It is really disturbing to hear the news of so many people being killed in the name of religion and nationality. Some people have killed people belonging to a faith that they do not agree with. Tomorrow, somebody may declare blue to be their favourite color and start killing people who wear red or pink or any other color. What can be greater stupidity and cruelty than this?
What is the role of religion in our lives? In fact, what is religion? Some people, at some point in time, undertook an inner journey and had some experiences. They have spoken about these experiences, and these experiences have been written down by their disciples in the form of different books. Sometimes, the people who had these experiences have themselves written down in the form of books. These scriptures are open to anybody to explore the path and have the same experiences. To be able to have these experiences, certain ways and means have been suggested by these enlightened people. However, none of these enlightened people would ever say that "this is the only way to realize reality". In fact, every realized person has reiterated time and again that there may be thousands of different ways and means to understand the same reality.
Thus, every religion shows us a path to realize the reality of nature and consciousness. In fact, many religions, such as Hinduism itself, show us many paths to realize the same reality. There are a wide variety of paths, such as Bhakti, Raj Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Hatha Yoga. If we want to reach, say, Zurich from Delhi, different airlines may offer us different flights that take different routes. Some flights may reach directly, while some may have one or more halts. The purpose of all the flights is to take us to Zurich.
So, where is the problem? We may take any flight depending on our convenience to reach Zurich. The problem is that we do not want to make efforts to book the ticket, spend money, get a visa, pack the luggage, and take time and resources to travel. We believe that one particular airline will take us to Zurich and get fixated on that idea. The other person gets fixated to the idea of "goodness" of the other flight. None of us has ever travelled by any of these airlines. We start arguing that mine is better and yours is worse. The arguments get converted into debate, and soon debates take the form of fights and reach a level of aggression where we are ready to kill each other to prove that my airline is better than yours. What a sheer stupidity. First of all, none have actually travelled. Even if a person has actually travelled by one airline, he has not travelled by the other. In the absence of the comparison, how would somebody compare the two? Moreover, the moment we reach Zurich, do we remember the airline? People reach Zurich having taken different airlines and equally enjoy the city.
I feel there is a fundamental problem with the present-day education system. We have chipped off the top layer of the "purpose of life". Unless we allow every student to understand the "philosophy of life, " how will they grasp what life truly is? In the absence of awareness regarding "what life is" and "what is the purpose of life, " how can they differentiate between "right" and "wrong"? How will they be able to make decisions guided by purity and freedom? "Unaware" minds are weak and become fearful due to that weakness, seeking some form of support. It is easy for people with wicked intentions to manipulate these minds and use them for their cruel, selfish interests. That is why it is the primary duty of parents to first understand the true meaning of religion, obtain a ticket, and travel by the airline, rather than just believing one airline to be the best without ever boarding an airplane. Those who have never boarded any airplane are often the most rigid and vocal in their arguments that one particular airline is the best. It is the need of the hour to restore "awareness" of the "purpose of life" and encourage our kids to read books written by enlightened authors, helping them contemplate the same to find the meaning of life. Parents must have discussions with their kids with an open mind, listen to their questions, contemplate them, and then break them into small parts, discussing the finer nuances rather than imposing their own belief systems on the kids.
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