Day 3: Religion

I spent this day thinking about religion.

On Wednesday, we went to Doi Suthep. Everything about this place felt kind of therapeutic; from the touch of the cold stone to our feet, the smell of burning incense, and the various alters and shrines of worship for Buddha. The only thing I had a slight discontentment with was the number of tourists, which I later rationalized that it was required for Chiang Mai to ‘sacrifice’ a sacred place of worship to tourism because ultimately it would bring more good to the other temples (money can be used for conservation).

I got tired quite quickly at this place, I remember I was suffering from a slight headache, and took the steps of the temple to rest for a while. My group mates Kim and Hui Shi came to sit along side me and we talked about religion.

DISCLAIMER: I do not intend any offence on any religion, nor am I saying anything is right/wrong. Everything is simply my opinion, but I will try to be as tactful as I can without sacrificing honesty. Everything henceforth is also an introspective reflection of the entire conversation, not an account of the actual conversation that took place.

We discussed Buddhism first, and its origins; how Buddha was a royal indian prince; a human being; a mortal. I was questioning why is it that a person whose teachings, as wise as they may be, could be worshipped as God after his death; people believed he would be able to grant luck or dispel evil spirits to those who offered burning joss sticks. I imagined myself as a person growing up as a Buddhist (I am a free thinker). I could follow his teachings as much as possible, and understand the intention to be a good person, a good life form on this planet, and obtaining nirvana (I have no in depth knowledge of this). But I could never fathom the idea of Buddha being a higher being able to influence magical forces in my life. I could harbor a guess on why worshipping is the case in Buddhism today; that worshipping and the belief of a higher being could be a good coping mechanism for people. I say all these because at Doi Suthep, they said that walking around the golden statue thrice would grant one good luck, or that a bracelet made of string, blessed with some religious water would grant good luck too. Supernatural forces do not make as much sense to me…

IF IT WERE THE CASE, that people in Thailand don’t actually view Buddha as a higher being, my view would still stand in my opinion, if I apply it to Singapore. Many people worship Buddha as a God. But the fact remains that, he was human. However, I hold my views and opinions with little weight because I acknowledge the lack of knowledge I have in this area. My question simply remains; why do we glorify a human being as if he were God?

For the case of Christianity (since we were discussing religion as a whole), I learnt through the conversation that I actually can contemplate the idea of a God being real. That day, I realized something about myself. My mind is curious and seeks scientific evidence and explanations behind any supernatural phenomena. Things like the origin of the Earth, our universe, or life. If we go by the Big Bang Theory, again which I lack in depth knowledge, I believe that everything originated from a single infinitely small point and exploded to form the universe. Stars, nebulas, planets, elements, there are all scientific explanations to the formations of all these. But the unanswered questions which makes possible the existence of a God are: Why and how did the Big Bang or anything exist? Why are things here?

However, apart from questioning the origin and purpose of everything, I also took something else way from Doi Suthep. Before I took to rest by the steps of the temple, I was eavesdropping on a Thai local guide explaining to some tourists about Buddhism. She was talking about forgiveness. She talked about letting go of Earthly attachments and narrowing things down to what truly matters. Disputes between people all contain layers of anger, hate, and misunderstandings. She said that Buddha’s teachings were to let go of resentment and truly accept and forgive others for their own anger or ignorance. Overhearing this really made me reflect on my own temperament. I realized that many of the reasons I got angry for in my life could have been dispelled if I practiced understanding and acceptance of those matters. To be calm is to understand and most importantly, accept that things are a certain way for a certain reason. Acceptance however is not giving up. It is simply understanding why things are as they are, like why a person is often crude and offensive. Understanding this person would give you a better edge to help him or her out in being more tactful.

On this day I concluded to myself that religion remained a huge mystery to me. Its degree of truth on the existence of a higher being is unclear, yet it serves as a good coping mechanism for billions of people. Buddhism in particular was also of interest to me because it served as a moral compass or as a manual on “How to be a good person” in a sense. Nirvana also interests me, where the mind enters a kind of realm of peace when you dispel all desires and ego. This day opened a great many questions for me, and made me realize how insignificant yet significant the human mind is.