The number of people turning atheist is increasing day by day. While the ancestors were one of Buddhist, Hindu, Christen or of Islam. Wikipedia and the Pew Research Centre, for now, shows 16% of the world population as an atheist, non-religious or people with no religion. I wonder how young mind start losing faith on their God although parents and adult ones nurture them in all direction, a time for playing, a time for learning, a time for religious practice and still we seem to be losing. The problem here is, people take religion for granted. Perhaps, Lord Buddha did say to learn about other religions, compare and to respect the teaching.
Citizens of the earth are not alone in this world. Many saints have tried to get the best of their religion. While some learned about all the religion and forgot of the one he/she was believing while some stayed in darkness without touching a piece of scripture from other religion.
Yes, people take religion for granted. We are by birth, Buddhist, Hindu, Christen, Islam or some other. So, do we take our time to learn what our religion wants to say or what it is all about? The answer is complete no. Back then when I was in school, we had a time allocated for evening prayer. Every student read the scripture, chanted together and took the time to pray together. But, did anyone of us took the time to understand what it really meant. Well, the topic was explained by the teacher so that everyone knew.
So, do I care about what the religion says, or is it just the formality of my culture and tradition. Science says we do not believe in religion, while most of the things are discovered through scriptures. For example, in Buddhism, you will know about the chakras and enlightenment, and the practical answers are yes, there are other enlightened beings. While in Christen, Joshua in a great war, speaks to the Lord, commanding the sun to stand still, and when a scientist tries to find out using all the technologies, the science finds out that a day is missing in reality too. The religion has, a lot to speak, the possible truth we can find within ourselves is that we hardly care other than that of burning butter lamps in occasional days and the daily routine.
It’s the 21st century already now, and the time we, our ancestor spent in scriptures has already been taken away by the work and career life. The good thing is that humanity still exists, but would that last long? Because Arabic countries are in a war with themselves and it’s not since, a year or two but for almost a century now. The question that arises is that, “Would it happen with us because it is happening to them?” Who is to be blamed now? People or the Religion? Religion is already losing most of their precious part through translations and inheritance. Do we still care to flip a page and remind ourselves about the path we are taking? As Buddha once said, “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life”. Well, it does contradict a lot. The world is changing, so is the purity of knowledge inherited from our ancestors. You can’t just say I am a Buddhist, a Christian, a Hindu or an Islam. What it needs is how we carry those pearls of wisdom and how far?
“ You cannot believe in God until you believe in Yourself “
~
Swami Vivekananda
Topic Inspired by Dr. Andu Drukpa (President, Jigme Namgyel Engineering College)