“Why are we here?” Unfortunately, when pious humans conceived of God, their conception was limited to a God
they could see and touch, a higher power with whom they could actively interact. They assigned to God a physi
cal form, a gender, and emotional attributes, thereby planting the seed for organized religion.
God in organized religion is often portrayed as a glorified human being—omnipotent, compassionate,
and forgiving. The problem with the God of organized religion is that different groups identify God in unique
physical forms, assign Him various characteristics, and create sets of rules to which they pledge their allegiance.
Those who disagree with and question the veracity of one group’s concept of God become a threat to that
group’s identity, beliefs, and security. Naturally, any group devoted to a certain God would protect their particu
lar beliefs and interests at any cost.
Throughout history, priests and kings—men with influence—have used organized religion to advance
their own agendas. They have found ways to control the masses by tapping into basic human insecurities and
stoking passion in the name of God. In many instances, organized religion has been used by leaders as a politi
cal tool to enhance a particular powerbase. This use of religion has done a grave disservice to humankind by
polarizing religious groups and nurturing mistrust among people, rather than uniting people under one banner to
work for a common good.
How have we allowed religion to play such a negative role in human history? How have we failed to fix
the problems that spirituality might so readily address? Religion, like a mother tongue, offers an individual iden
tity and a sense of belonging. For fear of losing these benefits, we are reluctant to challenge an established reli
gious ideology. We are usually unwilling to confront an entrenched concept unless it poses a direct threat to our
survival.
While religious zealots were busy selling their version of God to the masses, a few intellectuals went on
a spiritual expedition to understand our Maker as it exists. These philosophers and seekers remind us that nei
ther we nor our ancestors created this world or the universe. In fact, with all the progress we have made in sci
ence and technology, we have yet to fathom the basic secrets of Nature. Consider a simple concept like gravity,
which took a long time for us to theorize. Even now, we are unable to explain the source of gravity and the existence of dark matter that prevails in the universe. Who designed the universe? How do we explain our exis
tence— the energy source that animates our bodies (i.e., our souls) and the time, place and circumstances of our
arrival and departure from this earth? When we recognize the sheer number of inexplicable aspects surrounding
us, in our own world and beyond, most of us conclude that there is a force much greater than us at work in the
universe. I call this force Nature or our Maker, and I believe it is responsible for creating, regulating, and man
aging the universe and its inhabitants.
Once we acknowledge Nature and understand its attributes, we have the option to shape our actions ac
cordingly. We all need a spiritual reference point to guide our thoughts and actions. Our Maker, Nature, serves
this purpose, drawing a clear line between right and wrong. The absence of direct and corroborative evidence of
our Maker’s existence does not mean it does not exist. Belief and faith in a higher power is a mainstay of hu
man cultures the world over, despite the absence of absolute proof of its existence. We might even argue that
spiritual belief is an inescapable part of human culture. Believing in a perfect and absolute higher power is a
crucial step in life if any of us is to enjoy stability, as it is faith that offers a firm anchor to our thoughts and a
balance to our baser tendencies. Belief in our Maker encourages us to both to care for ourselves and to think of
how our actions affect our fellow human beings.
Belief in a higher power takes many forms. A Catholic and a Muslim both believe in one God and the
possibility of a rewarding afterlife. A Jew believes in an Old Testament God and atonement during this lifetime.
Hindus and Buddhists believe in God and reincarnation. While an atheist might reject the idea of God, he or she
most likely has faith in the power of the Higher Self. Underlying the specific differences in these spiritual phi
losophies is a desire to hold individuals accountable for their actions. Good-natured Christians, Muslims, Jews,
Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists strive to make this world a better place by holding themselves and others ac
countable for the good of society. Accountability balances the opposite human tendency toward selfishness and
irresponsibility. Accountability is the cornerstone of an individual’s healthy attitude and the crux of a civilized
society. When both individuals and cultures value accountability, the result is a peaceful, prosperous and pro
ductive world. Let us examine what would happen if we felt accountable only to ourselves. History shows that the
abuse human beings perpetrate on one another knows no boundaries. Many individuals even take advantage of a
situation by asserting their belief in the greater good of humanity but acting in a way that benefits only them.
We cannot expect individuals to police themselves and be accountable for their actions; the result would be di
sastrous.
We also cannot hold each other accountable on a spiritual level, since it is humanly impossible to survey
each other’s thoughts and intentions. If an individual is cunning and crafty, he or she can commit venal acts
without detection, thereby escaping any legal or social penalty that might exist. The very idea that one individu
al can cheat another and get away with it is temptation enough for many people to act on their selfish impulses.
As a result, our ancestors came up with the following strategy: let each of us be accountable to a higher power—
God.
This strategy would work without a hitch if only we could demonstrate how God handles the issue of
accountability. Unfortunately, there are many instances in which a crafty villain cheats, loots, commits despica
ble acts, and lives happily ever after incognito. It would appear in these instances that both society and God
have failed to recognize the misdeeds of that individual and hold him or her accountable. But has such an evildo
er truly escaped from our Maker?
No two human beings are born with the same advantages or disadvantages in life. Some lucky individu
als are born healthy, attractive, talented, and surrounded by loving, caring, affluent families. For these individu
als, just by virtue of the circumstances they are born into, many opportunities are available to them, and they
tend to enjoy stress-free, happy, wonderful lives. On the other hand, many unlucky individuals are born with
mental, physical, spiritual, and situational challenges. For instance, a baby born to an irresponsible, immature,
selfish drug addict or prostitute has to fight every step of the way just to survive. Unlucky individuals may ask
what have they done wrong to deserve this kind of treatment. They might wonder why are they being punished
for no fault of their own. The real question here is why are some people born with all the advantages while oth
ers are not? To explain this inequity, some religions argue that our Maker punishes an individual soul for its past
deeds through reincarnation. The idea of reincarnation says that after death, each of us returns to this world or
another to pay the dues for our misdeeds in this lifetime. No one can demonstrate scientifically the validity of
this concept. However, logic above even spiritual certainty compels me to believe in reincarnation. This concept
has certainly put me on notice and prompted me to be accountable for my actions in every area of my life. My
belief in reincarnation discourages me from behaving as I please without regard for the well-being of others.
Let us now, regardless of our individual religious beliefs, entertain the possibility that our ancestors
made an unfortunate error in assigning human attributes to the force that made the universe and us, its inhabit
ants. Let us consider the possibility that our Maker is an enigmatic, eternal, invisible but invincible entity with
an agenda of its own: justice in its purest form, light in its brightest form, energy in its cleanest form, and the
truth in its absolute form. Our Maker is the one and only perfect force that permeates the universe. Its domain is
beyond our comprehension. Our Maker, Nature, is not human or humanoid. It has neither a physical form nor a
compassionate disposition. We are accountable to Nature; Nature is not accountable to us. Nature has set terms
and conditions for the existence of this world and its inhabitants. Its priorities are not the same as ours. For in
stance, species have come and gone over the ages, but life has continued to exist in one form or another. While
we should care about the preservation of other species to protect our own interests and the balance of life on our
planet, we should also understand that Nature is concerned not with any specific life form, but only with the ex
istence of a life form.
It is in our best interest to understand Nature as it exists and relate to it on its terms. Nature is a perfect
force; therefore forgiveness is not a necessary part of its vocabulary. Forgiveness is in fact human rather than
divine. Because we are human and thus imperfect, we make mistakes. Resolution of our mistakes does not
come from Nature. The only resolution is to acknowledge what we have done wrong, correct it if possible, and
learn a valuable lesson from it. Most importantly, we must endure the consequences of our mistakes with cour
age and strength. Finally, we must forgive ourselves and one another to close the chapter and move forward.
We must strive to be perfect like Nature but at the same time understand that we never will reach that goal. It
must be enough for us to improve—to learn and grow—knowing that perfection is not possible in this lifetime. It is not uncommon or unrealistic, however, to expect our hard work to pay off within our lifespan, al
though we must keep in mind that Nature’s awareness of time is vastly different from our own. The time be
tween a human birth and a human death is a speck compared to eternity. Indeed, future generations often reap
the benefits of a current generation’s hard work. We must understand that despite all our efforts, progress may
be delivered to us piecemeal or otherwise not in the manner we expect. Building beautiful lives for ourselves
while also trying to make this world a better place may take a very long time, because progress is scheduled on
Nature’s timeline, not on ours. Once we realize the nature of progress, we are suddenly able to keep sight of the
noblest of goals, to move forward with patience rather than disappointment or discouragement. Acknowledging
Nature helps us to focus on the process and not distress over the final outcome.
Connecting with our Maker, Nature, helps us to recognize the realities of human life on Earth. It encour
ages humility. It helps us to avoid the kinds of mistakes that come with characterizing God in human terms, and
it also gives us the courage to accept responsibility when we do make mistakes. The more fully we understand
Nature and the closer we are aligned with it, the more refined our behavior will be, and the happier we will be
in our lives.
[Our Maker is the one and only perfect force that permeates the universe]