The one true religion!

What is the one true religion? Most will name their own. But most likely this question cannot be answered convincingly by most people. Once I have selected a religion to follow, then that becomes the only true religion for me to pursue. Others may choose other religions to pursue, which will become the only true religion for them. A person cannot travel on two boats, at least that is what I believe. Each person chooses on which boat to travel, and it will most likely be only one. Trying to travel on multiple boats may seem like a challenge, or socially polite, but I am not sure, for the waters can be deep.

I do not know the one true religion,

But I do know this,

Sun is not the only star,

Rose is not the only flower,

Lion is not the only animal,

Eagle not the only bird,

There are many cities,

There are many highways,

World is rich in choice,

But each choice has its own color,

Each choice has a consequence,

Free to choose, but own your choice,

For each choice will have a consequence,

Each choice leads to a destination,

Choose wherever you are willing to go,

There may be as many true paths, 

As many the Creator wishes to create,

To insist otherwise would be to doubt the might of the Creator,

How many I do not know for certain, for I am just a human,

I am not privy to the Creator's mind,

Nor know all the nature's secrets.

Each religion has a theology and a philosophy, which may or may not overlap with other religions. But what each religion promises is a definite or an indefinite outcome for a practitioner who wishes to follow its path. Following are some of the different things promised by different religions to their followers:

1. A peaceful or blissful present life
2. A peaceful or blissful afterlife
3. Liberation from transmigration
4. Liberation from sin
5. Eternal companionship with God
6. Everlasting bliss
7. Personal deification
8. Fame in present life or afterlife
9. Wealth in present life or afterlife
10. Other material pleasures in present life or afterlife
11. More esoteric things like higher consciousness which are difficult to understand
12. Continuation of tradition, customs, and culture
13. Appeasement of ancestors, society, spirits, authority, gods, or other real or imaginary things
14. And maybe many other things...

A religion would generally promise a follower some of the above goals. So a follower needs to realize that focusing on some goals alone, may make the other things out of reach. Read the promises well, what is claimed and what remains hidden.

Now whether these claims are true or false I don't know. The belief in these claims started originally with the teachings of respective founders and prophets, and it is for each person to decide what to believe in and what not to believe in, what goal to pursue and what goal to leave, what path to follow and what path to leave behind.

The important thing here is to realize that apparently there could be everlasting consequences of the personal choice made by an individual. People might claim that all religions are same, and any could be followed. But studying about the different religions will give a person a more comprehensive perspective, and a better understanding about the goals of each religion. Saying all paths are same, may generally mean the person making this claim does not have much knowledge of any of the paths involved. I do know that different religious paths may promise different destinations to their followers, and have different deities and rituals, and it is up to each person what he or she wants to pursue in life. Where does a person want to invest or spend his or her life, and what return does a person expect from this investment in a lifelong faith? Is faith for an eternal goal, or for service of others, or for being one with the crowd? Where does your faith promise to take you?

There is a secondary and equally important question, after a personal destination (religion) has been decided by the person. The secondary question is, whether the path chosen will actually lead the person to the promised destination. This is a question which can only be answered in the seeker's mind, either by simply believing the teaching of the founders of religions, or by actually traveling the path, but few are known to reach the destination.

As with most things in life, 

it is almost impossible to make a definite bet. 

This is the ultimate gamble of life. 

Where will you invest your life, on which belief? 

Believe, or some would say bet, on what,

In ephemeral pleasure, or in pleasing society, 

or maybe on mortal or eternal goals. 

Welcome to the earthy casino of life,

Wheel is spinning, and the clock is ticking,

Destiny, the croupier with a wry smile invites you,

Invites you to place your bets,

Your eternal destiny is at stake,

For the price of this one life,

For the price of a decision and a belief,

Place your bet, for time is running out,

Time will run out, bet on an eternal consequence,

A consequence which each will meet alone,

Without the company of a friend or foe,

A consequence of suffering or bliss,

Indecision will not slow down the clock,

For some this gamble can be overwhelming,

And they may look the other way,

As they try to find meaning and reason,

Believing there is no substance in eternal fate,

But time will not stop, neither for me nor for you,

The game of life is already afoot,

Try not to let your mind fool you,

But who can claim to never have been fooled.

So like everything in this world, there is endless diversity. Each religion offers a path to follow and a destination. Paths may meet at some places, and may lead to similar or different destinations. Choose the path based on where you want to go. Each path may take you where it promises to go, and hope your map is accurate.

Know where you want to go before starting a journey,

If you do not know where your faith will lead you,

You might reach a place where you do not want to be,

 If a mentor refuses to explain in simple terms,

In simple words that do not confuse nor sting,

Then perhaps you are being taken for a ride.

-x-

Burden of proof?

One of the main point of contention between atheists and believers is that atheists insist that there is no conclusive and verifiable proof of the existence of God**. And they are correct, regarding objective proofs. Atheists claim that the burden of proof is on the believers to prove the existence of God.

Look at it from another perspective, if there is a verifiable objective proof of God's existence, then there would be no need for faith. If there is a verifiable proof, then everybody would believe in God, and fear God, and live a compliant life. Then not believing in God would be stupid and there would be no choice, no need for faith, no need for belief, as God's existence would be confirmed. A lot of drama in life would come to an end, many would even say that all drama in life would come to an end. 

If the headmaster is present in a class and the children know it,

They will not speak nor play, and would be all nervous and frozen stiff.

But this is not how this world seems to have been setup. The elusive nature of God seems to be by design. Please take a moment to stop and think about this, because faith is not about choice but about eternal destiny. Atheists, or scientists, or rationalists, or others did not design the world in which we exist. Nor does the world in which we exist needs to conform to any logical model conceivable to the human mind.

With existence of an objective proof faith and belief cease to be a virtue. I am not saying that faith is a virtue, but to believe in concepts taught be the prophets unquestionably is an essential part of any religion. Certainly there is every chance that a person starts believing in a prophet whose teachings may or may not deliver on their promise, or the student may not understand the teaching properly, and that is a constant persistent doubt in most believers. This is as if it adds different colors to the religious and spiritual landscape of society. This complicates the choices further, but again this seems to be by design - Nature is characterized by presence of extreme variety, and presence of many different schools of thoughts also conforms to this.

Coming back to the question of proof. The system of belief in this world seems to be such that glimpses of the unknown have been conveyed to few people, who are generally identified as prophets. And stories tell us that after their respective revelation the prophets lives did change, as they lived in awareness of God's presence, while rest of the people around them went on with their normal life oblivious of God. The drama of the world continued for people who were unaware of God's presence. Some people did heed the words of prophets. For others the life's test is to sift through the available teaching and paths, and try to find a way.

Life presents an endless maze of words and ideas,

Walk carefully picking your treasures,

Treasures of words, and faith, and belief,

Leave the wrong turns and take the right ones.

-x-

 **In this blog, by word God, I always refer to the Monotheistic ever present and all powerful God, the Creator of the world. I do not refer to the many different deities present in the many cultures and religions unless specifically highlighted.

-x-