During my discussions with friends, I have often been asked, "Are you religious?". I have often tried to figure out what exactly being religious entails. I do not go to a temple every Tuesday, nor do I believe in metaphysics of any religion. I am a student of science after all. The idea of the world being created in seven days, or the river Ganga flowing out of the locks of Shiva do not mean anything to me in their direct sense of meaning. In that sense, I am not religious. I am not a Hindu who chants the Gayatri Mantra hundred times or a day, or a Muslim who reads the Namaaz five times a day, or a Christian who goes to church every Sunday, or a Sikh who chants the Japji Sahib first thing every morning, or a Jew who absolutely refrains from work on Saturdays.
With the passage of time, I came up with the following answer to the question "Are you religious?" "No. I am not religious, but I do believe in God. God, not as a creator, but the ideal human being whom I would like to emulate in every step of my life." I was not satisfied with this answer, it raised more questions than it answered. I have never been able to articulate a satisfactory answer: I had the ideas in my head, but language limitations always prevented me from sharing those ideas with friends in a meaningful way.
Today I rediscovered a saying that encapsulates my ideas about religion and God. I remember Papa told us about this Swami Vivekananda quote when we were in 5th grade or thereabouts. It says:
"Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy---by one or more or all of these---and be free. This the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books or temples or forms are but secondary details."
This is the idea of religion that I believe in.
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7 comments:
A nice representation of the true and basic essence of any religion/ picture of God.
Sad that our people hardly realize this, but hope the future enlightens us all.
thats quite right.....religion is nothing bt one of the ways of reaching close to god....ya exactly...there r many ways of doing so...sm of those hav been mentioned by my friend...i wud like to add two more.....firstly the very well known concept of 'KARMA'....its essential to realize the task for which u hav been sent n once u have realized it ....then work towards it with utmost devotion and integrity.
i hav always believed that god should never be considered as a fairy in front of who u can express all of ur greeds n then hope that all of those come true through his miracles.... instead of expecting a miracle...its better to be a miracle !!
god is perfect form of human which resides in everyone ....if u really want to reach a step closer to god..first try to reach the people around u...try to make them happy...try to win their hearts by helping them out in whatever way u can !!! i know this may sound a very stupid theory in today's materialistic world where nobody cares a damn for the other person....bt i guess...no pains no gains....
so do you mean to say that you don't believe in being a part of organised religion, but believe in Spiritualistic and Holistic approach to life??
God-the ideal being versus God-the super being. I don't think you'd fit the definition of religious if you define and agree to the former. Historically I guess it was the former which came first and then, for everyone's benefit, turned into the latter. But lets keep that to one side.
God-the ideal being works on control. Can't quite reconcile with that idea. The best moments of my life have come when I've had no idea what I've been upto, just that it feels good and right.
just in case you are interested, here's a somewhat clearer attempt by self at defining god: http://feizerlog.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/oh-god/
Good artice...clear thoughts
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