From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Some comments on religions and religious postings in the net
Date: 13 Aug 1992 19:57:34 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

    Some comments on religions and religious postings in the net
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       Since we all know what religions are, I don't have to
 start with what are they. The question really is not a good
 definition of religion but a good understanding of it and
 the need for it. 
       The way I see it, people take a religion into practice
 and they think that they benefit by their faith on the rules/
 principles specified in their religion or they are told that
 they are benefitted by the religion. If each person chooses
 by his own free will a religion that suits him and minds his
 own business, this world would not have as many problems as
 it is facing now. But the way things are, a religious preacher 
 shakes others as if he is waking them from a sound sleep and
 explains them his religious principles, thinking that he is
 doing them a good service. `Conversion' is the word usually
 used by the people to describe such an act, but the word is
 too general to characterize things. I've seen religous columns
 in the `Hindu' international edition and such columns always
 talk about Hinduism. I have not written any letters to the
 editor of Hindu complaining that the paper is converting its
 readers to Hinduism. It is my choice to read such columns and
 I can skip it easily and choose to read the nearby column by
 Art Buchwald .
      It is my opinion that only those religious people who are
 not clear about the principles underlined in their religion
 complain that preachers of other religions  are trying to
 convert them to their religions especially if the preachers ask
 them some basic questions on the religions they practice. There
 is a Tamil saying that
    " aasai aRumin aasai aRumin
      eesanOdaayinum aasai aRumin ."
   [ Cut your desires, cut your desires
     Even if you have desires on God ( like God-realization ) ]
 This saying is from Saiva Siddhantha, requesting people not to
 have attachment even on God. This saying is very Buddhistic. 
 Religious fanaticism stems from this excessive attachment on
 God and for a recent reference, I refer to the `kar seva' in
 progress in Ayodhya for the construction started for the Ram
 temple there.
     Recently, there was a good posting on S.R.E. which said,
  " Let the eyes see what it wants to see.
    Let the ears hear what it wants to hear.
    Let the nose smell what it wants to smell.
    Let the mouth taste what it wants to taste.
    Let your mind flow freely."
      Above posting is very interesting. Some readers of this
 posting may be religious. Some may not be religious. It doesn't
 matter. I suggest you all to think about the quoted lines. The
 quotes do not carry any religious name or faith. They just stress
 freedom and nothing more. If we have an open mind, we would feel
 free to read the views put forth by others on their religions 
 ( Arindam Ghosh, etc.) or the need for religions ( Savithri etc.)
 Or we may choose not to read these postings or scriptures at all
 and use our own reasoning to analyze the questions facing us.  
                                                        S.Pandian.
                                                sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu
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