Constitutional Rights and Individual Faith Should Run Parallel

Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to citizens which includes the right to worship a religion of their choice. The state doesn't uphold any religion and all citizens are expected to respect and honor the right of others to worship their religion. Constitution has several articles that guarantees various rights such as freedom of speech and expression, right to equality, right to property and so on.

In recent times, the question of which is more supreme whether it is individual belief or Constitutional rights or rules has come to the forefront. Two sets of arguments have emerged- one is the rational view or the constitutional view that Constitution is all important while the other view that at least in the case of religion, the belief or the faith of the individual is of utmost significance.

Parallel View

Just as two rail lines that make a track run in parallel and don't meet, the Constitutional Right and Individual Beliefs and Faith should be allowed to run in parallel. The moment you guarantee the right to religion and also say that it is below that of the Constitutional Right you topple the entire cart. Just as the two rail lines run parallel and there is no effort to keep at a height higher than the other, the Constitutional Right and Individual faith should go parallel in a democratic system.

For one the principle of logic and rationality doesn't apply to religion. Comparing religion and Constitution is like considering natural and super natural as one or more simply put comparing apples with oranges. The communication with the Creator is a transcendental one while relationship between citizens is on the physical plane. The moment one enters a temple or religious place of worship, it is assumed that he is a devotee in communion with the Creator and until he completes the prayer and returns his or her belief over rides all else. If we bring rationality or logic into it, everything collapses.

When what is religion is also defined by the judiciary, the individual’s rights to worship religion is further restricted.  Several parallels can be found in stories or incidents narrated in one religion which can be found in others also. Some thinkers have contended that there are similarities in the story of Krishna and Lord Jesus. 

Kamsa had ordered all new born to be killed as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva was slated to kill him. In the New Testament, it is said that when Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod killed all new born children in the area, in what is known as the massacre of the the innocents. Based on a dream, Joseph took the baby Jesus to Egypt and returned only after Herod was dead. Such discussions and debates which are quite healthy over which  there is no consensus. However, it should not create intolerance to other religion or communities but only forge mutual respect.

Untouchability
There has been considerable effort by those who champion the cause of ‘renaissance’ that Sati, Child marriage, untouchability, the denial of right to enter places of worship were all part of a religious tradition. Essentially, they were social evils and they had to go. Hence it was the task of social reformers and also the colonial rulers to address such issues.

Constitution for Governance, Religion for Faith

Constitutional rights and rules are meant for the smooth governance of a country. They are subject to amendments and clarifications from time to time. The objective of religion is for the individual to find inner fulfilment, inner peace and solace. It is also to philosophically look at life from various angles- there could be many conflicting interpretations on why Rama sent Sita to the forest while she was pregnant or Krishna’s advice to fight his brethren to uphold dharma. Such stories and incidents help people ponder and discuss over many crisis and issues that we face in  daily life without being judgmental with a open heart.

For a state to prosper there has to be good governance, for which we look toward the Constitution while we need the citizens to have both material and spiritual growth for the growth of civilisation. There is no better way to ensure that unless we see constitutional rights and faith as parallels not comparable to one another.

Pareto Principle

If we apply the Pareto Principle of Welfare in economics to any judgment on religion or faith, it can be understood that it won’t stand the test because you cannot make anyone better off with making twice as many people worse off with any judgment. So why take the trouble?

                                                       

What is the Holy Spirit in Christian Prayers?

During Baptism, Holy Communion and other occasions in Church you may have heard the prayer, ‘In the Name of The Father, Of the Son and of The Holy Spirit”. Amen.

What does “The Holy Spirit’ represent in this trinity? The Father denotes the Creator, the Son Jesus and the third one? A Catholic Priest and friend of mine Lucas Jozef told me it refers to The Spirit of God.

When I asked a few people following the Christian faith they also said the same. However, the well-known spiritual writer, Ruzbeh N Barucha has a different interpretation of The Holy Spirit. He says it is the Goddess Energy. With out the Mother Energy, the Father as well as well as Son are dormant energies. (Courtesy: The Musk Syndrome, Penguin India).

Except perhaps Hinduism and Buddhism, a number of religions have down played the role of the Goddess Energy. ”Zorastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to name a few, but the fact remains that if God is the Father and Christ is the Son, then there has to be a mother, and the Holy Spirit is the Mother Energy, according to Ruzbeh Barucha.

Bhagwan Rajneesh also took exception to the Christian view of God as masculine which is opposed to the feminine in Hindu pantheon. The Sanskrit word for Holy is Bhagavati, the feminine of Bhagavan, Osho writes in his book Hridayam Sutra. In Buddhism there is the Yin and Yang, the female and the male energy which is missing in Christianity.

Osho said father is an unnatural institution and a result of private property while the mother is natural and exists everywhere. We call our country motherland but the western concept is father land which is male chauvinistic, according to Osho.

Lord Shiva is nothing (but a Shav) without the Shakti, the Goddess energy, perhaps the reason why you find Ardhanareeswara, the androgynous figure of Lord Shiva and Parvati being worshipped in temples and homes.

I look forward to different interpretations about the Holy Spirit, if there are any. Amen.

What matters more for us – Indian identity or religious identity?

India by its Constitution is a secular, democratic republic. What is meant by that? Every person has a right to believe and worship his religion. Over a period of time, if we really went by the ideals of our Constitution we would have gone a step further and truly appreciated the good in other religions.
Lighting a lamp is considered sacred in Hinduism and in Christian functions you find candles are lit.

Islam doesn’t sanctify the lighting of the lamp and therefore some leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) refused to light the traditional lamp during a government function in recent years- it included P K Kunhalikutty and E Ahmed, both ministers at State and Centre respectively at one point of time.  But recently at a function in Rajagiri School, Kochi, APM Mohammmed Hanish, an IAS officer and Secretary, Education lighted the lamp, so did V K Ibrahim Kunju, former Minister and MLA who attended the function.

A Lamp is considered to awaken our consciousness and shed the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge.In many houses, lighting the lamp in the morning and evening is a ritual and is considered to bring positive energy.

And now Shailaja Teacher, a CPM leader and Health Minster belonging to LDF government in Kerala has taken exception to the recital of a Hindu prayer during the state level celebration of International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the State Capital in Thiruvananthapuram. In Chandigarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Yoga as not a religious tradition but a scientifically proven method to attain health and wellness.

I hope most Communists are atheists- so is Shailaja Teacher. She may have differences of opinion on the issue of reciting a prayer in the beginning of a Yoga programme but she shouldn’t have expressed it at the venue. It could be construed as disrespect to millions of believers in Hinduism in the same way she was arguing it could have hurt the sentiments of non-believers or followers of other religions who may have their own methods to attain concentration of the mind before a yoga session. Photos of her not being involved in the meditative session and looking angry was splashed in the newspapers and television. Sitting by her side was V S Sivakumar, MLA and a former minister in the State. If every citizen of India is keen on seeing Yoga as a scientific way of attaining health and wellness, will this public outburst by a Minister and leader help in any way?

Shailaja Teacher has pointed out that as per the Indian Constitution there are believers and non-believers.  But my reading of Article 25 reveals that Constitution is silent on non-believers or atheists. It doesn’t mention any such term. It only says Citizens and even aliens in India are free to profess, propagate their religious faith and State does not have any religion of its own. My interpretation is that the Constitution is silent on non-believers. It is only bothered about people who are keen to believe and profess a religion about which it is quite neutral but enough safeguards have been put so that there is no governmental promotion or funding of any religion and state the right to impose restrictions if their activity impinges on public order, morality,health, social welfare and reform …

What is more important nationality or religious identity?
I am coming back to the question raised in the beginning of this piece- are we truly secular? Are we Indians first or religion matters more.  A boy or girl of different caste or religion falls in love but when they decide to marry- obstacles start coming in front of them- either of them will have to convert to other religion if the marriage is to happen. 

Religion was no obstacle for them to fall in love, how come they become vital for married life? You are constantly reminded of your religion and caste as every government application form or a registration form to an educational institution carries question on religion and caste. I know a girl who applied to Christ University and stated her religion and love and truth. She was given admission and completed her course.

You go to a restaurant and order food—who are the people who work behind the scenes to make it- to what caste and religion they belong and even the waiter- do you ask his religion before you eat the food served?

Our framers of the Constitution allowed religious freedom with a good purpose- let the citizens find their own ways to be spiritually uplifted but possibly never wanted people to be identified with it even as it gave the freedom to publicly air their beliefs and practices.

With religion being a powerful force across the world, how did a minority non-believers or atheists come about? Is it because Karl Marx and his lineage believed that religion is the opium of the masses and was critical of it? Or is it because scientific reasoning and temper helped temper blind belief in religious practices? How come the large number of scientists adore the Indian scriptures and see the wisdom and see the omnipotent, ominiscient force that is invisible to us?

Sin and Salvation- putting good living in perspective

Recently, I had the good fortune to see a drama titled Heaven’ Gates and Hell’s Flames in Kochi directed by an audio-visual professional, Simplicio from Goa and ably assisted by Francesco. About 40 amateur artists from various walk of life participated.

Set amidst the backdrop of Christmas celebrations that recall the birth of Jesus Christ, in simple terms the theme pitted sinning against against doing good deeds and with remembrance of Lord Jesus. Whether it is youngsters indulging in drugs and intoxication, a rich businessman involved in Church activities but not a believer and indulging in sinful or illegal activities, all are destined to flames of Hell while a construction worker indulging in drinking and not looking after his large family suddenly changes his mind and puts full faith in the Lord just before his death in a building crash but the gates of heaven are opened to him.

The underlying theme was to lead a good life serving God and thereby open your pathway to Heaven while the sinners and non-believers are destined to the devils guarding the Hell’s Gates.

There are many interpretations on what constitutes a sin according to various religions.  International Society for Krisna Consciousness (ISKON) puts faith in Krishna or the Supreme as the path to perfection and to be reborn at a higher consciousness level. In ISKON’s teachings, it is said you can eat, drink, enjoy so long as you are fully devoted to Lord Krishna and chant the mantras. What I could understand was that devotion to God mattered irrespective of whether you commit vice or lead a good life.

What is a Sin?

The original sin is Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. There are several sins that could immediately come to mind stealing, adultery, bribing, telling lies, murder, rape, defamation…. Lord Jesus welcomed sinners in his fold and ushered in peace for the suffering and oppressed. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was worried that our jails were dumping yards for criminals but no effort was made to reform them.

Oscar Wilde became controversial in his statements in The Picture of Dorian Gray about sins and temptations. “Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful. It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain,and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also.”

Not giving respect is not a desirable behavior, so is gratefulness a desirable trait in humans. I believe the idea that sinners will be sent to Hell was just to make every one lead a good life. Or if the theory of transmigration of the soul is to be put in proper context, the thoughts we carry in this iife will be carried over to the next and it becomes the ‘ vasana’ for the body into which it comes back to life again. We have heard of several thieves and murderers turning to preaching or involving in social or charitable activities after serving their jail sentence.

Religion & Government or Judiciary- and their attitude to sins
Religions have stressed the single minded devotion to Lord as the way to salvation and sinners attain salvation when they surrender themselves to God. The Government and Judiciary sees activities as lawful and unlawful and deliver verdicts.

The religious scriptures enlighten us to lead a spiritual life free of guilt, shame, anger, pride and several negative emotions that lead us perhaps to the sins mentioned earier. At a psycho-analysis level more people should move to “ Iam Ok, You are Ok” position in life if they are to respect, love and have sympathy and empathy for fellow beings.

India has by and large been tolerant of religions although it has not created one itself as Hinduism cannot be considered a religion but a way of life. As Sreenarayana Guru, the social reformer of the South indian State of Kerala remarked- We don’t have any relation with any religion. We have not created a religion although we have set up temples as per the wishes of some people. Likewise we are happy to help with such requests if they come from Muslims and Christians. We have left behind caste and religion.

Easter thoughts: Faith and how vital it is in business too

The week that went by was marked by festivities- we had the Holy Friday that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and Easter that celebrates the resurrection of Christ.The millions of people who thronged to churches on these days no doubt believed in The Bible and the role Jesus did to redeem the sins of mankind.

Religions may differ,people do not worship the same God but what unites the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or any other community is their Faith in the lord.

I was thinking about this even as sometimes religion is being blamed for some of the divisions that have formed in the society and consequent turmoil. The other day my son Darshan who is quite adept at making coffee was talking about making a new business out of coffee. His basic question was- after spending lakhs of rupees,  if the business flops.!

This kind of thinking is not unusual for many who do not ultimately enter business. Here again faith in one's own ability and support systems are important for any business idea to succeed. There are people with any number of ideas which may or may not be tested in the market before it is launched. Ultimately, the success of any new venture depends on the faith the promoter has in his idea, how he does the ground work, how he does the market survey and ultimately pool the resources in terms of money, human resources and regulatory approvals to get the business going.

Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the masses. The Left and the ideology based parties believe in the doctrines of their founders and hope such beliefs can be translated into action and hence benefit mankind. They persuade the party workers to think on those lines. Without faith in the founding principles, no worker could meaningfully co-operate with the activities of a party.

In a corporate organisation, workers or employees not aligned to organisational goals tend to be ousted as they don't add value to their services.

People like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela who took up public causes had an unwavering faith in what they stood for despite the many hurdles they may have initially faced before they became international movements. It is said faith can move mountains, such is its power.

Now, perhaps, amidst geo-political tensions in Yemen, the fear over Iran's nuclear bomb and the deal and corruption and atrocities everywhere, a firm belief or faith in change alone can bring a transformation in society.

I am happy to share an insight from Dr Deepak Chopra, the alternative medicine advocate. He feels Wall Street executives need to have two hours meditation to get the required rest and tackle high stress. This is in turn should help them become more productive. Even just 15 minutes of meditation provides more rest than deep sleep. Among those who follow his work is hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, who has his entire staff meditate daily.


(The author is a renowned business journalist/market analyst. He is now providing content development for websites, social media (FB Twitter, LinkedIn), and blogging  services. Please contact : sreekumsree@gmail.com for your requirements)

India votes 2014: Can the electorate call for change from 'Pseudo-secular to 'secular'?

It is indeed interesting to watch the poll scene in India as the electorate gets prepared to cast their vote to send their representatives to the 16th Lok Sabha. Candidates are not running after the Aam Admi but after religious leaders perhaps to get their blessings and to influence a community under them. A welcome relief was Nandan Nilekani who decided to meet the Aam aadmi by travelling in buses and meeting people at their homes.

In the South Indian state of Kerala, Deen Kuriakose, a Youth Congress President and Idukki constituency candidate was virtually snubbed by Bishop Mathew Anikuzhikattil who also criticised outgoing MP PT Thomas and accused youth congress leaders for being arrogant and immature.

Leading comedian, Innocent contesting as CPM independent in Chalakudy constitutency also first went and met Christian religious leaders before beginning his campaign. Even as his name was proposed for LDF candidature, he met Catholic Archbishop of Thrissur Mar Andrews Thazhath and held talks with him. But Times of India said that he declined to divulge details of the talks.

Meanwhile, KPCC President V M Sudheeran sparked a row when he went to Nair Service Society (NSS) headquarters in Changanacherry in Central Kerala (Nairs represent upper class Hindus)- he didn't wait to meet its President Sukumaran Nair but went off in a hurry after paying tributes at Mannam Samadhi. It was considered improper and an insult to NSS.

One may wonder why religious leaders have say in politics when they should be confining themselves to religious and social activities. It was even evident in the case of Kasturi Rangan committee report which suggested several measures for the protection of Western Ghats. Several religious leaders also came out against this report which prima facie doesn't seem to have suggested eviction of existing houses or plantations identified as fragile and hence not permissible for human habitation.



Despite the 42nd Amendemnt of the Constitution declaring India as a secular republic, there is a strange intrusion of politics into religion and religion into politics. As some one jokingly put a Facebook book post: "I will only vote for a secular party but the candidate should be from my caste."

What the framers of Indian Constitution intended was not this kind of a secular India. People have the right to hold on to their religious beliefs and propagate them but State has not religion.

Policy makers at the centre considered minorities as vote banks and hence their appeasement caused Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) and its political outfit, BJP to emerge stronger over the years, according to one theory.

I can't understand why such differences were allowed to crop up once we declared the nation as 'secular', That is where the Aam Admi party is giving hope to the electorate as their major objective is not appeasement or propagation of Hindutva but fight against corruption and bring in good governance.

Readers ar(e requested to air their views on this interesting issue either in comments section or could send their write up to sreekumsree@gmail.com)