Does God really exist? BATURAM NAYAK narrates how he found the answer
Does God exist? This is perhaps the most enigmatic metaphysical question since ages. Understanding this question is not only fascinating, but perplexing as well. I had a wonderful experience of addressing this question, dating back to the formative years of my early twenties.
Everyone in my college admired a young physics professor, who had created a sensation writing an article for our university magazine with a provocative title, God is a Mighty Superstition.
Going through it, I had a sudden sense of estrangement, groomed as I was in the ethos and ways of a religious life, used to categorising every activity as an oblation to God, the Ultimate Entity.
The professor’s article made me think the whole of that night to find an answer to rebut his proposition, but I failed to counter him.
Feeling rather tormented, I sought the help of my mentor Dr KSR Murthy, who was the principal of our college, and himself a great authority on physics and more than that, a celebrated writer on practical philosophy.
As I rushed to him, and gave vent to my pent-up feelings, he gently comforted me with an ingenious smile, and said: “Don’t ever ask this question in an intellectual forum, because, this question carries within it an inbuilt inconsistency.”
Remember this. Do not ever ask anybody, Does God exist? Because whether God exists or not is not the real question.
The real question is, even if God exists, how can one understand a concept that transcends infinity, through the finite capacity of the human mind? How can human beings express their experience of God through mere words and concepts, crippled as we are with a limited capacity to communicate with and about infinity?
Ask instead, do I exist? Does man exist? Does humanity exist? Does dignity and justice for man and humanity really exist? And simply ask yourself, what is your role in it? What is the best possible way to follow so that man and humanity can coexist healthily?
If you can honestly address the why-and-how of these questions, you will definitely find a pointer, a thread, or a path, treading along which, I am sure, you can empower yourself to have an indirect understanding of the concept of God, Divinity, and Eternity, if ever they really exist.
When sacredness is understood and realised through the profane or ordinary things in life, then you can learn the art of witnessing everything in an aspect of eternity.
As I tried to grasp the significance of those words, suddenly I sensed a chilling sensation run down my spine … and I felt as if an overwhelming shiver passed through the depth of my Being … towards eternity.
More than four decades have passed since then. And I have never felt like thinking over the same provocative proposition, God is a Mighty Superstition, again.
But, whenever I come across the God-Word, the good words of Dr Murthy keep on resounding in my mind, each time with increased brilliance and clarity.
Indeed, you must first understand the mundane, ordinary things in life, before aspiring to grasp concepts of the higher realm and exploring your higher consciousness.
I can now confidently affirm that God is not a mighty superstition but a powerful reality. There’s another simple way of knowing if God exists. Look in the eyes of a child and you will find God.
Baturam Nayak, a postgraduate in economics, joined the banking sector in 1983 and retired in June 2020. He is a firm believer in simplicity and minimalism. “My faith is Oneness, एकत्वम्; that’s the way I would express myself and live in harmony with everything,” he says.
(Featured Image: Vsbonvenuto from Pixabay)