The
religion is not the truth. It is a dynamic human process of understanding and
experimenting with the truth. Human efforts to know the truth of things do not
end with perfectly aligning with the religion one has committed himself to; in
fact, it begins from there for a big majority of human beings.
The problem with most of us is that we take our respective
religions as some kind of code of the right conduct; as social beings, not as
individual beings. The net outcome is that we generally live much overwhelmed
by somewhat faded spectrum of the acceptable thoughts and conduct with our
thirsty souls roaming from one location of mirage to the other. Any sensible
and sensitive individual realizes how he often flirts with his own religion,
sometimes intellectually, sometimes emotionally and sometimes even physically.
There is no logic in either being proud of one’s religion or
being ashamed of it. All the religions have been the outcome of intense
spiritual efforts of people who dedicated their lives to explore the truth. All
the religions are meant to make us aware of our incompleteness a well as that
of the great potential we all possess of converting ourselves into true seekers
of the truth. As the things have naturally worked out in favor of the humanity
and that of the human beings, we all inherit a religion by birth or our early
education. Yes, our respective religions are precious gifts to us from our
great ancestors who did not live for themselves alone; but lived for all those
who ever lived or came to live on this earth after their deaths.
All religions expect from their followers to be good to the
fellow human beings and committed to the great values of humanity, to have
respectful faith in the God, and, to keep a safe distance from what makes them
much preoccupied with their greed and objects of sensory pleasure. But,
religions rarely emphasize on deep contemplation over the essence and meaning
of life, human conduct, his sufferings and pains, his indulgence in and
detachment from the affairs of life and the path he must adapt to collectively
minimize his sorrows. The religions ask the man to move on a path without
giving him enough opportunity and freedom to choose the right path himself,
although in all likelihood the man is expected to choose the same path that
their religions ask him to adopt. The result is that the man moves on the path
suggested by his religion with doubt and suspicion.
One’s religion may offer crucial clues about the truth, but
the man remains unaware of them, because most religions offer information about
the ‘how’s’ in life, but not the ‘whys’ of life. The religions do not give the necessary
importance to the science, art and practice of contemplation. A few societies that have grown in a culture
of thinking and contemplation have been found to be more open to different religions.
They know that the religions are not ‘the truth’ in themselves; they are
valuable ‘intellectual, emotional and physical tools’, ‘the Sadhan’, for
exploring the truth. If we sharpen our understanding of our respective religions,
we may not need to flirt with it, thereby, allowing the peace to prevail in the
world.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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