Religion
The word ‘religion’ comes from the Latin word ‘religio’ which menas obligation, bond or reverence. Religion is the obligation to be yourself, it is the way in which you bond with your body, mind and in-turn with the society.
OBLIGATION
Wherever there is a obligation to the self, the survival of the self, there exist to chief levels: The Proper Self and The Extended Self. In the Proper Self is the body, the mind and the person(spirit, soul) to whom the body and the mind belong. In the Extended Self come people, events and things other than the individual which are related, either directly or indirectly, to his own survival as the Proper Self. The family, the community, other living entities and non-living things, the universe, and God; all fall under the Extended Self. The Proper Self and the Extended Self survive in harmony with each-other in a symbiotic way. This obligation toward survival of the Proper Self ad the Extended Self is religion.
BOND
Often we find ourselves being in some other space and time. This is how we survive most of the time–being someone else and somewhere else. For e.g. a few moments ago I caught myself thinking about an event that happened some 3 years ago. I was entirely engrossed in the event and was mentally present in that space and time in which the event had happened. We often lose track of our current space and time, of the ‘here and now’ and keep on wandering. We also often people trying to be ‘like’ someone else. Let’s say for e.g. a child trying to emulate his father. He picks-up most of the mannerisms and thought and behavior patterns from his father in an attempt to be like the father. Over a period of time this gets ingrained in the child and now a part of him is his father. He has lost himself to the level to which he is unconsciously emulating his father. he is anything else but hundred percent himself. We have within us many such conditions which influence and at times dictate us into behavioral patterns. But since we are unaware of these influences, we think these behavioral patterns to be our own. This particular way in which a person, oblivious to himself, becomes someone else in parts, loosens his bond with himself. This deters his ability to be himself. Religion is the strengthening of this bond a person has with being himself.
REVERENCE
The Proper Self, for his survival, to a smaller or greater extent, depends upon the Extended Self. This relationship is meant to be symbiotic, where both the elements contribute and maintain their worthiness. If one of them is contributing, and the other is not, then an imbalance in the feelings of self-worth is formed which later leads to inter-individual or social problems. This usually happens when someone fails to acknowledge and/or accept someone else’s existence ‘as-it-is’. Acknowledging and accepting things and people as-they-are maintains and enhances the self-worth of an individual and gives birth to a harmonious co-existence of the Proper Self and the Extended Self. The feeling of reverence which leads to this acknowledgment and acceptance is religion.
Prasenjit Kamble is an emerging author. He is a specialised therapist in ancient Indian sciences and writes on various topics of human interest including psychology and ancient sciences. He is an active researcher in Indian Psychology.
Tags: bond, obligation, Philosophy, Religion, science, self-worth, soul, survival, technology