Recently, I was witness to a heated debate among my friends on the subject of religion and faith. Particularly, the contrasting views of two of my friends were interesting to debate on. One argued that there is no God. The other said God is definitely there.
My atheist friend contended that science so far has not proved existence of God. And that its nature that sets up the laws based on which the rest of the things play out. According to him, science has proven that there are laws like survival of the fittest, which gave rise to (and giving rise to) variety of species on earth. He believes in Big Bang theory that created the universe and not God.
On the other hand, my religious friend argued that God created the universe and that science has NOT YET discovered God. He argued that God lives somewhere in the universe, but keeps watching us all the time. He also argued that going to temples and worshipping the God’s idols was the only way to connect with God.
Who is right amongst the two?
One point worth noting here is that, one maybe an atheist, but he has a faith! His faith is science. He has faith in science, reasoning, logic and evidence. The other friend’s faith is more traditional religion. He has faith in idol-worship, god and prayers.
I would say both are right in their own rights (refer my previous entry on truth). It is, however, important to have a faith – a strong one at that. If you do, then rest is immaterial.
As Swami Vivekananda said, “same size fits all” argument is wrong. Each person would have his/her own level of intellectual development. A highly developed intellectual maybe better off having faith is science (at least for some time till the real power of the super-conscious attracts him). An innocent commoner maybe better off idol-worshipping, as he may never be able to appreciate abstract thinking and philosophy involved in higher knowledge.
Hence, its not correct to argue which faith is correct. I would debate on how to achieve complete faith on something. Are you willing to?
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Religion....
We talk a lot about things which we don't fully understand. I'm no exception. In today's world, one of the most talked about subject is religion, especially the extreme forms of them.
Let me try to dwell a bit on this. What is religion? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? To me, religion is something very personal, is a way to uplift myself, a path to gain more knowledge on the Bigger Picture. In other words, spiritual advancement. My definition of religion is strictly only these. Anything else falls into other categories.
One such category is culture. The way we interact with others, the way we dress up, the kind of food we eat are all parts of culture and never should be confused with religion. Since culture involves interaction with society, it has to be in a framework. Many of these accepted frameworks are regulated and become a part of the larger set of laws of land.
Religion on the other hand is very personal. There is very little scope for social interactions to uplift oneself. At the most, interaction with like-minded intellectuals, a spiritual Guru and/or efforts to access/understand texts that offer spiritual knowledge are the only social interactions. There are no bounds in a religion.
A religion, in a most ideal definition, is unique to each person. We may start with a known and popular "religion", but as we progress, the path we take usually is a unique one. But the ultimate goal again maybe same for all of us. It is more like this: starting from south pole of the earth, there are infinite lines parallel to earth surface that again meet at north pole. Which line you take does not matter. You will reach north pole ultimately.
[to be continued on another day to avoid overdose :-)]
Let me try to dwell a bit on this. What is religion? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? To me, religion is something very personal, is a way to uplift myself, a path to gain more knowledge on the Bigger Picture. In other words, spiritual advancement. My definition of religion is strictly only these. Anything else falls into other categories.
One such category is culture. The way we interact with others, the way we dress up, the kind of food we eat are all parts of culture and never should be confused with religion. Since culture involves interaction with society, it has to be in a framework. Many of these accepted frameworks are regulated and become a part of the larger set of laws of land.
Religion on the other hand is very personal. There is very little scope for social interactions to uplift oneself. At the most, interaction with like-minded intellectuals, a spiritual Guru and/or efforts to access/understand texts that offer spiritual knowledge are the only social interactions. There are no bounds in a religion.
A religion, in a most ideal definition, is unique to each person. We may start with a known and popular "religion", but as we progress, the path we take usually is a unique one. But the ultimate goal again maybe same for all of us. It is more like this: starting from south pole of the earth, there are infinite lines parallel to earth surface that again meet at north pole. Which line you take does not matter. You will reach north pole ultimately.
[to be continued on another day to avoid overdose :-)]
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