Guest guest Posted September 16, 2003 Report Share Posted September 16, 2003 Dear Members, I found the following philosophy in one of Pandit Sanjay Rath's articles:"There are neither real enemies nor any real diseases in this illusionary world. These are only means for the Lord to punish us for our sins. " This brought to my mind another question, which is, if there are no real enemies and no real diseases, then why should the sins be considered real ? Afterall mostly we act against people whom we think are our enemies. So if enemy is not real then our action will not have to power to actually hurt them.....so how can our action against them i.e. our sin against them, be real ? Then why should God want to punish us for illusionary sins ? Then this brings to mind another question, if everything IS illusionary what is the purpose of our existance ? Another question, even if it is true that God gives us rebirth to punish us for our sins, for whatever reasons and logic beyond human (atleast mine!) understanding, why does he make us do sins in the first place....what was in God's mind when he created our Universe??....if everything is controlled by God...then even the freewill to not sin is controlled by him...then why is he making us sin and then punishing us. This brings us back to square one...what is the purpose of our existance? On the other hand, If everything is not controlled by God which means freewill to sin is not fully controlled by him, then by whom is it controlled? Or is anyone higher up in the heirarchy of animals-humans-superhumans-God-"?" ?Or Are we on this planet by chance...(seems unthinkable)?? I would greatly appreciate all your views on this topic. Thanks! Regards,AC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2003 Report Share Posted September 17, 2003 Dear AC, Perhaps some of these answers will help. Also refer to the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 8. Your wrote: I found the following philosophy in one of Pandit Sanjay Rath's articles: "There are neither real enemies nor any real diseases in this illusionary world. These are only means for the Lord to punish us for our sins. " These are the questions you posed and some answers. Q. If there are no real enemies and no real diseases, then why should the sins be considered real ? A. From the perspective of the true Self, the world is unreal and only Spirit is real. Q. After all mostly we act against people whom we think are our enemies. So if enemy is not real then our action will not have to power to actually hurt them.....so how can our action against them i.e. our sin against them, be real ? Q. True, our actions in the dream world have only dream power, so cannot hurt the only reality, Spirit. The Soul ever remains free and untouched by the world. But dream actions have dream effects and as long as we believe them to be real hurt the embodied ego, but never touch the Soul. Q. Then why should God want to punish us for illusionary sins ? A. The punishment is also illusionary. The dreamer dreams it to be so. The alternate explaination is that we would ever remain in ignorance with the Soul identified with the body, if there were not something to make us turn from the world. Karma is another term for "tough love". God does not wish for us to suffer, but to be free from desire and attachment to the world which causes suffering. Q. Then this brings to mind another question, if everything IS illusionary what is the purpose of our existance ? A. God dreams the world as an enjoyment. Made of the same Spirit and having the same nature, we also dream. The true Self is ever existing conscious bliss. That Self requires no purpose other than to be. Physical embodiment is caused by the existence of material desires. Having physical experiences free us from desires, and also create further binding desires, until we act with detachment and humility. Q. Another question, even if it is true that God gives us rebirth to punish us for our sins, for whatever reasons and logic beyond human (at least mine!) understanding, why does he make us do sins in the first place....what was in God's mind when he created our Universe?? A. The world is said to be Gods lila or play. Perhaps when we began our outward evolution from Spirit to Causal, then Subtle, then Physical embodiment, we had a say in it, and at that time made a choice, rather than being compelled to live in the world of suffering. If that is true then can we say we are being punished? Q. If everything is controlled by God, then even the free will to not sin is controlled by him, then why is he making us sin and then punishing us. A. We have free will to act, the problem is solved once we realize that God and Soul are one and the same. Then the individual Soul's will is God's will. Q. This brings us back to square one...what is the purpose of our existance? A. It is said that God gave us free will that we might choose to love Him. Note that this is not forced love for then that would only be force, the opposite of love or attraction. Q. On the other hand, If everything is not controlled by God which means free will to sin is not fully controlled by him, then by whom is it controlled? Or is anyone higher up in the heirarchy of animals- humans-superhumans-God-"?" ? A. From a dualistic perspective, that which has no free will is controlled by God. That which has free will is of the nature of God. From a non-dualistic perspective all is Spirit (Consciousness) or Brahman. Q. Or Are we on this planet by chance...(seems unthinkable)?? A. Not by chance, by choice. I hope these are helpful and they may just be a beginning as there are many perspectives: dualism, qualified non-dualism, non-dualism, pantheism, monotheism. Based upon your evolutionary point, one of these may be appropriate for you, as the capability to understand changes as we progress and requires a new explaination. , agatha christie <agathachristie22> wrote: > > > Dear Members, > > I found the following philosophy in one of Pandit Sanjay Rath's articles: > "There are neither real enemies nor any real diseases in this illusionary world. > These are only means for the Lord to punish us for our sins. " > > This brought to my mind another question, which is, if there are no real enemies and no real diseases, then why should the sins be considered real ? Afterall mostly we act against people whom we think are our enemies. So if enemy is not real then our action will not have to power to actually hurt them.....so how can our action against them i.e. our sin against them, be real ? > > Then why should God want to punish us for illusionary sins ? Then this brings to mind another question, if everything IS illusionary what is the purpose of our existance ? > > Another question, even if it is true that God gives us rebirth to punish us for our sins, for whatever reasons and logic beyond human (atleast mine!) understanding, why does he make us do sins in the first place....what was in God's mind when he created our Universe??....if everything is controlled by God...then even the freewill to not sin is controlled by him...then why is he making us sin and then punishing us. This brings us back to square one...what is the purpose of our existance? > > On the other hand, If everything is not controlled by God which means freewill to sin is not fully controlled by him, then by whom is it controlled? Or is anyone higher up in the heirarchy of animals- humans-superhumans-God-"?" ? > Or Are we on this planet by chance...(seems unthinkable)?? > > I would greatly appreciate all your views on this topic. Thanks! > > Regards, > AC > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2003 Report Share Posted September 19, 2003 There is a deep rooted metaphysical assumption pervading Western Philosophical traditions to today that *there is only one reality*(of course, in the guise of science, Theology is being exported). Ancient Indians(forget modern hindu missions and post-Islam invaded era) did not entertain such assumptions. Take for example, Our brethern in West assumed the sun is circling around Earth. Galileo stepped in and downgraded this to phenomenon; and proved that we are compelled to experience sunset/rise on horizon as geocentric, for earth is moving around Sun. Simply put for Western, westernized, semitized hindoos: Phenomenon is no where closer to 'underlying reality'. The reality is pheonomenon plus underlying reality. Idem for our/human cognitive experience: Psychologists, folks of AI never tired of mentioning actions and intentions are related. Phenomenally, our actions and intentions are related. This is not 'underlying reality', explained by Indian human sciences(the so- called hindu spirituality named by our masters). These categories are ajnana, avidya, maaya. Thse are competitors to biblical psychologies masquerading as scientific. Ancient Indians never entertained silly assumption, such as there is only one reality. They were rather scientific by presupposing diversity in re: experience/reality. And modern hindu missions are also semitizing Indic traditions by rendering traditions as 'hinduism', 'religion', 'faith system', 'belief system'. The so-called notion of 'God' appears in english media, anglicized hindoo mouths, so-called western philosophy, amalagam of West+East that can be seen in modern hindoo missions is antipodal to notion 'deva' of ancient Indians, for a) God is outside of Cosmos and created latter b) Creation of uncreated Cosmos are different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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