Thus Spake the Divine - Competencies Of Religious Preachers

Thus Spake the Divine

Competencies Of Religious Preachers

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava contemplates reasons for the rise and fall of a religion. He travels back to periods when different religious preachers emerged. He also analyses the supremacy of Advaita philosophy over others.

All research scholars engaged in the field of philosophy and theology across the world recognise the doctrine of Advaita as the supreme philosophy. You all call me as the Advaita Guru. You expect me to state that the reason for there being huge number of followers of Advaita doctrine is that it has great philosophical value. But I am still inwardly contemplating on this aspect. Is it only the Advaita doctrine that all people in the world follow?

People in the world pursue many religions and many philosophies. Even people of the same country disown their religion and embrace another religion. During the period of Buddha, many religious leaders joined Buddhism. Later a large number of Hindus also joined Christianity and Islam. Jains converted themselves into the Vaishnava sect. During the period of Sri Ramanuja, a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and one of the most important exponents of Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism, many people embraced the doctrine of Visishtadvaita (Brahman is equated to Sri Vishnu, ‘the all-pervading Supreme Being’). During the period of Sri Madhvacharya, people adopted the philosophy of Madhvar. During the period of Adi Shankara, the non-religious philosophies, such as Buddhism and Jainism dwindled. The religions that once reigned supreme later collapsed. Why? When people embrace a particular religion, do they carry out a deep analysis of its philosophies and only then embrace that religion? May be the intellectuals or well-informed people might weigh the related philosophies and then embrace a new religion. But is this applicable to the public in general? I would not agree.

If the public embraces a particular religion only for the sake of its philosophies, then those embracing it should be able to quote the crux of the respective philosophies. They should be able to attribute proper reasons for claiming that their philosophies stand on a higher pedestal as compared to other religions’ philosophies. But, in reality, most of the general public is not aware of the nuances of philosophies and principles of their respective religions. People following Hindu religion are absolutely unaware of anything else.

So, my opinion is that a religion does not flourish because of its underlying philosophy alone. Ordinary people are not concerned about philosophies. If the demeanour of a sage is filled with composure and compassion and possesses virtuous qualities and good habits, people adore that sage with utmost trust from the very look of him. People strongly believe that whatever the philosophy elucidated by that sage, it would only be for good and thus they embrace that particular religion. Irrespective of the fact that a particular religion elucidates the best of philosophies, if the representative of that religion slips even a bit from moral values, then that religion will start dwindling.

Why do people go in huge crowds to those religions, which possess philosophies and principles that are exactly opposite of their own religion? One cannot attribute any direct reason for that. But why those religions, which were once celebrated by their followers as the most supreme one, dwindle? The reason is quite obvious. An analysis of facts and figures as to how a religion deteriorates itself exhibits as to how it has grown and sustained. If we look at the fall of any religion in any country, we understand that immoral behaviour and attitude of institutions and leaders of that religion was the sole cause of its decay.

Buddha was born. Listening to his history and looking at his idols, we ourselves are filled with absolute serenity, compassion and bliss. This generates a kind of reverence in us towards him. The same must have been the case for people who lived in those days. In later years, the quantum of immorality and dissipation that prevailed in Buddha Viharas was clearly exposed by the comedy play “Maththa Vilasa Prahasanam” written by Mahendra Pallava. Buddhism started declining only during this period. To put it in simple terms, growth and decay of any religion depends solely on the demeanour of representatives of that religion.

After Buddha, came Adi Shankara as the most noble and honourable saint and that drew people towards him. Then came Ramanuja and Madhvacharya, who lived the most honourable life and people respected these individual leaders. Thus their philosophies spread across the world. Recently, we had Gandhi who lived a life with absolute selflessness and compassion. Whatever he said was labelled as “Gandhism” and crores and crores of people embraced his philosophy as a religion. This Gandhism should have sustained itself over and above every other religion if true is the statement that a religion can be nurtured at a high level only if it possesses great philosophies. I am sure you all know what the reality is today!

Here, the point of discussion is not about those religions, which forcefully draw people or attract people by showing money as bait. By doing a lot of service-related welfare activities, if a religion forces people into getting baptised, only poor people will fall as natural prey. This can be seen from the fact that Christianity bloomed during periods of famine when poverty was huge. It is also stated that people joined Islam because of force. All these facts only reveal that people do not embrace a religion for any specific underlying philosophy of that religion.

You should notice one point here. Christian pastors try to convert only people living in slums. They claim support of the Government and propagate that “There is discrimination among people in your religion. Embrace our religion. We will elevate you all to a newer height”. Even with such a promise, all people in the slum do not go to the other religion’s camp. There are many people, who have totally refused the benefits and comforts offered by the other religion and have stayed back in their own religion. Their good culture and virtues may be one reason for this. The other reason is that in our religion, in each generation, there have emerged many noble and honourable sages and saints. People have thus thought “Let us live in the same religion that these sages and saints follow.” That is how all people, including many of those from slums, continue within our own religion.

Only those religions, which have not used force, violence or money, have been able to flourish. Another reason is that extraordinary qualities have been exhibited by gurus, preachers and broadcasters of these religions. The representative of a religion is not judged by his external looks. Irrespective of the religion, the representative should not possess the quality of selfishness. He should be driven by ethical attributes. He should be filled with peace and compassion. Such high quality attributes of representatives of a religion are able to annihilate evils among people who come seeking their blessings.

The only way to nurture our religion is to produce religious representatives of high moral and ethical values. We don’t need any counter propaganda at all. What we need are representatives who live the Codes of Religion. Our religion has been thriving only because of such gurus from times immemorial. Even in future, our religion will continue to flourish only because of such gurus.

If someone engages in arm-twisting acts and wants people to change to another religion, I don’t have the energy to fight him back. Nor do I have the wealth and opulence to compete with someone else who builds schools, hospitals etc., and thereby forcefully converts people into his religion. Even if presuming that both these are available, I will still not resort to conversions, as the reason for change of religion on such grounds is not genuine. The rationale for changing the religion will not last long. Why? Because, there will emerge some other group with more power and more wealth. That will score over the earlier group and destroy it to the ground.

Therefore, let us not bank on external forces. Rather, let us strongly believe in our own internal power and elevate ourselves from within. Only then will our religion continue to blossom without any propagation or extraneous influence. Currently, there are many scholars, who adore the doctrine of Advaita for its supreme philosophy. They have done extensive research and self-inquiry before embracing our Vedanta. We cannot expect the common public to do all this and embrace a religion. What they need is a noble leader, so that they remain balanced. I am delivering extensive lectures only with a hope that such a Guru will emerge from among us. His persona shall be enveloped by peace, compassion, wisdom and sacrifice. Nothing else will be needed if one among you turns out to be such a Guru!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

GIRI is Also the Humble Recipient of "The BEST TOURIST FRIENDLY SHOPPING CENTER in Tamil Nadu" Award For The Year 2019.