It’s
been a while since I posted a blog, and definitely the reason is not being
short of idea’s, those are a plenty. The delay has been due to the paucity of
time to express them clearly.
Also
off late the festivities have kept me quite engaged at home and if I were to
really define how my time was spent, I would fail miserably to sound even
faintly believable.
As
the festivals line up from September and with one supreme battle of victory
over evil to happen in November, what’s really been on my mind is the question
of religion v/s spirituality and how does someone differentiate between them.
Reading Sarah Mac Donald’s book ‘Holy Cow’ did not help but re-enforce these
questions with aggressive vigour.
In
my mind, spirituality, embraces the right for anyone to freely follow &
express their beliefs. It does not attempt to restrict nor dictate one’s choice
of worship nor demean another fellow’s fundamental right to choose his/her own
path. Celebrates the simple, the good & allows co-existence with respect, patience
and tolerance.
Religion,
on the other hand simply makes you believe that what you practice is the only
best way to exist.
I
remember while growing up I encountered many young people who would refuse to
accept ‘prasad’ (holy sweets offered by Hindu/Sikh temples to all devotee’s)
simply because their religion does not permit them to eat from another’s
temple. Being younger & far more innocent, I could not understand this old
fashioned reasoning. The thought that someone could believe another temple’s
offering as unholy & a betrayal to their religion was unthinkable in my
child-like mind. After three decades I continue to question this point of view
& find it quite bizarre.
Most
of my family is either agnostic or non-believers or spiritual and together we celebrate all festivals. From diwali, gur purab, durga puja, dassera,
easter, christmas, eid, pateti, holi to lodhi & more - we have a fun time participating with
fervour, & most importantly welcome the delicious delicacies that adorn the
table – tops. Invitations from our friends to celebrate along with them, are even more
welcome.
I
can and will not understand differently and enjoy partaking in all… I
do continue to hope for a better and more spiritual world but then, the cynic
in me recognizes that it’s perhaps unlikely to happen in this lifetime - then maybe ...
sooner enough.
Let’s
together hope… Tathaastu!
