What is Religion?

CLICK HERE for discourse on the GITA

There are a lot of fancy and attractive names being bandied about by new sects that exploit the spiritual vacuum that exists within each individual amongst us all.

Every good orator worth his salt is now propounding very seriously and with the help of the audio-video media, theories about religion, couched in sometimes pleasing and at other times in very passionate rhetoric, mixed with a heady though toxic core of diseased concepts. The concepts or theories propounded are usually: 1. your religion is in danger, 2. Enemy of your religion is your enemy 3. We all have to get together to destroy our enemies, 4. Yours/ours is the only true religion, all others are wrong and so on.

In the recent times this has taken on an alarming and dangerous trend where the hidden agenda or ultimate object is to dominate in the name of religion and there are no boundaries and no exceptions. This is very much so where religion has been unthinkingly made synonymous with power. Such propounders of and contractors of religion have made it their very efficient business to create factories where the gullible and the needy are brain washed with this heady mixture of toxic danger, salvation and the ability to extend power of the gunn and the mob in the name of religion. By the time the innocent brain washed and gullible ‘Jehadi’ or Ku Kux Klan or soldier of the ‘LORD” or “Ram Bhakt” realises that he has been lured into the twilight zone of no return. It is almost always too late. But even then he justifies his wrong actions to avoid being termed a looser and can take satisfaction from the fact that though only for a brief moment, at least once in his ignominious life, he has been able to break the vicious cycle of helplessness, fear, deprivation and want, which would have been his life long burden. No matter what the end, he has had his moment in the sun and has been able to scare and subjugate the mighty and the powerful, though for only a few hours or days.

By no means are all organisations malignant and dangerous but by and large most of them are exploitative. The majority are exploiters for money, fame and power.

But why do we fall into this religious clap trap repeatedly and in such large numbers? It is because we do not know the answer to this basic question: “WHAT IS RELIGION”, and therefore become susceptible to any nonsense being dished out as religion, provided it is couched in a language that is pleasing to us and arouses our passions and addresses our deep seated prejudices and perceived wrongs. Every creature is looking for long lasting peace and joy. They simply do not realise that this can be had only from God who is the only permanent thing in His own creation, not from temporary things. It is simply not available in the world or its material pleasures except in short, temporary and completely transient bits. Most of the seekers look for lasting peace and joy in objects and in relations.

This brings to mind the ever increasing number of broken marriages and remarriages. People indulge in them in the ever desperate quest for peace and end up finding increasing dollops of misery.

Since such objects and relations are themselves transient and fleeting, they can not provide permanent peace and joy.

But not knowing this simple truth, we keep looking at all possibilities, and become vulnerable. We also get emotionally swayed by the flamboyant oratory of some crooks. We thus, almost always fall into the trap of those who mix religion with a lot of earthly aspects such as power, glory, vanity, money, political clout, regional reach and so on, without realising the trap we are falling into.

So then what is religion? The Hindi or Sanskrit word for religion is ‘dharm’ it is derived from the words ‘dhriti’(a firmly held belief) and ‘dhaarana’(perception). The firm belief that kindness to all creatures is ‘dharm’ or religion.

Dharnaat Dharm Mityahu!!

It is said that dharm is derived from dhaarna! This Dhaarna or dhriti is described as follows

Dhriti (Firmly held belief),kshama (Forgiveness), Damah (suppression of tendencies ), Asteyam ( ), Shoucham (Purity of inner and outer body), Indriya Nigrah (Control of the organs), Dhi (Proper thinking), Vidya (Learning), Satyam (Truth), Akrodh (Lack of anger): These are the 10 disciplines required to achieve proper belief which will lead to religion/dharm.

Maharishi Karad describes dharm as follows: Yatobhyudaya Nihaksheyav Siddhi Sa Dharm! Any work or process that you do with the objective of your spiritual upliftment without any material desire is dharm.

Due to the constant ‘chanchalya’ pulsation of the life force praan, the mind is in a non stop turmoil. There is nothing that such a mind will not attempt. This constantly pulsing praan and mind can only be stilled by the practice of ‘Kriya Yog’. This belief therefore is dharm or religion. The constant pulsation of the praan and mind or heart is adharm or atheism.

Those activities or processes that promote the long term welfare of ALL creatures are therefore religion. It is possible to feed someone and that will remove his hunger temporarily. It is also possible to temporarily remove the want of clothing or shelter or such similar needs but these are all transient solutions with very short lived welfare. That want which we carry through our various births repeatedly, is the want of long lasting and permanent peace with joy. This is possible only through the achievement of the Almighty, for He alone in His entire creation is permanent, all else is not. The person who can guide others on this path of self attainment is practising true religion. Religion is therefore, the collective processes and practices that together help the practitioner to achieve the ultimate truth.

The ancient saints, rishis, tapaswis and others of their ilk had no desire for the earthly attributes such as power and money and their quest was for the truth and nothing short of that. The only truth in the entire creation is the creator Himself. All else is just illusion and transient. To achieve this goal of realisation of the self and the truth, which was the only thing on their mind they would do years of yogic meditation and puja to the exclusion of friend and family or any other attachment whatsoever. Having achieved their mission, they would then in their benevolence, guide the seeker on this path.

Therefore by now at least one thing is clear. Anything, effort, enterprise, endeavour that leads to earthly gains, including increase in the number of converts to a particular religious sect, can not be religion.

The world and all its beings are a reflection of the Almighty’s own image. This creation takes three different administrative functional forms: for creation it is Bramha based on the rajo gunn, for the preservation of the creation it is Vishnu based on the sato gunn and for the destruction it is Shiva or Rudra based on tamo gunn. The concept of the holy trinity can be found in most religions. Since everything that exists, is God’s own creation, will He be happy if one person takes control and exploits another? Therefore any religion that preaches that it is superior to another and uses inducements or trickery or even threat, can not be a true religion and can not be expected to ultimately lead its followers to Him.

Our Rishis have seen and experienced Him. They proclaim for all of mankind to listen and follow. Man is His greatest and best creation and sits on the top of the heap so to say.

The Great Paratpar Yogi Guru Bhupendra Nath Sanyal Mahashay, disciple of the most famous Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahashay; himself a great scholar and Guru to many Gurus, has defined religion very beautifully when he has said “that which takes the great diversity of the entire creation and reduces it to the unit ONE, and then takes this ‘one’ and recreates the myriad, fascinating creation;that which takes the many finites and enhances them to the infinite; that which takes mortality and makes it immortal, is religion”. Great thinkers, sages and the scriptures have all used so many beautifully different methods to define religion, all of them apt. One can take one’s pick of the lot.

In conclusion, however, religion is therefore a set of beliefs, processes, practices and rituals, together with a way of moral and controlled way of living and conducting your life that leads you to the Almighty, your ultimate destination.