Devotion Out Of Fear Is Fine

Recently I had been to Palani,Tamil Nadu for performing the hair Tonsuring Ceremony of my Grand daughter.

My son who is neither a Believer nor a Non Believer, depends on his mood swings, as it is with most of us(only he is honest about it),as usual posed a question as to whether it is really Fear that impels one towards Devotion.

This question has a bearing to his statement the earlier Day and my reply.

He said he did not believe in Customs and is following because he is told so, so as not to offend me.

I replied him that there are things one learns in Life by experiences and  times by paying a heavy price.

It is better looking foolish than to suffer and regret.

I also added, that , as far as visiting Temples to complete a Vow or a Family tradition,one must never set a time frame for completion of the Ceremony and for that matter visiting and darshan of God, when he asked me as to when we are expected to return after completion of the Ceremony, wanted a time frame.

I narrated an earlier incident when I visited Tirupati to have a darshan of Lord Balaji along with my 8year Old Daughter and my nephew.

My Nephew is quite religious and is a senior Guru for visiting Sabari malai, which he has been visiting yearly for over forty years regularly.

While we were driving to Tirupati from Chennai he told me that ‘

‘Ramani, we need Five  hours to travel both ways, take one hour for darshan in Special Entrance, leave a buffer of  an hour and we should be back by

One PM( we left Chennai by 6 AM)

I told him not to set a time frame to the One who sets Time for Every One, that too, to Lord Venkateswara.

He laughed off saying that I am a Superstitious Fool.

We reached Tirupati, entered the Special Entrance, queue,into the Single lane fenced by iron barrier, from where one can not come back before the darshan is over.

We were made to wait for Seventeen Hours to have the darshan .

Imagine my plight as my daughter refused to get down from my Hips and I had  to attend to her calls of Nature, demand for Food!

From that day I stopped even discussing the plans.

As I remarked in one of my Posts, I leave for visiting Tempe,s with no fixed Plan and cover them as I go by and I have been Blessed with immediate and Easy darshan of the Deity, wherever I go.

It was against this background my son told me that I follow Religious Rites, believe In God,being Spiritual because of Fear.

I do not know.

Fear of the Unknown is nothing to be ashamed of and I admit to being guilty of this.

People do not admit it, I do.

Thirukkural, a treatise in Tamil on par with The Bhagavad Gita says.

அஞ்சுவ தஞ்சாமை பேதைமை யஞ்சுவ       அஞ்சுவது அஞ்சாமை பேதைமை அஞ்சுவது

தஞ்ச லறிவார் தொழில் (08)                              அஞ்சல் அறிவார் தொழில்.

இதன்பொருள்:

அஞ்சுவது அஞ்சாமை பேதைமை- அஞ்சப்படுவதனை அஞ்சாமை பேதைமையாம்; அஞ்சுவது அஞ்சல் அறிவார் தொழில்- அவ்வஞ்சப்படுவதனை அஞ்சுதல் அறிவார் தொழிலாம்.

It is Foolishness not to be afraid of what is to be afraid of.

The Wise fear what is to be feared.

The question as to why man believes in God is often explained as “Fear’ (in a derisive manner)

All our actions are impelled by Emotions or Instincts.

We eat because we are forced to eat because of Hunger, we have Sex because we expect pleasure.

Similarly if one were to worship and Believe in God because of Fear, Be it.

So long as  I am happy and believe that something bad will not happen to me and Good alone will result, it does not matter why I and what I believe in.

Period.