An Objective Re-look at God and Religion

Introduction

This article is an abstract of my e-book titled " God in Two Minutes " (Available in print and as ebook in several bookstalls worldwide, see list). While the book explains these ideas in far greater detail with simple illustrations, examples, and diagrams, this paper attempts to summarize a subject that many find challenging. The challenge lies not in the complexity of the concepts, but in the nature of the topic itself—one that is inevitably viewed through the lens of our deeply held beliefs.

The book offers a completely fresh and unconventional perspective on God and religion, one that may initially feel uncomfortable or even unacceptable due to our strong religious and cultural conditioning. This subject is close to our hearts and sits at the root of our strong, age-old beliefs, making it hard to accept an alternative point of view. Once you set aside the coloured glasses of belief and conditioning, the ideas in the book appear like plain, fundamental common sense.

With due respect to your beliefs, I humbly request that you read with an open mind and prepare yourself for a completely fresh perspective. As you go through this, observe your own thoughts—and whenever the inner skeptic says "this is not possible" based on your existing religious beliefs, gently remind yourself to stay open to a new viewpoint.

What I discuss in the book is neither science, nor religion, nor heavy philosophy. It is simply plain, straightforward common sense.

The topic of religion is especially relevant today, at a time when religious fanaticism has shaken the world. In a world deeply divided by faith, this book is important for you—and for every human being. You may say, "I am open-minded. I am not against other religions, so I am not contributing to the world's problems when I follow my faith". But are you aware that even your private beliefs can inadvertently add to this divide? Do you know that you have a role to play in healing this fragmentation? If you love your children and want to gift them a better world, then YOU NEED TO WAKE UP - AND ACT NOW.

The book addresses the fundamental causes behind the deep religious divide that exists today. It aims to help eliminate religious fanaticism and create a world that is far more peaceful and harmonious. It is an attempt to explore the mysteries of the spiritual realm and to reflect on the questions: What is God? What is religion? More than providing definitive answers, it is a journey of inquiry. This work does not claim to be a research paper, nor does it present scientific proof for the arguments offered.

Although we begin by examining the question "What is God?", the real purpose is not to define God or religion, but rather to clarify what they are not. The primary objective is immediate damage control—helping readers recognize the misconceptions that fuel fanaticism and opening our eyes to see clearly WHAT GOD IS NOT.

Our Two Worlds

Write to Me | Related Articles | Top

We are all familiar with the physical world we inhabit—the world of objects we see with our eyes. But is that the only world we live in? In reality, we exist in two worlds: the physical world and the mental world. The mental world is the realm of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions—a private world within our minds. While the physical world is the same for everyone, the mental world is deeply personal and unique to each individual. Unlike the fixed physical world in which we move, our mental world travels with us. We carry our mental world wherever we go.

The Physical World

In earlier times, all unknown phenomena of the physical world were explained through gods.

Who causes rain? The rain god.
Wind? The wind god.

Thunder was supposed to be the gods bowling. Even eclipses were attributed to gods and demons.

Physical Science and mathematics helped explain most physical phenomena of the physical world— from rain and wind to gravity, the Earth's rotation, revolution of planets around the sun, and countless other complex processes. As scientific knowledge evolved, we gradually stopped invoking gods and devils to describe the physical world. But the mental world still remained in the dark. Physical science and mathematics failed miserably to illuminate the mysteries of the mind like happiness and misery, success and failure, peace and anxiety – they still remained in the realm of gods.

What helped explain the physical world was a simple model developed by physical science–the familiar 3-dimensional space defined by the x, y, and z axes. (Fig. 1.1)

We all learned in school that the physical world is represented by a three dimensional space (Fig. 1.1). The three dimensions of the physical space are shown by the x, y, z axes—distances in x, y and z directions. Any physical object occupies a unique position in this space, represented by point P in the figure and defined by the values a, b, and c on the x, y and z axes.

The Mental World

Similar to the physical world, I believe our mental world can also be represented by a kind of mental space. At any moment, each of us occupies a unique position within this space.

This mental space is a multi-dimensional space, where the axes correspond to our various emotions and feelings—such as love, fear, hope, faith, courage, and many others. In Fig. 1.2, only three dimensions are shown for simplicity and to allow comparison with the three-dimensional physical model.

Our position in this mental space is determined by how much we "measure" along each of these emotional axes.

Just as an object in physical space possesses potential energy, every human being is endowed with a tremendous amount of mental energy, which depends on our position in the mental space.

In Fig. 1.1, an object at point P has a specific potential energy determined by its position in the physical space or its coordinates along the x, y, and z axes. Likewise, our mental energy is determined by how much we "measure" along our various emotional axes. In other words, a person located at point S in the mental space (Fig. 1.2) has a unique mental energy and a distinct mental state.

Our chances of success in any activity depend significantly on our mental energy at that moment. Since our feelings constantly change, our position in the mental space also keeps shifting—and so does our mental energy. These fluctuations in mental energy, driven by our ever-changing moods, explain the inconsistency we often observe in our own performance.

Figure 1.2 can therefore serve as a working model for the mental space.

Prem Spirituality Model

Write to Me | Related Articles | Top

We are all familiar with physical space and its x, y, and z coordinates. In a similar way, there exists a mental space, whose dimensions are our various feelings, such as love, fear, hope, faith, and courage. Just as we occupy a specific position in physical space, we also occupy a unique position in mental space at any given moment.

(Image to be used only with express written permission)

When we place the two images—physical and mental spaces—side by side (Fig. 1), the similarity between them becomes striking. Together, these diagrams form the foundation of a model that helps us understand not only the concept of god, but also the ideas of religion and spirituality.

I call this the "Prem Spirituality Model" (Fig. 1).

Prem means love in many Indian languages, and love is a central element of spirituality and elevated mental states—hence the name. (Full details of my Prem Spirituality Model are available in this paper presented at an International Conference on Spirituality and Peace. Click here to read.)

What is God?

Just as there are points of high potential energy in physical space, I believe there are high-energy zones in the mental space as well. Attaining "God," in this model, simply means reaching these elevated, extremely high energy zones. These are zones in which a person would exhibit qualities like confidence, love, faith, and hope at exceptionally high levels, creating an extraordinarily powerful state of mind. This is the state that Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, and Mahavir reached. We refer to these regions as "God Zones" (Fig. 2.2).

(To be used only with express written permission)

In the physical space (Fig. 2.1), if we want to move a body from point A to point B—from a lower energy level to a higher one—we know exactly what force is required and at what angle (φ) it must be applied.. This precision is possible because of mathematics. Humans devised this miraculous language of mathematics to master the physical space. I call it a 'language' of physical science because it helped us to define, explain and communicate the laws of physical space. With it, we have mastered the physical world and advanced far beyond the age of the ape-man.

However, in the mental space, we are still like ape-men. We know almost nothing about its laws (Fig. 2.2). We do not know how to consistently reach the God Zones.

While mathematics describes the laws of physical space with precision, it fails completely when applied to the mental space. What we need is a new kind of language—one that can capture and explain the mechanics of the mind and document the laws of mental space. I call this proposed language Mentomatics. Before mathematics was invented, the laws of physical space were as much a mystery as the laws of mental space are today without Mentomatics.

To illustrate this, consider the challenge of reaching the moon. Without mathematical language, explaining the exact angle and force needed to launch a rocket would be nearly impossible. Some followers might end up on Mars, some might crash-land on the moon, some would be lost in the space, and many would never take off at all. Only one in a million might accidentally reach the moon.

The same is true for the mental space—without a clear language and model, only a rare few reach the God Zones.

In the absence of a Mentomatical language, many people tried to describe how to reach the high-energy zones of the mental space—or how to reach "God." Although every human being has the potential to reach these God Zones, only a rare few in all of human history—like Buddha, Mohammed, Christ, the ancient Indian Rishis and others—actually made it, while the rest of humanity was left groping.

I believe that in ancient times there were extraordinarily learned sages who achieved great mastery in spiritual knowledge. In India, they were called Rishis. Unlike physical science, which depends on sophisticated instruments and gadgets, the study of spirituality required nothing more than one's own mind, body, and a great deal of time to meditate. As a result, these ancient sages gained deep insights into the spiritual world and mastered the path to the God Zones. They could attain very high levels of mental energy—but without a language like Mentomatics, they were unable to explain how they reached there to the common man who lacked the ability to grasp abstract ideas such as mental energy.

To communicate their experience to common people in a language that they could understand, the ancient sages created the concept of God. They said that this energy came from God. They gave God a human form because the average person of that era simply could not comprehend abstract concepts.

Today, however, the common man is much more advanced. We understand the basics of physical science and are familiar with abstract ideas such as energy and force—concepts that ancient people could not even imagine. This gives me the freedom to explain the idea of god using analogies drawn from abstract concepts like energy and forces—a freedom the ancient sages never had. Nevertheless, let me emphasize that I am not using physical science to explain the concept of god; I am simply using analogies, because current physical science may not be able to explain these ideas. We may need an entirely new "spiritual science" and a new language like Mentomatics to do so.

The ancient sages created the concept of God to guide us—to help ordinary humans move closer to the high-energy zones of the mental space, no matter where we currently stand.

So what, then, is the concept of God? In this model, God is not a distant supernatural being but a method—a kind of psychotherapy—that helps us move closer to the "God Zone" in the mental space. As you move closer to that zone, you rise to a higher state of mind, and a higher level of mental energy. And where is this God? If anything called God exists, it exists within you. The elevated mental-energy that you can experience by reaching the high-energy god zone is already latent inside; you simply need a method to activate it.

Why call this a psychotherapeutic method? Because it works on your feelings and emotions—by strengthening your faith in God, deepening your love for God, and thereby enhancing hope and confidence. With these positive feelings, you move upward in the mental space closer to the high-energy zones (Fig. 2.2). Ultimately, it is your faith, not God as an external entity, that creates change. It is not God who does it for you—you do it yourself.

The same principle applies when you wear a ring with a so-called miracle stone. The stone does not create good fortune. It is your faith in its power that boosts your confidence and alters your mental state. In the book 'God in Two Minutes', this process is explained in far more detail, using simple illustrations to show how the "methods of God" and the "miracle ring" operate.

In this sense, the concept of God is simply the best method currently available for reaching the high-energy zones of the mental space. It may be slow, not always easy to practice, and sometimes inconsistent—but for now, it remains humanity's most effective method today to reach the god zones. But the future may have some surprises for us.

I believe a time will come when we will have a mentomatical method—just as mathematical methods operate in physical space—that can move a person to a high-energy mental state within minutes or even seconds. You may be able to attain what we now call "God" in just two minutes. Sounds unbelievable? Perhaps. But television, radio, pistols, aircraft, or computers—all miracles of mathematical science – would have sounded equally mysterious to an ape-man.

What is Religion?

Write to Me | Related Articles | Top

Religion originally began as a simple code of conduct—a set of rules for social behaviour and hygienic living. Over time, this practical code of conduct gradually merged with the concept of God. As we will see, it was a marriage of convenience.

In ancient times, there was a vast gap between the learned few and the ordinary masses. Spiritual saints and Rishis, through their elevated states of mind, seemed to possess unusual clarity, wisdom and power to see what is beyond the reach of the uninitiated. Although such abilities are unexplained by modern science, perhaps future science may explain them by showing how such states tap into currently inaccessible quantum capacities of the brain.

These sages likely understood far more about disease, its causes, and its prevention than the common man. Driven by their intense love for humanity, a quality typically associated with a spiritual state of mind, their intention was the welfare of society. They wanted people to follow certain norms of cleanliness, hygiene, safety, and harmonious living.

But how do you convince an uneducated population about invisible germs? How do you ensure that people wash their hands or follow hygienic practices when the reasons are not visible or obvious? The most effective way to ensure compliance was to present these rules as commands from God: behaviour that "pleases God." "God wants you to do this." Over time, the code of conduct became the voice of God, and thus religion was born.

Religion, therefore, can be seen as a marriage of convenience between two ideas:

1. The concept of God, which helped individuals move toward an elevated and empowered state of mind.
2. The code of conduct or religion, which prescribed the rules of hygienic, disciplined, and community-oriented living.

Most religious rituals and beliefs actually have a rational or scientific origin. However, two key issues have clouded their meaning over the centuries:

First, many rituals and rules have been distorted by intermediaries—touts, half-learned priests, and self-proclaimed saints—who neither understood their original purpose nor conveyed them correctly.

Second, many norms were crucial in ancient times but may not hold the same relevance today, especially with the advancements in hygiene, medicine, and science.

The Flawed Method - Need for a Fresh Look

Just as we re-engineer business processes today—reassessing outdated practices in light of modern tools and technologies—we similarly need to 're-engineer' religion. Many norms and rituals that made perfect sense centuries ago may be unnecessary or irrelevant today, given the advances in science, hygiene, and medicine. Yet despite tremendous progress in science and technology, we continue to follow age-old rituals without re-examining them.

What prevents us from taking a fresh, rational look at religious rules and rituals? The answer lies in the very element that makes the religious method effective: faith.

Faith is the core driver of this psycho-therapeutic system. There lies the catch. Faith is a double-edged sword You must have faith in the concept of God and religion to benefit from it. The stronger your belief in the method of God and religion, the more powerfully it works for you. But faith has a downside as well— faith can also blind you. Strong faith can also discourage questioning. The deeper the faith, the less you will question the rules. And blind faith has produced serious side effects in the form of fanatics and terrorists.

The most damaging side effect of this otherwise beneficial psycho-therapeutic method is the proliferation of multiple religions and the conflicts between them. It is entirely possible that Buddha, Mohammed, Christ, and other spiritual masters all reached the same high-energy zones of the mental space following the same path. They likely attempted to describe their experiences and the path that led them there. But without a precise Mentomatical language, their explanations were interpreted as different paths, methods, and different truths. What may have been one path was mistakenly seen as many, and different religions were born.

The over-dependence on faith in this method is a double-edged sword—one that has ultimately led to religious extremism. Faith can uplift, but it can also blind. That is the greatest flaw in the method, and also its central paradox. While it may have worked for countless individuals, it has clearly failed humanity as a whole. It is often said that more people die today in religious conflicts than from all natural calamities combined. Clearly, there is a need to look for a better method.

If early humans had shut their eyes and insisted that walking was the only way to move, we would never have invented the wheel or the motor car. If we had believed that travel was possible only on land, airplanes would never have been conceived. In the same way, we can discover a new and far faster way to reach the "God zones"—a method several times more effective than today's religious practices – provided we open our minds to possibilities that may seem unbelievable today.

To me, Mentomatics holds the key to understanding the spiritual world. The study of the physical world began only after we found ways to measure its parameters—distance, mass, time. Once these could be expressed numerically, mathematics was born. Physical laws could be formulated mathematically only because these quantities were measurable.

Likewise, for spiritual laws to be explained through Mentomatics, we must first discover ways to measure the parameters of the spiritual world—feelings such as love, courage, confidence, anger, or hatred. Once measurable, these could open the door to mentomatical rules and formulas governing spiritual laws. That, in turn, could unlock the spiritual world itself.

Just as mathematics gave rise to classical physics and later quantum science, Mentomatics could lead to the emergence of Spiritual Science. And just as quantum physics expanded classical physics by explaining both the behavior of high-speed particles and the laws governing everyday, slow-moving objects, a future spiritual science could not only describe the laws of the spiritual world but also encompass—and integrate—the laws of classical and quantum physics.

With spiritual science, we may one day develop sophisticated mentomatical explanations of spiritual phenomena and create simple tools that allow ordinary people to attain elevated states of mind easily. There may even be methods that enable a person to achieve "God in two minutes", or instant spirituality. Sounds absurd? Television and jet aircraft would have sounded just as absurd to an ape-man. And in the spiritual realm, we may be still no more advanced than ape-men.

Although this paper covered Prem Spirituality briefly, the book 'God in Two Minutes' explains the Prem Spirituality Model in greater detail. It clarifies why feelings form the axes of the mental space and illustrates how the concepts of God and religion may have originated. It also shows, through simple examples, how the psychotherapy of God and religion actually works—and reveals the fatal flaw in the method, the colossal mistake that turned a system meant for human well-being into a source of conflict, division, and suffering.

The book, available worldwide in e-book and paperback formats, can be previewed and purchased at various online bookstores and libraries worldwide. Click here to see the list.

I envision a world united once again—a world where humanity is no longer divided by religion. Spirituality will be scientifically understood, revealing that the so-called "God" is simply a form of energy within each one of us. Humanity will finally realize its long-standing mistake. Future generations will look back at us and say, "Once upon a time, there lived barbarians who believed in different religions and killed one another in the name of God."