Humans are Images of Gods: We Better Behave Ourselves

*Saumitra Mohan

            Amid the all-round pessimism, distrust and cynicism in the time of Covid-19 pandemic, there are many other things around us which are motivating and inspire confidence. The pandemic has given an opportunity to people to appreciate and admire the beautiful nature or pay attention to our relationships, something for which we seldom find time. Most of us not only fail to notice, appreciate and protect the magnificence and munificence of nature, but often we were an active agent of its destruction.  

The craze for continual development and economic growth has seen incremental annihilation of natural glory and beauty. With the economic activities and developmental works significantly reduced due to pandemic, it gave nature an opportunity to reboot itself. The human relations and creativity which had got hugely attenuated in a highly-individualistic world got revived and resuscitated though some stray negativities like domestic violence have also been reported.

The way things panned out and stood, it appeared as if the Almighty wanted us to modify our modus vivendi. With such virusogenic or bacteriogenic phenomena continue happening in future, we definitely can’t keep ourselves under lock and key all the time. So, it is imperative that we rediscover newer ways to engage in different quotidian human activities required for our survival. Be they our day-to-day socio-economic activities or edu-cultural activities.

The pandemic has proved beyond doubt that physical human presence is not required for a good number of human activities. Many activities could be carried out from home or by machines. So, with modus operandi changing, the humans might be left with a lot of free time to attend to his/her creative muses to nurture his/her sundry talents, something many of us have forgotten to do. If Hindu philosophy is to be believed, we take birth to improve our soul consciousness to move up the spiritual ladder. Pandemic or no pandemic, we must find time to engage in activities to evolve spiritually.  

As Marxism or many other philosophies point out, daily routine work done without passion, involvement or motivation always results in alienation, thereby giving birth to a slew of psycho-social problems. This is reflected in the many perversities and monstrosities all around us in the forms of different kinds of crimes against humanity. This can shape up as cultural chauvinism, religious radicalism, global terrorism, ecological destruction, regional extremism, linguistic jingoism, increased crimes et al.

As an intelligent species, we need to take time out from our day-to-day life to pause and ponder, notice and appreciate the natural and divine bounties in its glories all around us. As human beings, we are often megalomaniacally full of ourselves. We are much seized with the mundane preoccupations and so obsessed with the ephemeral temporal goodies of life that we mostly fail to ruminate over the purpose of a human life. Failing to appreciate the inevitability of continual destruction and renewal of anything and everything around us, we remain engrossed in mundane inanities of carnal pleasures.

We not only need to discover the real purpose behind our arrival in this world. We can’t be taking birth only to eat, drink and make merry and go back into obscurities with our death. All natural phenomena including the existence of innumerable living beings are nothing but different reflections of divine intelligence and creativity. All forms and creatures are nothing but different avenues of expressions of divine creativity. We are a means to his larger plans for gradual unfolding of his creative consciousness.

As humans, many of us are very creative, very beautiful, very talented, very ingenuous and very constructive. And so our different sub-human creatures and animals. Some of our fellow human beings are so constructive and creative that we often feel and see a divine touch in them. The same is reflective in effusive compliments and deification that such people receive. Such people are said to be endowed with the divine blessings or are believed to be an image of the reigning deity of that particular talent.

That is why, in Hindu, Roman, Greek, Scandinavian or Egyptian mythologies, we have so many Gods representing different activities. All these divine supernatural beings are said to be controlling and blessings different creative activities on earth or elsewhere. A very good scholar is said to be blessed by Goddess Saraswati in Indian mythology or Goddess Minerva in Roman mythology. Similarly, a very beautiful person is said to be blessed by Goddess Aphrodite or Venus in Greek or Roman mythology respectively. A very courageous or brave person in India is supposed to be blessed by Lord Hanumana or Lord Vayu.

So, if someone is very good-looking and beautiful, a big singer, an excellent dancer, an adroit artist, a famous scientist, a prolific writer, a successful administrator, an inspiring spiritualist, a great scholar, a thought-provoking philosopher or a stupendous sportsperson, s/he is nothing but the reflection of divine grace. Which person does what or excels in which activity depends on the inclinations and talents honed by him/her in previous births? That’s why, siblings born to same parents in same environment display different talents or aptitudes.

The person, as an executor or performer of that activity displaying a niche talent, is nothing but a repository or a carrier of the divine grace or blessing in that particular field. So, while we have some talents or creative skills, we should be thankful to the Almighty for choosing us for expressing that particular talent on His behalf. We might be the medium to express it, still it’s not ours otherwise we shall continue in this world as the reigning deity of that talent. But we are only one of the media for the expression of this talent.

A Sachin Tendulkar’s greatness achieved in cricket becomes a beacon for the future cricketers to get inspired and take cricketing talent to newer heights where Tendulkar left. Many theories and theses in science and philosophies have been further taken forward and improved upon by next generations. So, if some of us get conceited by our successes in one or the other field, thinking that we are greatly talented and have achieved this feat by dint of our sole efforts, we are mistaken. We are a trustee of that talent on behalf of the Almighty.

As such, all of us are nothing but infinite mini-Gods walking through the lengths and breadths of this world. However, as Almighty does not come forward to claim his ownership or authorship of different expressions of his creation, we should also remain every humble in our successes. We must be grateful to the Almighty for entrusting us with the divine responsibility to express his glory in a particular field. This is mistaken to be high-headed, snooty or haughty conceiving and perceiving ourselves to be great in one or the other field.

This is because if this were our achievement, the credit should solely belong to us and we should exist permanently to savour the fruits of our labour and achievements. But the same does not happen. As all of us come and go on the proverbial carnal stage to play our cameo and depart the scene. Even though some achievements and contributions may be identified with one or the other person for a long time to come, still we cease to exist as a person to savour the fruits of our labour.

We materialise in this world and take up an assignment as per our intrinsic inclination or predestination. We create, discover, invent, enrich or improve an activity, a product, a piece of art or a field of knowledge. So, Newton, Tesla, Edison, Einstein or many other scientists and inventors may have contributed hugely to the onward march of human civilisation, but they themselves did not last to savour the encomiums or compliments coming because of their contributions.

They, however, did go back to the ethereal world with the satisfaction of accomplishing their work efficiently with elan and panache. In the process, they also hone certain skills and learn some aptitudes which create a foundational template for their future births. Their sterling contributions to the secular march of human epistemology become an inalienable part of the eclectic and universal human treasure, thereby permanently enriching the eternal consciousness whom we call by various names as ‘God’, ‘Almighty’ or ‘Supreme Being’.

God’s glory is reflected via a human or non-human medium in any and every department of our existence, animate or inanimate. All the living or non-living phenomena of this world, being different combinations or permutations of energy in motion, have elevated consciousness of different degrees. It is from the most basic to the most elevated level of consciousness. Different levels of energy or consciousness take different shapes, as per a predestined divine design, to reflect the multisplendoured glories of the Supreme Being. We form, deform and reform at regular intervals to express one or the other talent endowed by the Almighty.

There is nothing in this world which does not decay or degrade. Nothing lasts forever. Everything which comes into existence is here momentarily and has got to go after pleasing our senses for a while through its insignificant yet important role. The lofty mountains, the beautiful flowers, the verdant forests, the rich natural resources, the flowing rivers, the humongous oceans and the mindboggling genetic diversities which please us are nothing but multifarious reflections of His eternal intelligence and glory.

While anthropogenic phenomena keep evolving through time, the divine phenomena hardly change. We do keep improving upon a model of a car, a mobile phone or a computer software, but the divine creations including humans have continued with the same designs for aeons together. Often, many of us do get doubtful, thinking about the need, relevance or justification for worshiping an unheard or unseen Almighty. A good number of us find it to be nothing but a waste of our time and resources.

This is really oxymoronic. We see the divine presence everywhere, still we question His ontology. Why don’t we ask this question to ourselves as to what is the source or who is the creator of this humongous cosmos? When we see ourselves or when we appreciate the beauty of nature, we must try to trace its origin. His signature is all over, still we question His existence. He is beyond our senses because we still have not developed those capabilities to deserve a glimpse of Him. If we find it so difficult to find an appointment with a senior officer, a minister, a chief minister, prime minister or president of a country, how difficult it must be to find an appointment with the person who created, owns and runs this cosmos.

The causal theory says that nothing in this world exists without a justification and everything has its relevance. The God is said to have created this world to explore and examine His own capacities and to stretch them further to see His creativity and intelligence in motion through this Maya or worldly drama. Our doubts or scruples behind the necessity to worship an amorphous God is not without reason. But just think who are we worshiping. The worship and our prayers focusing our attention on the deemed Supreme Creator of this humongous cosmos are nothing but a way to show our gratitude to the Almighty.

The size of the cosmos or creation knows no bounds and so do different mind-boggling and limitless natural phenomena. All of us who are here are nothing but a tiny speck in this vast cosmos. We, the bustling multiverses and the infinite world of nature, together form an overarching consciousness. It is this consciousness we worship just to remind ourselves of our smallness or insignificance. Once we contrast our existence vis-à-vis the humongous cosmos, we feel ourselves to be so humble.

This makes us feel grateful to be part of the God’s creation as His chosen ones to the exception of many million other creatures. This reminds and motivates us towards yet unfinished tasks of further enriching this overarching consciousness to stretch God’s glory to other nooks and crannies of this cosmos. So, while continue to live our day-to-day life, we should always remember the insignificant and transient nature of our existence in this world. We must be mindful that our individuality on earth or anywhere in the creation is nothing, but a myth.

As an autonomous individual being, animate or inanimate, we were not there yesterday and shall not be there tomorrow. However, we were always there in the past and shall always be there in future as an integral part of the eternal overarching consciousness and as a reflection and carrier of divine glories. We shall never be able to associate our own achievements in earlier avatars during a future avatar. The same shall always appear as an act of different individual, as a part of universal achievement or consciousness to inspire us into better performance and achievements in our present avatars.

As all our achievements together constitute a universal consciousness, this is what we worship to remind ourselves of our insignificance and irrelevance as a physical entity in this world. We should always remember that we are more of a spiritual entity than a physical entity. And as such, we should not be running or chasing the mundane and temporal goodies of life beyond a point.

After all, life, not death, is the truth and as such we should continue engaging ourselves in the enrichment and glorification of the Supreme Being of which we are an extension and an inseparable part. As such, we are all mini-Gods, destined to be ever-engaged in the game of divine musical chair as a participant in His grand project to further stretch the limits of human knowledge while also expanding the avenues for expression of His glories.

When we worship God, we are worshiping ourselves When we respect another fellow human or natural being, we are worshiping ourselves because we are all different parts of the same grand whole. After we finish our tasks, we go back to merge with the same common or eternal consciousness of which we are all an extension or reflection. So, let’s continue engaging ourselves in the Grand Project of stretching human knowledge and divine glory which are one and the same thing.