Friday, March 18, 2011

When Faith Goes Wrong...

I think nowadays people's faith is increased. Faith in God. It could be a show-off or escape, but dependence on God is definitely on the rise. There are a few things make me think so - increasing number of religious channels, and people take seriously the stuff it offers ( from performing pooja on specific days to buy yanthras / kavacha / idols it advertise ). There are numerous gurus giving advices and solving problems. It was always there, but nowadays it is on the rise.
 
I have many colleagues who fast, men included. I never believe God would want people to 'sacrifice' eating on particular day. Or ask me not to eat non-veg on particular days. I never think God would want his people to crucify themselves to show their gratitude or faith to him. Nor I think, he will bless only them who give those sacrifices…

People may be technologically advanced. But in the back of their mind, they are being so unsure about themselves. Their caliber. Or is it an excuse to run away from responsibilities... Dear God, I have given up food for these many days, now even if I won’t try, it is your responsibility to get the thing done... may be. Nowadays the number of temples has increased many folds. We don’t need temple in every street. Interestingly every one of them attracts a lot of people. They are doing a lot of pooja and offerings. May be after schools and hospitals, God be a largest selling commodity of this time.

There was an incident happened in the suburbs of Bangalore recently. There was this road widening project was going on and for it, they needed to cut a tree. Under that tree, there were some photos the locals used to do pooja and they protest against cutting it. The officials visited the place and they re-designed the route. The straight short road was given up for a messier one to save that tree. There is a Shirdi Sai baba temple near to where I stay. It attracts a lot of people, especially on Thursdays when they conduct Aarti. It was built only 2 years back and now with a lot of gold / silver pooja properties and granite floor it looks grand.

Last month, the saint in a TV channel asked to light diyas in 5 different oils on a particular day to minimize the effect of disasters in 2012. Interestingly there were so many people followed that there was shortage / price hike for oil on that day. Aren’t we going blind, if someone taking the name of God…

People tend to become God-fearing… Why should we fear God… God will punish only those who act against His rules. He will never punish someone for not fasting on Tuesdays… My God is my companion. Who direct me. Lead my ways. Show the light when my mind is clouded. He is not like the school head master who always found an excuse to punish the kids, or show his power.

Lets Love God. Worship Him. Say prayers. Say thanks for His gifts and blessings. But never ever be afraid of Him. Like Paulo Coelho said in The Pilgrimage, lets offer our happiness and victories to Him and not our struggles or pains.

I am not against God. Being a believer myself, I can never be either. But I am against all those shows in the name of Him. And that is all this post is about.

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