Seema
ji, can you make similar statements
on 1) Crores of people who waste 5
days on watching Test Cricket
Matches? 2) The youngsters, who
spend whole nights in discotheques
and waste the next day by sleeping
late. 3) People burn money, eat junk
foods and spend hours in
Multiplexes.
Once, to watch the movie "Phool aur
Kaante", I stood 6 hours in the
queue. Some of my foreigner friends
spend 48 hours in stadium just to
occupy front spaces to watch the
Bands of famous Irish Rock group U2.
How many hours do you think people
spend for Asharam Bapu? I don't
think his lectures span beyond 4-5
hours. And that much time we easily
spend on buying ticket, traveling,
watching Hindi Movie in Cinema
Halls, and coming back to home.
For Asharam Bapu, I can say people
in thousands may have participated
in Shobha Yatra and mostly elderly
people with the hope that guidelines
of religious gurus may get rid off
their day-to-day problem and
illness. Believe me their guideline
works. The religious gurus always
teach about health care, calmness,
non-violence, brotherhood etc., and
it is not wrong at all. It is
because of them, many people in
India follow monogamy, vegetarian
and love animals and trees.
Following the teachings of their
Guru, the Bishnoi Samaj of Rajasthan
sacrificed many lives on fighting
combined forces of local rulers and
Britishers to rescue flora and fauna
in their region. The recent jail of
Salman Khan in animal poaching case
is because of Bishnois, who although
being poor but never retracted from
their statements in court.
In day-to-day life, we come across
with many who make similar comments
about followers of religious gurus,
but these commentators never
hesitate to waste whole nights or
days on watching Hrithik Roshan or
Ashwairya Rai Shows.
The bottom line is, we should not
thrust our choice on others.
Everyone should be free to decide
his/her way of life. Thanks &
Regards - Tarakeswar Dubey - Apr.
21, 2006
I
agree with Shri Dubey. I was brought
up in a household where religion had
a different definition. We did not
have a single picture of any God in
our home. Religion for us was doing
your duty well and walking on the
path shown by our conscience. We
were cautioned not to listen to
religious gurus and Babas as most
circulating around in the society
then were imposters and cheats. I
have always considered religious
leaders who led by example, like
Mother Teresa, as God's own people.
However, I grew up with a clear
disgust for people proclaiming to be
Babas who apparently did nothing
good for the society and only
sermonized. I saw them as swindlers.
Though that initial wariness and
dislike continue, I have modified my
thinking just a bit over time. I
have developed a liking for men of
religion who do not proclaim to be
God or His agent and who can act and
talk with conviction to change
peoples' mental paradigms for the
better. It happened gradually. While
TV channel surfing I used to cross
the channels on which religious
discourses were aired and out of
plain curiosity I started stopping
and listening. I found two kinds of
orators. The first were the mystics
who spoke of miracles and targeted
the believers. The other group were
the gurus who targeted the thinkers.
The latter were eloquent and
articulate and had the force of
logic and examples to prove their
points. They were very down to earth
people who preached simple goodness
of thought and behavior. I was
impressed by this group of
preachers. They plant a thought
process in your mind and get you
thinking. Believe me, at times, it
changes the way you look at life for
the better.
Though I still feel religious
leaders should lead by example like
Mother Teresa, I have developed a
degree of respect for religious
preachers who try to instill good
values in the ocean of humanity who
are trying to change with the
changing times and still want to
retain a good value system.
Listening to such preachers is not a
waste of time. Rather it is like
resetting the compass of your life
to point in the right direction. -
Rajesh Chaubey - Apr.
21, 2006 |
