What really binds us all together?
Tracking back evolution, I thought of specifically looking at how human beings have managed to get over their fears and shift the source of anxiety. Back in the days of being partial monkeys, men highly depended on natural elements to satiate their basic needs. That was the purest form of life which seems quite beyond someone’s imagination at this point of life. As time passed, ways of leading a life transformed due to the growth of population and introduction of newer elements of nature. We drastically drifted from relaying on the jungle to chopping down parts of it to set up our own little fields. Everything right from the set of believes to set of skills required to survive through changed. While the cavemen worshiped the natural elements such as the trees in the forest, sun, wind and water, the agrarian society men picked water, sun and their own equipments of farming as their set of deities. That’s when festivals such as Sashtra Pooja were introduced which was practised by men to pay respect to their weapons/equipments. The trees of the forest went out of the concern list due to mere convenience. In the Industrial economy, again the context of survival transmitted from deferred outcome (farming) to instant gratification (industrial produce), hence the shift in the set of deities from natural elements to technology.
The context of survival is exactly what moulded our set of believes and gave birth to different sources of anxiety. Cavemen depended on and co-existed with the nature, they believed everything had a spirit. The farmer also depended on natural sources of energy but his needs had evolved from feeding himself to clothing himself along with feeding. The factory worker had nothing to do with any of the above but depended on the large scale machine that fetched him a living. As we drifted away from purity, we rewrote our set of believes, we redefined our set of needs and we also very conveniently switched over the ultimate source to entrust our lives.
Religion is a mere source of the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, majorly manipulated by our set of wants. As we evolved from stage zero to stage three, elements that controlled our living kept evolving too. Today, we have complete disregard for the resources that have no direct impact on our luxurious lives. Now we know why deforestation is on a rise, pollution levels are shooting high up and drinking water will soon run out.
Right from worshipping trees to setting up idols that are expected to save humanity from every small or big calamity, we have always feared the one that holds the ultimate control over our existence. ‘God’ has taken multiple forms based on the elements of dependency and that’s the very reason for the classification of people based on communities and for the rise of multiple religions. It’s basic human nature to not agree with the ones who hold a different opinion, clashes are bound to happen.
Talking about the current scenario, when tangible elements are no more a source of dependency then why will the notion of a superior presence be tangible? Intangible sources of energy like Karma and law of attraction have been existing for ages yet seem to be the most relevant in today’s day and age due to the drastic drift towards a digital/service economy. Clearly context and convenience go hand in hand.
PS: This post is not meant to be offensive but is for the readers to contemplate just a little. Hope you had a good read :)
