When I was 14 years old, I began to explore the atheistic school of thought. Many of its unanswerable questions about theistic beliefs made me grow fond of its logical, rational, and intellectual approach. One of the important questions I asked from this perspective was: Is God male or female? The defense did not provide a clear answer, or at least I was not able to grasp it. Later, when I started reading texts from Tamil philosophy, such as Thevaram and Thiruvasakam, I began to understand something. It is fundamentally wrong to anthropomorphize "God," not from a belief perspective but from a logical one. Our minds are engineered to personify other beings that we cannot comprehend directly, such as Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. We are drawn to seeing non-human beings do things and talk like us. It is fascinating enough to make animals act like humans, but eventually humans began to do the same with God, who is beyond all limitations and containment that we as humans possess.
We cannot comprehend God, yet we try to personify the incomprehensible. So, to answer the question in spotlight, Tamil Siddhanta philosophy describes God like this: God is He, She, Gender neutral and It, which in a way means everything. But this sounded too shallow and weak, for my atheistic alter ego. "Give me one answer, if you can't then I don't have a reason to believe in your fairy tales." That's how I ended those arguments.
Then the other day, I was studying the significance of the number 'Zero' and was telling my younger brother how revolutionary number 'Zero' is in the field of mathematics and science, to the best of my humble knowledge; He couldn't really get it. To him, the words sounded superficial. He was just 10 years old by then. What fascinated my mind simply meant nothing to my brother, what distinguished our views here? Maturity of thought. It was only at that moment that I realized the vast difference in our levels of understanding and maturity. While I was able to appreciate the depth and complexity of the idea, my brother was still too young and inexperienced to fully comprehend it. This experience only further solidified the importance of continual learning and growth in order to truly understand and appreciate the world around us.
As I continued to study what was written, it also became important to study what was not written. Nature, stars, little insects, people above and below my knowledge level, their perception of life, their reactions to happenings around them, and innumerable questions began to emerge from my mind, all with no clue how distant the answers were to each of them. And as these answers surfaced one by one, the interconnected nature of the answers made me feel ashamed of my insular approach to God and how I had been looking at a huge puzzle through a keyhole, jumping to quick conclusions about it.
So to conclude what's only the beginning of incomprehensible contemplation I am about to write further, "GOD" is a word way too inadequate to make our minds understand about it fully; and that doesn't mean we should dismiss it as impossible and get on with our lives. It means, we need to continuously try and grow to a level where you can experience it so "describing" or "naming" or "explaining" about it no longer matters. That is the vantage point from where Saints like Manickavasagar and other saints are describing what they have experienced; like stepping down the magnitude of vast power to a small device so it can operate on it's capacity.
I agree that this system comes with its own set of vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Unfortunately, these weaknesses coupled with people's ignorance in mass, are exploited by those who are deceitful and manipulative, leading them to rise in popularity as fake godmen.
This can be extremely frustrating for rational thinkers, who may feel disillusioned and betrayed by the actions of these charlatans. As a result, some may turn away from their belief in God out of anger and resentment towards the cunning individuals who have abused the trust of the community. This is a tragic outcome, as it serves to undermine the integrity and authenticity of genuine spiritual belief and practice.
Which is why, we should encourage our children to read, study and understand what was written in an absolute selfless state, by saints like Manickavasagar, Thirugnanasambandar, Sundarar, Thirunavukkarasar, Vallalar, Pamban Swamigal etc. to truly understand and progress in the quest of God. Which brings us to today's Thiruvempavai stanza, #18.
The Verse
அண்ணாமலையான் அடிக்கமலம் சென்று இறைஞ்சும்
aNNA malaiyAn adikkamalam chenRiRainychum
விண்ணோர் முடியின் மணித் தொகை வீறு அற்றாற்போல
viNNOr mudiyin maNiththokai vIRaRRArpOl
கண் ஆர் இரவி கதிர் வந்து கார் கரப்பத்
kaNNAr iravi kadhirvan^dhu kArkarappath
தண்ணார் ஒளி மழுங்கித் தாரகைகள் தாம் அகலப்
thaNNAr oLimazuN^gith thArakaikaL thAmakalap
பெண்ணாகி ஆணாய் அலியாய்ப் பிறங்கு ஒளி சேர்
peNNAgi ANAy aliyAyp piRaN^goLichEr
விண்ணாகி மண்ணாகி இத்தனையும் வேறாகிக்
viNNAgi maNNAgi iththanaiyum vERAgik
கண்ணார் அமுதமுமாய் நின்றான் கழல் பாடிப்
kaNNAr amudhamumAy n^inRAn kazalpAdip
பெண்ணே இப்பூம்புனல் பாய்ந்து ஆடேலோர் எம்பாவாய்
peNNEip pUmpunalpAyn^dhu AdElOr empAvAy
Translates to
Oh woman! Let us dance to the praises of Annamalaiyan, the Lord Siva of Thiruvannamalai. Celestial beings bow down to his blinding, luminous feet in worship and plead for his grace; When they do, the brightest stones in their crowns appear as dull as stars in front of the sun during the day. He encompasses the infinite sky, the vast earth, and everything in between, appearing in the form of male, female, and transgender, also while remaining different from all of these. He is an elixir for the eyes. So come, let us dive into this sacred water and dance and sing the grace of his feet!
Message
This stanza simply highlights the greatness of Lord Siva (or Allah or Jesus's Father) and how it shines bright blinding the shine of celestial being's crown jewels; Now that's the literal meaning. Diving deeper, we can understand that the crown jewels are symbolized as our ego, pride and powers as human beings;
So is Saint Manickavasagar demotivating and discouraging human abilities? No, he just reminds us to stay humble no matter how powerful or bright or strong we grow, for we are bound to birth, death and ignorance in between. What we see always hides from our sight, something yet to be seen.
The notion of how God is everything also while being different from everything or anything is also key to this stanza. According to Tamil philosophy, God acts closely, as a form of energy that animates and sustains material existence, to experience the world through bodily senses. Yet, God remains untouched and unaffected by the experiences of individual souls. This mysterious and profound duality leaves us no option than to bow down and praise (his,her,it's) greatness.
See you soon with Stanza #19.
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