If the intoxication was in the alcohol, then the bottle should dance. It’s my prerogative that I drink to get drunk.”
This verse from a poem I read in Pakistan, whose author remains unknown to me, has inspired me to write this blog.
The alcohol of God is meaningless in the glass bottle; its potency is only activated when consumed by human beings. It drives them to madness, to the point where they may even kill their own children for transgressions. Those willing to resort to such extreme corporal punishment would hesitate little in harming others, regardless of guilt. Religions that preach strict rules and punishments cannot embody the four jewels of spirituality: compassion, forgiveness, sacrifice, and love.
If God were directly responsible for everything, He would be physically omnipresent and humans would be rendered meaningless, as some organized religions depict. An elusive God necessitates that humans delve deeper to realize their inherent potential. Human progress should make God proud of His creation. Now, it’s up to us to learn to imbibe without becoming intoxicated, as too much of a good thing is no longer good. Throughout history, we’ve perpetuated violence in the name of God, but today, with weapons of mass destruction, any conflict can become hell on earth.
If I drink in God socially or as a moderately religious person, it not only benefits me spiritually but also allows me to serve humanity. However, becoming intoxicated with the alcohol of God, religions, or nationalism undermines the individual’s role as a CEO of their own life.
By granting free will to human beings, God has made each and every one of us a CEO, enabling us to make choices and live our lives accordingly. If you believe that by creating humans, God becomes meaningless, you are only seeing half of the picture. In reality, it illustrates how God and humans are intertwined in shaping events, much like two wires powering a light bulb. The knowledge of human beings depends on God, and God, in turn, depends on mankind.
Prophets were extraordinary individuals; without them, would we have the knowledge of organized religions or even organized nations?
God is like a silent space, and you are like a note. Together, you can create a harmonious melody in your mortal life. However, if you make yourself too significant and reject God altogether, the absence of the silent space renders the sound discordant, harmful to you as an individual. Similarly, if you remain silent when you should speak, your personal music loses its meaning, and you cease to matter, even to yourself.
Humans write the notes, but the ability to write them comes from God. They cannot be separated, for without the empty spaces, music is mere noise, and without the music, there is only silence. Either extreme renders life meaningless for mortals.
When you achieve harmony between noise and silence, it results in a successful melody of your life. While absolute silence may be desired, it is not a melody for ordinary human beings. Seeking extreme awareness is reserved for the chosen few; if everyone were to live like monks, it could have adverse effects on the social fabric. As individuals, we all have responsibilities, even if we are promised heaven by adhering to a certain lifestyle.
For moderate individuals, life isn’t extreme; they often find themselves juggling various aspects, sometimes relegating religion and heaven to secondary roles in light of present duties. Many religions advocate living for the afterlife, implying that God wouldn’t subject people to difficult circumstances in this life if everything were predetermined by an external entity.
Free will serves a purpose: to make each human the CEO of their life, allowing them to choose how they wish to live. The CEO is responsible for finding balance in earthly life and earning merit for the afterlife. Human life is viewed as a practical prayer; the physical aspects of spirituality are carried out during one’s lifetime, with prayers answered and fulfilled through human actions.
God didn’t create humans solely for worship; rather, human life itself is a form of prayer through work and assistance to others, benefiting humanity and God. God isn’t found solely in silence or religious structures; individuals have a duty to strike a personal balance, creating the right “music” in their lives. A responsible CEO not only looks after themselves but also corrects the notes for others who may be making noise without considering the empty spaces.
While meditation can be beneficial for stress relief, it isn’t a universal solution to all human problems. Ultimately, the business of life is conducted through physical actions, and simply meditating isn’t sufficient for addressing all human issues.
With advancements in medical science, we can now extend both the length and quality of our lives. Considering this progress, the impact of living a constructive versus a destructive lifestyle becomes even more significant. Every day brings new discoveries, propelling us into uncharted territory. Without taking charge as a CEO of our own lives, we risk adhering to outdated ideas and religious beliefs passed down by our ancestors thousands of years ago. They lacked the knowledge, technology, and understanding of the problems we face today. Only a CEO can transcend the boundaries imposed by the sense of belonging and its associated politics.
A CEO can still maintain belief in God while evolving beyond the limitations of organized religion. We are all endowed with a higher identity than what religions prescribe. A CEO can rise above the constraints of group identity and address contemporary issues, prioritizing matters according to their relevance in today’s world. Our true identity lies in the intelligent life within us, which transcends race, color, nationality, or religion. This spiritual essence connects us to one another beyond the confines of any particular group. We are part of a broader spiritual entity, not bound by the limitations of any single faction or creed.
I believe that knowledge determines an individual’s strength. When we subscribe to the notion that we are worthless without belonging to a group, we diminish the creation of God and God himself.
As CEOs of our lives, we must exercise our free will to live as intended. It is imperative that we strive to fulfill our potential. Our continuous evolution necessitates moderation, as we are works in progress. Decisions driven to extremes should be tempered by an understanding of our ongoing development. My aim is to address individuals directly, urging us all to embrace moderation by seeking the right knowledge. Extremes offer no solution for individual success or societal prosperity.
Just as you cannot judge an entire book by its cover, an incomplete building, or an unfinished artwork, humanity is still evolving. We will make mistakes and achieve greatness, but our aim should always be improvement, not regression. Strong egos often lead to extreme decisions. Embracing our imperfections allows us to continue growing, whereas believing our knowledge is superior breeds egotistical extremism.
There is nothing inherently wrong with being religious, but prioritizing religion above all else can be problematic. For instance, it is nonsensical to harm a loved one simply because they do not adhere to your way of life.
The necessity of eating to sustain life, showing love, and caring for family members is as real as it gets. God resides in a different realm of existence. When one goes without food for days, hallucinations can occur, regardless of belief in God. Whether or not one believes in God, it does not cause harm, but losing a loved one is profoundly painful. Going without food can have physical repercussions, a stark reality. Belief systems, however, are mental constructs that can be altered with new knowledge and are therefore unstable. The existence of multiple religions and the conflicts they engender serve as evidence of this instability. Why do we fight over differing beliefs?
God cannot be blamed, as individuals have been endowed with free will. It is our responsibility to utilize this gift to navigate mortal life. Perhaps the reason for the existence of different religious texts is that we are not equipped to handle all knowledge simultaneously. Stubbornness, emotions, and strong group affiliations may lead us to cling to the politics of our respective groups, denying the validity of others. Alternatively, perhaps God has a plan for humanity to play a role in ushering in the Day of Judgment or to continue evolving alongside the human race until we reach our full potential.
The concept of God’s existence coexists with the human race. If we were to all kill each other, it wouldn’t just hurt the human race; logically, it would also harm God’s existence. The question arises: would God allow that? As an optimistic individual, I believe human beings will come to their senses and transcend the political boundaries of their respective religions to embrace spirituality.
The writing of different religious texts implies that God created a competitive environment so that we can come to understand what I am discussing and take charge. After millennia of killing each other over incomplete knowledge, it should teach us that there is more to comprehend about life. It’s time to change course and ascend higher on the ladder of potential.
Following and succumbing to group politics has led us to a crossroads of spirituality. We must choose whether to remain in our pigeonholes, continuing to kill each other as we have done, or to emerge from our insecurities and alter the course of our journey and its outcome.
God would surely rejoice to see the creation finally grasp it. Human power, individually and collectively, is beyond our imagination and understanding until we reach our potential. Consider a street bum who becomes a billionaire; we are in the process of gaining power and understanding, so we cannot claim that our knowledge is complete.
God is co-authoring this new book with the help of human beings. How it ends remains a mystery, so we cannot anticipate doom and gloom. We must remain optimistic and hopeful. If we understand that there is more to learn, we should be humble about our existing knowledge. Humility leads to tolerance, acceptance, and harmony. At that stage, we can transcend the boundaries of religions and delve deep into the realm of spirituality, where God is not a monster who punishes, burns, and kills. There are no rewards or punishments in spirituality, no politics of right or wrong, only the raw and simple truth that humans are the third factor capable of making decisions with the free will given by God, even to change destiny. Could this mean we can alter the day of destruction or judgment? Perhaps, if we get our act together and cease digging a grave for humanity by producing and using weapons of mass destruction.
The knowledge of human emotions is not fully understood; we still need to put things in perspective. We love our loved ones, we love people around us, and we love God through our respective religions. There is nothing wrong with this until we become entangled in picking and choosing. If you prioritize God, people, or loved ones over others, you have a problem. God has addressed this issue by granting you the free will to balance it all. You cannot simply choose God over your loved ones or let people become so powerful that you sacrifice or harm your loved ones to maintain societal standing. Everyone and everything has its place in our lives. Ultimately, it is the individual who decides how to live a personal life.
The need for God has always existed, but egotistical human beings have consistently denied it, and continue to do so. Not everyone possesses the innate talent of Mozart, who could play brilliant music as a child without any formal education; therefore, we should not attempt to wield Godly power with our limited understanding. Recognizing the importance of the silence between musical notes is crucial for orchestrating the melody of our lives. It’s imperative for us to acknowledge God’s presence to transform our lives from egotistical noise into rhythmic harmony.
Why do you dance with such fervor and passion when you’re uncertain about the other side? By undervaluing yourself, you diminish the status bestowed upon you by God.
Imagine this: God sits in a jungle He has created, surrounded by trillions of dollars worth of power. However, this power means nothing to God if there’s no one to benefit from it. While you can create anything you desire, the true value only emerges when there’s someone to appreciate it, and that someone cannot be yourself. The value of a stone is determined by human desire. Sensing something missing, God created humans differently from other creations, endowing them with Godly power akin to a mere five dollars, yet with the potential to reach higher. This five-dollar power is sufficient for survival, but humans crave more of it because it’s intoxicating. As the demand for more grew, God granted higher power to select individuals like prophets, who taught their people how to utilize it.
Imagine you have five dollars, enough to craft a raft and navigate yourself across a river. However, if you and your group pool your resources, you can build a bridge for the benefit of everyone. Comfort, love, care, and security are all desirable but come with a price, and that price is politics.
As humans learned to collaborate, group politics began to evolve. Today, rampant competition has led some human groups to deny the existence of God. Just because God does not intervene does not justify denying His existence. Humans and God are like negative and positive wires, illuminating the bulb of knowledge together. God’s work is carried out through humans, and every good deed is backed by God. It’s not just about the action; it’s the thought preceding it. And where do those thoughts originate? You cannot stop at thoughts or actions; the ability to deny oneself and help others is a Godly gift bestowed upon humans.
If you ask the deniers, they only see the enormity of the earth and space but forget to understand the importance of the eyes and the abilities of the human brain, which enable them to see.
God created humans with the capacity to evolve; every cell of our bodies is a witness to God. You push a muscle, it grows; you get an infection, your immune system becomes sophisticated; you push to learn, your brain grows neurons; toxicity makes the liver larger; running makes the heart more efficient, and so on. Is that a coincidence? And why are there no limits? To me, it is as clear as it can get: we are here to evolve, and no religious boundaries can stop it.
Why isn’t God there to hand out everything you want, whenever you want? Ask a dad whose kids are grown up and don’t want to leave the house, don’t want to work, and always depend on him. Look at the birds: they have to go every morning to find food. They are supplied with the food, but it is not put into their mouths, nor are they given a nest.
If we are given five bucks’ worth of free will, we are all capable of surviving. But these days, survival is not enough, because our societies or our belonging groups make us feel that we are weak and incapable of surviving with our individual five bucks. The social fabric is not strong if everybody has a dominating sense of freedom, so logically, belonging groups or societies feel threatened.
Since the group is weaker in smaller numbers, insecurities encourage recruitment and multiplying, yet discourage individual strength. The sense of belonging is heavily promoted, and the sense of freedom is discouraged, even if individuals have been punished or shunned.
Both the sense of belonging and the sense of freedom are ingrained in us by God, and free will is given to us to create the balance to live a happy life. If you don’t understand the value of your “five bucks” or your free will, you are colorless and very easy to take on the color that your belonging group enforces you to have, which means you value yourself less than what God meant for you.
As individuals, we all should ask ourselves this question: What are we created as, sheep or humans? Should we let the politics of our belonging group demote us to sheep, or should we stand up to question the fear-based politics?
Does this make the individual out of religion? Definitely yes, if he/she belongs to an organized religion, but he/she certainly connects with spirituality. I don’t disregard any wisdom but extremes, and humans have a tendency to carry personal beliefs to extremes whether they are based on personal spirituality or organized religion.
Holy books consist of life’s wisdom, but they undermine humans’ free will and related abilities. My intention is to teach what humans have not learned from the holy books, because it is time to take the next step towards our potential. So we need to pull ourselves beyond the group politics and seek the real essence of God’s creation; the real reason why in a human being, God put the ability to disobey God at times. Today is the time for humans to use that ability to say no to group politics, even if it is connected to the holy books.
Human beings are created with free will for a reason. No matter how insignificant one is, the choice-making power is a power which makes a human superior to warrior ants and worker bees. Those creatures are compelled by their genetics alone. There is a verse from a poem by the Poet of the East, Dr. Allama Iqbal, in Urdu, that says, and I quote:
“Elevate yourself so high that before any fate, God comes to the human to ask what is your wish?”
With the blessing of free will, we can even override our genetics. Sure, we can’t take all the credit because of the dependency on oxygen, but what happens after we take that breath is the will of a CEO.
If we look at our boundaries, none of them are created by God. Believe me, if they were from God, none of us would be able to break them. Just like there is a boundary for birds to fly in space, or for other creatures to fly. But for us, there is no boundary. We fly in space even though we don’t have wings.
Most boundaries are made by human beings out of fear, control, or a special wisdom. Control and fear-based boundaries have been used by religions, but this special wisdom sets the rhythm of triangular balance to adapt to the speed at which we can absorb and understand knowledge without going to extremes. For instance, look at our school system. We teach kids in grades. Ever wonder why? Each one of us has a certain way of understanding things. And a good teacher knows how to tap into one’s potential. Knowing what rhythm works for a particular kid is wisdom in itself.
I may use the same bunch of exercises for my clients, but it is never the same for all. If you believe that if it works for Tom, it works for Harry, then sooner or later you will run into problems. Using the same methods you have learned may not work all the time. Making or breaking boundaries has been a part of our evolving nature and history, but they were never from God. God actually encourages us to follow our potential by staying elusive.
A group of people, a community, a country, even a religion becomes an entity just like God when it starts to look after its sick and hungry individuals. In return, the individual grows a strong sense of belonging, which sometimes can call for sacrifice, even for one’s life. This loyal nature is in the foundation of the strong sense of belonging which compels the individual to deny him/herself for the betterment of the belonging group, but this belonging group should be the whole humanity.
Just like kids expect to be fed by their parents even after they have become adults, if you believe that God is doing everything, you will stay behind with the expectation to be fed and looked after by God. If you start to take responsibility and help the helping hand, you serve the duty that God has created you for. God needs human strength to deal with God’s affairs. You can stay as hands down or become a helping hand by choice. This choice is beyond any religion or group’s political system. It is purely between God and the individual, thus a spiritually aware being is a CEO.
The prayers and sacrifice of any kind relate to pleasing God, thus prayers and sacrifice should always be related to the real thing. Helping other human beings or even other creatures without any strings attached to convert or conform to our beliefs, because the reality is spirituality, not religion. All religions started with the foundation of spirituality but fell victim to the politics of belonging to one particular group.
As human beings, we are here to reciprocate. There is no doubt that we are alive because of the oxygen which is provided to us and it’s out of our control, thus God is needed internally and externally to keep our machine running without any glitch. The biggest thing we need to understand is the importance of the human being, that he/she is running God’s affairs too. Our helping work for God is to help each other, digging in deeper for our potential to become what God had intended. God may have created us to manifest God himself so our work for God, like fulfilling someone’s prayers, is equal to prayers and sacrifice. If we help others, it is spiritual and closer to God more than any prayers. If your prayers to God are more important than actually helping someone in need, you have to set your priorities straight and look at what God values more. Insisting parents and society to get people to pray is mostly political conforming efforts make the individual belong to the belonging group. If you ask why? the answer would be, “just do it”.
The truest form of spirituality lies in helping others. Nothing is closer to God’s heart than the spiritual growth of ordinary people. God doesn’t punish those who miss a prayer. Those who claim otherwise are simply trying to control people through fear.
Discovering your own abilities and hidden potential is not disobeying God. In fact, it might make some controlling religious leaders uncomfortable. Following your potential and digging deep to discover your talents is actually fulfilling God’s will. It might seem unconventional, but God created us with the capacity for independent growth.
Throughout history, even under strict religious codes, humanity has progressed. Modern humans need to move beyond authoritarian, conservative, and powerful influences. Instead, we should embrace the logic of God, science, evolution, and human politics. This means taking charge of our lives and fulfilling the responsibilities God has placed upon us.
If you are someone who simply follows orders, consider this: you are an individual with a direct connection to God and spirituality, not just a religion, a sense of belonging, or the politics that surround it. Embrace true spirituality, and it will clear away the fog created by clinging to a sense of belonging. This will help you avoid committing what many religions might call “spiritual crimes.”
Here are some additional edits I made:
I replaced “dearer” with “closer to heart” for a more natural flow.
I replaced “man” with “people” to be more inclusive.
I changed “may send chills down the spines” to “might make some controlling religious leaders uncomfortable” for a more respectful tone.
I rephrased “following and digging in for your potential” for clarity.
I replaced “drink of God and spirituality” with “embrace true spirituality” for a more metaphorical approach.