Though our parents are religious and devout, have a very staunch belief in God, yet the same could not be imparted to their children. The children, that’s us, became completely disparaging about religion and God. Our beliefs eroded with time. We began questioning the existence of God and for us religion became too imposing. It was extremely boring and without any serious implications. So most of us left it out of our lives. No one could convince us about God. Leave alone the school or our surroundings.
The only time we thought we needed to visit the sanctum sanctorum was during our wedding ceremony or during the christening ceremony of our child. Otherwise God existed only for the fanatics who bombed the country or the ones who burnt the masses and destroyed places of worship.
When tsunami or floods came, we wondered where God went? We wondered what was God busy with when innocent women were getting raped. We question His existence only because we had become too skeptical in life. Some days when we couldn’t solve our worldly issues, we hoped that this God listened to our simple wants and gave us that which we needed most.
Out of compulsion we came to His doorstep and prayed. But we hardly knew any prayers. We mumbled some sort of a prayer and hoped He listened. Truth is we were bothered with our selfish motives. When we realized that someone else got something’s from the so-called god that they believed in, we turned towards that. I remember asking my friends how their wishes got fulfilled, so they introduced me to Mother Of Perpetual Succor. I started to earnestly visit the church with a long list of petitions and got answers. I did novenas time and again to get my gifts from Her. She was very generous and I was happiest.
So most of the time we tend to move towards this god with very selfish motives. But it doesn’t last long. We move away again and again to come back again. Our very mean mind wants some desires fulfilled so we rely on this god.
Then again, tragedy or some terrible episode happens to us and we start hating the same god that we believed in. Our idea changes about religion. We tend to become rebellious in life. Our best friend or parent dies. The end happens so easily. Our relationship becomes fragile and breaks all because we don’t have any answers.
We always look for some signs but there are none. Then the scientific books which doubt god are available to us. The god delusion and other such great books tell us logically that they have no faith in the unknown but that which is known is so powerful and apt for our lives. So believe in science and that which gives proof of the pudding, not some vague ancient god who cannot even give proof of his existence.
Religion is bent towards the ones who want to thrust it on us. Laws, which are concoction of some devious mind which wants our absolute obedience are written and palmed off as religious beliefs. We are forced to follow the diktats of these zealots. They issue edicts and we gullible beings believe it’s the word of god.
Check out the throngs at any religious festivals outside a temple or church. The basic motivation is to ask and follow some blind belief. Festivals like thanksgiving are social in nature, the lion dance is a ritual, the hungry ghost festival is appeasement of domains unknown, navratri is occasion for lovers liaison, Christmas is all about gifts! There is no true motivation to find out about this truth about god or religion. We have given up for good.
Science survives only because of proof of the knowledge offered. Religion dies because of non existence of proofs.
Just as we seek proofs in our other material worldly existence, shouldn’t we seek proof here too? So to get to that state of knowing the truth about the spiritual we have to find that someone who can take us towards the truth there. Someone who can teach us that there are things which we weren’t aware of just because we have closed our minds to it. We were barking up the wrong tree. No parent, worldly teachers or some bullshitter who is a biased person cannot teach us about spiritual. No one should force us to learn that. We should feel nice knowing it. I guess it needs a specialist who knows the truth.
Vivekananda also asked the same question to Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. He asked Him whether He had seen God. Ramakrishnaji answered that He had seen God, which means He has first hand knowledge about God. A disbeliever like Vivekananda then got someone who could give him the proof of the pudding. We too need our Ramakrishnaji in our lives. Someone who knows God well. Someone who can guide us in our path of knowing.
So let’s start our search for that One. Then we can get the proof first hand.
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