TERRORISM IS ALSO A SUPERSTITION

Dear Balarishi,

People have certain blind beliefs and attribute them to their own religion. Is there any connection between blind beliefs and Spirituality?

Now you have pulled in three aspects to discuss one concept. Blind beliefs, religion and spirituality. Apart from these three one more aspect needs to be bought into the scene. The social practices prevailing in various parts of the world. Society is where all blind beliefs and superstitions sprout. If a particular religion is dominant in that particular part of the society, then it is misunderstood to be a part of that religion. Later, people attempted to get spiritual tags for their crude ideas .This is how things got mixed up.

If you go to China, there is a belief that chopping your nails at night will be a welcome sign for ghosts. Somehow that belief came into existence in that society.

In China a stranger will find it very hard to eat noodles because the longer the noodle is in your soup you will live longer. But if a new person attempts to swallow such a big noodle he might choke to death!! These are all local beliefs and some one tried to add religious colour and spiritual flavour to such half baked sentiments.

 In America rabbit`s foot is believed to bring good fortune and there are very many beliefs of that kind. So whether it is South or North or East or West, such crude sentiments prevail and they have nothing to do with the religion or spirituAality.

Casteism, discrimination of women are all classic examples of this misinterpretation. Once women were doing homas and now they are denied that right. So these beliefs often move from good to bad and very rarely from bad to good.

Now someone believes if he or she can kill people in name of religion it is no more a sin but accomplishing a duty. This might have nothing to do with their religion but creates an unrest and disharmony universally. So if a person decides to kill in name of religion it is not just a misunderstanding but it is also a superstition. 

Spirituality always tries to connect each one with nature and bring in a harmony.It teaches you to share and care for fellow beings. It gives you a taste of love for fellow beings. When you are disturbed by the hunger of and cry of a child you identify yourself with that child. This is the way of getting to know universal oneness. If you learn to smile without a hidden agenda you are more in place in this Universe.

So blind beliefs can never be religious or spiritual. If you allow that tag on your crude beliefs you will be fooling yourself and missing the very essence of life.