Holy egoism

Man devised religions to conquer nature -2

Holy egoism

History has shown that entrenched religions have never sat on a common platform to take a positive global action for the good of the world. Christian churches with of their considerable financial strength and religious mission have continued to provide health, educational and social services in numerous communities. But how many Christians will accept to correct their Bible according to Pope Francis’ unequivocal statement with regard to man-nature relationship that “this is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the church”? He lucidly urges us to respect the laws of nature (not of the sacred books) and protect the Earth for future generations. We are part of nature, not its overlords, and we must care for nature as much as we care for ourselves because the two are inseparable in this common home. (Read: Big Bang Yoga: https://bigbangyoga.org/en/2015/01/07/new-god-big-bang/)

Can we rewrite the Bible or the Koran, each one considered to be the word of God, using the vast amount of knowledge ecologist-prophets have produced? When reading these books one finds that even God borrowed from the knowledge previously accumulated by people to dictate both books. Why can’t we?

All religions are basically anthropocentric, that is they deal only with the behavior of individual human beings in order to manage social groups.(Read: “Life is a river” in Twisted Turban)  For them everything else is of little relevance. Hindu and Buddhist teachings tend to promote mainly egoism, that is, each individual must attain the state of nirvana; social and environmental welfare is secondary. Ideally the followers are required to spend the lifetime practicing yoga, meditation and austerities for self-improvement at the same time attain self-denial or kill the ego. What contradiction!  This egocentric practice has benefited many individuals tremendously; but personal interest takes priority over societal and environmental concerns. This is evident from the enormous effort required to improve the unhealthy state of public amenities in these societies where nature has only a philosophical role: it is worshipped but not conserved. People know nature but only as a slave of human beings.