Many of us believe in God. We believe in the divinity of the Creator. There are some who will pray fervently, others will chant bhajans or still others will perform rituals. To many of us thinking, praying or chanting hymns gives us a feel-good feeling. We feel a warm glow when we imagine a more powerful Creator above us.
Then there are those who will pray to God to grant them their wishes. They will pray for a long life, wealth or other rewards in life. Others will pray to God to solve their problems in life. They will live in a imaginary world where their problems of the world is solved through divine intervention.
God to all these people is nothing more than a religious fix.
Unfortunately in all these activities we tend to turn a blind eye to the central teaching of any religion. Behind every God there is a religion. The religions teach us to practice humility, compassion, love, forgiveness and integrity. We are supposed to avoid anger, hatred or lust.
However most of us perform ritualistic prayers or bhajans and return to our nasty selves every single time. We forget the values that our religions propound and behave in petty ways. A Krishna Jayanthi should remind us of the need to do our duty in a selfless manner. A Christmas should make us more loving and forgiving. Buddha Jayanthi should make us more non-violent.
Many great souls have re-iterated that it is sufficient to chant the name of God. We take this literally and chant the Lord’s name mindlessly. In reality we should be reminded of the great principles in the religion and we should make a habit of practicing them.
Rather than wishing problems away and praying for divine intervention it would make better sense to confront issues while asking for God’ s assistance in making right decisions.
Rather that requesting God to grant you success and good thing’s life it is better that we take bold initiatives while remembering the sacrifices and the teachings of the religion and God.
God & religion are not fixes for our problems. In reality they are true north pointers of right action and right behavior.
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