God, as we human beings know and as we revere, is a misnomer. There is no God. There is no God, as we try to idolize in our images of Christ, Krishna and the Buddha. There is a God, there is a Christ, Krishna and the Buddha. Each human being who cherishes and lives the practical teachings of Christ, Krishna and the Buddha, in every single moment of his breathing existence, is a God.
Goodness is not a misnomer. Goodness exists, is easy to adopt, easy to practice and even easier to seek. Goodness is Godhead. I am God, for I seek goodness, I radiate goodness, I spread goodness and I believe in the philosophies of good living taught by Christ, Krishna and Buddha. Till the time I am a part of this goodness, my heart will pray, my eyes will seek and find, my mind meditate and my voice chant, and each moment the good energy and the good thought that I emanate will create more goodness around me, and most importantly within me.
But when I think, of goodness, my mind contemplates on the darker aspects of existence – every day existence. Life, in any form comes in pairs – has two aspects. If there is darkness, there is light, if the male was created, so was the female, if there is water, there is thirst, if there is goodness, evil needlessly exists. The evil within becomes the greatest obstacle in the path and the attainment of goodness. But evil is a part of me, I cannot deny it, I cannot ignore it, I cannot bury it and most importantly, I cannot get rid of it. My evil self pulsates and breathes, and demands attention and sometimes indulgence.
There is a God of Peace and there is God of War. There are Songs of Solomon, and there is the Dance of Shiva. There is the cold rice in the begging bowl of 
the renouncing mendicant and the sacred intoxicating Soma of the vedic ritual. If Christ, Krishna and Buddha are the ideals of the world, even then we cannot identify a singular way of life. Christ led a chaste life, never indulging in ways of the world, Buddha walked away from his family leaving alone a wife and a child, while Krishna consorted with damsels of his village? What is then to be adopted as the right path and what is then to be discarded as wrong?
How do I live with evil in my heart and in my mind? Acceptance becomes the key. When we realize that evil is a part of us, we begin to identify it and we begin to slowly eliminate it from our lives. And yet, it is not that easy, for evil is comparative and in our templar existence, we measure evil on varied parameters. If a man conspires to get rid of business competitors to reach the pinnacle, is he evil? If a prostitute sells her body, to feed dependants, is she the devil’s consort? The religion of one man allows polygamy, the religion of another imposes vows of chastity; one saint swears by the power of tantra, while another sage proclaims mantras to change the world! Does evil lose its vile characteristics if it is justifiable?
The questions are unrelenting, the answer is elemental. What the heart refuses to accept, and what renders the soul weak, what causes the mind to regret, what causes solitude and the ensuing voices within unreasonably painful, is evil! What causes fear and guilt, and shame, is evil. There is no right way and no wrong way to live. It is man’s destiny, not to conquer evil, but to conquer these innate feelings that cause pain.
Let me then, sleep tonight in peace after rejoicing on victory over an adversary; Let me then, not count the gold in my treasury after giving charity; Let me appease the Devil and let me please God, for in my own appeasement and in my own pleasures, of the heart and the mind, one day my soul will strike the perfect balance. I cannot please one and I cannot please all, let me then please myself and let me infuse my environment with my joy, my strength and my efforts. This is what the Masters and the Seekers have called primordial bliss.
My quest had taught me as much, and I had learnt to deal rightly with my existence on earth and I was prepared for an existence beyond. My hell and my heaven are in this life, not after life. Over the eons, across seas and beyond mountains, passing over plains and wandering over deserts, the little ray of my life, the microcosm within me, will learn to soar high, to spread its wings and prepare for the final journey, into the great mass of light, energy, knowledge and wisdom. The journey is on earth, in this life, maybe the next; the destination is on earth, well within my reach, but beyond the fetters of life and death, beyond goodness and beyond evil, beyond ideals and an ideology. My way of life is my religion; I am my own God and my own Worshipper. I am my own Seeker and the path leads me into the Light of Eternity.
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snigdha Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 6:02 PMvery nicely written post. Loved reading it.
Hitesh Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 1:59 PMit was really good to read of what you are. neat thoughts. but i would definitely like to add a few things.
when you say “Jesus, Buddha or Krishna, each one of them lead a different life. so which one is to be
followed.” what i have understood is, almost every spiritual guru asks their disciples not to follow their actions
but to do what they ask you to do. its because unless you understand the meaning of what they did and why, you are
vulnerable. when you become THEM, you don’t follow them. you just BE.
so one just has to pick one who he loves the most (it should come naturally), and follow what they ask of him.
there is only one parameter of good and evil (although in spiritual parlance, there is no good or evil, there is only
whats apt and whats not.) and as it is written in “padma purana” as the “definition of Dharma” – don’t do unto others
what you don’t find suited for you. this is the basis of (almost) every religion.
we don’t have to fight evil. darkness is nothing but the absence of light. you don’t fight darkness. you bring the light in.
you don’t fight evil. you practice goodness “Dharma”. evil is never an obstacle in this, its rather a catalyst.
what you can and can not do is a matter of faith. if you believe, you can. just as the Old Master Oogway said in
“Kung Fu Panda” – ‘even a peach can win wars, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it’.
and the last paragraph is AWESOME. you sound like you have found the key. you just need to find the lock now.
cheers and best to you always, on your path to finding the reason of your being, just the way Baba Bulle shah found out
“bulla ki jaana main kaun”
felinemusings Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 5:22 PM@Hitesh, thanks for adding your viewpoints to this blog piece, for it makes the discussion meaningful to have more personal opinions on spiritual mysteries. I am glad there are many more people like me who can see “Religion” in a different light, as apposed to the fanatics and the crusaders. It pains me to see the misinterpretation of religion, and even the intense ritualism that pervaded the religious ways of life. I wish we could all realize that the battle is within not without, the cleansing is of the self, not of others, and the best ritual is for the peace of your mind, not for satiating the will of society. Its a long way to go for each one of us to discover our own personal truths about our spirituality. Thanks once again for taking time out to comment.
felinemusings Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 5:24 PM@Snigs, thanks
Makes the writing worth the effort if even one reader found it meaningful 
Hitesh Says:
September 20th, 2008 at 8:12 PM@ansi
well its not just thanks that i deserve. i need response to what i commented on.
felinemusings Says:
September 21st, 2008 at 7:08 PM@Hitesh, I didnt comment precisely on your views because I accept the additional viewpoint. I also believe that you and I are not very different in our viewpoints, the way of expression is different. When you say that we have to follow the teachings on one Spiritual guide, you are right because that precisely defines the religious way of life that we should be following. I, however, do not believe in following any religion, but finding the crux in the teachings of these Masters, and I usually do not see any fundamental differences in what they professed as ways of life and thought.
On your observations regd Evil, well once again, I voiced nearly the same thots when I said, “When we realize that evil is a part of us, we begin to identify it and we begin to slowly eliminate it from our lives.” Again, I quote from the blogpost – “What the heart refuses to accept, and what renders the soul weak, what causes the mind to regret, what causes solitude and the ensuing voices within unreasonably painful, is evil! What causes fear and guilt, and shame, is evil. There is no right way and no wrong way to live. It is man’s destiny, not to conquer evil, but to conquer these innate feelings that cause pain.”
Most aware people understand their spiritual quest and what they are seeking, and with most people, including me, this quest translates into finding the right path. And this you have aptly called the Lock! We all are a part of a macrocosm, and our basic nature, tryst and search is the same. Our confusions arise from having too many paths and too many viewpoints on what to do and how to do. The Lock would be to find this Universal path!