I am no GOD's man. I am no priest. And i don't follow any religion so precisely.
So why am i writing this? I really don't know. And i really don't care much if you agree or not agree. I have my thoughts and reasons to believe and not believe. So if you are reading this please bear with me.
I like to give some background on myself. I was born in Gujarati, labeled "Hindu" (i will talk about this word later on) family in Gujarat, India. So my birth-certificate says my religion is "Hindu". I think this is enough introduction.
What is "Religion"?
Good question. But no precise answer. I have to go on different track to answer it.
English is not my primary language(and billions like me in Indian subcontinent) so the way it works is, we translate it to whatever our primary language is and then try to answer it.
If i ask you to translate "Religion" in Hindi/Gujarati or any other Indian language then most of you will say "Dharma". Total blunder. Please don't mix it with "Dharma", it is not correct translation. The correct translation would be "Sampraday". To most of you both are almost similar words, but they are not. They are very different. Let me walk you through the details on how different they can be and they are. This will automatically answer our main question.
Now what actually is "Sampraday" or "Religion"?
"Sampraday" or "Religion" is a group of people who shares same belief, same way of living, same language or some other such characteristics. Thats it, PERIOD!
This has nothing to do with "Dharma".
Thats what religion means. You can be of Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion, Jain religion, Budhdhist religion or you can be of Gujarati Sampraday, Marathi Sampraday, Bengali Sampraday, American Sampraday, Indian Sampraday, Pakistani Sampraday.
So Religion or "Sampraday" has context. It has some criteria, some limits, something that ties the group together.
I don't know if my way of thinking makes sense to you, but that is what religion means to most of us. If i talk about Hindu then my religion becomes Hindu. If i talk about Gujarat then my religion becomes Gujarati. And if i talk about India then my religion becomes Indian.
Simply religion is a bond that is used to tie a group of people together. I don't think anyone can explain it simpler than this.
Now, What is "Dharma"?
Unfortunately i couldnt find any word directly translating "Dharma" into English. So let me explain it a bit.
"Dharma" is what you should do and what actually you are doing.
If you are a teacher, then your "Dharma" is to teach and eduacate the students.
If you are a soldier of certain country then your "Dharma" is to protect(not fighting) your country at all time.
If you are a student then your "Dharma" is to learn.
See so simple. "Dharma" and "Sampraday" totally different from each other. And so far you are telling everyone that your "Dharma" is Hindu or Muslim or whatever. How wrong you are!!!
This is something we all should look into. We are misinterpreting "Sampraday" as "Dharma" from beginning.
If "Sampraday" is Dharma then there cannot be many different factions in one "Sampraday".
For example,
If being Indian is your Dharma then you cannot be Gujarati or Marathi or Bengali.
If being Hindu is your Dharma then you cannot be "Shaiva" or "Vaishnav" or "Jain" or "Budhdha".
If being Muslim is your Dharma then you cannot be Shia or Sunni or anything else.
Thats it, PERIOD!
So why am i writing this? I really don't know. And i really don't care much if you agree or not agree. I have my thoughts and reasons to believe and not believe. So if you are reading this please bear with me.
I like to give some background on myself. I was born in Gujarati, labeled "Hindu" (i will talk about this word later on) family in Gujarat, India. So my birth-certificate says my religion is "Hindu". I think this is enough introduction.
What is "Religion"?
Good question. But no precise answer. I have to go on different track to answer it.
English is not my primary language(and billions like me in Indian subcontinent) so the way it works is, we translate it to whatever our primary language is and then try to answer it.
If i ask you to translate "Religion" in Hindi/Gujarati or any other Indian language then most of you will say "Dharma". Total blunder. Please don't mix it with "Dharma", it is not correct translation. The correct translation would be "Sampraday". To most of you both are almost similar words, but they are not. They are very different. Let me walk you through the details on how different they can be and they are. This will automatically answer our main question.
Now what actually is "Sampraday" or "Religion"?
"Sampraday" or "Religion" is a group of people who shares same belief, same way of living, same language or some other such characteristics. Thats it, PERIOD!
This has nothing to do with "Dharma".
Thats what religion means. You can be of Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion, Jain religion, Budhdhist religion or you can be of Gujarati Sampraday, Marathi Sampraday, Bengali Sampraday, American Sampraday, Indian Sampraday, Pakistani Sampraday.
So Religion or "Sampraday" has context. It has some criteria, some limits, something that ties the group together.
I don't know if my way of thinking makes sense to you, but that is what religion means to most of us. If i talk about Hindu then my religion becomes Hindu. If i talk about Gujarat then my religion becomes Gujarati. And if i talk about India then my religion becomes Indian.
Simply religion is a bond that is used to tie a group of people together. I don't think anyone can explain it simpler than this.
Now, What is "Dharma"?
Unfortunately i couldnt find any word directly translating "Dharma" into English. So let me explain it a bit.
"Dharma" is what you should do and what actually you are doing.
If you are a teacher, then your "Dharma" is to teach and eduacate the students.
If you are a soldier of certain country then your "Dharma" is to protect(not fighting) your country at all time.
If you are a student then your "Dharma" is to learn.
See so simple. "Dharma" and "Sampraday" totally different from each other. And so far you are telling everyone that your "Dharma" is Hindu or Muslim or whatever. How wrong you are!!!
This is something we all should look into. We are misinterpreting "Sampraday" as "Dharma" from beginning.
If "Sampraday" is Dharma then there cannot be many different factions in one "Sampraday".
For example,
If being Indian is your Dharma then you cannot be Gujarati or Marathi or Bengali.
If being Hindu is your Dharma then you cannot be "Shaiva" or "Vaishnav" or "Jain" or "Budhdha".
If being Muslim is your Dharma then you cannot be Shia or Sunni or anything else.
Thats it, PERIOD!
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