Is God a delusion

Namaste,

 

In the following Video, Amish Tripati is trying to establish that God cannot be a delusion from the Hindu viewpoint.

Amish Tripathi argues that, according to Hinduism, Godcannot be a delusion (4/8)

He says that Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are dhArmic religions where the world view is fundamentally different from the Western Abrahamic religions.

Western Atheism that predominantly arose as a reaction to Abrahamic religions also has many of the features of abrahamic religions.

In the dhArmic view, the world is not seen in binaries - like good/evil, black and white and so on. Instead, everything is seen in shades of grey. From this perspective how do we answer the question that God is a delusion?!!

In Hindu view, anything that has a beginning and an end, is temporary and therefore a delusion. The word for it is mAya. But there is another definition that says anything that has a purpose and function is real.

For example our bodies are all made of five elements. If we throw the elements under a bus nothing will happen to them. But I cannot throw myself under a bus even though my body is made of same elements. Why? because there is something more than the elements, which is myself that has a purpose and function for now. So, I have to be real, at least for now.

Same way it is with God. If God has a purpose, then He is real.

In the West, many people have felt that there is no need for God. Probably this has to do with the tortured relationship between religion and science. Any scientific discovery that goes against religious views is blasphemy. 

In Hindu view point, there is no such conflict. Religion and Science can co-exist because they both have their purpose. This is because there is no doctrinal concept of blasphemy! In the dhArmic view, multiple paths are allowed to attain perfection.

In the Hindu view, God is not a strict father who either rewards or punishes for listening to him. God is beyond gender and is only a witness. In the abrahamic faiths, Adam and Eve fell because they voilated God's rules. But in Hindu context, they would be allowed to eat and infact would be told to go for the entire tree. But they will also be told to be prepared to handle the consequences. This is how karma and dharma operates allowing people to give freedom to grow and evolve and ultimately attain complete knowledge and become God himself!

 

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The above might appear convincing, but it does not fully reflect the truth. In the Vedic view, there is clear cut difference between dharma and adharma, samsara and moksha, atma and anAtma and so on. It is definitely not like shades of grey!

 The ideal of dharma, which is essentially varnashrama dharma, is unique to Veda. Simply put, it means performance of one's prescribed duty or vocation according to one's capacity and capability, as a worship of God who is manifesting in the form of the universe itself. Service to the society and universe is service to God. This is in essence, varnashrama dharma. This view is unique to Veda alone but it is also universal. Whatever action we do good or bad with respect to the universe will return results accordingly. This is in a nutshell the idea of dharma and any selfish action performed only for money and enjoyment is karma. Performance of dharma as a service to God and surrendering to a Guru and devotion to God alone will yield moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Every other view like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism do not explicitly teach this Varnashrama dharma, and at the same time they dont deny also. But Karma and Punarjanma or re-incarnation is common for all.

 God is not a delusion in Hindu view because He is the spirit Self of the universe, supporting the entire universe is His body. The absolute dependence on the universe, of all of us for our existence, can never be denied by anyone irrespective of whatever world view one subscribes to! Therefore, God manifesting as this universe that is sustaining all can never be a delusion! This universal Vedic view encompasses and transcends every other view, including atheistic view.

 There are no multiple paths for attainment of perfection or moksha. Through dharma or selfless action, one can burn the baggage of karma and through devotion to God and service to a Guru and tapasya (sense and mind control and renunciation), one can realize God who is Brahman, the indwelling absolute Self. "Na anya pantha ayanAya vidyate" - "There is no path other than this" declares Veda.

So, the false of idea of shades of grey and multiple paths for attainment of perfection is refuted. It is true that the world is temporary. But it always remains an abode of God who is the All-pervading and indwelling Self.

There is a need therefore for intelligent Hindus or truth seekers to be vigilent while listening to non-traditional intellectuals and self-styled gurus.

Namaste

Suresh