I read Rajesh’s tweet about सरकार के मुंह में राम बगल में छुरी! And that set me thinking about why people pray ? Very often when I cross a temple, I find hoards of people trying to look pious and “God fearing” … Why fear God ?
Fear is when you don’t know what to expect and fear of a person is when you feel they will harm you… As children, you fear your parents when you think you have hidden something from them, mostly your mistakes. So back to my question – why fear God? In God’s eyes nothing can be wrong since he allowed it, you can’t be wrong since he created you.. So fear and God are oxymorons.
I never feel the need to go to a temple and I found it hard to pray, even for Appa when he was in the hospital. Whatever happens always happens for the right reasons and my advice to my mom when I was very young was “pray if you like for things you want, but learn to accept whatever you get” … So what do I do in a temple ?
I look forward to and enjoy your musings…sometimes…like now…I beg to differ. Fear when experienced in relation to a greater being (yes, including parents) is a recognition of an authority that means you well. We/I fear God in the love, honor and respect I have for him…I fear to do wrong in his sight and thereby disappoint him. In much the same way we diminish ourselves whenever we disappoint those we love.
I pray often and always as a means of communication between God and me in much the same way that you cherish your communication with Krishnan. There is a purpose to that communication and a huge gap when communication is missing.
We are not who we make ourselves to be…no man is an island…we were made for purposes that transcend our vision…so….we do not hold power over ourselves and are thereby powerless to control our destinies. We can shape it mold it aspire to it ..but …in the final analysis ..our destinies are ordained …and not by us.
Don, completely agree with your comment of the need for communication with God… My blog yesterday was inspired more from the quote that I read which I reproduced in Hindi – the translation is “God’s name on your lips, and a dagger beside you”. Meant for people who behave as though they are pious but their intentions are dark.
It’s a fact that I don’t pray, but I am no atheist – I just believe that God sends us to the school of life to learn and reflect on our experiences, and each of us is a part of him.. Like the Ocean and the rivers, rainwater, drains that empty into it, we all strive to reach that state of being when we no longer are separate. So if I am here to learn and reflect, then I accept all that happens.
Prayers are private conversations…. And if we create the world with our thoughts, the better those thoughts are, the better our world is. So completely respect everyone who prays 🙂
Hi Bindu,
I don’t have to brag about that I read your blogs with interest, you know it.
I have a theory to offer !
In this world if you want someone to perform or something to be performed , you can not sit pretty and hope that the job will be done without any reminder or follow up. Every one needs a follow up and Reminder – GOD included perhaps !!
Hence Prayer !! I liked my theory, do you ?!
Mani
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