Ignorance of Reality is a DARK zone inside us

What's meant by 'Logic' in the sales pitch for the book 'The God Concept'? (www.genialsenior.com)

Truth to tell, when we are ignorant of any subject, we can describe it as a state of darkness inside us about that subject. Once upon a time, when everyone believed that the earth was flat, we did not realize there was an area of darkness in us because there was no obvious contra indication (the presence of a round earth) on the subject. But we now accept that there was indeed an area of ignorance or darkness inside us on that subject at one time.

Lack of awareness of our ignorance on any subject never prevented us from leading 'normal' lives.

We continued waking up in the mornings, sipping the morning coffee over the breakfast, and going to work on the jobs we held. We held forth on our learned opinions on subjects of politics, religions and personal relationships.

In short, even as we were eating and sleeping, and loving and fighting, and praising and criticising the the things we loved and hated, we were without a thought for the ignorance (or darkness) inside us. Ignoring the darkness, or not knowing about its presence in us, didn't do anything to dissuade us from living out our lives in full measure.

Yet, it was present there all the time, that ignorance of important subjects. We didn't know, and we didn't know we didn't know. Yet it, that darkness, was present all the same.

It was the elephant in the room.

Absence of knowledge of TRUE Reality about our real selves is, likewise, really a 'region' of ignorance inside us. And ignorance is really an area of darkness inside us. We may be unaware of its presence, or if aware, we tend to ignore or cover up that darkness in our busy daily schedules: feverish physical activities, professional work, religious fervour....

Religious faith and worship of God are a huge part of our lives. Prayers are important whereby we appeal to Gods to keep us safe, provides us with all our physical needs, and defuse any and all threats from our enemies.

Pleased with our prayers, devotion, blind faith, etc., in God, we hope that God will take us under His care here on earth and put us up in Heaven after we leave earth. There is even an unspoken fear of a punishing God, punishment for some sin we commit in life, like failing to please the God knowingly or otherwise.

Knowingly or unknowingly, we have become absolute, compulsive, devotees to religion and God. Exuberantly so. Passionately so. Questioning our faith in God is treated as blasphemy! We invoke God's name in everything we do. We fight the non-believers and hope that God has seen us defending Him on earth. Surely He will reward us with a place in Heaven, next to God Himself!

Does God do that? Will he be pleased with our blind devotion and superstitious practices in His name? Does He show favouritism between one devotee of one religion and another devotee of another religion?

Arising from that, WHAT IS GOD'S OWN PREFERRED RELIGION?

This is the BLINDSPOT in our lives. We have no idea about God, and what is that God's own preference when it comes to choosing a favourite from amongst the crowd out there.

The lack of knowledge of TRUE Reality about God and our exact relationship with God is an area of darkness inside us. We can ignore, as we have ignored, that darkness all the time, all our lives, in the belief that the religion we follow is the real religion to follow, and the God we pray to is the real God to worship. Approved by God Himself. So there!

But, be assured, it is not all cut-and-dried like we would like to believe.

Our lack of awareness of the true nature of God and our relationship to Him is very much an area of ignorance inside all of us. This darkness is very much present in us.

It is that elephant in the room. The one we have tried to overlook, ignore, pretend not to have noticed. It is there. Staring at us all the while.

The fundamental purpose of our trying to please God through prayers and devotion is to "go to Heaven" after our deaths (and to live comfortably here while living on earth). 'Liberation' from the life on earth and going to Heaven after death is the accepted belief in all religions. All our twistings and churnings on earth in the name of religious fervour while celebrating festivals and undertaking pilgrimages are in the hope that God will notice us having made ourselves abject slaves to Him.

To an unbiased observer, what we do in this manner to placate the Gods really looks like bribery and flattery. Would you agree? Just think about it. Of what use are to God the words of praise and earthly offerings and cash that we plonk at His feet?

Will God be pleased with such flattery and bribes from us? Do you really believe so? What kind of God will that be who can be flattered and bribed by us on earth?

Liberation from the human existence is not a status we achieve by going to Heaven after death. The Sanskrit word for Liberation is 'MOKSHA'. Liberation is the clearing up of the darkness inside us about our true nature while still living on earth.

Think of it like this: we are in a dark room (let it represent the darkness inside us, in our minds) and we are seeking to get enlightenment. We pray to God for light, we practice single-minded devotion and do prayers and penance, hoping for God to infuse our surroundings with bright light of Knowledge.

We do this year after year, a whole lifetime, in fact. What happens?

Nothing!

Nothing happens that way. The Darkness in the room (in our Mind!) doesn't disappear by 'Bhakti Yoga' (devoted prayers) alone. It doesn't go by 'Karma Yoga' alone (labouring hard to pump out the darkness in buckets day in and day out, by service to humanity, by philanthropy, giving alms to the poor, building fabulous new temples to God, etc.), either.

It will disappear only when we apply the LOGIC of searching, groping, for the switch and pushing it to ON position to get rid of the darkness once for all. That switch is 'Jnana Yoga' (the State of Ultimate Knowledge). The logic here lies in aquiring the knowledge to press the switch to ON position, not merely in hoping it to happen through faith or hardwork, by the grace God or the Guru.

God and the Guru have shown us the path. It is for us to act on their methods, and aquire the knowledge to press the switch.

That is a subject of philosophy. Philosophy is NOT same as religion.

Logic is philosophy.

Logic lets us enjoy our religion with much deeper understanding, unattended by superstition and self-delusion. Logic improves our devotion, and we see why we are so hung up on a God we have never seen with our five senses of eyes, ears, etc.

Our love of God is now without superstition.

'The God Concept' explains that logic in a scientific way, easy for modern day world to understand.