Religion

This is one issue regarding which I've always held a strong opinion, but never got around to fully penning it down, as I thought it to be very personal to each individual indeed. But with increasing extremism and indulgence in untenable practices across the globe, I think the time has come to finally speak up, though only as a one-off... Well, firstly I'd like to clear the air that till date I have not found the praxis of any religion totally acceptable or unacceptable, neither have I gone through the Bhagvat Gita or the Quoran or the Bible or the Guru-Granth-Sahib or any of the other holy scriptures completely, nor do I find it compulsorily necessary to study them fully, leave alone blindly abide by these private works by historically influential albeit supposedly knowledgeable individuals. And the extent to which I have read some of these doctrines, has strictly been to filter out some of the contained information I found useful, purely for the sake of self-development, as knowlegde never ceases to expand. 

Over the years, I have been audience to philosophical lectures, by countless spiritual leaders and self-proclaimed albeit publically recognized gurus of varied religions, some of which I have found agreeable and many of which I haven't. In today's day and age wherein social media religious debates are commonplace, with singletons staunchly siding with different well-known religions, I find that most of them are cut out of the same cloth irrespective of their religious beliefs, in the sense that a very simple patronizing defense is established for many of the irrational proclamations made: "It is beyond you to understand, as you've not reached the level I have, after years of meditation!" Well... In that case I have to say that your meditation went fruitless, if it didn't show you a way to put forth your so-called enlightenment in a human language for others to comprehend.

Just for example, let me refer to a certain statement I heard on a recent television interview of one of these mystics, who said that: "It would be better if women did not enter Shani Temples, as planetary forces might have a negative effect on them." The first thing that came to my mind was: "Ooohhh! Natural forces have gender bias too?! Wow..." But jokes apart, I thought I'd give it a sit down... Although men and women are anatomically different, scientifically any such known force would be too weak to cause any effect on us from that far away, irrespective of our gender. So, may be the great yogis have discovered a new unknown force, other than the mainstream gravitational, electromangenetic, nuclear and such forces, which can traverse lightyears to have a significant impact on human beings. If so, why are we not able to detect or measure it? And if they are undetectable by regular folks like Albert Einstein, then why so?... Damn! That Nobel Prize is alluding all the revered fakirs of this world just by a hair... Oh, sorry! Pretty sure they've ascended that too... But remember, afterall a good teacher is one who can illuminate the dumbest of minds, and not the brightest.

Up a similar alley are palm-reading, astrology, numerology and other such gimics, which I'd dare say if I didn't respect certain people's sentiments, are the biggest scam in the modern era, borne out of fear and superstition of the common man. And lets please not have much in store for the justification sought by these ascetics in their massive followership, which is just another way out of a sticky situation for them, as we well know it doesn't take much to sway the majority fickle-minded lot amongst us. Just have a believable background story, know some basic yoga, and bravo! You are all set for a booming business... And if all goes well you might even expand into the herbal products industry and much more... Another comment I heard from one of these sages rudely answering to a rebuttle in a seminar was: "Don't try to act smart... Many of my followers are much more educated than you." Honestly, I didn't know religion was exclusive and that it required a Ph.D. May be I should have got one instead of wasting my time on a dual degree in engineering, from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Lastly, let me put it out clearly that I do not believe in spitting out baseless generalizations. But... If I said a random word like 'terrorism' out of any specific context, does any particular religion strike you out of the blue? If not, well and good. But if yes, I guess that's upon the religion's practitioners for having earned such a despicable repute! Finally, as far as I'm concerned there should be at least a remotely practical rationale behind even the most absurd of beliefs preached by any religion. If not, then the ideology should at least be harmless to its practitioners and non-practitioners alike, as otherwise it would be an unfortunate crime against humanity. Just for instance, today groups of different faiths are hitting the news channels all over India for religious gatherings defying the laws of social distancing, implemented by the Indian Goverment to combat the growing COVID-19 global pandemic. Have those involved taken leave of their senses or is it a deliberate atrocity? These are just some answers we may never have...