'Religion' is the most wonderful and pleasing a word can sound. The moment we hear this word, a kind of reverence, faith, hope, truth and calm overtakes our mind. We just want to get drowned in the warmth of religion and feel its soothing effect on us. But yesterday while on a trip to a temple, I realized people have corrupted the sacred word so much so that now religion is nothing but a hypocrisy.
Religion preaches a person to be humble, selfless and to give charity. Being greedy and desirous is against religion. But isn't it an irony, that in spite of preaching against being greedy, the place where religion is preached is adorned with gold, precious stones and with all the riches imaginable?
Religion in its pure form is not corrupt but people who practice it are corrupt. All over the world, the place where religion is taught is so magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful. People want to decorate, redecorate and embed the places with riches. But then again it is a paradox when most of the people who are very much alive and living in that country is suffering from poverty and an inanimate place where charity is taught covered in wealth from head to toe.
In our case when a person dies we perform 'Gaywa' which we believe will take him to heaven. So, the more 'Gaywa' you perform, more is the chances that he will not remain in purgatory (khorwa). In other words the more money you spent for offering butter lamps, rites and rituals and donate money to lhakhangs and monasteries, more is the chances of him leaving the purgatory. This means eternal destination does not depend on the deeds you do rather it depends on how much wealth you can spare after you die. A man of wealth can commit a plethora of sins still his eternal destination is heaven whereas if a poor man does the same he will be booking a one way ticket to hell.
Religion was, is and will be corrupted by people who are practicing it. People who are religious drives prado and land cruiser, they take meals fit for kings and ask us to give up material things while they run after dollars.
