Persons who say that they do not believe in God mean that they do not believe in their understanding or definition of God. If someone were to define God as a holy man that lives in his locality, then obviously for him, God does exist. However, that is not what most people understand by God. The understanding of what God implies varies from one person to another.
In another article, this author defined God as everything that exists - that includes everything that we can perceive in the universe as well as everything that we cannot perceive. Scientists have speculated the presence of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. There can be much more that they have not even thought of yet in the universe and beyond. If God is defined as everything that exists, then there is no question in not believing in God. God then exists as surely as we all do. Differences will however arise in our views about the powers of God. Some regard the universe as dead matter with no intelligence of its own. In their view, living entities or perhaps computer like machines can possess intelligence but not any part of the universe or the universe as a whole. Others may believe that the universe as a whole also possesses life with its own intelligence and consciousness and that our own individual consciousness is only a small part of this Infinite Universal Consciousness. This author is an adherent of this latter view.
Our universe is inhabited by a variety of life forms. Some believe that life exists on earth only. That is not a reasonable view. Not only is that unlikely it is also impossible. Whether God or a universal natural process has created life, it may be created in the same manner elsewhere in the universe as well. Our sun is just one of the innumerable stars that populate the universe. Life must exist elsewhere in the universe if it can exist on our planet. There is nothing spectacularly unique about our planet dictating that life can exist on earth only.
Different life forms display different degrees of evolution. Even within a given species there are differences in the levels of evolution between varieties and individuals. At the present time, humans appear to be the most evolved of the various species that exist on earth. However human life is by no means the limit of evolution. In the past, when humanoid apes were the most evolved of species on earth, they probably presumed themselves to be the most evolved of beings in the universe (provided they were capable of thinking) just as most humans think of themselves at the present time. Life is encumbered with a bloated ego that leads humans to erroneous beliefs such as - life exists only on my planet, I am the most evolved person, my race is the most evolved, science knows everything, present day doctors know everything about curing disease (some persons believed that even a thousand years ago), my planet is at the center of the universe and life may exist only here, etc.
In the opinion of this author, human life is not the limit of evolution. It will continue to evolve and other beings already exist in other parts of the universe that are far more evolved. We may regard these latter beings as gods and goddesses since to the human mind a god is a being that is far more evolved than a human. It is a different matter that we do not run into gods and goddesses at the corner store every now and then. The universal intelligence, for a good reason, has sets the stars so far apart that travel between planets is no easy matter. The large distances between stars prevent a confirmation of such evolved beings through present day science. However lack of confirmation is not a proof of absence. It is only recently that science has been able to confirm the presence of other planets around stars. The presence of life on such planets is a far more detailed matter. In that direction we have presently gone only as far as another nearby planet in our solar system -Mars.
Amongst humans there are differences in the degree of evolution between communities and also between individuals within communities. One may regard the most evolved humans as god-like because of their enhanced abilities. However, we have to turn our attention towards the heavens if we wish to detect true gods and goddesses. Although physical travel is near impossible between inhabited planets, telepathic or psychic travel need not be so. Science knows little about this latter form of travel at the present time. It may be something that will be discovered in future. However mystics exist, who claim to have traveled to other planets psychically. An ordinary human being too may experience some such travel for brief periods under the influence of certain drugs.
A second method of travel from one planet to another is through the journey of a soul rather than a physical body. Those who believe in reincarnation believe that a soul may acquire new bodies after death. Such a birth may take place on a more evolved planet provided a soul has evolved beyond the general level of evolution on earth. Such planets are called heaven in spiritual literature. The reverse i.e. a birth in hell or a hellish planet is also possible provided one's deeds dictate that. Anything worse than the worst parts of earth must indeed be a terrible place because even here on earth we have instances of hunger, mal-nutrition, violence, filth and every other conceivable form of human misery.
Ordinarily, most humans do not recall anything of the birth of their souls in previous lives. However there are evolved mystics who claim that they can recall their previous lives. Since the soul is not a physical thing restricted by physical laws, it should be possible for souls to take birth on other planets in the universe. The most evolved of souls may even do this by design. It is likely that persons like Jesus Christ who took birth on this planet by conscious design for a spiritual mission are souls from other evolved planets. Jesus said so in as many words even though different churches interpret his words differently. Many Hindus also believe in divine personalities or gods that take birth on earth from time to time in order to help its inhabitants in their evolutionary journey. They are known as Avatars in Hinduism. A second method that gods can use to bring about changes on earth is to seed the minds of humans with new ideas. The sudden appearance of scientific discoveries on our planet over a couple of centuries may be the result of such an occurrence.
The purpose of life appears to be a relentless journey of evolving into better life forms. Such an evolution takes place through the experiences and knowledge gained over millions of births. Normally, we do not recall the details of earlier births, but the knowledge gained through various lives shapes our habits, inclinations and intelligence. There may be temporary setbacks in the evolutionary process where souls fall to lower levels of evolution. The general trend however appears to be a journey forward. The reason for this is that all beings desire happiness. True and lasting happiness lies in developing the appropriate virtues. If some individuals temporarily adopt wrong methods for gaining happiness, their happiness is short lived. They eventually learn through suffering and correct their ways sooner or later, in this life or the next. That appears to be the purpose of suffering. It is a correctional mechanism that leads beings to improve themselves. The Universal intelligence is a benevolent and loving one.
It may take a human millions of years before he or she can evolve to a god-like species. However, because humans are capable of intelligent behavior, some individuals may hasten their evolutionary process through certain practices. Present day humans usually characterize these latter practices as spiritual processes since spirituality is concerned with improving the quality of life and since the claims of spiritualists largely fall outside the realm of present day science. That is not to say that some of the so-called religious or spiritual claims are not erroneous or fraudulent. However, not all of human spiritual knowledge is erroneous.
One mark of evolution of a being is the desire to serve others as opposed to serving one's own needs. The basis of this desire is an understanding that one's own welfare is best enhanced by the welfare of others. Animals do not think of philanthropy in any substantial manner. Some rudiments of philanthropy may be detected in animal herds that try to protect individual members from an external attack. However many humans do spend varying amounts of time and energy on serving nature, wild life or society. The very process of serving others assists a life form in evolving further. Contrary to this, selfish behavior usually leads to regressing into less developed states.
In spiritual literature or visionary descriptions gods and angels are shown as beings that are usually engaged in some form of service. In eastern scriptures, the foremost of the gods are said to play leading roles in the creation of life. That should not be difficult to conceive if we note that even modern humans have begun creating new life forms through genetic manipulation. Once a new gene is created it becomes available not just on our planet but elsewhere in the universe as well. The mechanism for this genetic transfer is rather involved. It is has been discussed in detail by this author in a blog entitled ' How Humans were created on Earth' mentioned at the end of this article.
A characteristic of evolved beings appears to be their enhanced ability to bring about change. It is the most evolved who effect the greatest change even amongst humans. Indeed it appears to be a wise strategy on the part of the Universal Intelligence to grant the most powers to beings that are capable of using that power responsibly. Imagine what would have happened if monkeys had learnt how to build nuclear bombs. They may have destroyed much of earth by now.
Service or philanthropic activity does not imply an irrational sacrifice of one's own peace of mind, health or life style. If one were to do that then one would loose the capability to do good. Thus evolved beings usually lead a comfortable life-style even though it may not be an ostentatious one. Many eastern spiritual monasteries exist in some of the most beautiful locations in the Himalayas where both the air and water are amongst the purest anywhere on earth. It is true that at these remote locations many of the sensory pleasures most humans cares for are missing. However, the evolved spiritualists who inhabit these monasteries are souls that have outgrown the sensory pleasures that an average human craves for. Instead, they have the things that matter most - fresh air, sunshine, pure water, natural beauty, security, peace, freedom and loving company.
In some cases we note that powerful evolved beings have taken to a path of evil and destruction rather than doing good. We have the example of Hitler in recent history. The reason for this anomaly is that although one becomes more powerful through good deeds and service, the freedom to choose one's direction is retained at all times. Thus even an angel may choose to take to the path of evil. However this activity would not last forever since evil leads to a rapid fall in the level of evolution of a being as well as the enhanced powers associated with higher levels of evolution. It is because of this reasoning that in spiritual literature Satan is visualized as a fallen angel who eventually gets bound or thrown into a bottomless pit. That is where the soul of Hitler probably lies now. In the view of this author there is not just one Satan in the universe. There are many. Humans that rely on violence, hatred and lying are the followers of such satanic virtues. Truth is the handmaiden of Love. This is because non-loving activities must rely on the use of lies for their execution or concealment. Love needs no such device. Those who base their actions on love and truth as well as service are surely on the fast track to greater levels pf peace, happiness, freedom and evolution - a path to godhood.
Dr. Ashok Malhotra holds a doctoral degree in engineering from the University of British Columbia canada. He has been recognised as a leading international educator. For an account of ' How Humans were Created on Earth' check out http://alienaccount.blogspot.com/
For articles on spirituality by the author check http://someitemshave.blogspot.com
Anthony Robbins
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