About why I put up my iami1.wordpress.com blog on spirituality and God & Science arguing for faith against atheism, and then self-published the paperback & ebook on it
Recently, in a private conversation, I felt the need to state why I chose to publicly argue about my beliefs via my iami1 blog and book. Could I not have focused on leading a changed life based on my beliefs and not get involved in publicly arguing about my beliefs via the blog and book? This post is based on my response and only my response in that private conversation (which I feel is ethical to share publicly without sharing the other person's conversation parts).
Let me share a joke with a lot of inner meaning and so more of a powerful message than a joke, which I related to very much during the initial years of my spiritual journey with the Sathya Sai fraternity and Sathya Sai Baba.
After you get exposed to and develop belief in Sathya Sai Baba:
* Initially you become a Bannerjee. This implies that you go on an advertising campaign about him to all and sundry.
* Then you become a Chatterjee. This implies that you tone down a little from advertising campaign but still talk about him to all and sundry.
* Finally you become a Mukherjee. This implies that finally you become silent and stop any advertising campaign about him.
I think the above 'joke' would apply to many different spiritual communities and deities and not just the Sathya Sai devotee fraternity.
I had become a Mukherjee for many years, focusing on my own individual spiritual journey and trying to get rid of the many human flaws that I had and still have. I was happy being a Mukherjee (rather silent witness to God) limiting my interactions on faith to private discussions with others.
But after Sathya Sai gave up his physical body in April 2011 and our devotee community went through a lot of trauma, chaos and confusion due to the **huge** spiritual-power vacuum that got created by his physical absence, my life took a different turn. I saw that powerful people from within our own Sathya Sai devotee community were trying to dilute and distort his legacy, and trying to misguide many followers to follow them now as kind-of successor(s) to Sathya Sai. Power-craze madness had gripped a few top people in our Sathya Sai fraternity and, very unfortunately, many devotees got trapped by them and associated with them, leading to a big split in the Sathya Sai devotee fraternity.
I also saw that one atheist and top scientist in India had viciously attacked Sathya Sai's legacy in a horrifyingly unfair way, through an article in 'The Hindu', one of the top English language newspapers in South India.
And as I turned to a more broader faith scene in the world, I saw that atheist-scientists like Richard Dawkins were **mocking** people of faith. I examined more closely some horrific Islamic extremist ideology which gave a terrifying view of Islam. Note that I am a follower of Shirdi Sai Baba who was viewed by many during his times, as a **peaceful** Islamic Sufi saint who would often say, "Allah Maalik" (Allah/God is the master/owner/boss). Note that Shirdi Sai Baba had devotees from various faiths including Hinduism and Islam and he preached respect for all these religions. I am very, very comfortable with and have great respect for **peaceful and loving** Sufi Islam.
Given all this reading and exposure mainly after Sathya Sai gave up his physical body in April 2011, I felt that I should do my small bit for spiritual seekers from all religions, to provide a more balanced and truthful view of spirituality as some leading figures interpreted it, with some views of mine also being added to it. I wanted it to be focused on spiritual philosophy and teachings thereby avoiding controversy with respect to any particular contemporary or near-contemporary spiritual master, including my beloved & revered Gurudev (spiritual master), Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
I wanted it to be across faiths focusing on the core philosophy and human values that have kept these faiths alive for centuries and millennia. And I wanted it to expose the flaws in the arguments of the scientist atheism-preachers using views of other top scientists who were either believers in God or were truthful in openly saying that they cannot say that there is no God. I felt that such a blog may be a good thing for spiritual seekers from all religions who respect science (and technology) but also are interested in faith. I felt that this blog may help youngsters from all religions, who have faith in God, to protect that faith in the face of scientist atheism-preachers who try to mock and destroy their faith in God.
Another point was that my own spiritual journey has been very much influenced by books, and to a lesser extent by blogs and websites, that I read. So I felt at that time, that since I was in a position to contribute as a blogger initially and later as a self-published author, I should do so, as a way to give back to the world of books and blogs and websites, from which I have benefited so much.
That resulted in me creating the iami1.wordpress.com blog in September 2011 but whose main work was done from mid 2012 to mid 2015. Note that this blog is NOT-FOR-PROFIT and is freely accessible by anybody on the Internet. The paperback book, "Who am I; I am I ...", https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07K7M2963, is based on that blog and was self-published in 2018 as I felt that a printed book may be preferred by some rather than a blog (or even an ebook).
Leading a changed and good life after developing faith in God is a very powerful way of living one's faith and spreading that faith through one's living example. Arguing with others about one's faith especially with scientist-atheists can be a very distressing experience. I too did not want to do that. But as I saw what the scientist atheism-preachers were doing and the damage that it could do to communities of faith, I felt that I should not stay silent. I think it is up to the person and the person's situation whether one should get into the unpleasant task of publicly exposing flaws in the arguments of atheism-preachers. My situation was such that I could and strongly felt that I should, and so I did.
Let me share a joke with a lot of inner meaning and so more of a powerful message than a joke, which I related to very much during the initial years of my spiritual journey with the Sathya Sai fraternity and Sathya Sai Baba.
After you get exposed to and develop belief in Sathya Sai Baba:
* Initially you become a Bannerjee. This implies that you go on an advertising campaign about him to all and sundry.
* Then you become a Chatterjee. This implies that you tone down a little from advertising campaign but still talk about him to all and sundry.
* Finally you become a Mukherjee. This implies that finally you become silent and stop any advertising campaign about him.
I think the above 'joke' would apply to many different spiritual communities and deities and not just the Sathya Sai devotee fraternity.
I had become a Mukherjee for many years, focusing on my own individual spiritual journey and trying to get rid of the many human flaws that I had and still have. I was happy being a Mukherjee (rather silent witness to God) limiting my interactions on faith to private discussions with others.
But after Sathya Sai gave up his physical body in April 2011 and our devotee community went through a lot of trauma, chaos and confusion due to the **huge** spiritual-power vacuum that got created by his physical absence, my life took a different turn. I saw that powerful people from within our own Sathya Sai devotee community were trying to dilute and distort his legacy, and trying to misguide many followers to follow them now as kind-of successor(s) to Sathya Sai. Power-craze madness had gripped a few top people in our Sathya Sai fraternity and, very unfortunately, many devotees got trapped by them and associated with them, leading to a big split in the Sathya Sai devotee fraternity.
I also saw that one atheist and top scientist in India had viciously attacked Sathya Sai's legacy in a horrifyingly unfair way, through an article in 'The Hindu', one of the top English language newspapers in South India.
And as I turned to a more broader faith scene in the world, I saw that atheist-scientists like Richard Dawkins were **mocking** people of faith. I examined more closely some horrific Islamic extremist ideology which gave a terrifying view of Islam. Note that I am a follower of Shirdi Sai Baba who was viewed by many during his times, as a **peaceful** Islamic Sufi saint who would often say, "Allah Maalik" (Allah/God is the master/owner/boss). Note that Shirdi Sai Baba had devotees from various faiths including Hinduism and Islam and he preached respect for all these religions. I am very, very comfortable with and have great respect for **peaceful and loving** Sufi Islam.
Given all this reading and exposure mainly after Sathya Sai gave up his physical body in April 2011, I felt that I should do my small bit for spiritual seekers from all religions, to provide a more balanced and truthful view of spirituality as some leading figures interpreted it, with some views of mine also being added to it. I wanted it to be focused on spiritual philosophy and teachings thereby avoiding controversy with respect to any particular contemporary or near-contemporary spiritual master, including my beloved & revered Gurudev (spiritual master), Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
I wanted it to be across faiths focusing on the core philosophy and human values that have kept these faiths alive for centuries and millennia. And I wanted it to expose the flaws in the arguments of the scientist atheism-preachers using views of other top scientists who were either believers in God or were truthful in openly saying that they cannot say that there is no God. I felt that such a blog may be a good thing for spiritual seekers from all religions who respect science (and technology) but also are interested in faith. I felt that this blog may help youngsters from all religions, who have faith in God, to protect that faith in the face of scientist atheism-preachers who try to mock and destroy their faith in God.
Another point was that my own spiritual journey has been very much influenced by books, and to a lesser extent by blogs and websites, that I read. So I felt at that time, that since I was in a position to contribute as a blogger initially and later as a self-published author, I should do so, as a way to give back to the world of books and blogs and websites, from which I have benefited so much.
That resulted in me creating the iami1.wordpress.com blog in September 2011 but whose main work was done from mid 2012 to mid 2015. Note that this blog is NOT-FOR-PROFIT and is freely accessible by anybody on the Internet. The paperback book, "Who am I; I am I ...", https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07K7M2963, is based on that blog and was self-published in 2018 as I felt that a printed book may be preferred by some rather than a blog (or even an ebook).
Leading a changed and good life after developing faith in God is a very powerful way of living one's faith and spreading that faith through one's living example. Arguing with others about one's faith especially with scientist-atheists can be a very distressing experience. I too did not want to do that. But as I saw what the scientist atheism-preachers were doing and the damage that it could do to communities of faith, I felt that I should not stay silent. I think it is up to the person and the person's situation whether one should get into the unpleasant task of publicly exposing flaws in the arguments of atheism-preachers. My situation was such that I could and strongly felt that I should, and so I did.
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