Hi everyone! Welcome to EYD's next post! Today, Sonia Birla discusses her thought process behind redefining her definition of religion and how her perception of belief systems has evolved.
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Since the first grade, I’ve spent every Sunday at Sanskar Academy which is, in essence, a Hindu Sunday School. We spend an hour and a half each week, chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, learning the stories of Sri Rama, and meditating. However, I never really believed in anything I was practicing. On a rational level, I understood that mediation could calm your nerves. I understood the benefits of practicing yoga. I felt the vibrations released when hundreds of people chanted “Om” at the same time. But, I never believed in God. In my head, I always knew that monkeys, even if they were blessed by bhagwan, could not fly. Stories held no meaning; they were just methods of teaching us values. Chants were beautiful, but pointless. In that sense, I always believed that I was not religious. I understood my religion, but I didn’t believe in large parts of it, which contradicted everything I had learned about devout religious practice.
However, after much research, my ideas began to evolve. I still don’t believe in many Hindu stories and I still don’t know if God exists any more than I did three years ago. My fundamental belief system has not changed, but my definition of religion has.
When I was younger, surrounded by my Christian peers, I always had the notion that the more one believed in God, the more religious they were.
Those that wore crosses around their necks and went to church every Sunday were inherently more religious than the rest of us. This idea is even reflected in Google’s definition of religion: “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” However, I completely disagree. The idea that one has to believe in some kind of higher power to be religious is an Abrahamic-religion-centered definition. There are plenty of religions in the world that don’t depend on theism the way Christianity, Islam, and Judaism do. Many Eastern religions, for example, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, do not require followers to believe in any supreme being. Other belief systems ask their followers to believe in a higher power but do not require that people pray to it. In the West, it can be easy to equate belief and prayer to religiousness. However, if we take a more global perspective of religion, that simply is not the case.
With those ideas in mind, I delved deeper into Hindu philosophy. The answers I needed were tucked away in the back of a book given to me at the Hindu Sunday School. In Appendix 3, the six schools of Hindu philosophy, I read through the beliefs of different sects of Hindusim and realized how diverse Hindu belief is. There are schools of thought that don’t require adherents to believe in God, such as Tarkya, Sankhya, and Purva Mimamsa. Other sects believe in the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu scriptures, but refute Brahman. Another system believed that wealth and materialism was the goal in life, refuting reincarnation and moksha.
As I read through those philosophies, I realized that the beauty of Hindusim, to me at least, is that followers can pick the aspects of the doctrine they believe in and disregard the rest.
In other religions, there is often a punishment associated with a lack of belief, an example being the concept of heaven and hell. On the other hand, in Hinduism, there are no consequences for a lack of belief. Nothing bad happens if you don’t believe in God. And so, followers can craft their own beliefs. This ability to be an atheist Hindu or a Muslim Hindu is what I appreciate about my religion and why, though I am not the most devout follower, I am proud to still consider myself a Hindu.
As part of this ongoing religious journey, I’ve realized that I’m not any less of a Hindu if I didn’t completely believe in every aspect of Hindusim.
I am allowed to not believe in God. I’m allowed to believe that stories are just stories. And I’m allowed to disagree with Hindu philosophical leaders. I’m able to define my own belief system and label it in the ways that make the most sense to me. I am, unapologetically, an Agnostic Hindu. I believe that we cannot know whether there is a higher being or not. The knowledge held within the Vedas is important to me, and I (cautiously) have faith in the ideas of karma and, to a lesser extent, reincarnation. I’m an idealist and those are views that I choose to believe in.
And, my beliefs don’t mean that I have to sacrifice the Hindu communities that I have come to love. I still whole-heartedly participate in Hindu culture. Chanting, even if I don’t believe in every word, reminds me of my values. Meditation is a way to focus my mind. Repeating the Hanuman Chalisa in my head when I’m nervous is the equivalent of hoping for a good outcome.
I take part in poojas, not because I want to please God, but because I want to remember my culture.
Nothing has changed tangibly. I don’t act differently. I still make mistakes and learn from my choices. But, my mindset is different; I have the autonomy to define myself in a collective. I’d like to leave you all with one of my favorite mantras.
Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niraamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
It means:
Om, May All be Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.