Spoiler Alert: {This is an Atheist/Agnostic post, please refrain from reading if it might hurt your feelings}
Meanwhile, men also devised another aspect. “soul”, The concept of something lasting beyond death, apart from the mundane ideas of heaven and hell. His unquenched requirement to be immortal, he made the idea of “Karma”, “rebirth” along with atman/soul, thereby immortality along with that, the idea of just world was also fixed. Since you clean up your mess in a complexly weaved tapestry hard to observe using human eyes. With that simple technique, the whole Hinduism was brought up under a strict moral and social code by upper class Brahmins and brought all other castes under submission to “live out their meaningless lives and wait for a Brahmin birth next time around to live quality life.”
Human species are obsessed in their current state of affairs with the questions relating to God and Religion. Sometimes that is just another reason for means to an end (political/personal). However, I am not interested in that aspect. But the core question. Why was the existence of God put into societal conscience at the first place!
Well, lets journey back. It might not have much to do with Messiahs, whoever that may be Moses, Jesus, Muhammad or any new age gurus. They could have been anybody, they struck chord with the masses because of an inane human trait. The anthropocentric world view and the dire need to feel special lies in the core, may be even in the gene. To continue that argument, lets go to the beginning of human evolution, the earlier versions sustaining on hunting and foraging in the wild had FEAR embedded in them in their psyche. To overcome this fear, that adrenaline rush, they had to fool their primitive brain, they devised rituals, started worshipping the powers they had no control of, say Sun and other natural forces. They imbibed these rituals on their descendants with half-logic, half truths, myth and mysteries.
Well, that was back then. What do we have now? Some brain washing and psycho-therapy by primitives or modern gurus was not all it took it develop complex religions and GOD figure! May be that was all it took along with some considerable time and stupidity, you might never know.
Well, that was back then. What do we have now? Some brain washing and psycho-therapy by primitives or modern gurus was not all it took it develop complex religions and GOD figure! May be that was all it took along with some considerable time and stupidity, you might never know.
Few other aspects play crucial role to make most individuals as believers of God in their lifetime may be even for short periods of time.
1)The idea of God as a Support figure. “God is there for me, even when no one is there”
2)The idea of just world, “God is the master of this world and he rewards us with heaven and punish wrongdoers.”
3)The idea of Beauty, (creationists): “Look at the beauty of nature, who else other than God, could have created it?”
4)The idea of Life, “There had to be divine intervention to kick start evolution and bring life on earth”
This is in no way an exhaustive list, there might be more, it all stems from Fear, the fear of being left alone (in this cosmos, or in a relationship, or during death of kin). So, in these inconsequential scheme of events, men tried to make himself special, He might have moved on from geo-centric approach to helio-centric and then to nowhere, he still tweaked his ideas to continue to feel special.
'Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.'
-Arthur C. Clarke
Meanwhile, men also devised another aspect. “soul”, The concept of something lasting beyond death, apart from the mundane ideas of heaven and hell. His unquenched requirement to be immortal, he made the idea of “Karma”, “rebirth” along with atman/soul, thereby immortality along with that, the idea of just world was also fixed. Since you clean up your mess in a complexly weaved tapestry hard to observe using human eyes. With that simple technique, the whole Hinduism was brought up under a strict moral and social code by upper class Brahmins and brought all other castes under submission to “live out their meaningless lives and wait for a Brahmin birth next time around to live quality life.”
Brian.L.Weiss(the famous psychiatrist from Florida of ‘Many lives, many masters’ fame) devised regression techniques to go to past lives of patients and solve traumas in their present lives. He may not be lying, the therapies might have worked wonders. After all, the whole department of psychiatry sometimes hold on to calming patients with lies with considerable effect [Placebo]. But, all that was required was telling mortals that, no you do get second chance, in fact multiple chances. Play out! life is a game, that is what Americans want to hear anyway.
There might be some hints in the nature for immortality or the concept of rebirth for the concept to hold some ground. The seasons, the phases of moon, cyclic observations of constellations all repeat, even though temporarily in a large time scale. Even, the big bang theory was stretched out to make room for pulsating theory and thereby immortality. {Aren’t you bored of repetitions?}
No, the world does not end.
You are special.
You are immortal.
These are the lines people want to hear. unfortunately, the world will end, you may be special to your mom, blame the “selfish gene” and lastly we all are mortals.
-Me
