customs which by default represent the face of most religious orders.

In this march towards seeking a true image and feel of God, our rituals and customs are to be defused from the spiritual aspects of religions and faiths. The values and significance of rituals and customs are only ornamental in giving identities to respective religions.

Moreover, we can agree that exploring and determining God’s perceivable identity and bodily or physical existences are futile and unsettled exercises which had been and still being tried out by philosophers, priests, pundits, scholars, and scientists.

We don’t need these explorations.

Neither we are capable of these vague attempts. The reason is simple, man is just one of the millions or perhaps billions of creatures, who is ultra-microscopic in His infinite and colossal universe.

For a moment let us compare a human being to a small ant who is trying to study and research God up there in the celestial world. But we don’t. Because this has been ingrained in our cognitive senses that man is the favored work of God as being the most intelligent among all of His living creations. And that we are the only ones capable to determine His multi-dimensional but conceptual-based existence.

Perhaps, that little ant may be thinking the same. It may be believing humans walking tall up on the ground are the unintelligent creatures. Or we are the gods for the ant. Who knows!

Searching or researching to determine His physical, but eternally invisible and mystic existence does not relate to our need for the practicality of God in our thoughts and deeds.

And while on the progressive path one can explicitly observe that in our religious places, God’s existence is marred by elaborate rituals and customs which impact and disturb invoking His presence in the prayers and reverence for Him.

REDISCOVERING GOD
Furthermore, our antiquated scriptures are not of much help either in His realization. 

Written in the language(s) of bygone eras, their meaning, and interpretations of the wisdom contained in them are tough to comprehend for most of us at any intellectual, and educational levels. These sacred writings need to be edited and rewritten to conform to the demands and concerns of the contemporary civilization. We seek easy and clear understanding of the scriptural teachings and knowledge with or without the services of priests.

In this age of explosion of intelligent knowledge available through mass media like Google and internet, we can rediscover God who can create righteous thoughts to stimulate righteous deeds in creating a righteous world around us.

We need a God which is more of an action, a verb, rather than a non-action or noun.

MODERN PRAYER

In other words, the practicality of God is the modern prayer towards Him instead of offering symbolic rituals. He offers a meaningful perspective which can be created by the assembly of good thoughts. And the divine residency begins in that on-going construction.

Basically, it is an ardent temperament we are trying to build which gives rationality, practicality, and the feel of God.

The temperament holds the universal principles of being honest, humble, and sincere, be considerate, and helpful to others, be merciful, forget and forgive, love fellow beings and care for the environments, including animals, plants, and the nature. And everything else which is pious, pure, and morally firm.

That is all we need to create and live in the image of God while abating the duality factor between Him and man.

After all, our endeavor to leave the duality is the way to enlightenment.

And while we are on the pathway to divine Oneness, the ongoing debate, if man created God, or God created man, can be settled as the Creator and the created are eternally One entity.

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Related articles by Promod Puri: Thoughts On Thought, Assembly of God in Hinduism, Seeking Divine Spirit, Religion Has Guiding Role in Politics, Building ofDivine Residency More Important Than Knowing God He Or She, Bad Rituals Breed Fanaticism, Quantum Theory And Om, and Guru Maneyo Granth.

Promod Puri is a writer and author of Hinduism Beyond Rituals, Customs, And Traditions. He is the editor and main contributor to progressivehindudialogue.com, promodpuri.com, and promodpuri.blogspot.com

Thoughts On Thought

Creation, Cultivation And Development Of Thought

  By PromodPuri

Simple Thought: Infuse purity and ethics in thoughts, base karmas on those thoughts, and enjoy the fruits of those karmas.

Mahatma Gandhi says: thoughts become words, words become behavior, behavior becomes habits, habits become values, and values lead to destiny.

In the creation of words, behavior, habits, values, and destiny, the conception begins with thought. It all dawns from this perception.

Since destiny is the consequence of thought, the latter itself is consequence of our feelings, attitudes, knowledge, and experiences. All these factors instigate our cogitative faculties in creating thinking.

Thinking is a mental activity of brain. And thought is a product of thinking. Creation of one’s own thought, import of thought, and its acceptance or its rejection are all considered as thought. In other words, the act involved in these considerations is a thought by itself.

Thought has multiple executions like establishing a reason, imagination, understanding, judgment, remembering, opinion, belief or just being conscious of time and place, etc.

Residency Of Thought
According to the biology of thought, its processing and transmission happen and develop in the nerve cells of brain. These cells are called neurons. With a population of close to 100 billion, neurons while communicating with each other, receive, and deliver information. Neurons function along with trillions of synapses. The latter are connectors transmitting signals among neurons.

Thought in its physical formation resides in the chemistry of neuron cells. Neurons are “electrically excitable”, meaning their activity is driven by some energy.

 While we can accept the purpose and operation of neurons and synapses, the biology of thought, however, does not relate itself to two basic questions: what triggers the birth of a thought, and how it acquires its nature or character.

Seeking answer(s) to these two fundamental issues is consequential because, as we know thru Gandhi’s acknowledged quote that it is thought which impacts the destiny of an individual, family, community, nation, our world and perhaps the universe.

As far as genesis of thought is concerned there are three hypotheses:

1.    Thinking is a subconscious brain activity,

2.    Some unexplained biological process creates thinking,

3.    It is the conversion of energy particles into an object called thinking which shapes itself into thought.

As we ascertain, once thinking takes place by whatever hypothetical process, it becomes thought. Thinking is an activity which keeps on producing thoughts to generate execution, as well as begetting more thinking. And the process is activated by itself. 

Neurons and synapses, being just the tools and carriers, collect thought for its retention, processing, and transmission to stimulate activity. Commands in the form of words are established, and rest of the operation follows.

How Does Thought Acquire Its Distinctive Trait?
Thought generates action. Good thought generates good action, bad thought generates bad action. This elementary and simple statement leads us to explore how thought acquires its distinctive trait.

A supplementary question also arises. Can we regulate or manage thought? We need good and positive thoughts for our happiness and peace, which can ultimately promise peace and happiness in the world.
In this pursuit, we accept the fact that several environmental factors quite significantly influence the nature or behavior of thought. The established and consented values in a civic society, its rituals, customs, and traditions are some of the environments which cause for the sentiment of thought.

Genetic factor also play in drafting its blueprint. Moreover, thought generates and induces more thoughts.

Thoughts guide and maneuver our karmas. In return, karmas influence our thoughts, and the cycle continues.

Besides, environmental, genetic and karma factors which influence its creation and nature, our own inherent and acquired disciplines can influence the cultivation and development of thought. 

These disciplines, including those driven by our individual moods and temperaments, are influenced by fundamental values of morality, nobility, and divinity.

We are told, to be honest, humble, and sincere, be considerate, and helpful to others, be merciful, forget and forgive, love fellow beings and care for the environments, including animals, plants, and the nature. And everything else which is pious, pure, and morally firm.

We accept the truism and goodness of these universal principles. But do they provide adept stimulant to our cogitative biology in creating and shaping our thoughts? 

In theoretical and idealized state these righteous directives can steer our thoughts towards achieving the desired temperament we want for ourselves which impact the society as well. But the environment we live in, including the economic and health factors, render the divinity of the noble messages as nonviable religious or scriptural preaching.

The devotee and the divinity are separated by pragmatics we face and accept in the real world. And the casualty is thought. It is molded and normalized to the adjustment of our circumstantial priorities.

A Resolution Worth A Thought  

In our civilized and progressive world, the call of humanity seeks re-evaluating each of our religions, rituals, customs, traditions, social and political institutions, including Left and Right isms, which impart values and behaviors impacting our environments.

This resolution is part of the evolution and management of civil society we live in. Evolution of civilization is natural as well as essential for rational and intelligent creation of environments which influence our thoughts

 

In this age of enlightenment, backed by technology and nurtured by explosion of intelligent knowledge, we can independently seek the purity of thought and its management. In this quest, ripples generated are likely to create the waves which will impact the environment we live in.

  

In creating those environments, the infusion of ethics in thought is an earnest endeavor before we step on to the Gandhi’s destiny ladder.

And in that destiny, while revisiting and upgrading our religious, social, and political environments, lies peace and prosperity for the humanity.

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Am I A Hindu In India

By Promod Puri
I am a proud Canadian citizen. In this land of multi-cultural and multi-religious freedoms I am also a proud Hindu.

But when I visit India I am not a Hindu. Because, I confess, many, many, many times I have eaten beef steaks. And that I am not “hiding” the fact that our refrigerator often has minced beef.

I am not a Hindu in India because I don’t adore Trump, and I did not share the pictures showing special Hindu prayers for his success in the US presidential race. Unlike Trump, I am not an anti-refugee, and I’m not an anti-Muslim either.

More seriously, I am not a Hindu in India because I don’t understand the “moral vigilant” squads apprehending and thrashing young couples, married or unmarried, indulging in the “obscene” act of holding each other’s hands in public.

I am not a Hindu in India because I denounce the violent and at times fatal acts of “gau-rakshak dals” projecting their bizarre vision of Hinduism under the pretext of saving the holy cow. The same cows don’t get their compassion when often seen gnawing plastic garbage bags.

I am not a Hindu in India because I reject Manu and his caste classification of the Hindu race. Rather I salute Ambedkar who fought to uproot the caste system in the country.

My non-Hindu status in India qualifies me in the expanding outcaste of “go-to-Pakistan”. I love to visit Pakistan, especially to my ancestral town of Sialkot. This is the place where poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born. He wrote: Sare jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara….

Back in Canada, in the land of true freedom, I am a Hindu again.

(Promod Puri is the author of “Hinduism Beyond Rituals, Customs, and Traditions”. Websites: progressivehindudialogue.com, promodpuri.com and promodpuri.blogspot.ca)  

Easter & Vaisakhi:Festivals Of New Beginning

By Promod Puri

Easter is a celebration of resurrection of Jesus.

It is on this day, Christians believe in the rise of Jesus Christ after his death and burial. And that means a new beginning.

Since Easter (April 16) comes in the beginning of spring season, a symbolic connection can be ascertained with the coming back to life of Jesus, and the life of plants and trees that have been dormant in winter. Easter is a celebration of new life and rebirth in the nature and the Christian faith.

The celebration of new life and rebirth finds a meaningful implication in the Hindu-Sikh-Buddhist festival of Vaisakhi (April 13) which also falls during the spring season.

Vaisakh is the name of first month (April-May) in the Hindu calendar. It is a time of festivity when the crops are ready for harvesting. On this day in 1875, Hindu reformist Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj sect in Hinduism. And Gautam Buddh attained enlightenment on the Vaisakhi day. Vaisakhi marks a new beginning with the formation of Khalsa Panth, the birth of Sikhism by Guru Gobind Singh on April 13, 1699.

Easter and Vaisakhi are the occasions of celebrations when mother nature also promises new beginning as the spring season comes back with new leaves, flowers, and blossoms.

Happy Easter, Happy Vaisakhi amidst Happy Spring.

Nostalgic Joy With Old Filmi Songs

By Promod Puri

(Please do use all the links in this article and enjoy)
Living in Canada for the past 45 years, my nostalgic window often opens to the blissful sounds of popular Hindi filmi songs and music. From this retreat, the flights to the past are the pleasures of the present.
In the voyage, tuning in on Aye mere pyaare vatan, aye mere bichhade chaman, tujh pe dil qurabaan, is an emotional joy in self-recreation. Manna Dey, in his masculine and classical voice, creates a melody of mellow submission towards motherland in the film Kabuliwala. Composed by music director Salil Chaudhary, the song literary takes me back to the melodious world of Indian filmi songs and music.
For me, it has been a fabulous and everlasting journey which began way back in early ’50s. During my teen years of life, I often spoiled myself listening to the filmi songs of that era from All India Radio and Radio Ceylon of Binaca Geetmala fame. The early indulgence ever since has become an absorbing and addictive pastime.
I still get stirred up by the grace and pride in the marching beats of Watan ki rah mein watan ke naujawan shaheed ho, pukarate hai ye zameen o aasamaa shahid ho, by singers Khan Mastana and Mohammad Rafi from the film Shaheed (1948). Raja Mehdi Ali Khan penned the revolutionary wordings with music composed by Ghulam Ali Haider who was credited with initiating the career of well-known playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, a legend who dominated the Hindi filmi music scene for decades. “Ghulam Haider is truly my godfather. He was the first music director who showed complete faith in my talent”, Lata once remarked about her mentor.
In my avocational abode, audibly residing forever are Noor Jehan’s renditions of Aawaz de kahan hai (a duet with Surendra); Mere bachman ke sathi muje bhool na jana, dekho dekho hase na zamana; and Jawan hai mohabbat hasin hai zamana, lutaya hai dil ne khoshi ka tarana (film Anmol Ghardi).
Malika-e-tarannum Noorjahan’s distinct and immaculate voice uplifts the spirit and clarity of the lyrics. Her sweet but eloquent and uninhibited style continues to echo eternally across nations’ borders.
It was Naushad Ali (assisted by Ghulam Mohammed) who scored the music for these alluring compositions. He was one of the most talented and creative melodists credited with popularizing the folk music especially from the Hindi speaking belt of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. However, his signature compositions were often based on classic Hindustani music.
The best example of Naushad’s compositions in both classical and folk music reverberates in the songs of Baiju Bawara. There is rhythm, folk and classical mix in them. Door koi gaye, Tu Ganga ki mouj main, Jhoole mein pawan, Bachpan ki mohabbat, O duniya ke rakhwale, and Mohe bhool gaye sanwariya, are ageless all raga-based symphonic creations by musical maestro Naushad for generations to enjoy.
In Naushad’s music, there has always been the subtle sweetness and zest, like enjoying a glass of merlot.  Gaye ja geet milan ke, Dharti ko aakash pukaare, Ye zindagi ke mele (Mela); Jhoom jhoom ke nacho aaj, Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe, Tu kahe agar, Uthaye ja unke sitam, Tod diya dil mera ( Andaaz); Murliwale murli baja, Tu mera chand mein teri chandani (Dillagi); Dhadke mera dil, Chhod babul ka ghar, Kisi ke dil mein rahna tha, Lagan more man ki, Mera jeevan saathi bichhad gaya, Milte hi ankhen dil hua diwana (Babul) are some of his early feats reflecting his impeccable mastery to create a delightfully ecstatic mood.
In the treasure trove of Hindi filmi music Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aoge stands out as one of most adored compositions by Naushad from film Dulari. Mohammad Rafi in his immaculate voice and with perfect breath control did a superb job which launched him as the most loved and one of the most sought after male singers in the industry.
Naushad was an ingenious and versatile composer creating new tunes, as well as rewriting the folk-based ones which were intrinsically popular among amateur and perpetually novice as well.
His celebrated list is adorned with such evergreen numbers: Maan mera ehsan, Dil mein chupake pyar ka, and one of my favourite holi songs Khelo raang hamare sang (Aan), Jaanewaale se mulaaqaat na hone paayi, Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai, Na milta gham to barbadi ke afsane kahan jaate (Amar); Lagan more man ki sajn nahin jane, and my most adorable lullaby Chandan ka palna resham ki dori (Shabaab).
Naushad was one of the most decorated music directors who composed music for about 100 Hindi films. Many of them were silver, golden and diamond jubilee hits simply because of the popularity of the songs in these movies. Na toofan se khelo, Ghar aya mehman koi jaan na pehchan, Mera salam leja, Mohabbat ki rahon mein, and Saiyan ji utrenge paar from the film Uran Khatola still take the listeners to exuberant heights even after 64 years when the movie was released in 1953.
Naushad was at his pinnacle of popularity with his superb compositions in the Oscar- nominated film Mother India (1957). Nagari nagari dware dware, Duniya mein hum aaye hain, O gaadiwale, dukh bhare din beete re, Pi ke ghar aaj pyari dulhaniya chali, and another of my most relished holi songs Holi aayi re kanhai, are among the most popular numbers out of 12 in the movie.
The movie Mughal-e-azam (1960) was perhaps the climax of his success story. The raga-based compositions in this epic drama won instant popularity. I remember the song Pyar kiya to darna kya burst in the number one spot the moment it entered the Binaca Geetmala’s 16-song grading list. Based on the story of love affairs between Mughal prince Salim and court dancer Anarkali, the music of Naushad in Mughal-e-Azam competed with that of the 1953 musical hit Anarkali.
Anarkali offers a bonanza of most melodious songs with superb poetic depths. C.Ramchandra composed tuneful and forever popular music of the film.  A maestro in musical compositions, he liberally delivered his art in Anarkali.  It was one of the very few films in which all the songs, without exception, were hit numbers for years and years. Even today listening to Anarkali songs offers delightful engagement both in its lyrical reflections and serene music.
Ye zindagi usiki hai, Aaja ab to aaja, Mujhse mat poochh, Dua kar gham-e-dil, Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag, Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai, Zindagi pyar ki do char ghadi, O aasman wale shikva hai zindagi ka (I love the lyrics of ‘shikva’ meaning complaining to god), Ae baad e saba zara ahista chal and Mohabbat mein aise kadam dagamagae, are the songs which will always remain as crafted jewels with everlasting brilliance.
C.Ramchandra was an accomplished singer himself under the name of Chitalkar. With Lata Mangeshkar, his popular duets were Kitna haseen hai mausam in film Azad or Shola Jo bhadke in Albela.
Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday (Shehnai), Mere piya gaye Rangoon (Patanga), Gore gore o banke chore (Samadhi) along with Ina meena dika (Asha), where he introduced the rock-n-roll rhythms in the Indian filmi music for the first time, were very popular songs because of their hilarious verbal and trendy musical combination. Even today these songs often pop up in the entertaining game of Antakshri.
Dheere se aa ja re akhiyan mein (Albela) is another of my favourite lullaby.  Mehfil mein jal uthi shama (Nirala), Tere phoolon se bhi pyar (Nastik), Dil ki duniya basa ke sawariyan, Dekh Hamen Aavaaz Na Denaa (Amardeep), Katatay hain dukh mein ye din (Parchhaain) and Aadha hai chandrama (Navrang) are the soundtracks where the nostalgic needle usually get struck.
C.Ramchandra enjoyed the distinction of being the composer of non-filmi but one of the most popular patriotic songs, Aye mere watan ke logo, zara ankh mein bhar lo pani. Literally moving the live audience to tears Lata, in her touching presentation, sang the patriotic composition penned by poet Pradeep after the India-China war in 1962 in honor of the fallen Indian soldiers.