Walk on, O seeker

In addition to bread, what does a man need in order to live? What does a child expect from his father, and an adult from God?

In order to live well, we need an assurance that we will get justice and help in difficulties. We also need an assurance that our problems will not last forever. We should have the faith that God will look after us and our family members. We need the faith that the basic teachings of religion are sound and will ensure our welfare.

And finally, we need to have hope that one day we will achieve our goals.

We also need the realisation that the universe was not created by chance; that there is intelligence and order behind creation. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said God created the world and then died. But the views of spiritual masters on this subject seem more reasonable: God exists, but we cannot intuitively realise this fact due to the presence of impurities such as lust, anger and greed in our minds.

In order to live, we need an assurance that the knowledge that guides our life is sound. At a basic level, we should know that it is wrong to kill, steal, indulge in sensuality, tell lies or take intoxicants. We should know that we have to do socially useful work, take care of our health, and fulfill our responsibilities.

For hard times, we can rely on a simple philosophy: “Do your best in the given circumstances. Keep on trying till the end. Then surrender to the will of God.”

Our focus has to be on following the essential teachings of our religion and living a good life. We do not have to wrack our brains to find out if God exists.

The Buddha said there was no need to try and find out the answer to the question: Does God exist? Our efforts would go waste as the finite mind cannot have cognizance of the nature of the infinite. But we can intuitively get a glimpse of the truth.