The Spirit Of Spirituality: The Illogical Fear Of God

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Illogical Fear Of God

This is one of the articles in a book I have written on spirituality. The book is available on Amazon.com.

The Spirit Of Spirituality

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Yesterday a friend came up to me. He was rather worried and I asked why. He said that as he was cleaning up his desk, he mistakenly tore a picture of Lord Ganapathi and put it in trash. He was worried whether he would be punished and wanted to go to Ganapathi’s temple in the evening to seek forgiveness. This set me thinking as to what our feelings towards God are. Are we afraid of God and if so, why?

As I analyze my own initiation to God, which I think will be typical of most Indians, I was told what I should not do, since God would punish. I remember going to temples where I saw vivid pictures of what God would do to me for mistakes I did. This caused a lot of fear in my young mind and I always felt that God was someone to be feared. As I grew older and met people from other faiths, I heard similar stories.

On one hand we are told that God is our creator and is kind, righteous and like a parent. On the other hand we are told to be in mortal fear of God. Why this dichotomy? Will I be afraid of my own parents as a child? Will I be afraid to ask my mother for food when I am hungry? Wont I just go and demand that my mother feed me? This is not as a matter of disrespect to my mother, but a complete trust that I have a right over her and in her unlimited love for me, my demand will not be seen as something punishable. Taking this a step higher, if God is like a parent, why should I be afraid of asking what I want? Why should I humbly beg of God to give me? The same way a child demands from its mother and there is no fear of punishment, I have every right to ask what I want from God without fear of punishment. Of-course, if I go to my mom, and demand that she give me the neighbor’s toy, she has a right to refuse and it is well within her right to punish me, if I insist on that. In the same way, so long as I am asking God for something reasonable, I can demand. If I am jobless and need a job to feed my family, I am well within my right to demand it from God so long as I put in effort. I cannot demand God to pass me in an examination without me preparing for it!

Now that we have seen why even by the definition of God in religion, it is illogical to fear God, let us examine spiritually why it is illogical. Let us go back to my common example of a wave in an ocean. Assume I am a small wave gently playing in the sunny shores of Florida and I turn back and see a giant wave coming after me, should I be afraid and run? Well, I am the water in the ocean and the big wave is water in the same ocean. So, why should I be afraid? Similarly, the soul in me is the atman or small wave and the large wave is Brahman or God or the universal soul. So, why should I be afraid of God? Let us take another argument. I have covered earlier that the only reality is Brahman and nothing else exists. When there is no second entity at all, where is the question of fear? Can I be afraid of myself?

Then the question arises, if the ancient masters knew all this, why did the fear of God evolve? Let us take an analogy of a curved road on a hill. When driving down a road, there are signs warning people against driving fast. Speed limits are put up. In some places an image of a skull is put up warning of dangers. No, what is the reality? The reality is that owing to centrifugal forces, it is likely that on curvy road, the car may fly off and fall in the ravine. What if there are signs explaining about centrifugal forces? How many drivers would understand and drive carefully? To ensure that a majority of drivers do not end up flying off a curvy road, not understanding centrifugal forces, the government in its wisdom puts up warning signs, images of a skull etc warning of danger. The idea is that the common man who does not understand theory of centrifugal forces will at the least understand big bold signs.

In a similar way, since the concept of Brahman or God is so profound that even the best of brains cannot comprehend, the ancient masters in their innate wisdom and deep desire to help common people avoid the accident of birth and death caused by ignorance, created a series of images of fear and punishment. Over time, the concept of Brahman receded and only fear remained. Owing to this fear, we tend to end up begging for favor owing to fear of retribution from a powerful force.

I invite readers to reflect on this, realize the concept of God and get over the fear of God.

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.

1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality