The God Delusion. Richard Dawkins

It was like reaching the starting point after a long arduous journey. When we started the blog, almost a year back, one of the first articles I wrote was the essence of religion. After witnessing a long religious procession I began to wonder what the utility of religion is and if faith in a supernatural, [...]

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Hopeless Emptiness- Is there a way out ?

“Plenty of people are on to the emptiness. But it takes real guts to see the hopelessness.”

I did not fully comprehend what the words meant while watching the movie ‘Revolutionary Road’. However the sentence sounded relevant especially in the context of the movie where the protagonists (Kate Winslet and Leonardo De Caprio) find all attempts to break from their lackadaisical life futile and get sucked into the same routine despite attempts to break free.

Hence on a Sunday afternoon between elections news and IPL, I decided to chew the cud – bring back my semi digested understanding of the phrase ‘ hopeless emptiness’, chew it properly for better understanding, ask a few questions and then put my perspective into what I think are the major reasons for hopelessness and a possible prescription.

I had attended an Art of Living workshop at the behest of my friend who is a member of the foundation. The Art of Living is founded by Spiritual Guru and new age Hindu evangelist Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and has a strong network around the world. What I find most interesting is the revenue model where the foundation charges for a number of its unique programs –Art of Living Course Part I (this is a 6 days course with emphasis on correct breathing techniques. I found the breathing exercises really fascinating though I never ended up practising it post the workshop), Art of Living Course Part II, Breath-Water-Sound Program, Youth Empowerment Seminar etc.

In the words of the foundation “The Art of Living conducts several self-development and stress elimination programs that empower people to face life’s challenges gracefully. These workshops equip the participants with skills, and techniques that enhance the quality of their lives.
At the core of these unique programs is the Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful revitalizing breathing technique gifted to the world by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar after spending 10 days in deep contemplation, and silence. The technique is proven to facilitate physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.

This workshop was unique because it was conducted by the guru himself. After the initial breathing exercises and Satsangs (devotional Speech and chanting of hymns), there was a question and answer session. I found this session extremely discomforting. The questions were very specific with participants wanting solution to their existential problems. Some wanted to forget the memory and the pain from the death of a beloved. Others wanted to know why they have been singled out for a certain handicap or how can they discipline their wayward kid, or how can they assuage the pain of cancer or a terminal disease. I could also discern the discomfort in the voice of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as he patiently attempted to answer these questions. He did not delve too much into the cause of the suffering as into the solution of continuing to meditate and practise breathing exercises. The funniest incident was when a woman insisted in hugging the guru (he was on a dais) and he kept on explaining that it was not required.

This incident left me with strong contrasting emotions. The first one was of disgust about how could someone discuss their pain and suffering in a public forum and ask for sympathy so openly. My first reaction was if you can’t solve your own problems, how can some one else solve it for you.

The second emotion was more mellowed and I realised I was lucky and privileged not to have been through the same suffering and hence I had no right to comment on the same.

I realised that organisations like the Art of living served three important needs of human being – the need to socialize ( we are gregarious by nature ) , the need to share and seek positive reinforcement and the need for an emotional crutch, a purpose and belief in a power bigger than self confidence and self motivation. My perspective changed and I felt how important a role was being served by such organizations.

I will not try to oversimplify such a discussion around emptiness and hopelessness. But I will try and establish my theory around the same and how I believe by questioning three assumptions in our life which we take for granted and through one attitude change we can deal with negative emotions much easier.

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The essence of religion

What is the importance of religion in Today’s society? Is religion and myth an important component of today’s society and is it relevant? Is religion the glue which binds the society together? Does society need a religion? What is the difference between faith, religion, cult and spiritualism? Can a society do without religion or as T.S. Eliot quoted “If you will not have God (and He is a jealous God) you should pay your respects to Hitler or Stalin”. And most importantly does a society with economic sufficiency and perfect harmony still need a religion?

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