Every morning , after my customary prayer (especially when I’m home), I like to analyse the reason behind my actions. When I’m being frank with myself of course, the primary reason that comes to mind is that it makes my mom happy, that’s probably why I stood with folded hands and chanted shlokas whose meaning I was blissfully ignorant of (read ages 1 to 4)….as I grew up..I learnt more shlokas(hymns/chants) …learnt their meaning, the mythology behind most of them and praying has a whole new meaning today. This is where my train of thought ends on a normal day , but on certain mornings (we’ve all had them), you wake up feeling uber-philanthropic, today was one of those days. I decided to go a couple of steps further and reconstruct mankind’s journey in the path of prayer. (Disclaimer : I firmly believe that god blesses us equally but in different ways, some can write , some can dance whilst some can sing. Bluntly put , future passages may indicate an inclination of mine towards intellectual superiority of a subset of our species, bear with me) Curious creatures that they were, our ancestors were certainly intrigued by the collossal treasure-trove of magic that is mother nature , and what they couldn’t fathom was attributed to stronger and higher forces, probably resulted in nature-worship . Now all was well , but just like every house has a loo or two , society is incomplete without a couple of morons , and these ancient morons probably questioned the existence of a higher power or acted like jerks and started asking for a pic of the “force”, thereby resulting in the intelectually superior ones giving the higher power a form or in my religion’s case 3 crore forms . The point is , religion was just a way of praying , different paths formulated to suit different dumbasses and how hard or easy it was to convince them. Today , the definition of religion has changed radically , and I don’t need to go into details , still , I’m glad we have religions , because honestly , praying before a deity is easier than meditating upon one’s self and finding the answers to questions that have been haunting humans for millenia ….or is it??….ever been to tirupathi or vaishnodevi or any of the jyothir lingas ??… ever been to velankani or (purely assuming) golden temple or the jamma masjid?… when I asked my parents as to why we visit temples , the first answer I got was , for peace of mind …now … while that might be true in the case of a ganesha temple inside my colony ..I ask you..how ?…how does one find peace when sweaty people are yelling and pushing you around , cops are ready to lathi-charge you and you wait in a long queue or climb several flights of stairs …to what end …to see a well-decked idol whose 7 megapixel picture adorns my dad’s PC desktop …seems illogical …but divine grace has a way of showing you things ….that three second rendezvous with the idol (most of us close our eyes during those precious moments too) signifies that which is divine…knowledge,atman…call it what you will…and the struggle..including the chaotic path which leads to the inner sanctum signifies life itself…or any goal for that matter…peace of mind is not achieved by just closing one’s eyes and meditating…not in today’s world…only by going through all the ordeals and over all the hurdles that life hurls at you …while retaining the pieces of one’s mind can we achieve peace of mind…so next time you think of throwing a tantrum or questioning the motive behind visting a place of worship…think not of whether you are a religious person or not…religion is but a means to spiritiuality … faith and prayers are two very powerful tools…not because god will listen to them and answer…but because ..as you pray ..you’re listening to yourself and giving yourself hope which eventually manifests itself as strength…If even one of you reads this and starts to pray or if I renew your faith in prayer , then MY prayers have been answered . Jai hind !
I have never had the need to pray to find strength or peace of mind. I get it from within myself. I am an atheist because I don't find any value in believing in religion or God.
ReplyDeleteBut despite that I think religion is necessary, the reason being that in a country like India who has a very, very high number of devotees praying to various Gods and following various religions if all of them turn into atheists the world will be in chaos because many of them do good deeds and avoid doing bad things (robbery, rape, murder etc) only because they fear God will punish them. But if people stop following religion then they might not bother doing good deeds coz they will have no fear.
Hence I believe that religion is extremely necessary to keep a country like India in order. Other than this reason I think atheism is a very good path to follow :)
I simply do not get it when individuals associate the term "FEAR" with spirituality. I'm an ardent devotee of a Hindu god However, being a spiritually motivated person myself none of the decisions that I've made in life have ever aroused a sense of fear in me! In fact he's the driving force in my life instilling power in me to fight the odds. For me, the desire to know the almighty is the 1st step and also the single most easiest way to infuse enlightenment in you! The will to understand him comes from within and not by some external-force. Folks say I'm an atheist every now and then, when u raise them a query "WHY?" they often say because "I cannot see him." However that's the case with several things in nature. For instance, you can't see air but u can feel it, you cannot see the galaxies of our universe without technological aid, In the same sense you can not experience God's effulgence if you're not spiritually motivated enough. You can both see & feel god if you are "truly" devoted to him.
ReplyDeleteLike I mentioned above I do not see how self realization or enlightenment needs to be achieved through God. How does religion have to play a role in it? Also you are right that there are many things we all believe in that cannot be touched or seen but their presence is felt. But what if a person does not feel the presence of a higher spirit? It is known that if you are taught something right from childhood you often believe it to be true without questioning it. That is how we learn what is right and wrong. Also another psychological fact is that you can make your mind believe anything you want it to believe in. Hence we hear the term imaginary buddy often. The same way what if the idea of God is just a thing made from strong belief? I personally believe that people cling to the notion of God so that they have someone to share their worries with, to ask strength from in times of need and to not feel alone. What if I am satisfied doing all these things with myself? Then why should I believe in God?
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