I often wonder while millions of us pray to he idol of Krishna, when Krishna was actually alive, many of the contemporary kings insulted him. In fact, Duryodhana tried to imprison him. When Buddha was alive, many people hated him and even tried to kill him. The same was the fate of Jesus. Then why do people pray for these people after they leave this world? Are there no Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna in today's world? What is their fate? Are they being appreciated? Most people having attributes like Jesus, Krishna, and Buddha are not appreciated by contemporary society because they want us to change, and we do not want to change. We want them to bless us with what we wish. That's the sole use case of God in our lives. When God asks us to change, we reject such a God. We want a God who can listen to all our prayers, even if our prayers are self-defeating.
We want comforts, fun, and pleasure, and we try to negotiate the same every time we pray. God, you are so good, I will sing your Aarti, offer you Dhoop Bati, a lamp of pure ghee, offer you some Prasad and money, you listen to my wishes and bless me with what I want. Why would any sensible person like to listen to his praise? Isn't that a sheer waste of time? By using incense, our home becomes full of fragrance. What does it have to do with God? When we offer Prasad, it is we and our fellow human beings who eat Prasad. When we offer money to the priest, it is the family of the priests that get the money. I doubt whether any God has anything to do with that.
Suppose some sensible person goes to meet a relative. The relative and his family are undergoing a full-blown fight. Now, what would this sensible person be interested in? Would it make him happy if all the family members of the relative surround him and start singing Aarti, consisting of words of praise? In fact, that will be too irritating to any sensible person, and they would just try to run away from that place. The only thing that a sensible person will be interested in is the well-being of the relative and his family members. he would be happy if that relative and his family can discuss the issues with honesty, integrity, and authenticity. He would be happy if they could reveal the deepest of their secrets stored inside the darkest of the layers of their minds so that he may offer them a wider perspective of life, and having understood that wider perspective, they can sort out their issues.
However, we do not want that. We just want our wishes to be granted. Any realized soul, while he is alive, would challenge the persons who come to meet. He will question them. That questioning makes us uncomfortable. That's why, while these realized souls are alive, they are regularly criticized. When they leave their body, people make their idols and make stories around these people. These stories are quite comforting. We can make a story as per our convenience. Every follower may have a different story in their mind. That's how belief grows stronger and stronger with time.
While we may feel happy using the image of God for our selfish goals, we are often too blind to realize the damage we inflict on ourselves in the process. When we refuse to grow, we become fixated, and every fixation is a root cause of fear. That's why almost everyone in present-day society is so fearful. We harbor thousands of fears within us: fear of losing money, position, power, life, lifestyle, comforts, pleasures, kids, relatives, friends, a spouse, and so on. Even a small virus can fill the entire humanity with fear. The more powerful we become, the more fearful we are. We exploit the weak and are even willing to lick the shoes of the powerful. We enter a vicious cycle: more fixation leads to more fear; more fear leads to more greed to obtain what we desire; the more we get, the more fixated we become. We become fixated not only on the tangibles but also on intangibles like self-image and beliefs. Praying to someone without truly listening to what they said and how they lived their life won't help us. We have to do what Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus did to be peaceful, courageous, and equanimous like them. We may intellectually understand whatever they said yet continue to be as miserable as before. It is all about living the way taught by those enlightened beings. Merely praying to them or analyzing their teachings is of no use unless we actually walk on the path shown by them.
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