Religion - it’s not about dominating lives
Ever since I have joined the SGI and started chanting, I have had various comments made by my family and friends. A few of them are Christians, some are Jewish, some are atheists and many don’t believe in any religion. I have learnt to respect others with religious beliefs and I have learnt to respect those without any religious background. I talk openly about my spiritual beliefs and avoid promoting about the SGI.
Most of the time, people don’t react to my beliefs or when I go to SGI events. However, there is the occasional comment where people say that “religion dominates people’s lives”. One of my friends has said that to another friend and my parents have said it me. I wanted to attend Greg’s lecture at the Kaikan this morning and so I told my parents that I would be busy this morning. Some of their negative reactions were: Why are you going to the SGI again? You’ve already been last week. Don’t you get bored listening to that kind of stuff? Your time is bound by the Buddhist activities you go to. These comments offend me. But I knew that I had to give priority to spending time with my parents so I missed the lecture and had lunch with them instead. I have missed each and every lecture that Greg gives, mostly due to clashes with my family lunches. And especially with the TTG leadership role I now have, I find it very difficult to manage my time.
The statement “Religion dominates people’s lives” hurts me the most. As a Buddhist, I don’t believe that people are being dominated by religion. We are in control of our lives, we choose what or what not to believe and we choose to attend the activities that our religious/spiritual community has to offer. When we go to spiritual/religious seminars, lectures, discussion groups or any other related activities, we mustn’t see it as a chore. We don’t have attend these activities if we don’t want to. Nothing can force people to attend these things. We only attend if we want to. We only attend when we think that we can benefit from it, or when we believe we can can create value out of it. As believers of any religion, we have to remember that we are not forced to attend and we also need to respect non-believers as well. Whether or not we believe in something, we need to understand, respect and appreciate everyone around us - friends, families and even our enemies.
I just want to be able to enjoy my life, contribute to society and learn to respect each and everyone around us. Religion doesn’t force you to do something. It is there to guide you through the most difficult times. It is a philosophy you choose to follow.