Don’t throw the baby out, please!

 

 

Last week we had flown to Dallas to celebrate Atul’s 60th birthday. As I write this, I feel disbelief to think that Atul is indeed 60! Our mind just locks in the image of a person at the age when we first met. Anyways. That discussion for some other time if at all. Minal had planned for a SatyaNarayan pooja at home on Friday. Her girls Radhika and Priyanka had arrived from the east coast for this occasion. It was really nice to see the family together participating in the traditional rituals, singing the aarti, making offerings of flowers and turmeric, accepting the prasad and all that.

A thought crossed my mind as I watched the whole thing. Actually a few thoughts came to mind in close succession. 

The ritual itself ! Whether the people conducting it had a good understanding or not, it had still brought their focus, even though for that short time, on a divine entity. Whether they fully believed in the entity or not, they were making sincere offerings of traditional gifts like incense, turmeric, vermillion, flowers, fruits, sweets, grains etc towards this entity. They referred to this entity as God. In this particular event, specifically by the name of SatyaNarayan. All this was done with due respect and dedication. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Atul, who is not very religious minded, was also participating without any resistance or reservations. 

 The katha that was played on audio recording was familiar. This year itself I had witnessed two more of these poojas. The story was aimed at  reinforcing the faith of a devotee in the powers of Lord SatyaNarayan and driving home the benefits of service to HIM. However, rather unfortunately, it also gave a message that the Lord is scornful towards devotees who do not comply with the details laid down in ritual. A punishing God was unlikely to appeal to the college educated minds, especially the young minds. It had to be taken with a pinch of salt. It needs to be understood that centuries ago the story was laid down for uneducated folks dealing with day to day struggles to give them a source of hope to redeem themselves. The fear of bringing on the wrath of God would possibly succeed in keeping their focus on the divine presence and also instil some degree of commitment and discipline. The story, although neither believable nor appealing to people of higher intellect, calls to be taken in its original context and purpose, to be understood by power of reasoning. 

That led me to my next question. Minal has for all these years faithfully conducted this pooja in her home once or twice each year and the girls have witnessed it since a young age. Has it succeeded in pulling them towards devotion?

After the pooja, the following day, as we sat casually chatting around the kitchen table, I raised my doubts to Radhika. How likely are you to continue this tradition when you have your own home? I asked her. She paused a few seconds and replied “probably not”.  The answer did not surprise me.

It is not an easy task passing tradition to our offspring. My father was very well versed in the ancient traditions of Brahmins that were taught to him at a young age and more definitively at the time of his munj ( thread ceremony). He practiced it very faithfully right until the end of his life. Daily he chanted the Ganapati Atharvasheersha. And he recited it on the night before he slipped into a coma, never to be awakened again. Yet, both Minal (my sister) and me voiced our common grievance that he did not teach us what he had learned from his elders. What we do today is entirely what we learned, or tried to learn, independently through our own inclination. We also refrained from imposing the practice of rituals upon our kids. 

I have differed from Minal in the sense that I devoted myself in my entire adult life to the study of the scriptures and hardly at all towards rituals. Not even yearly SatyaNarayan Pooja at home. That was because my otherwise religious mother in law told me that she stopped doing these poojas because every time she planned it the kids would create a ruckus at home and she got wary of the drama that ensued. Somehow after I heard this account from her I shied away from planning the pooja at home unless there was any special occasion. In contrast, despite Minal’s in-laws being non-religious minded she adopted the practice of bi-annual pooja at home.

Study of the divine is an occult subject that cannot easily attract the attention of modern reasoning minds that are conditioned to understand and believe in common science based subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy etc. A lot of these people have scepticism about subjects like astrology because they don’t know much about it. What’s more, they rarely acknowledge that they have formed an opinion without bothering to know about it. It surprises many to hear that astrology is built upon mathematics as well as astronomy. In fact astrology is a beautiful example of a science that stands on a seamless confluence of mathematics, astronomy and spirituality/ religion. But the modern generation hardly gives it the respect it deserves.

The same thing applies to their understanding of scripture, religion and spirituality. The facts about the scientific basis of scripture and spirituality and reasoning behind rituals can only be understood after a dedicated and systematic study of the subject. And although I have often questioned myself whether I did the right thing to not impose rituals or scriptural study on the kids during childhood, I firmly believe today that they would gain a more lasting understanding if they voluntarily picked up the task to study the subject in adulthood rather than being advised by someone else. 

Not every human born on earth will be inclined to seek spiritual liberation. I always wished that they would, but at times a feeling comes that it could be a utopian dream. The concept that we, as we know ourselves to be in the physical form, are “not real“ is a rather radical concept that is difficult to digest. And the concept of a reality, an entity above and beyond any physical form, is equally difficult to comprehend. As a consequence, pursuit of that reality becomes absurd to the modern mind conditioned by what it can grasp with eyes alone. The inward eye is not found by the majority. It is a huge loss but they wouldn’t know. Only those who have gained the insight and experienced the kingdom within would know. The challenge is how to establish a healthy communication channel between those who know and those that don’t. Healthy is when there is no sense of compulsion or force and the former(knower or teacher) expects nothing in return. Not even praise or gratitude. 

Radhika is just a prototype of today’s educated generation that is ever hungry to learn about the world of matter and sneer at anything that falls into occult category. My word of caution to her was try not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. You being born in a family where the ancestors were heirs to the study of rich scriptures is not an accident. It’s a legacy to which now you are a rightful heir. Go through it independently, deeply, patiently; even if it is to prove it as being without a scientific basis. But don’t stop until you can prove that. And unless you can prove, you shall have no moral or other authority to say it is unscientific. Only after you study you will know which part of it is the juice and which part is roughage. I know you are intelligent enough to hold on to the juice. The knowledge , understanding and experience of the divine substance of the universe is the juice. The roughage(read rituals, stories, myths) at that point will become optional. 

Time will tell how many from her generation will cash in on the timeless legacy. 

I am not in favor of organized religion as it exists today. If it discourages independent thought. approach and practice, it is not for me. Because I have realized I can’t follow a herd. And I will not have a single soul follow me. My only earnest request to anyone would be to respect the scripture and not dismiss it until they study it well. Chances are they will pull out a gem or two from it that would be well worth the effort, even if they do not desire final liberation. 

Picture taken in the backyard of Minal and Atul’s  home in Dallas. Saree is a revived weave from Thanjavur that employs ikat in its borders and pallu and special motifs using double weft in its pallu. Woven with mulberry silk yarn.