Man’s search for meaning of life took him to gods and gradually to spirituality. Religion evolved to answer fears, insecurities, matters of life and death, complexity of troubled times, solace in grief and to satisfy urges for reaching the sublime.
Interestingly the search for gods appeared in one or the other form in all social formations; from Atlantic to Pacific to the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, the quest sprang from the earliest human civilisation - from primordial to myths and rituals to tribal to cultural and finally in its present organised form. These were carried forward as much from scriptures as from oral traditions. Gradually, the pursuit for truth moved from personal to cosmic.
Religion got systematically organised and now has all the trappings of power, pomp and glory. It is considered as one of the most flourishing professions riding over incalculable assets and turnovers running into hundreds of thousands of crores. However, it serves a great social purpose as well, namely teaching the followers good moral conduct, piety, charity, kindness, peace, honesty and goodness.
It helps out in controlling the baser instincts of humans, selfishness, arrogance, jealousy, ill-will, crookedness etc. It inculcates the feeling of brotherhood among its own community and tolerance for others — some persons follow a different path, is another story.
By surrendering one’s ego and subjugating one’s desires, nay one’s mind and soul before an unknown power, humans aspire to attain heavenly blessings for a life of peace and piety and a divine life hereafter.
In the Indian context, from Gautam Budha to Ashoka’s Dhamma to Guru Nanak’s teachings to the Bhakti exponents to the Sufi silsila — all being eclectic in approach and opposed to bigotry — a strand of moralistic life devoid of selfishness, sacrifice, piety and total surrender to the supreme being was emphasised.
They discouraged the adherents from spreading mischief and strife and exhorted them to attain goodness. The belief was a source of strength for devotees. Abroad, the earliest Judeo-Christian traditions, the later Christian wisdom and Islamic teachings advanced the same moralistic life in one form or the other for one and all.
Unfortunately, excesses were committed in the name of religion against the ‘’other’’ by adherents of each religious group through the ages, as also against one’s own for blasphemy and heresy. There were also curbs on personal freedom, and life’s choices. Often it became regressive - some of these traits have continued and visible even today. Some believe that many retrograde social customs and restrictions are sanctioned by religions and therefore how good are the diktats of faithIJ
It is in this background that we need to look at the increasing religiosity in our country. Clearly, it has not been able to create goodness in human beings, in promoting inter and intra-religion dialogues, and in establishing a tolerant and syncretic belief-system.
It is commonplace to find many persons of deviant behaviour outwardly religious and punctilious to the religious rituals. Paradoxically, more religiosity sometimes means more self-centredness and intolerance. Would the god(s) be appeased by performance of yatras, haj and pilgrimages, especially when so much wrong happens in the name of religionIJ Perhaps these individuals or groups are faking to be religious or there is something wrong with religiosity itself.
Sadly we talk less of humanism and scientific temper, which runs as a parallel stream of thought but is in a state of rejection in the 21st century — rationalism was more current in the 19th and 20th centuries than today. Starting with Enlightenment, it inspired many generations, gave birth to new ideas and propelled many scientific discoveries, cultural effervescence, flourishing of fine arts, setting up of seats of higher learning, philanthropic works etc.
More than that, it promoted objectivity in the study of subjects like history, literature and sociology, encouraged rational inquiry and development of a scientific outlook that was less constrained by subjectivity. It was fashionable in the 70s and 80s to show irreverence to religiosity; it is chic now to flaunt your religiosity.
That brings us to the last part of the discussion — ‘religion versus spirituality and inner consciousness’. It is not to suggest they’re mutually contradictory because they are not. They are inseparable. It is the divorce between the two that creates the chasm and discord. In the best traditions of every religion, spiritualism should inform our religious belief or religiosity.
We may conclude by quoting poet philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal from his Naya Shiwala, “Shakti bhi shanti bhi bhakton ke geet me hai/Dharti ke vaasiyon ki mukti preet me hai.”