My Religious Journey

By Ravindra Bhai Patel

Iniquity can be thousand whereas religion cannot be. Iniquity is disease, religion is health. Therefore, religion can be only one. And on the day when only religion will be eternal on mankind, on that day we will be free from the misunderstandings being created in the name of religion.
Now this modern man, in this twenty first century needs a new policy on new grounds. This new policy is based on knowledge, not on fear. This new policy will stand on the point that today's man should understand that being moral is joyful and healthy for him. It is in his personal interest to be ethical. It is not for fear of any future. It is not for the sake of any heaven after death in fact it is the taste of being moral today on this earth and the one who is immoral is cutting his own feet with his hands. It is not like that the one who is immoral will go to hell in future, but in fact is creating hell for himself today.
When a man is in complete anger, the amount of poison that spreads in his blood is hundred times enough to kill a man. We have to make this a part of our knowledge. Now the morality of the future will be part of our knowledge. We have to make love and awareness a part of our knowledge too.
Without destination, if there is a way, it will be meaningless and inconsistent. Because the path which does not lead to any destination is very difficult to be named. One day the path has to accept its destination as well. And remember nothing can be achieved without any aim.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Mar 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9789356841741

Book preview

My

Religious Journey

Ravindra Bhai Patel

eISBN: 978-93-5684-174-1

© Author

Publisher: Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.

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Website: www.diamondbook.in

Edition: 2022

My Religious Journey

By - Ravindra Bhai Patel

The first and last truth of the supernatural divine universe is the ‘End’. Whatever is here, whatever it is, created by man or created by nature, but one day, the end is certain. It is better to do something than to mislead yourself by thinking of yourself as Chiranjeevi. Take inspiration from the life of ideal great men and beautify the feet of this Mother India.

We all have come to this beautiful land by imbibing the human body for a certain period. At the same time, you must do your karma and go to perfection.

All human beings born in this supernatural divine universe have their own characters to be played and the kind of deeds and behavior that will happen to the world will be recognized as such.

-An excerpt

Preface

We are all born on this land, and sometimes it is very sad to hear this, and pain arises in the heart when someone says this is your country, that is my country, this is our language, that is your language, I have my right over it, you have a right on that. This is our territory; that is your territory.

Somewhere in front of Mother Earth’s love, can this allegation stand? Can’t this mother be ours and yours or our mother? Does this language and regionalism, nationalism not fade away in the lap of the mother? Haven’t you and I grown up walking in the zenith of this earth with tiny feet?

We all have lived a golden childhood in the lap of this mother; we have lived a youth full of obligations and deeds, old age with golden knowledge has also lived in the lap of this mother, in the end, we have to sleep in the divine circle of this mother.

So can this mother not be dear to us like life, then can it be complete justice to hesitate to die for this mother?

What fair justice can this mother get by seeing the earth divided into many parts? No! There is no such truth. The truth is that she is our mother; whether we believe it or not, it will always be there. It is right that by accepting this truth, why can’t there be a way to be happy?

-Ravindra Bhai Patel

My Religious Journey

Religion, which people try to understand by giving their own definitions in the absence of proper information, in fact, has a very wide and vast meaning in itself. Religion is the root of this pastoral world and the life of all living beings. Without religion, neither this creation can be imagined nor human life. Without religion, this world would be impoverished. In it, neither life force will reside nor any virtuous thoughts; People have kept many kinds of misconceptions about religion and continue to mislead others accordingly. Therefore, to begin with, it is essential to understand religion properly. And somewhere, the same thing can be said about science.

Science is the search for truth, and religion is the experience of truth; whenever science has felt uncomfortable incompetent, then science has always been on the boat of faith in the form of religion, crossing the obstacle of the sea and adorning it at its highest peak, science no matter any part of the earth. Even the manifestation of the eternal truth that is born in the land is the primary stage of science being. And if science so desires, it can flourish without religion for a long time. Because the search for truth is the ultimate aim. And he completes his path, but its result confuses the path of human life as it leads to insensitivity; humans only scratch humans, yet sometimes science has lived without religion. And not only lived but also flourished by rejecting religion. It is a matter of fact that if someone wants a way, it can happen without a destination. But what will be the result? When is the path without the destination complete?

But with time, as science develops- man will not only want to know the truth but also want to be the truth. And would also like to live with that truth. Therefore, even science cannot live without religion for a long time. And by not living with it, the possibility of demolishing order, tolerance, and humanity in society appears daily.

The greatest scientists of the last century, be it Albert Einstein or A.P.J Abdul Kalam, be it Jagdish Chandra Basu or anyone else was found talking about religion at the beginning of their lives or in their last moments. This is the most important possibility of human life.

In the coming century, science will become religious day by day. Because no path can be completed without a destination, but cannot also be completed without a path.

But without a destination, if there is a way, it is meaningless and it will be inconsistent. Because the path which does not lead to any destination, it is very difficult to call it a path. One day the path has to accept the destination as well. And no means can be meaningful without an end.

Therefore, in the west, where there is a deep influence of science, meaninglessness and apathy have been expanding day by day. There is non-uniformity of the society and family comprising of two; sometimes one person remains in a family.

Science has to accept religion. It has to accept it in all prospects.

Religion means: the aspiration to be one with truth, the experience of the truth. A man cannot be satisfied with the meaning of truth. His satisfaction is complete only when he becomes one with the truth.

Not only do we want to know what love is, but we would also like to be in love. We would not like to know what money is; we would also like to be rich.

We would not like to know what the truth is; we would also like it to be true. Because knowing is a step to being forever. Apart from that, there is nothing else. The second stage, therefore, is the religion of man’s discovery.

If religion wants, it can live for a long time without accepting science. But as I said, science can live without religion for a few days if it wants. Religion can live without science for a few days if it wants.

But when there is a very deep feeling of religion, then what we have known will also want to manifest.

Just what we have become is not enough. What we have become will also want to be expressed. We would not only like to know how light is created, but we would also like to be the light. But we becoming light will not be silent. We would also like to spread the rays of light far and wide. We would like to feel it too.

The day when the feeling of religion is so intense that it reaches its highest peak, the day when the feeling of religion is so deep that it starts flowing out of us and starts spreading all around, that day science is born. Religion can escape from science for some time if it wants, but it cannot be saved for long. When the feeling is deep, it wants to be divided. When the clouds become too dense, it will want to rain. And when the river speeds up, it will want to run towards the ocean. And when love fills our hearts, it will want to rain it everywhere. And when the seed is fully developed, it will want to burst and become a seedling.

The talk does not stop at the realization of the truth; expression of truth is also essential. And it is astonishing that truth comes back a thousand times more when experienced rather than one gets by expressing it. Because what we give, we get back a thousand-fold. In what we make others partners, in what we make others friends in division, that thing starts returning to us. The realization of truth ultimately becomes the expression of truth.

Science is the first stage of the human journey, while religion is the second and the last stage. But it is a very difficult thing, as I am saying it happened in history that religion came first, and science came last. So, I would like to tell you some other things as well. Religion that comes before science will be unscientific. The religion, which will come to man before science, will be near superstition; it cannot be scientific. Both religion and science go together and complement each other. The presence of both is essential in human life. So, the one who came to earth before the science of religion, those who experienced it, they are very few people, among them, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus, were few great people and in the life of ten or five people, it was deep in a sense. They were the people who embraced religion in the right form and took great care of human life and guided them.

But in the life of all of us, it could be nothing more than superstition. With the development of science, it is necessary to go along with religion; only then one can be a scientist. This is the reason why there should have been one religion in the world, Sanatan, meaning eternal, but there have been many. Diseases can be many but health cannot be. If I get sick, then in my own way; if you get sick, then in your own way. And there are thousands of names of diseases. Somebody has TB, while some get sick from cancer. But when you become healthy, there is no name for health. Then you cannot say how I have recovered. You just get better.

Iniquity can be a thousand; religion cannot be a thousand. Iniquity is a disease; religion is health. That is why religion can be one but cannot be one. Because whatever comes before science will be superstition, it cannot become a science. And on the day when religion will be eternally established on mankind, on that day, we will be free from the misunderstandings happening in the name of religion; otherwise, we will not be able to be free before that.

It is surprising that an ordinary religious person is a Hindu-Muslim, so it is okay. But if a hermit is also a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jain? At least the hermit should be just eternally Sanatan religious? That, too, has not been possible in this world. It is astonishing that, in fact, the diseases of society catch even the hermits. The boundaries and the adjectives of the society also surround them. The slavery of the society and the bondage of the society also grip the hermits.

Eternal was deep in the life of few people. But it could not get into the life of the group until science had cleared the appropriate land. Now science has cleared the land properly. And now, religion will not be accepted in an unscientific way, that is why great difficulty is being created in society.

Those who are holding superstitions except Sashwat (the eternal truth) think that the whole world is becoming irreligious.

There are great misconceptions in the world. The whole world is not becoming irreligious, the whole world is trying to break free from superstitions and the possibilities of imagining the eternal are appearing. Today is a very strange situation. To whom we say that one who does not go to the temple, does not follow our old scriptures, does not follow our old principles, many possibilities have turned upside down. There is a possibility that religion may be a bit more in that man’s life than those who go to the temple, worship, and pray.

The truth is that not all intelligent, thinking people of this century are ready to stand in the prisons of religion. The reason for this is not that people have become irreligious, the reason for this is so much that now religion is trying to be scientific. And unscientific currents will have to be dropped. He is leaving them. So, today the opposite has happened.

If we go back to Rama’s time or Buddha’s time, or Krishna’s time, then the best intelligent man of that era was religious. And today if we look at religion, then today’s least developed man seems to be religious. The least educated, the least intelligent, and the most backward man seems to be religious today. In the time of Krishna, the most developed, most intelligent man seemed to be religious. It’s a surprise. It’s a matter of your and our opinion.

Today a man who is properly educated, a man who thinks properly, why does he suddenly become irreligious? It’s a thing to think about. We would say this teaching is wrong. We will say that this person is crooked in the vein of education, but these arguments are wrong and are being given to people today, so people are becoming irreligious.

No. It’s not like that. Things have turned upside down. The matter has become such that religion is now trying to be scientifically aware. And when religion tries to be thoughtful, then surely the thoughtful people will be out of bounded currents. Religion can now be scientific because science has evolved now. Just like a hundred years ago, a scientist was denying God, but today’s scientist cannot deny God with the same courage.

Einstein said before his death that when I started the search for science, I used to think that not today, but tomorrow, everything will be known. And Einstein is probably one of the few people born in the human race who has known most of science. Two or three days before he died, Einstein told a friend that whatever I have known, today I can say that it only reveals my ignorance and nothing else. And what remains to be known cannot be compared. Before dying, Einstein said that I was dying like a mystic, not a scientist. And this world will become more and more mysterious every day. The more I searched, the more I found that there were more dimensions to explore and more possibilities were available.

The more doors I opened, the bigger doors I found. The more routes I took, the more I found that I had been taken to the major highways. The locks I opened from the more keys, I found that more locks were hanging in front.

When I started thinking, I understood that the world was a thing. But now I can say that the world does not appear as an object but as an idea. There is a wealth of ideas here. If the world is an idea, then science has leapfrogged into a religion. And if the world is an infinite mystery, then whether we have used the word Paramatma or not, We have stood at the door of God. And if the world is not solved by our knowledge, it is not solved by knowing alone; then it is not too late when we will be able to say that by knowing, it will not settle; by solving, it will be.

It is not enough in life that we stand afar and watch, but it is necessary that we become united, absorbed, immersed, and then acknowledged. Perhaps there is only one way to know now, and that is to be human. Science is now finding a way for religion and I believe that science will come only when religion comes on a large scale.

If there are hymns of Meera immersed in the love of religion, then Meera’s hymns are not the ordinary ones. Meera’s hymns reveal the feeling of dharma; whatever she has received from God, she has shared it with the world. Generally, people understand that Meera attained God by reciting hymns. No, but I am not a supporter of it.

Meera had started reciting hymns after finding God. Because how can one attain God by reciting hymns? God can’t be so cheap that you will sing hymns and find him? No, singing hymns is not Meera’s way of attaining God; it is an expression of the fulfillment that is attained by meditation, which she is expressing through dancing while engrossed in his joy.

Chaitanya is dancing. That dance is not for not attaining God; if that is the case, then all those who dance will find him. And those who dance better than Chaitanya are on the ground. Whereas people who sing better than Meera are on the ground. But there is something else about Chaitanya’s dance. This time Chaitanya is not dancing. In fact, God himself is dancing.

Now, this cup is full and is flowing from above. And now, the love that will arise from this flowing cup is a different matter. He will be absorbed in the Eternal and will understand it, and maybe there have been better flute players than Krishna before and after him. Perhaps, in the competition, whether Krishna will win in playing the flute or not, it cannot be said for sure. But, Krishna’s flute has no match. There may be people who conquer Krishna at the bottom of the flute, but there is no competition on the level of Krishna. Because from where these flute sounds are coming, there is no longer Krishna himself; there is only God. This flute is giving some news; this flute is spreading out what is being played inside. The resonance that has arisen within is being carried out. The dance of Chaitanya is not for attaining God but for procuring him. Now, this God got absorbed inside.

Old age also has a price on a religious person. Old age has its own beauty. Who said that there is no beauty in old age? Childhood has its own beauty, youth has its own beauty, and old age has its own beauty. And it is not only the birth that is beautiful to a religious man; even death has its beauty for him. Every aspect of human life is filled with beauty.

It is not beautiful only when the sun rises in the morning; when the evening falls, it is still beautiful. And if a man is really old enough, very few can because youth takes hold so strongly that a man cannot grow old properly.

So, the young has never been as beautiful as the old. Because in youth there is excitement, in youth there is a storm, there is the gale. The beauty of old age is serene. The beauty of old age is like the beauty of the evening. In old age, one attains the eternal journey of peace.

Morning life is stressful. The day-long riot is starting. In the evening, all the disturbance has subsided and the night’s rest is drawing near.

What’s the competition with the twilight sun?

The birds have started returning home; the trees have begun going into silence and sleep; the sun is setting, and darkness will surround the earth. Everything will be silent. Everything will be absorbed in the divine in a single sense. Old age as well as evening.

But when we paint a picture of youth and of old age, we say, be careful! Old age is coming, so two things are for sure. Youth is precious to us, and we are also enemies of old age.

So it cannot be a spiritual picture. This is just a sight. It’s just head-hunting lust. And a man of lust will not deduce from it what the enemy of lust has derived. Seeing this lustful picture, he will immediately run and say old age is approaching.

The days are going to fade quickly. Whatever you want to do, do it. So he will say, drink fast, eat fast, dance fast because old age is coming soon. And the logic of these two is the same, there is no difference in this argument. The logic of both of them is that old age is approaching. Death is coming. Indicating that life is coming to an end.

No, I would not call it a spiritual picture. Very few images of spiritual imbued are being born on the ground, either a lustful human being or an anti-lust. And the one who is opposed to lust. He is also lustful.

He, who is the enemy of lust, is also lustful. The one who says happiness is fleeting, so leave. He’s not really asking to give up happiness; he is saying that it is fleeting, so leave it. But if it is eternal?

Then don’t leave. Therefore, leave the woman on the ground and enjoy the elves in heaven. This is a religious man! Leave the wine on the ground and there are rivers of wine flowing in heaven; take a dip in it. Avoid the women on the ground and the nymphs of heaven never exceed the age of sixteen, prepare for them.

This man is religious. This man is saying, leave your desires on the ground, and there are Kalpa trees in heaven, sit under them and make your wishes, and they will be fulfilled. It is a matter of great pleasure to give up your desires so that you may climb the tree of heaven. So, it is not the attitude of the one who gives up desire; it seems to be that he suffers more than the sufferer.

The poor person is happy with a fleeting moment. He is a big solitaire. This man is saying that we give up the fleeting because we want the eternal. We leave Ramani because we want Moksharamani.

We will leave the women of the land because they become old. We want the beauties of heaven who never get old. We leave happiness because it comes and goes. We want such happiness that comes and never goes away.

Is this man spiritual or hedonistic? That’s why there is no competition but hedonism. This hedonist has created the heaven. It is not religious. It is tempting. It is saying, if you leave the women here, more good women are waiting. Leave the money here, then immense wealth, infinite wealth awaits you. Leave your body here; then, you will get a more beautiful body. The body of the gods. No, this is not a religious thought. This desire stood up while doing a headstand. Therefore, the person who wants to understand, he should see a little properly that behind all such contemplation our unsatisfied desire is demanding. Seeking lustful desire. This is not right. None from this Spirituality will arise. Spiritual life is born out of a spiritual mind. And the spiritual mind is the name of being lost in the divine.

That’s why I believe that real spirituality is the least born on earth right now. Science has become a little real; religion even has become less real; Life is very difficult to be real. Those great men are less born now. The real glimpse is found in the Upanishads, sometimes in the Gita, in some verses of the Bible, sometimes in some lines of Kabir, those great idols have not yet arisen. But that is a glimpse; the earth is not yet filled with them.

The climax of life is yet to come; then, it is not necessary that you make an idol. Then it is not necessary that you paint the picture, or then it is not necessary that you play the flute only. Nothing is necessary. Then your whole life will be creative. If you are absorbed in the eternal, then even if you walk, a glimpse of poetry will be seen in it.

When Krishna used to play the flute, there was a gaga of faith and eternity in him, when Buddha walks on the earth; there is poetry in the sound of his footsteps, and when Jesus looked at the people hanging on the cross, the ocean of compassion flowed from his eyes. The soul can be the center of faith only when a man is not eager to take, not eager to change anything; faith starts some change, and a human starts giving something to another human. A man should have so much that he has no way but to share.

We can only give to the world what we have. What we don’t have, how can