being a hindu has been a source of confusion for me rather than a path to spirituality as the fairer races assume.i have been a part of the generation which grew up witnessing the horrors of 93, godhra riots , regressive hindutva ideology and divisions based on caste. having friends from diff communities following different tenets to live their lives forces me to look closer into my own religious beliefs.
i have been to a few pilgrimage places but never to the major ones.mostly because of a rational approach towards travelling ( i still yearn to satiate my wanderlust but somehow these places kick up the forever rational ship engineer in me thereby culling the thought at its nib).so id rather introspect and allow the current social structure to influence me as i express my views on the oldest living religion on earth.though am no scholar or even a liberal arts student yet this curiosity stems from the longing to understand ones religion and beliefs rather than following them.i belong to the arya samaj sect of Hindus but my grandmother and mother dint come from the same so we have a temple at home to and regular perform puja and offer our deities. however the arya samaj doesn't believe so. it completely abominates idol worship or any kind of offering to it to the extent that as followers we are not even allowed to enter temples which propagate the thought of man made idols assuming the place of tenets of hinduism. it is with this point of view that i start to ponder as to how hollow has become the beliefs of hindus over the past centuries.right from exploitation based on caste system or regressive attitude towards new thoughts or for that matter raising temples and performing pujas to hide ones black money or for penance when the same could be used to fund or feed millions of children across the country. hinduism is essentially a way of life flexible and non conforming unlike Islam or Christianity. this is best exemplified by the four akharas across the country where Hindu sages prefer to live in perpetual trance and at the same time detach themselves from all worldly temptations following what is right which also is their own prerogative as hinduism clearly states that each one to decide his ow dharma nd act accordingly.thereby banishing any claim over rigid traditions which today we have used to replace the iron will required to do what is right by allowing mindless and regressive practices to represent our faith.
i have been to a few pilgrimage places but never to the major ones.mostly because of a rational approach towards travelling ( i still yearn to satiate my wanderlust but somehow these places kick up the forever rational ship engineer in me thereby culling the thought at its nib).so id rather introspect and allow the current social structure to influence me as i express my views on the oldest living religion on earth.though am no scholar or even a liberal arts student yet this curiosity stems from the longing to understand ones religion and beliefs rather than following them.i belong to the arya samaj sect of Hindus but my grandmother and mother dint come from the same so we have a temple at home to and regular perform puja and offer our deities. however the arya samaj doesn't believe so. it completely abominates idol worship or any kind of offering to it to the extent that as followers we are not even allowed to enter temples which propagate the thought of man made idols assuming the place of tenets of hinduism. it is with this point of view that i start to ponder as to how hollow has become the beliefs of hindus over the past centuries.right from exploitation based on caste system or regressive attitude towards new thoughts or for that matter raising temples and performing pujas to hide ones black money or for penance when the same could be used to fund or feed millions of children across the country. hinduism is essentially a way of life flexible and non conforming unlike Islam or Christianity. this is best exemplified by the four akharas across the country where Hindu sages prefer to live in perpetual trance and at the same time detach themselves from all worldly temptations following what is right which also is their own prerogative as hinduism clearly states that each one to decide his ow dharma nd act accordingly.thereby banishing any claim over rigid traditions which today we have used to replace the iron will required to do what is right by allowing mindless and regressive practices to represent our faith.
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