I have written a lot about belief in God and what change it brought to my life. I will go one step further and attempt to write my thoughts about believers. I will refrain from writing about the non-believers or atheists as they call themselves, because I never understood why someone should make so much noise about something, which they believe doesn’t even exist. It is about believers that I would dare to put down my thoughts. I seek your pardon if any of you find my writing to be arrogant or impertinent.

Believers, as we are called in general, don’t necessarily fall under one group. On the one end of the spectrum are believers who are fanatic enough to cause hurt and destruction in the name of their beliefs. On the other end there are those who would keep their beliefs to themselves, almost ashamed of admitting their belief in someone whom they haven’t seen heard or felt. But still they believe too, or it helps them in many ways to believe in a power that can do things which they can’t.

I would leave the violent kind of believer out of this essay as I am of strong opinion that they shouldn’t even be called believers in God, because God would never want hurt to be caused to any one of His creations. They either haven’t understood their religion or they are guided by people who misinterpret them for whatever end that suits them.

I will only attempt to talk about the other believers, who would cause no hurt to others as part of their beliefs.

All believers basically aim at some form of communication with God. For many it is for seeking something from Him, mostly some kind of material benefit. For still others it is just to keep Him pleased so that their misdeeds are pardoned and they are not made to suffer for their actions. Then there are a few who will not seek anything from Him, but just thank Him for keeping them as they are. Whatever the purpose of seeking Him, we all feel the need to perform some sort of action to show this out. Not that He won’t understand our thinking and need without any action. But it is our need to perform some kind of action, for we feel the need to express our intentions through actions. These actions or activities are generally termed, sometimes wrongly, as religious practices or forms of worship. These practices are what generally come under criticism from various people or groups, if they are different from what they practice.

These practices vary with place, caste, family background and the Guru being followed. There are those who believe in the simple act of standing with palms together in front of God’s idol or picture in their homes, offering a flower or Tulsi leaves. Some believe in Shayana Pradakshinam or Anga Pradakshinam or in plain English rolling around a temple. Some believe in piercing metal objects through their tongue or their cheeks. Some may seek the help of God-men to lead them to God. There are many forms of offerings made to God including alcoholic drinks. All these form various practices to achieve the ultimate aim of communicating with Him for whatever purpose.

The main aim of writing this is to ask whether anyone has the right to criticize any form of religious activity, as long as it doesn’t hurt others in any way. We have seen one or the other form of religious activity being severely criticized in the media or social forums. Ironically, the most severe criticisms come from believers who themselves may be following one or the other kind of religious activity or worship. The most severe criticisms come from those who call themselves the “intellectual” or “evolved” believers. They form a group of persons who have read or claim to have read the scriptures. They take pains to point out that most of the practices are not mentioned in the scriptures and that this is not the right path to God.

As we all know the original scriptures, at least as far as Hinduism is concerned, have been interpreted by various scholars and teachers and that these interpretations are not the same always. Nor are they understood in the way they were supposed to be. Also, on the basis of what profiles the devotees fall under, ways of reaching out to God are prescribed by different Gurus. This being the case what right does one have to criticize the practices of another person? Forms of worship have changed over the centuries to suit the particular period and place. As long as the form of worship doesn’t hurt others, everyone should be allowed the freedom to their way of reaching out to God.

Hoping that everyone would be tolerant to others’ practices, I dedicate this at the feet of my Guru, Shree Andaal and Shriman Narayanan.