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-

God and gods...?

Different cultures have different beliefs about God. Many of the deities are culture specific, and do not find any mention beyond a culture/religion. Different cultures may see similar or same deity in different light. Some religion believe in a supreme God, the Creator of all that is there and more. By definition belief in a supreme Creator, if it is true, has to refer to same God, irrespective of the religion, as there can be a single supreme Creator.

Most of the deities can be classified in one or more of the following categories (there could be more which I have missed):

1. Mythological figures - People, entities or spirits believed to have existed or exist now, but there is no proof, there could be various stories describing the power of the deity, and benefits of worshiping them.
2. Historical figures not necessarily with spiritual connections - People/rulers/celebrities/ancestors/etc who have actually lived, and there are worship places for them (google search can help find some examples). With passing of centuries various stories may develop around the central characters and they may become part of future mythology.
3. Natural forces - Sun, moon, planets, sky, wind, rivers, etc.
4. Other living or non-living - Plants, trees, animals, places, symbolic items, etc (specific instances or a whole species/group).
5. Historical figures with a spiritual connection - Mainly identified as Prophets and Saints. This is the most complex category, as a Prophet or Saint can sometimes be understood as a direct representative of the Supreme Monotheistic Deity Himself, and so deserves the same respect and affection as the Monotheistic God. Unity in apparent duality could be hard to comprehend. It could be understood that rather than resorting to miraculous revelation, God chooses to reveal Himself using the words and actions of a Prophet or Saint. But it can be really difficult for a common person to discern a Prophet or a Saint. Another complexity comes when we realize that a supposed saint might be a devotee of a Deity in any of the other categories, or might proclaim him/herself as a God, or come up with own theory of deities or even be an atheist. This is the most visible category to which people can associate with and communicate with, and are most likely to be influenced with. Over time they become part of mythology, founders of religions or cults. I personally find this category too complex to navigate, and to discern genuine people could be hard, and even harder would be to find what were the exact teaching that they taught. Each teaching has to be taken on a case by case basis. In this category I try to focus my efforts to understand the teaching of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, which contain the words of the Sikh Prophets as well as few Saints, and which was personally compiled and dictated by the Sikh Prophets few hundred years back. This is also easy for me to do as I was born in a Sikh family.
6. Monotheistic God - One supreme Deity as Creator of all, with limitless qualities which are not possible to describe. Formless, all powerful, etc are some of the words used to commonly describe the Deity. The Name of the Deity, is the truest and closest representation of the Deity, as all other descriptions will fall short and will not do justice. A Name which refers to the Supreme Being may be the only perfect representation of the Supreme Deity conceivable to a human mind, as a Name encompasses and refers to all known and unknown qualities of the Named.  (NOTE: This is the category where I have most focused my time, energy and belief, and readers may find that my views/opinions are biased in favor of a Monotheistic God)

I wish there was a simple way to decide the object of one's devotion, but reality is all but simple. The reason people would worship any of the above or other type of deity could be many, including cultural/family/religious tradition, as a prayer for a favor or solution, appeasement, devotion, love, etc. Value of the prayer and devotion, in authentic cases, is subjective to each individual and is not in scope of science (because objective validation is not possible, at least with today's technology and methods).

Devotee of each type of diety have their specific reasons, and any benefits that they perceive would be for them to say. I have not spend time in understanding this area.

The basis of my decision to focus my devotion and energy on the monotheistic God is primarily because I am looking for eternal solutions. I am not just looking for solutions for my daily needs, current life-time issues, but also solutions of a more permanent nature. Solutions which will work beyond present life, if there is a scenario where my soul has an after-life experience (if there is such a thing). You might say, so many reasons for a solution to an imaginary problem, which has not even been proved to exist! What if this thought and feeling is just a Placebo? Well, I have always had a cautious approach in most matters, plus I have my own reasons to believe. You are free to choose a more adventurous approach, should you wish, but I would not recommend it, as there might be no second chance (at least none that has been proven yet. To get a sense of adventure, and not an imagined adventure, people could try to live without insurance, savings and retirement funds, but no financial planner would actually recommend it).

Eternal solutions are timeless, which are beyond the natural limitations that might bind other categories of Deities. Limitations like time, birth, death, place, etc. So for me this leaves with the only possible choice for a solution, that is to depend on a Monotheistic deity, who by definition is timeless and immune to affects of natural forces. Creator of all that exists, and free from external influence. A decision of this nature is not the end, but a beginning, to start a journey of more meaningful focused exploration.

-x-