Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "harmony"
Why I am not Atheist
I say things – things that would most gloriously make me appear as an atheist to people, such as – “God is a human creation” – “scriptures come from humans” – “forget the gods and pay attention to humans”. However I never hail myself as atheist, and you never hear me saying out loud that I am an atheist. And it is because one simple reason, I hate discrimination, I hate bigotry and I hate creating walls. I don’t wanna create an wall between me and all the peace loving people in the world who are just happy with their religiousness and they are not trying to impose on anybody’s else’s beliefs. Now, these are the people are I work for, just like I work for all other humans who want progress, who want the world to be a better place, if not for us, at least for our children. That’s why I don’t call myself an atheist.
Because when you put a label on yourself, that label comes along with a log of psychological baggage. And in most cases you may not be aware of these correlated psychological elements, but those who listen to you may do. So in their brain they would draw an image of your personality. And they will give that image qualities based on their subjective understanding of the label that you imposed on yourself. Like when you say you are an atheist, usually the religious population of the planet would very easily deem you to be against all of their religiousness – religiousness that is a part of their identity. And you cannot take away that identity – if you try, then there would be no difference between you and the religious fundamentalism.
And though I am not anti-religion, I am anti-fundamentalism. Fundamentalists do not make up the whole religious population on earth. As a scientist, as an educator, of course I am against indoctrinating children, I am against teaching them biblical stories as factual truth, I am against prayer given more attention than actual human contribution in the society. Still I am not against religion, because of those people who identify themselves as religious but do not take their scriptures literally and have the brain capacity to think which part of those books are good and which are not. And this process of taking the good things from the scriptures and ignoring the primitive ones, happens in most of the religious psyches of the world quite unconsciously.
I am not an atheist, because of these peace-loving religious people who are simply good people and they accept people from different religious orientation as equal. And no, not all religious people go around their neighborhood screaming the exclusive superiority of their religion and God over all others. They love their religion, but they don’t make a fuss over it, like the fundamentalists do. Religion is simply a part of their cultural identity, nothing more – it is fostered as a supremacist ideology only in the head of the fundamentalists. The fundamentalists are the enemy because they are driven by the elementary primitive notion of their religion being superior to all others, and hence other people are lesser humans. Fundamentalism is the enemy, not religion. In fact, fundamentalism is an enemy of religion itself, because in a progressive civilized society religion means realization of your inner divinity, not meek obedience to books of the dead people.
I am a scientist, and as such one of my core purposes is to understand the truth behind various phenomena of the universe with as much accuracy as possible And one of those phenomena is religion. And in order to understand it with as less subjective biases as possible, I must refrain from being called either “religious” or “atheist”. Now that’s the scientific reason for me to not hail myself as either atheist or religious. And as for the humane reason, which is more appealing to me as a human being, it is that the only label I go with is “human” – because that’s the label I received from Mother Nature. And that’s the label that makes me a part of human lives in human society, regardless of religion, regardless of race, regardless of gender and regardless of sexual orientation. The label of human is beyond race, beyond religion, beyond gender and beyond sexual orientation.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Because when you put a label on yourself, that label comes along with a log of psychological baggage. And in most cases you may not be aware of these correlated psychological elements, but those who listen to you may do. So in their brain they would draw an image of your personality. And they will give that image qualities based on their subjective understanding of the label that you imposed on yourself. Like when you say you are an atheist, usually the religious population of the planet would very easily deem you to be against all of their religiousness – religiousness that is a part of their identity. And you cannot take away that identity – if you try, then there would be no difference between you and the religious fundamentalism.
And though I am not anti-religion, I am anti-fundamentalism. Fundamentalists do not make up the whole religious population on earth. As a scientist, as an educator, of course I am against indoctrinating children, I am against teaching them biblical stories as factual truth, I am against prayer given more attention than actual human contribution in the society. Still I am not against religion, because of those people who identify themselves as religious but do not take their scriptures literally and have the brain capacity to think which part of those books are good and which are not. And this process of taking the good things from the scriptures and ignoring the primitive ones, happens in most of the religious psyches of the world quite unconsciously.
I am not an atheist, because of these peace-loving religious people who are simply good people and they accept people from different religious orientation as equal. And no, not all religious people go around their neighborhood screaming the exclusive superiority of their religion and God over all others. They love their religion, but they don’t make a fuss over it, like the fundamentalists do. Religion is simply a part of their cultural identity, nothing more – it is fostered as a supremacist ideology only in the head of the fundamentalists. The fundamentalists are the enemy because they are driven by the elementary primitive notion of their religion being superior to all others, and hence other people are lesser humans. Fundamentalism is the enemy, not religion. In fact, fundamentalism is an enemy of religion itself, because in a progressive civilized society religion means realization of your inner divinity, not meek obedience to books of the dead people.
I am a scientist, and as such one of my core purposes is to understand the truth behind various phenomena of the universe with as much accuracy as possible And one of those phenomena is religion. And in order to understand it with as less subjective biases as possible, I must refrain from being called either “religious” or “atheist”. Now that’s the scientific reason for me to not hail myself as either atheist or religious. And as for the humane reason, which is more appealing to me as a human being, it is that the only label I go with is “human” – because that’s the label I received from Mother Nature. And that’s the label that makes me a part of human lives in human society, regardless of religion, regardless of race, regardless of gender and regardless of sexual orientation. The label of human is beyond race, beyond religion, beyond gender and beyond sexual orientation.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Right to Religion is Human Right, but on one condition
Right to religion, is an actual basic existential right of humankind, at least, at its present evolutionary condition. I am beginning this piece, with this, perhaps a bit radical statement, because it would reveal to you your own deep stance on religion without any ambiguity. It would either enrage you fueled by your illustrious atheistic superiority, or it will soothe you, fueled by your innate closeness to your own religion. But to go deeper into this piece, neither of these two extremes would do.
You would have to take off your glasses before you begin – the glasses of theism as well as the glasses of atheism. And when I say “have to”, I do not mean it as an obligation, rather I mean it as a necessity. Because broken souls cannot perceive wholeness. And both the theist and the atheist have obvious perceptual limitations because of their innate brokenness – because of their innate loyalty to a label. Labels may help you feel comfortable in a certain domain, but to see the whole picture, these tiny internal domains must be destroyed first. If, and only if, you are willing to do that, then we can proceed with utmost naivety, with no thesis or antithesis in mind.
What is a right – is there any such thing? The term “right” only exists in a society where people don’t have something that’s necessary for sustaining existence. If this were the animal kingdom instead of a human society, we would not need the term “right”, instead we would simply fight and acquire what’s necessary or die fighting. We use the term “right” in a so-called civilized society, because we want to acquire it with as little fight as possible. In a truly civilized society, we would not need the term “right”. Think about it. You breath in air all the time for its content oxygen, which is necessary for existence. But what would happen, if clean air becomes scarce, like it has become in China, and slowly becoming in India! Then clean air would be manufactured, like some companies are already doing. Hence it becomes a product, which you may or may not have access to. In the extreme case that you do not have access to it for free, clean air which clearly is an existential necessity for humans, would become a matter of right. But it would ultimately depend on the companies whether or not to give their product of clean air away for free – or to be more specific, you would be at their mercy. You may feel access to clean air is your right, but in reality, you no longer have that luxury. Because the companies manufacturing the product, have the ultimate right to that product.
Religion is not much different from clean air, for religion is basically the psychological counterpart of clean air. Clean air is a physiological necessity, whereas religion is a psychological necessity. Here you may think of the term “religion” to be a very simply term with very specific common meaning to all humanity, but in reality, no other term could have as diverse array of meanings as the term “religion” has in the psyche of the humans. But when I say “meanings”, I am not talking about etymology – etymology does not say anything about the place of a term in the human mind. Here I am talking about the wide range of human perceptions of the very term religion. What is this whole religion phenomenon – is it a kind of shampoo – is it a kind of smartphone – is it a kind of computer – or is it a kind of ideals! I don’t think anybody would see it as a shampoo, or a smartphone or a computer even, but perhaps some or perhaps most humans would see it as a kind of ideals and beliefs. Let’s be a bit articulate here. Most humans see religion as a set of beliefs, sustained through rituals. This is what you know as organized religion, that is, an organized structure where an institution of fake superiority determines the lifestyle of a group of people. These institutions say – “give your life to us, to our savior, or to our prophet, and you will have peace.” And they call it religion, by it, I mean this blind obedience to a fake authority, in the hope of psychological security and well-being. Most people are too entangled at a deep subconscious level with this sense of illusory security, hence they shall do everything in their power to defend their beliefs, which to them are synonymous with “religiousness”, if confronted with refutal.
Now the real question is – if this is the global idea of religion and religiousness, can it be hailed as a basic human right! Hard as it may be, a civilized human being would have to be willing to recognize the basic need for this so-called organized religiousness of the humans as a basic human right. But – yes, there is a “but” involved – not the double t one, you dirty fella! This little “but” is involved because, this very religion that we are talking about here, is a messed up form of religion, and has a lot of negative implications on the human society as a whole – here I am referring to the global human society, not a specific group of people. The problem with organized religion is that, because it involves, its own customized god, its own messiah, its own prophet, its own scripture – it inadvertently induces its followers to foster a kind of implicit hatred or simply a sense of conflict towards people of other organized religions. So, though right to practise one’s own religion, may be a basic human right, by all means, it must be watched over by the very humans practising those religions, so that they do no let hatred creep into their heart, no matter how many verses in their beloved scripture proclaim people of other religions to be infidels.
If the humans are able to keep hatred out of their religious practise, then and then only it’s a religious practise – and then only organized religion as it is, can be hailed as a basic human right. But any religion that endorses such hatred, instead of trying to eliminate them, has no right itself to be a part of a civilized human society. Anybody who says – my religion is the only true religion, all others are fake or inferior, has no right to any religion whatsoever, for this creature is not a human – it’s ancient animal living in a modern society under the skin of a human. Religion is for humans, not animals. And any religion that advocates its own supremacy over all other religions, is not religion, rather it’s merely a sophisticated form of tribalism, which belongs in the jungle, not in the human society. So in short, a human can have right to religion, only and only if, that human, as well as the religion he or she wants right to, do not endorse any kind of conflict, either explicit or implicit. Which means, a human has a right to religion, not an animal with self-imposed superiority. Bear in mind, religion must bring oneness, otherwise it’s not religion, but merely a cheap parody of religion. And that’s the religion, every single human being of pure soul has the existential right to – or to simplify even further, without the religion of oneness, there shall be no human life in human body, but only animal life in human body.
Keep in mind, my friend – “We are not divine beings in mortal bodies, We are mortal bodies in pursuit of constructing divine perfection within us.” (quote from Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human)
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human
You would have to take off your glasses before you begin – the glasses of theism as well as the glasses of atheism. And when I say “have to”, I do not mean it as an obligation, rather I mean it as a necessity. Because broken souls cannot perceive wholeness. And both the theist and the atheist have obvious perceptual limitations because of their innate brokenness – because of their innate loyalty to a label. Labels may help you feel comfortable in a certain domain, but to see the whole picture, these tiny internal domains must be destroyed first. If, and only if, you are willing to do that, then we can proceed with utmost naivety, with no thesis or antithesis in mind.
What is a right – is there any such thing? The term “right” only exists in a society where people don’t have something that’s necessary for sustaining existence. If this were the animal kingdom instead of a human society, we would not need the term “right”, instead we would simply fight and acquire what’s necessary or die fighting. We use the term “right” in a so-called civilized society, because we want to acquire it with as little fight as possible. In a truly civilized society, we would not need the term “right”. Think about it. You breath in air all the time for its content oxygen, which is necessary for existence. But what would happen, if clean air becomes scarce, like it has become in China, and slowly becoming in India! Then clean air would be manufactured, like some companies are already doing. Hence it becomes a product, which you may or may not have access to. In the extreme case that you do not have access to it for free, clean air which clearly is an existential necessity for humans, would become a matter of right. But it would ultimately depend on the companies whether or not to give their product of clean air away for free – or to be more specific, you would be at their mercy. You may feel access to clean air is your right, but in reality, you no longer have that luxury. Because the companies manufacturing the product, have the ultimate right to that product.
Religion is not much different from clean air, for religion is basically the psychological counterpart of clean air. Clean air is a physiological necessity, whereas religion is a psychological necessity. Here you may think of the term “religion” to be a very simply term with very specific common meaning to all humanity, but in reality, no other term could have as diverse array of meanings as the term “religion” has in the psyche of the humans. But when I say “meanings”, I am not talking about etymology – etymology does not say anything about the place of a term in the human mind. Here I am talking about the wide range of human perceptions of the very term religion. What is this whole religion phenomenon – is it a kind of shampoo – is it a kind of smartphone – is it a kind of computer – or is it a kind of ideals! I don’t think anybody would see it as a shampoo, or a smartphone or a computer even, but perhaps some or perhaps most humans would see it as a kind of ideals and beliefs. Let’s be a bit articulate here. Most humans see religion as a set of beliefs, sustained through rituals. This is what you know as organized religion, that is, an organized structure where an institution of fake superiority determines the lifestyle of a group of people. These institutions say – “give your life to us, to our savior, or to our prophet, and you will have peace.” And they call it religion, by it, I mean this blind obedience to a fake authority, in the hope of psychological security and well-being. Most people are too entangled at a deep subconscious level with this sense of illusory security, hence they shall do everything in their power to defend their beliefs, which to them are synonymous with “religiousness”, if confronted with refutal.
Now the real question is – if this is the global idea of religion and religiousness, can it be hailed as a basic human right! Hard as it may be, a civilized human being would have to be willing to recognize the basic need for this so-called organized religiousness of the humans as a basic human right. But – yes, there is a “but” involved – not the double t one, you dirty fella! This little “but” is involved because, this very religion that we are talking about here, is a messed up form of religion, and has a lot of negative implications on the human society as a whole – here I am referring to the global human society, not a specific group of people. The problem with organized religion is that, because it involves, its own customized god, its own messiah, its own prophet, its own scripture – it inadvertently induces its followers to foster a kind of implicit hatred or simply a sense of conflict towards people of other organized religions. So, though right to practise one’s own religion, may be a basic human right, by all means, it must be watched over by the very humans practising those religions, so that they do no let hatred creep into their heart, no matter how many verses in their beloved scripture proclaim people of other religions to be infidels.
If the humans are able to keep hatred out of their religious practise, then and then only it’s a religious practise – and then only organized religion as it is, can be hailed as a basic human right. But any religion that endorses such hatred, instead of trying to eliminate them, has no right itself to be a part of a civilized human society. Anybody who says – my religion is the only true religion, all others are fake or inferior, has no right to any religion whatsoever, for this creature is not a human – it’s ancient animal living in a modern society under the skin of a human. Religion is for humans, not animals. And any religion that advocates its own supremacy over all other religions, is not religion, rather it’s merely a sophisticated form of tribalism, which belongs in the jungle, not in the human society. So in short, a human can have right to religion, only and only if, that human, as well as the religion he or she wants right to, do not endorse any kind of conflict, either explicit or implicit. Which means, a human has a right to religion, not an animal with self-imposed superiority. Bear in mind, religion must bring oneness, otherwise it’s not religion, but merely a cheap parody of religion. And that’s the religion, every single human being of pure soul has the existential right to – or to simplify even further, without the religion of oneness, there shall be no human life in human body, but only animal life in human body.
Keep in mind, my friend – “We are not divine beings in mortal bodies, We are mortal bodies in pursuit of constructing divine perfection within us.” (quote from Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human)
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human
The Distorted Humanism
You know what humanity is best at! It is best at distorting stuff - distorting thoughts, ideas, and more specifically words. Among these distorted words lie terms like religion, philosophy, science, faith, and others. But the one term that we are interested in, in this piece, is the term "humanism". Humanism is next in the line of distorted words, right after the word "religion". To be very articulate in brief - the terms "humanism" and "religion" are essentially one and the same thing, yet a whole so-called human lifetime is not enough for most humans to actually fathom this simple mortal revelation. Most humans neurotically perceive religion to be the system of following doctrines and humanism to be a pompous philosophy of the intellectuals.
In reality, religion is not a system of following doctrines at all. If anything, it is about not following any doctrine and finding out things for yourself. And, humanism is no more a philosophy than love is. Love is not a philosophy, neither is humanism. In fact, if we go underneath the layers of words and labels, we would see that love is essentially plain, ordinary, everyday humanism - it is as simple as that - there is nothing more for me to tell you about humanism. I don't really intend to tell you anything about humanism in this piece. Rather, let's find out together, what humanism is not.
For starters, it's not a pompous philosophy or an ideology for a bunch of people to discuss over a cup of coffee. As I have said in "Principia Humanitas":
“Humanism is not a pompous philosophy to be talked and debated about by a handful of intellectuals - it is the purest form of moral compass, which defines the civilized heart of thinking humanity.”
Humanism simply means to be human. Now you may wonder, what does "to be human" even mean! Does it mean you need to wear a specific sophisticated label that makes you appear as a smart and over-glorified intellectual! Does it mean, you need to talk sense all the time! Does it mean, you stop believing in anything that does not fit your ship-shape limited logical perception! Does it mean, that you have to be the smartest person in the group and make more sense somehow than all others around you! Does it mean, you have to be a so-called non-believer or atheist, and have to defend that atheism, at all costs, like the religious fundamentalists do with their own beliefs and delusions, above all humane fundamentals!
Let me go straight ahead and say it - No. You don't need to do any of it - as in, none of it - you don't even have to call yourself a so-called humanist - because most of the so-called humanists are not actually advocating actual qualities of being human, rather they are advocating radical rationalism - radical logicality. One recent incident comes to my mind in this context - it is their support for corporations that forbid their muslim employees to wear a hijab at work-place. Full-body burqa with niqab that covers the whole face of a woman, may surely be a sign of uncivilized cultural barbarianism, because it basically exudes a clear implication of segregation against all humans, but not a simple hijab, which is basically a scarf that one wears around the head. So, advocacy of banning basic cultural elements, is not a sign of progress or being human. This kind of radical attitude may not look as immediately dangerous as radical fundamentalism does, but, it is nevertheless, as harmful as that. In fact, radical rationalism is nothing but atheistic fundamentalism or logical fundamentalism. As I have said in "Principia Humanitas":
"Fundamentalism of any kind, be it religious, atheistic, political or educational, is the greatest threat to human excellence – it is a threat to progress – it is a threat to greatness."
The whole business of fundamentalism, which is basically an extreme sense of either romanticism or logicality, is unavoidably destructive and needs a bit of scolding from the real humans - by real humans I don't mean intellectually superior humans, for intellect has very little to do with this real human thing - it has to do with acceptance of weakness and rejection of hatred and extremism. This extremism as we see more and more today, does not always rise from the obvious so-called religious sides. It can rise from any side - and it will keep on rising, as long as sides appear to be more important to humans, than human life itself.
We have this remarkable thing called "life", yet somehow, quite disgracefully, it has become less glorious and significant, in front of the fake glory of labels and ideologies. This is what advancement without conscience does to a species. We have advanced externally, before we actually truly evolved internally. Biological evolution is a fact, and that very biological evolution led to our so-called psychological evolution - I am saying so-called not because it is false. We have evolved psychologically indeed and through this evolution we have gained extraordinary psychological capacities, that basically are not possessed by any other species on earth, yet those capacities are not utilized at their fullest and most productive potential. It's like having money and yet wasting it on unhealthy non-sense like alcohol and expensive cigars, while your neighbor is starving in front of your eyes.
Correct application of the mental faculties cannot be taught to a whole species - it automatically starts when the species gets an actual grip over its true necessities. Earth is necessity, not Mars. Food and water are necessities, not alcohol and cigarettes. To be human is necessity, not being a believer or non-believer. Now comes the real question - what are you?
Recommended Reading
Principia Humanitas
In reality, religion is not a system of following doctrines at all. If anything, it is about not following any doctrine and finding out things for yourself. And, humanism is no more a philosophy than love is. Love is not a philosophy, neither is humanism. In fact, if we go underneath the layers of words and labels, we would see that love is essentially plain, ordinary, everyday humanism - it is as simple as that - there is nothing more for me to tell you about humanism. I don't really intend to tell you anything about humanism in this piece. Rather, let's find out together, what humanism is not.
For starters, it's not a pompous philosophy or an ideology for a bunch of people to discuss over a cup of coffee. As I have said in "Principia Humanitas":
“Humanism is not a pompous philosophy to be talked and debated about by a handful of intellectuals - it is the purest form of moral compass, which defines the civilized heart of thinking humanity.”
Humanism simply means to be human. Now you may wonder, what does "to be human" even mean! Does it mean you need to wear a specific sophisticated label that makes you appear as a smart and over-glorified intellectual! Does it mean, you need to talk sense all the time! Does it mean, you stop believing in anything that does not fit your ship-shape limited logical perception! Does it mean, that you have to be the smartest person in the group and make more sense somehow than all others around you! Does it mean, you have to be a so-called non-believer or atheist, and have to defend that atheism, at all costs, like the religious fundamentalists do with their own beliefs and delusions, above all humane fundamentals!
Let me go straight ahead and say it - No. You don't need to do any of it - as in, none of it - you don't even have to call yourself a so-called humanist - because most of the so-called humanists are not actually advocating actual qualities of being human, rather they are advocating radical rationalism - radical logicality. One recent incident comes to my mind in this context - it is their support for corporations that forbid their muslim employees to wear a hijab at work-place. Full-body burqa with niqab that covers the whole face of a woman, may surely be a sign of uncivilized cultural barbarianism, because it basically exudes a clear implication of segregation against all humans, but not a simple hijab, which is basically a scarf that one wears around the head. So, advocacy of banning basic cultural elements, is not a sign of progress or being human. This kind of radical attitude may not look as immediately dangerous as radical fundamentalism does, but, it is nevertheless, as harmful as that. In fact, radical rationalism is nothing but atheistic fundamentalism or logical fundamentalism. As I have said in "Principia Humanitas":
"Fundamentalism of any kind, be it religious, atheistic, political or educational, is the greatest threat to human excellence – it is a threat to progress – it is a threat to greatness."
The whole business of fundamentalism, which is basically an extreme sense of either romanticism or logicality, is unavoidably destructive and needs a bit of scolding from the real humans - by real humans I don't mean intellectually superior humans, for intellect has very little to do with this real human thing - it has to do with acceptance of weakness and rejection of hatred and extremism. This extremism as we see more and more today, does not always rise from the obvious so-called religious sides. It can rise from any side - and it will keep on rising, as long as sides appear to be more important to humans, than human life itself.
We have this remarkable thing called "life", yet somehow, quite disgracefully, it has become less glorious and significant, in front of the fake glory of labels and ideologies. This is what advancement without conscience does to a species. We have advanced externally, before we actually truly evolved internally. Biological evolution is a fact, and that very biological evolution led to our so-called psychological evolution - I am saying so-called not because it is false. We have evolved psychologically indeed and through this evolution we have gained extraordinary psychological capacities, that basically are not possessed by any other species on earth, yet those capacities are not utilized at their fullest and most productive potential. It's like having money and yet wasting it on unhealthy non-sense like alcohol and expensive cigars, while your neighbor is starving in front of your eyes.
Correct application of the mental faculties cannot be taught to a whole species - it automatically starts when the species gets an actual grip over its true necessities. Earth is necessity, not Mars. Food and water are necessities, not alcohol and cigarettes. To be human is necessity, not being a believer or non-believer. Now comes the real question - what are you?
Recommended Reading
Principia Humanitas
What is Right Religion
Today we are going to talk about perhaps the most significant element of human existence - the most significant part of human life - that is religion. You know about religion - you have heard about religion - perhaps you have been taught by your traditions to be religious in a certain manner through various rituals and various methods - yet all those rituals and methods vary throughout the world - they are not exactly universal - yet they talk about something universal - they talk about something ultimate - they talk about reaching an ultimate truth. All of the so-called advocates of religion talk about different religions being different paths to the same truth. I'm afraid they are not exactly right on this - they are partially right. I wonder whether they have any idea of what religion really is!
Now before we continue I need to ask you something - I need to ask you to at least try to turn all those predominant ideas, notions and perceptions about religion off, because none of my statements is going to make sense if you try to find meaning in them by using your own predominant perceptions, notions, ideas, thoughts and opinions about religion. Traditions throughout the world have distorted religion - they have dismantled the very fundamental basis of religion - they have distorted it to such an extent that today's humans deem rituals, orthodoxy, dogmas, doctrines, set of ideals, beliefs, imaginations, illusions, prejudices and stereotypes to be synonymous with religion. As a result the whole world is being burnt in the fire of religious violence. Perhaps most of the terrible violence on planet earth are actually occurring in the name of religion - it's not my opinion - you know it as well as I do.
Now one wonders why? Let's go deeper into this why. It is because, apparently devout religious people think by standing true to their own dogmas, traditions, orthodoxy, beliefs, ideals and set of doctrines, they are actually walking on the path of right religion. But that's not right religion - that's precisely the wrong religion - be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or anything else. Any religion that has to do with dogmas and doctrines, and does not evolve with time is only the most immature form of religion - it's only the most barbarian form of religion. Now I'm not specifying any religion. I'm not going to say Christianity is barbarian - Islam is barbarian - Hinduism is barbarian. You can look at it yourself - we don't need to conclude anything - we don't need to belittle one religion and glorify another. All religions one way or another have committed great evils because they wanted to stand true to their doctrines - because they held their doctrines and dogmas to be more significant, valuable and holier than life itself. This has caused immense bloodshed.
So, now we must inquire - what is religion? The term religion means to unite - it refers to something that unites all of us. Now let's look at it - don't conclude - don't be hasty please! I urge to you - don't be hasty - let's think over it - what is it that makes us unite! Is it our dogmas! No - because various regions of the world have their own unique dogmas - they have their own doctrines - they have their own scriptures - and because all of those scriptures came from humans, (yes they came from humans - no God gave them to humans - humans created the scriptures) all those scriptures have both good and bad elements just like their creators the humans do - we all have good and bad elements in us.
So books, scriptures, dogmas and doctrines cannot - just cannot - unify humanity. They can unify the humans of a certain region, which was probably the feasible and productive thing to do in the ancient times when humanity was not a global species, but now we have advanced a lot - we have come a long way since our ancient times. When we were barbarians, we needed to stay in groups, but that's called "tribalism" which proved effective in the jungle - in the desert, but now is it necessary? Since, this tribalism is no longer necessary, why should we just give it a pompous name such as "religion" or "nationalism" and glorify it - and be proud of something like that - which is basically an over-glorified tribalism!
So what makes us unite - the whole humanity - not just a group of people thinking that they're modern yet in their mind they're so barbarian and foolish that they want to stay cooped up in their tiny little tribes! Humanism makes us unite - humanism as in the quality of being human - the fusion of all human elements - goodness, kindness, empathy, sympathy, love, compassion, strength of the mind and all these vivacious fundamental elements of civilized humanity - these are the elements that unify us - these are the elements that unite all humanity and these are the elements that can - that do - and that will - construct the foundation of right religion. That religion has no label - it's not a Christian religion - it's not a Jewish religion - it's not a Muslim religion - it's not a Hindu religion - it's just the religion of humanity - "humanity" which is defined and unified by one quality, that is being human. And being human is the right religion - it doesn't need any name - it doesn't need any label - it doesn't need any over-glorified title of an uncivilized barbarian tribalism. Being human is what makes us a civilized species and being human is our religion - the religion of whole humanity.
Recommended Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Now before we continue I need to ask you something - I need to ask you to at least try to turn all those predominant ideas, notions and perceptions about religion off, because none of my statements is going to make sense if you try to find meaning in them by using your own predominant perceptions, notions, ideas, thoughts and opinions about religion. Traditions throughout the world have distorted religion - they have dismantled the very fundamental basis of religion - they have distorted it to such an extent that today's humans deem rituals, orthodoxy, dogmas, doctrines, set of ideals, beliefs, imaginations, illusions, prejudices and stereotypes to be synonymous with religion. As a result the whole world is being burnt in the fire of religious violence. Perhaps most of the terrible violence on planet earth are actually occurring in the name of religion - it's not my opinion - you know it as well as I do.
Now one wonders why? Let's go deeper into this why. It is because, apparently devout religious people think by standing true to their own dogmas, traditions, orthodoxy, beliefs, ideals and set of doctrines, they are actually walking on the path of right religion. But that's not right religion - that's precisely the wrong religion - be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or anything else. Any religion that has to do with dogmas and doctrines, and does not evolve with time is only the most immature form of religion - it's only the most barbarian form of religion. Now I'm not specifying any religion. I'm not going to say Christianity is barbarian - Islam is barbarian - Hinduism is barbarian. You can look at it yourself - we don't need to conclude anything - we don't need to belittle one religion and glorify another. All religions one way or another have committed great evils because they wanted to stand true to their doctrines - because they held their doctrines and dogmas to be more significant, valuable and holier than life itself. This has caused immense bloodshed.
So, now we must inquire - what is religion? The term religion means to unite - it refers to something that unites all of us. Now let's look at it - don't conclude - don't be hasty please! I urge to you - don't be hasty - let's think over it - what is it that makes us unite! Is it our dogmas! No - because various regions of the world have their own unique dogmas - they have their own doctrines - they have their own scriptures - and because all of those scriptures came from humans, (yes they came from humans - no God gave them to humans - humans created the scriptures) all those scriptures have both good and bad elements just like their creators the humans do - we all have good and bad elements in us.
So books, scriptures, dogmas and doctrines cannot - just cannot - unify humanity. They can unify the humans of a certain region, which was probably the feasible and productive thing to do in the ancient times when humanity was not a global species, but now we have advanced a lot - we have come a long way since our ancient times. When we were barbarians, we needed to stay in groups, but that's called "tribalism" which proved effective in the jungle - in the desert, but now is it necessary? Since, this tribalism is no longer necessary, why should we just give it a pompous name such as "religion" or "nationalism" and glorify it - and be proud of something like that - which is basically an over-glorified tribalism!
So what makes us unite - the whole humanity - not just a group of people thinking that they're modern yet in their mind they're so barbarian and foolish that they want to stay cooped up in their tiny little tribes! Humanism makes us unite - humanism as in the quality of being human - the fusion of all human elements - goodness, kindness, empathy, sympathy, love, compassion, strength of the mind and all these vivacious fundamental elements of civilized humanity - these are the elements that unify us - these are the elements that unite all humanity and these are the elements that can - that do - and that will - construct the foundation of right religion. That religion has no label - it's not a Christian religion - it's not a Jewish religion - it's not a Muslim religion - it's not a Hindu religion - it's just the religion of humanity - "humanity" which is defined and unified by one quality, that is being human. And being human is the right religion - it doesn't need any name - it doesn't need any label - it doesn't need any over-glorified title of an uncivilized barbarian tribalism. Being human is what makes us a civilized species and being human is our religion - the religion of whole humanity.
Recommended Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
The Planetary Anthem of Earth
O My Mother Earth,
I am your stubborn child,
I may fall again and again,
Rising right back up I smile.
I come from different religions,
Different colors though my skin reflects,
At heart I am one o mother,
At heart I am beyond all sects.
O My Mother Earth,
Never turn your back on me,
I may be arrogant sometimes,
But I always need thee.
I'm full of pride rather often,
Often I'm blind to necessities,
But fret not o my loving mother,
Sooner or later I realize my atrocities.
O My Mother Earth,
I may act greedy sometimes,
But if my neighbors are in pain,
To help them my heart chimes.
I make mistakes o mother,
And that too quite often,
But even the scorching sun,
Can't make my zeal disheartened.
O My Mother Earth,
I may or may not have riches,
But I am not poor my dear,
For I have compassion that never glitches.
You have given me all,
All that I'll ever need,
With it I'll win the universe,
And to my agonies I'll pay no heed.
O My Mother Earth,
You've given me tongues many,
But I promise to not let languages,
Cause in your home disharmony.
Love has no gender,
Compassion has no religion,
Character has no race,
In acceptance I seek salvation.
O My Mother Earth,
I am your stubborn child,
I may fall again and again,
Rising right back up I smile.
I am your stubborn child,
I may fall again and again,
Rising right back up I smile.
I come from different religions,
Different colors though my skin reflects,
At heart I am one o mother,
At heart I am beyond all sects.
O My Mother Earth,
Never turn your back on me,
I may be arrogant sometimes,
But I always need thee.
I'm full of pride rather often,
Often I'm blind to necessities,
But fret not o my loving mother,
Sooner or later I realize my atrocities.
O My Mother Earth,
I may act greedy sometimes,
But if my neighbors are in pain,
To help them my heart chimes.
I make mistakes o mother,
And that too quite often,
But even the scorching sun,
Can't make my zeal disheartened.
O My Mother Earth,
I may or may not have riches,
But I am not poor my dear,
For I have compassion that never glitches.
You have given me all,
All that I'll ever need,
With it I'll win the universe,
And to my agonies I'll pay no heed.
O My Mother Earth,
You've given me tongues many,
But I promise to not let languages,
Cause in your home disharmony.
Love has no gender,
Compassion has no religion,
Character has no race,
In acceptance I seek salvation.
O My Mother Earth,
I am your stubborn child,
I may fall again and again,
Rising right back up I smile.
O My Dear Earthling (A Sonnet)
O My Dear Earthling open your doors,
For the supreme festival has arrived.
The whole wide nature is rejoicing in love,
Step outside cultures and celebrate life.
The sky is engulfed with billions of smiles,
Smiles that know not pettiness of society.
Open your soul O Mighty Earthling,
The wind of amity is here bearing unity.
No more bounds on love, race and religion,
Prejudice suits not a species of sapiens.
Value we must character over conformity,
It’s time we throw away all our allegiance.
On guard we stand against differentiation,
Hear all peddlers of hate – we are all one.
For the supreme festival has arrived.
The whole wide nature is rejoicing in love,
Step outside cultures and celebrate life.
The sky is engulfed with billions of smiles,
Smiles that know not pettiness of society.
Open your soul O Mighty Earthling,
The wind of amity is here bearing unity.
No more bounds on love, race and religion,
Prejudice suits not a species of sapiens.
Value we must character over conformity,
It’s time we throw away all our allegiance.
On guard we stand against differentiation,
Hear all peddlers of hate – we are all one.
Celebrating Colors (A Sonnet)
Come my friend, it's time to color the world,
It's been vague and stale for eternity.
You and I, we all have the colors in us,
Why not use them to paint over all conformity.
Let's color with our words, thoughts and action,
So that not a single inch is left unrenovated.
Let's paint with justice, equality and sanity,
And make all offices of bigotry eliminated.
There is no lack of colors in the world,
Nor there is lack of determined conscience.
Once you recognize the colors in your heart,
The universe will rejoice in our united radiance.
Colors are plenty for us to celebrate together,
Hence we take a stand forging a humane future.
It's been vague and stale for eternity.
You and I, we all have the colors in us,
Why not use them to paint over all conformity.
Let's color with our words, thoughts and action,
So that not a single inch is left unrenovated.
Let's paint with justice, equality and sanity,
And make all offices of bigotry eliminated.
There is no lack of colors in the world,
Nor there is lack of determined conscience.
Once you recognize the colors in your heart,
The universe will rejoice in our united radiance.
Colors are plenty for us to celebrate together,
Hence we take a stand forging a humane future.
Human and Love (The Sonnet) | Mücadele Muhabbet
The day human and love are the same thing,
The day human and harmony are the same thing,
The day human and inclusion are the same thing,
The day human and acceptance are the same thing,
The day human and reason are the same thing,
The day human and emotion are the same thing,
The day human and duty are the same thing,
The day human and dignity are the same thing,
The day human and persistence are the same thing,
The day human and perseverance are the same thing,
The day human and resilience are the same thing,
The day human and character are the same thing,
The day self and society are the same thing,
That day each of us will be a human being.
The day human and harmony are the same thing,
The day human and inclusion are the same thing,
The day human and acceptance are the same thing,
The day human and reason are the same thing,
The day human and emotion are the same thing,
The day human and duty are the same thing,
The day human and dignity are the same thing,
The day human and persistence are the same thing,
The day human and perseverance are the same thing,
The day human and resilience are the same thing,
The day human and character are the same thing,
The day self and society are the same thing,
That day each of us will be a human being.
Chrismadan (The Sonnet) | Armor of The World
What happens when two ancient cultures come together!
They create a spectacular specimen called dervish advaitin.
When mistletoe and menorrah combine, heart shines brighter,
Beyond belief ‘n disbelief, there’s a land most enlightening.
Keep your outdated sectarian identities to yourself,
I am Jewistian, Hinduslim, or simply Human Universal.
Be the next civilized step of humankind’s evolution,
Not just another savage vessel of mistakes ancestral.
Revitalized by Ramadan, humanized by Christmas,
Let’s celebrate Chrismadan, as well as Hanukkawali.
Instead of carrying on as second-hand savages,
Habibi come, let us start living with humanity!
When all religions combine, a modern human is born.
Without integration there is no dawn, just endless mourn.
They create a spectacular specimen called dervish advaitin.
When mistletoe and menorrah combine, heart shines brighter,
Beyond belief ‘n disbelief, there’s a land most enlightening.
Keep your outdated sectarian identities to yourself,
I am Jewistian, Hinduslim, or simply Human Universal.
Be the next civilized step of humankind’s evolution,
Not just another savage vessel of mistakes ancestral.
Revitalized by Ramadan, humanized by Christmas,
Let’s celebrate Chrismadan, as well as Hanukkawali.
Instead of carrying on as second-hand savages,
Habibi come, let us start living with humanity!
When all religions combine, a modern human is born.
Without integration there is no dawn, just endless mourn.
Sonnet 1142 | Vande Vasudhaivam
Naskar the scientist says,
Science that lifts no human condition,
is not science but superstition.
Naskar the monk says,
Inclusion is illumination,
discrimination is delusion.
Naskar the philosopher says,
Better lose truth, than lose humanity –
Better lose truth, than lose love.
Naskar the sufi says,
Sense yourself till
you sense nothing but love.
Naskar the humanist says,
I don’t care about your belief or disbelief,
all I care about is your behavior with others.
Naskar the humanitarian says,
each human must earn their admission
into the human race with humane actions.
The spirit of love speaks of love,
no matter the faith and field.
Hate is but a mark of narrowness –
When you expand heart and soul,
whole world becomes kin and kith.
Science that lifts no human condition,
is not science but superstition.
Naskar the monk says,
Inclusion is illumination,
discrimination is delusion.
Naskar the philosopher says,
Better lose truth, than lose humanity –
Better lose truth, than lose love.
Naskar the sufi says,
Sense yourself till
you sense nothing but love.
Naskar the humanist says,
I don’t care about your belief or disbelief,
all I care about is your behavior with others.
Naskar the humanitarian says,
each human must earn their admission
into the human race with humane actions.
The spirit of love speaks of love,
no matter the faith and field.
Hate is but a mark of narrowness –
When you expand heart and soul,
whole world becomes kin and kith.
