Indian society is immersed in superstition.
Over the years we have had our struggles with eradicating or fighting superstition.
As soon as we gained independence the Govt. of the day realized that one of the reasons for India’s backwardness was superstition prevalent among vast majority of citizens.
The form of superstition prevalent at that time was very complex involving sacrifices and so on. So, the Govt. set up a department under the science and technology ministry, with a mandate to promote scientific thinking and eliminate superstition.
However, over a period of time this department lost its relevance as superstitious people became politicians and subsequently powerful Ministers. Remember Indira Ji and her tryst with swamiji and the like?
Cut to today, superstition has morphed into a different demon altogether. It has creeped into middle class homes cutting across all sections, politicians to movie stars to scientists to sportsmen. A humbling reminder of the fragility of human beings.
Superstition is a blind belief that God will help you and grant your wish or that something is bad without a logical reason.
And, a follow up of the above concept is if you please God he will help you succeed.
Further, pleasing God takes several forms of practices: Reciting slokas, mantras, offering gifts, money, visiting, physical aspects like namaskars, climbing mountains etc.
Before we go further we need to touch upon wishes. Wishes can be hundreds of types, health related, education, marriage, career, jobs, disputes, migration and so on. And, not to forget – REAL ESTATE.
So, to keep up with the diversity, there are several Gods and forms of practices. Well established and prescribed.
Giving the Gods additional support are Godmen who are a class by themselves who by being human are able to give their followers a more well defined identity.
I hate and desist all of the above.
Hold on.
Before, you think I am some sort of a devil let me tell you, that I am not. I just do not like superstition and cult Swamijis.
I believe in Religion and the idea of sacredness which is important to preserve life, and nature, daily rituals for discipline, and a big and ardent fan of the literature which carries Hindu religion on its back (a separate topic for another day).
Now let us see the downsides of Superstition:
#1
When you see a possible solution for a problem of yours, you will not realize this may be the solution. This will cause great damage to your life. Why does this happen? This is because superstition has a habit of making you lazy towards finding solutions and believe in fatalistic or leave everything in God’s hands kind of thinking. Consequently, even when God sends a solution on your way, you will tend to miss it.
#2
Makes you Disconnected. This is because all the time you are doing the rituals around the superstitious beliefs, you are actually self hypnotizing. This is not good.
This in turn puts extra pressure on you to be connected with the real world around leading to waste of energy, and resources. This is because there is no way you can dehypnotize yourselves after some time.
#3
Make unwarranted comments which stems from the fact that superstition creates a false sense of fragile entitlement. Which makes you falsely think your life is somehow better another life. Which in turn, makes you think of lives in terms of “more important” and “less important” lives. This can be dangerous and can be thought of as point of no return.
Recently, while listening to Shri. Chaganti Garu pravachanam, he said “A chicken and its life” in a sarcastic way. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM_5cFwO1g4
This is similar to believing that higher marks academically means more value of a human being. Look at our country filled with people who have scored high marks. We do not have much to show in terms of per capita income, average life expectancy, standard of living, cleanliness and so on. DRDO chief recently said, we are 10 to 15 years behind in technology worldwide.
#4
Lose the ability to recognize “context“. This results in poor communication, unable to hold friendships, people generally coming to you as they have no other option or they cannot avoid you.
When my dear father passed away, one of our relatives asked my disbelieving wife and sister how many people came to the cremation.
Just think of it. We were silently grieving and this person who follows a popular cult in India and abroad was thinking of how much of a following my dear dad had at the time of his passing. Weird.
What matters is not how many people came to one’s cremation but who lived with the person in their twilight years.
#5
The most important thing is you will lose friends who are sensible. This will be the greatest loss. Sensible friends unable to cope up with your medieval practices will distance themselves from you. What you will be left with are those who are dumb or people who see an opportunity to exploit your drawbacks.
#6
Ability to enjoy simple things in life will vanish gradually, without even you realizing it.
Enjoying simple jokes, fun incidents and self deprecation (which means making your achievements and positives seem less important). Little things like growing plants, ability to share like inviting friends and treating them to a snack or high tea, or going on a picnic, hearing people who are talking sense and so on will be lost forever. Everything becomes a burden, you wish and pray will vanish tomorrow.
#7
Devastates young minds. Just think of it. Young children go to school, and they are taught math and science, nudging them to think logically, and analytically.
They come home and see parents and relatives mired in superstition and related practices. They simply get disoriented and struggle to reconcile these two worlds. I believe that next to large scale corruption practiced by politicians, it is superstition which is ruining India’s young children and making it difficult to become a developed nation.
#8
You will lose the ability to have a reasonable control on what thoughts and ideas you consume and generate. This is because superstition is about filling your mind with junk and you gradually lose the interest to rationally assess the thoughts, including plain information, analysis and opinions.
#9
Superstitions will facilitate you to eat excessive Carbs, Sugar and Seed Oil. All current practices of rituals and superstitions have the lunch factor in it. In the name of God and Vaibhavam, we cook excesses and savor them.
All three are harmful to health of a human according to the famous naturopathist and doctors like Mantena Raju and Dr. Berg.
I have to admit, I do not what is the effect if you offer these foods to Gods!
Are you suffering from any or all of the above and wish to leave this forever?
Just think about this deeply.
Each one of us is unique, coming from a diverse background, age, state of health, goals and ambitions.
So, there is no one size solution fits all.
Each one of us has to work on it and find a path to get out of the superstitious believes we have got into.
Then and only then we will be free, have a burdenless mind.
