This morning my husband and I had a debate, that's what we do when we have nothing better to do, about who God is. (A healthy debate is what a couple need,when it is far from home you could always agree to disagree and move on)
So he asked me what in my opinion is God, where is he, and how does he look like. Isn't that a universal question that never had any real answer though centuries. But faith, always helps when we talk about God. Great philosophers had pounded over the existence of God and ever one concluded its faith that you have to have to see God.
As Hindus we come to believe that it is with that faith and belief that we could see God in an stone idol. We do have a lot of Gods don't we. Well the recent God who has joined this fraternity is Shiridi Sai Baba. Most people believe him and think he has some supernatural power that could make their wishes come true. But from what I know he was a humble man who preached equality, unity and service to others as his primary objective. He had followers who offered him riches but he used every rupee of it to help others, so people respected him and called him God. Many stories emerged that he has performed miracles and soon temples emerged and people started to pray, do bhajans and perform festivals, but they forgot his basic idea, he never wanted temples, he never wanted a name for himself what he wanted was to help others. why dont we stop doing bajans and building temples and do some good, after all thats what he wanted. But no we want to have the easy way to "Moksha", I don't have time to go out there and help others but I could give money so that some one else could do the work. With that attitude can you blame others for making this as a business and earning for themselves. I am not suggesting you stop working and do social work, God no,....... Why do you always have to go to extrems, I am not asking you to be a yogi man I am suggesting that you do good things in your daily life, and when you do good not matter how small, believe me it could make a difference. Teach your children and those who are younger than you how it is done. My mom did that to me.
My mother she was a well educated woman who always taught us that spending one hour in a temple will not even come close to as helping those who are in need. She never encouraged fasting, she said God would never want you to go hungry what he WOULD want is for you to feed others who could not feed themselves. She always taught us to give back something to the society which has given us soooo much. My father was different he prays to God every morning, my father obeys all the disciplines of religion but he too believes in helping others. My father teaches by example, he taught us that no religion is bad and with patience and understanding we could read the true lesson each religion has to offer, which not surprisingly, remains the same Equality, Non- violence and Service to others amoung others.
So it is you who have the power to make a difference and the power to do a miracle. It is his good deeds that made Sai Baba a God, it is his giving nature that secured a place in peoples hearts as God. So when anyone asks me who God is I would say "Its You" and where God lives I would say "In You". So before going to temple next time, think to yourself, What am I doing and why am I doing this, If you are doing this for "Punyam" you can get it by serving others, If you are doing for peace of mind, helping someone in need will fill your whole heart with such a pleasant feeling that you will find great happiness in that.
I believe in God, I too go to temples but I don't think that alone will give me satisfaction, I strongly believe that charity begins at home, so I believe in being happy. When I am happy I could make others happy. When I keep a healthy family, and impart good values in them I will be doing a much greater job than leaving my family at home alone to perform pujas in a temple.
As women we have a great deal of responsibility, how we behave has a lot of impact on the one who are around us so we have to be extra careful.
Ok thats my opinion and I am open for discussion.....
