God is; therefore we are!

    Ask me, “Do you believe in God?”  And I would unhesitatingly reply, “Definitely yes.” This is not an emotional outburst of a fanatic or an unconsidered opinion of a blind believer.  It is the result of 30 years of investigation of truth as a Bahá'í and a daily, monthly and yearly verification of the fact that God is and He exists.

    God to me is as real as the world around us and I have felt Him many a time hold me like by the hand a loving father and take me on a journey that has been both exciting and greatly soothing at the same time.

    To me it would be wrong to say that God is the ‘idol’ of the blind.  God is here and with us each moment of our life, nay He is the very cause of our existence. It is helpful to think of God as the spiritual sun and the human souls as the rays.  Can the rays exist without the sun?

    A deeper investigation of the truth scientifically does not disprove God; it only proves His existence.  Questioning is not alien to religion as some make it out to be.  In fact, only a deeper reflection on the universe and its laws reveals to us the handiwork of our Creator. How amazing it is to know that the same law binds all the objects in the universe, from the smallest atom to the largest stars.  Some call it the law of gravity, some the law of cohesion, and some universal love. 

    When there are laws, there must be a lawgiver.  How very impossible it is to believe that the whole world that is regulated by so many universal laws and microscopic systems should have no controller.  In fact, even a little reflection on the things around us would give us enough reason to believe in the existence of a superior intelligence that is constantly at work.

    I would not like to argue for words and nomenclatures as to how to describe this supreme power.  You may wish to call ‘Him’ Creator, Allah, Ishwar, the Supreme Intelligence, Nature, Divinity or by any other terminology you think is suitable.  I prefer to use the age old word ‘God.’

    In fact, instead of difficult and often confusing reasoning, that might also have a place in the realization of God, He (no sexist use intended please!) is easier to realize through a pure heart.  Human heart is the temple of God and we can find Him seated there with only a little effort.  Billions of believers throughout the world can feel the presence of God through prayers and meditation.  Bahá'í Writings tell us that prayer is a communion with God and that no human being can remain unaware of the beneficial effects of prayer. 

    For knowing scientific reality, we are ready to spend hours, nay months and years in the laboratories, but for experiencing presence of our Creator, we are not ready to take out even a few minutes daily.  It is important to pray because in “prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition.” All religions assure us that God, verily, answers him who prays unto Him, and is near unto him who calls on Him.  Kahlil Gibran, the renowned poet and philosopher, puts it beautifully, “Prayer is the song of the heart.  It reaches the ear of God even if it is mingled with the cry and the tumult of a thousand men.”

    In the highest prayer, we pray only for the love of God, not because we fear Him or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven.  When we fall in love with a human being, it is impossible for us to keep from mentioning the name of our beloved. How much more difficult is it to keep from mentioning the Name of God when we have come to love Him.  The spiritual man finds no delight in anything save in commemoration of God.

    Tragically, today we find no time to relate to our Creator, where as we have ample time for everything else—for politicking, backbiting, gambling, smoking, drinking, and even drugs.  Our children are the greatest sufferers of the modern day materialistic culture.

    No doubt, the reality of man is clad in the outer garment of the animal, the habiliments of the world of nature, the world of darkness, imperfections and unlimited baseness. Man thus shares his animalistic nature in common with the animals.  But man is endowed with a second reality, through which he predominates over nature. It is this inner reality of man that comprehends all things, throws light upon the inner mysteries of existence, discovers the Kingdom, grasps the mysteries of God, and distinguishes man from the brute.  History is a witness that all those who embarked on a scientific journey to discover the reality of man, with an open mind and a firm resolve, found that there is something more to man than his mere body.

    While I would not dispute on words, scriptures have long proclaimed that the reality of man is his soul that is eternal.  It is a pure and unknown essence constituting a depository, emanating from the light of the Ancient Entity—God. Upon the reality of man God has focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self.  These energies lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp.  Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. 

    The true rewards of this life are the virtues and perfections that adorn the reality of man.  These virtues appear through the power of God and the divine teachings, for they need supernatural power for their manifestation.

    In contemplating the vast universe and the place of man in it, we bow our heads in humility before the awesome majesty of the divine Creator, Who out of His infinite love has created all humanity from the same stock; exalted the gem-like reality of man; honoured it with intellect and wisdom, nobility and immortality; and conferred upon man the "unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him", a capacity that "must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation."

    Strange, indeed, that many people should spend their lives trying to prove the existence of God, whereas the truth is conversely the opposite. To a rational man, it is as manifest as a bright day that because God is, therefore we are! ◙