Ways Towards True Theism

God exists in all Forms and Effects, specific featured, unfeatured, comprising one and all in one, who is recognizable and at the same time unrecognizable.

The contradistinctions and conflicts visible to our logic, the limitations operating on our outer abilities in day to day living, caused by outside phenomena and unconquerable by us, need not be attributed to god. Choosing one positive attribute or power of God, liked most by one, and listening to it, ruminating over it and living with it, a dedicated person could begin effort for enlightenment, as that would be appropriate, natural and simple.

One may serve god as a Ruler of cosmos, another may love it as its mother, another may consider him as father of it and yet another may reach him as a real teacher and look to him with reverential attention.

One may meditate on God as giver and ruler of life, another may notice him as source of all strength, power, another may try to see him as Embodiment of truth and believe / follow it as protector of the sinners and down trodden. One may follow his foot-steps as light of truth, another as beauty, another as Saviour and yet another as one immersed in working ceaselessly. One may worship him as in the concept of DHARMA. Another one may visualize him as light of right knowledge, another may merge himself in him as beautiful or unfeatured Existence or experience him as the very embodiment of all RASAA in existence.

In consonance with natural behavioural pattern, culture and competence, one conceptualizes the cosmic ruler in various ways. Depending upon one’s positional circumstances and development, efforts are made to be in the company of such conceptual reality. All of them are appropriate and none of them is inappropriate. There are thus any number of legitimate ways to enter such divine perfect kingdom.

A person makes such repetitive efforts, adopts disciplinary principles, discharges duties, observes prohibitions and uses instruments which are conducive to the attainment of whatever quality or power of God that person desires to acquire. Hence they will not be exactly similar to all ‘Theists’. Close scrutiny would reveal that they could not but vary in each case. For the same person at different times, varied methods operate. Whatever course for making efforts is adopted in the beginning, as one traverses, the principles and methods are to be changed by each one in consonance with their ideals and goal posts and decisions have to be taken as needed. Then only they would be alive and help one’s real spiritual development. Adopting these in a regimented way is not a method for spiritual development. The outward ways in making such efforts based on these and the methods of their living are bound to be different in accordance with the ways of God and destiny.

To consider that a particular divine power only or entity only is real as in one’s view and his mode of living based upon it only is divinely inspired and that other modes are otherwise and opposed to the god, is a disservice to God. Disservice to god is only doing disservice to one’s self. A believer in one God has to hold beforehand that the divine attribute he is worshipping is but one of many attributes he is worshipping and the course of his life and discipline are best for the purpose he is striving to secure. He should understand without doubt that by other methods, though appearing different, being adopted by others are similarly meant for worshipping the one God from another angle and their methods are well suited for their self-improvement. Such faith is needed without doubts until one becomes aware of the full truth. Such knowledge and belief is part of faith in one god. To be without that much of faith and awareness is opposed to knowledge and belief in one god. Otherwise it will be like inviting god in one way and in another way opposing it. The spiritual development of such a person so striving cannot but be similar in nature.

A person, striving to unite fully with God and for all round development, he has to cultivate meditating on the various qualities, powers and wonderful art expressions of the “Almighty”. By his becoming one with such multi-faceted enlightenment, the result amounts to same as total union with Almighty.

Starting from respecting own religion, adopting one’s course of spiritual living, as also respectfully treating other religions, finding god as conceived by other religions too in one’s religion and noticing one’s own god in their Gods also and their gods in one’s own god, should evolve into rising above differences between ‘I’ and ‘others’. This exhibits ripening of efforts for real dedication in one god.

When this outlook spreads to the activity region of life, instead of holding that “this is the truth”, a view that “this alone is not the truth” will activate one trying to develop spirituality to reflect and make him a ceaseless researcher to realize universal truth. Recognizing the multi-dimensional facets of God is the main feature of one following the path of one-God-concept. To say One God is multi-faceted does not mean that it is one among several Gods. In the final analysis there is no enmity between one divine strength and another. The aim of believing in one such God does not amount to a partial enlightenment like a paralytic stroke-affected person regaining health. Contented with some enlightenment and stopping with that is not a living belief in ultimate positive Existence, which is in short ‘THEISIM’ in belief and living it. Ceaseless effort based on that belief for progress until complete realization is secured in the real essence is the hall-mark of live “Theism”.

Even among ‘great men’ there are action-oriented persons who consider the mainly knowledge – based as vain Philospohers and devotion – oriented who consider them bereft of any positive – passion (Rasaviheenulu). That the action-oriented are of below average deserts and so empowered (Manda-adhikarulu) and that devotion – oriented (Bhaktulu) as of middle level competence / empowered, are stated by some solely knowledge–based (Gnanies) also. Believers in action and only in its efficacy, are not absent who deem devotees as Day-Dreamers and find them deficient and look-down on them; there are also devotion – oriented who believe that the real “Doer” is God (Cosmic ruler) and criticise the former (i.e., action-oriented) as ignorant of the fact that they are only ‘instruments’. There are some that are dedicated to self-control-discipline only who disapprove and look down upon and disfavor fine arts like music, painting, sculpturing, dancing, poetry, etc. aimed at creating or manifesting beauty. Are there no great persons who said that Female is a royal path to Hell? Are there not some dedicated to fine arts who make fun of disciplinarians? There is no scarcity for “Sanyasies” who speak in demeaning terms about married life.

There are enough of house-holders leading married lives, who deem and make of such Sanyasies as but parasites and crack-pots. When this trait of taking unbalanced stand-points is present even among some great persons, why should there be limits to the numbers of persons who support them and followers who hold and strive to propagate that the ways and methods of their Great souls (masters) alone are really very great and others’ are of low-class categories and indulge in over-eagerness, uncontrolled emotional out bursts and even devious means?

Respectful attachment to one’s religion is adjacent to some disrespect to others’ like some shadow underneath a light. That all the different methods of approach have one as final dim of realizing the supreme divinity is agreed, it will not be too difficult to overcome the said shadow.

But, the mind which says that truth is multi-dimensional (faceted) does not mean that ‘untruth’ is included in the same multifaceted truth. It is generally accepted that truth is stated in different ways by the learned. But utilizing it as a garb and using it as a shield, supporting superstitutions, inhuman practices like sati, sacrifices of defenceless animals to God, etcand practicing cannibalistic, clownish and similar rituals, amounts to giving equal respectful place to ‘untruth’, thereby propagating and provoking wrong attachment to one’s religion, ways, customs etc. and do not deserve to be tolerated.

(From “Asthikyam” a book with that title, in Telugu by Brahmagnani Late Shri P. Seetharama Brahmam – Translation into English by K. K. SHARMA)