Control of the mind

The mind is a very powerful tool, and it could swing either way if used purposefully. Perhaps, that’s where religion steps in. I believe religion was created to guide mankind in life, the proper ways to do things and to achieve some sort of fulfillment. I do agree that the mind has to disciplined to ensure that one is not swayed easily by influences without proper thought about the consequences, but the manner in which the mind is brought under control is of important significance.

In religion, if you are told everything you need to know, how is that called living life? Imagine you’re told everything, from the obvious of “drinking is bad for you”, to the not-so-obvious, “spending too much time on your videogames can cause a lot of stress on your eyes”. It would be plain dry to be told everything, imho. I agree with some aspects of religion which encourages respect for elders, speaking politely and that sort of thing, but there are other instances which come up which are sort of vague to how they actually make you a better person by complying to such customs. Religion does usually get mixed up with customs and end up being hard-and-fast rules imposed on followers of the religion.


For instance, Hindus believe in being vegetarian for a day because you believe in a certain deity. My view of the logic of this is to maintain a lower intake of meat, as generally, excess intake of meat is considered unhealthy.

Similarly, cows are sacred to Hindus whereas dogs are not a Muslim's best friend (given a specific circumstance, ie. it's wet). I assume the idea for Hindus could be due to the fact that there was a severe shortage in those days, and to ensure a constant supply of milk, they were made sacred. Likewise, dogs were going through the piles of rubbish and may spread diseases when these rules were being formulated, and to curb this, they made it haram to come into contact with wet dogs.

Using religion to impose this is rather unfair, as it would be an uninformed decision by an individual, and rather using the name of religion to get someone to obey this beneficial custom, but in the misguided approach. You get the point..

I believe, some things are meant to be learnt as we go on in life. This guidance in the form of religion, I am sure it means well, to protect us from harm. What better way to learn than to experience some of the things on our own? I know this may sound shallow, as we cannot possibly try everything out (like mugging an old lady or knocking a person down GTA style), but my focus is on things which are defined as good or bad based on perception rather than fact. For instance, drinking in moderation is actually beneficial. Or holding hands on a date.

Awareness and rational sense of judgment has to prevail if one is not to go by the rules of religion, as you need to base your decisions on something. It is more meaningful to realize something, as a learning experience, to be enlightened from your mistakes. I do agree that religion is a useful guide, but for the bunch of us who aren’t so attracted to be bound by tried-and-tested rules, you need to make informed decisions. I read a book on Buddhism once where the Buddha quoted ‘Follow something not because so-and-so told you to do so, but follow something because of your own informed decision and understanding”.

I am currently excited by the fact that people differ in so many ways because of the religion and customs they adhere to. Given this, I am trying to read what each major religion preaches, and how it goes about doing it. Faith and logic may not always go hand-in-hand but I will try my best to understand the logic behind the idea of religion, and from there make my conclusions on why certain communities react in a certain way given a circumstance. Hmm….