Do all paths lead to the Ultimate Principle? Are all different religions or faiths/sects different paths to the same goal (God)? Did God make different religions as many consider? I don’t think that God has made any religion let alone motivated anyone to create a religion.
Every year people wait to celebrate Dipawali with a festive spirit by lighting lamps or decorating homes with colourful festoons of electric bulbs and by bursting crackers and with colourful fireworks. The celebration has been reduced to a mere festivity for colourful lightings, exchange of sweets and bursting crackers. Every year children wait for the fun time and elders make it an occasion for eating sweets and wearing new clothes.
Having understood that the spirits of dead people (so called ancestors) cannot return as, after discarding the present body, the soul gets cut off from all previous relations and starts off new relations entering into another body, the question is ‘how and why did the ritual of ancestral oblations (Shraadh) come into vogue.
As mentioned in the previous part, Sharaadh is essentially service of parents, elders, teachers and guests done with full devotion during their life time. This was the order of the day and was practiced probably in the olden times. In the modern times with increasing scientific and technological advancements and materialistic pursuits people have become more selfish, less considerate and self-centered.
Let us assume just for the sake that Pitru/Pitar would arrive with their subtle bodies. The question now is, how would they eat without their gross bodies as subtle bodies do not eat or do not need food.
Can the spirits of one’s ancestral fathers (pitrus) be summoned in the ritual of Shraadh? Who can be called an ancestral father? In fact, every one becomes ancestral, be it be son, father or grandfather. When a person dies, his ties with everyone in the family including the son is terminated.
Holi is an ancient festival of India and was initially known as ‘Holika’. Commonly it is celebrated as a festival of colours. The festival is celebrated on Falgun Poornima (full moon in the month of falgun) across the country. It marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of spring.
With the approach of 1st of January, rich and poor, young and old and men and women all get ready with joy and jubilation to welcome the New Year. To convey New Year wishes banners and posters are put up at various places. Decorations of sorts like colour motifs on the floor, colourful lights and floral garlands etc. adorn streets and houses. By keeping awake, both young and old savour the last moments of the passing year and welcome the New Year by fireworks, band, orchestra, music, dancing and by rejoicing in gay abandon.
Apparently, the earliest messengers/prophets had appeared in these traditions. It started with the four sages, Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira, who transmitted and propagated the unworldly knowledge from the Creator God in the form of the four Vedas.
From the earliest time of human origin till about 10000 years back, Vedic culture was the religion, so to say, practiced in the world. The many historical incidents like, Arjun marrying a nāg kanya called ‘Ulopi’ from Pāthāl (America*), the belief of the Mosque at Mecca as an earlier temple of Shiva when King Vikramaditya was the ruler there and, Shakuni of Mahābhārath to be a resident of Gāndħār (Afghanistan), all clearly establish the ancient spread of the culture of Bhārath all over the world.
Though there can only be one Supreme Principle, unfortunately, most of the religions have conjured up their own divinities or gods as the Supreme Principle. Keeping aside the Supreme Principle for the moment, if we tread the paths of different religions dotted by each one’s characteristic traditions, beliefs and rituals and climb up the mountain top, we will end up with the concept of LOVE as the final pinnacle of religious glory.
Essentially, it is an evolution of consciousness represented by the appearance of progressively complex sentient bodies for the consciousness to express increasing levels of its potential, to culminate in a human form with immense potentials of thought, action, manipulation, invention, self-questioning, logic, reasoning, exploitation etc.
There are custodians in all religions who occupy positions of leadership who practice certain rituals based on the belief system and thereby set the foundation for rules of how life should be lived by the followers of the religion.
The words religion and spiritualism have ben used interchangeably by many. Though the two terms appear to mean similar, they are however different in perception and execution.
Rituals play a major role in almost all world religions and cults. Most of such rituals appear or sound odd to others but perfectly in sync with the ingrained beliefs of the particular religion/cult. Many religions have ceremonies/practices/rituals to commemorate the milestones of life like birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, death etc., likely to appear/sound unusual or strange to non-practitioners.