Divinity and Atheism

[Guest guest]

Divinity, in its most basic sense, is the power to create. It is the

ability to create, pure and simple, from NOTHING. It transcends the

laws of the conservation of energy and matter which is the limiting

characteristic of this physical universe.

 

We see divinity manifested among people in different degrees. It was

manifested to a great degree in Swami Vivekananda who, in a short

span of time, created in the West, an awareness of Vedanta with

almost no resources at his disposal. That divinity was manifested in

Sri Ramakrishna who created such giants of spirituality as Swami

Vivekananda and many others.

 

And that Divinity in its infinite expression is Brahman. Thus,

Brahman is not a being. Brahman is manifested as divinity in beings

to various degrees. In fact, a being itself is a manifestation of

Brahman. A being may be regarded as " a decision to create " by the

Divinity (potential creativeness) that has become fixed as a form.

And that being can use its divinity (creativeness) for not so noble

purposes, the result of which is enmeshment in Maya, with

commensurate reduction of that divinity. That we call the Law of

Karma.

 

Now do you wonder why most of us are in the state of Jivatman? Would

you believe me if I tell you that we all started out as Parmatman

(Supreme Beings), and this universe is the product of our joint

endeavor?

 

Theism is defined as, " religious belief in one Supreme Being who is

the source and sustainer of the universe and at the same time is

distinguished from it. "

 

Brahman as postulated in the Vedas does not confirm to the above

definition of Theism. Brahman is the creativeness (in an absolute

sense) that is expressed through the beings. The idea of an electric

bulb that did not exist before would come close to an expression of

such creativeness. But the " creativeness " of a machine would not.

 

This is the foundation on which Buddhism was built. Buddhism is

considered atheistic because it does not acknowledge the existence of

God as Theism does.

 

Of course, Beingnesses with divinity are held as ideals in the Bhakti

Marg, and various forms are used to represent them. In this category,

we not only have Shaivites, Vaishnavites, and Hare Krishnas, but also

the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. They all are theistic. The

only difference is that the Hindu Bhakta still acknowledges vaguely

the true concept of Brahman beyond those forms, but the Semitic

religions do not. The Semitic religions maintain an impenetrable

barrier between the spirit and the God, whereas, that is not so among

the Hindu Bhaktas.

 

But a Hindu Bhakta can go off the track if he stops looking at his

object of worship as an ideal to be attained by himself, and starts

to believe that ideal to be a Being impenetrably separate from him.

This, unfortunately, is the case with most Bhaktas in India today.