Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 19-2. SWAMI KRISHNANANDA
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08/11/2019.
19. To Thine Own Self Be True-2.
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Now, we come to an interesting sidelight of this matter when we try to go a little deeper into this question of religion. Has religion failed, as some people would tell us today?
Is religion being threatened, as we often hear it said in many quarters?
May I confidently say that religion has not failed and it cannot fail. It cannot also be threatened. Because, if you would agree with me that religion is an outlook of consciousness, and not a coming together of social units for an empirical purpose, no one can threaten religion, because no one can threaten consciousness. One's social, physical and political existence can be threatened. But religion cannot be threatened, because it is not an empirical or phenomenal demonstration of externalised relationships. It is an attitude of what we are, and not an expression necessarily of what we do in our outward lives.
So, if we can convince ourselves that religion is an attitude of consciousness, it automatically follows that it cannot be threatened by political forces or the vicissitudes through which the whole of society passes or even the changes which the individual undergoes. This is one aspect of the question which occurred to my mind. Religion cannot be threatened, and we need not be afraid of this possibility. Even if the physical existence of an individual or a social phenomenon may be threatened under certain given conditions, religious spirit cannot be threatened.
The other aspect which occurred to my mind is the way in which we have to entertain the concept of religion in our minds. How would you enshrine the spirit of religion in the mind of man? It has been told that religion is connected to God in some way. It is an outlook which roots itself in a law or a righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven, a Rita or a Satya to speak in terms of the Veda.
If religion is somehow or other vitally and organically related to the presence of God, certain other very interesting consequences will follow which may require our considerate attention. Every religion accepts that God is omnipresent, all-pervading and occupying all space and all time. The omnipresence of God would, therefore, at the same time suggest the omnipresence of the religious outlook, for religion is vitally connected to the presence of God.
Now we, perhaps, tread a dangerous zone when we come to conclusions of this nature. When the omnipresence of God thus entails the omnipresence of the religious outlook, it would mean that the life of man is the life of religion, and the only purposeful or meaningful life can be no other than the life of religion.
But, we are here likely to be stimulated by another emotion or sentiment. What about our secular obligations and our social duties or political affiliations?
Our affiliation to the world which is material demands our immediate attention, an attention which cannot easily be identified with a religious attitude. Man's mind seems to be made in such a way that it has determined to strike a gulf or even an imbalance between the life in God and the life of the world. Asceticism, in the form in which it has presented itself in religious circles, is an instance on hand. Ascetics are dubbed as otherworldly, antisocial individuals.
Can religion be regarded as an anti-social phenomenon?
If we are not going to define religion with our tongue in our cheeks, if we are to be consistent in our concept of religion and sincere in our approach to the call of religion, and not hypocrites, if we are logical in our thinking and would not like to bypass any particular stage of thought in this logical process of deduction of values, there is nothing to fear in life.
The fear that God may not protect us in times of danger would produce the consequence of our dependence on social values as quite different from religious values, and here, we may perhaps see the seed of the notion that religion is an otherworldly affair and it is not a matter concerning this world.
To be continued ....
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/11/2019.
19. To Thine Own Self Be True-2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, we come to an interesting sidelight of this matter when we try to go a little deeper into this question of religion. Has religion failed, as some people would tell us today?
Is religion being threatened, as we often hear it said in many quarters?
May I confidently say that religion has not failed and it cannot fail. It cannot also be threatened. Because, if you would agree with me that religion is an outlook of consciousness, and not a coming together of social units for an empirical purpose, no one can threaten religion, because no one can threaten consciousness. One's social, physical and political existence can be threatened. But religion cannot be threatened, because it is not an empirical or phenomenal demonstration of externalised relationships. It is an attitude of what we are, and not an expression necessarily of what we do in our outward lives.
So, if we can convince ourselves that religion is an attitude of consciousness, it automatically follows that it cannot be threatened by political forces or the vicissitudes through which the whole of society passes or even the changes which the individual undergoes. This is one aspect of the question which occurred to my mind. Religion cannot be threatened, and we need not be afraid of this possibility. Even if the physical existence of an individual or a social phenomenon may be threatened under certain given conditions, religious spirit cannot be threatened.
The other aspect which occurred to my mind is the way in which we have to entertain the concept of religion in our minds. How would you enshrine the spirit of religion in the mind of man? It has been told that religion is connected to God in some way. It is an outlook which roots itself in a law or a righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven, a Rita or a Satya to speak in terms of the Veda.
If religion is somehow or other vitally and organically related to the presence of God, certain other very interesting consequences will follow which may require our considerate attention. Every religion accepts that God is omnipresent, all-pervading and occupying all space and all time. The omnipresence of God would, therefore, at the same time suggest the omnipresence of the religious outlook, for religion is vitally connected to the presence of God.
Now we, perhaps, tread a dangerous zone when we come to conclusions of this nature. When the omnipresence of God thus entails the omnipresence of the religious outlook, it would mean that the life of man is the life of religion, and the only purposeful or meaningful life can be no other than the life of religion.
But, we are here likely to be stimulated by another emotion or sentiment. What about our secular obligations and our social duties or political affiliations?
Our affiliation to the world which is material demands our immediate attention, an attention which cannot easily be identified with a religious attitude. Man's mind seems to be made in such a way that it has determined to strike a gulf or even an imbalance between the life in God and the life of the world. Asceticism, in the form in which it has presented itself in religious circles, is an instance on hand. Ascetics are dubbed as otherworldly, antisocial individuals.
Can religion be regarded as an anti-social phenomenon?
If we are not going to define religion with our tongue in our cheeks, if we are to be consistent in our concept of religion and sincere in our approach to the call of religion, and not hypocrites, if we are logical in our thinking and would not like to bypass any particular stage of thought in this logical process of deduction of values, there is nothing to fear in life.
The fear that God may not protect us in times of danger would produce the consequence of our dependence on social values as quite different from religious values, and here, we may perhaps see the seed of the notion that religion is an otherworldly affair and it is not a matter concerning this world.
To be continued ....
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