A Viewpoint .... GOD AND TEMPLES

This is in response to Solilo, who had responded to my previous post on Understanding ....

I had said I would publish THIS FORWARD...send to me by mom.

I am not a temple goer on a regular basis, but neither am I against it. To each his own...is my Belief. The ways to get peace of mind differ.

Kahlil Gibran has summed this up beautifully....“I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of One Religion, and it is the spirit.''

The Forward....[source unknown] follows:

'Devotee' temple goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to the Temple . 'I've gone for 30 years now, he wrote, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 mantras. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the Gurus are wasting theirs by giving services at all.

This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor.. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to the Temple for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today! When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!

UNDERSTANDING MYSELF THRU MY BELIEFS......

Life has gone by, looking for answers, seeking peace, living up to expectations, trying to do the right thing... …I have always been bound by somebody’s wisdom, their theory, their belief, their opinion…making my life a mimicry of the ones who touched my life.
I am always trying to be the person I’d like to be, never taking a moment to wonder to think the person I am, who too was born with my brain, along with the face God gave me, wanting me to live my life the way I chose..

There is always a desire, to be in charge of myself, to be my own person. To discover am I more than I realize? One life is all I have. I believe in living it.
Before anyone else tells me who am I, I need to find out for myself. I need to see myself thru my own eyes than thru others. I do need to discover myself, take my life in my own hands and see what happens. So I shall try to discover myself thru My Beliefs…and shall pen them ….

Today…. My Beliefs on My God, My Religion….

I live life with God in every thought. He has no shape, no face, no Religion. He is there in nature, in all Human Beings. When I see Good I know He is there, when I see Bad and Evil, I know He shall come this way too.

My Religion is personal; it is a way of my life. Yet, becaz my religious experiences are in the form of liberty, faith, generosity, passion, compassion it is easier to express.

Religion to me teaches me to connect with my soul, that’s where My God resides. He is my inner voice, who guides me towards goodness and Righteousness.

My God always rewards me. There is no punishment. When ever I face any darkness in life, He rewards me with Brightness. Light at the end of a dark tunnel, is what My God holds.

My religion encourages me to Grow, so I question, and not adopt to any rationale blindly. With each perspective, I grow in vision and stature. It allows me to respect the views of others how ever different are they to mine.

My religion is always changing shapes, evolving, modifying, never complete or final. My religion and self grow together.

My religion is the recognition of all my duties. I may fail in them, but I never ignore them.

My God is my mysterious motivator. He encourages me to discover the best in the Today that he bestows on me.

My God is more devoted to me than I am to Him. He looks after not only me, but my family and friends. His hand is invisible, yet strong.

My Religion, My God, both reside within me. I do not need to discover them in Temples, Church, and Gurudwara etc.
They reside in my heart and my brain. What I cannot resolve with my brain, I resolve with my heart. They encourage me to love myself first, so that I can love everything and every one around me.
My Religion, My God is not lived through my words, but through my Life.