A Rant ...
(This post is entirely personal and it is not my intention to convert anyone to my way of thinking.)
I do not accept Hinduism as a way of life and worship.
I hate what Hinduism is today:
A religion of fear, fed by the perpetuation of superstition.
A religion controlled by a small coterie of elitists that have chosen to make this religion a tool for personal aggrandizement
A non-inclusive religion, that thrives on the disenfranchisement of the people existing on the periphery of society, the ones that need the most help/direction
A religion that takes more than it gives
I believe in God - I believe in him as a superior being that influences everyone's life and was responsible for the creation of earth and life on earth. I might even accept him as having passed through Earth in the forms of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and the various other mythical figures. I believe in miracles, I believe in deviations from recognized physical laws and I believe in illogic.
However, I believe that God is beyond corruption and that he is not subject to flattery, does not discriminate, is not greedy and is, all-in-all, much above the base form of worship that Hinduism forces one through. I believe that godliness and belief in God need only be in one's mind - There is no need for any sort of external manifestation of these beliefs.
This post has been building up for several years, but a recent article in the "Indian Express" finally triggered it. The article talked about the plans to build a "branch" of the Tirupati temple in Chennai at the cost of Rs. 100 crores. What in heavens name is the need for spend that money on a pile of stones when people starve to death a few miles away ? Does a diamond crown make God greater ? Does it make him happier ? I think not. The Tirupati temple receives more than one crore rupees as donations everyday - Enough to feed about 200,000 people for a day. Instead, a small fraction goes to feeding the poor and the rest goes to buying gold for God. What irony ! God created everything on Earth, including every gram of Gold and you believe he is happy that you take the food from people's mouths and buy gold for him ? Or give him flowers ? Or build a new temple ? Or celebrate a holiday ?
God is ABOVE all of this ... Hinduism has become an instrument for people to display their materialistic core and priests and other religious functionaries have shown their readiness to corrupt the religion by allowing "devotees" to form a "partnership" with God, with a promise to give God a certain portion of their profits every year. Bullshit !! Go feed the poor, educate the illiterate, protect the oppressed !! God does not need money, human beings do.
Why attempt to drag God down to our human level by involving him in monetary transactions - Why not elevate ourselves to his level instead ?
Hinduism seems to following the same route that the Catholic church has already taken in the past - The tendency to get involved in politics, the corruption/vice of top authorities and the ill-treatment of a certain section of the community. I now understand the rationale behind the efforts by leaders such as Periyar to create the "Suya Mariadhai" (Self-Respect) movement which eschewed Hinduism and all its constituent actions, including the caste system, superstitions and customs. Periyar would never pay attention to the "Raagu Kalam" calculations and would always start his major initiatives during this inauspicious time.
In every custom or tradition in Hinduism, I see an attempt by religious figures to keep people under their thumb. Every ceremony, every superstition - None of this is sanctioned or required by God and is just an expression of human ego. Every event now involves complex ceremonies and yagnas which place a huge burden on the heads of the poor. The use of the caste system to perpetuate social injustice is another tragic consequence of Hinduism. Fear has become the primary motivation for people to adhere to these practices - This should be replaced by a love for God, which would automatically manifest in service to fellow human beings.
There need be no intermediary between a person and God. One just has to be oneself with God.
There is no need for any translation of your feelings for God, in the form of Slokas
There is no need for a set procedure to follow - No need for formal ceremonies
There is no need for any offerings or gifts
There is no need to go to a specific place, or to do this at a specific time
I am not going to have a religious ceremony for my wedding.
I do not accept Hinduism as a way of life and worship.
I hate what Hinduism is today:
A religion of fear, fed by the perpetuation of superstition.
A religion controlled by a small coterie of elitists that have chosen to make this religion a tool for personal aggrandizement
A non-inclusive religion, that thrives on the disenfranchisement of the people existing on the periphery of society, the ones that need the most help/direction
A religion that takes more than it gives
I believe in God - I believe in him as a superior being that influences everyone's life and was responsible for the creation of earth and life on earth. I might even accept him as having passed through Earth in the forms of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and the various other mythical figures. I believe in miracles, I believe in deviations from recognized physical laws and I believe in illogic.
However, I believe that God is beyond corruption and that he is not subject to flattery, does not discriminate, is not greedy and is, all-in-all, much above the base form of worship that Hinduism forces one through. I believe that godliness and belief in God need only be in one's mind - There is no need for any sort of external manifestation of these beliefs.
This post has been building up for several years, but a recent article in the "Indian Express" finally triggered it. The article talked about the plans to build a "branch" of the Tirupati temple in Chennai at the cost of Rs. 100 crores. What in heavens name is the need for spend that money on a pile of stones when people starve to death a few miles away ? Does a diamond crown make God greater ? Does it make him happier ? I think not. The Tirupati temple receives more than one crore rupees as donations everyday - Enough to feed about 200,000 people for a day. Instead, a small fraction goes to feeding the poor and the rest goes to buying gold for God. What irony ! God created everything on Earth, including every gram of Gold and you believe he is happy that you take the food from people's mouths and buy gold for him ? Or give him flowers ? Or build a new temple ? Or celebrate a holiday ?
God is ABOVE all of this ... Hinduism has become an instrument for people to display their materialistic core and priests and other religious functionaries have shown their readiness to corrupt the religion by allowing "devotees" to form a "partnership" with God, with a promise to give God a certain portion of their profits every year. Bullshit !! Go feed the poor, educate the illiterate, protect the oppressed !! God does not need money, human beings do.
Why attempt to drag God down to our human level by involving him in monetary transactions - Why not elevate ourselves to his level instead ?
Hinduism seems to following the same route that the Catholic church has already taken in the past - The tendency to get involved in politics, the corruption/vice of top authorities and the ill-treatment of a certain section of the community. I now understand the rationale behind the efforts by leaders such as Periyar to create the "Suya Mariadhai" (Self-Respect) movement which eschewed Hinduism and all its constituent actions, including the caste system, superstitions and customs. Periyar would never pay attention to the "Raagu Kalam" calculations and would always start his major initiatives during this inauspicious time.
In every custom or tradition in Hinduism, I see an attempt by religious figures to keep people under their thumb. Every ceremony, every superstition - None of this is sanctioned or required by God and is just an expression of human ego. Every event now involves complex ceremonies and yagnas which place a huge burden on the heads of the poor. The use of the caste system to perpetuate social injustice is another tragic consequence of Hinduism. Fear has become the primary motivation for people to adhere to these practices - This should be replaced by a love for God, which would automatically manifest in service to fellow human beings.
There need be no intermediary between a person and God. One just has to be oneself with God.
There is no need for any translation of your feelings for God, in the form of Slokas
There is no need for a set procedure to follow - No need for formal ceremonies
There is no need for any offerings or gifts
There is no need to go to a specific place, or to do this at a specific time
I am not going to have a religious ceremony for my wedding.
Comments
The churches used to win their arguments by burning their opponents, which is fine proof that there is a devil but haardly evidence that there is a god.
Kahlil Gibran in Broken Wings writes that men, even if they are born free will remain slaves of strict laws enacted by their forefathers. I am glad that you intend to break these chains. Go for it.
@Anon II, I don't know enough about other religions.
Although, to be honest, I think any religion on the whole is a big ripoff as far as the poor are concerned, and just a means to an end for the power-hungry and the politicians.
I believe in the tenets of every religion, and once you expose yourself to all the other religions, you WILL realize that Hinduism is by far a very very peaceful and "philanthropic" religion. Newer religions have progressively become more violent as they evolved/were formed. For example, Islam.
I don't understand what you imply by "corrupting the religion" when you talk about forming a partnership with God. Are you trying to say some people aren't allowed to practice their religion?
I forgot where I wanted to go with this post, but I do believe that religion is a necessary evil in this society.
I am not against your opinion. But at the same time, I believe things happen has to happen.
Poverty should have its own solution. Sure, we can take money from Tirumala, stop constructing buildings with expensive glass and tiles, stop using gift wrappers, etc, and direct them to poor. But, I think we need a better solution.
Why in heavens, did we spend a $1000 on the new year and x-mas break when few people we knew died starving. No one has the right to ask us, how we spent our money. Same way, the money in Tirumala, though comes from the people, is a whole hearted gift to the temple, and the trust has all the rights to decide how many % should go to the poor.
All happenings can be taken in two ways. People always talk abt brain drain when we leave india. But if we havent, how will we spread our name, how will we construct so many temples around the world, how will we occupy all the top positions in Industry. Lets take things this way, and not criticise whenever there is big money involved.
For example, I have no problem with your spending $1,000 on New Year - But if your religion forced/encouraged its members to do it, and made them feel excluded if they didnt, I would have a problem with that.
When we(public)go to Tirumala, we are not compelled to put some money in undieal. But we offer so much money, which if we prefer, can be given to poor.
After offering to temple as ones personal choice, I dont think I would like to tell them what to do with that money, as I had chance to do it myself in the first place.
And I dont agree that Religion forces us to spend money on God. Let me put it simple, we can give money to a charity and its their duty to make sure our money is spend properly. When we give money to god, they think its their duty to spend that money on god. We are the first ones to choose, and after we do, there should be no regrets.
Is there any entry ticket in temples? I havent heard abt it..
And maybe Hinduism in its original form did not mandate this, but I refer to what the religion has become - Ceremony-filled, with no real understanding of why these ceremonies are being conducted.
Also, by entry ticket I was referring to the darshan tickets, or special VIP darshan tickets at Tirupati.
I personally hate this idea of special darshan tickets, but coming to your argument noone forces us to buy them.
On the other hand, 18 comments on this post ! I need to write more pieces attacking religion :-)
Coming to Hindusim, it is a philosophy. As a true practioner, you use it as a guidance for happy and a content life. The practice of this philosophy evolved to be a religion in due course. Now, your ranting is about the organized religion has nothing to do with the core philosophies. If your goal is pursue the phiolosophy, dont waste your time worrying about the excess and noise involved in organiszed religion.
Finally, if you are criticizing the philosphy of hinduism, I challenge you to understand it more and take a more analytical approach and present a convincing case. If you are criticizing contemporary social etiquettes, then grow beyond religion and see the society problem as a whole. For eg, you mentioned about chanting. Chanting is not a hindu problem, or a muslim problem or a christian problem One of the problems in India is we see problems through a religious lens. We have different civil laws based on religion. For instance, Marriage laws apply differently to a Muslim than to a Hindu. If you truly want to change the social etiquettes, then take a different approach. Enough said!!
Take care.
-CV
Thanks so much for your detailed comment, which I am honored to receive.
You claim that the idiosyncracies in organized religion are created in reaction to political and social changes. I differ with you on this point and I belive that our social environment is affected to a greater extent by religion than the other way around.
I am very much aware of the ceremonies involved in Islam and Christianity, having very good friends from both of these religions - However, I definitely do not know enough about them. And I believe that religion is a holistic experience that has to be experienced in entirety before one can make any sort of statement about it.
I agree with you about the distinction between Hinduism as a philosophy and religion - This post was not at me trying to find a philosophy - It was about the bad things in Hinduism the religion.
I am not looking for a philosophy, I have my own, that is a hybrid built from my experiences and learnings, I have no need to research the Hindu philosophy.
And, I totally agree with you on the fact that there are social problems beyond Hinduism - But thats another post !!
I read your post with great interest!
Was caste a major issue in olden days in Southern India?
May be it was!
In Nandan's story his devotion made the stone bull move so that he can get a glimpse of Siva. Here Siva is not a stone God but a metaphor for the Ultimate reality.
In the history of first Sankaracharya there is an intersting story of what happened to him in Kasi. One day after taking bath in the holy river he was on his way to visit the temple. On his way he came across an untouchable with his four dogs. He was irritated and angered by his presence and asked him to move away. The untouchable responded by saying that the same Sun that is reflected in Ganges is also reflected in a liquor pot. There is no blemish to the image whether it falls in the holy river or the liquor pot. There is God in every thing in this Universe. Why are you making a big deal of my form as an untouchable? Upon hearing this Sankaracharya realised that this person is none other than Siva himself and the dogs were the four Vedas. This story is in the religious texts. I am not making this up!
I am a Hindu because I was born to Hindu parents. I sincerely feel that Hinduism can provide guidance and support to anyone! This doesn't mean that one has to follow organized religion. Organized religion helps for some
and others don't need it to survive. There are many in this world with problems. We are all like Nandan in a certain way. Prayer and devotion helps us understand our place in the universe. To take this a little further intense devotion will help us recreate our environment! This is where many books in Hinduism come to our aid. Just because someone or some groups say that I do not belong somewhere doesn't mean that I should acknowledge that and take it seriously! I understand where you are coming from. I have a good friend from Virudhunagar. In this day and age there are groups of people still discriminated against in Tamilnadu. Who will speak for them? We are lucky to live in a Democracy. The more we push education inequalities will disappear.
It is great to be part of something that means something in society. But think this way -
Let's say that I was swithched @ birth in the hospital and my parents were of different religion and I went home with a family which had a totally different world view. If I found that out at a later age what should I do? Should my loyalties change? One can argue that this is an absurd scenario and rarely or never happens! I can say this another way. According to many saints in the Hindu tradition,
relationships, associations and groups can blind a person to see beyond. Who we consider as near and dear ones will leave us some day. Pattinathar says 'Katharundha oosiyum varathu kaan kadivalike'. With the volume of resources in Hinduism, purely as an intellectual pursuit one can contemplate what is beyond and what we are doing here!
When an eminent South Indian Scientist visited USA in the early part of the century, he was not happy to see the way he was treated because of his brown skin.
This is in the biography of Ramanujam. (This person was not Ramanujam) Sometimes things happen.
Luckily we live in an age where majority of us can escape these situations. But religion cannot be blamed for all of these ills. It is the people who hijack the releigion to promote their agenda are responsible for this. Hinduism has had its share of reformers. Saint Ramanujam of Vaishnavaite tradition is a great example!
Finally if you get a chance please visit Saravana Kumar's blog. He is neither a friend nor a relation. I think he is from your community and has many great articles on Hindusim and Science. I access him through a blog called 'cosmic consiousness'
I believe in God, but I don't believe that I need religion to reach him.
When you say that there was volumes over volumes of works written on Hinduism, I would disagree - I think the best of them are spiritual works written by Hindus.
I believe several of the fundamental pieces of Hinduism like the various ceremonies which can only be conducted by Brahmins are focused on strengthening and perpetuating the caste system.
I welcome your comments, and please keep visiting my site.
Let me make a comparison between capitalism and Hinduism as a religion. I was in a big drugstore chain recently. The young lady @ the check out counter asked me if I would make a dollar donation to the Diabetes foundation. I was about to give her a lecture. But I bit my tongue and said no. When half of their store if filled with non essential junk food with absolutely no nutritional value, like colas, cookies and chips that cause numerous health problems in individuals, what on earth posess
them to campaign for donation for diabetes research! Sure I don't have to come and shop here. If I don't like their store I can start my own. Will I blame capitalism for this? Hell no. Capitalism is the best thing that has happened since sliced bread was invented. Communism has failed miserably! I don't want to mandate what is good for everybody! Hinduism as a religion is the same way as capitalism, but it has moral codes in its tradition. Tradition doesn't necessarily mean vedic tradition. South has its share of voluminous works to pursue Hinduism. I can question anything, any day! At the same time I have to respect what others want to do.
Saint Ramakrishna says that man's desire to decorate and donate to an idol is similar to a very young kid playing with a doll. They treat the doll as a fellow human being. But they do outgrow that stage sometime. Hinduism promises onething. All human beings evolve to better human beings but not necessarily in one lifetime.
'Ammachi' is a saint from Kerala, who visits this country twice every year. She was born in a fisherman community. What is striking about meeting her is she hugs everybody like a mother would hug a child, to bless them. She doesn't discriminate. She hugs, men, women, poor, rich, diseased,
aids patients every one with a genuine heartwarming style. I have seen her bless and hug people continuosly for straight seven, eight hours without ever showing fatigue. Their is something about God realised pious souls.
An amusing story about an Australian woman who met Amma. She was a skeptical soul, always caustic about anything Indian. She was asked to wish for anything when she went to see Amma. She was totally irritated by the noise and decorations, festivities surrounding Amma. At the moment someone pushed her close to Amma, this is what she could think of.
I want bigger boobs! She didn't think much of it after the visit.
When she came home someone noticed that her chest has gotten bigger.
She looked in the mirror and indeed her chest has gotten bigger. She was alarmed that she may have a serious problem like a tumour. She checked with the local hospital. They didn't find anything. She made an appointment with her home country doctor and flew back home. His diagnosis was everything alright. For some unexplained reasons, there was a sudden spurt of hormones in the body that caused the chest to grow bigger. Her book is a bestseller in the travel section @ Borders.
Even today one access many saints who represent the best in Hinduism. If one wants to know a saint to relate to in an intellectual level their is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the T.M
Movement. He is a non Brahmin and his teacher was the Sankaracharaya
of Jyothir Math. He is also a Physics graduate from an university. He has intiated scientific inquiry in the study of T.M for the past forty years and proved beyond doubt, the benifits of simple meditation even among non believers.
Let me say that life as we know is very short. Time flies. Some of us are blessed. We have things to keep ourselves busy any time any day. Some of us are not so blessed. We have problems to deal with day in day out. There is enough in Hinduism to comfort anyone any day. Since the begining of time many groups have been discriminated against. This is very wrong. In Sirkali, even today there is a festival called Samanar Kalzu. Kalzu means spiking a person with a sharp object between his legs when he is alive. I hope this is not the way they got rid of the Jains in Tamilnadu at the expense of protecting Hinduism. There aren't many Jains in Tamilnadu to talk about this. Degrading and destroying a fellow human being is very wrong. But Hinduism as a religion will always correct itself and rise above the pettiness and small mindedness of some of its adhearants.
Thanks again for letting me post this.