Perverted Traditions

Friday, 27 November 2009 10:33 Written by TVD

"The thinking [person] must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply  rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must  avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another "

--Albert Schweitzer

Today we are forced to live a in world of social acceptance. And, sadly enough following them we have not  advanced even a bit. Infact we are losing our thinking, act of reasoning and even common sense.

Unless one is properly trained in God consciousness, what is the value in performing these man created traditions. It is a biggest disturbance to all the living entiies and the greatest dis-service to humanity. We adapt or learn to follow something because our neighbours followed it or our country people follow it. Say, if my country people are dumb or ignorant, should I follow them ? Or should I educate them or atleast follow myself  the right path ?

To be intelligent is not a crime. To question the authority for right answers is not a crime. But to blindly follow and cause havoc is a crime. This is true from social point of view what to speak of karmic point of view, where our every action is judged and we have to face equivalent reaction.

Unfortunately, today the Thanksgiving tradition created by our country men is a classic example of perverted or cruel tradition. It is estimated that more than 5 million turkeys are killed each year for thanksgiving day feast. Now, who wants to be in the place of that turkey?  When a person lacks basic understanding, he is forced to follow blindly, which is the product of mode of passion. What seems to have started as a harvest festival of offering thanks to crops, nature and eventually GOD for his compassion on earthly living entities, got perverted into a tradition of killing millions of other living entities. Unfortunately we have become so hypocritical that we celebrate thanksgiving by not actually giving (in terms of sacrificing for others benefit), but actually taking away a living entitiy's right to live. This is such an ungrateful situation of the current society where we are only educated on how to satisfy our tongue at any cost. This will only motivate us to become greedy at whatever cost.

Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita states

" Any sacrifice performed without regard for the directions of scripture, without distribution of  prasādam [spiritual food], without chanting of Vedic hymns and remunerations to the priests, and without faith is considered to be in the mode of ignorance " (BG 17. 13)

The understanding is when such a sacrifice is performed without proper direction, the result is instead of purifying our hearts we end up contaminating even more and creating more misfortune for ourselves. Such so called ceremonies have no value in them.  This is because they bring out most perverted understanding or heartless acts which do not benefit human society or for that matter any living entity.

Hence it is a sacred duty as a responsibile living entitiy with human body, to think and act properly for the benefit of whole society and also ourselves, especially when we greet each other by saying "Happy Thanks Giving"