Religion is just a Kindergarten
Religions are good,
But they only teach us the basics about God.
They help us to pray and to believe,
But we don't become one with our Lord.
All religions are good as they teach us to live with faith, trust, hope, and enthusiasm. But religions are only kindergartens. Just like we learn ABC in nursery, religions only teach us the ABC about God. It is not the fault of religion. The subject of God is beyond human definition. Therefore, religions create a God that young children can identify with, God with name and form. But unfortunately, it seems that we continue to remain in the kindergarten of religion all our life.
What is life all about? We have to move on from school to university where we graduate. While we all grow up and achieve a master’s degree as we develop skills in our career, it is most unfortunate, that as far as religion is concerned, we don't grow up. People remain in the kindergarten of religion all through their life, not till they are 40 or 50, but even when they cross, 70, 80 or even the ripe age of 90 years. We don't graduate in the university of spirituality.
Spirituality is not another religion. Despite our religion, we must evolve to graduate in spirituality. What does this mean? We must not just live our life believing in the mythology of religion. Of course, we all pray to our God and that is good. To live a life of faith, hope, trust and enthusiasm is the right way to live. But should we not go beyond that? If we really love our God, if there is a yearning for the Divine, then we must go in search of God. We must evolve from religion to spirituality.
Nobody needs to change their religion. Spirituality is about going beyond religion. It is climbing the ladder to the Divine. It is discovering the Divine spirit within and realizing that God is not far away. Somehow, we get so addicted to our religion that we feel safe following it. In fact, there is a fear of going beyond it and it is considered blasphemous to question the teachings of our scriptures.
By asking questions about God, we are not becoming atheists or agnostics. We love God and we want God. Therefore, there is no harm in studying about how the concept of God evolved in the world, how so many different religions came about and what the truth about God is.
Spirituality reveals the truth. It respects all religions but makes us realize that we are all manifestations of the Divine. You and me, are not two different entities. We are like two waves in the same ocean. God is the cause; we are just effects. Spirituality reveals the truth.
Today, it is sad that people are fighting against each other in the name of religion, even waging wars. All this is because we have not realized the truth.
All scriptures are good, just like all religions are good. But they have a limitation. Unless we delve deep into the spiritual truth, we will always think of God as an entity far away from us. We will never realize God within. We will always be confused about God, about whether we will be rewarded or punished by our Lord in heaven, just as we get zapped with different cultures and different beliefs of the different religions of the world.
We should not get carried away by other religions nor should we judge them. We should not think our religion is superior, nor should we try to convert people to our religion. God is one – when will we realize this truth? Just because different religions give different names to their God, does it mean that there are different heavens in different planets? Spirituality busts this myth. It makes us love God without any bar of caste, creed, gender, nationality or religion. We are all Divine manifestations. The truth is we are nothing, God is everything! Because of our ignorance, we continue to blindly follow our religion and remain in the kindergarten of religion till we die.
Many people think that religion is an easy way out. We can sin and God will forgive us for our sins, as long as we offer God 10% of our earnings. When will we overcome our ignorance? Is it true that God wants our money and thus, gives us a license to sin? Do we want our Lord to suffer for our sins and then settle the bill through our charity? We human beings suffer only because we live without realizing the basic truth about life and about God. It's time for us to review our belief systems. We must do a check not only on our philosophy, but also on our theology, not so much to prove it wrong, but to learn and grow beyond and realize the truth about the Divine. Unless we open our real eyes, we will not realize the truth. We will continue to fight in the name of God and always remain distant from the Divine who in reality exists in each cell of our body.
When will we realize the truth about the Divine Soul within that is God? When will we realize that the Atman, Spirit, Soul, Prana, Chi, all mean one and the same thing, just like Jesus, Krishna and Shiva? These may appear to be different Gods with different names but God is beyond name and form. Spirituality will reveal the truth!
IN A NUTSHELL