The New Label

 I’m an Atheist. By making this statement, I do not mean I’m either immoral or a non-humanist. I’m trying to fit into a label, a little separate from the typical code of conduct which each of the religions preaches. The continuous struggle for co-existence among all religions has resulted in chaos and I feel more than qualified to make that statement.

I was born to a Hindu family, but I’m married to a Muslim man. Do you think that just because I married a Muslim man that I would disregard my roots? Wouldn’t I want my husband to bring home a Ganesha? Would I be limited to a new name assigned to me? In fact, I’ve reached my limit trying to find a balance between the two religions. I have at times often wanted to create my own identity, apart from religions, and especially during the festive season of both Ramadan and Dasain. Why is it that we all have to be aligned with religion? Aren’t there people out there who want to question the values set up by each of the religions? Well I’m one who doesn’t want to surrender completely to any religion.

Theism is to believe in a god or gods. Atheism is the rejection of theism. The term atheism originated from the Greek word atheos, meaning ‘without god’. The first individuals to self-identify themselves as "atheist" appeared in the 18th century. As far back as 1772, Baron d'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God." Similarly, George H. Smith (1979) suggested that: "The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist.”

Albert Einstein was an agnostic. The term “agnosticism” itself was first used by Professor T.H. Huxley at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1876. In the term Agnosis, “a” means “without” and “gnosis” means “knowledge.” Hence, agnostic: without knowledge, but specifically without knowledge of the gods. Sometimes, an agnostic is also called a “weak atheist” as agnostics claim of no knowledge and also the impossibility of ever knowing the truth. So, agnosticism is not a third option between theism and atheism, because it involves a separate subject matter entirely. As a matter of fact, the majority of people who call themselves either atheist or theist would also be justified in calling themselves agnostics. Some degree of agnosticism is evident in every theist who considers their god to work in mysterious ways.

In the autobiography of Yogananda, there’s a part where he wants to see God and so pleads to his Guru Yukteswar. The Guru strikes our young Yogananda’s chest, right above the heart, causing young Yogananda to experience the bliss of being one with nature and sees the metaphysical realm. His sense of identity is said to become that of a drop of water being engulfed when it lands in the vast ocean. His ordinary vision was replaced with infinite spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. The following excerpt from his book, The Autobiography of a Yogi, sheds some light as to the description of the ‘metaphysical realm’:

An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. It was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light.

Even after this episode Yogananda, still dissatisfied, goes to his Guru and asks when he will be able to find god.

"You have found Him."

"O no, sir, I don't think so!"

"I am sure you aren't expecting a venerable Personage, adorning a throne in some antiseptic corner of the cosmos!” his Guru smiles.

So, you see this fits the comical description of our expectations of how God is supposed to be.

The literal meaning of the word yoga is ‘union’, ‘to connect’ or ‘conjunction’. It is a state of being, of permanent union with the divine. We become one with the source that is beyond this physical world. This source is neither male nor female, but encompasses both and is beyond both.

Gnosis on the other hand means knowledge, usually of deeper, inner, spiritual truths; it could be based on direct experience. Spiritual quests have been sought by human beings since the beginning of time. Gnosis and mysticism are often referred to as an intuitive, right brained, inner approach to spiritual knowledge. Gnosis claims to be more reliant on the individual’s direct experience of the divine, from within themselves. This knowledge is not taught in or acquired from the conventional churches of today. Rather, gnosis urges one to follow an inward journey to the soul which we often hear of as ‘following an inner voice’.

After reviewing all these terms – theism, atheism, agnosticism, yoga, gnosis - I have reached a conclusion. In fact, I could fit myself into different labels and not just one; I could be an agnostic atheist, as the knowledge of knowing the unknown is a difficult task, almost next to impossible, so I could choose to not believe in ‘him’ at all. I could be a silent gnostic and practice yoga. I could seek knowledge with the aid of a silent mind. The last and the least, at times I might even be an agnostic theist, especially if I want my Muslim husband to bring Ganesha home!