“Where Does Belief In A Supreme Being Come From?”
by Kelvin Chin
Life After Life Expert
Think about this question in whatever area of life that is easiest for you to ponder. It does not have to be religion. How about business? Politics? Education? Law? Science? Heck, how about relationships and family?
I think this idea applies to any area of life.
Now, first let’s clarify. I’m not suggesting that having a leader to organize a social unit in any of the above (or any other areas I didn’t mention) is unhelpful. Of course, from a purely “help the social unit function better” standpoint, having an organizational structure with managers and some reporting system is often useful.
That’s not what I’m talking about here.
I’m talking about belief in a being who is given absolute control over all decisions. With no possibility of input from any other entity.
Where does the need for the desire and belief — and attempt to create such a person — arise from?
I think it comes from the belief that “control of others” helps us have a happier life. And that having a being who ultimately has “absolute control” over other people will definitely allow us — finally — to be happy.
So we invent such a being. We do that through the structure of the area we are talking about. If it’s religion, we use our minds. If it’s politics, we may use an election. If it’s business or law, we may simply appoint the person.
But why? Why do we feel the need to put someone in that position of absolute control over everything and everyone?
I think it is because we feel “out of control.”
And because we feel out of control, we fear the future. We feel “uncertain” about what may happen to us next.
And our solution is to invent someone who has absolute control over other people and things because we don’t have that control.
But is control the real problem? Is that the true issue?
I think not.
I think the real problem is that our desire to control arises from our insecurities. What do I mean?
I think when we are feeling less confident about our own abilities to solve whatever life problems we may be facing — growing crops, disputes with neighbors, winning a sports game, or completing a business deal — we look outside ourselves for a “life preserver.” And depending on how much at a loss we are feeling — how desperate we are — determines how much control we give to that person.
And we think that will solve our problem. Or problems.
We think by successfully delegating all of our control to someone else, we will succeed all the time. And be happy.
However, this assumes of course that the supreme being we have invented (or elected or appointed) always has our best interests in mind.
Hmmmm.
And so that would assume that supreme being has no self interest of their own.
Food for thought.
Sounds risky, right? Have you ever heard of anyone who does not have their own self to take care of? And wouldn’t it make sense that their taking care of themselves would be important to them?
Seems reasonable to me. We should all take care of ourselves first and foremost. Nothing wrong with that!
But what if that person’s self interest doesn’t always match up with ours? Starting to sound more risky, right?
So what’s the “least risky” route?
I think the best bet — where to put one’s money — is on ourselves first.
Strengthening ourselves from within reduces the need for controlling other people and things outside of us. None of which we (or anyone else) can ever have absolute control over anyway.
Because, even if we are seemingly successful in inventing a supreme being and giving them absolute control over us and everything else, we soon discover they actually don’t have the absolute control over everything we had hoped for. Or worse, we may discover to our dismay that they never really had our best interest in mind. And they only had their own selfish reasons for applying for the position of supreme being, and we may regret having deluded ourselves by thinking that a supreme being would save us.
So maybe inventing, electing or appointing a supreme being is not the answer to creating that permanent state of happiness we yearn for. Maybe the answer has always been that a supreme being has never needed to be invented. And that strengthening ourselves from within is all that has been needed to dissipate our fears and our perceived need for such absolute control.
That may be the more likely — and much less risky — route to a life of happiness.
Kelvin H. Chin is a Meditation Teacher, Life After Life Expert, and Author of “Overcoming the Fear of Death,” “Marcus Aurelius Updated: 21st Century Meditations On Living Life” and “After the Afterlife: Memories of My Past Lives.” He learned to meditate at age 19, and has been teaching Turning Within Meditation and coaching others in their self-growth for 40 years. He helps people understand their life challenges through their individual belief systems, and helps them find their own solutions. His past life memories reach back many centuries, and he accesses those memories in his teaching and his coaching in the same way all coaches draw on their own available experiences for perspective and effective analogies. He can be reached at www.TurningWithin.org.