Why be intolerant when we are all headed toward the same destination but in different ways, wonders PRITHVI MANAKTALA
According to Swami Vivekananda religion is a “relationship between soul and God…Religion does not consist in building temples or churches or attending worship”. He said, “Religion does not consist in subscribing to a particular creed or faith but in spiritual realisation”.
Each religion has a different way of prayer and the follower of each faith goes to temple, mosque, church or gurudwara with the same purpose of connecting with God and seeking blessings. Knowing fully well that these are all different ways to attaian the same goal, why are we so intolerant of each other? I feel the ego and the feeling of superiority over the other causes such conflicts. Is it not a sad situation?
When it is so evident that God created all human beings equal, why the conflict? We differ only in the paths we choose. The followers of any religion visiting diverse places of worship are trying to reach out to a higher power. Actually, God resides inside you; to find him, you need not go to anywhere but within.
Choose a quiet spot, simply stand or sit in any posture, breathe normally, try to concentrate your thoughts on the bottom of your last vertebra. The most important part is to keep your mind off worldly thoughts. Unless the mind is empty of thoughts, it cannot connect to soul and to God. Keep doing this as often and as long till you connect with your own soul. It may take a long period of time to realise the connection, depending on your own level of detachment.
Some day the feeling of tranquility, peace of mind, and the feeling of being blessed will start seeping into your subconscious mind. The feeling of being at peace with self and surrounding will give an immense feeling of satisfaction. This state of mind also brings in a lot of patience, tolerance and sense of equality amongst different human beings because of realisation that the source of basic power in all beings is the same. The differences are superficial, created by man himself out of ignorance of ultimate truth.
When, through meditation the truth dawns, all differences dissolve. The learning from meditation is a matter of personal feeling, difficult to describe in words, yet it is a unique feeling of well being.
The frequent clashes which are happening in our country at the present time is out of ignorance of the reality of oneness of all living beings. Each Indian needs to be trained in meditation starting young. By adulthood, meditation should come automatically as a way of life. Conflicts, crimes, destructions, killings in the society will be much reduced.
When all 1.25 billion Indians start meditating, it will become a land of the Buddha, the best place on the planet to be born and pass through the journey of life.
As a matter of fact peace and tranquility is needed not only in India but in the entire world. Different nations fight over a piece of land, which actually does not belong to either of them, for not just earth, the entire universe belongs to one power. Had there been more than one power there would have been conflict in the management of the universe, but it functions in a uniform manner, it has never happened that the sun has risen from west, then why can’t human beings behave in an orderly manner and live in peace and harmony?
Let’s ponder over it and find a solution to be at peace with our own self. When peace dawns on individuals, nations and the world will be at peace.
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