When I was in Kerala, I used to be told by the nuns in my school, “If you don’t pray to Jesus Christ, you will burn in hell after you die.”
I asked my dad about it since I’d appointed Dad as my personal guide to God and he remains so ever since (poor dad).
Who Defines Right and Wrong, Heaven and Earth – You or Religion?
Well, Dad told me, “There is no right and wrong. There is no Heaven or Earth. There is no life or death. A child who is born may die the next moment. A person maybe bed stricken for years and not die till the age of seventy. Where is Heaven and where is Hell? It lies in the choices we make. We make choices based on our belief of what is right and wrong. So, defining what is right and wrong is important for your self not for anybody else something strongly, it paves the way for action. You can commit murder and believe you did right. The law says you are wrong but if you believe it is right, that is your right. No one can take that away from you. That means you’ve got a great responsibility in defining what is right and wrong, how to make life a place of Heaven or Hell, those are the choices you make, not Jesus or Krishna or anybody else. They can’t take you there. They can inspire you to follow a path that you feel drawn to but they cannot be held responsible for the choice you made and the result you reaped.”
Why should our Beliefs Divide Us?
I come from a very traditional Hindu family where daily poojas are a way of life. However, my father used to celebrate all festivals. His Jewish friends used to celebrate their important occasions with us. Our friends used to celebrate their beliefs and occasions with us. We used to celebrate Buddhist Sri Lankan festivals with our friends who believed in it. We celebrate Christmas like the Christians do and as far as I remember, there were always Christian priests and nuns visiting our home, it still continues. The same with our Muslim friends.
Can One Man’s Belief Save Lives?
When I was a baby, my parents lived in a cottage in Iran, by the Caspian Sea. The Shah’s rule collapsed and a new regime took over. Non Muslims were being killed before their very eyes. They were burnt alive by huge mobs. My parents knew they had to face what was ahead with courage because there was no escape. Many of their friends had been killed mercilessly in the riots. The huge mob reached the house where they lived. My dad says they were about to be killed when the leader of the mob spotted a baby (Me) and asked if I was their child. My parents said yes. The leader told the angry mob, “We can’t kill a baby. Allah will not forgive us.” The mob was not convinced but the leader said, “Its my belief that Allah will not forgive this.” He told my parents to leave the country because not all would believe the same and spare their life. He made arrangements for my parents to leave the country at once. My dad says when the car drove them to the airport, the streets were burning, innocent people were being burnt alive and our lives had been saved by one man’s belief in Allah. Thanks to that man’s belief, I am still alive to share this story with all of you.
Beyond religion and spiritual beliefs, this taught me that one person’s belief can be stronger than religion itself, perhaps more powerful than Gods and Empires, simply because at every level, a belief can help save, change and heal lives as the cycle of life moves on.
By seeing every person as a reflection of God, it becomes an opportunity to serve God and make the world a better place by becoming the change. By doing what you believe is good, you do it not as a favor for others or as an ambassador of any religion, but for yourself to grow into a better person every day. To do that, you need to grow beyond beliefs and move forward to manifest the essence of that belief.
Over the years, I believe in a form of God that I relate to very strongly but when I close my eyes and pray, “Lokaaa Samasthaa Sukhino Bhavanthu,” I believe it is not about getting into a stereotype mould of a Hindu chanting mantras but it is my soul’s affirmation to God that I will, in my thoughts and actions, strive for the world’s peace and not just my own. That’s my belief. What’s yours?
I like Satre’s concept of Hell or Heaven being here (on earth) and now (in this life). Since time is cyclic, your actions bring you where there seeds were sown.
I believe there are billions of Gods and religions in this world. The belief of each human being is so powerful in itself that it need not be governed by a religion. The idea is to strengthen the belief to an extent that your soul and divinity become synonymous. As all of us meet the same end (energy) through the same medium (self), beliefs cannot be divisive. In fact, this is what the oneness of universe is all about. This is what connects people.
As far as saving lives is concerned, like people believe God can save lives, our beliefs can do that too. That’s my belief.
I believe that man created religion to maintain order in the world. Without the concept of god and religion, murders and executions would not have been considered immoral and thus, might have probably been acceptable. However, the irony lies in the fact that man himself abuses the concept of ‘religion.’
What good is a belief system that looks down on other beliefs?
On this note it reminds me of a friend L.R.Johnson- Liaquat Roopesh Johnson. We used to study in a convent environment. He proudly used to tell how his name symbolizes his own self. If you scrutinize a little, then you will discover that his name represents the other two dominant faiths of India and he was a protestant himself. We were in class Vth and he wanted to become a doctor and serve people coming from all faiths.
I met him in summer of 2009, through a social networking site called Facebook.com. There where I came to know that he is a practising doctor at Madras Christian College, Chennai and quite contented with what he is doing now. He was able to translate his faith into action . This is what I believe in.
Swapna, your father is so right in almost every aspect he has touched. There is no heaven and earth and we do not know where it is or it is? Ankit your belief is what Jean Paul Satre’s says quite relates to what my friend LR Johnson is doing today. What we individuals do in our lives, our actions today will determine what we become tomorrow. I sternly believe in this theory which is very much practisable. Vidya, where there is power struggle, there will be conflicts. I will be living in a fool’s paradise if I say conflicts will not happen, it has happened since neolithic age. Correct, we do not live in that era and we are progressing. We live in a “civilized” society. My boss says, we should be able to translate our “energies” into somewhere meaningful. I absolutely believe in his theory.
What we need today is direction and most of the madness around the globe happens due to the lack of that. Imagine a place where all positive energy of the world is accumulated in one single place and all of them are working towards peace and prosperity for all. It will be a wonderful place, I believe!! Thank You Swapna, for your piece..
I only want to say one thing to this moving post – each time we stop believing in ourselves we should remember that one man who dared to stand up for what he believes and a whole family flourished because he did so. He didn’t do it to win accolades and he probably doesn’t know where the family is today or that that little child is now giving back to the community thanks to him. It really was a wonderful story.
Amazing events like these really make you question the basic truths of life. it is strange how the process of organizing beliefs creates religions and often religions drive people to stop believing!
Thanks for sharing Swapna.
That was a very nice thought added by Piyush.
@Piyush: I would love to read a post elaborating this thought. Please write something.
Thanks so much all of you for sharing such overwhelming, insightful thoughts. Its so deeply moving and humbling as well. Lets keep sharing our experiences to make this gathering of beliefs more beautiful.
Onload of page my antivirus put alert, check pls.
Thanks
Jinny