Venky-Dedicated to you sweet heart!!
Have been thinking to pen down my thoughts for a long time now. Not really been able to steal time from the hectic schedule and the mechanical daily chores around. But during this span, a lot of things have conspired. Each day has been an experience. These have taught a lot of things and polished my thought process. Coming to the point, there is one topic that has been circling around for a long time now. Rationalising things!! should we rationalise or should we leave things as it is for the people around us to be happy?
Everything around us happens for a reason and there is one supreme power that takes control of these. Yes, I am talking about the Ultimate power for which we have given the name "GOD". We see God in the form of Shiva, Vishnu, Jesus, Allah and many more. We associate ourselves with one of these religions which comes as a package. Yes, they come as a set of rules that we need to follow without finding the rationale behind them. There are many medium to understand. But we fail to understand the underlying fact of what they try to convey and blindly follow these rules ultimately to hate the fellow human beings.
I have been on amongst the millions who follow the rules. Every time my husband tried to question me on certain customs, I've either ridiculed him or asked him not to question me b'cos I've had no answer questions. Subconsciously, I've ensured that things are done either my way or no way, stating, this is how I was brought up. I am a literate yet 've remained unenlightened! Many around me are like that as well. No doubt!! I am not happy but relieved that I am not alone. Coming back to customs, how many of us really know what we are doing and why we are doing certain things?
For e.g, from following the set of rules, to not questioning the practice, many of us have remained ignorant !! How many of us really think that we need to know what is what? We have our own principles(if at all we have one) or principles of the society and a way of life to which we want to stick on to. When we see someone who takes the first step to change things, we make a complete mockery of that person and call him/her an idiot. The general norm in the society is to follow what the society thinks is right and not to follow one's heart. When a person wants to find a rationale behind an act, those who are not able to answer his/her question just snub that person making him/her wonder what value he/she is going to add in all this by questioning everything. That person ultimately relents to peer pressure to only end up accepting what the society wants him/her to do! Poor souls. Are they that bad in asking us not to blindly follow certain things? I've realised my mistake and feel it is high time we started questioning the norms. The journey is not going to be smooth. Will have to face a lot of opposition. Questioning doesn't mean we are turning into an atheist. We are theists who want to find a reason behind the set of rules and who want to answer the questions put forth by the rationalists. With this "Know what/why you do" approach, we can build our knowledge as well pass on the knowledge and traditions to the future generations!!
Now, eagerly looking forward to getting inputs on why we follow certain customs and rules in Hinduism!! Can I get some?
