Need to follow the Pristine Form of Religion

 

Introduction

 

What is religion? There are numerous answers to this question. A representative answer by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:

 

1 : The belief in a god or in a group of gods. Many people turn to religion for comfort in a time of crisis.

2 : An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.

 

This is how religion has come to be known; by worship, personalities, ritualism and symbolism. These are human-made frills of religion, not its core. A religion enables to understand what we are here for and conform to that. Religion is like laws of a country to obey its constitution, which in turn is akin to God’s commands on how the universe functions and the creatures conduct ourselves.

 

Our universe is as a well-knit system with this purpose. Every cosmic body and creature in it has a role allotted to each.

 

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion studied all faiths. He travelled for 24 years meeting people of various faiths in India, Lanka, at the Himalayas and the Middle East to create amity. At the end of these, he declared.

 

There is no Hindu and no Muslim.

 

Meaning that people do not follow the teachings of their religion.

 

This is the theme of this paper. It shows how preceptors of all faiths created commitment to commands of the One Almighty. However, people forget and only pay lip service to that. They act by their ego, under influence of temptations picked up by the sensory organs.

 

The Creator created the universe for the creatures’ souls to learn and carryout the roles assigned to them. There is also provision for love and pleasure and people get engrossed in them. The creatures are not robots. They have feelings, and the Creator has made provision to enable them to fulfil their aspirations and ambitions. These cause competition among them resulting in rivalries and people resorting to machinations to overshine others. The focus therefore shifts from duties to display of personal merits as also for personal gains and pleasures.

 

This is where religions come in. The fundamental task of all religions is to refresh the minds of their followers on divine commands. Unfortunately, preceptors of earlier religions did not put their teachings in writing. Their teachings were passed on by word of mouth, and later written by their followers and clergy. In doing this, the devoted followers glorified their respective religions and the preceptors causing rivalries. Also, people in the same religions differed in their views on theology and practices because nothing authentic was available. Some people in the same religion do not accept parts of the scriptures or have made changes. This has created contradictions in their own scriptures.

 

A defining factor in scriptures of the religions except Sikhism is that they are mostly biographies of their founders. Their teachings form part of the biographies.

 

Two Streams of Religions

 

There are two streams of religions Eastern and Semitic. The former emanated from India and the latter from the Middle East.

 

Eastern Religions

 

There are four Eastern religions namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. They all emanated from India and therefore share the same culture. They share belief in ethics, immortality of the soul and reincarnation. Hinduism and Sikhism are theistic. Buddhism and Jainism do not acknowledge the Creator.

 

Hindu Religion

 

Hindu religion is the oldest theistic religion. Its earliest scriptures, the Vedas are based on allegiance to the One Brahman or the Supreme Spirit, Parmatma. However, human ego gave birth to countless gods and goddesses. So a monotheistic faith became polytheistic. Many people who came later wrote their own ideas and they became scriptures. This resulted in countless mutually contradictory scriptures like the Vedas, Puranas, Shastras, Upanishads, Smritis, Vedanta and so on. So there is faith in the One compassionate Almighty, but also divisions based on caste, belief in different god and goddesses. The latter have exclusive temples dedicated to them. The Hindu faith is basically considered vegetarian but there are beliefs for sacrificing birds and animals. It is not possible to define Hindu Dharma or Hindu religion.

 

The earliest form of the Hindu religion was called Sanatan Dharma meaning eternal religious and moral law. That means the faith that is forever.  It is faith in the One Eternal and unchanging Almighty and is the pristine form of all religions. They all started with that. However, Hindus believe there are different incarnations for different ages so it is no longer Sanatan/eternal. There is considerable importance for Varnashrama or the caste system and Hindu society is divided according to them. The so-called low caste people are not allowed to enter the temples.

 

The non-theistic religions Buddhism and Jainism are not part of this study.

 

Sikhism

 

Sikhism is the youngest religion founded in 1469 in India. It has unqualified faith in the One Creator and none else. Its only scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is not the biographic account of anyone. Its contents were authenticated by the gurus and have been preserved. The word Sikh means a disciple, so it is the religion of learning and compliance with divine commands. There are no rituals, dogmas or superstitions. It is strictly monotheistic and believes that God does not incarnate.

 

Semitic Religions

 

There are three main Semitic religions namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They all accept Abraham as their patriarch and are also known as Abrahamic religions. Jerusalem is the holy land for all of them, but unfortunately, instead of living there in peace, fights over it are continuing to this day. It is most unfortunate that that most of the fights, crusades and genocide have taken place between them.

 

Judaism – Religion of the Jews

The Semitic stream of religions started with Judaism with their scripture, the Hebrew Bible or the Tanakh. It has 39 books with the first five by Moses called the Torah. The Hebrew Bible and Old Testament part of the Christian Bible are similar. It is considered the common scripture of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Many contents of the New Testament find mention in the New Testament. Only contents of the Torah find mention in the Muslim scripture, the Quran.

 

For the purpose of this discussion, the covenant between God and suffering Israel should be taken to be for all the humans who seek refuge in God; in this case the Jews. God said.

 

“And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Exodus 6:7

 

The Jews believe to be the chosen ones of God. However, they got divided into Orthodox, Conservative and reform in Israel. They are divided differently in the United States and the United Kingdom.

 

There is a relationship between the Jews and Muslims. Abraham ‘s wife Sarah was childless so she asked her husband to have a child with her maid Hagar. (Genesis 16:2). She gave birth to Ishmael. After this, relationship between the two women soured and Hagar left with her son to the desert to escape Sarah’s anger. After some years, Sarah gave birth to a son and named him Isaac. In the Old Testament, God is referred to as God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The latter was son of Isaac. Tradition has it that the Jews and by implication, the Christians are the descendants of Isaac and the Mulims of Ishmael. Muhammad the prophet of Islam is considered a descendant of Ishmael.

 

The Old Testament promised a Messiah.

 

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. Deuteronomy 18: 15.

 

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Deuteronomy 18:18.

 

Based on the above, the Christians believe the Messiah is Jesus and the Muslims believe it is Muhammad.

 

New Testament

 

Judaism’s scripture is the Hebrew Bible. The Christian Bible has two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament containing 27 books. The former is the same as the Hebrew Bible, so Christianity is not an independent religion but a sect of Judaism. Jesus was born and remained a Jew until his death. The word Christian was not known during his lifetime.

 

The New Testament covers the period of lifetime of Jesus and slightly afterwards. It spends considerable effort to prove that Jesus fulfilled the prophesies about Messiah of the Old Testament. Christianity has numerous divisions. Whereas the Roman Catholics accept the Old Testament as a whole as their scripture, the Protestants do not accept some of its 39 books. Various Christian denominations have varying interpretations of the bible.

 

The situation was further complicated even during lifetime of Jesus itself. Whereas he declared –

 

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matthew 5: 17

 

He had to say this because a person called Saul persecuted his followers later saying

 

He said “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6: 14.

 

The same man is shown to convert on way to Damascus. (Acts 9).

 

But what did he convert to? Christianity did not exist. And he continued to oppose the view of Jesus on upholding the law, which essentially is obedience to God. So, he repudiated both God and Jesus.

 

A prophet is respected for his guidance to the people. However, people focus on miracles and dogmas about Jesus rather than his teachings. One has to listen to the Evangelists saying that the Law of the Old Testament is not valid since Jesus became divine. They never mention the Ten Commandments or the Sermon On the Mount given by Jesus. They say God loves you, but do not ask to obey God; just believe in Jesus as the savior. It is common knowledge that parents love the children who obey. And an employer loves the employee who follows directions.

 

So, teachings of the OT and Jesus have been given a go by and emphasis laid on his person.

 

In his lifetime, Jesus never mentioned the word Christianity. It was used for the first time in about 43 AD at Antioch by Paul (Acts 11:26). Paul made Christian faith subject to the belief that Jesus was resurrected. He wrote in his letter 1 Corinthians

 

13But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.

 

So a monotheistic faith changed to faith in dogma.

 

Islam – The religion of the Muslims

Islam is the third Semitic religion founded in the seventh century by Prophet Muhammad in Arabia. Its scripture, the Quran, acknowledges the Torah from The Old Testament, and parts of the New Testament. It acknowledges Jesus as the prophet but does not accept the dogmas like his being son of God, being divine or his resurrection. It has a full chapter # 19 on Mary, mother of Jesus who is not covered by the Christian Bible. This is the only chapter on a female in the Quran.

Islam is strictly monotheistic but has been bitterly divided into Sunnis and Shias, based on personalities resulting in frequent internecine killings. And they do it in the name of God. This is beyond comprehension because the first Chapter of the Quran describes God/Allah as mot merciful. It says

In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.

The Gracious, the Merciful,

Master of the Day of Judgment.

Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help.

Guide us in the right path —

The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray.

 

Conclusion

 

Creation of this universe and the humans in it, with intellect and all the provisions for love and pleasure must have purpose. And, that purpose is for everyone to perform their role in life and make this world a paradise for self and others. This consciousness is present within everyone; we need not to let it be masked by transitory pleasures and gains. This need focus.

The Sikh scripture Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) says:

The most sublime religious practice is to remember divine commands and lead a clean life – overcoming influence of temptations. P 266

It advises:

Remember God’s commands sitting and standing, i.e. all the time. And all your tribulations shall end.

All adversaries shall become friends, if your mind is clean, i.e. free of evil. P 895

 

SGGS also advises on prayer.

 

We should always remember God like we do when in need.

Then one lives in state of immortality, i.e. not succumbing to temptations.

Because the wealth of awareness of divine commands comes back to mind by remembering God. P 1373

 

Hindu and Christian faiths have made their deities god. The Hindus worship Rama of the Ramayana

for killing Ravana, and Krishna of the Mahabharata for killing Kansa. Similarly, the New Testament says

Jesus became god. SGGS asks the question:

 

The Creator formed the universe with air, earth, water and fire/energy.

How Rama became as great as God for killing the foolish Ravana? P 350

Similarly, how can Jesus become God?

Let us be discerning.