Anupam- The Dreamer

There is a large portion of human population which has turned atheist and agnostic from theists in the present generation. Infact, the proportion of those who believe in God is constantly decreasing in the world. For example, as per this report the number of people who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” rose by 270 million over the decade, reaching 1.9 billion in 2020. Their share of the global population climbed from 23.3% in 2010 to 24.2% in 2020 (Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/is-religion-declining-1-in-4-worldwide-now-non-religious-becomes-third-largest-group-as-christianity-falls/articleshow/128347484.cms)

Does it have to do with the increase in literacy or rationality or science in society? Or does it have to do with increasing materialism in the society that we have forgotten our spiritual roots? The questions are deep and we try to discuss a few of those now.

Let us start by a simple exercise which can be done by any person- whether or not he or she believes in God! If you sit in your room in complete silence and try to meditate on the nature of the soul or the consciousness or the life force that is running your body, then you will start noticing that you are more than just the summation of the cells of your body. And if you doubt about the existence of soul (or life force or soul or God or Creator), then just try to find the difference between the body of a person just 1 second before and 1 second after the death. The body is the same, the blood, the bones, the organs etc. are exactly the same. But, no one can deny still something has gone missing from the body, which is why we declare a person as dead! Something which has taken life out of the body irreversibly! That is the soul or consciousness or life force or even God! The interpretations can vary, but there is no denial to the fact that there is something which is beyond the domain of mortal humans!

Take another example, when you dream in sleep, you see things which you have never experienced in your life. Maybe, some persons can be same or some places can be same from real life, but the movie that goes on in your head is completely new, which you have never ever experienced in your life in real! So, where does the story come from? Maybe, it is your consciousness that has always been there even when you were not born or will remain even after you will be dead! That consciousness pervades all the living forms of the world- humans, flora and fauna! Maybe, it is something which has a common source and which connects us all! When you think deep into this subject, then you may find more questions than solutions. That is fine because this thing is much more complex and deep than our understanding.

Even the great scientists like Werner Heisenberg and Stephen Hawking believed in the Creator or God. Werner Heisenberg once said that- “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” Stephen Hawking also said that – “An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when He might have carried out his job”.

The atheists and agnostics are so immersed in the materialism of the world that they don’t have any time for such experiences. Although they claim to have rationality and reason with scientific evidence, but they show no audacity to understand the Creator and his creation with science! Because living in denial mode seems a lot easier than thinking deep into complex subjects.

I am not here to turn atheists and agnostics into theists. It’s just a perspective to realize some things by own self while thinking about where we have come from and where will we go. In a body that is made up of atoms which is 99.9999999% empty and the electrons around each atom go around at the speed of 2000 km per second, and still we see and feel the body but don’t feel the speed of the electrons, there has to be something which makes this incredible body alive- and that may bring you one step closer to God!

Till next time….