Spirituality - only a science ??!!

Very thought provoking post Sadhana! Rituals, whether or not they are sensible, have been followed from one generation to another without questioning the reasons. While a lot of us question certain practices and beliefs, not many of us dare to do it different or let go of a tradition for the fear if things might turn out bad. A change is not always welcome and is some times scary. Scientifically I know that a lot of things that I do have no sense and yet I continue to do it for the fear of breaking the norm and welcoming bad fortune. As long as one's belief does not hurt the other person, nothing wrong in holding on to it. But, unfortunately not everyone is decent enough to stay within their limits, but go on imposing stupid rituals on others in the name of not angering Gods, forefathers and elders. Recently, a 85 year old grand father passed away in our family, he had seen grand children and even grand children's children and had, had a happy, contended life. Yet, when he died, some crazy astrologists predicted the time of death to be unfavorable to everyone concerned and stopped everyone(even those abroad, separated by 1000s of miles and many oceans) from visiting temples for 6 months until the unfavorable death was remedied. I was furious beyond words, for going to the temple is a very important thing for me, nothing gives me a peace of mind like visiting the temple, but had to abide by the elders words. I respect and mourn for the grandfather, but what has his demise got to do with me visiting my God, that too for 6 months, half a year? I still cannot understand how the death of some one old, some one who had lived life to his heart's content could be considered unfavorable for everyone else.

 

@Navs23: This is just out of curiosity, why do you want to go to the temple? Is there any scientific basis behind going to temple? If you want to pray to GOD you can always pray from home, isn't it? GOD is supposed to be everywhere, is it not? (GOD is all and everywhere)

 

hi all,

My views on this...
Science is always a self-condemned subject. Today a scientist will publish a paper telling that this product or tablet is this much good, nothing so good as it is, market it , sell it, make it available in all nook and corners and once a stage is achieved that there cannot be a life without that product, another scientist will come out with another research that the marketed product is responsible for a list of devastating happenings, eg fertilizer, majority of tablets, cell phones, etc etc...list is enormous...

our human mind has very little ability to understand and comprehend everything and anything. So which sounds unreasonable today might have a very valid reason and be worthy tomorrow....Just becoz many rituals are not proved for their meanings behind, and just bcoz some use this and also people's ignorance for their commercial upliftment, it cannot be concluded that they are superficial or absurd............

Each and every ritual has a very valid meaning ,when properly understood without quick judgement... just try to explore.

 

hi Aspire,

though God is everywhere , our limited mind with limited knowledge cannot comprehend that always... like though there is enough air around us, it is of no use when we gasp for breath or feel difficult to breathe in during respiratory problems, so we need a oxygen sump at that time...

temples or holy places of worship enable us to experience "sanniddyam"/ peace becoz of their resonating prayers, mantras , japas, worship etc.... an apt ex given by a great saint for going to temple is - we can experience the power of sun, his rays everywhere but when the same sun's rays are focused through appropriate lens on a piece of paper, that will have more effect. so Temples or places of worship perform like the lens to benefit us

 

Dear shakambari,

regarding Arundati, what harm is there in abiding by it... i ve heard from one scholar, that there is a binary star Alcor and mizar two stars which appear to be single, these two are actually regarded as Arundati and vasita in saptarishi mandalam....like this though the two, husband and wife are two different entities, they should remain united like them . so to remind this to the new-couples, they follow this ritual..............

this has lost its significance now bcoz we dono the meaning behind it.....

i do agree that our own mom and dad are our role models and there is no harm in thinking of them, but what is lost in following this ritual if this also makes us to think high, anything optimistic can be taken freely without minding we know that or not.........

we feel proud to study about unknown Lincoln, Gandhiji, Sachin , Mother Therasa just for the fact that they give us positive vibes, even though we dont know them personally... likewise even this saintly Arundati could also be taken positivley

 

dear sadhu72,

i also agree to u, that our rituals and beliefs should not affect anyone. Re: pumpkin breaking they could even do that in a remote junction or somewhere personally without causing miseries to anyone....

and regarding kida vettudal am not able to understand few things...though i dont support this i have following thing in my mind
1. there is not valid support for this mass destruction in scriptures, might have originated in the middle.
2. and many people who argue against it , my question for them- why dont u argue against hotels and centers eg Dominicks etc etc where they kill lacs and lacs of creatures for the sake of food. same massacre occurs there but no argument, no questions !!! why this secular partiality.....

there is one tradition to offer whatever we eat to god before we have, non-vegetarians offer this and eat, that is what i think.... even if u stop this , this is going to happen anyways in many party centers, canteens and hotels.....does'nt sound good... killing in name of worship is ridiculous.......by name of relishing as food is good right....

 

Interesting Question Aspire! I haven't been able to find an answer yet, but visiting the temple gives me a lot of positive vibes that everything will go well. Ofcourse God is there everywhere, at home too, but temple is one place where you can concentrate, call it prayer, request, meditation, whatever, it feels like peace and quiet. It is impossible to create such a peace at a home with lot of things going on(family running around, traffic and neighbor's sounds outside etc etc). There is some kind of energy, positive vibes that I feel when I step into a temple and spend some time before the sanctum, I don't know how to explain it scientifically, it's a wonderful feeling and I feel more connected to God/Goddess at that moment.