Dear Editor,
Dr Ian McDonald’s Sunday column captioned “One of life’s great questions” (06.11.05) refers.
Like Dr. McDonald, I would have expected a good deal of correspondence, but probably, he was so convincing that no one took him up.
Dr. Mc Donald quotes the well-known hymn from the Vedas which considers the birth of the Universe and of God himself and comes to the conclusion that no one knows. That too is the position of the Bhagwad Gita which speaks of all Gods lasting for some time and then they fade away or disappear leading to the emergence of others. God in religion is not the reality; one works to reach reality, using the concept of whatever God one has, abandoning concept after concept of God as one progresses. Herman Hesse, in his Nobel-prize winning novel, Siddharta, has this theme as the climax of his novel.
Dr. McDonald, I am sure, knows all about the Buddhist philosophy and teaching, but if he explores it he would find the teachings of Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism such as the Japanese Zen are much on the same wave-length as what his position appears to be. The Buddha enjoins you not to believe in any God or the Supernatural except you can experience it, either actually or vicariously. You only believe in what you can experience.
In tandem with this position is Buddhist Karma which teaches that every action has a reaction, and that if a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain will follow him and vice versa. By this teaching, no God or Angel or other supernatural being can stand between a man and his action and the consequences thereof.
In Buddhism, one could be atheist or agnostic or theist but such is of little relevance, though belief in God may be a psychological prop in one’s effort to grasp the reality. In the Semitic religions, it is of utmost importance if one is an atheist or theist, and there are theological, social and even legal sanctions against atheists and agnostics. In Buddhism, such is of no relevance and the atheist and agnostic has no guilt complex or even consciousness of his personal position in this matter since it is of no import.
Yours faithfully,
Peter S. Charles
