Conversing religions!

" This is a first hand account of an ongoing conversation with a close friend over text messages. The background is that we both happen to belong to two different templates of this society, me being a so called 'Hindu' and him being a believing 'Muslim'. The conversation began with my curiosity of learning the disputed differences between Shia & Sunni Muslims, the question solely arising because of a certain reference of Hazaras in the book that I am currently reading"

Him -The conversation begins as a result of his remark - "Tell me, if you turn a Muslim! I would love to see that."

Me- "I am beyond belonging my identity to any religion. I only want to learn ways of life. Religion anyway is unnatural."

Him - "Religion is unnatural?"

Me- "Yeah obviously, man created it! No one is born with religion!"

Him - "Well, do you believe in your religion?"

Me- "I don't think I have a typically established religion. I do say I follow one for my society and parents. I revere all beliefs. The only thing that I find important is compassion & humanity. Why bother about deities, rituals or certain dates? If religion is a folk way of describing nature, I would accept it."

Him - "So you are open to the idea of being in any religion?"

Me- "I am not open to the idea of religion only as such...but yeah you could say"

Him - "But then, don't you think the world is run by a higher being? I mean is it possible all of this runs naturally?"

Me- "Are you trying to say you believe some one up there is playing a video game? One person or a gang? Really? I do believe that there is an energy but it is the energy of life, energy of existence, energy of duality."

Him - "Well I don't believe its really that simple...I believe there is a higher entity responsible for creating the world as it is and the beings and non beings in it...somehow I find this world to be too complex to be run by natural mechanism..I believe there is more to it."

Me- "Everything is simple....its a matter of perspective...you can break down an entire engine into metal which further breaks down into atoms and further into ions...totally depends on how you want to look at it ...I don't want to contest your viewpoint with the fear of shocking you or offending you..but I don't agree."

Him - "No its ok...I wish to know what you think about this...I may be a little shocked and offended eventually..But I want to hear what you have to say."

Me- "Haha ok, tell me, how do you know about religion? Have your parents told you? Have you read books on it? Isn't first hand experience way more authentic? Try to remember what you have felt. And if religion is true, do you think Gods above belong to different beliefs and are fighting up there like we do on earth? Is it not absurd? Who knows which religion is true or right? Religion is just a way of organizing people. Its an institution to take away some rights, to put some order, to establish rules...and am not sure if that is again a good thing.."

Him - "Apart from my belief in a higher entity, if there isn't a belief in a higher power, what draws the line between good and evil...what gives us the choice to do whats right? What is the right thing to do? What I believe is that a God exists, different religions substantiate different means to that existence...different rituals & cultures are there honor that power................................................................................Besides, what remains in living in this mortal world? For money? For power? For honor? Do you think that there might be more to it than that? And besides, can you deny the power of your prayers? Can you just restrict its strength to the fact that it empowers you psychologically? Or is that it raises serotonin and endorphin levels in your endocrine system and relieves you of mental stress and increases your concentration? Is that about it? Is it possible to explain everything through nature & science? Or is science and nature a medium of his knowledge to us? To show us signs of his blessings and the might to deliver us well being and health in one instant and take it all away in a minute."

Me- "See as far as the power of praying is concerned, it is a form of meditation ...its stimulation and relaxation of mind and body ..and you think a higher entity exists so that you and i could have a purpose to exist? As far as good & evil is concerned, they are sides of a coin...they are subjective & situational..without evil, even good has no importance."

Him - "No! What I wish to imply is that the grand scale of life is much beyond the realm of our understanding and knowledge..Yes, evil & good do go hand in hand...and which side we choose defines who we are..And how we find a place in this world and the next.What the ultimate purpose of life is something that is a mystery to me...But I live by a code that 3 generations of my family have taught me... - Respect your God, love you family and contribute to the good of humanity in whatever way you can."

Me- "That's cool"

Him - "Well, I am sure my humble and simple code may not explain or satisfy your quench for understanding..but I find it fulfilling enough for myself..especially in such testing times...."

Me- "Yeah, its totally understandable that you follow these codes and if you think it simplifies your life and keeps you happy, its great."

Him - "Every1 needs something to keep them running, whats yours??"

Me- "I don't know. Happiness maybe"

Him - "Happiness in totality is good....very simple...its difficult to pursue that.."

Me- "I would like to say a lot more but then I guess we would keep debating..."

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Dilemna of Duality

The concept of duality is not limited to physics or astronomy. What is truly interesting is that duality is as real a truth as life & death. Perhaps even larger a truth. This is because duality aptly defines all that can be possibly defined. For e.g. it may not be easy to describe what are the likely characteristics of a particular person, place or event but it is much easier and more pragmatically comprehensive to describe what are not the characteristics of the given subject. Also the meaning of one exists only when the meaning of its dual counterpart or compliment exists.

To exemplify this, there are uncountable pairs to study. Life & Death, Light & Dark, Proximity & Distance, Love & Hatred, Happiness & Gloom, Victory & Defeat are some of the more human-defined pairs. Duality pretty much is a law of nature too. Mornings & Nights, 2 shores of an ocean, Origin & Decline, Male & Female are perfect duals of each other. The existence of one is meaningless without the other. In fact without the pair existing in simultaneity, the existence of one is impossible to identify, given that it does exist. Hence arises the most important thought to reflect upon, if good doesn't exist without the evil, then evil is as important as the good. If there is no life without death, even death must be held in as much light and as much celebration. If the feeling of love cannot be fulfilling without experiencing hate, does it not become important to accept and embrace hatred as well?

When we do know that duality exists, both the sides being of equal energy and importance, why is it that we tend to favor only one of the elements? Why is that we grow affinity towards one and repel the other? Do we blame it on the human nature of greed for what is socially more acceptable or we do understand that we have failed to evolve into beings who can view and appreciate things with balance and unbiased judgment?

I further ask, is asking questions enough...if not where do we find answers? Extroverts would say travel, introverts would explore themselves. I say, just watch and believe!

Trees & Shrubs

A walk down, not the memory lane but just the usual road to college. Its lush green. Looks beautiful in pictures, looks awe inspiring in visualization! But it is more than usually overlooked by eyes which only keep looking for social or professional conditioned purpose. For eyes which keep a track of step & time. For a mind which is bent upon reaching the destination as quickly and with as much efficiency as possible! As if efficient walking was even a possibility! Strange!

How those usual walks changed, when that same pair of eyes started looking at the trees around. How the shrubs looked like the ones borrowed from movie landscapes or winning photography! How beautifully the colors began to tell a story...how magically all of a sudden there became so many shades of only one color - green!

That is when the mind realized, how tricky it is to be open to beauty, open to the environment around. That now it takes a conscious effort to not block every thing that comes our way. That it is almost maverick to be able to appreciate existence in just the way it exists.

The same path looks so much more inspiring now, because I have begun to look, not with my eyes, but with my mind. I have begun to notice how sunshine seeps through the web of leaves and network of twigs, how red gradates into thousands of shades of pink, brown and orange, how trees who have shed their trees look like a barren land which is lonely but nevertheless strong & proud, how the quietness of mind can let you hear sounds which never before existed for you, the chirping of birds, the leaves rumbling, the crackling & tweeting of insects!

Those sounds, those sights are not only in movies! They are all around! Everywhere! Just an open mind is a prerequisite to access all of this natural glamor! Inshaah Allah!