"Mom, come here. Let's play believers." I was three years old and I just came back home from a visit of my grandparents in a village. "And how is the game played?", my mom asked. "Well, we will go to church and we'll sing 'dear lord'!"¨
Neither I, nor my parents are "religious". We never used to go to the church, only sometimes during the Christmas or when I visited my granny, I used to go to chruch to listen to my cousin playing the organ. Dad's parents are catholic, mom's dad is an atheist and granny is something between. After that game I spent several evening with my mom talking about religion. I was fascinated by reincarnation. Next weekend when I was with my grandma in a supermarket and she was wearily dragging a shopping cart I told her "No worries, granny, you're gonna be a crow after you die. And you will no longer have to go shopping."
So let's say I've been pretty interested in religion and spirituality since my childhood. I don't like to confuse these two words. Spirituality is from word "spirit". It doesn't have to be connected to God. It's just something "higher" than your own self, that feeling when you become fascinated by falling leaves, running water or when you open your eyes after meditation and you see everything "clearer". In my opinion spirituality is the connection with the unity, the energy that is all around us. You don't have to be a part of a church to "believe in spirituality".
Actually, what does it mean to be a believer? Does it mean to be a part of a church or just to believe? And how many of us really don't believe in anything? Who of us is really faithless? ... Some people can go to the church, pray and apologize for their sins but they may not truly believe. And some people have never been to a church but they believe in something bigger then ourselves anyway. In my opinion, these are the real believers.
"Are you faithful?" When I entered Christian high school I got this question from almost all of my classmates and I asked them too. And my answer? No. I'm not. I decided to go to a Catholics school just because it was the best school in my neighbourhood. But now when I'm thinking about it .. I would never answer "No" anymore. This question is really silly, because - who is really an atheist? According to wikipedia atheism is defined as "belief in the nonexistence of God and the gods, miracles, supernatural". How many of you are sure about that? Some people believe in God, some of us believe in miracles, coincidences, destiny ... but almost everyone believe in something "more".
If orthodox Christian and atheist meet each other, they defend their truth - one of them will say that the God exists and the second one will be sure that the God is not real. And it's exactly the same among different types of religion. Which actually denies the veracity of any religion. If Christian says that the Christianity is the only true faith and a muslim says that Islam is the only true faith .. Where is the trith? What should we believe in? How can some god exist if other religion denies it?
That's why I'm interested in Indian religion - Hinduism and Buddhism. They can't be compared with other theistic religion. They are not actually about the belief in gods, it's more about the whole lifestyle, based on some philosophy. That's whyHinduism and Buddhism are called dharma, which in Sanskrit means "a way of being". And I think this is what it's all about. To be means to believe ...
So let's say I've been pretty interested in religion and spirituality since my childhood. I don't like to confuse these two words. Spirituality is from word "spirit". It doesn't have to be connected to God. It's just something "higher" than your own self, that feeling when you become fascinated by falling leaves, running water or when you open your eyes after meditation and you see everything "clearer". In my opinion spirituality is the connection with the unity, the energy that is all around us. You don't have to be a part of a church to "believe in spirituality".
Actually, what does it mean to be a believer? Does it mean to be a part of a church or just to believe? And how many of us really don't believe in anything? Who of us is really faithless? ... Some people can go to the church, pray and apologize for their sins but they may not truly believe. And some people have never been to a church but they believe in something bigger then ourselves anyway. In my opinion, these are the real believers.
"Are you faithful?" When I entered Christian high school I got this question from almost all of my classmates and I asked them too. And my answer? No. I'm not. I decided to go to a Catholics school just because it was the best school in my neighbourhood. But now when I'm thinking about it .. I would never answer "No" anymore. This question is really silly, because - who is really an atheist? According to wikipedia atheism is defined as "belief in the nonexistence of God and the gods, miracles, supernatural". How many of you are sure about that? Some people believe in God, some of us believe in miracles, coincidences, destiny ... but almost everyone believe in something "more".
If orthodox Christian and atheist meet each other, they defend their truth - one of them will say that the God exists and the second one will be sure that the God is not real. And it's exactly the same among different types of religion. Which actually denies the veracity of any religion. If Christian says that the Christianity is the only true faith and a muslim says that Islam is the only true faith .. Where is the trith? What should we believe in? How can some god exist if other religion denies it?
That's why I'm interested in Indian religion - Hinduism and Buddhism. They can't be compared with other theistic religion. They are not actually about the belief in gods, it's more about the whole lifestyle, based on some philosophy. That's whyHinduism and Buddhism are called dharma, which in Sanskrit means "a way of being". And I think this is what it's all about. To be means to believe ...
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