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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