god miracles and atheism GOD, MIRACLES AND ATHEISM

[dattaswami]

GOD, MIRACLES AND ATHEISM

[Smt. Shrutakirti from Hyderabad revealed her Divine experience as follows: “On December 24^th 2006, I slept with some worry and I got a divine dream in which Swami walked into my house.  He was radiating a light brighter than the light of a thousand suns.  Every footprint of Him was shining with a pure golden color.  Swami consoled me and preached Divine Knowledge.  At the end Swami told me that He was giving a proof for the reality of His entrance into the dream.  Then Swami told me that if I verified the calendar of 2007, the star (constellation, according to Indian Astrology) on 21^st May 2007 was Punarvasu.  This statement was repeated three times by Swami and then He disappeared.  I awoke early in the morning and told about the dream to my husband.  We had not yet purchased the calendar for the New Year (2007).  My husband rushed to our neighbor and brought the calendar to verify the truth.  We were extremely surprised to see the name of the Punarvasu star on the 21^st of May 2007.  Even the composer of the calendar could not have guessed this.  I immediately phoned Swami and told Him about my dream.

Swami said to me, ‘Any proof from a dream will be treated only as a dream and cannot be realized as the truth in this world on waking.  Some days ago I told you that I am coming to your house on a particular day.  On that day there was a profuse scent of lotus flowers in your house, which was absent outside the house simultaneously in every direction.  That was a proof for My entry into your house in your waking state.  If I exhibit the same scent in your dream, it is not a real proof because it becomes a part of the dream and will be treated as unreal along with the unreal dream.’  I immediately phoned and told about this experience to all the devotees of Swami”. Following is the divine discourse given by Swami regarding this incident].

If the human incarnation materializes matter, you say that it is a magic trick.  If the Lord gives divine visions, you will say that it is an illusion of the eye.  You know that Smt. Bharati saw the divine vision of Lord Datta.  She put her finger in the bright radiating wheel revolving on My finger to test the possibility of an illusion of the eye.  You know that she immediately fell down and was unconscious for a long time.  You know that the doctor also stated that her heart and body had been subjected to a shock by high voltage electricity. Her finger also remained stiff for three days.  In spite of all this, doubts still remain in your hearts. 

Now analyze this small proof in the dream.  Even though it is small, it is most perfect from all angles.  You know that Shrutakirti is very innocent and ignorant.  How can she tell this [the exact constellation on a particular day] even in her waking state?  Perhaps some mathematical genius may be able to tell this after doing some calculations and such calculations are impossible in the state of a dream.  Miracles cannot satisfy atheists, who are always ready with alternative interpretations.  But what sort of interpretation can they give for this?  Of course, one should doubt everything and everybody, and should analyze intensively to find out the truth.  But there should be a full stop even for analysis. 

Miracles are the yardstick of ignorant people to measure the Divinity of the Lord.  I stayed in the house of Smt. Bhavani for two years.  She would always ask Me to tell her the thought that was going on in her mind at that time.  That was her yardstick to measure My Divinity!  I told her that even an evil person who has mastered a type of black magic called Karnapishachi could reveal her thoughts.  But she insisted on it every day.  One day I told her that I would tell her the thought in her mind once, provided that she does not insist on it again.  She agreed and I revealed the secret statement that she was thinking in her mind.  She was very happy.  But the next day she asked again.  She thought that I might have correctly guessed the previous statement in her mind just by coincidence.  Suddenly her third son, who was upstairs in the house, came down shouting at her for such a foolish test.  He was roaring since Kalabhairava had possessed him.  There is no end for the doubts of doubting Thomas. 

Miracles indicate the existence of unimaginability. The unimaginability is God and its existence indicates the existence of God.  The unimaginable power is the source of the miracle.  The source of that power is God.  That power may or may not give the address of God in a person who exhibits the miracle.  But the miracle gives proof of the existence of that power in that person.  The power gives the indirect existence of God elsewhere.  Therefore the miracle is an indirect proof of the existence of God but not the direct proof of the address of God.  Black magic is also a power of God, which is given to Satan.  Satan and his followers are sufficient for atheists to prove the existence of superpowers and thereby the existence of God indirectly.  Let the atheist cross the miracle of a demon first.  The theist should be above the level of these miracles and should try to achieve Divine grace of God through spiritual knowledge, devotion and selfless service through sacrifice in the Divine mission of the Lord. 

If a post graduate student forgets the alphabet, what to do?  Similar is the case of the theist who wants miracles as proof.  The theist requires correct guidance by correct spiritual knowledge of that standard.  Therefore divine knowledge alone can be the proof of God as per the Veda.  The exceptional quality of the divine knowledge (PRAJNANAM) is the spontaneous proof. You can experience the highest quality of the knowledge available and there is no need of any testing procedure for that.  How do you select the Miss World?  You experience the spontaneous beauty directly and there is no need of instruments to test her beauty.  You select the top most beauty available in the competition.  If you say that some greater beauty may exist somewhere and at some time in this world, the result of the competition can never be declared.  Only ugly sadists will say this. 

The Gita says that the possessor of such topmost knowledge that can give the most perfect guidance to the souls is God Himself (Jnanitvatmaiva…).  The importance of Divine Knowledge is only due to the importance of correct guidance in the spiritual path.  For this the exhibition of miracles is not required.  The exhibition of super powers through miracles is needed only for the low level of atheists and to punish the low level devils.  When a high level police officer is invited to address the students in a college, he goes there in a normal civil dress.  When he has to deal with criminals, he will be there in the police uniform.  Even there, he will send his subordinates in uniform to deal with the criminals.  But he will not send his subordinates in uniform to address the college.  Similarly God comes to preach Divine Knowledge and sends His subordinates to exhibit miracles.  Since the majority is in the lower strata, miracles have to be exhibited widely. Hence God gives the super powers even to devils.  The miracles include even the miraculous experiences in the life of any one, which prove the existence of the unimaginable God.  Miracles and knowledge are the two requirements of people here in the lower and higher levels respectively.  Generally God Himself meets the requirement of the higher level [by giving knowledge].  Liberated souls who are the servants of God, generally meet the requirement of lower level [by showing miracles].

Debate with Atheists

Today atheists met in a conference in this city and talked as they liked.  I can answer every point raised by them provided they are not rigid conservatives of atheism and have an open mind to accept the truth. 

Atheist: There are 33 crores [330 million] of deities in India and yet poor people are suffering.

Swami:  There are several teachers in a school who teach classes equally.  Why are all the students not of equal standard?  The cloud rains the same water drops.  Why does one drop fallen in the pearl shell become a pearl and another drop fallen in a mud pond become mud?  The Creator is equal to all but the creation has differences by its own nature of merits and defects.  Are there no differences among people in foreign countries where there is only one God?  The 33 crores of water drops (deities) have the same content of water (God).  Due to the association of different materials, some drops became pearls and some became mud.  The difference in the deities is due to the superimposed varied nature of human beings[1].  You have indirectly indicated the inevitable differences in the nature.

Atheist:  Religious exploitations have led to the misery of poor people.  Why should there be golden ornaments and jewels on statues in the temple when poor people are suffering?

Swami:  I agree that there is some religious exploitation done by selfish priests.  But these exploitations are not of such magnitude to cause the poverty of some people.  Politicians and rich people are responsible for the poverty of those people.  Even terrorists are attacking such rich people and not the priests.  You are diverting the main issue to the wrong direction of a minor negligible issue.  Your main issue is the negation of the existence of God.  It is one of the paths in philosophy and hence Sage Vidyaranya[2] gave a place to the philosophy of atheism proposed by Charvaka.  But now you are trying to get the support of poor people by such a diversion.  Now you are no more a philosopher but you are a politician.  Actually you are harming the poor people who live peacefully with pure devotion for God.  Their devotion is excellent and God is giving them peace and a lot of happiness.  Rich people are not blessed with such peace and bliss due to their impure devotion.  Money is not the single criterion of life.  Religion is doing social service along with devotion to God so that suffering people get blessings from God.  Take a patient of cancer or AIDS.  Your social service cannot change his worry.  Only the concept of spiritual knowledge and devotion can console him completely.  Sometimes the grace of God may even give a permanent cure. 

Society is peaceful to a large extent based on the belief in God and the fear of hell.  Now if you remove these concepts, society will end in chaos.  Thus you are finally turning into an anti social element.  If atheism spreads, corruption, killing each other etc. will go to the climax.  All rich people will kill all the poor people and perhaps you want to remove poverty in that way!  Even rich people and politicians are controlled to a large extent due to their belief in God and hell.  You want to remove that too and fully support rich people!  How can you say that hell does not exist?  I cannot show hell to you but can you show the absence of hell by taking Me to the end of this space?  In the case of equal probability, it is better to be safe and believe in the existence of hell. 

You have criticized the golden ornaments and jewels on statues in the temple.  The statue is a representative model of God to give a strong impression in the minds of ignorant people.  The concept of God has several sociological uses like giving confidence, peace, happiness, controlling sin etc.  God is the poor man’s heaven, which cannot be purchased by rich people.  You are criticizing the material used in the model, which is building up this most important concept.  A villager says that the materials used in building experimental models that convey scientific concepts is a waste and that material can be used to feed the poor instead!  Why do not you criticize the heavy jewelry of rich ladies and highly expensive functions, which have no representation of any useful good concept?  Why have you conducted your conference in a highly expensive five star hotel?

Atheist:  Spiritual knowledge uses no reason and perception.  Hence we do not believe in it.

Swami: There are several things, which are beyond reason but their existence is experienced through inference.  This is accepted even in science due to the inefficiency of measuring techniques (refer to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle).  Work is a form of inert energy, which is neither energy nor the machine and nor the motion.  But it is inferred by the final effect.  The limit of space is beyond even imagination and reason.  Life comes from food (matter) and matter comes from energy.  Energy has no cause. Do you not believe in the existence of energy, which has no cause?  A boy loves a girl even though she totally rejects him.  This is a factual case even though reason does not exist in it.  If love is the reason, then the reason of such love is absent and the question returns to the original state.  Again love is abstract, which is invisible but inferred from the above case.  All these points are created by God to give the information about Himself that He is unimaginable and that His existence is only inferred through experience.  This does not mean that space, love or work (awareness) are God.  They indicate God by giving indirect information about God.

 

Universal Spirituality for World Peace