God Is An Accountant

We can call life as ambiguous and incalculable as we like, but there is someone sitting up there with a lot of time to kill. And what is it going to do to use that time? Keep meticulous accounts of each and every miserable human being there is.

Yes, if you look at a pan-religion concept, ignoring all the differences, then the reason we are ‘supposed’ or ‘not supposed’ to do certain things, is because God is watching.

If you have ever come across posters or billboards on your way to college which go something like this- ‘(Relevant God’s name) is watching over you and has died for your sins!’, then you know what I mean. For someone who is supposedly the creator of the world, it does come across as nothing more than a petty stalker.
So does my mocking mean that I think that we can get away with doing anything and that no one is really there to see it? Well, yes and no. If I am right about believing in a creator, then that entity made everything – which means many planets like ours, and many solar systems and God knows how many galaxies (pun intended).

However, I believe that if at all anything is wrong (not religiously or morally wrong – because that will depend on the religion or moral code you follow) – if anything, any action, is humanely wrong, that the action itself has negativity – negative energy, and the way it makes you feel would – negative thoughts and guilt – is what would be the measure of wrongness you would induce. Those repercussions itself would make sure that you get your due for doing that.

At this point, of course, we can think of many people who get away doing supposedly wrong things. But this is because we determine the start and end points of their story. ‘So and so did not feel any repercussions within 6 months of doing that, so they have gotten away with it’. But who knows what happened afterwards? What pain they had to face?

As I am losing faith in the formal agents and institutions of justice like Law or Religion may be I am latching on to this concept of poetic justice – maybe very closely resembling karma – as something to get me by. I may be deluded.

But tell me, what seems more plausible – that someone up there is maintaining detailed accounts of our actions and will send us to heaven and hell accordingly as well as give us small spankings or blessings while we are on earth – or the fact that the nature of our actions (negative/positive) are what will determine the consequences they bear on us?

The truth about prayer

I am a theist. I do believe in God. Sometimes people tend to ask me, how can I, despite studying Psychology? Because, according to psy, seeing and talking to something that does not exist in objective reality, is psychotic. And yet, religion is an exception, because it is largely accepted as a culturally prevalent and widespread phenomenon.

However, my prayer has nothing to do with religion. I sometimes pray in the form of Namaz, or I just sit and talk. This is not irrational behaviour, however. I always find out if there is a logic behind some practise and only then do I follow it. For instance, I know that fasting in Ramzan is good for the metabolism, and so I do it. And I have also found that most religious practices do have reasons, or at least had in the beginning, but they were not or could not be passed down the gnerations for some reason or other.

Sometimes, not everyone will understand the logic behind each practise, so they are not told. Sometimes, they are told, but it gets distorted through the times. Therefore, we are left with a mechanical set of actions that we do follow as rituals, but we have no idea why. That is not how my take on prayer is, however.

Whenever we pray, we are asked to clear our minds of other things, and concentrate solely on the prayer. People have misinterpreted this to think that it is the words of the prayer that are to be concentrated on. No, its the action. Words are made such that may rhyme easily and can be remembered well SO that we can easily concentrate on the act of praying.

The act of praying (or meditation) will include movements or counting that is repetative. That is characteristic across all cultures. The reason for the action being repetitive is the same. So that the process gets automatized, so you don’t go off to sleep as you have something to do. But, at the same time, you concentrate not on the movements, but the actual prayer.

So what is the actual prayer? It is when you clear your mind of all else, and try to harness your energy. Now you of course want this to be positive energy and not negative, so all things related to happiness, health and well-being are said as a part of the prayer. I also remember reading somewhere that when we join our hands and align them vertically, our energy gets a proper direction to be generated in.

As I was researching about Islam, I came across a website who have interpreted it very well. They say that God is nothing but a great source of energy. Our souls are minuscule parts of this energy. (So the “har kisi me bhagwan hai” saying deems true). And when we die, we have to face this huge body of energy and our soul is too weak for that. When we pray or meditate we strengthen our soul. This is not only helpful in the supposed after life, but in this one too.

After a prayer or a meditation session that has been done properly, one feels unburdened and ready to face the world. This is why I pray.

As Moving Day approaches..

Chaos, and then order from chaos can’t get better than this. We are moving to a new place, with one more bedroom, FOR ME! I FINALLY GET A ROOM!

But, anyway, coming back to the point, we have lived in the current apartment for eight years now, and obviously, some connections have been made. The current apartment is a snug little place, in a residential area near a creek. This means that I’ve had the most enjoyable walks, with friends and without. Some days, rain was my companion, some others, music.

The Sky displayed various colours depending on the season, and equipped with a camera phone, I loved clicking away and later tried to capture the enchanting skies on canvas. The environment I am going to miss also includes people.

The folks here are relaxed and unbothered about who does what, and yet they are there for you if you need them. Perfect in away. I have made friends with this Bhukkad who will be my ex-neighbour soon, Dearly Doted Abhishek, jiske ghar roz ka ana jana hai. I shall miss him dearly.  :’)

Now, to the more practical matters at hand. Moving is a pain in the ass! The Mum has got me running errands everyday, to buy random things for all the rooms. Thanks to all the bags I carry back from the market, I’ve built some rather flashy muscles.

Lastly, there is a lot to be thought about my new room. I get the smallest room, and I have to fit my painting accessories, easel and all, book case, study table, speakers, cupboard, bed and pet tortoises in it. Oh and the cane jhula too! But I won’t say it is unfair, at least I got a room, and it is enough for my needs, if adjustments are made.

There’s the mum calling again, undoubtedly to order me to buy a dustbin or something. Until later! Hope the next post will be from the new house! 🙂

P.s – this is a picture I clicked on one of those walks. For me, they resemble praying hands stretched skywards.