What do you think God looks like?

[pnauhwar21]

Well this question has hounded me for quite long now so wanted to share thoughts from other people. Most of you must be atheists and some staunch believers of God but this question is not really subjective.

When I say what God looks like, I mean literally. I myself am not really much pooja-path person but still would like to believe in God. Whatever image we have of our gods is from our literatures and the numerous portraits of gods throughout time. One thing I fail to understand that who drew the first pictures of gods? Did they actually see them? Were they really gods or some aliens who flew in their spaceships to earth.

If they were aliens from other planets, where have their generations vanished now and why dont they visit as frequently as before and meet every common man and Not just those on a trip to Bermuda or working in secret US Govt. societies.

And if they were really some Higher dimension gods, why dont they appear now. Almost all of our major gods stayed on earth, isnt it. Krishna and Rama were born here. Shivji used to stay on Kailash. Durga stayed in caves. Why arent they taking birth now. I guess enough of paaps are happening on earth if thats the reason...

Secondly how were they born? out of nowhere? Geeta says we are part of a single spirit. But my question is why am I not a god? How were they born as Gods and we as humans?

Why do we aim to attain moksha? It is said Moksha should be our goal and that means no more births. We would be part of that one big Holy spirit (or is it black hole). If we have to be part of god anyhow, why the hell are we born and what for I guess almost 99% of us live our life eating, playing, playing responsible sons, parents, praying to god everyday and then finally dying? So what is the purpose of human birth? IS it just a big game that someone from above is playing

Though frankly speaking, I have always fantasised about seeing different Gods as we percieve them in pictures. Wouldnt it be great to see Indra with a big darbar filled with various apsaras. Or a visit to Vishnulok with all gods walking around..no worries in world and extreme sense of happiness. Or an adventorous trip to Shivlok with all kind of creepy ghosts lurking around and there in the middle Shivji in his viraat roop with a trishul giving u aashirwaad and talking to u in person..Wow..what a wishful thinking And then in evening,we all can go to see Krishna's raasleela in gopilok.

I still have some more questions but I will ask them on responses from atleast some of you. I know most of the ppl. may not take it seriously but my questions are serious. I know you dont have answers either, but just wanted to know what other people think about our existence and of GOD. There are too many questions but lets start ....

 

[devdahiya]

Interesting

Well this question has hounded me for quite long now so wanted to share thoughts from other people. Most of you must be atheists and some staunch believers of God but this question is not really subjective.

When I say what God looks like, I mean literally. I myself am not really much pooja-path person but still would like to believe in God. Whatever image we have of our gods is from our literatures and the numerous portraits of gods throughout time. One thing I fail to understand that who drew the first pictures of gods? Did they actually see them? Were they really gods or some aliens who flew in their spaceships to earth.

If they were aliens from other planets, where have their generations vanished now and why dont they visit as frequently as before and meet every common man and Not just those on a trip to Bermuda or working in secret US Govt. societies.

And if they were really some Higher dimension gods, why dont they appear now. Almost all of our major gods stayed on earth, isnt it. Krishna and Rama were born here. Shivji used to stay on Kailash. Durga stayed in caves. Why arent they taking birth now. I guess enough of paaps are happening on earth if thats the reason...

Secondly how were they born? out of nowhere? Geeta says we are part of a single spirit. But my question is why am I not a god? How were they born as Gods and we as humans?

Why do we aim to attain moksha? It is said Moksha should be our goal and that means no more births. We would be part of that one big Holy spirit (or is it black hole). If we have to be part of god anyhow, why the hell are we born and what for I guess almost 99% of us live our life eating, playing, playing responsible sons, parents, praying to god everyday and then finally dying? So what is the purpose of human birth? IS it just a big game that someone from above is playing

Though frankly speaking, I have always fantasised about seeing different Gods as we percieve them in pictures. Wouldnt it be great to see Indra with a big darbar filled with various apsaras. Or a visit to Vishnulok with all gods walking around..no worries in world and extreme sense of happiness. Or an adventorous trip to Shivlok with all kind of creepy ghosts lurking around and there in the middle Shivji in his viraat roop with a trishul giving u aashirwaad and talking to u in person..Wow..what a wishful thinking And then in evening,we all can go to see Krishna's raasleela in gopilok.

I still have some more questions but I will ask them on responses from atleast some of you. I know most of the ppl. may not take it seriously but my questions are serious. I know you dont have answers either, but just wanted to know what other people think about our existence and of GOD. There are too many questions but lets start ....

Prashant....u have embarked on a journy full of suspense and surprises. Cool subject and no dirth of philosophies available on the subject so chosen by you. What i feel about your quarries is as under:

I] purpose of our being on this planet is as strange as the concept of GOD itself. I don't believe that God has a face or body and resides somewhere in the sky? I trust that God is NATURE. Our body has been designed in such a way that it has all the ingradients of nature in it [Call it God] and as such whatever we do or feel has a direct consequence/resultant in the shape of Feeling in the heart/physical consequence. Anything done as per the law of nature will bring rewards and otherwise the Sufferings.There is a system in place in all of us to move ahead in life and could we move or How we moved will be reflected via consequences.

2] There is a purpose of our being out here.Yes it appears that all of us just earn[IN ANY CAPACITY WE MAY WORK] eat and die and frankly sometimes i also feel that way but then there is so much else to life like LOVE,CONCERNS,AGONY,PAINS,SUCCESS,FAILURE,MEETINS,SEPERATIONS,SLEEPING,CRYING,LAUGHING,TRAVELLING,ARGUING,FIGHTING,STRUGGLING,ACHIEVING,INVENTING,DESTROOYING....and the list is endless. So isn't the purpose of our coming here bigger than what we thought it to be.Thanx for a nice topic and as the debate moves ahead, i will give more inputs.

 

[vinodks]

Prashant, your query is naive but sensible. Concept of religion and God is one of the most profound invention by human kind. There are lots and lots of things and personification of God as human is one small part of it. You should avoid being baffled by these particularities but go behind overall idea. You should seek these answers by yourself because its not how God looks, its how you want God to look. You can imagine Him whichever way you want to.
I suggest you should read Swami Vivekanada's work on analytical interpretation of Vedas and meaning of symbolism etc. I found following two books on religion very interesting
1) "Complete Works" by Vivekanada
2) "Varieties of Religious Experiences" by William James(American philosopher, brother of Henry James), it was selected second best non-fictional book of last century.

-Vinod

 

[priti]

What if god was one of us

Hello Prashant

What a refreshing topic....

To be honest, there have been only a couple of times in my life when i have thought about God. And that too because both times I was having one of those existentialist moments. So I do not know whether I am wrong or right...but then I guess everyone has (or should have) their own interpretation of God.

God I think is one's own conscious. Its not out there. Its our mind. It is probably represented in the symbolic things in Hinduism for propogating teachings/meanings. According to Hinduism, god manifests itself in variety of living creatures and avatars. That does not mean snake is a god or elephant is a god….what it means to me is that God is pervasive in my world because its in me. Whatever world I live in, I see it through my own eyes…eyes which are informed by my conscious. God would look like whatever you want it to look like literally if that is your question. But I don’t think your question is limited to physical appearance of god….My god is my conscious, my brain ….it tells me whats wrong, whats right…when I am troubled and I say ‘oh god’ help me…what I am subconsciously doing by asking this is forcing my brain to think of solutions…not leaving it to the symbolic GOD to perform miracles and solve my problems….

I think each of us create our own worlds and when we interact with people, there are clashes or consensus on the ideas of our worlds…more clashes…and since humans are more predisposed towards being social and peaceful…we try to find consensus and those consensuses lead to an idea of common god like jesus or mohammad or ram. The more powerful and compelling the idea, the more following it has….but still its just an idea based on faith…something so basic without which we as thinking animals are lost….

 

[gaganjat]

God is nothing.

Its the creation of weak humans who needs a psychological support to make them feel good and protected.

A barbie doll /teddy bear is as good as god for kids who cant sleep without them and they feel that someone is with them.

In a same way 'God is a toy' of grown up weak babies.

God is a myth and looks like a cup of coffee/tea which gives a refreshing feeling after drinking. Too easy.

 

[rkumar]

God is nothing.

Its the creation of weak humans who needs a psychological support to make them feel good and protected.

A barbie doll /teddy bear is as good as god for kids who cant sleep without them and they feel that someone is with them.

In a same way 'God is a toy' of grown up weak babies.

God is a myth and looks like a cup of coffee/tea which gives a refreshing feeling after drinking. Too easy.

Hi Gagan,

You have put it in real Jattu style what I often say when it comes to such discussions. Lie is the biggest ever invention of man and God forms part of that very invention. Like you, here are some of my arguments;

1. Like a diabetic patient needs insulin, mentally week person needs a visit/ remembrance of God.

2. Jats have never been known to be so much God dependent. Most of us know that a Jat starts work in his fields with " Le bhai Ram ka Nam" and hits his beil with danda in the same breath..Thats the end of his remembrance of God. Rarely Jats used to visit temples even at the time of their weddings..

At best God can be called a concept and in its search man has been exercising his mind forever. This exercise of mind has led to many interesting discoveries in science. If we look from this angle, God has not been such a bad concept after all...It has been serving good purpose for many. However, there has been lots of misuse also of this concept. Lots of crime has been committed on the humanity in the name of God..

So in summary, one has to find out his/ her own version of God...There is no single version of this concept..

RK^2

 

[priti]

Ramji woh se jo apne aap ne bhagwaan maanne (God is who considers the self as god)

Gagan ki baat kati sahi! (gagan is very right)

par ek baat aur se...aadmi bhagwaan ki khoj mein nahin likadata te aaj bhi chaar paya pe eye chalta (if man did'nt search for god then he would have been walking on his fours till now...just a metaphor to say that search of the ultimate has lead to all the development...again a very philosophical question) so maybe its not for weak brains...

P.S.: sorry for the literal translations...thought of some of the discussions about non-haryanvi jats....and thought of annoying the haryanvi jats a little bit

 

[vinodks]

Gagan, Your interpretation of God as just an invention of weak mind is very naive and limited outlook of spirituality. Everyone is free to believe what he is comfortable with but if you are seriously curious, your comment is slightly touched on in the first chapter of the book I mentioned -"Religion and Neurology".

http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/james/james2.htm

Religion is NOT just an opium, not a toy for comfort, not psychological instrument for strength, not an imagination of hallucinated mind. Religion is all this and much more. As Kalkhandji said -religion is not so bad, it led to many discoveries. I guess it deserves a better appreciation. But modern mind is so intangled with artificiality of world that existence of God has no meaning. Some people think God died(in peoples' mind) the day Nietzsche said "God is dead" but interpretation of his work shows that he was a pious person, he renounced God and searched for godliness in himself.
BTW just because Jats are not so pious doesn't mean religion has less importance. Its true that in the name of religion lot of bloodshed has been done. Thats where weakness of mind gets mixed with religion but spirituality in itself is ultimate way toward peace.

vinod

 

[chaudharypankaj]

Oh my god! There's an axe in my head

SURPRISED


Hi ,

I think the dictionary meaning of GOD is "The term God designates a universal Supreme Being".

In Sikhism, Judaism and Islam, God is believed to be sexless, but has been traditionally referred to using male grammatical gender.

In Christianity, God is believed to be intrinsically sexless.

In Hinduism, the ultimate reality is genderless. Advaita Hinduism, nevertheless, holds that God can take a female or male form. In Shaivism and Vaishnavism, God is viewed as male while His power is personified as female.

God is believed to be a Trinity, consisting of three persons in one God. The three persons of the Trinity are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The first two of these persons have been traditionally referred to using male grammatical gender, while the Holy Spirit has been referred to using male, female or neutral grammatical gender.The female reference was used in certain early Christian communities, specifically within the hymn book, entitled "Odes of Solomon". When the Second Person of the Trinity became incarnate as Jesus he became a male human, while still retaining the divine nature.


I will show u how GOD looks like in a language?

English:Oh my god! There's an axe in my head
Bengali: Oh Allah! Amar mathar upor bash poreche
English, OldE4: Wa min God! Se aex on min heafod is!
Italian: Dio mio! C'e' un' ascia nella mia testa!
Japanese: ahh, kamisama! watashi no atama ni ono ga arimasu
Klingon: toH, HIvqa' Qun'a'wIj! nachwIjDaq 'obmaQ tu'lu'!
Korean: aigo, OtchOna! nae daegarie tokkiga pakhyO inne!
Kyrgyz: Oh Kuday! Bashimda balta bar!
Latin: Deus Meus! Securis in capite meo est.
Latvian: Ak Dievs! Man ir cirvis galva!
Lithuanian: Dieve mano, turiu kirvi galvoje!
Macedonian: O, Gospodi! Imam sekira vo glavata.
Sámi: Vuoi Ipmilahcci! Mus han leat aksu oaivvis
Sanskrit: He mama deva! Asti mama murdhni parasuh!
Serbo-Croatian: Boje moj! sjekira mi je u glavi.
Scots Gaelic: Och, mo Dhia, 's e tuagh a tha sa' mo cheann.
Sinhala: Ane Deviyane! Mage oluwe porawak thiyanawa
Slovak: Pane boze! Mam sekeru v hlave!
Slovenian: Moj Bog! Sekiro imam v glavi.
Spanish: ¡Dios mio! ¡Hay un hacha en mi cabeza!
Srana (Surinamese)S5: Tjé mi gado! Mi ab' wang aksi na ini mi édé!
Swahili: Siyo! (Huko) Shoka yangu kichwanil!
Swedish: Oh, Herregud! Jag har en yxa i huvudet!
Tagalog: Ay Dios ko! May palakol sa ulo ko!
Tamil: Ada kadavule! En thalaiyil oru kodali irrukku!
Telegu: Ore devudo! Naa thala lo goddali undhi
Turkish: Aman Tanrim; Kafama saplanmis bir balta var.
Ukranian: Bozhe mij, ja maju sokyru v holovi
Urdu: Au Mere Allah Mere Sur Me Kulahri Hai
Vietnamese (North Dialect): Oi gioi oi! Cai bu'a no bo vao dau toi!
Vietnamese (Central Dialect): Oi troi phat oi! Cai rua chem vo dau tui!
Vietnamese (South Dialect): Chu'a toi oi! Cai rua chat be dau tao!
Visigothic: Meina guth, Ikgastaldan aqizi-wunds meina haubida
Volapük: O God obik! Binon lecüd in kap obik.
Wallon (Belgian dialectical French– phonetic)W1: Nom dé dju, y a èn hache din m' tièt
Welsh: A Dduw! Mae bywell yn fy mhen i!
Yiddish: gotenyu! s'iz do a hak in kop!

Bhaiyoo jaada dimaak maat lagaana soochne meine .
who is god?
JAATOO ki AKAAL GHUTNE meine hooti hai
bye
pankaj chaudhary

 

[chaudharypankaj]

Engineering Definition of GOD'S LAWS

Hi to all !

Very intresting and very tough !!!!

Who is god ? and How he/she looks like ?

God has many powers similar to laws in Physics and in Engg.

(1) GOD 1 LAW : Every object ( i.e human being, animal,environment,galaxy etc.) in a state of uniform motion ( means everything is going in right way...)
tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force ( i.e flood,earthquake,fire,sad,happiness etc.) is applied to it.

(2) GOD 2 LAW :The relationship between an object's mass M ( suppose human),its accleration A ( daily routine life ) and the applied force F ( sad, happiness etc.)
i.e F=M * A

(3)GOD 3 LAW :For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction ( means if u pollute environment, impact i.e global warming,ozone layer depletation etc.)

GOD First Law of Thermodynamics :

Energy ( AATMA ) can niether be created or distroy, it converts in to one form to another ( human AATMA convert into Animal AATMA ).

If u want more definition be in touch with me.

bye

pankaj chaudhary

 

[raj_rathee]

God is nothing.

Its the creation of weak humans who needs a psychological support to make them feel good and protected.

A barbie doll /teddy bear is as good as god for kids who cant sleep without them and they feel that someone is with them.

In a same way 'God is a toy' of grown up weak babies.

God is a myth and looks like a cup of coffee/tea which gives a refreshing feeling after drinking. Too easy.

Good summary Gagan. No wasted words.

[But I do like the multi handed Durga....I mean just imagine the possibilities... ]

 

[poonam]

one quick input..

My favorite God.."Jai Shri Krishna" ... if you know why..

 

[sjakhars]

I consider nature as god.
Agree with Ms.Divya.

 

[anujkumar]

God is nothing.

Its the creation of weak humans who needs a psychological support to make them feel good and protected.

A barbie doll /teddy bear is as good as god for kids who cant sleep without them and they feel that someone is with them.

In a same way 'God is a toy' of grown up weak babies.

God is a myth and looks like a cup of coffee/tea which gives a refreshing feeling after drinking. Too easy.

Nice!

But still it is extremely useful, just like the 'psychotherepy, or 'centrally acting medications' which are keeping a significant fraction of people sane.

Also, (even if) God doen't exist and you know that, you also have a belief system which isn't true either. It's beyond human capacity to find out CERTAIN truth (to base actions on).

Some times simple thumb rules learned over time [religion is one such sytem of rule] and not scientifically verifiably optimal rules [the true requirement of human body as a biological machine], are much more effective for our own indivisual sake and definitely for the socitity's sake. This is definitely true in 'business' industry. One simple reson being the truth and the best strategy corrosponding to it TOO complex for majority of humans.

 

[shailendra]

...Hmmm

Interesting...
But isn't the 'Godliness' more of a faith in your beliefs, spirituality towards a positive?
Sure it has been bastardized over time by religious sects using it to wield power over the masses (Baman devta log, the Church in Christanity etc)....therefore diluting the meaning and making it more of a mockery for people like Gagan to quote,'for weaker masses'...

How would one explain even a stone attaining amazing powers in some remote temple when worshipped at the same time by lakhs of people...is it a unique form of amazing collective concentration that lends it magical powers? ... Who knows, but this is for sure... you take away faith from humankind and they have nothing....absolutely nothing to stop them from desentigrating into some chaotic and anarchic beings!...

The beliefs and faith keep us sane and give purpose to our convictions, keeping (most of us ) on the staright and narrow...
Hinduism has been (and incerasingly becoming so) a guiding light to so many other faiths too... why? because we believe in godlyness in all forms of life (incarnation of that one supreme power)... For a Hindu even parents are God, then the teacher and maybe then that supreme power (in order of most importance)...
So yes, if worshipping your parents (that brought you in this world and helped you take the first tender steps) and your mentor/teacher (who taught you how to stand staright, fend for yourself, and achieve your responsibilities and goals) and then that supreme faith (my beliefs, conscience and accountability to myself) to worship and look at all those as nothing short of 'Godliness' makes me a weaker individual....Hallelueeha, so be it...cause I am all for it!

 

[vinodks]

My favorite God.."Jai Shri Krishna" ... if you know why..

No I don't know:-(((( Tell me why??


BTW my fav God(Saint) is Gugga Peer)) Long time back Gugga Peer babas used to come to our village with a long pole completely covered with peacock feathers during 'teej' fastival and used to give us 'misri ki dali'... they vanished becuz modern people became so intelligent that these bhikhari babas are no longer needed.

vinod

 

[poonam]

No I don't know:-(((( Tell me why??
vinod

O Ignorant Man..!!!

Lord Krishna has a zing. Rest of the Gods look ‘serious types’..

Jokes apart! I do not know whether He existed or exists but if we go by the scriptures I found Lord Krishna a tremendous hybrid of brains, wit and yes, mischief too. He reflects a complete package.. His intellect.. who is not aware of the philosophical discourse called “Bhagwat Gita” illuminating the secrets of secrets and the in depth knowledge of knowledge. Those realistic and so true words that he preached to Arjun just before the battle!! (this itself can lead to a separate thread..)

And whos not knocked off by His childhood episodes. Be its teasing Yashoda/Radha or stealing ‘maakhan’ from his own home or other impish pranks. Fabulous blend of all the flavors!!

(The Complete Man… (tolls a bell ..Raymond or what… ) Anyways, I’m flattered.. )

P.S. Vinod..tujhey enlighten karne ke chakkar main Prashant ka main post to reh hi gayaa..

Prashant, the theme you touched upon is very very sensitive and pretty substantial. No one will ever be able to satisfy everyone when it comes to belief in God or for that matter religion whatsoever. I do believe in God. You can call it natural belief or lets say that’s how I want to live. I know someone gives me strength when I need. I know when I pray to Him it calms me down and I get my peace of mind. I doubt if the existence can ever be ‘proven’ though. The key is one should not be blinded by their belief in God. The world is full of wonders. You never know one fine day you might find evidence of His existence.

On the other hand, there are a few masterpieces in the ‘physical form’ who are no less than God.

 

[arunshamli]

God is nothing.

Its the creation of weak humans who needs a psychological support to make them feel good and protected.

A barbie doll /teddy bear is as good as god for kids who cant sleep without them and they feel that someone is with them.

In a same way 'God is a toy' of grown up weak babies.

God is a myth and looks like a cup of coffee/tea which gives a refreshing feeling after drinking. Too easy.

Gagan Bhai, George W. Bush the most powerful creature on the face of the earth says he believes in God.

powerfull bole toh jiska chae band baja deta hai

He is a weak human, by your definition, kahin usne sun liya toh...

 

[arunshamli]

Hi Gagan,

You have put it in real Jattu style what I often say when it comes to such discussions. Lie is the biggest ever invention of man and God forms part of that very invention. Like you, here are some of my arguments;

1. Like a diabetic patient needs insulin, mentally week person needs a visit/ remembrance of God.

2. Jats have never been known to be so much God dependent. Most of us know that a Jat starts work in his fields with " Le bhai Ram ka Nam" and hits his beil with danda in the same breath..Thats the end of his remembrance of God. Rarely Jats used to visit temples even at the time of their weddings..

At best God can be called a concept and in its search man has been exercising his mind forever. This exercise of mind has led to many interesting discoveries in science. If we look from this angle, God has not been such a bad concept after all...It has been serving good purpose for many. However, there has been lots of misuse also of this concept. Lots of crime has been committed on the humanity in the name of God..

So in summary, one has to find out his/ her own version of God...There is no single version of this concept..

RK^2

Dear Sir, I agree with your last statement that everyone has to find his/her God. But with all due respect I have to disagree with the examples you have quoted.

Consider a set of all rich, powerful and happy people around the globe. And see how many of them are the believer of God. I think most of them are. Mandir me sabse jayda chanda hamesha se paise wale log hee dete hain...

Now consider the other set of weak people or mentally weak people as you said...how many of them are believer. Mere khayal se Inhi logon ko hamesha complain rahati hai ke Bhagwan kahin nahi hai...kisi ki nahi sunta hai...vagarah vagarah..

Now, Lets talk about the jats...Are we the happiest or strongest people. education ke hisab se jat bahut pichde hain...police me sipahi kee bharti ke liye bhee lakhon ki rishwat dete hain....unko bijli nahi milti hai... bechare kabhi kahin dharna dete hain toh kabhi kahin...lekin unki koi nahi sunta...q nahi sunta hai...abhee bhee kai sare jat ye bhee nahi jaante ke bank me paise kaise jama kiye jate hain....log bolte hain ke aadmi me se buddhi nikal do toh jat ban jata hai...aisa q hai…Kahin aisa toh nahi ke ham log weak hain?

agar aisa hai toh this contradicts with your theory of "mentally week person needs a visit/ remembrance of God".

...these are just my own observations and could very well be far from the reality. so everyone please do the home work to find the truth.

Namaste.

 

[gaganjat]

Tats it! Humans are creating power and god is getting the credit

Human beings have immense power ,they are almighty but some of them dont realise it.

Does above leave any space for discussion?

How would one explain even a stone attaining amazing powers in some remote temple when worshipped at the same time by lakhs of people...is it a unique form of amazing collective concentration that lends it magical powers? ... Who knows, but this is for sure... you take away faith from humankind and they have nothing....absolutely nothing to stop them from desentigrating into some chaotic and anarchic beings!...