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RATIONAL RELIGION
rules for the purpose These were the moral laws or rules of morality. Different seers made different rules for different categories of people Some said the 'Fear of God was the beginning of wisdom' Some described the joys of heaven and the good things for the man in this world as the reward for good deeds and the torture in hell as the punishment for evil deeds All these sayings or proverbs and rules based on these sayings kept men on the right path But today faith in God and the seers and their sayings has gone Nobody believes in the reward of Heaven or the punishment of hell. In the mad pursuit of supposed happiness, he disdains religion and says 'a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Why should I restrain myself from doing any act which gives me pleasure simply because somebody says it will lead to disaster? The talk about soul, its evolution or degradation, God and Religion is regarded as nonsensical. Happiness is regarded as consisting of the ever rising standard of living This needs money Money has to be obtained by establishing colossal industries and exploiting the undeveloped world by forcing the products of these industries on them. Competition starts among the various manufacturing countries to produce cheaper goods by exploiting labour and to capture markets by threat or force of arms Wars start and spread ruin and then wars start to prevent wars and the world is pushed towards its doom The mad pursuit of materialism has thrown to the four winds all standards of morality and decency Corruption and crimes are increasing in the world. Neither capitalism nor socialism or communism can stop this rot
The only way to stop this rot is to change the trend of human thought. Matter should not monopolise human thought The existence of the soul and its inherent qualities must be accepted The reasons why those qualities get corroded must be studied, how the corrosion can be minimised or avoided and got rid of, must be found out. Man must be taught to act on the principles so established
It must not be thought that all this talk about soul and religion concerns only the life after death, that the preaching for purification of soul is only for Nirvana or Moksha or Godhood. Moksha is the ultimate aim or the Ideal In reaching that stage a soil has to pass through different stages of purity or evolution and at every stage, he feels and enjoys more and more of the inherent qualities If we look to mankind, some are more fortunate than others because of higher evolution of soul. But in the flush of fortune if they forget the truth and attract impurities to their soul by their actions not only the evolution stops but degradation sets in A human being must, therefore, never neglect this alertness and always keep the ideal before himelf It is only if man wakes up to the reality, the world can be saved from the doom that is threatening it
Note:-Comment, criticism and suggestions are invited It should be considered whether essays like this can form a basis of non-sectarian religious books fit to be introduced in schools, without prejudicing the 'Secular' policy of the State
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| SR No. | 010772 |
| Book Title | Ratnamuni Smruti Granth |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Vijaymuni Shastri, Harishankar Sharma |
| Publisher | Gurudev Smruti Granth Samiti |
| Publication Year | 1964 |
| Total Pages | 687 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari |
| File Size | 21 MB |