Oh my God!!!

Firstly, about my view on religion.

I'm not sure of what other people go through when they re-think religion after their teens, but I have been on both sides of the spectrum. During my early teens, I was against all forms of organised religion. Vehemently. However, as I've grown older, in the last few years I've noticed that not only have I developed a tolerance for other people's beliefs, but I've become curious about them as well.

Mostly, I find people look to religion to find meaning for their lives. I can never understand that. To me, my life has a meaning, and always will. Disaffection, and dissatisfaction are all part of life, though not continuously. So I have not (yet) turned to religion (or anything else to do with God) in an effort to escape some malady, or find something higher.

I see the perpectives of both orthodox believers and outspoken atheists, and find their arguments valid in themselves. And so too for the agnostics. However, I do not find that my thoughts on God and his plans for us all fall into any of these finely demarcated zones.

I follow what you might call a 'personal religion'. All acts are determined by my conscience. For I believe enough in my morality and ethics that I am convinced that any decision of right or wrong, that I take in line with my innnermost voice, will not be the wrong one, ever. It may not be the perfect one, but it will be the one that shall allow the most peace for my soul.

My conscience is not absolute, and to think so would be fallacious. And so, I keep learning from the world around me. When I read the biography of Swami Vivekananda, I found a good many things that so moved me, that I adopted them into my very way of thinking. (And that is pretty hard, I assure you. Ask anyone who tries to quit smoking how difficult it is to change one's nature, even if you try actively).

My father is a member of the ISKON, and at an age of 13, I read an article in one of their magazines (Back to Godhead) that struck me as phenomenal. And ever since I have given a lot of importance to my conscience.

I read the Gospels according to Luke and Mathew, and parts of the Bible (especially the Book of Revelations), and found a few things to change my thinking.

I read parts of the Qu'uran, and there were a few verses, that moved me intensely.

I read an abridged translation of the Torah, and found it very similar to our Rigveda.

The Samveda and the Yajurveda, the Gita, the Ramayan, and the works of Swami Vivekanada are some of the works of Hindu dharma and thought that I've read in the last 4 years or so.

The main point of listing out all these, is that I do not hold any of them to be sacred. The combination of their contributions to my way of thinking, is why I value them so much, and hold that all of the above are really pieces of wonder (not as in being very well written, but as in their power to move and change different types of people).

That is my present view on religion.

As for rituals, I do not practise any, unless I know the reason behind each one. Those that are purely symbolic, I skip as well, for I have no use of ornamental abstractions of concepts. Those with significance to a particular thought system i value and follow conscientiously.

For example, while i do not follow most (superstitional) prejudices about not getting a haircut on tuesday or buying new things on a saturday, I do follow pujas and havans rigourously, sticking to the exact procedure, as I understand it, not as someone tries to force on me.

This is about all I have to say for now on this subject. The next time, I'll probably get to talking about my views on the Vedic religion and all that has corrupted it in modern times.