this is in response to vishal's post "NO FAITH".
I dont quite agree to some points he has made in his post, n i would like to give my opinion on the topic he has written. My opinions have come around from what I have seen, and heard for better part of my life.
One of the things he mentions is that, religion was created for power. I kind of have a different opinion of it. I believe religions were created for finding the peace of mind (i know, its ironical, that in todays times the very purpose of how the religion might have come in existence is lost, but i believe that this is the reason it came about to be). I dont know about hinduism, how it came about to be, n i believe no one does, thats why its called "sanatan dharma" meaning, it was always there, no one knows who started it. But as far as most other religions go we do know a particular who was an inspiration to it. But my question is, did Jesus say follow me, or i want to start a religion called christianity....did Gautam Buddha say, let me start a religion called Buddism, so on and so forth....the answer is NO...these great people did not start religions. they had a way of life, and they had something to teach to their fellowmen.They were highly learned people, who lived an exemplary life, and they had no ill will for anyone. Being with them gave other people peace of mind, being in their company made other people happy. And they were such wonderful people, that more and more people started coming to them, to learn from them, how to get happiness in life, to learn how to live a happy and fulfilling life. The vision of these people was so great and the teaching so effective, that more and more people were drawn to them and then it was the followers, who made the religion, said that whoever wish to spread the message of this great men should join in....or that whoever wishes to follow the principles this person lived on and wishes to be call himself as a his follower can call him self a christian or a buddhist etc.....
Religion is essentially a way of life. A path to climb on the spiritual ladder...without religion u can climb on the path of spirituality, its just a lot tougher....religion simply cuts out a route for us, gives us options that u can do this or that to achieve moksha or nirvana (thats the ultimate goal to be achieved) as per the hindu scriptures.....Bhagwad geeta is not a book about god or religion....if u try and read it, and see what it says, its just about learning how to achieve happiness in life....again i ll say it talks about how to live a good life....thats what is religion....
but yes, it does bring in power, coz when a person is able to command someone else, not one or two but hundreds of them, yes there is power, and though the founders of religion didnt want the power it was given to them willingly and coz they were so great they were not affected by it, coz they were the knowers of the truth, they never got blinded by the power or wealth....but not everyone is great and not all the followers have reached the same level spiritually as their master. This brings in the imperfection, NO RELIGION IS PERFECT, COZ MAN IS NOT PERFECT.....not because of the founder or because of the teachings....what is taught or told by any religion, or a scripture, was/is unfortunately not in a language understood by common people, and so the common man had to rely on other so called learned people to know what was told by the scriptures.....and some of these people in their hunger for power or just out of lack of understanding, misinterpreted the scriptures....
religion is important...it is like the banks of the rivers, keeps the water within...and till the water remains within the banks, it is nurturing, useful but when the water overflows the banks, it becomes destructive, causing calamity....
misinterpretation of the religion, has caused a lot of problems which we are facing today....and common man even today is ignorant of true teachings of religion..and this is true, i believe for most religions, but is true for hinduism for sure......and as far as my knowledge goes in history, it all started with Aurangzeb who broke temples, and forcefully converted people in his kingdom to adopt islam.....and in todays times, whatever goes on in name of religion is totally unexplainable....and yes, if u have been a victim to it, if u have lost ur near n dear ones in a riot or in terror attack, u tend to develop hatred for those people...
but all i can say is, its better if we don't generalize anything.....each individual is different, lets not punish the majority for the crimes committed by minority.....it is indeed sad if we in our day to day dealings discriminate against people solely coz of his/her religious practices.....
lastly, all i can say is, the only way to know what is told in actually in religion, is to read the scriptures....read the interpretation of the scriptures by great people.....there is no easy route...knowledge alone can dispel the ignorance....darkness is not an entity by itself.....darkness is merely absence of light...similarly, ignorance is jus absence of knowledge...
song of the day: rind posh mal from mission kashmir...just love this song and hrithik's dance :)
I dont quite agree to some points he has made in his post, n i would like to give my opinion on the topic he has written. My opinions have come around from what I have seen, and heard for better part of my life.
One of the things he mentions is that, religion was created for power. I kind of have a different opinion of it. I believe religions were created for finding the peace of mind (i know, its ironical, that in todays times the very purpose of how the religion might have come in existence is lost, but i believe that this is the reason it came about to be). I dont know about hinduism, how it came about to be, n i believe no one does, thats why its called "sanatan dharma" meaning, it was always there, no one knows who started it. But as far as most other religions go we do know a particular who was an inspiration to it. But my question is, did Jesus say follow me, or i want to start a religion called christianity....did Gautam Buddha say, let me start a religion called Buddism, so on and so forth....the answer is NO...these great people did not start religions. they had a way of life, and they had something to teach to their fellowmen.They were highly learned people, who lived an exemplary life, and they had no ill will for anyone. Being with them gave other people peace of mind, being in their company made other people happy. And they were such wonderful people, that more and more people started coming to them, to learn from them, how to get happiness in life, to learn how to live a happy and fulfilling life. The vision of these people was so great and the teaching so effective, that more and more people were drawn to them and then it was the followers, who made the religion, said that whoever wish to spread the message of this great men should join in....or that whoever wishes to follow the principles this person lived on and wishes to be call himself as a his follower can call him self a christian or a buddhist etc.....
Religion is essentially a way of life. A path to climb on the spiritual ladder...without religion u can climb on the path of spirituality, its just a lot tougher....religion simply cuts out a route for us, gives us options that u can do this or that to achieve moksha or nirvana (thats the ultimate goal to be achieved) as per the hindu scriptures.....Bhagwad geeta is not a book about god or religion....if u try and read it, and see what it says, its just about learning how to achieve happiness in life....again i ll say it talks about how to live a good life....thats what is religion....
but yes, it does bring in power, coz when a person is able to command someone else, not one or two but hundreds of them, yes there is power, and though the founders of religion didnt want the power it was given to them willingly and coz they were so great they were not affected by it, coz they were the knowers of the truth, they never got blinded by the power or wealth....but not everyone is great and not all the followers have reached the same level spiritually as their master. This brings in the imperfection, NO RELIGION IS PERFECT, COZ MAN IS NOT PERFECT.....not because of the founder or because of the teachings....what is taught or told by any religion, or a scripture, was/is unfortunately not in a language understood by common people, and so the common man had to rely on other so called learned people to know what was told by the scriptures.....and some of these people in their hunger for power or just out of lack of understanding, misinterpreted the scriptures....
religion is important...it is like the banks of the rivers, keeps the water within...and till the water remains within the banks, it is nurturing, useful but when the water overflows the banks, it becomes destructive, causing calamity....
misinterpretation of the religion, has caused a lot of problems which we are facing today....and common man even today is ignorant of true teachings of religion..and this is true, i believe for most religions, but is true for hinduism for sure......and as far as my knowledge goes in history, it all started with Aurangzeb who broke temples, and forcefully converted people in his kingdom to adopt islam.....and in todays times, whatever goes on in name of religion is totally unexplainable....and yes, if u have been a victim to it, if u have lost ur near n dear ones in a riot or in terror attack, u tend to develop hatred for those people...
but all i can say is, its better if we don't generalize anything.....each individual is different, lets not punish the majority for the crimes committed by minority.....it is indeed sad if we in our day to day dealings discriminate against people solely coz of his/her religious practices.....
lastly, all i can say is, the only way to know what is told in actually in religion, is to read the scriptures....read the interpretation of the scriptures by great people.....there is no easy route...knowledge alone can dispel the ignorance....darkness is not an entity by itself.....darkness is merely absence of light...similarly, ignorance is jus absence of knowledge...
song of the day: rind posh mal from mission kashmir...just love this song and hrithik's dance :)
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