A piece of my thought to David, in response to his “Blind democracy in religious
institutions”. I would like to thank you
for quoting me hither and thither. I think this has elevated my status from that of who-on-earth-is-this-guy to that of oh-he-is-a-friend-of-David. However there is something more imperative which I would like to share with David pertaining to his notion. When someone actually prays for world peace, tolerance and the good health of The Pope or others, I do not see such prayers as prayers of material gains. Materialistic prayers are somehow done to fulfill an individual’s wish to possess something. Examples of materialistic prayers: I pray I will strike this lottery… Please let me win this thing … etc. Prayers also help in situations where someone has exhausted each and every possible means to overcome difficulties i.e. it lifts up the spirit and provides us with a sense of hope. When you believe in the existence of God or gods, then you are not an agnostic of any degree. I agree with you fully that follower of any religion who blindly follows the teachings of his/her religion without applying understanding and wisdom is somehow dangerous. Ignorance, by all means, is no bliss and we must strive to eradicate it. I somehow feel quite uneasy when you used the word ‘staunch’ on me. Perhaps a better way of describing me would be a Buddhist who tries to tread the Way expounded by the Buddha. Buddhists do pray but not in the context of what everyone understands. In fact Buddhists go beyond that:- To cease from evil, To do what is good, To cleanse one’s mind, These are the teachings of all the Buddhas. When I told you in our conversation that there are cases where Buddhists converted to other religions out of ignorance of their own religion, I, for once, have never expected you to publicise this/my remark! By doing so, I am afraid this will undermine political and
religious stability of any place if someone who has read it misunderstands and misrepresents my meaning and may even take it as personal attack on his religion! (Perhaps you can scrap that part?). Religions have never existed to control mindless beings. Religions have existed to teach us to take control of our mind and to be the master of our five senses. It is the act of some, if not all, followers of religion who are so overzealous in spreading the teaching that they have misconstrued the true and real meaning of their religion. This is turn, I believe, has led you to behave like Karl Marx, lulling you into the belief that the
institutions of religions are somehow practising blind democracy. I end my thoughts with the wish that you will continue in your endeavour of soul searching and I look forward to hearing from you soon!