Faith Beyond Religion
 |
| Illustration by ChatGPT |
Albert Einstein professed that he was a “deeply
religious man” though he didn’t believe in any organised religion. He dismissed
the primitive religions as founded on fear. He wouldn’t accept “moral
religions” such as the Abrahamic ones. He placed his trust by a “cosmic
religious feeling” which has nothing to do with any god who looks like an
elevated human being.
One of the most fascinating ironies
in religion is that the saints and sages were people who went far beyond the
teachings of their religions, even to the extent of breaking certain rubrics.
These holy men and women embarrassed, baffled, or infuriated the guardians of
religious orthodoxy. Christianity tried Meister Eckart for heresy and burnt
Joan of Arc at the stake before declaring her a saint. Orthodox Islam was never
quite chuffed with people like Rumi and other Sufis. Kabir, Hindu saint,
ruthlessly criticised his religion’s orthodoxy and rejected its scriptures,
priests, and the caste system.
Real God-experience goes beyond
words, concepts, prayers and rituals. For most ordinary people, religious
practices are like the Google map: they generally take you to your destination
but without letting you experience the joy of travelling. Doctrines and rituals
are maps; the saints walk the territory. Put in another way, once you’ve seen
the mountain, the map can feel like a cage.
Religious institutions preserve
boundaries; the saints dissolve them in lived experience.
Religious practices are like the
finger pointing at the moon; the saints experience the moon directly.
Rituals and doctrines may serve to
prepare the seeker. But clinging to them as ends in themselves becomes idolatry
of the container rather than the content. A good test of your religion is: does
your practice of it make you a good human?
The divine does not need any of the
noise we make today about it. “Silence is the language of God,” Rumi said, “all
else is poor translation.”
This post is the last
part of Blogchatter
Half Marathon 2.0
Previous parts of this series:
Comments
Post a Comment