CONCEPT OF GOD

WHAT IS GOD?

For centuries, mankind has asked this question over and over, what is God?  There are so many religions, so many names, so many different rituals, yet every religion preaches God is the one and the only one.  I will try to discuss with my limited power of knowledge and my own feelings and point of view.

Concept of God (Formless or With Form)

In Ancient Hinduism, we worshiped forces of nature in its crude natural forms, fire, water, air, etc.  There is a concept of the supreme eternal Brahma, the creator of the universe, the supreme God.  He is the creator of the Universe and other demigods.  All the forms of God has emanated from the Supreme Brahma.  Brahma is worshiped in two forms, Nirakar and Sakar.

In Nirakar Brahma, we worship the God as the creator without any face or name (character) and in the form of super energy.  There is no idol or character involved in the worship.

In the Sakar Brahma, we worship the character (face) of the God, demigod, idols, symbols.  This is much easier way to worship, as we can relate ourselves with God easily.

Whatever may be the case, the Nirakar and the Sakar are the two aspects of the same Supreme God.  These two aspects are not contradictory to each other but merely two different aspects of the same and single God.  They are inseparable aspects of God.  For example, light has both wave and particle properties, i.e., dual property (quantum mechanics).

Sri Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa has described in his teachings, that water is formless and shapeless, but when it freezes to form ice, it solidifies and takes a shape or a form.  But in both cases, water does not change as a substance.  Regarding Sakar Brahma, it is like when we see a picture of a mango, we think of a mango; when we see advertisement of mango juice, we think of mango, and we start to salivate.  This is much more easier to visualize and relate to God, whether it is Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Shiva, Kaali, etc.

Brahma or God is Nirlipta (detached).  He is above the barriers of human emotions and sufferings.  He is detached from pain, sorrow, suffering, guilt, sin, etc.  I will try to explain, it is like fire, the energy, one can lit a stove and cook food in one hand and on the other one can use it to burn and destroy.  It is like the sun which gives it light to the one who is good and also to the one who is bad.  It is like a snake whose venom can kill others, but it does not harm the snake itself.  Brahma is nirlipta or detached from all physical means.  The sufferings, pain, sorrow, guilt, sin, happiness, lust, are all meant for us, the living human beings, not for Brahma or God.  He is above all these.

Where is God?

Now the question is if there is God, where is he?  Well, now I will try to explain that in my own way, in modern way.

We know according to Dr. Sigmund Freud, human psyche (mind) could be divided in three parts, id, ego, and Super-Ego.

Id

The id is the impulsive, child-like (no logic) portion of the mind that operates on the "pleasure principle" and only takes into account what it wants and disregards all consequences.  It is the one who indulges us to do whatever we feel like doing for our pleasure.  It has no rationale or logic.  It strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.  If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension.  For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.  It is the dark part of the mind that has never-ending thirst for pleasure.

Ego

The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality.  According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.  The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways.  It weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses from id.  It is practical and logical.

Super-Ego

The Super-Ego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from parents, religion, and society--our sense of right and wrong.  The Super-Ego provides guidelines for making judgments.  The Super-Ego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior.  It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the Id and struggles to make the Ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles.  It is also called Vivek-Buddhi or conscience.  It is more powerful than Id and Ego, the most powerful aspect of mind.  This is what makes us good and spiritual and stay away from the bad or evil.

The Conflict

There is always conflict going on between Id and Super-Ego, and the Ego is the one who tries to balance and neutralize the two.  It is like the war going on between Evil and Good in our mind all times, and the Ego represents the true self or the conscious mind with two components evil and good.  Sometimes, evil overpowers good, and sometimes good overpowers evil.  The combination of Id, Ego, and Super-Ego makes up our personality.  It has unique character for everyone.  We can judge people with their personality.  We can say this is a good man, bad man, etc.  This is a criminal and this is a Saint/Fakir/Sadhu.  A person who has id-dominant personality, turns out to be the bad guy in the society, mainly anti-social, terrorists, etc.  Id is the evil devil in us.  The Super-Ego is the small voice of god which stops us from getting under the influence of Id or the devil.  So, according to me, it represents the good God.

So, God is inside us not in the temple or shrines.  It is in our mind, in our soul.  The great sages have said that, the great fakirs have said that, and the great Jesus said that too that "God is with You."

The Vivek-Buddhi or Conscience (Super-Ego) is the real God in us.

If God Is Within Us, Then Why Should We Worship Or Offer Prayers To Him?

It is not that God is within our mind, so we are God.  It is like, every small drain in our city contains water, which is then drained into a canal, which is then drained into a small tributary of a big river, which then drains into a big river, and finally the big river drains the water into the ocean.  Each of them has the same water, but could you say that the drain and the ocean are the same?  God is that ocean, and exists in us as small droplets of water inside our mind/soul.

Well, as I said, there is continuous conflict between good and evil, the God and Devil.  When we worship or offer prayers or do the namaz, we strengthen our inner soul with positive energy, thereby fighting off the negative energy.  It is like opening the gates of the small drain to let the water pass and meet the ocean.  Here the Super-Ego wins over the Id.

Super-Ego has all the power to change our lives, to face problems and solve it.  Sometimes it so happens if we want something from God from the deepest part of our mind, we usually get it.

It is very beneficial that we don’t let our morale or conscience die while fighting with the devil in us, the Id.  It is kind of nurturing or culturing the god within us from a seed to a big tree with big and strong roots, where no evil devil could harm it in any way.