THE ORIGIN OF RELIGIONS
An Open-eyed Journey through a Mystic World
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
MAN`S INITIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DIVINE
“----Initial engagement with the Divine began when a brainy creature, called man, evolved. Otherwise, there were no religions when the world was born billions of years back. As animal, for definite, have no religions and the dividing line between man and animal is intelligence, it should be absolutely obvious that all religions have risen out of intelligence.----The men of faith, however, believe that their religion is the God`s message to man and it is something that would smoothen the things for them in their next life. However, all religions, for sure, are only the man`s message to man. These, of course, streamed from the minds that had remained deeply engaged with the Divine or the mysteries of life and nature over long periods of time. At some stage in their meditation, they might have also felt themselves to be in communion with God.”
CRISTIANITY----BORN OF HOLY BLOOD
“------When a pious and innocent man is hanged, some sort of shiver passes through the God`s universe. Thousands were hung on the cross during the Roman reign of Palestine some two thousand years back. History hardly took any notice of these executions, though some of those executed might have been innocent.----- However, when Jesus was strung on the cross at Golgatha, the blood spilling from his wounds made the hideous wood holy, for he was not an ordinary innocent. His blood and pain was to give an incredible push to his message and an added meaning to his ideas after he was gone. Today more than one third of humanity holds him in heart and wears the replica of his cross reverently round its neck.”
ISLAM---- A CASE OF THE SANDS COMING ALIVE
“------- In the early years of the seventh century, a glorious era was waiting to dawn on the sandy solitude of Arabia. The people, of course, saw only the sand on the surface. They then neither had any idea about the huge oil wealth buried underneath nor the new prophet who had already landed among them to complete the unfinished agenda of his predecessors.”
THE RELIGIONS OF SOUTH-ASIA
“---- Hindus have been in a thinking mode for ages. Hinduism is thus full of ideas about God and His universe, soul and its salvation, mind and matter and in fact, all that is relevant to living of this life well and gainfully. Massive brain work has been done in this part of the world to remove some of the layers of mystery surrounding the Divine reality.
THE FAITH PROFILES OF THE FAR EAST
“---- The most striking feature of the Chinese religions is that they have not allowed any revelatory strains to enter into their system. In the first millennium BC, they produced a galaxy of illustrious thinkers ----- However, none of them had any pretentions to being a prophet. They did not even claim to be the reformers, but only the researchers of rituals and belief systems of the country`s past.
MAN`S NATURAL NEED FOR FOCUS
“-------As believed by the Jews and early Aryans, God is a Formless Eternal. This human formulation, though worked out millennia earlier, is surely nearest to the truth. Yet, this also could not but be true that He is capable of assuming any form. After all, He has created all the boundless matter and energy and countless life forms that we are physically aware of. Such a formless Being could be presumed to be capable of incarnating Himself in any way He might will. Whether He has actually done it in a particular instance or ever at all, is another matter.”
WOMAN---- THE WORSHIPPED VICTIM
“------- So far as woman is concerned, every society has blood on its hands. Man has space in his mind for a plethora of goddesses, even independent of their gods.. Thus, on one side, he has been worshipping woman ritually. On the other, he has misused to the hilt his stronger muscles to hold his female in cruel bondage.”
SEX AND SPIRITUALITY
“------Sex has two very distinct angles to it----procreation and pleasure. ---- These two aspects are viewed differently by the religions. The first is considered not only acceptable but also sacred by some. The second is often seen as a sin or something in the nature of weakness of flesh. Nonetheless, if anything comes anywhere near the spiritual bliss; it is the sexual sensation.”
THE QUESTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
“-----The intricacies of what lies within us are no less wondrous than the mysteries of the cosmos. If and when our scientists are able to solve the question of consciousness--- they hope to do so by the end of this century---it would certainly be a big leap forward towards understanding some of the ways of God. In that case, the religions shall also have to vacate quite some space that has been their preserve for a long time.”
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
THE BOOK: The book is an open-eyed journey through the mystic world of faith. It is an intellectually stimulating account of the birth of religions. As animal, for definite, have no religions and intelligence is the dividing line between man and animal, it should be amply clear that religions have risen out the thinking faculty of man. These are about God and His creation alright, but not from God, though human brain itself is a gift from God. The book traces the story of religions from the earliest times and tries to reach to the core of all major belief systems of the world. Towards the end, it draws a sort of balance-sheet of the religions to form an idea what good and bad these have done to the mankind. An effort has also been made to have a peep into their future.
About the Author
THE WRITER: The writer is soldier with scholarly inclination. He had the privilege of putting on four different uniforms in his career--- the olive-green of the Indian Army, the khaki of the Indian Police, the grey of the National Security Guard (better known as the Black Cat Commandos) and the black of an Indian lawyer. Besides this, he is a freelance journalist who has contributed hundreds of articles on wide-ranging subjects to most of the national and some highly reputed regional dailies.