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…….. Religion
& Philosophy are like two sides of a coin of a life based on the
eternal truths of life. Taking resort to one at the cost of other brings
about disastrous consequences. Swami Vivekananda had once said that
"Religion without Philosophy is superstition, and Philosophy without
Religion is mere idealism". They are both inter-related as the
proverbial blind and the lame man. One can see but cant
walk, while the other walks and sees not. Philosophy reveals the truth, and
with the precepts of religion we tread to the sublime goal revealed by
philosophy. These two terms can also be compared to the often used terms of
science & technology. One reveals facts while the other helps us
translate that in our day to day life.
Philosophy
:
…….. Like Pure
Science in philosophy also one has to go into simply understanding facts
& aspects of life. Who am I? What is this creation ?
How has it come about ? Who is the creator ? What is the truth of life ?
What is my goal ? What can be the means to attain
that goal ? What is happiness & sorrow ? etc etc. The whole
thrust is for understanding the secret of life in its entirety. But unlike
the methodology of science which goes about on its pursuit of truth only on
the basis of objectively understanding what is directly perceptible, the
path of philosophy does join the various bits & pieces and even tries
to see beyond to present a hypothesis of holistic picture, which of course
has to be subsequently tested & confirmed on the basis of our personal
experiences. From effect to cause is the path of science while from cause
to effect is the path of philosophy. Einstein once said that "Let me know the desire of God, rest are all details".
…….. The Vedic
philosophy reveals that there exists a transcendental & eternal reality
which is of the nature of Sat-chit-anand i.e. that which is pure
unconditioned existence, consciousness & bliss, therein called as
Brahman. From that alone this entire creation has come about, in that alone
it is sustained and into that alone it goes back. The nature of this
creation is such that the basic reality remains untouched and unchanged.
This has been termed as the "Vivarta" wherein an effect is
brought about without effecting the cause in any
way. This being a fact the creation is compared to a superimposition and
the cause as the substratum. The implication of this fact is that inspite
of any changes there exists a level which remains
unaffected by all change, inspite of all problems at the level of mind
there exists a dimension which is is free from all limitations and
problems. This fact is verifiable by anyone at any place and at any time.
The awakening of a person to this dimension of his self is one of greatest
fulfilling experience of life, it has been termed
as Moksha - liberation. That is the ultimate goal of human life. The entire
culture centers around this fact of life. He who
has awakened to that dimension alone is worshipped & emulated. All Gods
symbolize an awakened one and also motivate all to tread the path to that
subjective awakening.
Religion
:
…….. Once we are
aware of some basic facts of life then the next obvious thing to do is to
bring about whatever necessary changes so as to facilitate the subjective
awakening. There will lots of things in which we have to give great
attention, and there will be things from from we have to dissociate. There
will be do's & don'ts, all aimed at either turning our attention to
that, or helping us get prepared for the in-depth enquiry & awakening.
Religion addresses every aspect of our life - relationships, duties, social
setup, life styles, culture etc. The crux of all religious practices is to
bring about great faith in the existence of that eternal truth called God,
and also facilitate bring about an integrated & holistic personality.
This is the basic thrust, rest are all details. The objective &
veracity of all religious practices is to help attain the above objectives.
If the religious practices do not help bring about these then obviously
there is something fundamentally wrong with either the understanding or the
following up of religious practices.
The Vedic philosophy
& religion are highly acclaimed all over the world by various
philosophers for their time-tested and verifiable tenets. It is the oldest
living culture. Not only the Advaita Vedanta philosophy but even the
Sanatan Dharma is full of so unique & perfect tenets that when the
great Sri Adi Sankaracharya discussed them with the Buddhist teachers
during his times, then the nihilist philosophy of Buddhism was literally
wiped off from the land. It is indeed a matter of great pride to be born in
this land of
Vedic philosophy & Sanatan
Dharma.
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