By Martin Valiyaparambil
Rewa, July 29, 2020: Places of worship were closed worldwide for past many months due to pandemic Covid-19. Recently many countries have relaxed the restrictions on opening the worship centers with certain conditions. This is an opportune time to take stock of the practices of devotees who regularly worshiped God in the religious structures.
The period of lockdown might have helped some pious people to be in close association with the supreme power in the cave of their hearts without the help of rituals and religious structures. Of course, a good number of people were tuned to the online religious programs made available to them through TV and social media platforms.
Is the spiritual disposition of billions, who had spent time in religious places the same today after going through the experience of lockdown? Perhaps many people may be happy to have the experience of meeting God in their inner core without the support of rituals and worship centers.
It stands to reason that the period of lockdown might have helped some “religious people” to experience the aroma of God within themselves as well as in their surroundings. To a great extend these people might have elevated to the experience of “Aham Brahmasmi” (“I am Brahman”) and further to “Tatvamasi” “Thou art that”) without the barrier of religion, caste, creed, sect, language, or status.
If the enlightenment that was expected to be attained through the exercise of rituals and visit to the worship places is being experienced by people without going to the worship centers during the lockdown, a genuine question arises today about the relevance of the places of worship in the post Covid period.
Being confined to homes because of Corona virus, the souls of many individuals realized their unity with God and proclaimed “Aham Brahmasmi.” This self-awareness that one is in God will naturally lead to further comprehension that the other too is part of Brahman – “Tatvamasi.” The consciousness of being in God and seeing the other also in God make the places of worship insignificant.
I do not deny the need of such places of worship, but to enthuse a greater meaning to those abodes of God – the human beings. The post Covid-19 society should not keep people in darkness but in light with high spirits by converting the places of worship into spaces of enlightenment – seeing God in oneself and in other human beings.
Contrary to the veneration of God with offerings and rituals, the people are to be strengthened to worship in universal brotherhood. To achieve this goal we need ‘spiritual gurus’ as that of the ancient period unlike the religious leaders of present time.
We have a good number of religious leaders, but few spiritual gurus today. The religious leaders induce people to bring offerings and perform rituals and thereby the places of worship are converted into centers of gargantuan material wealth. They persuade and sway in such manner that the divine blessings are attached to the amount of the offerings deposited.
As a result, unholy happenings crop up today in such supposed to be sacred places. The Supreme Court verdict on the ownership of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple is to be analyzed from this perspective as it speaks volumes. The wealth in the temples and other worship centers is the prime motive behind the claims of ownership.
At the same time, no one asseverates the ownership of a number of abandoned places of veneration that have no wealth. I am surprised to hear that the priests of a city submitted a petition to the district administration for financial help for their livelihood during the lockdown. I wish that the wealth (property, gold and silver) of the temples and other worship centers be utilized for the wellbeing of the common people. It will be more than enough to banish poverty from our country forever.
Even during this period of great adversity and misfortune people are being like chalk and cheese in the name of religion, caste, and sect and falling foul of themselves. The Corona virus has infected all without any dissimilitude of caste, religion, region, language, power, position, wealth.
We have seen on the TV and social media platforms videos of dead bodies of people belonging to different religions being pushed into the same pit by machines in the absence of their dear and near ones, priests and religious rituals.
The time has come to focus on the “humanness” of all people rather than the various identities that divide people. The episode of pandemic Covid – 19 calls for a spiritual renewal that helps people to realize God within them, “Aham Brahmasmi” as well as in the other, “Tatvamasi.”
This is also a time for transforming the excruciating enmity and hatred into peaceful co-existence whereby mob lynching and the religious intolerance will become extinct. If we get a fix on that he and the other are parts of the same God- Brahman, how can we hate or obliterate each other? Let this self-awareness facilitate the building of a civilization of love.
This illuminated living must pave the way to a life of co-existence with empathy and affinity to see eye to eye, disregarding the craving of loaves and fishes of the religious leaders. The ordinary faithful should set apart a considerable portion of their offerings at the places of worship for helping the needy and downtrodden of society.
The gods in the worship places are in no need of money or precious metals, but the God who lives in the fellow beings is in dire need of it for leading a life with dignity.
The self-realization of “Aham Brahmasmi” should lead to a curb on the mushrooming of the hap hazard places of worship. Specific rules are to be framed for the erection of such places of worship. Common land is to be allotted to the followers of different religions in proportion to their share in the population of a city or town against the present practice of vested interests building worship centers anywhere and everywhere.
Despite strict orders from the courts, illegal religious structures are not removed due to political pressure. Instead new religious structures come up on public and private land, obstructing roads and causing inconvenience to the people. Such structures cause only rivalry among the people rather peace and consolation to their life.
The inner experience of one’s union with the cosmic spirit can enlighten everyone to go beyond the boundaries of religion, caste, sect etc., and must aim at this as the responsible citizens of the largest democracy in the world.
