Religion

At prayer :)

My religion is one of the accidents that happened to me when I was an infant. I was just a few days old when my parents took me to the church for christening. Thus I became a Christian without my knowledge or consent.

For most people religion is a similar accident; it is given to them at birth. You are a Hindu or Muslim or whatever merely because you were born in a family whose members also had their religions foisted on them by others. That given religion becomes a part of our personality. Christianity played a major role in shaping my personality. It gave me a lot of guilt feelings because almost everything good is a sin in that religion.

I outgrew my religion when I became an adult. I could not accept most of what it taught me. So I gave up the religion and sought truth in my own personal way. Life becomes magical when you begin to discover your own truths though the process is not easy.

Religion can help in the discovery of your personal truths, no doubt. It can offer guidelines, inspiration, solace and much else. The problem is when we accept religious truths blindly. Scriptures written centuries ago need not be relevant today. There are no eternal truths except values such as love and compassion. Every religion was an effort to foster those eternal values. But most religions have ended up as tools for acquiring power in its various protean shapes.

If Jesus were to return today, he would be shocked by what people are doing in his name. There is very little that is common between Jesus and the hundreds of churches that function in his name. Similar is the case with Prophet Mohammed or Lord Rama or whoever.

Religion becomes meaningful only when it helps you become a better human being. What we see in the world, more often than not, is hatred and violence perpetrated in the name of religions and their gods. Such religion is absolutely useless. If you want to bring about a magical transformation to your life, religion is a good place to begin with. See whether and how it helps you to be a good human being. If it doesn’t help, It’s better to chuck it and discover your personal truths. If it does help, carry one, of course.

PS. #BlogchatterA2Z

Tomorrow: Secret

PPS. I received a WhatsApp message this morning from one of my most beloved students. “Today when you write about religion, make it gentle,” said the message. I hope I have not been harsh J