A Hindu Perspective by Balliram Chadee. M.Hin.

www.thehanumanmission.com. bally@thehanumanmission.com or Bally 416-992-2487.

This is the 19th in a series of articles by Balliram Chadee and Hotshots Newspaper to bring a Hindu Perspective to educate our community. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

Question: Religion vs. Tradition – Effects and Implications as Hindus.

Ans: Other than politics, one of the most controversial discussions we can be engaged in or participate in as Hindus, has to do with Religion vs. Traditions . It sometimes gets personal, bitter, creates enemies, distance amongst friends or worst; put divisions between people who otherwise would never have a reason to fight for something which they cannot change. So today we would try to address some of the issues and thoughts which result in strong views and opinions on this subject or controversial point. How do you see it? Does it matter? Is it an issue? From my years of following Hinduism, researching various aspects of the religion, evaluating personal effects of the traditions, I believe I have gained considerable experience as well as knowledge on this subject. We sometimes make friends, enemies and cause severe heated conversations with very strong opinions through defensive conversations or should we say educated conversations? Either way we look at this subject, it is left upon the individual to determine what is tradition, what is religion, what is the difference and what is ultimately right. This issue becomes more controversial when a particular issue comes up to which we probably share a different viewpoint or have a strong personal opinion and bias against a particular activity in life. Issues such as marriage, rituals, rites, fasting, puja, funeral, yagna, periods of mourning, ethics, morality, customs, ancestry, sitting on a chair to pray vs. the floor, dress code for religious events, weddings etc are some of the issues which bring its own challenges, opportunities and situations for review, evaluation, agreement or opinion sharing on Religion vs. Tradition .

In my opinion, the Religion and Religious doctrines are very defined, precise, direct, specific and much focused. The stipulations are made clear with the requirements expected and the practices which a Hindu must follow. So then why are all the disagreements, arguments and heated debates still around for over so many years? One of the most common arguments on this issue is what happens today and what we do vs. what the traditions claim. Religion is when we follow to the “T”; the laws, requirements and standards; as set out in the various Shastras, Vedas, Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita etc. Tradition is our practice for the activities we engage in, sometimes when we take the ideals, philosophy or lifestyles associated with those mandates and reflect them against our own lives. If they match then we would have lived our religion through our traditions, if they do not, then we are still battling tradition vs. religion. As West Indians or Hindus from the Caribbean , we are all very familiar with our traditions and customs. This is a generally accepted fact. I would say that many of us are less familiar with our religion, the details of Hinduism that is. We live in a changing world re; we live in a REAL Society , a PRACTICAL world …..we do not live in an IDEAL world ! The ideal world was in the Vedic era where divinity ruled and the tenets of Hindu doctrines were our guiding principles. I am sure most of you will agree that even though we have the traditions sunk deep in our heads from our parents (even if we did not like them), we are still challenged between the Religion vs. Tradition dilemma whether in North America, the Caribbean or elsewhere. If this is not true, then we should not be seeing in the world what we see today, right? Finally we only have to look at ourselves, our family and our friends to see the effects of tradition vs. religion. Some of the activities we practice today are purely traditions because of a way of life in the era we grew up in. Some are religious mandated and some have a common element of both. Many of the practices we follow however are traditional; driven by religion. When it is convenient, we quite often trade the religion for tradition as it suites us, however at the end of the day, we are all responsible for our actions, practices and disciplines; whether guided by tradition or religion. This has always been a debated subject and will be more many years to come over generations. You have the knowledge, you can make the choice. You be the judge!