Religion is a medium through which we communicate with God.
There are a number of religions in the world. In our country itself we have people following different religions. They are Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis. In addition there are various sects and faiths. Whatever your faith, the religion tells us about our relationship with God, righteous conduct for peaceful life and the way to live our life.
The supreme power in the universe, God, is one, whatever way. He is perceived by different religions. Swami Vivekanand once put in very simple words the relationship between God and religion. He said, ‘ As a letter reaches the addressee no matter in which post- box it was posted for clearance, similarly, man’s prayer may be said in any language and according to any religious faith. Each prayer directed to God will reach Him. All the religious are just means to achieve communication with God.’
If you study all the religions carefully you will discover that all religions teach basically the same thing – the ‘Oneness of God’. They all tell us that we must love God and all His creature. No religion teaches hatred or ill will for others. ‘ Love for all’ is the common teching of all religious faith fight amongst themselves on account of religious differences. They are intolerant of each other and cannot accept another person’s way of worship. Each one considers that his religion is the best.
No religion teaches to be blood thirsty. All the religions teach brotherhood and love for all.
Religion should unite and not divided human beings. A man should not be branded wheather he goes to a temple, a church, a mosque or does not worship at all. How can we condemn in which way he prays to God? The conflict arises once we start paying unnecessary attention to the external view of rituals, etc., of a religion.the rituals then acquires more importance than the thought behind the prayer. Rituals can overshadow the actual thought of God. Therefore, we should pay attention to the prayer and not to the way we pray. True prayer makes the heart pure and compassionate and gives us peace of mind.
A man spends his entire life in evil practices and then he goes on a pilgrimage, gives money in charity or lights candles and incense in a temple to atone for his sins. Do you think he has been true to his religion? No, he is not. Such a man believes that his so called religious acts will wash off his misdeeds. This is far from true.
Remember, religion ditermines how we should behave with our fellowmen and other creatures. In fact,it teaches us how we should treat ourselves. An honest and kind person is truly most religious, even if he does not go to the temple to pray everyday. A person may perform any number of rituals, but he cannot be religious unless he prays to God in all humility.