Picture by Gargi (Lakshmi): Krishna telling Uddhava: “Satsang–the company of enlightened ones–helps the devotee to break all attachments.
An interesting documentary tells how a magician was able to duplicate the feats of Uri Geller (famous entertainer who “psychically ” bends spoons, etc.), he also intercepted radio feeds to a healer/minister Peter Popoff from his wife, who was telling him in an earpiece the names and conditions of people who attended his mega-church (attendees turned in cards with names, addresses and medical conditions they wanted healed when they entered the church). This magician, James Randi, even coached others to fool academics studying psychic abilities (he also simultaneously coached the academics to be more rigorous as well, but they oftentimes failed to follow his advice).
This all brought to my mind skeptics of God, the spiritual path itself and the results claimed by spiritual masters. Let us set aside any claims of the miraculous, which all true spiritual masters minimize even though we all enjoy stories of extraordinary dimensions concerning God and saints. Instead, we will focus on what is essential to all the great teachings: being established in the true self (which feels to have an eternal nature), to have a clear and expanded consciousness, and to be in a state of mind that is blissful; what in India is called sat-chid-ananda.
Take away the notions of a transcendent God—the simple discovery that man has the capacity to experience transformative peace, bliss and clear consciousness without the use of drugs, alcohol or other stimulants would be of vast importance. In fact, as reported by all those who attain states of sat-chid-ananda, all other experiences that many people use to find happiness (drugs/alcohol, sex, gambling, etc.), all pale into insignificance by comparison.
Here is the interesting problem for skeptics of God; there is a universal tendency that experiences in sat-chid-ananda make one convinced of a Supreme Being and Consciousness, even if he or she was a skeptic before. In addition, for the attainment of these states of mind, faith in just such a Divine Being accelerates entering into this healthy beatific awareness.
For psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists there are many studies (just a few of these are Michael King of UCL, Sbarra at the University of Arizona, Canadian and British Journals of Psychiatry) that speak of the salubrious effect of going to church and having faith in God. For instance those who regularly attend church report a greater rating of happiness than those who do not; belief in God boosts the immune system, decreases blood pressure, increases life expectancy, and decreases acts of suicide; the more intimate and loving God is perceived, the greater the effect.
This all speaks to the fact that if you want to maximum happiness and health then belief in God and regular attendance of spiritual services are the ways to reach that goal. Make God more intimate and loving and you greatly accelerate the outcomes.
I was fascinated to watch this debunking documentary; the search for truth is a common ground upon which we can all meet. It offended this magician to see others claiming that what they did could only be done through telekinesis or telepathy, when he could he could easily duplicate them as a magician. And when the conditions were properly set to foil a magician’s tricks, those claiming higher powers could not perform.
However, I see no substitute for achieving the same results of attaining peace, consciousness, and bliss sans being in a close and loving relationship with God. You need not, nor should you, suspend your reasoning mind when entering your spiritual quest, but happily, reason tells you that faith in a Supreme Being greatly accelerates your attaining the goal of lasting happiness.