Basic across Religions

          Religious wars in today’s world is common. Every day in newspaper we find people fighting for defending their religious founders and ideals. In fact the boundary of each religion has become like that of countries that needs to be defended and fought for. Fanatics are ready with their guns and weapons to kill at moment’s notice and also ready to become suicide bomber, killing themselves and their targets. On one hand if scientific developments is leading to increase in benefits and comforts of people then on another side it is giving a tool to fanatical fighters to work stealthly thereby causing mass destruction. On comparing the basics of religion we will observe the futility of such activities of much destruction and also the ideals expected to be achieved by mankind.

Actual Reality which only the knower of experiencer knows.

Idea of Gods

Brahma, Vishnu, Jesus, Buddha, Ahura Mazda, Allah etc. Believe in Gods with Form or Formless. Actually Idea of an all-pervading infinite perfect being.

Methodology

Different according to time, place, situation. Rituals, rules, dos and don’ts, Idols, non-idols, scriptures likes Vedas, Puran, Bible, Quran, Zend Avesta etc.

Basics

Truth, Purity, Honesty, Non Stealing etc.

         Basics: - When we observe the ways of religion scientifically we will become aware of the overall puzzle and intricacies of process involved. The basics of all religion are the foundation stone upon which the whole edifice of organization is built. There cannot be any religion with the idea of stealing, hatred, dishonesty etc. The basics of all the religion is in short Truth, Honesty, Purity, Non Stealing etc. The morality of all religion are same except that each sect tries to present it as their own. The Hindus, Christians, Muslims etc. all over the world want their followers to follow the moral and ethical code. In ancient book of Patanjali Yoga Sutra we find this system of practise in religion being systematically organised as Yama and Niyama. The concentration level of mind increases with each step of practise and it becomes necessary to become established in moral and ethical code of conduct. If the concentrated mind contains any strain of negative thought then it will become more potent to express itself in action thereby obstructing the progress of the aspirant. We find numerous spiritual gurus and practitioner doing act which does not befit them and damages their social respect due to being not properly established in moral code of conduct.

   Methodology: - After the basics, the methodology of each religion is different. Their scriptures describe their way of achieving the specified objective thorough the rituals, code of conduct etc. The Methodology of the working of each religion is different. The Hindus offer prayer to their gods, reading puran etc. Muslim's prayer is the way of Namaz, Sahada (Faith), reading Quran etc., Christians praying in Church, reading Bible etc. Each religion being developed in specific time zones has their own procedure to work upon in day to day life dealings. Also in methodology we find the difference of practise based upon the dominant quality of aspirant emotion, intellect etc.

   Ø  Bhakti: - Some by nature being more emotional do follow the Bhakti way like repetition of god’s name, worshipping with love, reading stories about love of god etc.

In the Book, Universal Message of Bhagvad Gita, Swami Ranganathananda writes,

         “Our country never had the problem of drunkenness. Most people never knew what is an inebriating drink, though unfortunately, after independence, we are learning it quickly and well, because the bhajanananda idea is being forgotten. We used to take the name of God; after a whole day’s work, when we would come back home, we would repeat the name of God, sing Ramnam Sankirtan. Our common people did not need this external kick coming from drinks and other drugs. That joy, bhajanananda, is taken away from them today. So, they have to depend upon the external joy. And what is the result? Unhappy homes, break up of marriages, etc. So human being must understand how to experience joy from within.”

  Ø    Jana: Intellectually dominant individuals try to think out about God and know him directly by discriminating the real from the unreal. “Real me” is found out by constant discrimination between false identity and real identity.

Swami Vivekananda lecturing on Jana Yoga says, “We see, then, that this human being is composed first of this external covering, the body; secondly, the finer body, consisting of mind, intellect, and egoism. Behind them is the real Self of man. We have seen that all the qualities and powers of the gross body are borrowed from the mind, and the mind, the finer body, borrows its powers and luminosity from the soul, standing behind.”

  Ø    Raja Yoga: Some people being naturally contemplative practise Raja Yoga, Meditation, and Concentration etc. Concentration is increased by practise and is directed inwards to watch the activities of mind. As we observe the external things and compare them, in a similar way the sense doors are closed and the mind is made to observe the internal.

  Swami Vivekananda in his introduction to Raja Yoga writes: “The powers of the mind should be concentrated and turned back upon itself, and as the darkest places reveal their secrets before the penetrating rays of the sun, so will this concentrated mind penetrate its own innermost secrets. Thus will we come to the basis of belief, the real genuine religion. We will perceive for ourselves whether we have souls, whether life is of five minutes or of eternity, whether there is a God in the universe or more. It will all be revealed to us. This is what Raja-Yoga proposes to teach. The goal of all its teaching is how to concentrate the minds, then, how to discover the innermost recesses of our own minds, then, how to generalise their contents and form our own conclusions from them. It, therefore, never asks the question what our religion is, whether we are Deists or Atheists, whether Christians, Jews, or Buddhists. We are human beings; that is sufficient. Every human being has the right and the power to seek for religion. Every human being has the right to ask the reason, why, and to have his question answered by himself, if he only takes the trouble.”

 Ø Karma: Work oriented people being naturally prone to work addiction practises Karma Yoga, it is working without expecting any fruits of work. Swami Tyagananda in his book, “Walking the Walk”, beautifully illustrates in the diagram how this is accomplished.

Swami Tyagananda writes: “Detachment is the AX which breaks the karma and snaps the link that connects desire with karma. We need to keep in mind that behind every link in the karma chain stands a conscious person.” Accordingly detachment from karma comes by the following methods:

• Work for Work Sake: - For those who don’t believe in a personal God.
•  Work as an offering to God: - For those who do believe in a personal God.

To break the karma chain, we must attack its weakest link, the link that connects desire with karma.  This is accomplished through a twofold practice of detachment as mentioned above. Swami further elaborates, “All the four yogas have their specialized approaches to develop detachment from desire. But detachment from karma is where karma yoga lays special emphasis and the two principal methods employed are “work for work’s sake” and doing “work as an offering to God. Both these method spring from love”

Idea of Gods: - The Idea of Gods is different in different religion. Even in each religion there are many sects and believers of different Gods, demi gods, subsidary gods etc. The Hindus are said to have 33 crore gods. Muslims, Christians initially has one founder but later on they were also divided to sects. Similarly so many religious ideas started with one founder but later on they were branched into multiple sects according to difference of opinion, interpretation, heir etc. Again some religion give emphasis to form and some to formless. Some disregard idols some worship idols. In fact the idea of God is basically a thought of perfect infinite being, who is the cause of the Universe or Existence. The reasoning mind wants to understand that perfect law or being from whom the whole universe came and emotional heart want to feel it and become one with it in love. According to St Augustine (354-430 A.D) God is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. Nothing exist outside Him, beyond Him, and without Him. He is the creator of reason, and yet superior to it. Reason cannot comprehend Him fully. In the ancient book of world i.e. Rig Vedic Nasadiya Sukta, hymn of Creation we find

“But, after all, who knows, and who can say

Whence it all came, and how creation happened?

The gods themselves are later than creation,

So who knows truly whence it has arisen?”

Pursha Sukta of Rig Veda speaks of creation as coming out from God.

“Thousands of heads has the great being.

Thousands of eyes has he and thousands of legs.

He manifests the world.

He stands beyond the count of ten fingers.”

Samarpan, author of famous book Tiya, Param, Junglezen & more recent Craving the Sky in his write up on, “Living Hinduism – the world and beyond” says:

“Yoga shows how when a person starts meditating, he first mediates on some gross object, say, a flower. As the mind becomes concentrated, he tries to mediate on that flower without confining it in space-time. Once successful, he mediates on the subtler components of the flower. This is the point where Indian philosophy and the present day Physics part their ways. Physics tries to break down the flower into compounds, elements, molecules, atoms, and finally into subatomic particles. But the goal of Indian philosophy is not to explain universe, but to realise God, so it does not care for the actual molecular structure of the flower, rather, it looks for the relevance of the flower to the observer, who takes it in through the five senses as touch, taste, colour, sound, and smell. Whatever the chemical composition of an object or its sub-atomic layout, ultimately the object will have to be observed by a person through the five senses that can grasp its specialised properties. The finer components of an object that are graspable by the senses are known as tanmatras, which are five in number for each of the senses.

A yogi then learns to mediate on the constituent tanmatras of the flower, and slowly goes deeper into meditation when layers after layer of the covering that made the existence of flower possible, get uncovered. The Yoga philosophy, and consequently, Vedanta terms them, in terms of their subtler nature, as – matter, tanmatras, cosmic ego, cosmic intelligence, and unified existence. Beyond these rungs of the universe lies the spiritual reality that is variously called as Atman, Purusha, God, etc.”

Our practical experience make us see so many idea of gods like that of Jesus, baby Jesus, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Sarasvati, Druga etc. that make us ponder about the significance of each of these. For this the Indian thought believes that each mind is unique and everyone’s choice is different, similarly our liking for each gods is different and by following our own idea of god through its own methodology we can realize the actual god. In fact we can take the example of mould where the melted gold is poured and when it hardens then the mould is broken to get the desired shape. The Idea of God is like a mould and the individual character is made to melt and separate the ore of impurity through the methodology, poured in the mould of Idea and when mould breaks the god shines in its own purity.

Actual Reality: - The actual reality experienced by the founders of religions or sages are beyond the grasp of ordinary man without any similar practise. When they spoke, their words became scriptures but unless we have understood their words and gone through similar experiences it is impossible to get the original import of their meaning. Suppose in his whole life, a man has seen only black cow and someone after seeing the white cow tell the man about cow using the world only "Cow", then his understanding will be that of black cow only. Similarly the transcendental experiences when spoken in words is interpreted by general people in their own way but unless originally experienced subjectively, it is of not much value.

Swami Vivekananda speaking on Practical Vedanta says:-

“Great souls, who first felt these great ideas in their hearts, manufactured these words; and at that time many understood their meaning. Later on, ignorant people have taken up those words to play with them and made religion a mere play upon words, and not a thing to be carried into practice. It becomes "my father's religion", "our nation's religion", "our country's religion", and so forth. It becomes only a phase of patriotism to profess any religion, and patriotism is always partial.”

Although the methodology and idea of Gods are different in all sects and religion but the basic idea behind it is to trace the origin of the cause of universe, know the reason for the phenomenal existence of this world. Free from death, diseases and decay is the goal we want to achieve. In simple terms we want to have unlimited peace. The founders of religion after experiencing certain high level consciousness, established their realised idea of perfection in the world through words and symbols but the followers unable to follow the real import and meaning simply fight over words. Like defending the property or territory, the followers simply defend their faith without any actual individual experience. They only defend the words of their religious founder, methodology etc. With maximum enjoyment of the world as the only objective they fight and will keep fighting. But the sincere ones will reach that God, realizing whom they will find the eternal peace. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa after practising the methodology of different branches of Tantra, Vaishnava, Rama, Vedanta, Christianity, Islam etc and achieving the peak state as described in all the major religion of our time has said that we should follow our own methodology and practise sincerely the tenets of our own religion and at the same time we should not fight with other followers. Let us follow and let other follow their own. Religion should not be like a territory to be defended or conquered but it must be a living experience showering love, peace and tranquillity to all. In other words, basics, methodology and ideas of Religion must be used as a scientific investigation & experimentation through our own instrument of body and mind to know the actual reality, the truth of our own existence and that of cosmos.

Reference:

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 1 Raja Yoga

Walking the Walk – Swami Tyagananda

Living Hinduism-The world and beyond - Samarpan