The first signs of the evidence of the existence of modern day humans was 300,000 years ago. There is evidence that symbolism of rituals started 70,000 years ago. There is currently no evidence that these rituals were done for a supreme being.
The first symbolic structure of a god like figure was a Lion Man (Löwenmensch) found in Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany. It had a human-like body and the head of a cave lion. This was 40,000 years ago. Today, the Lion Man is considered as one of the earliest visualizations of God.
The first symbolic site where rituals were actually conducted was Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. That was 11,600 years ago.
Modern Gods as a deity in a temple were invented by the Sumerian civilization 4600 years ago in Iraq. Their deities were called Enlil and Nisaba. Then came the Pyramid Texts around 4400 years ago in Egypt that depicted God as a supreme being. Both civilizations no longer exist.
Ideas of God in Rigveda were written around 2600-3500 years ago - in India. It was called Rta, the universal cosmic order that was managed by Vedic Gods. Gods were not the creators, but guardians of the universe. Rta is a philosophy, not religion.
It is believed that Rigveda was orally passed on for centuries before it was formally written. But there is no clear evidence about this claim. The formation of Hinduism as a religion, with its rituals, Gods, caste, mythology, etc., as practiced today, came just 3500 years ago. Hindus claim Hinduism is the oldest because the Indian civilization survived. I would say that Hinduism is not the oldest, it is the oldest surviving religion in the world. All other religions and their versions of personal Gods came in the past 3500 years after the emergence of Rigveda.
Basically “God” was born 40,000 years ago and religions were born around 5000 years ago.
Humanity survived without god, religion, heaven or hell for 2,60,000 years - which is equivalent to 2600 centuries. The world did not end and the skies did not fall. The average life expectancy of adults who survived their childhood was 68-78 years, without access to medicine, doctors, hospitals and modern luxuries. Air was clean, water was pure and food was abundant. There was little stress in the lives of the people then. They slept well. They were happy and content.
Isn’t this something that we keep asking God?
Once God entered our lives, it created identities, religions, cultures, beliefs, rituals and insecurities. It created hate, arguments, debates, fights and wars. The idea that God and religion bring peace and contentment has little historical evidence. No religion is peaceful today. Not one.
The hypothesis that humans should look within and not seek external validation of God was first conceived in the Upanishads. This, and only this, explains how and why humanity survived 2,60,000 years. Everything else is a myth that has been carefully constructed to control our meaningless lives in modern times.
We can live without God and religion because our ancestors did. We can be infinitely happier and content, we can be less violent and hateful, if we look within.
#God #Religion
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