Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
What I hear SH saying is that there is no evidence of the existence of God. In what way do you see this position as being a product of ego? If anything, the insistence of the existence of God without evidence seems to point to ego: The individual has anxiety/fear of the unknown and his ego constructs the notion of God and all that goes with it, in order t ...[text shortened]... idual then defends his notion of God in order to protect that which alleviates his anxiety/fear.
The Saints and theistic philosophers that India has produced over the ages are innumerable. Many of them are living today. Their sayings, the poetry or prose that they wrote, the advice that they gave to the troubled and the unhappy is all very well known and in many cases written down. None--- I repeat NONE-- of these persons have exhibited any anxiety of any kind, let alone fear of the unknown. On the contrary, their overridingly common characteristics were Confidence and Serenity. They had firsthand Knowledge of God and this experience is enough to liberate anyone from all earthly chains and bonds like ego and fear and so on.
I am not insisting on the existence of God. This is a matter of personal belief and moreover that of direct experience. I am on my way there but I have yet to realize God. I wish, though, that I could convince you or Sonhouse in some way of the existence of God. Sonhouse is a grandfather. So I did ask him sometime ago, whether when looking at the smile of his grandchild he was not convinced of the existence of God. I do not think he replied that.
Unless one gets one's ego out of the way, there is no learning possible. Surely, that is there in your Psychology Primer that you are chucking at me ?