Whose Version of God is Right?
The goddess Kali. Click to enlarge.
Hinduism is one of the oldest and most sacred and in-depth religions that we have. There are over one billion adherents throughout the world and some Hindus believe that the divine, or the ultimate God, manifests in the form of a wrathful, black woman known as Kali. Kali is God. This powerful goddess has long hair, is very skinny, black and is known to be extremely violent and very fierce – she drinks blood, slays demons and eats their intestines.
For the last 5,000 years, the ancient, philosophical and deeply rich culture of India has seen God in the form of this black woman called Kali. For hundreds of generations, this has been their belief and through worship of this deity, incredible saints (such as Ramakrishna) have arisen out of India and benefited society at large. You can Google about Ramakrishna yourselves. The worship of God in the form of Kali has been in India before the appearance of many other religions.
But can God be a black, wrathful woman? The reality is that each culture, continent and race has their version of God, of what God should and should not be, and what God does and does not look like. Versions of God that do not conform to our ideas, culture, belief and projection, are dismissively labelled as evil, negative or bad and we insult those versions as being demons. But this is illogical to insult another culture’s form of God because ultimately no one can prove or disprove anything.
A graphic statue of the Hindu goddess Kali, worshiped for thousands of years as the manifestation of the divine. Click to enlarge.
That approach however, is completely wrong. At the end of the day, every person who has started a religion has said that they have seen, heard or communicated with God. They will give you their ‘vision’ of God and their followers will say their founder is accurate. So who’s to say who is right and who is wrong? On what basis are we qualified in order to determine which God is right and which is wrong? If we want harmony and peace, then we should not dismiss or insult another person’s version of God. To say one person’s religion or God is bad or evil just because they do not fit your particular culture, upbringing, familiarity and stereotype, is the source of conflict; trying to prove which God is superior and authentic is what creates disharmony. No one’s God can be more authentic than another’s. It does not make sense.
It is not gods who fight but humans, and humans use their particular stereotypes of God to judge one another’s belief systems. That however, is where major problems, issues and difficulties arise from. Why can God not be anything other than what our culture tells us he or she is? Why does it have to be only one way and not any other way? Divinity can show itself in many forms and manifestations. It does not have to be the particular manifestation that is familiar to us, thereby making everybody else wrong. To claim that our preferred manifestation of God is the only valid one, is to limit God’s manifestations and that would not be very God-like at all. To limit what God should and should not look like demeans the very power of God we say God is imbued with. After all God, should be unlimited.
So for some people, God is an old man who wears a white tunic, bears a long white beard and resides in the clouds. To others, God is invisible and has no form, while other people believe God is a powerful female who is black and drinks blood. All are valid. Why not?
Respect all religions. Respect all forms of the divine. What is important is we all live in peace and acceptance. There is room for all forms of God.
Tsem Rinpoche
(Originally published on 23rd July 2019, https://www.facebook.com/TsemTulkuRinpoche/photos/a.10150226829158785/10156462223108785/)
Kali Thangka
Click on image to enlarge
(Top to bottom): Kali and Dorje Shugden
Deity: Kali (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Lhamo Tromo (Tibetan)
Kali is a Hindu goddess whose name means ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’. However, she is also known by other epithets and has many forms. For Hindus, she embodies the very essence of time and hence, she is believed to devour all things. She is a goddess of time, death and destruction but also the goddess of rebirth and growth as all things new must have its causes in something old. She is widely worshipped by gods and men and in some traditions, she has also come to represent the benevolence of a mother goddess.
In Hindu Tantra, Kali embodies shakti, the feminine power, creativity and fertility, and she is widely considered to be the incarnation of Parvati, the goddess consort of Shiva. She is widely represented in art as a wrathful figure bearing a necklace of heads, a skirt of arms, a lolling tongue and brandishing a knife dripping with the blood of the slain demons.
Deity: Dorje Shugden (Tibetan)
Alternative name: Vajra Rudra (Sanskrit)
Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. He took the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard the Buddha’s teachings, especially the important teachings on the Middle Way View. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Thus, he has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind, and create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish. Furthermore, he carries a jewel-spitting mongoose and a vajra hook to symbolise that he has the tremendous ability to bestow wealth and resources.
Click here for more beautiful thangkas.
Ten-Armed Kali Thankga
Click on image to enlarge
(Top to bottom): Kali and Dorje Shugden
Deity: Kali (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Lhamo Tromo (Tibetan)
Kali is a Hindu goddess whose name means ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’. However, she is also known by other epithets and has many forms. For Hindus, she embodies the very essence of time and hence, she is believed to devour all things. Kali is a goddess of time, death and destruction, and is also the goddess of rebirth and growth as all things new must have its causes in something old. She is widely worshipped by gods and men and in some traditions, she has come to represent the benevolence of a mother goddess.
In Hindu Tantra, Kali embodies shakti (feminine power), creativity and fertility, and she is widely considered to be the incarnation of Parvati, the goddess consort of Shiva. She is widely represented in art as a wrathful figure bearing a necklace of heads, a skirt of arms, a lolling tongue and brandishing a knife dripping with the blood of the slain demons.
Deity: Dorje Shugden (Tibetan)
Alternative name: Vajra Rudra (Sanskrit)
Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. He took the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard the Buddha’s teachings, especially the important teachings on the Middle Way View. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Thus, he has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind, and create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish. Furthermore, he carries a jewel-spitting mongoose and a vajra hook to symbolise that he has the tremendous ability to bestow wealth and resources.
Click here for more beautiful thangkas.
For more interesting information:
- Hindu Cosmic Family
- For My Hindu Friends
- Beautiful Hindu Temples
- Vegetarianism: Catholic and Hindu views
- Special Hindu Festival
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Gods can be manifest in many forms since nobody knows the actual form of a God. Same goes to Buddha, Kali, Dorje Shugden or which divinity we belief in. In Buddhism, we study on emptiness which means formless. Therefore, is the people expectation of their stereotype of God they strongly worship or believes. We shouldn’t be one-sided.
Everybody had their own choice of divinity whether we see it as good or bad we should show respect and be compassion. Somehow, the motivation is always be kind and generous.
Is the human mind that judge, to use certain stereotypes to differ every belief systems. Or it is fear, the lack of understanding about how the divine runs in the world.
The Divine is limitless, it has no forms. Human mind are limits, thats why they fight, fear of not being good enough, or having good enough. Gods dont fight, gods said everyone is equal.
Thank you Pastor Niral for sharing this article. I do come across people would like to highlight or even fight which God or religion is greater or more powerful. What do they want to achieve or have in mind? Of course people would like to believe their God or religion is the best which is totally fine. However, it is not right when they impose their belief on others and start giving negative comments to change our perception when they know nothing about our belief. Ultimately whatever religion or God we believe in , we should be promoting peace, harmony and love. Arguing will not bring positive impact. Respect everyone’s choice.
Thank you Rinpoche, Kechara Pastors and Friends. Thought you may enjoy this one Pastor Patel, Know it is with great with thanks and perhaps you have heard it before. All the best to you.
‘Now I’m sure that most of you know the old story about the astronaut who went far out into space and was asked on his return whether he had been to heaven and seen God and he said yes. And so they said to him, “Well, what about God?” And he said “She is black.” And although this is a very well known and well worn story, it is very profound.’ ~ Alan Watts