RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

I am a journalist. Earlier I was very much spiritual and used to go to temple daily. But when I came in journalism line, during my field job, I saw that pujaris are all fake and they do not have any shraddha. Now I don’t go to temple to pray. Please give me guidance what to do because when I go to temple all the ill scenes come in front of my eyes. Ruby

Gurumaa: Going to temples doesn’t make you spiritual. It is just a religious affair. Prayer has nothing to do with the priests and sadhus; it has everything to do with your feelings and emotions. So if you have it then how does it matter even if all sadhus and priests are corrupt! There is no need to go to temples. Temples were schools where people would go to learn the art of praying and the art of life. The teachers were saints, sages and sometimes they were true brahmins who were true practitioners of dharma. Nowadays there is dearth of true teachers, and temples have become more or less social clubs; there is no one to teach, it has become just a place to do ritualistic puja. But were you going there to see conduct of preists? Why should you bother about them? Your relationship should be with God and god is in you. Your relationship with god has nothing to do with external circumstances. Choose a guru who can teach you intricacies of prayer and bring the prayer in your life.

REAL PURPOSE OF OUR LIFE

I have been stuck in life since childhood. Not in a physical way but stuck in a philosophical way. Now my mind has become somewhat helpless: why religion is seen as part of philosophy? Is there any real purpose of our life? What one can do? Rakesh

Gurumaa: As such, there is no meaning of life yet it is the meaning which we give to life. This is the freedom given to us by divinity. What one needs is peace and clarity of mind to know and see the beauties of world, and if one doesn’t have this then life can be a hell. Philosophy is for those who are blind as they can’t see life hence they have to imagine, create theories about life and speculate further more. Religion without wisdom too is dead. A living religion gives you eyes to see truth and not a belief system to follow. Systems are meant for fools; a living person lives the life, lives the truth.
Blind person needs a cane to walk safely, what use would the cane be for the one who has eyes. Religion and philosophy are great dreams and many people live in it. The real person has eyes thus those are called Seers- one who has eyes to see truth - sees it and lives it. Rest just think about it. And the more they think about it, the more confused they are. Thinkers never agree on one point, they just argue and wrestle with their thoughts - always.
What use is the theory of life which doesn’t enrich you; what worth is that religion which doesn’t make you bondage free. Path to truth is via meditativeness so look for that alone.

THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Women in India are a battered and tortured lot. Why do they endure this?
Answer: the reason for women enduring all this is hidden in the misuse of certain things. Let’s look deeply into it. Surrender, humility, patience and tolerance are the natural attributes of a woman. Sure these are feminine attributes, but society has unjustly used them to suppress women. “You are a woman, so be tolerant; you are a woman, so be patient; you are a woman, so be giving. You are a woman, don’t question. Your job is to nurture!” And thus does society crush women and their rights, right there under its cruel thumb!

These noble qualities have nothing to do with your gender. But it has every thing to do with your mind. It is the feminine qualities of the mind, which, irrespective of your anatomy - whether male or female - the qualities of patience, endurance, tolerance and kindness - that make you human. It is not just women who are or should be kind, compassionate and giving, but these attributes - which are noble to say the least - should be expected from, and cultivated in men too.

If a mother complies with every wish of her son, then how will she teach him discrimination between good and bad, between long and short term goals? How can you say that command and authority are attributes alien to women? The ability to command and the ability to exercise authority are qualities intrinsic to womanhood, to motherhood, yet, they are qualities every individual should have. One should be able to discern when a command becomes a dictate.
Command need not necessarily be used as a tool to benefit another, but can also be used as a means of boosting one’s own ego, as a tool for tyranny. It is important to understand the difference between being ‘in command’ and being ‘a tyrant’. In India, a woman is always conditioned and often expected to display and practice her gentler feminine qualities, when she should really be doing the opposite. But no one ever taught her that! No one ever taught her how! So when her husband kicks, punches or slaps her, and even deprives her of food and freedom, she remains faithful to her upbringing and education: ‘Be patient, you are a woman’.
Well, men can do anything! Because a woman needs a man, he has been given a license by society, to have other women too. He always has an option. Therefore the fear of losing her nest, her shelter, her status - all given to her because of her husband, makes a woman so weak, that she becomes a door-mat. She becomes a punching bag for her husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, or anyone else who cares to exploit her, subjugate her and torture her mentally and physically.
I feel very strongly that awareness is needed. We need education, we need to inform. I plan to publish a document, a small booklet maybe, in which we can give all the empowering information to young girls and women regarding their rights and duties. Our education system doesn’t give this information to girls, even women teachers are not informed. This flier will be distributed free to all girls’ schools, first in my own home state of Haryana, and then later on in Punjab, which is one of the worst affected regions, even more so than Delhi and Gujarat.
Money has to be raised for such activites; we are talking about reaching out to millions of girls. In each district there would be about forty to fifty thousand girls, and we are talking about providing them this information which is so vital, so important. It is really a big missing link, for they are not being taught or informed about the dignity and value of human life.
The right attitude has to be created which balances their personality, and then that balanced attitude can come into play when a woman interacts with other people.