It has become quite fashionable these days to debunk God and religion, as we go through the rigmarole of day-to-day life. This trait is more noticeable when people grow up and have got through the mundane battles of their lives to make both ends meet. It also depends on the kind of formal or informal education, surroundings and circumstances that the particular individual has been through; otherwise an ordinary person is usually quite God-fearing and remains obsessed with religion and the cognate rituals which seemingly have no value.

The increasingly mechanical life devoid of inter-personal relationships and human emotions amidst the overpowering presence of machines, tools, instruments, gadgets and technology are alienating an individual who often attacks God who is never in a mood to defend Himself, and who has never expressly desired to be worshipped or followed through an organised religion.

But the fact remains that both God and religion are important and this is more so at a time when alienated human beings through their garbled understanding of the ‘Supreme Being’ are wreaking havoc across the world. The same is reflected in the rise of the right-wing forces, the retreat of the liberal state, the rise of authoritarian regimes, and the emergence of intolerant theocratic forces.

There are mindless acts of terror in the name of religion, extremist and militant violence, shooting and killing of individuals for their liberal values and thoughts as seen in India, Bangladesh and elsewhere and imposition of majoritarian, monolithic and homogeneous ‘one-size-fits-all’ standards on all members of the society. Such manifestations are against the innate nature of a creative human society.

All the developments that we see today have happened because of the allowance made to contrary beliefs and thoughts. Against such incursions on religion and God, there are certain factors which need to be understood metaphysically, spiritually and philosophically. Otherwise there will be no meaning in the mindless pursuit and protection of repetitive but fleeting activities. The first thing that we need to notice is the transient and ephemeral nature of things around us, including human life. After all, what is the purpose of human existence if nothing lasts forever? Why are we living, surviving and struggling when we all have to die or get destroyed at the end of the day? In fact, most of us live as if we will never die.

But most of us actually die as if we never lived. We keep chasing amorphous chimeras of life without realising the import behind the same. If we don’t comprehend the nuances behind the same, we would continue to hurtle along like zombies and without grasping the meaningfulness of human existence. We have come to this earth for a definite purpose and until we find and understand that purpose, we shall continue feeling alienated and disaffected against the order of human life on this earth.

After all, as they say, if the world was as good as it was when we were born, we should not have been born at all because our existence would be completely irrelevant given the realities. So, we must find the purpose that most of us have so far failed to discover and that purpose is to strive for our ultimate spiritual development.

We were all born and have to struggle through our lives to aspire, achieve and hoard the different goodies for a comfortable human life, often way beyond the requirement, only to realise at the end of the day how we have frittered away the precious time on this earth. All the wealth and fame that we chase through our lives suddenly appear to have no meaning as they were never ours and are finally left behind. What is truly ours are the precious and happy moments spent learning different aspects of life’s nuances and our relationships.

Enrichment of our mind and consciousness in this life are carried forward to the next life. Hence, the intellectual difference shown by different individuals since their birth despite being born in same circumstances. Unfortunately, mired as we are in the quagmire of religion, caste, nationalism, regionalism, linguistic jingoism, competitive oneupmanship and hedonist pursuits, we have mostly missed the wood for the trees.

So, instead of savouring the magnificence of divine creations and helping ourselves spiritually, we have ended up messing up our lives. At the end of the day, this world remains a ‘Maya’ or a Divine Drama which we are supposed to play out towards our gradual spiritual evolution for ultimate union with the ‘Supreme Being’.

We continue taking birth and rebirth on this earth till we attain the elusive Moksha or become perfect in order to merge with the Divine.

YouTube, Google and literature are replete with the rebirth stories to prove that the same human being keeps coming to this earth over and over again. Past-life regression therapies, tantric wisdom or the increasingly popular ‘Yoga’ convey identical messages.

The popular Hindu belief of our rebirth being pegged to our Karma is actually a spin-off of our consciousness at the time of our death. Spiritual studies suggest that instead of the Divine assigning a particular birth for us, it is the humans themselves who decide their birth given the kind of lessons they still have to learn and the same is predicated upon their own consciousness. Otherwise, how is it that two individuals born to same parents and same circumstances show diametrically opposite traits and talents?

This is because of differently evolved consciousness in their previous births. So, a seeker of wealth, when he dies, once again looks for a womb or parents where s/he can pursue the Mammon. A dying saint will look for parents who will facilitate his spiritual upliftment.

With this perspective, the earth is nothing but a school, where we keep coming to learn our lessons till we have been able to understand the real truth of life to merge with the Supreme. As we remember all our past lives in the astral world, our spiritual growth is very slow because of the mechanically self-controlled behaviour.

That is why, the human life on earth is preferred by souls because of the possibly faster spiritual growth than is possible in the astral world but more often than not, we end up messing up the same.

The irony is that Hindus, who believe in ‘rebirth’ the most and accept the possibility of them being born as a person of some other religion, faith, creed or a woman, still spoil their Karmic consciousness by indulging in such nefarious activities that actually keep him or her from further spiritual evolution and deliverance.

(To be concluded)

(The writer is Chief Executive Officer, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. The views are personal and dont reflect those of the Government)