When I ask ‘what are you gaining by believing God?’ they answer with ‘what are you loosing by believing?’

Ans: Yes if it is just believing in God you are not loosing anything. But if you practice what come along with it and get affected physically, emotionally or intellectually then there is plenty to lose.

When I was shooting near Tirupati a few of my assistants asked me that they want to go to the temple. I asked them why they think God has given more to an atheist like me than to devotees like them. There was no answer. I am sure that there will be answers to this from a variety of believers but the point here is my assistants don’t know and yet they wanted to give attendance in the temple. I think that’s because deep inside they were scared God will make a note that they didn’t come.

Whenever people feel a seeming injustice has been done like somebody unscrupulous becoming more successful than a God-fearing devotee the believers jump up and for lack of an explanation and throw in the Karma theory at them.

The Karma theory says that based on what you have done in your past birth you will enjoy or suffer in this birth.

Let me put this more simply. Let’s say you as a kid have done something wrong and your father waits for 20 years and then slaps you. That would be stupid because you would have forgotten what you have done by that time.

In the Karma theory it’s not even 20 years but it’s your next birth where you can’t even know who you were and what you did in the last birth. (Talk about delayed justice and then we have the nerve to complain about the delay in our criminal courts).

Belief in God comes from a desperate hope that something or someone out there will protect you in every which way and also can give you whatever you desire.

You can be distrustful and suspicious of your own Government, the people you work for and your own friends and family but you cannot afford to be that with God, as then there can be no more hope left. So we pardon, overlook and ignore God’s injustices as we can’t afford not to do that. Only people with a tremendous courage, madness, determination, over-confidence, objective understanding and arrogance like me can afford not to believe in God.

-By Ram Gopal Varma