Religion

I grew up in a Hindu family with two child-free couples as neighbours – one Muslim and one Christian. I was equally pampered by both. My mother ensured that I had new clothes to wear on Eid and Christmas, and I participated in the celebrations with elan. It was more about partying, but I guess it inculcated acceptance in me. I was too young to understand belief.

I remember winning an essay contest in college organised by the Bombay Theosophical Society, on the subject Science Vs. Religion. I happened to be a chemistry student, and had plenty of examples to make my point. But I don’t think I understood the essence of either science or religion. And why did that word ‘versus’ had to be there?

I counted myself as atheist or agnostic, since I did not particularly like the rituals surrounding religion, nor did I ever feel compelled to do things in a certain way. What I particularly dislike is the use of so-called religion to drive wedges in the human race, and set up people against one another. But power emanates from dividing people. How can a leader convince his followers that he protects their interests, without taking on someone else who is shown as acting against their interest? People who want to care for the whole world and not just a section of it end up alone in monasteries, not in Parliament or corner offices.

Growing up happened when I came across the story of Thomas Edison who questioned “How can there be a world, if there is no Maker?”

A closer insight into excerpts from religious texts revealed that no one was talking about seeing or meeting the Maker. They worship the humans born with special powers, believed to be agents of God.

If there is more than one form of divine energy, it shows up in nature. We don’t really know how and why a flower blooms or rivers flow or a forest is set on fire. Gautam Buddha stepped out of the palace to understand why the Maker creates something only to destroy it later. Living through pre-ordained cycles is an imperfect answer. Why does one have to go through it? Would the planets, Sun and Moon be lonely without us? Or will the Maker feel unfulfilled without manifesting its power in some way?

I came to believe in reincarnations, when certain answers came only through the multiple life cycles theory. Nobody knows the total number of souls in the world. If they congregate in one place after departing from this planet and remain there forever, is there a production system to keep generating new ones? Is that called infinity? Or are the same ones being recycled in different forms – like the job rotation rookies have to undergo in a company, till they mature and refine themselves into experts or leaders.

Then came my next guru – Dr.Brian Weiss who practised and wrote books on past life regression. So, it was happening, as he purportedly did not have a vested interest in inventing so much of lies, and find people to corroborate his stories. Here lay the difference – he was only telling stories, not propounding any theory. The stories would either fit or not fit into a belief system.

Well, the process of questioning continues. I don’t think I’m anywhere near the end of my soul journey. And this is my faith, not acceptance or belief.

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Friday Faithfuls