128 – Ananth – The False God Challenge: Is Your Spirituality a Counterfeit?
“Permission to write about your story in first person
Hi Michael, I live in Melbourne, Australia and I am an author.
Of late, I’ve been having inspiration to write a book. The purpose of the book is to present real life, verifiable stories that can open up the readers mind to the fact that there is an intelligence beyond our mind and five senses. Each one of us can tap into it, and that will give us fulfilment.
I first saw the video of your story on YouTube about 2 years back. I feel it could be a good candidate for my book. I am writing to ask if I could include your story in my book.
At this stage, I envision your story to be one chapter/story out of a collection of, say 7-8 other stories.
Please also note that I am not a Christian (I’m a Hindu), and all the stories that I’m planning to include in my book will primarily focus on the soul/spirit, but in a non-religious way. Thus, I intend to describe your story in first person, but without references to the bible. I’d like to seek your permission for the same please.
Please do let me know what you think. Thanks for your time!
Just checking if you had the chance to read my earlier note to you.
(I sent you a detailed note through the contact form about 4 days back. I am not repeating it here :) )
Thank you and have a nice day
Regards,
Ananth
MY REPLY: Greetings Ananth,
I apologize for the late response. I’m sorry but I am unable to grant you permission for that. Imagine someone asking to write about your love story but they wanted to remove your wife or husband from the story. Without the Words of God in the Bible and without Jesus Christ, I have no story. Thank you for understanding.
HIS REPLY: Hi Michael,
Thank you for the earlier email, and my apologies for not replying sooner.
Firstly, I owe you a big thank you. I have read through your book ‘Astonishing Grace to the Chief of All Fools...’ and I could see a big part of myself in you - the part that used to worship money-God, and the part that was devoted to ‘Myselfianity’. For about 15 years, I worshipped money, even using my devotion for God, to earn more money and more fame. I am a Hindu and I have been practicing yoga and meditation for the last 10 years or so. Only recently I realized, that I had been living so deeply in my ego that for the last 8 years, I had been claiming myself as ‘spiritual’ and ‘totally surrendered’, all the while using spiritual practices in the hope of getting more wealth and fame! I was living in a heavily separated world of ‘me’ versus ‘rest of the universe’, and I was trying to live it well using spirituality!
I am sure you understand, we have many traits that we might know are a problem, but we can’t just put them in concise words. I have been able to pick up some such issues in me through reading your book. The problems I knew existed, but couldn’t rationalize - I found them well explained in your book. I thank you very much for that. God bless you.
Coming to your story of how God helped you through the difficult divorce, I feel that I haven’t written clearly to you before.
The purpose of my book is to describe real life situations/experiences which show that there is clearly a force beyond the reasoning mind/body which transcends both. The stories should be verifiable (for e.g. anyone can look up your story or even verify details if they wish to, since it’s a true story).
I am willing to make direct mention of ‘Jesus Christ’, even though the book is about general spirituality. What I wanted to say in my earlier email was, I am not comfortable including extensive references of Bible quotes/passages like the way you do in your book ‘astonishing grace’. The reason is, firstly, I do not understand and secondly, it cannot be understood by non-christians (and it may not sound a chord with non-religious christians who are ready in spirit and mind, but who may not prefer a religious/scriptural path to God). I feel there are many paths to experiencing God. Religion is one, Yoga/spiritual practices are few others. My book aims to show precisely that - a decent spread of various stories from each category, which prove that eventually all roads lead to the transcendental experience of God.
Nevertheless, I am happy to include two or three bible quotes blended with the first-person narration which summarize your experience of God’s help to you. If this doesn’t sound right, then of course, that’s alright too. I still thank you for writing ‘astonishing grace’ and wish you well.
Best wishes and do let me know your response,
Thank you again, and Regards
Ananth”
The False God Challenge: Is Your Spirituality a Counterfeit?
Ananth, who is Hindu, was writing a book on the subjective spiritual experiences of others. He wanted to share my story, but requested that I share only my personal experiences, not Bible verses. I declined, explaining that if my spirituality is rooted only in my subjective experience, rather than objective provable truth, it is worth nothing more than temporary false hope.
Ananth, like millions of others, believes there are many different paths to God, from Hinduism, to Christianity, to yoga or visions and dreams, and that the person’s experience validates their belief. I ask him, “What if these experiences are based on a lie from Satan, whom the Bible says leads the entire world astray, by deception, from God?”
I explained first that the Bible stands alone from all other religious books in its ability to predict the future, proving its divine origin. Prophecies about Jesus, written hundreds of years before his birth, were fulfilled with astonishing accuracy. I explained that the Bible, written thousands of years before I was born, has described all my spiritual experiences with astonishing accuracy. My life looks like it was inspired by the same Spirit who inspired the Bible. These two things give the Bible a level of credibility that no other religious book can match. As Jesus said in John 7:17 “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out..” and in John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teaching…then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
How can we discern true spirituality from a counterfeit? Jesus gives us the key: "By their fruit you will recognize them" (Matthew 7:16). Counterfeit spirituality does not produce true godliness, and it does not produce the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Instead, it leads to emptiness, sorrow, despair, depression, and hypocrisy.
The Bible says, “the sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.” (Psalm 16:4). When I lived in India, I was surrounded by Hindus and Muslims whose faces were filled with sorrow. I am expecting to see great sorrow come to MAGA Christians soon. The Bible predicted this sorrow which is seen in the staggering number of people around the world who use alcohol or drugs to “drown out” their sorrows.
If you are seeking true spiritual fulfillment, I urge you to examine the claims of Christianity. Read the Bible, test its prophecies, and consider the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. He offers a subjective experience, rooted in objective truth that can transform your heart and lead you to eternal life. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
