I had to do a day trip to Dubai on Wednesday, which meant that I had to sit on a plane for several hours. Since I left on the morning flight, I thought I would make the most of the inflight entertainment system and went on a movie binge all the way up to Dubai.
One of the gems in this movie binge was a Bollywood
flick called “Thank God,” which tells the story of Ayan Kapoor, an arrogant
debt-fueled businessman who finds himself in limbo after a car accident. He
meets the characters of the spiritual realm who involve him in a game show
where the “sins” of life are played with him.
One of the best scenes comes when the CG the game show
host gets a call from Lord Hanuman (the Hindu Monkey God and the good the main
character is a devotee of.) The main character assumes that “his God” is
getting him off the hook because he’s been making plenty of offerings, only to
find that he gets drenched and sweets get stuffed into his mouth and he finds
out that “His God” is “p****ed off with him.” CG explains to him that “You do
believe in God: But Never Listen to him,” and then explains that God is not
interested in your offerings and rituals but in your humanity. It turns out
that in his effort to prove his devotion to Lord Hanuman by buying offerings,
he p****es on a beggar and her grandson, which leads to her death and the
abandonment of the child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sgnhYJGOA
That line stuck with me because we live in an age
where there are many distractions from the things that are important to us. In
human relationships this usually comes into the form of the people we spend
time with. Many of us chase those with “power” and “money” or both because we
believe it helps us get ahead. However, we end up becoming so busy trying to be
around money and power that we neglect the people who really matter and forget
our real friends in our quest for wealthy friends.
In the spiritual realm, it often comes in the form of
an obsession with rituals. Regardless of religion, you find people get focused
on the rituals and motions of the faith they practice. Payer becomes like a transaction
where you ask the almighty for some magic pill to make your problems go away in
return for your good behavior.
However, as just about every religious text known to
man points out – the almighty is interested in what’s inside you rather than
what you try and show on the outside. In the Christian Gospels for example,
Jesus talks about the “Parable of the Widow’s Mite” and teaches us that God
values the poor widow’s mite more than he does the vastly superior number of
coins donated by rich merchants.
Even if you discount the “illogical” nature of faith,
there is a logic there. Why would a higher power be interested in our earthly
things like money and offerings when they could get whatever they wanted with a
simple thought? If anything, a higher would probably prefer us to be “nicer”
people to each other.
What is the point of going to a church, temple or
mosque on a daily basis and proclaiming your faith and devotion to the almighty
when the moment you leave, you promptly kick the poor tissue paper seller in
the face and try and get her arrested for disturbing your day?
While I can’t claim to speak for the Almighty, I
suspect the Almighty would prefer it if people spent more time raising up their
communities instead of trying to out pray each other. I think of the Catholic
Priest who told his congregation that “It is not in the beauty of our liturgy or
the buildings but in our compassion.” I think of the Muslim driver who said “Islam
is not the first religion of man – the first religion is Salaam – shake hands
and make friends that is the first religion.”
I am not disputing the importance of faith and the
rituals. Prayer is a wonderful source of solace and there are times when “talking
to” the Almighty helps provide one with the fortitude to get through tough
times. However, rituals without action are
pointless and prayers need to be backed by sincerity. As said in the movie, we’re
so used to trying to show we believe, we forget to listen to the message.
1 comment
Actions speak louder than words..i agree that we should abide by the spiritual side of religon and act with humanity
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