God & Religions
Question
Some say that it is Brahma or God that awaken kundalini or holy spirit and permit a union between soul and God... at least in theistic religions, there is no spiritual advancement without God. In other non-theistic religions where God is not a concious being as in Buddhism, Taoism, or east asians philosophies, according to those philosophies it all depends on your own efforts. They even have a saying which say "immortality doesnt depend on heaven but on myself". Buddhism as a complete non-theistic religion separated itself from Hinduism for that same reason. In theitic religions, God is the creator of all, in non-theistic religions God is an asbtraction they call Shunyata or Tao. Are non-theistic religions better?
Answer
1. Till the Ego or sense of individual 'I' in terms of subject-object remains, effort is required to realize the truth or God, for effort concerns the Ego and not the Atman (self). Once the Ego has been permanently transcended by irreversible realization of the truth, then effort does not come into the picture as the one who thought he put in the effort himself does not exist. Then, the pure self which is of the nature of infinite consciousness alone remains.
2. It is God or the self or universal consciousness alone, call these by what names you may, which urges the Ego to look inwards and realize its non-existence. Some people call this grace. Without such grace, realization is not possible. Therefore, while God alone is the doer, the Ego assumes such doership as long a it exists, whereupon immediately comes the concept of effort as regards that Ego. As soon as one transcends the Ego, there is none remaining to put in effort and therefore no effort. Then the self alone remains, as it always did.
3. A religion is only a path to realize the self. The self itself is beyond religion. However, since there are different kinds of individuals at different evolutionary levels with different temperament and tendencies, there are different religions. The concept of better or less concerns the Ego which chooses that religion which is appealing to its nature. In reality, the self or God alone remains, who is beyond all religions.
ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)