THE PURPOSE OF RELIGION – BY Pramod Pathak Rituals are a means to religion, and are not religion per se. This needs to be realised if religion is to lead us to the ultimate truth Religion is perhaps one of the most important concepts that has influenced human life. But it has been the most misunderstood and abused idea as well. The fundamental question veers around one basic fact: What exactly is the purpose of religion? Its answer holds the key to understanding religion, its liet motif. But this cannot be possible without unravelling the mystery of the nature of religion. For almost the entire humanity, life cannot be imagined without religion, notwithstanding the so-called atheists who comprise a very minuscule minority. There are as many views as there are religions. After all, a religion is a way of interpreting the ultimate reality and suggesting its own path, ostensibly the best one, to realise that ultimate reality. But here lies the problem. Not because there cannot be many best ways to realise the ultimate reality. There can be, and this confusion has been put to rest with the validation of the idea of equifinality, quite popular in the field of management. The problem occurs when one path is regarded as superior to others; this causes conflict, sometimes violent ones. The Vendantic view is perhaps the most catholic in this regard. It says, “Eko satam vipra bahudha vadanti (there is only one truth that the wise call by different names).” But understanding the importance of this proposition requires a higher level of consciousness. For the large majority, the idea appears fuzzy. It is this fuzziness that we call ignorance or avidya, lack of knowledge or agyaan. more at dailypioneer/columnists/spirituality/the-purpose-of-religion.html
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 16:05:02 +0000
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