The Gospel Of Mac: Chapter 1

I have been asked before about why I have never had a post on Religion. I don't really know what prevented me from writing. Maybe it could be because I am certain that a few might disagree. It could be because my own views have been changing. Either way, it does not matter as each one is entitled to what they believe. It might make sense to go one topic at a time. All views expressed here are my own and what I believe as of today. Prove or convince something else to me and I will gladly jump over. Disagreement and hate mails are welcome.

GOD: Creation, Responsibility, and a Whole Lot More.
I do believe in God. Let me make that clear right away. However I do not believe that there is a bearded man sitting high above the clouds and watching over us. I do not believe that there is someone up above keeping a track of all the good and bad we do. I find it hard to believe there is someone up above who with a flick of his finger, can make earthquakes and landslides happen. The God I believe in is a powerful force that exists all over. It exists inside you and me. You do not have to look up or stare at an alter to experience God.

I do not believe that God took clay and moulded two humans and blew life into them. It amuses me when I hear people talk about creation and evolution and how they argue that each one is the right one. Couldn't it be that they are both pretty much the same thing, but explained differently? How could you expect the authors of Genesis to explain in great detail about the early man? They wrote it in the most simple way they could that required the least amount of explanation. They simple said "God created man". This pretty much ruled out the need for further explaining. In the modern age, with the vast knowledge we have, people found a more logical explanation for how humans came to be. The problem is, each one claims that the other is wrong. I believe they are both the same thing. Evolution could not have happened without a much greater force and creation took place through the process of evolution.

One argument that I used to hate, or that which amuses me the most is when I hear someone say that God causes bad things to happen so that he can test how strong we are, or to teach us something in life. Really? Try explaining that to someone who just lost their only child. Try saying that to someone who lost all their family in an earthquake. Now what exactly was God trying to teach with the death of a child? I find it impossible to accept a God like that. The God I know does not do that. The God I know believes that we as humans are capable of figuring out things on our own, through our own experiences. So does God control the wind and the waves? NO. Earthquakes happen. War happens. Children die. Shit happens. It just happens. No one from above caused this. We love to pass the responsibility over to someone else, so we blame it on God, saying it was his mighty plan, thereby relieving us from the responsibility and from dealing with it. There is no plan. You decide your destiny. You work hard and earn something, it was because you worked hard and because you deserved it. If something bad happens, it's probably because you screwed up somewhere and definitely not a lesson from above. Even if you do not screw up, like I said, shit happens. The God I know would want us to be responsible for all actions and want us to take credit for our achievements.

So how exactly do I experience God? Never once have I experienced God in church. Not once have I found God in places where people have told me I could find him. Now don't tell me I have not searched hard enough. You know that's crap. I experience God when I go out of my way to help someone or do a good deed. I experience God when I try to live an honest and truthful life. I experience God when I do my best to never cause any intentional physical or emotional harm to someone. I experience God when I am able to put a smile on someones face. I experience God when I am able to give someone hope. I experience God when I can cook and eat something delicious. I experience God when I take the first sip of my morning tea. I experience God with each hug I receive. I can go on and on, but I have never felt this kind of experience in church. Raising your hands, jumping and shouting hallelujah in church just does not do it for me. No offence to those of you who experience God that way.

Praying (self talk) does wonders. I believe that it does, but it does work in a different way for me. In us, we have our conscious self as well as subconscious self. Consciously we want and need something, but our subconscious gives us a negative message, based on our past experiences, which tells us that we might not get what we want. For example, if a person is undergoing depression and if he decided to pray about it, there are chances that he could be cured to a great degree. Consciously he wants to be free from depression, but his subconscious keeps feeding him with messages like "you are not good enough", "you are worthless" and "you do not deserve a good life" and so on. When someone prays over and over again, the conscious self is fighting the subconscious and with time and with consistency the subconscious learns the messages the conscious self has been giving. Once this has happened, it forgets all the negative messages and starts to give out positive messages. Depression gone. For me, prayer is more like a positive self talk that we give ourselves. We consciously convince our subconscious  to work towards achieving what we consciously want.

It would not be fair to go on about everything in one post. There are lots that can be said and lots that can be argued about. I had a professor in one of my theology class who said early on that we should all come to class with an open mind. We should be willing to change and explore new ideas. We should give the ideas a chance to convince us. If it does not, then it doesn't matter. We will still have something to believe in. In the same way, I change and so do my beliefs. To end this off, I feel that the most important trait we should always carry with us is the ability to respect another persons beliefs, whether we believe in it or not. To believe that your way is the only right way, would be your biggest folly. Thus spoke the Gospel of Mac.

Ah, That's Magic

My favorite sweet dish has always been Rasgulla, and always will be. As a four year old child growing up in Calcutta, I was exposed to it quite early and I have been in love with it since. I could still eat it everyday and no matter where I have had it from, the ones that come from Calcutta are the best. The taste still lingers in mouth.

Since we had plenty in Calcutta, we always had some at home. There was hardly a time when we did not have Rasgulla. The problem with keeping that at home was that I would eat more than I should and always finish a pot full in a day. My parents decided that the best thing to do would be to hide it from me, somewhere high above, deep inside those unreachable kitchen shelves. After one point of time, I was given the impression that we did not buy Rasgulla anymore, and I had no idea that they were being hidden from me. Strangely, every day I was in school I would open my lunch box to find one Rasgulla. I was happy, yet curious to how it appeared magically in my box, considering that we never had any at home. One day I decided to confront my dad.

I asked him how those Rasgullas magically found their way into my lunch box even though we had none at home. Of course, my dad was not going to give his game up. He said, "Ah, that's magic. We do not have any at home, but I can do magic and make it appear in your lunch box everyday". Ah well, what the heck. I bought that story and I did not complain as long as they appeared in my lunch box every day. I went to school everyday believing that my father was a magician, who could make Rasgullas appear out of nowhere. How wonderful. What more could I ask for. I believe I have tried asking my father over and over again about the source of the Rasgulla, but the only answer I got was, "Ah, that's magic".

Sometimes it's amazing how kids learn and how they can leave their parents at a loss for words with the innocent things they do and say. Sometimes you just got to give in to the kids. My father probably thought that the magic story was a good one and might also shut me up from probing the origin of the Rasgulla. It was to meet it's demise soon.

Over few days my parents noticed that each day when I came back from school I had something small that did not belong to me. One day it was a pencil, the next day it was an eraser, a crayon and so on. Honestly, I don't remember, but I am assuming that I must have taken them from some of the students. One day however when my parents were cleaning or taking stuff out of my bag, they noticed a lot of stuff that clearly did not belong to me. There were many pencils, sharpeners, erasers, crayons, scales etc etc. Now they were concerned that their dear son must be stealing from others. I remember my dad calling me and showing me my stolen goods and asking me where I got all this from. I swear I did not think twice, but my natural response was, "Ah, that's magic".

The Rasgullas were back in the refrigerator the same day.

United State of Mind - 3

I wish I could be half the person my dog thinks I am.