Prophet brought islam to the world and though i know they don't believe in idol worship but i really don't know what they do in a mosque. Yes they pray to the Prophet Mohammad. But since they don't use any idol then what form do they give their lord when the muslims worship? So if i went to a mosque who should i be praying to? When i see images of the Mecca i see the big black building. Somehow it is connected to the devil that is what i know though i am not very sure of it.
This brings me to gurudwaras. I faced my current dilemma on my recent trip to Amritsar and as expected there were gurudwaras galore. Each having its own significance and value. Each revered by one and all. But what i didn't know was that what i am praying to. Sikhs too i believe don't believe in idol worship and though Guru Nanak Dev did certainly bring sikhism to the world, he is not the one being worshipped. Its the Guru Granth Sahib that is worshipped in gurudwaras. I came to know about it only in Amritsar. There are different levels/floors where the priests read the holy book and people come and worship. But is Guru Granth Sahib or its copies is present in all the floors? If so what is the purpose of having the same holy book kept in different rooms in the same gurudwara?
If i look at a temple then yes i can say that all temples are same. No difference what so ever. But inside a particular temple you can find different gods which ahave separate chambers. There is a semblance of normalcy atleast i believe so. People visiting a temple can associate with what they see and know what they are worshipping. But is this because i am hindu and have been brought up by learning about the different gods? As far as i remmember i have never been taught about other religions in great detail.Whatever knowledge i have is from movies and stories off the net.
Personally i can say that i am not a religious person though i am spiritual. Which simply means that i believe in god from the bottom of my heart but i don't believe in religions and communalism. I believe that all religions talk about one god and that they in essence are just different methods people use to worship god in their own way. But a very important point i want to raise is that why is it that i don't have knowledge of all the religions that are practiced in the world. Why is it that it is left to us to know about other religions and no in depth education is given on this subject which is free of prejudice. Why is it that i don't know what is worshipped in different religions? Aren't we all worshipping the one common god? Can there be two gods - one for islam and one for christianity?
I may be treading on the lines of blasphemy here by what i am writing but i sincerely believe that like me there are millions perhaps billions of lost souls out there who have no idea of what they are worshipping or who their neighbours are worshipping. Why so much of ignorance? This i believe is the premier cause of why fundamental groups of different mindsets manipulate us as puppets and make us do things which we could never have dreamed of doing otherwise. Sentiments are very easy to exploit and blind sentiments at that are simply irrestible.
Is this the way to go? Is this how we should live?I know there is lot of preaching going on here which again matches with my overall demenour but i am disappointed in myself for being so ignorant.........
2 comments:
This is an example of "hitting the nail on its head".. I appreciate your indepth analysis and let me tell you that the rumination which you have gone through is tangible..
I also belelive thats its the ignorance of different religions which makes us vulnerable to follow blasphemy at times..
We used to follow certain rituals without knowing the exact reasons for the same!! Sometimes we get a "logically" convincing answer from our elders and most of the times we don't.. But still we follow. The reason may be, somewhere, to avoid making the god upset with us.. Lets face it. Most of the time its our greed for one thing or the other to please the god.
And there are different ways to "please" the god in different religions. If people think that keeping the same holybook in the same gurudwara at different places would please the god, they would do it even if it would make no logical sense whatsoever!!
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