Religion versus mindless rituals.

What we derive (consciously or unconsciously) from blind religion and mindless rituals:

§  It compensates for our previous losses. Like, love that was not given/ perceived to be not given in childhood is derived by worshipping “Ma” (the mother). Feelings of union with the mother goddess also give one a re-experience of infantile togetherness with the mother.

§  As infants we were absolutely dependent on our parents for survival and to learn to control our impulses and adopt civilization. Slowly that dependence goes away, which makes us feel the loss of a certain parental image in our mind. This is taken care of by creating an image of omnipotent and omnipresent god, who becomes our external conscience to keep us from doing any uncivilized act.

§  Some people find blind religion an easy and acceptable way out for their obsessional thoughts and acts. In themselves repetitive thoughts and acts will seem insane to an observer. These thoughts and acts may use religious rituals for their expression, without gathering remarks of insanity.

§  When the entire family and society worships, a non-believer is often an outcast. We often worship not because we believe, but because we want to be ‘in’ the group. Religion can be a great way to hold groups together.

§  It is also a source of self-esteem. We feel good that we worship. Many people judge character strength by the number of hours one puts in worshipping and by the strictness with which one follows the rituals and customs.

§  It is also soil for fear and guilt. We worship to avoid punishment from god or to avoid a mishappening. When something bad happens with us or our loved ones, we tend to look for mistakes we might have made in our last days worships. We may tend to blame ourselves for the external events for no valid reason.

§  On the other extreme side, it makes us believe in destiny to an extent of becoming laid back and give up all efforts. We feel that we will get whatever is there in our fate-lines and no one can stop it from falling in our laps. And what we don’t achieve, was never meant for us. It assures us that we will get attain whatever we wish for with ‘pure heart’. This attitude may help us be more patient and wait for things that are otherwise difficult to attain, but at the same time it can stop us from putting our 100% effort thinking that mere worshiping will bring the success.

§  It helps us shrug off the burden of wrong consequences of our deeds. When our deeds bring negative results, we put the responsibility on god and destiny.

Such religion can actually take us away from the true self, let alone its claim of connecting our soul with god. True religion should be taken as faith in something, be it relationships, love, work, good deeds. Faith and true religion don’t mean we have to worship. We have a lot of faith in our parents, but do we worship them everyday with same rituals?? Then why do we worship god like that? Faith is something to be felt, not shown.

Hinduism should be differentiated from Brahmin-dominated orthodoxy.