Adi's Journal

Pieces of my thourhgs

On religion

PicsArt_08-13-07.16.20Knowing something about Egypt, a country which is far away and boasts one of the ancient civilizations of this world was always on my mind. Recently, I found an anthology of essays written by an Egyptian author of a best seller, ‘Cairo trilogy’ and a Nobel laureate, Naguib Mahfouz. This Anthology, “The meaning of civilization” comprises essays on culture, religion and politics.

One quote in particular, “Religion is neither a science nor a branch of knowledge, it is a spiritual teaching whose essence becomes manifest through social intercourse, behaviour and vision.” is from the essay published on 8th June 1974, ‘Religion and school.’ Even though, this essay particularly talks about the way schools in Egypt were engaged in teaching the Holy Quran in the 70s, this sentence resonated with me.

Drawing a parallel between the religious journeys of Egypt and the Indian sub continent,  both have witnessed multifarious changes in religion and philosophy throughout their respective histories. In the case of the Indian sub continent, there were witnessed the glorious ages of Hinduism during the Vedic era,  the rise of new ways of life in the form of Buddhism and Jainism, the integration of Parsis and sustained Islamic rule. Not to mention the deep impact the Colonial era also had on the religious equation of this country.

In today’s world, we witness the madness happening around the globe in the name of religion. Religious fanaticism raises its ugly head in every part of the world with various such groups preaching their own brand of extreme religion. Consequently the less fanatic or hardlined individual is clueless as to what his/her religion is all about. We are witnessing a total disconnect from spirituality as we lack a vision as a religious person, religion has now been  reduced to a few rituals. The social intercourse through which religions evolved and provided individuals with the opportunity of a fulfilling and spiritual journey, has now halted. This blind ritual-centric behaviour has turned us away from this journey. 

I agree with what Mr. Mahfouz is saying, religion is not a subject to be taught at school. It should be handed over to a child from his/her family with proper care and the freedom to be a theologist. One needs to study the religion and their personal relationship with the idea of God. Religion is not something absolute like 2+2 = 4. There is always a study involved, following the interpretation which leads to realisation. I remember the verse from a Marathi abhang by Sant Sohirobanath (18th century saint of Nath Sampraday, from the Sawantwadi area of Southern Konkan, Maharashtra)

संत संगतीने समज, आणून मनी पुरते उमज,

अनुभवावीण मान हालवू नको रे।।

It literally means “first you learn from someone knowledgeable, ponder upon those learnings and don’t accept unless and until you experience the truth behind those thoughts.”

One should follow these steps to understand and believe in something. Religion is not a thing which you should accept blindly. The attitude, “बाबा वाक्यम् प्रमाणं।” (The words of the elders are the ultimate truth) will lead to a disastrous life. So let all of us start being observant, think about the teachings of our elders, meditate and ponder the meaning with a fine tooth comb and then accept whatever is agreeable to you. Let’s try to make religion a spiritual again.


Just like 2018, I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter‘s #MyFriendAlexa campaign. My current rank is 4,213,181.

Hope you enjoy my writings. Feel free to share, comment bellow.

Related Posts

41 thoughts on “On religion

    1. I agree. There is one section that wants to be an atheist and a non follower of religion. Then there is he other section that’s fanatic. People in between try to preserve some aspects of their religion handed down to them from their ancestors but who are laughed at. Nice write up.

  1. I fear the present form of religion invading everything from school to politics and life is actually a major minus. It no longer is about finding the best parts of religion to be the best person. It is more about showcasing what’s wrong with every one else

  2. I think religion and dharma should not be mixed up. I also think anything that we call science must be proven by experiment. When Swami Vivekananda asked Sri Rama Krishna, have you seen god? Master responded not only I have seen, I can show you also. This is experiment. Follow a path, conduct your experiment and get your result. Your teacher or guru will tell if you are going on the correct path or not. What we need is scientific temper, ability to ask right question and experiment to find the answer. Unless we follow and enquire, I don’t think we have any right to question if religion is scientific or not.

  3. Loved your post. I too agree with “religion is not a subject to be taught at school. It should be handed over to a child from his/her family with proper care and the freedom to be a theologist.”. Religion should be something personal. Force feeding it in school is not the way to go.

  4. Religion is a controversial topic and I like your thought process and the way you have expressed yourself. I feel that the world would be a better place if religion did not exist, but well that’s my personal opinion.

  5. Such a timely post in these tumultuous times. We’ve made religion into a hydra that has lost all meaning. The terrors we perpetrate in the name of religion must make the Gods grimace in horror. Increasingly I’m reminded of Jim Morrison, who said religion is opium for the masses. The masses have gone crazy and the very fabric of society and civilisation as we know it is being torn.

  6. Religion needs some revamp now. It is a hard truth that religion lacks to raise good human beings these days. Anything that is forced should be dropped from the the syllabus of the religion.

  7. With so much happening all around, it is imperative to have the right conceopt of religion and pass on teh right thoughts to our kids as well… the world peace, and progress depends on the right mindsets and perspectives… Enjoyed reading your post

  8. Religion, according to me, is a system of beliefs that have been followed from one generation to the next. Now, when questions are asked, answers are not logically explained because they are lost in transit. Now it is up to the new generation how to take it forward, how much to preserve. Your post was pretty informative

  9. My religion is very personal to me and is unquestionable because I’m raised that way to believe in it. But the only religion that I’m teaching my son is to be a good human being. And he can choose whatever religion he likes to when he grows up. Lovely post. Thanks for sharing. #MyFriendAlexa #CloudandSunshineReads

Leave a Reply