Why Humans Absolutely Need Religion?

Why different people die in different age   and due to different cause ?  Why some people suffer and some people remain happy during   some period in life?

by N.S.Venkataraman

From the day of one’s birth, the religion has been highlighting to the individual humans that death is natural, certain and inevitable. 

Some people die in young age, some people in middle age and some people  in ripe old age. Some people die due to accidents, some due to murders , some due suicide  , some due to sickness and some due to ageing process.

Why different people die in different age   and due to different cause ?  Why some people suffer and some people remain happy during   some period in life?

Hindu religion   and Buddhism say that such events happen due to one’s karma ( fate) One is not clear   as to how other religions explain this  or  whether whatever they explain amount to  better explanation

Where do humans go after death?  No one knows for sure  . Hindu religion and Buddhism say that there would be rebirth for humans , until such time that in one of the rebirths, they would do no sin and “ realise God” .  Other religions seem to say that one would go to “hell” or heaven” after death depending upon the type of life that they underwent.

All said and done , the fact is that all religions  remind the individual humans constantly  about the inevitable event of death at one time or the other.

With the spectacular developments in science and technology by cloning,  artificial goat etc. have been  created and depending upon the design  developed by the scientists , it can be an angry  creature or submissive creature.

Artificial  humans too are now being  created  by matching the egg of a female  with the sperm of a male , even though the particular male and the female would not have known each other at any time in their life. It appears that the day would not be distant when by  scientific techniques, an angry or submissive human would be created in the laboratory.

Human life is also now prolonged   to some extent by using medical technologies and  due to advances in medical science, the average life of humans have increased significantly.  Further, a dead body can be preserved in “good shape”  for any length of time  by scientific techniques.

Such developments in science and technology could demolish the theory of birth and rebirth  due to karma  ( fate) or one leaving for hell or heaven after death due to their actions in life.

Whatever may be such developments, religion will continue to remain relevant and important for individual humans , as it aids in bringing an orderly life process.

Number of those who negate religion ( known as atheists)  are few and far between and they would also die, most often in confused state  of mind and perhaps, would “realise God” at the terminal stage of the life.

Whatever may be the theory with regard to origin and end of human life and that of all creatures including animals, humans need a goal to lead the  life , however temporary the length of life  may  be.

Religions define the goal for humans and  tell the humans that the goal should be to attain the feet of God , whatever He is and wherever He is.  Religion further tells humans that to reach God, the humans need to lead an ethical life , adhering to the principles of love, compassion and truth.  From this point of view, religion becomes an absolutely significant  aspect of human life.

Religions lay down the principle with regard to way of living , that would enable the humans to  live  with   peace in life.

Can anyone have peaceful   and quality life without being devoted to one religion or the other ?  In the absence of adhering to religion, humans would be wandering like beasts.

Even as religion is the essential need of humans, wars, conflicts and corruption in the world continue  to  take place and even with people adhering to one religion fighting with people belonging to another religion.

This situation do not mean that religion has no significance in human life. This only means that some people have not  been adequately  impacted by the religious thoughts and preachings . They inevitably become restless due to such state of mind  and indulge in war, conflict and corruption.

The essential fact is   that the religion   has a distinct role in shaping the quality life of individual human and the entire world would have scene of chaos  and unrest in the absence of religion.

People from immemorial time have felt and realised that the wealth and material possession do not take individual human  to a state of  conclusive satisfaction in life.   The extent of adherence to religion of individual human depend upon the intensity of the religious devotion , which proportionately promote a detached state of mind and that is what is called as BLISS ( Ananda in Sanskrit).