God is responsible for everything but not responsible for anything
 

In the Gita, the Lord says that He is responsible for everything but not responsible for anything (Kartahamapi… Gita).

This contradiction can be removed if you understand that God is the creator of everybody and everything, but, is not the creator of the direction of any action and hence, is not bound by the deed and fruit.

The bull carries you to the forest in your chosen direction, where you're beaten by robbers. Nothing really happens to the bull. Similarly, if the bull takes you to the house of your relatives in the city—which is again the direction of your choice—you're honored by your relatives and the bull really doesn't get anything in this case either.

In both cases, the bull is the power of your journey and is responsible for your reaching the goal but at the same time, the bull is not affected by the direction of the action and the corresponding fruits. This is the meaning of the Vedic statement, “Abadhnanpurushampashum”.

Hi, I'm interested in Hinduism but don't agree with the creator god idea sometimes, maybe I don't understand it. Seems to me just the need to resolve the contradiction points to a problem in ourselves. It doesn't feel right sometimes that a benevolent god made everything, so to keep our belief in god we need to resolve it in our minds. Why would we need to justify a belief system unless we wee attached to it? What emotional need does believing parental figure fulfill for us? And is it necessary? Why should something 'out there' tell us what to think, when we have our own hearts to listen to? Why can't we say to our religious beliefs, 'this feels wrong' and go with that? Is there something we're afraid of?

Hi. Here's what I think - Having a belief system doesn't automatically mean that it's false. Any belief, formed after a series of experiences and based on sharp logic, is likely to be true. A belief hastily formed due to blindly taking in information from unreliable/questionable sources will likely be false and cannot withstand deep scrutiny.

The bond with God can be of many kinds, not just that of a parent and a child. It can be that of a teacher and a student, a lover and loved one, a friend and another friend, etc. In the school of philosophy that I follow, the underlying real bond between God and the soul is that of the bond between a master and a servant. Any number of unreal bonds (parent-child, lover-lover, teacher-student, friend-friend, etc.) can be superimposed on a real bond (master-servant).

All orthodox religious beliefs may not be wrong and similarly, all progressive new-age insights may not be right. The truth is to be arrived at regardless of personal affinity. A scientist does not care about his personal inclinations while undertaking an experiment; uncovering the truth is all that matters to him. A similar attitude has to be inculcated in spirituality. Regardless of what we feel, we have to aim at uncovering the truth.

While a 'gut feeling' may at times be right, it's not always the case. One may think that something is wrong (or right for that matter) because of certain samskaras or strong subconscious thoughts that are projected without he/she even being consciously aware of it. Samskaras are concentrated subconscious thoughts and feelings that are carried over from birth to birth by the soul. And in the case of many human beings, these samskaras are based on ignorant conclusions that have been reinforced over many lifetimes, to the point that the overcoming them becomes next to impossible.

For me, more important than anything else is right guidance. Only with the right guidance can true and lasting spiritual progress occur. Such guidance can be given only by a liberated soul (a Guru) or a spiritual preacher of the highest degree (a Satguru). One comes across becomes the disciple of such a preacher only due to the results of many meritorious deeds accumulated over many lifetimes.

Seawolf,

Yes, to accept or practise any ritual or belief without logic or analysis will lead to rigid and blind practise. Without understanding the internal meaning and essence of any ritual, there is no point spending time for it.

For example:-

Blind Recitation of the Veda in Hinduism: In Hindu rituals, the Veda is blindly recited. Neither audience nor the priest reciting the Veda understands even a single alphabet of the Veda. The most unfortunate state is that the meaning of the word ‘Veda’ is knowledge or to know! Swami says that this blind recitation of the scripture in the rituals should be stopped and the priest can read by seeing the book also (as done in other religions) and should explain the knowledge of the scripture that benefits everybody. In every religion, the scripture is in the mother tongue so that even mere recitation gives at least some knowledge to everybody. In Hinduism, the scripture was written in the ancient times when Sanskrit was the mother tongue. Today, none understands Sanskrit and hence either the scripture should be translated in to mother tongue or every Hindu should learn Sanskrit or at least, the priest should explain the Sanskrit version in mother tongue. Due to lack of knowledge of scripture, several atrocities entered and a few
samples are:
a) Performing Homa or Yajna by Pouring Ghee into Fire: Agni or fire is mentioned as hungry person (his hunger fire is Vaishwaanara agni or God as per Gita) should be pacified by giving food with ghee (ghee means
food fried by ghee as per the concept of lakshana in the scripture). Unable to understand the meaning of the Veda, the middle aged blind reciters (who blindly recite the Veda) of the Veda started pouring down ghee in physical fire causing environmental pollution in addition to smokes leading to natural calamities. The Veda says that a scholar with spiritual knowledge is abode of all deities and when he is satisfied by the given food that reaches all the deities, deities will help in giving rains. Even a light lit for God is only a simile for destroying the darkness-ignorance by the knowledge-light. Once this point is realized, no need of lights for God.
b) Vedic Hymn called as Gayatri: There is a Vedic hymn in a meter called Gayatri and so Gayatri is not a deity. Gayatri literally means a special style of worship of God through sweet devotional songs. Hence, Gayatri is only the Universal best mode of worship of God and not a specific Vedic hymn prescribed to a specific caste and specific gender. Due to absence of the Vedic knowledge and Sanskrit grammar, Gayatri is misunderstood as a deity and as specific hymn prescribed to a caste and a gender.