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Spirituality
Gods and Religions
by
TA Ramesh
 Prior
to the developments of human knowledge mentally man was in total
darkness and was living under the spell of fear. Fear of darkness,
disease, death, lightning, thunder, storm, volcanic eruption, formidable
animals and so on made him surrender to them and worship them for mercy
and survival. Those objects of fear became Gods. In fact Gods and
temples are the products of fear only.
According
to the developments of knowledge Gods too were created for worship.
To
safeguard themselves from the horrors of the spirits of the dead men and
destructions of Nature, ancestral worship and Nature worship were in
vogue. Then animal, human, natural and supernatural aspects were
combined together in the form of idols for worship besides
personification of Nature. Likewise Gods such as Sakti, Siva, Indra,
Varuna, Mithra, Surya, Vishnu, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Allah,
etc. have come into the human world and many religions as a consequence
appeared in the world to rule the minds of men both for good and bad.
Civilization
With the help of his knowledge and intelligence the primitive man made
stone weapons to fight against enemies, formidable creatures, etc. Then
he miraculously discovered the way to produce fire and used it for his
protection in the night times and for cooking food. Afterwards he made
wheel to move about using domestic animals and soon invented
agriculture, cattle rearing and farming. His knowledge improved by doing
inventive, creative works and he became a civilized being. However, the
limitations of his senses and the incomprehensibility of his mind to
know about the secrets of life, Nature, Universe, God gave him the
knowledge that he is incomplete and imperfect and that a thing called
Spirit higher than the mind is there and by means of which perhaps all
the secrets of the Universe can be known and all his fear of the forces
beyond his control or power, he could not overcome death and achieve
immortality.
Spiritual Force
Being a finite being nothing was eternal and absolute and felt very much
dissatisfied over his helplessness to overcome his limitations,
incompleteness and imperfection. Somehow he wanted to overcome his
limitations physically, mentally and spiritually and save himself from
all threats, controls and dominations. On search he discovered that some
force is controlling the affairs of men, Nature and the Universe. He
felt perhaps if he communes with such a force or power he can solve,
save and lead himself to the state where he can be eternally free and
happy. The result is the birth of his first Encyclopaedia of Knowledge
called Religion that came into existence mainly for the attainment of
physical, mental and spiritual freedom in toto.
Religions
Religion is all about the creative evolution of man meant for the
general guidance of all with moral code of conduct to be followed for
total salvation in life. It is a system of faith and worship of God. It
shows the means to reach divine hood from manhood and solve all the
problems on the way thereby. In short the functions of religion are to
give peace, education and knowledge of life and culture to achieve
everything in order to make human life a complete one.
Superstition
Religion is all about human faith, the up gradation of human nature from
the animal nature to the divine nature and the spiritual realization of
the Self and God. Human faith comes of the personal knowledge of the
realization of and the feeling of God. Faith without such realization is
not real but a blind one which is leading towards superstition only.
Superstition is a misleading thing and is always not dependable for the
development of man�s self in anyway in life.
Truth and Love
All the religions of the world though called by different names like
Hindu, Christian, Islam, Buddhism, Zion, etc. preach about the same
things like discipline, unity, brotherhood, truth, love and peace and
among these, Truth and Love are the most precious things of human values
which are really helpful to bring out the divinity in every human being.
And that is why religious philosophers say that Truth is God and
religious persons say that Love is God.
Religion, Science and
Politics
The German philosopher Max Mueller says that religion is the practical
form of philosophy and philosophy is the rational form of religion. So,
religion is concerned with the feeling, heart and spirit whereas
philosophy is concerned with the reason, mind and intellect. The
Scientist Albert Einstein also says that �science without religion is
lame, religion without science is blind.� The political sage Gandhi has
shown to the world that politics can be made more effective and fruitful
with moral values like Truth, Non-Violence and simplicity as the basic
means to achieve political ends. Therefore great men have proved that
great things can be achieved in the public life of the world through
religion.
Harmful Effects
On the other side, religion has done great harm to mankind by means of
religious conversions. In the name of religion there were and are so
many wars in the world. In the Middle Ages the Crusaders waged war with
many countries in the name of Christianity, conquered and converted many
European countries into Christianity and established a Christian empire
with the Roman Catholic Church having full control over them for about
eight centuries. Then in Africa and Asian States too there were
religious domination by both Muslim and Christian conquerors. Even today
there are wars between Jewish Israel and Islamic Arab countries,
Protestant and Catholic Christians in Ireland, Muslims and Christians in
Lebanon, the Shias and Sunnis of Islamic communities of Iran and Iraq on
sharing of river water and communal fights among various religious
groups of the people of India and so on. So, what is the best way to
solve these religious disputes, disparities and problems?
One God and Tolerance
The solution lies in adopting the best things common to all religions as
the best means to overcome these crises. The common things are faith in
one God though called by different names like Allah, Jesus and Krishna
and love in the relationship of human beings. Faith in one God is not a
difficult matter to practice. But to practice love with everyone is an
impossible thing. For, we can love only intimates, friends and dear
fellow men and not all. So, in public the best thing to do is to
practice tolerance like E.M. Forster or non-violence or ahimsa like M.K.
Gandhi which is the civilized way by which religious disparities can be
solved and peace, unity and brotherhood can be established in the world.
And as far as religion is concerned that is the way to follow human
culture in life.
Main Religions
Looking at the history of the religions the Vedas are the oldest heard
holy religious scriptures in the world. The Four Vedas [Rig, Yajur, Sama
and Atharvana], Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita [of Mahabharata Epic] of
Hindu Religion, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are most important
religions of the world. Of the Holy Scriptures Bhagavad-Gita has the
capacity to be considered as the Universal Religious script suitable for
all the people in the world because of its universal scope, unity in
diversity. The Four Vedas called the book of knowledge is a heard
revelation of the knowledge of Truth or God. Upanishads are the
philosophy of the Vedas, Vedanta is the concluding part of the acme of
human thought and Bhagavad-Gita or the song of the Lord is the essence
of Hinduism which is the easily understandable and follow-able holy
script of Hindu religion. Likewise, The Bible or the holy book of
stories of Christian religion and the Koran or the holy words of God of
Islam [peace with God or submission to Allah] religion are the life
guide books of the respective religions of the world.
World Religions
Of all the religions, Buddhism only does not talk about God but about
morality and human life only. The Old Testament of the Bible common both
for the Christians and the Muslims but the New Testament of Jesus Christ
is followed by the Christians and the Koran of Mohammed is followed by
the Muslims. Christianity and Islam are other worldly, preparing the
people for the death and for the present or single life only, whereas
Hinduism is for this world and the other world preparing both for the
life and the death and for the various lives of the future too till the
cycle of births and deaths is completed. Hindu religion because of its
vast scope can be called as the universal religion talks about Dharma,
natural or eternal order or Law of Nature, Duty, theory of Karma and
Liberation, the achievement of absoluteness. Christian religion says
that all the men of the world are sinners and their salvation lies only
with Jesus Christ and Islam says that Allah is the only God and Mohammed
is the last prophet superseding all the messengers of God to be obeyed,
whereas Hindu religion which is not a strict one has choice for all the
people of the world.
Gita and Buddhism
The expression of the greatest development of human knowledge can be
found in the Buddhism and the Bhagavad-Gita of India. Indeed the
greatness of India lies in its religion, philosophy, literature and
culture and what is not in them is no where to be found in the world.
Buddhism is just a corollary or a branch of Hindu religion meant for all
and the common people because of its crystal clear, simple and easily
follow-able nature. Buddhism says that desire is the root cause for all
the problems, miseries, sufferings and the cycle of births and deaths in
the world. Non-attachment should be followed to overcome desire;
meditation has to be done often to get enlightenment and wisdom; and
love should be shown to all. As far as love is concerned Christianity
seems to be only a corollary of Buddhism. Then the way to overcome the
cycle of births and deaths and the duties and sufferings connected with
them has to be found and followed individually till perfection and
purity are achieved to attain Nirvana or serenity of soul or salvation
or total liberation.
Hinduism
Hindu religion is all about the up gradation of human life to achieve
divinehood or moksha or state of Brahma or liberation or absoluteness
through the path of Dharma, order and righteousness. Human life is
nothing but existence, knowledge, bliss and absolute. Life is for happy
living and is not for leading a life of drudgery, sufferings, miseries,
etc. and so, it is worth living.
Noble Cause
It is well known that everyone is born for a noble cause. So, everyone
has to be noble in thoughts, words and deeds. But what could be that
noble cause? God is the all pervading spirit, the Universal Spirit, the
Universal Consciousness activating everything everywhere with infinite
power eternally. Everything starts from and ends with this infinite
power which has no beginning and no end, which is immanent and
transcendental, and absolute and independent but everything within is
finite, temporary, imperfect and interdependent with one another. Of all
the creations man only seems to be exceptional, rational and unique. So,
man�s beginning must be in God and therefore man�s end should also be in
God only. Because of this noble cause not only man has to be noble in
mind, heart and soul but also has to lead noble life and finally embrace
God nobly. If he is not so, he has to make himself so by practice and
fulfill his destiny with full realization.
Fate
The Fate of a person in the present birth is already determined and
decided by the good or bad acts of the past birth or births and so also
the fate in the subsequent births is decided by the acts of the present
birth.
Illusion
Nothing is non-perishable, permanent and real in the world, Nature and
Universe. Even the human body, youth, beauty and strength are all not
permanent and cannot give peace and happiness forever. Therefore
attachment to materials, land, ladies, name, fame, power and position
should be curtailed. The mind should be purified and kept free from the
evils such as desire, jealousy, lust, anger, fear, etc. For everything
is illusion and nothing is real, imperishable, permanent and eternal
except the soul or the atman or the inner spirit which is the part and
parcel of the all pervading spirit. Meditation should be done often in
the thought of God, the infinite power of eternity. That is the way to
overcome illusion and reach reality.
Non-attachment
In short, the policy of non-attachment should be followed in life by
doing duty according to one�s dharma so that likes and dislike, profit
and loss, etc. can be met with the same state of mind which helps human
existence to be stable. This type of life is called the life of yoga.
Bhagavad-Gita advocates mainly four types of yoga that are 1. Yoga of
Knowledge, 2. Yoga of Devotion, 3. Yoga of Duty and 4. Yoga of
Concentration. A person living such a mode of life will be calm,
unruffled and balanced in mind even in adverse situations, trying
circumstances and times of predicament. Next, real knowledge should be
gained by intellectual thought that is as steady as the Sun for proper
guidance in life. Then the enjoyment of life should be based on
non-attachment and real knowledge. After that only it is possible to
relinquish all the earned best things for the posterity and commune with
the all pervading spirit spiritually to become one with the absolute at
the end.
June 17,
2007
Image under
license with Gettyimages.com
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