Most, if not all of us are force fed the concept of god, religion, and the suspect practices that come with the package from the time we can walk.One must understand that Faith and disbelief, God and atheism, caste and equality are twin born foes[opponents]. When one is born, the other rises to challenge it. As every one knows,Knowledge progresses with questioning.What annoys and probably intrigues me is why all these so called believers take offence when their beliefs are questioned.Our so called Tamil siddhars too did the same thing,They challenged these so called believers with questions.A Siddha is a free thinker and a revolutionary who refuses to allow himself to be carried away by any religion or scripture or rituals. One Tamil Siddhas says: "A Siddha is one who has burnt the sastras". All the sastras, Vedas, Puranas, and the various religious sects turn humanity into conditioned
animals.Karai Siddhar draws a distinction between a Siddha and a non-Siddha by saying that a Siddha points to the path of the experience whereas a non-Siddha points to the path of scriptures.While poly-theism was an unquestioned canon of their time siddhars dared to speak of “One Indivisible God”. Siddhars like Siva Vakkiyaar have directly attacked the empty and meaningless rituals practised by the brahmins of their time.He raises a pertinent question: why should we go out to the sacred rivers, temples, mountains, etc.,when the threshold is in us.According to Sivavakkiyar a Siddha does not worship any deity in the temple. As a Baul sings: "the road to the Absolute is blocked by temples, mosques and the teachers and another Baul songs says :"Everyone asks: "Lalan, what's your religion in this world?"Lalan answers: "How does religion
look?",I've never laid eyes on it.Some wear malas [Hindu rosaries] around their necks,some tasbis [Muslim rosaries], and so people say they've got different religions.But do you bear the sign of your religion when you come or when you go? " .The Tamil Siddhas do not belong to any religion or samayam. "Samayam" in Tamil means "convention", "rule".Some of their ideologies are considered to have originated during the First Sangam period [700BC to 300AD],And formulating over a five hundred year period,between the 7th and the 11th centuries,but fully flowering only after the 12th century.siddhars[சித்தர்],Who lived outside the pale of society, asked blunt questions: ‘What is this mantra you mumble within your mouth going round and round a planted stone,offering it flowers? Can a planted stone talk when the Lord is within you? Can the pot and the spoon feel the taste of food cooked in them?”-Sivavakkiyar [“நட்ட கல்லைச் சுற்றி வந்து நாலு புஷ்பம் சாற்றியே; சுற்றி சுற்றி வந்து முணு, முணுக்க சொல்லும் மந்திரம் ஏதடா! சுட்ட சட்டி சட்டுவம் கறிச்சுவை அறியுமோ! நட்டகல்லும் பேசுமோ; நாதன் உள்ளிருக்கையில்..”--சிவவாக்கிய சித்தர்.].“Will the rains fall only for a few and exclude others? Will the winds discriminate against a few? Will the earth refuse to bear the weight of a few? And the sun refuse to shine on some?”["மாரி தான் சிலரை வரைந்துபெய்யுமோ?காற்றுஞ்சிலரை நீக்கிவீசுமோ?மானிலஞ்சுமக்க மாட்டேனென்னுமோ?கதிரோன்சிலரைக் காயே னென்னுமோ?......குலமுமொன்றே குடியுமொன்றே,இறப்புமொன்றே பிறப்புமொன்றே"] asked a latter-day Kapilar in a famous " Akaval" poem [கபிலர் அகவல்]
It is a fact,God or Religions today no longer serve the purpose for
which they came into existence. The very basic theme of each religion was to teach, how to love each other and bring us closer to ourselves and to truth. Today the opposite is happening, Religions are not uniting but dividing us. Forget the differences from religion to religion, each now has so many divisions. The biggest problem Religions are bringing in is Fundamentalism and in-tolerance, giving birth to Fanatics, who are ready to destroy our freedom, just in the name of religion.It is about time, to rectify our vision, rectify our way of life, and mould them to what the various religions originally desired. Humanity is the religion which all religions preach, so why not follow it as such .Peace is within us, Love is within us, God is within us. That means, God is Love, Love is God, and the understanding of this truth gives us that internal Peace.When a child is born, the only thing he/she knows is love. The rest we teach, hatred, jealousy, greed, even terrorism.As we sow, so shall we reap, this is the age-old saying, So why not sow seeds of Love and reap tons of Love !Love is not something which can be given by force, but Religions as they stand today are given by force, by parents to children. Anything given by force can never have fruitful results and can turn us into completely different people, and take us miles away from truth and Humanity.So let’s embrace Humanity and begin a new way of life!
[Kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam]
Part:02 Will follow
(In Tamil-tomorrow)
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