It’s silly to divide people on the basis of religion and community, says OSWALD PEREIRA
God created us as intelligent human beings, capable of making good, informed choices. But somehow our intelligence seems to go for a toss when it comes to our religion and community.
Perfectly sane and intelligent men and women seem to become opposites of their true nature, appearing almost silly when talking about their religion or community. Fortunately, God is a kind, compassionate and benign Supreme Being, with a great sense of humour; He laughs indulgently at our follies giving us many chances to return to our true Self.
What makes the situation paradoxical is that our great contemporary gurus and teachers, too, lose their intelligence when preaching on religion. I vividly recall the day in my teens when Father Joseph Pereira, whom I adored, and saw God in him, suddenly declared in my school catechism class, ‘The only way to heaven is through Christ.’
Father, who looked so confident, uttered these words with such finality that the whole catechism class, seemed to have swallowed his declaration, hook, line and sinker, like trapped fish in the ocean.
The fanaticism in the Catholic church drove me away to seek God elsewhere in a less dogmatic milieu. But after searching for several decades, it seems the same old story, the same old silly lines ― I am better than you; we are better; our religion is the superhighway to God; we have the eternal religion, embracing all religions, but our religion, which is part of the eternal religion, is better than yours.
There’s a lot of talk about universalism, oneness and equality of religions, but in reality and practice, it’s a never ending story of one-upmanship.
It is silly when a fanatical Christian refers to a non-Christian as a ‘pagan.’ But it’s equally silly when a fanatical Hindu says that she or he is born in the faith because of ‘good karma’ and would continue to be born so, forever. I have had the ‘silly’ fortune of actually coming across such individuals in both faiths ― with silly superiority complexes of their own religions.
The result of all this silliness is the mixing of religion with politics ― and recently, the mixing of religion with sports. It was a sad day when the name of the Supreme Lord Rama ― who is above religion and narrow parochialism ― was chanted in the World Cup final between India and Australia. Not only was the noble sport of cricket made a matter of national pride, but also a religious cause.
The way the minority Muslim community is targeted is, however, not silly. It’s a shame. Hey, guys, they are not different, but like any other Indian, in thinking and upbringing. The Mughal rulers have long gone. They have not left behind their legacy of palaces and riches to the Muslims in India. They are not by any silly stretch of imagination related to those Mughal rulers.
In like manner, Christians don’t owe allegiance to any queen or king of England. The British didn’t leave behind any of their loot to Christians.
Christians and Muslims are like any other Indian, working honestly and hard for a living. I personally know so many Muslims in the bureaucracy, journalism, teaching, corporate jobs, as vice presidents in banks, CEOs of companies, and so on. They are good people.
We all saw on television how the dozen rat miners, dug through the debris in the last 14 meters of the tunnel to rescue the 41 trapped miners in Uttarakhand. The first to reach the miners was Munna Qureshi.
Seven of the rat miners happened to be Muslims. That was a mere coincidence. This is how, we should look at the event, and avoid giving it a colour of religion.
Our birth as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and so on, is a mere coincidence.
It’s not karma. If you believe otherwise, then you are giving karma a silly name.
The great sage and yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, puts the issue in perspective when he says: “A person may be Christian or Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu, Muslim or Zoroastrian; he may proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way, or Buddha, or Mohammed—as indeed, millions of believers do. He may insist that this ritual, or that place of worship, bestows salvation. But it all comes down to what he is, in himself.”
He concludes, “The masters don’t tell people, ‘You will be saved by the religion you follow, outwardly.’ They tell them, ‘You will be saved by what you do, personally, to establish your kinship with God.’”
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written eight books, including The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.
More Stories by Oswald Pereira
Communal and religious divisions are definitely silly for every child is born naked without carrying a tag based on caste, community, sect or religion which is absolutely superficial, merely a blot of the society on the pristine and pure face of the newborn.
So unaware, the messenger of God gets initiated to the masochistic rule of the tribe and in due course gets conformed to its emasculating norms.
No doubt very very few grow as exceptions with the spirit of universality and vouch for humanity which as such is the only universal religion.
You have very pertinently pronounced this poignant truth at the very outset:
“Perfectly sane and intelligent men and women seem to become opposites of their true nature, appearing almost silly when talking about their religion or community. Fortunately, God is a kind, compassionate and benign Supreme Being, with a great sense of humour; He laughs indulgently at our follies giving us many chances to return to our true Self.”
May we notice God’s big laugh at our folly and understand his humour as well so that we initiate ourselves afresh with Humanity which as such is the one and only timeless and universal religion which only can only bridge the yawning gap between man and man systematically created by vested interests in the name of communities and religions.
May it be so…Amen 🙏🏻
Superb! Very rational and logical analysis of the different faiths that everyone and the real way to connect with the Supreme Being!