I am not religious - Whats with??

[Lurker]

Last weekend I was on phone with my Mom and the first sentence she says is "Naya saal mubarak". As I wondered what was happening, she followed with a "Arre its Tik Sankranti na (Makar Sankranti for you non-Biharis), make sure you dont eat anda/chicken today". Ah so it was Til-sankranti the perfect day of being back home flying kites in short pants in sweltering cold of Gaya. "Lekin maan, you know I am not religious". Like a typical Mom she forgot immediately how that line may possibly have hurt her, and followed with a "Tum to bahar rahte ho na, its not easy na. Chalo khaa lena anda". When did I become non-religious? More importantly why did I become non-religious? I doubt any Indian is completely devoid of religion. Who amongst us can forget sitting atop our Dad's shoulder, walking into a temple and ringing the bell?? Wasn't one of the simple joys of growing up reaching up to hit that bell? Which amongst us can forget the times our Mom would take us to temple, pull aanchal over her head, then fold our hands and put a flower in them, asking "Pranam karo"??? For the years I spent in Patna Science College and dove in Ganges 3 years straight, for a non-swimmer who would go deep how did he survive? Some may think co-incidence, I prefer to think a mom taking care of her son. And I am not religious? Has there ever existed a Bengali house that did not show Maa Durga face wall hanging? Which Bong does not go all warm in his heart when he seems a Maa Durga Pratima? I get goosebumps when I see Maa Durga on her tiger, eyes looking glorious with a trishul in her hands. And I am a Bihari. And I am not freaking religious? Which Oriya does not feel proud when they see the statues of Krishna/Jagannath, Balrama & Subhadra in a Rathyatra?? Anytime I am lurking in a Western temple and happen to see the trio I get the feeling I am home. And I am not religious? Who amongst us have ever watched cricket with a bunch of Marathi friends and when Sachin hit a six, one of them shouted Ganapati Bappa....didnt we all chant Maurya?? What came natural to you? Ending the chant or standing up with your friends and go "Hey I am not religious?"?? When you were walking at Haji Ali, did you felt an attraction to walk right in? Did you take off your slipper as respect? Did your heart fill with delight seeing young kids wearing sharpest kurta on Eid? Were you lucky enough to ever get an Eidi? And when you did, did you pocket it instantly or did you go I am not religious? Didnt you enjoy the ras that was distributed on the Guru Gobind Jayanti? Muttering to your friend how sweet and delicious it was? Perhaps the same sentiment you did when you were lucky to get to a Gurudwara and devour a langar? Frankly if you haven't experienced these, and similar sentiments, you have perhaps missed out on the great experience that is India. There is also other side to this whole discussion. Religion is often related to being a complete conservative, somebody who has been brainwashed into stone age. Perhaps true in some ways. But isn't it equally true that being religious is a lot of hard work. Can you be religious and lead the life you are leading? Can you do a 9 days of Navratri, 30 days of roza, and not have a single bad thoughts in your mind? Can you be a religious person and do all the things you have ever done on the Internet? Maybe it is easier to move abroad and chase being great professionally and forget the stories of Shravan Kumar? Maybe being not resposible towards any of these makes for a great excuse? Me? I was not even able to go beyond anda and chicken for my gym routine. So maybe I am not religious. And maybe I am. Thats a modern day Indian perhaps? :hatsoff: xxx

[coffee_rules]

All this is culture/tradition. Can't be religious. If you are religious, you get offended by MOfo Hussain paint Goddess Lakshmii naked. Did you? Would you?

[Yoda-esque]

All this is culture/tradition. Can't be religious. If you are religious' date=' you get offended by MOfo Hussain paint Goddess Lakshmii naked. Did you? Would you?[/quote'] Frankly speaking, I did not get offended by that.I was however, very angry that the Tharki buddha didn't have the guts to the same for his own religion and ran away..Sheer hypocrisy

[punjabi_khota]

The point is not if you have done those things, but do you still do those things. Religion is a dope. The cultural part is great, and the books do teach you a few good things, but otherwise it is a over-expoited field.

[Cricketics]

Well these are our Indian traditions which we might follow or remember throughout our life. We would miss them forver even though we might not preach them any more. It's like going to a barber shop in INdia as a kid and waiting for your turn to come and meanwhile you watch the tv from a different view looking into the mirror as the tv is placed rite above where you are seated. We remember these little things. I miss those days.

[Sir john]

am a strict religion folloWer.visit temple on every occasion.

[flamy]

While I appreciate the sentiment in your post, you are trespassing into nostalgia and tradition, rather than religion and dogma. I am not religious. I am, however deeply spiritual. I still went to Tirumala when I went home this time. And, it was immensely refreshing. Because, this was the very first time, I was looking at a God, a reflection of my Origin, a mirror to my own inner Self and not a genie I had three wishes for.

[Clarke]

What most of India follows in terms of religion is rituals, dogma & an excuse for partying (diwali/holi etc). There is negligible importance granted to the important aspects of the majority religion, for instance would India really be so corrupt & have high poverty if Dharm/Karma had significance in 80% of India ? Would Ganga be the dump its been made into ?

Can you be religious and lead the life you are leading?

Sure, you can carry out rituals if that's what you indicate by being religious.

[f.b.m]

What you're saying is that the benefits of religion are the benefits of conformity and being a part of a herd.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Last weekend I was on phone with my Mom and the first sentence she says is "Naya saal mubarak". As I wondered what was happening' date= she followed with a "Arre its Tik Sankranti na (Makar Sankranti for you non-Biharis), make sure you dont eat anda/chicken today". Ah so it was Til-sankranti the perfect day of being back home flying kites in short pants in sweltering cold of Gaya. "Lekin maan, you know I am not religious". Like a typical Mom she forgot immediately how that line may possibly have hurt her, and followed with a "Tum to bahar rahte ho na, its not easy na. Chalo khaa lena anda". When did I become non-religious? More importantly why did I become non-religious? I doubt any Indian is completely devoid of religion. Who amongst us can forget sitting atop our Dad's shoulder, walking into a temple and ringing the bell?? Wasn't one of the simple joys of growing up reaching up to hit that bell? Which amongst us can forget the times our Mom would take us to temple, pull aanchal over her head, then fold our hands and put a flower in them, asking "Pranam karo"??? For the years I spent in Patna Science College and dove in Ganges 3 years straight, for a non-swimmer who would go deep how did he survive? Some may think co-incidence, I prefer to think a mom taking care of her son. And I am not religious? Has there ever existed a Bengali house that did not show Maa Durga face wall hanging? Which Bong does not go all warm in his heart when he seems a Maa Durga Pratima? I get goosebumps when I see Maa Durga on her tiger, eyes looking glorious with a trishul in her hands. And I am a Bihari. And I am not freaking religious? Which Oriya does not feel proud when they see the statues of Krishna/Jagannath, Balrama & Subhadra in a Rathyatra?? Anytime I am lurking in a Western temple and happen to see the trio I get the feeling I am home. And I am not religious? Who amongst us have ever watched cricket with a bunch of Marathi friends and when Sachin hit a six, one of them shouted Ganapati Bappa....didnt we all chant Maurya?? What came natural to you? Ending the chant or standing up with your friends and go "Hey I am not religious?"?? When you were walking at Haji Ali, did you felt an attraction to walk right in? Did you take off your slipper as respect? Did your heart fill with delight seeing young kids wearing sharpest kurta on Eid? Were you lucky enough to ever get an Eidi? And when you did, did you pocket it instantly or did you go I am not religious? Didnt you enjoy the ras that was distributed on the Guru Gobind Jayanti? Muttering to your friend how sweet and delicious it was? Perhaps the same sentiment you did when you were lucky to get to a Gurudwara and devour a langar? Frankly if you haven't experienced these, and similar sentiments, you have perhaps missed out on the great experience that is India. There is also other side to this whole discussion. Religion is often related to being a complete conservative, somebody who has been brainwashed into stone age. Perhaps true in some ways. But isn't it equally true that being religious is a lot of hard work. Can you be religious and lead the life you are leading? Can you do a 9 days of Navratri, 30 days of roza, and not have a single bad thoughts in your mind? Can you be a religious person and do all the things you have ever done on the Internet? Maybe it is easier to move abroad and chase being great professionally and forget the stories of Shravan Kumar? Maybe being not resposible towards any of these makes for a great excuse? Me? I was not even able to go beyond anda and chicken for my gym routine. So maybe I am not religious. And maybe I am. Thats a modern day Indian perhaps? :hatsoff: xxx

Nice post, Lurks! Maybe you can still be 'not religious' in spite of doing all that. A prime example is my dad. He dunn believe in Gods and is pretty much an atheist (or maybe an agnostic). However, he is very particular when it comes to doing Ganpati puja (even writing "Om Ganeshaya Namaha" in Telugu in books right thru our childhood), and reminding me and wishing me on every damn festival, and all else. However, he never goes to a temple for devotional purposes. If he ever goes to temples they are generally ancient temples or even hyped ones like Birla Mandir in Hyderabad it is because he is a photographer and loves to click. Plus he has always been fascinated in knowing the history behind them. I guess that is the source of my own infatuations - his genes. But every time I bring it up to him and question him logically that "listen you don't believe in God and all that crap so then why are you doing all these things?". The latest instance being an event that will happen on 29 Jan when he does a GruhaPravesham for his new house and I am to go to Hyderabad despite arguing he shouldn't do it coz he dunn believe in it. Although he has never kinda answered me why he does them I have come to figure out (because I have observed him more closely than anyone else in my life) that he values traditions and customs. He does it for the custom/tradition value it carries and not for religious values. When I was in my teens I asked him why he dunn believe in God. He told me he never found it necessary but that when he was young he did find Shiva a "cool chap" (I carry the same kinda relationship between supposed Gods and me - they are more like friends in my book) but he never liked Vishnu and Krishna and all that crap. I told him "you named me after Krishna (and maybe that is the source of my friendship with Krishna, also like his personality but of late I am beginning to find Shiva like a cool dude too)". My dad said, "that is because I didn't know the meaning of your name. One of my acquaintances had that name and I just liked the sound of it so I named you that". Great! So, yes, we can be 'not religious' and yet follow customs. You see the thing that connects us as people is not a religion (usually) but more of customs. Even totally non religious people draw Rangolis outside their homes and very beautiful ones. In Bangalore and the south in general even Muslims and Christians draw rangolis. The best lunch I would have in the whole year was during Ramzan at my friends place. All 5 of us (2 Christians, 2 Hindus (one Nepali), and one Muslim) "daba ke khaoo". We look forward to Ramzan Eid the moment the month starts not because we believe in Ishmail or Abraham but because aunty's biryani was the tastiest ever! Best part is the food in Mominpura (Pune) in the evenings during the Ramzan month. Damn it what tasty stuff! It was a ritual to go there every evening not because we were religious but because pet pooja and jeeb pooja was the craving of the hour. Customs and traditions do not necessarily have anything to do with religion. In fact Sankranti, Ugadi, Holi, etc have nothing to do with religion - they are festivals of harvest.

[Alchemist]

While I appreciate the sentiment in your post, you are trespassing into nostalgia and tradition, rather than religion and dogma. I am not religious. I am, however deeply spiritual. I still went to Tirumala when I went home this time. And, it was immensely refreshing. Because, this was the very first time, I was looking at a God, a reflection of my Origin, a mirror to my own inner Self and not a genie I had three wishes for.

Went there every year when I was in India. Still try to visit.

[Shehezaada]

wonderful post Lurks. I'm religious without being orthodox. My parents raised me by forcing me into religion before I was 10, and then slowly backing off and allowing me to make my own decisions. Their logic was to make sure I knew enough about religion and culture before I went out and started looking for answers to questions that might confuse me. This worked out well for me, since I think I am good at identifying something spiritual and something artificial, banavati. These days religion for me is an understanding of ourselves, the creator (whoever that is), and being a better person. Being true to yourself, trying to do good deeds..these types of things. So although I'm Hindu, these types of things apply to all religions. I do give up anda and meat on Tuesdays, but more for a discipline thing. If you truly do it for religious reasons 100%, then maybe you should consider giving it up permanent. Oh and btw Hanumanji all the way!

[Lurker]

All this is culture/tradition. Can't be religious. If you are religious' date= you get offended by MOfo Hussain paint Goddess Lakshmii naked. Did you? Would you?

In India there is a fine line between culture and religion. Lets use me and you as an example. We are both probably Hindu, not that either of us has ever cared about it on MBs, but isnt that where the similarities end? Durga Puja for you is perhaps the Mysore variety, but for me it is a great splendor for India but the true Durga Puja remains the one that Bengalis do. Similarly what does Makar Sankranti mean for you? Dont know. But for me it means dahi-chuda and til ki mithai. Growing up my favorite festivals were Chath and Basant Panchmi (Saraswati Puja), again something you may not be too much into. The difference applies in thoughts as well. I was not offended by Goddess Lakshmi naked. You were. Why does it make you religious and me not so much? :cheer::cheer:

[Lurker]

The point is not if you have done those things' date= but do you still do those things. Religion is a dope. The cultural part is great, and the books do teach you a few good things, but otherwise it is a over-expoited field.

Yes I do all those things and also dont. I love to visit temples and bajao that ghanti. Already mentioned about how Durga wall hanging and Krishna/Balaram/Subhadra statues make me feel. On my last trip to India I was at Chattarpur Mandir in Delhi, and Suraj Mandir in Bundu. When I am driving past a Church and see Mother Mary with baby Jesus, it makes me almost always smile (too bad that kind of statue is seen more in India than West). So what does make me? And the likes of me? And no I am not religious Pundit, for the reason that it is bloody tough. I am not critical of your criticism of religious books but if you honestly decided to follow it how long do you think you will last? My intent is not to be in one court or other, be yourself thats what India (and specially Hinduism) allows you to be. But is an Indian ever completely non-religious? I personally dont think so. xx

[Lurker]

It's like going to a barber shop in INdia as a kid and waiting for your turn to come and meanwhile you watch the tv from a different view looking into the mirror as the tv is placed rite above where you are seated. We remember these little things. I miss those days.

Barber shop is where a lot of us got our early education. You lot must have gone to hep shops. Hamare dukaan mein Mayapuri ki poorani copies hoti thi. Used to be a good time pass watching people getting shaved, hair cut while looking at stars. Baaki sab theek na mager hated the chump and jhatka that the hajjam used to give :((

[Yoda-esque]

Barber shop is where a lot of us got our early education. You lot must have gone to hep shops. Hamare dukaan mein Mayapuri ki poorani copies hoti thi. Used to be a good time pass watching people getting shaved' date=' hair cut while looking at stars. Baaki sab theek na mager hated the chump and jhatka that the hajjam used to give :(([/quote'] MastRam bhi thaa kya?:winky:

[Lurker]

I am not religious. I am' date=' however deeply spiritual. I still went to Tirumala when I went home this time. And, it was immensely refreshing.[b'] Because, this was the very first time, I was looking at a God, a reflection of my Origin, a mirror to my own inner Self and not a genie I had three wishes for.

Isn't that a Hindu theological thought? Nirakar brahm? God doesnt have a shape or form and he is whatever you make him out to be?

[Lurker]

What most of India follows in terms of religion is rituals, dogma & an excuse for partying (diwali/holi etc). There is negligible importance granted to the important aspects of the majority religion, for instance would India really be so corrupt & have high poverty if Dharm/Karma had significance in 80% of India ? Would Ganga be the dump its been made into ?

While I think you are being harsh on celebration of life as an excuse for partying, I do agree with your point about people not following religious aspects in true sense. Why is it? Because it is damn tough. Reminds me of Al Pacino's monologue in Scent of the Woman

I'm not a judge or jury. But I can tell you this: he won't sell anybody out to buy his future!! And that, my friends, is called integrity! That's called courage! Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard.

I mean yeah me and you may not be religious but is it perhaps also because if one is truly religious, not the hating kind, the path is so damn hard??

[Lurker]

MastRam bhi thaa kya?:winky:

Mastram wehan nahin tha. Wo hota to har 2 hafte mein baal katwaane pahoonch jaata :--D

[Lurker]

He does it for the custom/tradition value it carries and not for religious values. When I was in my teens I asked him why he dunn believe in God. He told me he never found it necessary but that when he was young he did find Shiva a "cool chap" (I carry the same kinda relationship between supposed Gods and me - they are more like friends in my book) but he never liked Vishnu and Krishna and all that crap. I told him "you named me after Krishna (and maybe that is the source of my friendship with Krishna, also like his personality but of late I am beginning to find Shiva like a cool dude too)". My dad said, "that is because I didn't know the meaning of your name. One of my acquaintances had that name and I just liked the sound of it so I named you that". Great!

Well thats the beauty of Hinduism, isnt it? And I dare say you can extend that to India as well. Many of the Gods are playful characters and we all have had our favorites. Karna was always my favorite. Bhim would do too. Never liked Arjuna for some reason. Although these are not Gods in true sense. Krishna was different. It was not just a kid thing. Even Moms would call sons who had a bunch of gfs as a Krishna ka avtaar. Elder brother is always supposed to be Ram. And we all have wished for a Meneka in our lives at some time lol. xx