A Rebuttal to “Reality at Dawn” by Ram Chandra—Chapter 1, Paragraph 1, A
Author: Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, also known as Babuji
Author’s Credits: Ram Chandra was a spiritual leader and the founder of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, a spiritual organization that teaches the Sahaj Marg system of Raja Yoga. He was known for his contributions to spiritual literature and for promoting a heart-centered approach to meditation and personal transformation.
Opening Statement
In the first chapter of his book, Reality at Dawn, entitled “Religion,” Mr. Chandra presents a rather negative view of religion. His view, however, is somewhat understandable due to the fact that religion, over the course of history, has split and subdivided into almost 50,000 denominations and facets.
I’m afraid that the writer of this book may be guilty of doing what many people are doing today. It seems that from birth, we are often inundated with religious influences, which vary significantly based on our country of origin.
By the time we become adults, most have formed their own bias, and opinionated views. Those people, for the most part, will talk to friends, relatives, or co-workers, about religion, but when someone who really knows God through His word the Bible comes along, they have very little time to set aside for them. Why? It seems that this may be because they are entrenched in their views and resistant to being challenged.
On the other hand, some look at it in just the opposite way. When it comes to their worship to God, when it’s shown they could make some adjustments in order to serve God better, then they say let me be proven wrong and let God be right!
These are the people I aim to reach. I enjoy people who are open to reevaluating their beliefs for a deeper understanding of how we can serve God better.
Therefore, if my observations resonate with you or provoke thought that may improve your worship, I warmly invite you to share your insights with me through the Contact Us page on this website.
Now, let’s begin with my observations on Chapter 1, Religion, of Reality at Dawn.
My Observation — A Rebuttal to Reality at Dawn
Below is my observation from the little that I have read in this book so far, and from knowing something about the author himself.
I am not saying that it’s happening here, but let me begin by admitting that I tend to question any man who from a religious standpoint is trying to make a name for themselves. I question whether they care more about presenting true facts, or more about gaining popularity in what they say. Keep in mind that popularity brings big-money to religious leaders who gain fame for themselves. To contrast this with the most famous religious teacher of all times, Jesus said of himself, “… Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” (Matthew 8:20; also see Luke 9:58) It’s also worth noting that Jesus died with little more than the clothes on his back to distribute among others.
Pause and Read
Luke 9:58, “Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (the DRA Bible)
Again, let me be clear, I am not saying that everyone who has gained popularity for themselves is a gold digger who does not care about the true facts. But I am saying it’s a cause for us to be concerned and cautious. Or, at the very least, it is something for us to think about.
The truth about these men or women will come out in what they say and teach others. So, let’s look at this material together and see if Ram Chandra is more interested in promoting himself and his own ideas, or is he more interested in teaching true facts about his subject matter?
Let’s now take a look at the book “Reality at Dawn”. I will post all quotes from this book in vivid-red text.
Reality At Dawn Chapter 1 – Religion, Paragraph 1, A
Paragraph 1 A,: The quest of mankind, ever since its birth has been to worship God, to unravel the mysteries behind the outward appearances and to grasp the fundamental truth. This is the genesis of religion. The worshipper has before his eyes the eternal bliss of the paradise or some similar view which he aims at as his final approach. There have thus arisen religions in the world with their prescribed forms and rituals, based upon the personal practical experiences of their great founders. But after the lapse of thousands of years, when the entire surroundings have changed and life has undergone a radical transformation, the same old forms and principles are being adhered to.
Please Note: I have highlighted a few text above in bold with underscoring, for referencing my comments below…
The True Genesis of Religion, Our Eternal Bless for Paradise, and the Old Forms and Principles
The claim that humanity’s inherent quest has always been to worship God and understand the fundamental truths behind appearances sets a broad stage. However, when it comes to mankind’s need for worship, the simple truth is that we were created this way. Our wise and loving creator put within us a need for worship, just as He did with our need for family, and a strong desire to bond with our fellow humans.
So yes! Deep within us all is a strong desire to worship our creator, regardless of who we may think that is. It seems that throughout the ages man cannot be truly happy without having his gods to worship.
But this is not necessarily a bad thing as the author of this book seems to be suggesting. The search for truth about God began when Adam and Eve rejected God’s right to set rules for them that would protect them, and then placed them outside of God’s protective care.
They rejected God’s right to do this when they agreed with a rebellious angel who told them “You certainly will not die” from eating what God told you not to eat, “For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”
Let’s stop and think about the lie this fallen angel was telling Eve. — In other words, this rebellious angel, now known as Satan, was telling Eve that, “You will be like gods yourself. You will be able to decide for yourself what is right for you. You may then worship God in any way you wish for yourselves!” (see Genesis 3:4-5)
Pause and Read:
Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (the NIV Bible)
The Real Truth
So, the real truth here is that God drove them out of their paradise home and the protective care that He had been so loving, and freely giving them, and then He left them there to do as they saw fit. Again, God did this in order to allow Adam and Eve their deepest wishes, that is, to decide for themselves what is right for them. Thus, this began the “genesis of religion” because they still had this desire for worship within them.
Let’s look at an example of mankind’s need to worship. After leaving The Garden of Eden… Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-2). No one needed to instruct them to worship. No, because of their inherent need to worship they both did it on their own.
Pause and Read:
Genesis 4:1-2, “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel, Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.” (the NIV Bible)
Let’s look and see…
Genesis 4:3-5 reads, “After some time, Cain brought some fruits of the land as an offering to Jehovah. 5 he did not look with any favor on Cain and on his offering. So Cain grew hot with anger and was dejected.” This is the very beginning, yes, the genesis of all fault’s religions. Cain; thereafter, killed his brother Abel. Why? Because Cain became hot with anger when Jehovah would not accept his form of worship. Cain, like Adam and Eve—wanted to worship God in the way he saw fit. But, Jehovah rejected Cain’s worship and looked upon Abel’s offering with favor (see Genesis 4:1-16).
So here we see that, after Adam and Eve’s rebellion, and their being removed from Eden… Abel was the beginning of pure worship with his offering, and pure worship to Jehovah, while Cain, with his offering and faults, or unacceptable worship to Jehovah, was the start of all faults religions we see today.
What Satan Sought
Thus, two paths were now set. One, the path of pure worship, or a worship that is pleasing to God, and two, the path of those who would worship God in the way they saw fit, if at all. This second path would include all forms of worship, including no worship at all, that was not the “one faith” mentioned at Ephesians 4:5. At that, Satan was surely happy because he knew that, when God rejected any form of worship, that that worship, by default, would go to him. This seems to be what Satan was seeking all along during his rebellious period.
Why Can We Explain All This So Well, From this Book, Reality of Dawn?
Because only the Bible and those worshipping God in the pure worship that He requires can explain this simple truth to people. While other forms of religion, like Cain, are off doing their own thing. They do not understand, nor do they seem to care, that the real issue behind the rebellion in the Garden of Eden was about God’s right to decide what was best for his creation of mankind.
Now, let’s look down the road a bit to see what happened to these two forms of religion. That is, pure worship and this faulty religion started by Cain. Let’s also take a closer look at Cain in order to see what he was seeking, there in Genesis chapter 4. By doing so, we will learn a lot about how to identify fault’s religions and their leaders of today, and why we have so many religions around this world we live in.
What Cain was Seeking
It appears that Cain was seeking approval and—was a very proud person. Therefore, he must have desired God’s approval on his own terms. When he realized this was unattainable, he rebelled even further, a reaction that mirrors how some people behave today. This tendency to insist on one’s own terms, especially among the proud, remains common even today.
Let us Look Further
From the Genesis 4 account of Cain, we find that, “Cain brought some fruits of the land as an offering to Jehovah. But Abel brought some firstlings of his flock, including their fat. While Jehovah looked with favor on Abel and on his offering. 5 he did not look with any favor on Cain and on his offering. So Cain grew hot with anger and was dejected.” Verse 2 tells us that “. . . Abel became a shepherd of the flock, but Cain became a cultivator of the ground.”
Here we see that Cain and Abel, brought something that they both had worked hard for, to offer it as a gift offering, to Jehovah. Was there anything wrong with either one of these offerings to Jehovah? Or, in other words, was Cain’s offering of grain unacceptable to God? No!
So why did Jehovah reject Cain’s offering? We do not know for sure, but it being grain, apparently, was not the issue. So it seems therefore, that the issue had to have been in the way Cain’s worship was presented to Jehovah. Perhaps Adam or Eve had explained to Cain how Jehovah had removed them from their beautiful home in the Garden of Eden, and Cain may have felt that God was wrong for doing this. Therefore, maybe Cain had an attitude when it came to his worship of Jehovah. Think about this, have you ever received a gift from someone and wanted to give it back because of the way they presented it to you? Maybe their attitude or demeanor was just wrong? If so, then you can see why God would have rejected this form of worship from Cain.
Why Angry, Cain?
Notice what Jehovah told Cain after rejecting his gift. He said, “. . . Why are you so angry and dejected? 7 If you turn to doing good, will you not be restored to favor? But if you do not turn to doing good, sin is crouching at the door, and its craving is to dominate you; but will you get the mastery over it?”
Clearly, Cain had an attitude. Did Cain listen to the advice Jehovah gave Him? No! He went off and killed the very one that gained favor with God. That moment began the suffering and persecution that those worshiping God in pure worship would somewhat, have to endure, throughout history.
Cain then withdrew from his family, took his sister as his wife, and began worshiping God in the way he saw fit. Thus, all faults religion seem to have gone through Cain. He therefore is responsible for the nearly 50,000 different religions we find today, that is, those who are worshiping God in the way they see fit and giving little regard to the Bible. So we now see the direction that faults worship took with Cain, but what happened to pure worship?
What Happened to Pure Worship After Abel’s Death?
What about Pure Worship? Did you know that there has always been one true religion offering God pure and acceptable worship in the world of mankind that began with Abel?
Look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ at Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38. Matthew’s account ends with Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born in verse 16, but look at verse 1, it says, “. . . the history of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham” and then it lists all the righteous men from Abraham to Jesus. Luke’s account goes even further… But that’s not all. After the flood, humanity is depicted as descending from Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Abraham, who was originally named Abram, is a descendant of Shem, making him a part of Noah’s lineage. That lineage goes like this, Noah, Shem, (several generations, see Luke’s account), Terah, Abram (or Abraham), see Genesis 11:10-26.
Therefore, it is possible that Abraham knew and spoke with Shem because Shem lived about 308 years after Abraham’s birth. What about from Noah to Adam was there always a few righteous men living between those years? The evidence suggests so. While the Bible portrays a world increasingly filled with wickedness and falling angels, leading up to the flood, it also identifies specific individuals as beacons of righteousness, suggesting that there were always some who maintained pure worship to Jehovah during this period. These men of pure worship, from Noah to Adam, included, Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Cainan, Enosh, and Seth, the son of Adam.
Why Mankind Suffers
So far, we find that pure worship to Jehovah has always been on this earth, yes, God has seen to it… However, he has left other religions alone, allowing them to do what Adam and Eve sought after, that is, God has allowed them throughout the ages to decide for themselves what is right or wrong, which also leaves them outside of God’s loving protection. This is why we find so much suffering in the world of mankind today. People blame God for their suffering, but the real cause for it began with Adam and Eve and their own personal desires.
Let Us Summarize What We Have Seen From Reality at Dawn, Religion, Thus Far
The Genesis of Religion: In Chapter 1, Paragraph 1, A, we have seen that the Arthur of this book has reduced religion down to one, and then generalized all of them under one umbrella, with no mention of pure worship at all. Because of this generalization, it has allowed him to paint a word picture of all religions, down through the ages, which looks very bleak. And, if he was only talking about faulty religions, I would completely agree with his assessment.
However, because he failed to mention that from the beginning of man’s worship to God, outside the Garden of Eden, pure worship has always existed throughout mankind’s history, and we must separate that from the rest. God has made this clear when He inspired Paul to write, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” at Ephesians 4:5.
So, the truth of the matter is this. From the Genesis of religion, there has always been two religions. 1), Pure Worship, meaning a worship that is acceptable to Jehovah. And 2), Faults religion, meaning any form of worship that God would reject, such as in the case of Cain.
It’s also worth noting that because of the nature of faults-religion, which allows for a course of worship guided by man’s desires, we are now nearing 50,000 different religions earth wide. However, I do agree we can place them all under one category, and that is, unacceptable.
The Paradise
The Eternal Bliss of the Paradise: Ram Chandra spoke of the eternal bliss of the paradise that religion seeks from their worship of God as though it is something we should avoid or dismiss. Jesus Christ, the son of God, made this statement while he was being tortured to death, “…Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.,” (see Luke 23:43), But, you may be asking, what is this paradise that God has promised to those whom He has chosen?
It’s really very simple, consider this, “The righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.” Yes, God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden like home in Eden. But He promises to allow those of His choosing back, in His due time. Meanwhile pure worshipers of God patiently wait for their loving God to settle this issue of His right to direct mankind for their own good.
God gave man this beautiful home and He had every right to take it away. However, God, from the Genesis of Pure Worship, beginning with Able, promised that one day, righteous ones will gain that beautiful home back. This is solely out of the love that God has for Adam’s offspring.
A Question We Could Ask Ourselves
Therefore, we must ask, what’s wrong with God making that promise? Doesn’t anyone with authority have the right to remove and then reintroduce, once things meet their satisfaction? Does Jehovah not have that same right? This goes without saying.
God has never been under obligation to return his faithful followers to the Garden of Eden, by anything other than His own love for Adam’s offspring. And Yes because of that love, He will!
Ram Chandra Statement—The Same Old Principles
The Same Old Forms and Principles (of religion) Are Being Adhered To: My rebuttal to Ram Chandra, on this, is, that God, does not change over generations of time. He tells us at Malachi 3:6 “For I am Jehovah; I do not change. . .” Jesus, His son, who reflects his Father so perfectly, is spoken of under inspiration of God, at Hebrews 13:8, in this matter, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” God’s Principles are therefore unchangeable, and we can count on that.
Closing Statement: While it is true that throughout history much of mankind has always been floundering about in search of a god whom they choose to worship, it is not true that all of mankind’s worship has been doing that. No, God has, to my knowledge, never allowed His pure worship to leave the earth. To the contrary, The Bible shows that up to Jesus’ time, pure worship has prevailed. But what about after Jesus and up to our time? Has pure worship prevailed during this time? Yes! But we’ll have much on that later. But next, we’ll look at an in-depth examination of paragraph-1 part b of Ram Chandra Book, “Reality at Dawn.”
End of Rebuttal – Paragraph 1, A,
Next, I’ll look at the rest of Chapter 1 in this book. In my reading of the rest of Chapter 1, it seems that he likes using words that the average reader would have trouble understanding. See you in my next post -Doug
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