Can God be More Supreme than GOD? - Part 1

One of the definitions of the name ‘God’ as mentioned in Merriam-Webster dictionary states - 

“a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect Nature and the lives of people : one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions.”

In reality, God is all of these qualities and more. Religion established God to be a formless, faceless and shapeless entity. That He always appeared to a human being only in a Human form or ‘Avatars’ [Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 4, Verses 5-9] so that His virtues and wisdom may become easily relatable and comprehensible for the mortals. In fact Qur’an [Chapter 2, Verse 87] states that Religion has been passed on to the common people through God’s Messengers and Messiahs throughout the World. So, considering that no human being has ever seen God in His true form [Bhagavad Gita - 9:11, Exodus - 33:19–23 and Qur’an - 28:29-31] so as to establish His true race, colour, gender or form, yet we see people killing and discriminating against eachother based on these very factors and claiming that they are doing their religion’s bidding. Have we ever stopped and thought about which God are we worshipping or which Religion are we blindly following in our Unconscious Perspective? Is it the true Religion or are we following and supporting an agenda-based man-made version of religion? Even though the dictionary definition attempts to express in mere words who God is, do we, the believers, limit our understanding of God only to a Dictionary defined meaning? God – though in our finite imagination compared to His true potential – is understood and expressed as the one true Power, a being or spirit, no human can see or touch or hear. His grace can only be felt as a consequence of His omnipotent existence. In Bhagavad Gita [10:19], Lord Krishna educates Arjuna : Sri Bhagavān uvācha -

“Hanta te kathayshyāmi divyā hyātma-vibhūtayaḥ | Prādhānyataḥ kuru-śreṣṭha nāsty anto vistarasya me ||”

[Translation: Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.].

Qur'an in the same voice elaborates [3:18], ‘God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels, and those endowed with knowledge — upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.’ In Sikhism this sublime wisdom ‘God’ has been very beautifully conveyed in the phrase - “Ik Onkar”, which means “There is only one God”. So when every Religion has declared that there is one God, then why do some of us clash over whose God is better than another’s God? 

While looking for the answer to this question myself, trying to understand the root perspective that ails the majority general opinion about Religion, I was ecstatic to find written proof in every religion - ‘It is only God who is Great!’ But I also understood that the clashes we all see in our societies possibly look at this statement from the flip side, where it seems that every religion is claiming that only ‘their God is great’. The answer to this doubt lies in our own ancient Indian texts like Rigveda and the Upanishads, where it is emphasised -

‘Indram mitram varuNamagnimAhuratho sa divyo suparNo garutmAn| Ekam sadviprAh bahudhA vadanti agnim yamam mAtarishvAnamAhuh||’ - [Rig Veda: Mandala 1, Sukta 164, Richa 46’]

[Translation: They called Him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni; and He is heavenly Garuda, who has beautiful wings. The Truth (God) is one, but the sages (or the enlightened ones) only call or describe Him in many ways].

In other words, there may be many avatars of God or many names given to Him in different religions, but there is only one God.

The Holy Bible [Genesis 1] meticulously simplifies how God created the Heavens, the Earth and the Sky. He created the Day and the Night, the Mountains and the Seas. He designed the Land and the Plants, the Birds and the Animals. He then counted Time so we may witness days, years and seasons. And then, God created humans - both male and female. The ancient Sanskrit text - ‘Svetasvatara Upanishad’ [2:5], establishes all human beings as ‘Amritasya Putrah’ which Swami Vivekananda proclaimed in his Chicago speech to the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions as “Every individual soul is potentially divine”, simplifying it. In my understanding, since all human beings are born of the eternal elixir [Translation: Amrit] – we call God – we all have His presence within us. So shouldn’t we ask ourselves why someone of such limitless power – who created the World as we know it and everything on it – would need a mere human being’s help or support or protection to elongate His own existence? Why would people call each other out to run to God’s rescue? In doing so, haven’t we limited God’s power to match our own acumen?

For all species existing on Earth - both living and nonliving, God is the sole Creator, the sole Nurturer and the sole Destroyer. He is the solution and the ultimate sublime Truth! He is the transcendent light we all want to integrate with at the conclusion of our mortal lives [Bhagavad Gita - 9:7-8]. Then how can we Humans articulate Him with the limited vocabulary any earthly language has? We can only try to discern His infinite wisdom. I introspected that since the core teachings and principles of every Religion are the same, irrespective of the Religion I was taught at birth, if I follow the true Religion, it wouldn’t matter if I’m called a Hindu or a Muslim, a Christian or a Sikh.

Albert Einstein once said in an interview with William Hermanns - 

“...science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. God is a mystery. But a comprehensible mystery. I have nothing but awe when I observe the laws of nature…” 

Doesn’t this excerpt give us a miniscule glimpse into the potency of The One True Almighty? His Power, His Strength, His Wisdom, His Knowledge, His Capabilities and His Capacity being immeasurable, incomprehensible and indecipherable. It is through science that we get the opportunity to understand the ‘Why’, ‘How’ and ‘When’ of God’s creations. There's beauty in His every creation! From the Elements [Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Space] that are the source for every life’s sustenance on Earth, to Earth itself being a spec compared to the infinite expanse of the Universe. From the beauty of Mother Nature minutely ingrained in every species dwelling on this planet to the meticulous workings of the atoms which creates the Human body and the cyclically operating organ systems functioning within it [Bhagavad Gita - 9:15-19]. Can we Human beings begin to fathom the extent of God’s potential? I comprehended through my own observations, that Science helps us understand God’s craft, evident in all His creations, whereas Religion guides us to decipher His infinite Wisdom. A wisdom handed over to the human kind to be rediscovered, shared and simplified through our own understanding of it.

From time unknown, many people throughout our World Histories have explained, expressed and shared their experience of God’s presence in their own lives. They spoke about their cognizance of God’s wisdom and ways in which every human being eventually will get the chance to seek out God. I understood this wisdom when I read the famous couplet (‘Sher’ in Urdu) by Mirza Ghalib, 

“Zahid sharaab peene de masjid mein baith kar, Ya wo jagah bata jahaan khuda nhi.”

[Translation: Oh devotee, let me drink (alcohol) sitting here in the Masjid, Or tell me of a place where there is no God].

Since it was never exactly dated, the concept of Religion has always been argued to have been born at the same time as the inception of the concept of society at the dawn of civilisation. Though the concept of Religion has evolved through the centuries, ‘Word of God’ is said to have been chronicled and scripted in Religious books that form an integral part of our lives even today. The intention was to have all present and succeeding generations get the chance to learn from God’s wisdom. These books defined ‘Religion’ as the path that would give every human being an equal right to be near God, to receive God’s boundless love and to eventually unite with Him [Bhagavad Gita - 9:32 and Qur’an - 114:1-3]. The same religious books also mentioned that be whoever we are, every soul after death will be judged equally based on its actions in the mortal world and would either go to ‘Heaven’ (or ‘Swarg’ or ‘Jannat’) based on its good actions or to ‘Hell’ (or ‘Nark’ or ‘Jahannam’) based on its bad actions [Bhagavad Gita - 16:1-5 and Qur’an - 42:26-40]. It wouldn’t matter who persuaded, coaxed, forced or even influenced us during our lifetime. Our actions will be solely our decision to choose between the right and wrong or the good and bad, sealing the final fate of our soul on ‘Judgement Day’. So it is safe to say from this context that:

• The essence or the fundamental root of all Religions around the World is the same - that it is a series of actions we perform in our lifetime. Since Religion is for the peace for all Mankind, the core moral of all Religion is to extend love and compassion to everyone. One of our National songs, ‘Sare Jahan se achcha’ voice the same sentiment in the sentence - ‘Mazhab nahi sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna’ [Translation: Religion doesn't teach to hold enmity amongst each other]. So the ones who feel that their religion is wailing to be saved by killing innocents, or to push out everyone else from their society in the name of protecting their own, really need to stop and think if it is truly their Religion that’s asking so.

• Religion in itself is a robust concept. All Religions preach to perform good deeds (or virtues) like Love and Compassion, Purity in Health, Patience and Forgiveness, Protecting the weak, Saving the helpless, Diligence, Generosity and Donation, Humility and Gratitude while staying clear of the bad deed (or sins) like Lust, Gluttony, Sloth or Laziness, Pride and Ego, Wrath or Anger, Greed and Envy. So the people who feel that their religion is in danger and needs to be preserved, their fear is unfounded. For as long as there’s even one human alive on Earth, Religion will survive. Even an atheist, who doesn’t believe in the existence of God, if he/she performs even one good act, it would not be wrong to say that he/she is following Religion.

• The expressions ‘Dharma’ (Religion) and ‘Karma’ (Deeds or Actions or Duties and Responsibilities) have been interchangeably used in all religions throughout World cultures and history. So if everyone genuinely follow our own religion, our societies will no longer see aged parents being left at the gates of Old Age Homes or women being raped, burnt or killed in the name of a man’s honor. We would not see discrimination based on caste, color, race, religion, gender, social status or language. We would not see unnecessary wars being waged to satisfy the ego of power hungry leaders and dictators.

The purpose of Religion’s presence in our lives is to guide us to become better human beings. It’s neither meant to create differences, nor exploit existing divergences. In my understanding, the truth is, if we follow our religion in the lines of virtuous acts, a Hindu will not be any different to a Muslim, a Sikh will not be any different to a Christian and a Hindu will not be  any different to a Sikh or Christian.