I have no intention to belittle anyone's belief or practices. This is simply my thought process that wonders why and how we do these things.
This past weekend we were invited to pray with a few friends who were doing a Pooja. Now, if you know me, you know I am religious by choice. I love praying at convenience. I pray when someone is sad, or if I need something, I pray for the world and for you (even though you do not know me), I pray when I think a prayer is due. I do not believe that prayer is strictly restricted to temples, Pooja rooms at home or to festival days. In spite of all that, when I got invited to the Pooja, I was excited because it reminds me of India, and of course, anything that reminds me of India is always accepted without hesitation.
I loved this house, the people, the singing, the prayers, and the food. I was so happy to be a part of it all until I saw a man being called Maharaj and people taking blessings from him. He, I assume conducted the ceremony which I had missed. Does just conducting a ceremony and knowing the scriptures give someone the right to call themselves or let other call him a Maharaj? People were running all around to him to ensure he was standing in comfort, moved a few women around to ensure that he was sitting in comfort. Food was brought to him while the rest of us stood in a long line, people buzzed around to ensure that he was kept in God status. Now I wonder, what did he do to deserve this?
I cannot bring myself to seek blessings from people who are not related to me or not known to me. I feel uncomfortable and definitely NOT disrespectful. I love to do namaskar to my parents and people with whom I have a very special bond but not to strangers. If knowledge of religious scripture alone provides one with the status of a King then I have wasted 21 years of education. After all those hours and money spent on education and no one still cares enough to provide me comforts without me having to move a finger. I really hope that the Maharaj gentleman has done some good things too to deserve the love and respect he received that day. A lot of good things hopefully!!
- A Skeptic ART
This past weekend we were invited to pray with a few friends who were doing a Pooja. Now, if you know me, you know I am religious by choice. I love praying at convenience. I pray when someone is sad, or if I need something, I pray for the world and for you (even though you do not know me), I pray when I think a prayer is due. I do not believe that prayer is strictly restricted to temples, Pooja rooms at home or to festival days. In spite of all that, when I got invited to the Pooja, I was excited because it reminds me of India, and of course, anything that reminds me of India is always accepted without hesitation.
I loved this house, the people, the singing, the prayers, and the food. I was so happy to be a part of it all until I saw a man being called Maharaj and people taking blessings from him. He, I assume conducted the ceremony which I had missed. Does just conducting a ceremony and knowing the scriptures give someone the right to call themselves or let other call him a Maharaj? People were running all around to him to ensure he was standing in comfort, moved a few women around to ensure that he was sitting in comfort. Food was brought to him while the rest of us stood in a long line, people buzzed around to ensure that he was kept in God status. Now I wonder, what did he do to deserve this?
I cannot bring myself to seek blessings from people who are not related to me or not known to me. I feel uncomfortable and definitely NOT disrespectful. I love to do namaskar to my parents and people with whom I have a very special bond but not to strangers. If knowledge of religious scripture alone provides one with the status of a King then I have wasted 21 years of education. After all those hours and money spent on education and no one still cares enough to provide me comforts without me having to move a finger. I really hope that the Maharaj gentleman has done some good things too to deserve the love and respect he received that day. A lot of good things hopefully!!
- A Skeptic ART
No comments:
Post a Comment