The absurdity of God

There are many metaphors in this thread. If you are have a metaphor sensitivity, it is advisable to not go on reading any further.

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What is God? Surely you already have an image in your head, perhaps of a being. Most likely male. Maybe resembling Jesus christ? But this isn't God. To me, Jesus was simply giving directions to those lost. But I will come back to that later.

What does it mean to not believe in God? God is like a lake. I can tell you all about the lake, go into detail of how beautiful it is, use colorful adjectives and language and even have some of my friends give you their personal testimonials of how wonderful the lake is. But this is not the lake. You can't know the lake without simply going there. No matter how many descriptions or experiences I can share, you will not know the lake. Though, you may have a vague idea of what the lake looks like. To put it simply: you will never know the lake until you have been there.


Jesus was like someone giving out directions. What do you if you want to find the lake? Why, ask for directions of course. Unless you know where it is already. Imagine this: you ask for directions, and a man gives you directions. He provides a beautiful description of the lake, so beautiful you fall in love with it. You feel joy hearing his voice. So much, that you bow down to him and begin to worship this man. Suddenly you have identified with this man, he becomes a part of you, like a brother. Attachment forms. You have completely forgotten about the lake, instead you worship the one showing you the way.


Now, is this not absurdity? All because of the language the man used. You never made it to the lake, by the way. Albeit, you could have found the lake if only you had explored a little bit, without the need for help from anyone. But needless to say you chose a different route.

In my opinion, this is the absurdity of religion. Who's fault is it, the man giving directions, or the one who worships the directions? Now, imagine yet another scenario: so many lost tourists ask for directions from this man, that he has gained a following(The lake is empty by the way - no one visits it anymore). Your own life revolves around the life of another. This goes on for many years, centuries, so long that the word "lake" is now a name for the one giving directions. It has lost all meaning.


My fear, my worst nightmare, is that one day this lake will cease to exist. The very reason to visit the lake will become extinct, the masses will flock to the one giving directions, and the lake will dry up and instead become an empty bed of sand and dust. There will be no more water to drink, no more water to bathe in, no nourishment for the plants, and ultimately, the humans that were "once lost" will starve to death.

And they never even made it to the lake.

 

Are you talking about me?


These were simply thoughts. Ideas, concepts. The beauty of the world is that there will always be someone that disagrees with you no matter what the topic. I have come to accept this and admire it, and use it as a tool to understand the perspective of others. As Lao-tzu once said:

When the superior man hears of the Tao,
he does his best to practice it.
When the middling man hears of the Tao,
he sometimes keeps it, and sometimes loses it.
When the inferior man years of the Tao,
he will laugh aloud at it.
If he did not laugh, it would not be the Tao.

 

Ah, I was afraid of that. Maybe this would be better off in the philosophy subforum?

 

Oh no, that's not the impression I wanted to give. I was sort of brainstorming and writing whatever thoughts came to me so that's why its a bit messy. The beginning was meant to be elaborated and talk about how perhaps God isn't an actual being, etc.


The part where you discussed who is at fault - I don't think the one giving directions is at fault. In my opinion, Jesus Christ was merely pointing to where God can be found: "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."

I just feel as though today's religion isn't really about the message, its more about the leader.

The part about the lake drying up, that was meant to illustrate that the lack of realization of God in humanity can lead to God having no place in day to day life, therefore, it wouldn't exist as a concept, and it couldn't be understood. Though, I am referring to God not as a leader, creator, and overseer, but more as a force that gives life to anything that is alive. So to me, Jesus was simply saying "I am god!" because he realizes he was alive. He had life, as everything else. But a misunderstanding occurred and his disciples, as I mentioned earlier, became too focused on the speaker and not the message.

 

I agree. People get too caught up in who was giving the message instead of the actual message.


I don't believe god is an actual entity. The closest I could come to describe it is the Tao, I have a book that describes my thoughts pretty well on the topic of God. Hold on let me find it..

Ah, found it. Apologies for the length, this excerpt explains it better than I ever could.

 

Ah man come on. Lets forget about the metaphors already, its just a way of explaining things and not everyone enjoys it.


Im gonna change the term "lake" to "god" for clarity purposes. You shouldnt believe it exists if you dont want to. But to those who seek it, there are teachers - like Jesus, or Buddha, who show the way. Of course you can always be deceived, but if you don't seek it you will never find it. You can't see it or experience it without seeking it first. Of course I'm assuming you are understanding God in the traditional sense, and that's not what I am talking about. God to me simply means life. Or "spirit", soul.


Humans can be tricked. The point here is, you have no idea unless you find out for yourself. Until then there will be nothing but questions and curiosity. If you look for it, then, perhaps you could say "I couldn't find a thing. It was all made-up." Or, you could reach Satori, nirvana, or moksha, and find God within thyself. But of course, you must seek it to find results. Until then it remains a mystery one can only speculate about.

 

Thanks, it sure is alot of fun haha. I thought I was crazy for a long time until i became familiar with Taoism and realized their definition of God was the same as mine.

What do you mean you have to take care of loved ones?

 

Yeah I understand, it's not really alot. It's a humble want that I'm sure most people have.


But.. what does this have to do with God haha

 

It's all good. You can't fulfill your dreams if you don't have any right?