Religion part 1

[Guest guest]

Blessed Self<br><br>Religion is in everyone's

mind these days. Sometimes positively as, for example,

Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as

Moslems have just finished Ramadan. Sometimes negatively

as we read of the religious and sectarian strife in

the Middle East, the Phillipines, in Afghanistan,

between India and Pakistan, and between Ireland and

Northern Ireland. <br><br>We hear religion being praised

as the salvation of the world and damned as the

cause of all the ills of the world.<br><br>I would like

to present the views of Swami Sivananda on religion

as taken from his book, Bliss

Divine:<br><br>"Religion is the relationship between the three fundamental

principles -God, world and the individual. Religion gives

solace to the weary pilgrim in this earth-plane. It

explains life's mystery to him. It shows the path to the

immortal abode.<br><br>"Religion is not a denial of life.

It is fullness of life. It is life eternal. Man

becomes God through discipline, self-restraint, and

meditation. That is religion.<br><br>"Religion consists of

doing good to others, in the practice of love, mercy,

truthfulness, and purity in all walks of life. Religion is

practical philosophy; philosophy is theoretical religion.

Philosophy is forever searching, inquiring questioning.

Religion is sensing, realising, experiencing.<br><br>"The

same type of jacket cannot suit all people. Individual

temperments and traditional backgrounds differ. Hence the

need for different religions.<br><br>"One religion is

as good as another. One road or path to the Supreme

is as good as any other road or path. Cows have

different colours, but the colour of milk is one. There are

different kinds of roses, but the scent is one. Religion is

one, but many are its forms of practice. Diversity is

the order of creation. Religion is not exception to

it. <br><br>The essentials of

Religion<br><br>"Religion is not dogma. Religion is not creed. Creed is

broken reed. Religion is not theology. It is not merely

belief or emotion. It is not merely a little prayer

which one does when he suffers from severe intestinal

colic or chronic dysentery. It is pre-eminently a life

of goodness and service. Religion is a life of

meditation. Religion is life in God. He who is loving, kind,

pious, and truthful, he who is endowed with faith and

devotion, is truly religious.<br><br>"The essence of

religion is not marks on the forehead, not the matted

locks and long beard, not standing in hot sun and cold

water, not ringing bells, not blowing the conch, not

playing the cymbals, but a life of goodness, purity and

service in the midst of mundane

temptations.<br><br>Religion is living in God. It is not mere discussion about

God. Mere intellectual assent cannot make you truly

religious. Real religion is beyond argument. It can only be

lived, both inwardly and outwardly. It is realization

and becoming.<br><br>"Let not personal bias, force of

convention, or the opinion of fanatics and sectarians blind

your vision into a narrow view of religion. Do not be

prejudiced by observing the religious practices of untutored

masses. You must be able to differentiate the essentials

from the non-essentials in religion and philosophy,

through the power of pure reason and discrimination. Then

only you can be happy. The essentials of all religions

are one and the same. They all agree. Religions

differ only in the non-essentials.<br><br>continued...