The Grand Inquisitor....really now, i need to scribble because my mind is working overtime....

There is a novel that was recommended to me a long time ago by an acquaintance when i went to the community college. It's called The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. While i have previously read Tolstoy's works and loved them, i found that this book appealed to me on a human/intellectual basis. Dostoevsky, to me, seemed to be fighting his inner demons when he wrote this novel...and i wish now if he had finished the sequel to Karamazov before he died. there are many instances where intellectual discussion arose in this book but there was something that Dostoevsky said that really got through to me. In the book, there are three brothers and a step-brother along with the father. The eldest is Dimitri, by his first wife, then there are Ivan and Alyosha by his second wife, and finally Smerdyakov by a mentally retarded woman that the father rapes while he is drunk. All of the brothers personify a human quality....or even in psychology, we can say that the legitimate brothers represent the id, the ego, and the superego. Ivan being the id, Dimitri being the ego, and Alyosha being the superego. Smerdyakov personifies evil in the novel.
there are several questions that arise here.....first, nothing is really a surprise and everything is set clearly in front of the reader. We all know that the father dies and is killed by Smerdyakov. However, dimitri is framed for the murder and suffers. It is here in his suffering that he finds happiness and inner solace. anyway, my main focus here is Ivan, the second son.
Ivan is an intellectual. he gets an advanced education and upon intellectual thought, he claims to be an athiest. I sympathize with Ivan's character. Even though i think that i have a lot of faith, i see the value of Ivan's character in the book. Ivan represents doubt. He doubts the existence of God when he sees the baser qualities in man. Ivan believes that children are innocent and he sees them having to work and suffer. It bothers him and he cannot understand why children would have to suffer like that when God exists. Now, as a Hindu, i can explain based on my religious beliefs. however, Ivan is Russian Orthodox and the problem lies there because there really is no explanation there. One has to understand, even though Ivan is seen as bad because he is an athiest, he is not selfish, nor is he really a bad person. He is just aloof. Anyway, he rejects God because of this. I hope this isn't blasphemous.
So before dimitri is framed for the murder of his father, Ivan and Alyosha have a discussion. Ivan speaks of a poem he wrote...The Grand Inquisitor. the poem is set in 16th century spain where Jesus appears in a town and he is walking through the streets performing miracles of all kinds. The people of the church see this and Jesus is captured and put into a dungeon-like prison. Later on, in the night, he gets a visit from a man who we know as the Grand Inquisitor. so the Inquisitor is there telling him the reasons why he would be executed the next day.
It follows that the Inquisitor tells him that he should have done what Satan had asked him to do when he was tempted the three times because he left humans with the burden of free will and they did not really know what to do with it. That is a very profound statement. Now here is where Dostoevsky took this.....When Christ was told to make the stones turn into bread, he should have turned them into bread because humans value security from hunger more than they care to "not live by bread alone." Then when he was asked to stand from a pinnacle and jump off and have the angels from heaven save him, he should have jumped because then humans would have satisfied their need to have a miracle and would follow him blindly. then finally, when he was told that he could have all the kingdoms of the world, he should have taken it because then, humans would be happy following someone and being told what to do.
Ivan's point is valid. we all have free will and yet, we never take the time to exercise it. we never really care to search for anything deeper than what and where we are at the present time. how often do we really decide to look within? And yes, if i see children suffering, it will pull at the strings of my heart. it is heartbreaking even if there is an explanation for it. but the thing is Ivan's philosophies of rejecting God were all empty. he was really in a state of doubt.
so back to the Grand Inquisitor....he is really a high priest. he tells Jesus that he is doing the job that Satan asked Jesus to do because he sees that humans need to have miracles, someone to think for them and someone to follow. It may sound harsh, but it is true.....so the inquisitor goes on to say that if Jesus came back and claimed the people, he would take away the position of the church so it was for that reason he needed to be executed. when the inquisitor is done speaking, Jesus kisses him on his lips (remember...it's a Russian story...men kiss each other on the lips...it's normal). The inquisitor is a bit taken aback and he decides to let Jesus go with the promise that he will never return to the town again. When Ivan is finished with his story, Alyosha gives him a kiss as well.
Now this is where the thinking lies.....I have been in limbo for the longest time now. I guess it started earlier this year and the thought just kept buliding. No, i do not need a priest to say prayers for me. I am in the process of eliminating the middle-man. i love the temple. I love going and just sitting there....just to stare at the murtis. it gives me great joy to see them dressed up there. i sit and take in all the details and then redraw the pictures in my mind. but for me to go and listen to someone read and preach to me, i cannot do it. i refuse to be told what to do by anyone...maybe sometimes, i will listen to the readings but i will not have anyone tell me what to do as to my relationship with a higher being. That is where the line is drawn. A real man does not talk about his conversations with his wife to other people. likewise, i will not speak of what my relationship is with a supreme being. maybe i am stubborn. but then again maybe i am a person who has found a friend and doesnt want to share my friend with anyone else for fear of losing the attention.
In the book, it is mentioned...if Jesus really came back, how many of us would know that it was him? Would we reject him because we are blindly following some man-made principles? would we recognize him? i guess this may be my biggest fear. and here again is a dilemma. what do i keep and what do i reject? there are many things that i hold dear to me in my religion....i identify with many of its principles and yet, there are some that i reject. then again, that is the beauty of Hinduism...i can exercise free will. i am somewhat wary of authority....like religious/church like authority. I have seen more corruption in the religious elite than what i have seen in the commoners like myself. My guru is the only exception i can think of. and really, if i am willing to learn, i can do a google search and find what i am looking for. I even downloaded the entire Ramayan (Ram Charit Manas version) and i am reading to my heart's content now. I am understanding and i am getting to form my own opinions. I no longer have to rely on someone else's opinion. then that would just be following and i've realized that i would rather make my own dirt path (while reseraching and drawing information and ideas to help me find a way) rather than to walk along someone else's already constructed road. If i stick to it long enough, i will reach there just the same.