Against The Stream ~ BACK TO THE
ROOTS
SOME PEOPLE LIKE to
make soup of religion, putting several or all together
and mixing them up. The result? More confusion than
before!
There are more than enough separate and
different religions in the world already; is it not
more important to find out why we need religion at
all, as we obviously do? Where does the religious
impulse come from? We should go to the roots and not
just deal with twigs and leaves.
Let us imagine how it was in primitive times,
thousands of years ago, when there were no houses,
roads, no fine food or clothes; there weren’t
even any metal implements! People lived on fruit they
gathered, or on animals they were able to trap or
hunt with sharp sticks and stones; they worse skins
and went barefoot. Life was precarious, dangerous
and short, and far from easy or pleasant. They were
subject to all kinds of sickness and disease, and
had no cure for them; they lived in caves or simple
shelters of branches and grass. As well as hunting,
they were often hunted; tigers, wolves and other wild
beasts preyed on them. They were also subject to and
powerless against the elements; droughts, famines,
floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions destroyed
them in great numbers; it is amazing that mankind
survived.
How did they feel to be so imperiled by
natural disasters, over which they had no control?
Cringing in terror, they began to personify and worship
the forces of nature; in their ignorance and fear
of these destructive forces, they imagined angry spirits,
demons, or gods at work, and felt themselves to be
the objects of their anger. In attempts to appease
the imagined spirits or gods, therefore, they began
to make offerings of things that were important to
them, like food— fruit, and animals they had
slaughtered. If the earthquakes or eruptions subsided,
they attributed it to the gods being pleased with
their offerings; but if the disasters continued, they
would take it that the gods were still unhappy, and
make more offerings, even to the extent of sacrificing
their innocent children. Religion began this way,
its roots going back to prehistoric times. Its tap-root
is ignorance, its side-roots fear, hope and greed.
Later, people were selected to become priests
or leaders of religion— or appointed themselves
as such— particularly if they were more intelligent
than others and knew something of the art of healing.
The priests became the most powerful and respected
members of those primitive societies.
Time passed; rituals developed; mumbo-jumbo
took hold. Shrines were built, later becoming temples;
myths were concocted and handed down; religion became
more complicated and refined. The gods, hitherto worshipped
as beings inside the storms, earthquakes, mountains,
sun, etc., were given names and forms and installed
on altars; their worship became the center of all
activities; people would do little without first praying
to their gods, whether it was planting their fields,
moving to new locations, going to hunt, setting off
to war, and so on. Each tribe had its own special
deities, as well as the major ones common to their
area, and, when contact with other tribes was made,
differences in beliefs and rituals caused conflict,
as each group naturally considered its gods and ways
of worship best, as people still do. History shows
that such differences sometimes led to ‘Holy
Wars’, and sadly, even in our times, such madness
goes on, started and fueled by misunderstanding, fear,
intolerance and hatred.
Men were— as now— afraid of
the painful realities of life, and developed ideas
to explain and help them cope; various concepts about
what happens after death arose. Attempting to bring
order into society— as well as increase their
own power— the priests expounded ideas of Heaven
and Hell, or rewards and punishments in the afterlife
for those who lived within and without the dictates
of their authority. Religion became ever more oppressive
and authoritarian.
2,600 years ago, compared with Northern
Europe and other parts, India was quite highly civilized.
Although there were towns and cities, it was mainly
a rural civilization, of course, and the people lived
peacefully, content to farm and worship their gods.
But the priests were powerful and corrupt, oppressing
the people with temple-fees, taxes, and teachings
of priestly superiority, claiming that rebirth in
heaven was only for those who obeyed them, and that
low-caste people were meant to serve the higher castes.
Not everyone accepted this system, of course,
and there was quite widespread resentment against
the authority and arrogance of the priests; some people
rejected their teachings, and sought for truth in
other ways. One such rebel was a young nobleman, who,
at the age of 29, impressed by the painful realities
of life around him, left the comfort and security
of his palace and went off into the forest in search
of Truth. After six strenuous years, during which
he almost died, he found what he had been seeking,
and thereafter was known as The Buddha, or
The Awakened One. After His Enlightenment,
He formulated His Teachings according to what He had
found and realized. They contained no reference to
a ‘Supreme God’ that had created everything
and who was in control of it all, rewarding or punishing
as it saw fit; natural phenomena were not personified
or worshipped, and the way to enlightenment was declared
open to all who would make the necessary effort. His
Way had no need of priests or intermediaries. He exhorted
to live righteously and to work out their own salvation.
This did not require any kind of worship or prayer.
The gods were dethroned.
Buddhism is based upon facts that we can
experience and verify for ourselves, not upon ignorance,
fear and superstition. Its roots are not hidden in
the mists of time, shrouded and obscured in antiquity.
It is not a ‘revealed’ religion, but began
at a time when civilization was quite highly developed,
and grew out of the Buddha’s Enlightenment,
out of direct experience and objective observation
of the realities of life And, since realities do not
change, what the Buddha found and pointed out is always
Here for anyone to experience who will. He
did not speak of a ‘Creator-God’ to explain
the way things are; nor of a first beginning of things,
saying that to speculate about it is a waste of time.
No-one knows— nor ever can know—
how things began. Indeed, nothing comes from nothing;
everything is the result of many causes; there is
always something before everything.
The Buddha stressed that what is important
is Now, as it is the only time we have. But
what is Now? Are we content with things as they are?
If we are, there is no reason to desire to change
or escape from them, but if we are not, we must look
for a way to do so. The Buddha offered us such a way:
first, to examine what is Now and understand it, and
then, by making efforts, or new causes, to change
the effects we do not like. There is no need to pray
to external agencies; we must learn to depend upon
ourselves.
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