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Religious Drift

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by HariLakhera, Sep 5, 2020.

  1. kaluputti

    kaluputti Platinum IL'ite

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    Sri Ramakrishna explains why persistent efforts in one area of our quest is important by way of a story..
    "
    Once, a man wanted to sink a well because he needed water for his household purposes. Someone advised him to dig at a certain spot and he started doing so. But, after digging up to a depth of 15 feet he could not find any water, so he abandoned the pursuit thinking that it was futile to dig there. In the meanwhile, another person came and laughing at his foolish attempt advised him to dig at another spot, which he knew to be best for the purpose. So the man went there and started digging. This time he went to a depth of 20 feet, but again could not find any water.

    Soon a third person appeared and asked him to try at another spot. The man went there and this time dug up to a depth of 30 feet and again could not find water. Thus he went on digging at different places and ultimately could not find any water. Had he concentrated his efforts and dug at one place, he would have certainly found water since he would have obviously gone up to a depth of 150 feet. Because he was not steadfast in his pursuit, he could not reach the goal."
     
  2. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    To be frank, though the analogy is correct that persistent effort in one direction helps in finding the answer but in this case the example given might be from a period when science was not in a position to exactly pin point where the water is and at what depth. It may convince a person who does not know that science can do for him but not a person who knows where to seek help from.
    Similarly many old beliefs are being proven scientifically wrong today and it is where the present generation is questioning the older generation.
    I know an old lady friend, who claims to have remedy for any trouble. Whenever she faces some problem she starts chanting some mantra and advises others to do the same in similar situation.
     
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  3. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Okay! Indra or Agni or Vayu are Devtas. But they are not who give us rain, thunder, fire, or air. It is provided by nature. In some parts they called Gods also. If our so called God's representatives today can be called Bhagwan, Indra is much higher entity. There is where today's generation differs with us.
    Yes, Science is yet to prove many things and Creation is still a far far dream. But they certainly are not in monkey business jumping form one theory to another. Experimentation is a part of scientific quest. I wonder where we would be without that privilege!
     
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  4. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Exactly, and that what an inquisitive mind does, be he or she in unravelling the mysteries of nature as a scientist of the mysteries of creation as a devotee and faithful.
     
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  5. kaluputti

    kaluputti Platinum IL'ite

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    Sir, here the post is about religious drift.. which is attributed to changing the places to dig to get water, the analogy. Thats all. I strongly feel that all scientists are also seekers but it is the truth that today science proves something and in a few days,months or years it disproves this theory and takes to another. So it goes on according the intellectual development of the homo-sapiens....changing constantly.

    It is also true that we do not know many things reg. the true significance or the nature of our old beliefs etc.
     
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  6. Balajee

    Balajee IL Hall of Fame

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    Hariji "Secular" is not a dirty word. Frankly, I think with fanaticism, bigotry ruling the roost we need a strong dose of secularism. Let us not blame it for loosening of family ties. You live in US,, The kind of evangelist bigotry that is rampant there , the rising Hindu right in India and ISIS ruling the roost in Islamic countries clearly shows how important secularism is.
     
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  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hari Sir,

    Dr. Wayne W. Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, he quotes 19th Verse of Tao Te Ching as follows:

    "Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom, and it will be a hundred times better for everyone. Throw away morality and justice and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit and there will be no thieves. All of these are outward forms alone; they are not sufficient in themselves. It is more important to see the simplicity; to realize one’s true nature, to cast off selfishness and temper desire".

    After reading this verse 19, my thoughts went in the following direction:

    Before the laws of the land came into existence, before humanity formed all the religions, before the civilization organized education, justice, and commerce, humanity lived on its own power of wisdom. Even in the court of law, the various laws are interpreted by the attorneys indicating that there are multiple dimensions of understanding to the set of laws written by a handful. All the holy scriptures are subject to the interpretation of the religious experts even today. Commerce is now regulated by various laws and compliance with such laws. Before that, everything is driven by the conscience of the members of the community. Therefore, compliance with our conscience is far superior to the compliance with the laws of the land. When we become our Being, we can't be harmful to anyone including ourselves. In fact, the conscience of each individual in the community is the only law that existed before education, justice, and commerce were formed by the civilizations.

    Anything that is subject to the interpretation of the mind which itself is a transient tool that was gifted to us to experience the divinity in us, is flawed unless it delves into our divine being i.e. consciousness. What we see through our mind is subject to the set of experiences the mind stored and validated, and they are limited. Intellect (discriminating faculty) is the closest and subtlest that consults our consciousness. Thoughts, emotions, and feelings play a big role in our day to day life. We need to live in the world without the world living in us, detach ourselves like a Lotus plant that grows in the water but unaffected by it, concentrate on our goal to achieve our highest in our inner journey, become one-pointed to manifest our divinity, hold everything with a mindset of a Trustee (relationship, health, wealth, etc.) with only an obligation to protect and preserve but without feeling as a beneficiary, remove the desires other than one manifesting the divinity, delve ourselves into our divinity and remain blissful, to liberate the soul from the burden of the effects of our past actions. All that exists in the world are from the same source and our life journey is to find a way back home.

    We are looking for something that is already in us and all we need to do is to manifest that power and experience it. Religion should be an enabler and if it is not, it is not beneficial for humanity to find latent power within. Beacon should be to direct towards the enlightenment from the ocean of life and death.
     
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  8. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Hari ji, I read the first sentence and thought the post would talk about why drifting away from religion and not thinking about God are bad.

    The list of reasons why the drift is happening are nice to read, but the starting gave me false hopes of reading what is wrong with moving away from religion.
     
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  9. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Shri Balajee,
    'Secular' is becoming a dirty world these days, at least in India. It may be because of the perceived appeasement by the Congress.
    It was also fashionable some years back among the youths. It is also because on the one had we, the educated class, believe that all religions equal and try to teach out children so that they may respect other religion. In the same breathe we tell them the bad things in other religions. They get confused.
    Unfortunately, because of conversion practices in Christianity and Islam gave opportunity to the propagate the supposedly good points of those religions.
    Present generation is left with little choice but to be atheist and call themselves spiritual what ever that may mean.
    Somehow, Religious impact over politics has increased while the intention was to keep them separate.
     
  10. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    "In fact, the conscience of each individual in the community is the only law that existed before education, justice, and commerce were formed by the civilizations."

    Dear Shri Viswa,
    The above lines of your feedback, sums up everything we need to know about what is right and what is wrong. Everything else is subject to interpretation.
    I was reading somewhere-Truth is like woman, difficult to understand. But the conscience is always in a position to tell us what is truth.
     
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