Prayers & Worship

It is very difficult to prove but my understanding is that the prayers which people say are reaching no-one. There is no-one who is hearing and answering our prayers.

Actually to start with I want to tell you guys that when I was a teenager, I actually gave a sermon in our church about Prayers. I said that each prayer is answered. Sometime what we have prayed for happens and that means GOD accepted our prayers in the affirmative and if what we asked did not happen, then it simply means that this was not GOD's wish. So in any case you know that your prayers were answered; either in a YES or NO.

Very powerful logic used above and it works for many of us. But of late, I have applied mathematics and found that this is more of a chance game than anyone really assisting us.

Take for example, I have final exams coming soon. I need to work hard and study well to pass. Obviously, all students pray for good marks too. Therefore it is a fact that prayers and hard-work go together during ever exams for each student.

Now I wondered, if prayers were really that powerful, why not just pray and let GOD help me pass (without studies). We all know that this is rubbish. We need to study or we will fail. Many will also say that "God helps those who help themselves". Very powerful and well-known saying that is.

So, another logic I had to apply. In my class, I was not the brightest. It was some Hindu boys who took the top 10 spots. I wondered why "their GOD" answered their prayers and made them the toppers, while my GOD was so reluctant to help me reach the top spot. I did not leave any stone unturned in prayers and neither do I think that I was not putting in the correct level of efforts. But still my GOD lacked something which the Hindu GOD was good at.

Then the final solution I found about this was that every man is born with some "skills" (in this case academic intelligence). The topper students were able to grasp and remember things better than me. They were able to score better with their better memory and pattern of studying. I was lacking those skills. Any amount of prayers could not set the equation right.

In my previous blogs named "Destiny", I have mentioned about this set of skills which each human possesses. These skills make him/her the winner or the looser. Prayers are just a psychological tool to keep the mind contented.

So, I conclude that there is no GOD who is answering my prayers. There is no use of the prayers and worship which we offer because it is reaching no-one. Most of the prayers are basically rituals which we are following because they are part of our lives. The difference between the winner and the looser is basically the attitude, planning and hard-work.

I define success as a combination of the following 3 traits:

1) Attitude: This is the right frame of mind, able to think productively.

2) Planning: No success without planning and able to fore-see problems.

3) Hard-work: The right efforts in the right directions in the right time.

No luck or prayer can beat this. So, my question is "Why to waste our time in prayers and worship?" Prayers just make us dependent and give us an excuse to blame GOD for our failures.

Love, NVG

Biblical Revelations is a hoax

St. John (who also wrote the Epistle of St. John) dreamed of the end of time when there would be lots of catastrophes and when the final battle between good and evil be fought. He described 

1) the Beast with 7 heads and 7 horns. 

2) The harlot who commands that beast. 

3) The anti-Christ and his 666 code.

4) The coming of Jesus on a white horse

5) The eternal kingdom that would be established.

A unique piece of fortune telling but none the less it is just a another book of predictions.

When I was in school, I watched the acclaimed movie/documentary about Nostradamus the famous “predictor” of the medieval times. The movie was named “The man who saw tomorrow”. I was so much influenced by that movie that for some days, I was telling everyone the predictions which Nostradamus wrote. He wrote about how the “new king will kill the old king”; how the “frog-men” would fly; how the nations of the world would fight.

One thing which is common in what Nostradamus wrote and what St. John wrote was the heavy use of Symbolism. The revelations and predictions are never “up to the point”. They are like “beating around the bush”, always generalized and always in-accurate.

The reason why fortune-tellers use symbols and cryptic clues is that they do not want to be accurate. Leaving the results to the interpretation of the common-man is a safe option. Even if 1% of what you said “in general” comes out correct, then your whole prediction can be deemed correct.

Take for example our own home-grown “Bejan Daruwala”. He knows nothing and I have never seen any of his predictions coming true (even to the extent of 20%). But he is still releasing his yearly predictions in leading newspapers and magazines.

What is with the common-man? We are always fascinated by things which we cannot explain and predictions is such a mystery for everyone. Fortune-tellers utilize this mysticism and use confusing and “multiple meaning words” to make a general prediction. Same for palmist and sadhu-babas who tell our future for a mere Rs. 20.

For example, consider a prediction: “It would be a good year for India this year”.

No-one bothered to give the details; whether the crops would be good or still better the rice crops would be good. Nothing detailed like that. Just plan “multiple meaning” “good year”. Now each one of us can see something good happening in that year and easily “join the dots” and interpret that prediction as coming true.

I question the authenticity of the book of Revelations because it is another of the piece of “human” work. Even if there are lots of fundamental Christian beliefs embedded in this book, like the second coming of the Christ, it basically fails to be an accurate account of what St. John claims.

Unlike a lot of historical books of the old & new Testaments, which are historically and religiously accurate, Revelations is intentionally written in symbols. I question why St. John had to use symbols like the beast or the harlot if he actually saw the future. Or did he really see a fancy cartoon show in his dreams with a 7 headed dragon and lot of fire-works. If the word has come from GOD, then it must be accurate and precise. With correct dates and events and correct name of the people & places involved. But that was too risky for St. John because he did not see any future. He did what every common-man, (wanting to be popular) does and that is making fake predictions based on symbols and cryptic-ism. Then leave the rest to people's imagination and interpretations.

I have studied the Bible and I have studied various other books which describe and try to interpret what the symbols of Revelations mean. I have at least 10 different versions for the 7-headed beast and the Harlot. Some interpretations say that the Catholic Church headed at Rome is that beast because Rome is also called the “City of Seven Hills”. The Pope would therefore be the Harlot who commands the beast and would (in the end) fight Jesus Christ. What not???

Had Albert Einstein done his works in such symbolism and given nothing concrete as evidence of mathematical proof, then he would never had got the acclaim which he now deserves. We need men of action and not men who create confusion.

Had Jesus intended the flow of correct information to his disciples, then he would have given clear-cut instructions without chances of wrong interpretations. Whenever you give a puzzle to humans, each one would analyse that in a different angle and perspective. There would never be a correct result. With Revelations, it seems as a contradiction that the source of these predictions is a divine being.

St. John did what Bejan Daruwala and Nostradamus did best: Create a fantasy and let it loose among the “already confused common-man”.

Love, NVG

The Merciful or Merciless GOD

The Merciful or Merciless GOD

Another of my anti-faith blogs coming your way.

God is merciful to those who believe in HIM. On the other hand, he is a merciless punisher to those who oppose HIM and HIS people. I hope that this is something which we all agree upon.

We all know about the kindness which GOD has showered on humans at different historical times. But here I am highlighting those particular instances, when “as per the Bible and other religious scriptures” GOD has allowed (read commanded) blood-shed and destruction.

1)      The Israelites killed and destroyed all cities which lay in their path on their way (during Exodus) to the promised-land. GOD commanded every man, woman and child to be killed in those cities because they were “infidels” & idol-worshippers.

2)      The complete destruction of the Egyptian army, who tried to stop the Israelites from leaving Egypt (during Exodus).

3)      The destruction of Gomorrah and Sodom with fire.

4)      The destruction and 7 curses on Egyptians during Moses time.

5)      The great flood of Noah, where the whole creation was almost destroyed.

6)      The brutal and painful execution of Jesus Christ (as seen in the movie “The Passion of the Christ”).

There are many more of such violent records of punishment directed from GOD.  GOD is the life-giver and as per his pact with humans, we are allowed to have our own free-will. Then why such punishment?

Why is GOD not merciful to sinners? (I will discuss the concept of Sin in my next blog). Why the punishment? Why not even the babies were spared? When everyone tries to overlook at the brutal side of the divine, I am wondering, what sort of bloody punishment is in store for me for my “bold queries”?

And in the end, I want to contradict myself (to give you guys a chance to know that NVG is not always right).  “GOD’s thinking and the plan for mankind is totally incomprehensible for the human mind. If we can think like GOD, then we are GOD. And if GOD starts thinking like humans, then HE is not GOD. We can never understand HIM with our human minds. Our brains are too negligible before HIS!!”

Love, NVG

Time

I am totally confused talking about this "hypothetical" entity. Technically it is one of the 4 known dimensions. It is something which all of us keep track of and time is the only thing which cannot be reversed.

60 seconds = 1 min; 60 min = 1 HR; 24 HR = 1 Day, 7 Days = 1 Week; 52 Weeks = 1 Year; 100 years = 1 Century... and this goes on and on.

The Universe is 15 billion years old and still ticking. Whatever has a beginning also has an end and when is this time going to stop?

The Mayans predicted that their calendar ends on Dec 21st 2012 (which is actually the end of their cycle). But obviously that is just religion. What is time and how can it be controlled. I have read a lot about time and its measurement. But there is nothing tangible which can define it.

The more I study about time, the more I ponder whether we are living in a Virtual World like the Matrix. Everything starts to look fake and uncertain to me. I do not know how could Albert Einstein describe Time and even predict Time Travel.

This is the current topic for which I am totally clueless. How can you guys help me?

Love, NVG

GOOD & EVIL or GOD & DEVIL

WOW a very known topic for everyone in this world. Everyone has known the stories about victory of Good over Evil; everyone knows what is good and evil, what merit is and what sin is.

All religions and social community lay down neat guidelines about good things to do and evil acts to avoid. Actually this starts with our parents, training us for doing good deeds and punishing us for doing something wrong/bad.

Good and evil are the 2 sides of the same coin. We all know that if there was no evil, then there was nothing good. If there is no Devil, then obviously there is no GOD. Right?

Common belief is that GOD represents all things which are good and righteous. The devil on the other hand is the wrong-doer and cause of all sin and tyranny in this world. Accepted.

But good and bad are relative things. What is good for one may be bad for another. Terrorism for one is Jihad for another. (No need to give more examples after that one).

What I want to say is that the good which we know might not be 100% good. Maybe it is bad in the eyes of our GOD. Or more importantly, what if GOD is the bad guy and "poor" Devil is the one trying hard to rescue us.

We never know because we are blinded by one very good thing called "faith". The faith which we developed through living in a community of people having the same faith. Father to son transfer of faith. There are many of us (so called reborn ones), who are one step ahead and that is they have discovered their faith themselves and not under the influence of others.

Faith tells us that GOD is good. But for one second, let us try to reverse the whole system. Try to imagine a GOD (cunning and deceitful), who is obsessed with "Punishment" (this is the topic of my next blog). He lays down rules for humans, he sends prophets and messiah to "gather" men and construct his community.

What if the Devil is the good one but not strong enough to overcome the power and plans of GOD?

What if all the good things written in the scriptures are means to divert the thinking of mankind?

If the scriptures say that the Devil is deceitful and maybe this time he is posing as the GOD of mankind to deceive everyone.

My purpose with this blog is not to cause heresy, but to open a new window in our "blind faith". So that we can know what is good and what is evil. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, that time, their eyes opened and they could judge between what is good and what is evil. This is the only consolation we get from the Bible that maybe what we think is good might really be good. (See I contradicted myself).

In view of the above arguments, is it a good idea for us to be neutral (rather than taking sides with either GOD or Devil)? Do you think that you are doing the right thing (provided you know what is right and what is wrong)?

Love, NVG

Dimensions

This is the most important topic which normal humans cannot even comprehend. If one understands the dimensions, then he/she becomes GOD.

What are the known dimensions?

1) Length (x-axis)

2) Width (y-axis)

3) Height (z-axis)

4) Time

All the four have been neatly defined and explained in the 20th century through the works of many physicists.

But I am sure, this is not the exhaustive list of dimensions existing in the universe. Discovering and understanding the other dimensions would clear all mysteries boggling the human mind for centuries.

These are just my hypothesis which will prove many things and would obviously prove a lot of my previous assumptions/theories wrong:

- "Antimatter" Dimension

There is matter and then there is anti-matter (made of the reverse charge elements). Our known universe is made of "matter" only. But as science proves that if there is matter, then ought to have anti-matter. In this universe, there is both positive and negative existing with equal strength.

Therefore, there is somewhere in this universe, within a different dimension, a whole new universe made of entirely anti-matter. The laws of physics would be same there but maybe the direction is reversed.

The only problem with entering such a dimension is that we or anything which we have made is made of matter and matter is destroyed instantaneously upon contact with anti-matter. Now the big question is how we can explore such an anti-matter world.

- “Spirit” Dimension

I feel shy saying this but if there is life, then there is anti-life (a purgatory/ghost world/etc.) which is inhabited by non-earthly beings. Maybe that is where people go after they die. This is sort of embarrassing but if there is any ghost world then it has to be in a parallel dimension of ours.

- “Alien” Dimension

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned that Aliens and extraterrestrial life is very difficult to find in this universe. Maybe because we are not searching in the right dimension? Maybe they are hidden behind a curtain and living happily in their dimension (not bothering us on the other side). Are Black-holes and Worm-holes the gates between these 2 worlds.

- “Divine” Dimension

If there is a GOD, then maybe he has his own dimension which is totally invisible to all of us. Maybe he is happy to see and observe us from behind his “one way glass” curtain. We cannot see through to the other side but he has vision of what is happening in this dimension. That is the only scientific explanation which can somehow prove the existence of a divine being. Humans have checked everywhere for GOD and could not find him or prove him. A separate dimension could be the only option here.

I am not GOD and I know that understanding what these dimension imply is humanly impossible. There could be more than what I just mentioned. I cannot even imagine what Dimensions have in store for us. We do not even know how we can traverse through them and what to expect when we cross over.

But one disappointing fact is that we do not have any help from anywhere in this universe in understanding these seemingly difficult concepts. Our scientists and thinkers (read NVG) are left alone with their guess-work and assumptions.

I need help to know more (about the hidden dimensions) than what I know now.

Time Travel

The biggest hoax of our generation. What the great scientists of the early 20th century predicted and what Mr. Albert Einstein proved through his "Theory of Relativity".. is all but a dud.

Theoretically speaking, this is all so fascinating to know that time-travel is possible by curving the space so that we can travel through worm-holes and what not.

My only reason is "if time-travel is practically possible sometime in the future, why has no-one from the future ever visited us in our span of recorded history?" Why has there been no Terminator from the future?

That means that even in the future, time travel would one of the other un-proved theories of this world.

Love, NVG

January 5th, 2010

I have been reading the "A Brief History of time" by Dr. Stephen Hawkings and I got help in completing one assumption that I had developed some time back regarding Time Travel. The credit for this goes to the studies done by scientiest as mentioned in that book.

So this is how my analysis goes:

I was wondering how can one mathematically show negative time. I mean if we can go backword in time, then it would be like "Negative Time". At least this is necessary for proving that Time Travel is possible.

All of us know that Acceleration = Distance / (Time x Time). I would need some images to show the formula properly.

Now to consider putting a minus on both the sides.

Now we move the time component on the left of the equation.

Now Negative time is equal to the Square Root of (Distance/accelation).

-> Distance can be negative (like walking backwords on a straight line).
-> Acceleration can be negative like in decelaration (reduction of speed).

This is where I got stuck.

Then after reading the "The brief history of time", I got the information about Real & Imaginary numbers (which are part of the Complex Number Mathematics).

Complex Numbers have a part which is a square root of a negative number. Such numbers are called Imaginary numbers since they do not exist in nature but can be proved mathematically.

Now consider that into my pending equation. I can see that Negative Time is possible if the Distance and Acceleration are represented in Imaginary numbers.

-t = (d/a)i               [i = iota = imaginary part = Square root of -1]


There are 2 results from this equation:

1) If we can somehow discover Complex Numbers in nature, we can then try to use that to relate to Distance and Accelation and therefore go back in time.

2) Maybe time-travel is a big bull-shit and that is only possible in imagination.

But mathematically negative time is possible with this simple equation. There can be other more complex mathematical equations which could be able to define negative time much more precisely. But this is one interesting equation, I have figured out.

What do you say?

Love, NVG

What is Destiny?

It is a common topic in the life of an Indian. Destiny/fate/luck/kismat... you call it anything but the fact remains that a lot of people believe in destiny and use it to blame on unfortunate events in their life.

I have got my own understanding and opinion about destiny.

Like everyone else I grew up trying to understand what fate means. Initially it was assumed to be the divine intervention for me, through which I could get things which I needed. But with time, I have seen that this divine intervention is all but "too unpredictable".

Therefore as a final answer, I would say that "humans are not born with any definite fate". Humans are born with definite skills.

Fate = Skills.

What we think is destiny or fate is in a true sense "Life Skill". Some are born with better skills in dealing with situations and therefore can gain the best out of it. Others wait and watch and let things happen on their own.

Now to complicate matters, there are 2 different things which we need to differentiate:

1) LUCK which are basically coincidences which happen all the time and everywhere. For example, someone winning a lottery is a coincidence (and therefore luck). Luck has nothing to do with some-ones skills.

2) Destiny is what we make for ourselves through the actions we take. This is where the skills (we all are born with) make a difference. Some of us learn from our mistakes and some of us inherently know how to deal with certain situations. Each one of us has certain abilities which cannot be measured with the IQ test. These skills are very difficult to visualize. Even the owner does not know what he/she is good at. It is something which is embedded deep in the sub-conscious.

It is this destiny or fate which builds or breaks one’s life. People unknowingly use these skills and handle certain situation carefully and with tact. For example, an office colleague would be bad at doing regular work but due to some of his/her "other skills" (like pampering the boss or better email presentation) he/she gets better salary. You would say that he/she is luckly (out of ignorance), but in fact you are missed to see the hidden skills that person commands.

Another important fact here is that these skills are very difficult to identify and sometimes you never know what you are good at. Also, there are cases that you cannot change the skills which you are born with. It is not that easy to change or improve. Sometimes when bad things happen because of some incorrect action, it is better to blame it on luck/fate than to take the responsibility on oneself and learn from that.

Learn from others and learn from experiences. There is nothing like fate. There is nothing like a predefined destiny. Everything happening around us is happening because someone has utilized his/her skills (for better or for worse).

So stop blaming your luck and do some introspection.

Love, NVG

Are we alone in this universe?

In school, we were taught that there are literally millions of "earth-like" planets in the vast universe. And that meant millions of places where life could have originated. At that time, I believed this theory that the humans could not be alone in this universe. Seeing the vastness of the universe, there were possibility of alien civilizations in existence.

I have heard about the UFOs and the close encounter theories. I have also read science fiction and watched all major alien movie. I was 100% sure that one day, there would be a "real" contact with the aliens and this has been my belief for more than 15 years now.

But of late, I have started contemplating and studying about whether this could be true or is it another wishful thinking which man has developed under the influence of the mass-media. I guess the mass-media has shaped 90% of the ideologies of the current generation (from belief in aliens to knowledge about HIV-AIDS). We are so much influenced by these that we think that it could be true.

So, I blocked my mind which told me that aliens existed and with a "clean slate" I tried to find the arguments for & against this theory of "Extraterrestrial Life".

But here I want to express the ideas/reasoning which tells me now that the possibility of extraterrestrial life is really miniscle.

1) SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has been reading the skies for almost 50 years now in search of any sound wave which might originate from an intelligent civilization. We have been transmitting important messages in various forms into the skies to try to get a response from someone. But it has all resulted in "ZERO" successful events. Apart from a few hoaxes, there has been no sightings in the last 50 years. The former director of SETI had even stated that life anywhere other than earth might not be possible (as it may seem).

2) UFO's are more of a conspiracy theories than any real evidence. I have spend countless nights gazing into the night skies but there has been no discoveries. All the videos of UFO spotting are fake and hoaxes. There has been no clear video evidence other than optical illusions or camera malfunction.

3) Till some months back I believed that the crop circles were the concrete proof of an intelligent designer from outer space. But that too was proved wrong when I studied the wikipedia explanation about Crop Circles. They were painstakingly created by experts.

4) From ancient mythology of India, Cambodia and even Peru, it looked to me that the GODS came down in their space-ships and taught the early humans how to do argiculture and laid down rules and regulations of a social living. The devine concepts of GOD, Trinity, heaven, hell, special powers and miracles all pointed to so extra-earth beings who worked wonders and influenced the philosophy of early civilizations. But this is all too good to be true.

There are many more such points which I know but would not state because of lack of concrete reasons. But since this is my first blog, I would like to keep it an open discussion. As and when I get better understanding, I would update on this topic. I would say that I get a lot of knowledge and infromation from the Wikipedia site which is like the bible of all human information.

Let us see what people have to discuss here on this particular topic. I am also preparing for another quite interesting topic called "Dimensions" which is a contradictions (or maybe the real answer) to all these mysteries we are unable to understand.

Love, NVG