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Arjun Related posts, arjuna, Atheism, bhagvada, Bhagwad Gita, faith, God, ISKON, Krishn, Krishna, Mahabharata, maximum comments, religion, spirituality, temple
Born to a theist Papa and an atheist Mom, I had the luxury of choice. I chose to be an atheist.
Being a science student automatically made me lean heavily towards ‘proof and results’. Temples contributed liberally to my disgust of theism. Think impatient Pujaris (We are the proprietary middle-men to Heaven.) Think lecherous peddlers (A hundred rupees note will get you instant darshan, Madam!) Think repugnant God-men (I distinctly remember meeting one with red eyes, grey beard and saffron robes. When I and my brother refused to genuflect, his eyes darkened in incredulous rage. P.S: The only en’light’ment he saw must be at the end of his ganja–chillum!)
Meanwhile a wily God with a zany sense of humor decided to ensnare me with two most unlikely baits. A man and a meal…
The man: God’s best friend. Arjun. One (of the two men) I love. Hero of Mahabharata. 
Secure in my hero-worship; I did not enquire deeper into the ‘Why?’ Then one fine day, I realized it is time to bestow validity to my passion. To understand his turmoil and dilemmas, I chose not to focus on his triumphs and achievements, but on his most vulnerable moment – the one that led to Bhagwad Gita.
I purchased the Bhagwad Gita. I read the Bhagwad Gita … and understood nothing. It seemed like the unabashed propaganda of I, Me , Myself by a narcissistic God.
Heavily disillusioned, I gave it away (honestly I did!) to the revolving library – grateful that it was a heavy book and would at least fetch me bonus points. Unfortunately, they tossed it back to me – told me it held no value (!) and would fetch me no points!
It stayed on my shelf, mocking my efforts to wriggle out of its grasp.
In the meantime, pawns were being shuffled, tectonic plates were moving and wide nets were cast. As I moved up the professional food-chain, I got allotted doctor’s quarters. Old neighbors moved out. New neighbors moved in.
Uh-oh, I grimaced as I saw the orderly row of footwear dotting their front door every Friday. I groaned as I heard their loud chants drowned by the treble of drums. I studiously looked the other way; hastily closed my door before they beckoned me to theism.
Ultimately, my neighbor arrived with a formal invitation, ‘ISKCON is starting its annual session. Unraveling the meaning of Bhagwad Gita ’ My antennae perked up half-way.
‘Prasadam will be served.’ she insisted. Prasadam = meal. Ordinarily, food would be the least tantalizing bait for me. But this was August; my Mom’s annual visit to brother’s USA. That left me with the unpleasant task of cooking (bearable) and eating(unbearable) my own meals.
Finally, my atheist stomach consented to the theist (… and free … and weekly)dinner invitation standing at my doorstep.
A matryr to theism; for the sake of Arjun and a free dinner. Like I said, a wily God (link here to post ‘God’s jigsaw puzzle’…my amazing experience) with a zany sense of humor…
I did not realize I was beginning the journey of a lifetime- from being staunch atheist to cynical skeptic to open-minded questioner to… the journey is still on.
Where are you on the arc between theism and atheism? What, if anything at all, was your spurring moment?
Liked your take on atheism.. 😛 I am an atheist too but my path is a little different… I enjoyed Mahabharata as story book. I didn’t have the patience to take up Bhagwat Gita though (although I liked the bit about ‘narcissistic God’ – hilarious)… but the things about middle men in the temples and instant darshan were the ones that ticked me off from theism too… I would believe in stuff that do not exist if there’s any bit of pleasure that comes off it (Like sometimes I like believing in magic)… Haha. Anyway. These days I have a writing block, so its likely that whatever I said above might not make any sense whatsoever! 😛
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You do make sense, even on your ‘off’ days, Samik.
I wonder if poor God feels abducted by the middle-men. But then, if he is so powerful, he should shatter their chakra-vyuh. That’s the kind of ambiguity which makes me doubt God’s existence.
Like Gurcharan Das says, ‘If god can vanquish evil, but does not do it; that makes him evil. If God wants to vanquish evil but cannot; that makes him impotent.’
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I am a theist and strong believer of god and its such a complicated issue that I cant explain in a comment..
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Hi Renu. I totally support every individual’s choice in the matter. I believe it would be a more peaceful world if atheists and theists did not step on each other’s toes. Everyone has their own experiences with the Unknown Power; yet have the right to believe or not.
Trouble arises only when the 2 groups start judging each other; or trying to convert each other.
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I don’t believe in miracles so I would not call freedom a miracle. However, you are right, it is better to work towards a harmonious existence else we will not survive as a species.
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By miracles, I don’t mean thunder and lightening at the drop of a hat. For me, being born into a family that did not abort me, did not drown me in milk at my birth, allowed me education and to follow my chosen lifestyle too is a miracle. I mean simple gratitude for things in life I would ordinarily take for granted.
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Hey Sweety…..really enjoyed reading your article…..I completely agree that there should be freedom for choice …..and no compulsion…..never had imagined that you had such views……
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my silence hides my depth. Haha, just joking. I really feel atheists and theists can co-exist , if only they did not bother to convert one into another. Any kind of forced conversion is a surefire sign of insecurity about their own belief; and hence need to be a larger ‘group’.
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Yeah….every person has his or her own opinions which are formed over a period of time….based on knowledge, experience and awareness…..n these opinions are difficult to be changed especially in strong minded….it is possible only in weak minded people…..
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Madam its true. being a medico we always find logic or reasoning for everything and not believe in superstition! But when we read about our religion, it is based on knowledge, truth and makes our mind peaceful, strong and thinking righteous!
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We ‘try’ to find logical reasoning, but don’t always find it. Even in the medical field. I mean, it must be there, but yet undiscovered. It’s a question of believing that a reason exists which is (at present) beyond our grasp.
I would label belief/faith as ‘superstition’ only if it is used to harm someone. For example, if a situation is worsening inspite of your genuine efforts. In such a case, perseverance accompanied by a silent prayer is not superstition. But if someone makes a nar-bali or human sacrifice (or even animal sacrifice) for the same results, then it is definitely harmful superstition. As also, to rely solely on prayer without making any efforts would count as superstition too.
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You have asked, “Where are you on the arc between theism and atheism?”
My reply:
I have always believed that a person’s beliefs about God and religion are her/his personal and private matter. Each one of us must respect everybody else’s right to her/his beliefs. Unfortunately, for some reason or other, many people are convinced that their beliefs are the only correct beliefs and any contrary beliefs are completely wrong.
I am an engineer, but I believe that just being a doctor or engineer or scientist does not make a person better placed to make choices regarding beliefs about God and religion. As far as I’m concerned, so long as a person’s beliefs do not make her/him harm others against their will, there are no correct beliefs and no wrong beliefs.
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Perfect, your thinking is in sync with mine. I firmly believe in individual choices.
And when it comes to ‘Faith’, we tend to associate it only with God or Religion.
But faith comes into play even with science. I mean, I have to have faith in my treating physician; when I fly I am putting 100 % faith in the ability of the pilot, when I cross a bridge I have to put blind faith in the engineer who designed & constructed it.
So faith in science is no less blind than in God.
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in my mind all this theism/atheism debate is an unnecessary distraction.
The one truth is NO ONE KNOWS the whole story. science is the only truth that is the same for all.
The inverse square law is applicable to all – not just believers.
By inventing a GOD we are merely pushing the goal post of enquiry into an untestable realm.
As self aware beings in possession of the tools of science – we just keep on enquiring with an open mind and see where it takes us……..
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Welcome back after a long time, Doc! You have very strong views, am glad to notice.
As a science student, I too used to believe God is the opposite of Science. And I too mixed up God & Religion.
Even a science like Medicine is dangerous in a quack’s hands, but a precise tool in right hands. Perhaps religion is as much, or more dangerous in hands of priests/ God-men/ritualists/ middle-men.
Infact, I would go so far as to say I don’t believe in religion/rituals/God-men. But I do believe in a higher power. There have been just too many co-incidences in my life for me to dismiss them. Maybe someone somewhere really is taking care of me.
That said, I still know that the onus of action is my responsibility. Theism does not allow me to shrug. And theism does not stop me from enquiring with a scientific mind.
So, right now for me, God would be like a ‘null hypothesis’.
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Hi Sweety loved your article and comments! Very deep and beautiful thoughts! I wish instead of teaching religion in school students are given education About how to respect each other in their own houses as well as outside so that everyone makes their own choice but not does not impose or obstruct others way!
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That requires the teacher to have learnt the same from her teachers or parents; who in turn need to have learnt…
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Mam, Being atheist myself ,loved ur article.
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Thank you, Dev.
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