Spirituality and strife

In this strife-torn world, caused primarily by divisive religious beliefs, I have penned a perspective that I have pondered over as a teenager living abroad and influenced by the Zoroastrian belief in Vohu Mana, the good mind, or as I would prefer to interpret it, the highest consciousness.

God, as far as my understanding goes, is not someone or something "up there.” He exists within. Through the personification of that indescribable spirit which is in every person, I believe that the prophets, and the spiritually evolved, hoped to assist all people to find "enlightenment.” This is reflected in the idea of heaven, hell, virtue and sin. There is no physical realm which one can enter to "suffer” or to "enjoy” after life. It is the acts which one commits in one’s lifetime, through one’s own free will, as Zarathushtra emphasized, which have a bearing on how the mind (or spirit) suffers from inner torment or enjoys inner peace after death. Such is the analogy of heaven and hell which has been inculcated into the very basis of society to assist every person attain that inner peace for the good of himself and the rest of humanity.

I believe that behind the lives of great visionaries such as Zarathushtra or Christ, or in the Vedantic/Buddhist messages, is a simple metaphor for the inner and outer peace and self-sacrifice that every religion is rooted in and which is attainable through a higher understanding of one’s self and one’s soul — an understanding which enables the mortal shell we wear to be set aside to give way to a radiance of understanding and self-comprehension as taught through the ages by the great prophets and saints.

It cannot be expected or possible for people to attain such awareness without absolute devotion to solitude and the pursuit of spirituality. However, one can gain an understanding of what is meant by the teachings of all true religions through a deeper study and application in our daily lives of the inspirational wisdom contained in them. And through this understanding one can abandon the idea that religion is a chore to be undertaken because "someone up there” is watching or to secure a place in comfort for eternity, but that religion is practiced so that one is at peace with oneself and as a result with other inhabitants of this world. With that understanding one can truly hope to prosper unselfishly in all fields and accomplish all of life’s goals in contentment.

I believe that one must realize the importance of wisdom and right-thinking (righteousness). After all, it is only with these qualities that our Prophet attained true enlightenment. One cannot devote one’s life to following only cultural and social norms in the name of "religion” for the simple reason that these change and are subject to individual interpretation, often resulting in strife. If people the world over were to recognize that the pristine message of all the Prophets was identical and meant to embrace the ideals expressed by those virtuous thinkers, the devastation that takes place in the name of religion and God would cease.

NIYASH MISTRY

Istanbul, Turkey