This is sixth post on “What is misery? How we can remove it? Can Religion help to eliminate misery?” First let us differentiate between true religion and religions of today’s world. True religion actually refers to spirituality which is eternal path led by Almighty and is universal and same for all human beings since the beginning of universe. Literal meaning of religion means religare (Latin word) which means to hold fast i.e. holding fast to the divine principles laid by the Almighty to come back to Him. Another etymological meaning can be – “Re + Logos” which means back to the Holy Word. Both terms mean the same truth. Religions of today have a history of finite period while True religion (Sanatan Dharma) existed since the origin of universe. Sikhism started 500 years back; Islam started in 7th century AD; Christianity started in 29th or 30th A.D. Modern Hinduism started long time back but that too started within finite period. But what before that? Religions of today lay great stress on the authority of divine revelation, as given in the holy books and bring feelings and the emotional side of people to the forefront. They give priority to religious emotion, faith, devotion to the Deity and claim that these are the means to attain the state of absolute knowledge and perfect bliss. There are various religions in this world, and each has his own sets of doctrines and dogmas, its own rites and rituals, forms and ceremonies. It is pertinent to tell that when these religions originated, the teachings by the founder of those religions were purely spiritual and meant for everyone in the world but later on they were dyed with the personal minds of their followers to satisfy their own interpretations and selfish motives and egotism. Christianity believes in the trinity of God: Jesus Christ the son, God the Father, and the Holy Ghost are considered to be three-in-one. Jesus Christ never claimed that He is the only son of God but modern Christians do not think so. He said, “God is love and love is God.” His message was simple but now this faith has been divided into so many different types of churches. According to modern beliefs of this religion, salvation cannot be attained by any other means except by having in faith in Jesus Christ the Saviour, who died on cross to wash away and pay for the sins of human kind. If you are not a Christian then you are doomed as you will go in hell. Their sacred book is Bible. On similar lines, Muslims look upon Prophet Mohammed as the greatest Prophet, and they believe that there can never be salvation without faith in Him, Allah and the holy Quran. The message of Prophet Mohammed was very simple. He called Allah as “Rab-ul-Almeen (Lord of universe)” and not Rab-ul-Muslmeen (Lord of Muslims)”. He believed in Haqeeqat (spirituality) as the supreme goal, humility and love. Now there are 17 different divisions giving different interpretations of Islam. Hindus uphold all sorts of doctrines and principles. In fact, Hinduism today is hardly a religion; it is more or less a community, a cultural entity. All shades of religious beliefs, all kinds of tenets and dogmas, and all schools of thought find room in the vast ocean of Hinduism. One good feature of Hinduism is liberalism – you are free to practice any philosophy or means of worship. Within its fold we come across all sorts of people – theists, atheists, pantheists, polytheists and so on – and belief in witchcraft and sorcery and in all kinds of evil spirits exists alongside the highest kind idealism, monism and monotheism. Some Hindus have faith in incarnations and idol worship, some believe in pure and abstract mediatation, and others simply aim at leading a chaste and active life. Arya Samajis and Sanatanis are two Hindu sects that take the holy Vedas to be the highly revealed books, but they differ in the interpretations of these books. There are free thinkers among the Hindus, and there is room for all. Sikhs believe in the ten Gurus in the line of Guru Nanak and their holy writings, and depend for their salvation on their staunch faith in the Gurus and recital of the Adi Granth. Similiarly Buddhists, Jains and others believe in their own saints and holy books, and seek salvation through such a belief. All religions have their own forms of worship and prayer, their own fast and pilgrimages, and their own temples, mosques and churches. Religion for many people consists in the external observance of the prescribed ritual, in the performance of set ceremonies and pilgrimages to holy places. But this all seems to be groping in the dark where blind people (priests) teach bling people about light which they themselves not seen God is not material or physical entity that may be sought for in this material world and with this physical body. It appears that all these rituals and forms are useful only so far they arouse our religious emotions and instill in us the spirit of devotion, but no further. They do not open our inner eyes to show us the transcendental reality. Of course all these religions teach us morality and induce us to follow the footsteps of great saints of their religions, but their answers to our fundamental questions are very divergent. We will see in next post how far they help us in solving our spiritual problems. (To be continued)
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 10:41:55 +0000
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