An avenue for the mind

Once I was told that a philosophy professor I know, whose interest in the philosophy of religion was a known fact, used to react this way when asked if he believed in God or not: "define clearly what you mean by 'God', and I'll answer you". Obviously, nobody could fulfill such a requirement, and so the professor could go well talking about such things without any public commitment of a religious kind.

After these few years of contact with buddhism and Indian philosophy, I feel more touched by the idea of God than before, and that happens just because I guess I know that trying to understand the issue in a merely intelectual way is more useless than unconclusive. All atempts to prove rationally the existence of God are doomed to failure. But how not, if the very attempts to define Him/Her in a completely clear way are all a waste of precious time?

What moved me to believe this is the realization that 'God' is not basically the word for a concept, but for a whole experience of the world and life as sacred, joyful and meaningful. The concept is but an interpretation, of course not the only one and not the only valuable one. Buddhism, actually, has any god at all. But ironically it was buddhism that let me realize it and start valuing the idea. So the professor I've mentioned will not get a good answer in all his life, no matter how long he lives.

Of course I know it's problematic to talk about such a controversial issue. I know many people can feel uneasy if they just hear the word or if their beliefs are put into doubt. Some may think that valuing the idea of God implies a need for intolerance and blind fanaticism. But as long as we don't need intelectual convictions and are able to stay in the realm of joyful experience, that's the most impossible thing. I don't fear the ones who have faith and are strong in their faith, but the ones who believe they have it, being just clinged to a concept.