FOR LOGA ON MOTHERS’ DAY
I have friends who are categorical: “God is dead.”
My friends who believe in God can be divided into three groups.
In the first group, I find those who think He is formless and almighty. He is the CREATOR who dishes out rewards and punishments.
In the second group there is the belief that He is LOVE and MERCY. Although He is almighty, He has an army of saints and angels to look after His CREATION.
The third group, to which I belong, believes in a SUPREME BEING who is everything and is everywhere. He is neither He nor She. He/She is “THEY”, both Shaktiman and Shakti. They are “LI” (which in Mauritian is both masculine and feminine). Because the faith is based on freedom and poetic imagination, many forms have been imagined to represent the masculine-feminine-plural SUPREME BEING. This open, all-encompassing conception of God has been misunderstood by most Judeo-Christians as POLYTHEISM.
God ARE all shades of skin colour; all material and immaterial shapes in the universe. They are present in ALL beings and things. They have made us part of nature and consequently we are duty-bound to look after nature as guardians and stewards. Nature cannot be the private property of a few greedy and selfish individuals.
God ARE ‘all Mothers-Fathers’ who give lifeblood to the whole universe.
To grasp well the full nature of Mother-Father-CREATOR, human language must be reformed and syntax changed. The division of noun-reality into masculine, feminine, singular and plural may be a good grammatical tool to help us define our world but is vastly inadequate to understand fully the nature and attributes of Mother-Father-CREATOR who ARE genderless and plural.
Simplification may be a good initial pedagogical tool but oversimplification can be a dangerous road to general confusion and blindness. Overemphasis on rituals and superficial explanations definitely makes matters worse as believers just skim the surface and essentials deep under are ignored. This gives them a false sense of security and comfort.
Can our notion of the divine influence our thoughts and daily practice and impact on the way we organise life and society?
• Can our perception of “GOD” as blue-eyed, blond-haired and white-skinned generate racist reflexes detrimental to harmony and justice?
• Can our perception of “GOD” as bearded, as “He/Our Father/Papa dan lesiel” generate sexist reflexes detrimental to gender equality?
• Can the perception of “GOD” as the Almighty Judge, King of Heaven, dishing out rewards and punishments, condition us to condone dictatorship and accept theocratic rule to the detriment of human rights and democracy?
• Can the perception of “GOD” as EVERYTHING EVERPRESENT help us develop an eco-friendly mindset and turn us away from our present predator mentality?
Since doubt is the beginning of wisdom, let us start questioning our conviction not to weaken it but to strengthen it by taking the hard road to knowledge and self-knowledge.
Can we be complacent and think like most Mauritians that we know all that is to be known and have no shortcomings we should be ashamed of?
Do we really know who we are? Do we know our place in the universe? Are we aware of all our duties and responsibilities to our environment, the human race and our Mother-Father-CREATOR?
DEV VIRAHSAWMY
Date: 30.05.21