Faith As Middle Path?

I love India and hate Indian intellectuals. I love India because these Indian intellectuals whom I hate stay here. I love India because of these Indian intellectuals who follow America blindly. They just put some Indian colors and their own brand. Initially when I was young, I used to have admiration of Indian creators in different field like cinema, business, industry, philosophy and even religion. After I started watching and observing world sequences and happenings, I find all Indian creators remain a big copy of American visions. I hate Indian intelligentsias because there is hardly any originality in their writing or talking. They just try to copy here and there and try to make sense especially to large section of illiterate people. If that is the case, why not read and follow those American or Western authors, writers or philosophers. That is what most of the educated people from developing world does?

Today, when America is studying on prayer research, Sunday Times of India is full of those research analyses with Indian color. All Indian intelligentsias have become curious to write about effects of prayer. Hardly any agency is doing any study worth mentioning. There might have been 10 US studies in the last six years and US Governments might have spent more than $2.3 million on prayer research, but in India, we do not believe in spending time and money in researching. We just write. We write on statistics which indicates something else than what we try to make out with. Few powerful and influential people get chance to write. That is the fatal facts.

In India, you go to any nook and corner of the cities, town or village; you will find temples, mosques or churches. People talk about famous temples like Tirupati or Vaishno Devi. They have not been created or made in one day. They have not been constructed by some poor. I remember the case of Vaishno Devi, hardly few people use to go to temple, because track was tough and dangerous. Mr. Jugmohan had to put up lot of efforts to bring the complete infrastructure on the way to Vaishno Devi. So much judicious efforts have undergone to make that place a big hit. And after that, the number of people going there has kept on increasing every year. This is not a faith but a fun and adventure. People enjoy going there for fun, facilities and pleasure in adventuring. Can anybody name any place in India where you have such a facilities for mountaineering or trekking? There is no place worth mentioning. Even if you to deer park, police will come to you to tell you that the place is not safe after dark so you must return before dark. You can not stay in even Lodi Park. Today, if NRI comes to India with lot of cash, where will he go? He has to go to Vaishno Devi or Tirupati or Puri or Golden Temple or Ajmer Sharif or some other pilgrim place. This is not a faith but it is a compulsion. You as a normal citizen do not have much choice. In India at least there is hardly any place of visit other than pilgrims place. Where will you go?

Now when Deepak Chopra suggests following a middle path, you have to think. He says, ‘all religions were founded as a result of an experience of higher consciousness through a human nervous system’. As a doctor, he always puts the anatomy of human body in the discussion of philosophy. But he may not be correct to talk about how religion was founded. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Letters from a Father to His Daughter (p-72)- has said, “Religion first came as fear and anything that is done of fear is bad”. It was fear only because of which many religions were spread. As the people understood the religion and God in little more depth, they also followed the path of their ancestors and spread a new religion with minor changes here and there. Even today, plenty of such new groups are being formed. They all try to spread the message of God in some form or other. They all claim to be taking forward the cause of almighty for the betterment of humanity. They all are working for the welfare of the poor, downtrodden and deprived. They all are claiming to be serving humanity in some form or other. They all claim to be passing the great moral values to society without which the society will not able to be disciplined. It is long and tiring arguments for the prevalence of a system and their followers. Deepak may not be correct and relevant with factual information.

Deepak Chopra further talks about the conflicts of science and religion. They are never at war. Rather, they may be complement to each other if leaders of both the field start thinking for humanity. As Nobel Laureate Dalai Lama of Tibet confirms that science has to be made an integral part of religious teachings so that religious people should know the basic fundamentals of Universe, Earth and other material things. All religion has to make science as essential part of their curriculum otherwise all religious teachings are going to produce terrorist as they are being produced in Muslim community all over the world. They have started taking place in almost all religion. The religious teachings are always associated with scientific progress. This is essential today otherwise how the Priest and Padari or Mullah is going to use mobile telephone or laptop. Even Osama can not depend only on Quran. He has to be well versed with nuclear technology too. The technology has become compulsions. The technology has provided enough means and necessity to accept these as brutal reality. There is no midway as Deepak proclaims. No religion can provide and help to live life if you are not aware about these hi tech instruments and appliances. Technology is a compulsion to this religious world. Whether it is middle or something else, every individual with desired sense of achievements could decide about this balance between religion and science. Are we ready to appreciate and understand this dilemma?