About God

Once upon a time there lived a farmer. He worked hard all day to produce enough harvest to feed his family and make some money to go about his daily chores. He went about his routine daily with complete sincerity. He had no weekends and medical leaves as farming was his sole source of livelihood. No matter how difficult and tiresome his life was, he never complained. However, he had a habit of quoting the Lord's name just five times before going to work on the field each day. He didn't pray or remember Him throughout the day and night after that but still God had given him enough to sustain himself and his family pretty well.

This made Lord Narada restless as he was in a habit of reciting God's name all day and night but God was never as happy with him as He was with the farmer. One day, Narada went to God and asked, "Great Lord, I sing in praise of you more than I breathe but your grace is never as much as it is on that petty farmer who quotes your name only five times a day. I find this unfair on your part and wish for a satisfactory explanation."

God smiled (just like He always does in every Indian TV show, movies and books) and said, "take this lamp filled with oil up to the brim and come back to me after you have taken one full revolution around the earth. But make sure not a single drop of oil spills from this lamp." And handed Narada a lamp filled with oil up to the brim. Narada set out on his voyage happily as this was as easy a job for him as is for a child to cry out for his mother. He returned to God after completing his journey with no drop of oil spilled from the lamp and said with his head bowed, "Lord, I have completed the job you gave me but I'm still waiting for my answer."

The Lord replied, "how many times did you think about me when you were taking a round of the earth?"

"I didn't think about you anytime my Lord as the task given to me was directly by you so on doing this task I'm always connected to you."

"The task of farming given to the farmer is also given by me but still he quotes my name five times a day with complete dedication. Had he been doing it only once, I would be as much happy with him as I'm now. Now, I think, I have answered your question."

"Yes my Lord. I have received my answer and I promise that I shall remember you even while doing the work given to me by you and I will never doubt your grace over your followers."

So, if you're one of those who spend hours in the morning or/and in the evening praying to God, there's good news, it isn't that necessary.

What is God? God is just a feeling like that of wind and pain. You cannot see Him but your sincerity can bring you close to Him. He's just a means of growing your strengths and damping your weaknesses so that you achieve what you strife for. The Ramayana and Mahabharata give accounts of even demons fulfilling their wishes because of their sincerity towards God. If God can help the demons then why not us. We're far better than them, aren't we? God did not fill Sir Edmund Hillary with extra physical strength and climbing skills to climb Mt.Everest but it was his own determination and probably his belief that God is with him that helped him become the first man in history to achieve such a feat. So belief in God is just a positive source for energy which helps us get what we want if we do our duties with all dedication.

Now that we know what God is, how do we reach Him? If you read the scriptures you'd notice that all we dwellers of earth have been asked for is being nice to one another. The Gita, Quran, Bible and other holy books state a path towards the supreme Lord. This path is treaded by following the basic lessons of 'Humanity' such as respecting and loving each creation of God, respecting the work assigned to us by Him and establishing faith in Him. The path is easy and simple, just love your fellow beings and you reach God. But like they say, it's never easy to be simple. There's no point in wasting time praying if you close your window on a traffic signal if a hungry child approaches your car or if you turn your head away if an elderly woman comes to you begging for food or money. The fact is, you do not have to spend a single minute praying if you're a good human because then you wouldn't have to pray for yourself, there will be others praying for you.

To quote Sir Edmund Hillary, "when I've been on slightly questionable expeditions, people have prayed for my welfare, but I certainly haven't."