Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why large crowds gather for so-called religious matters, like the recent dispute in Shimla, while very few are interested in genuine religion or self-knowledge. He explains that this phenomenon is rooted in the difference between folk religion (Lok Dharma) and real religion (Vastavik Dharma). Real religion is a threat to the ego, as it is about self-knowledge. The ego, however, wants treatment on its own terms, seeking pleasure, peace, and dignity while remaining unchanged. This desire gives rise to folk religion, which is nothing but an expression of the ego's ignorance-based desires. He categorizes people into three levels regarding religion. The highest level consists of those living in real religion, who are extremely rare, perhaps one in a million. The next level includes those who have rejected religion altogether, such as atheists or agnostics. The lowest and most degraded level comprises the vast majority, about 90 out of 100 people, who call themselves religious but follow folk religion. This folk religion is entirely outward-looking, involving rituals, pilgrimages, and fighting with other religions, all as a means to avoid self-reflection. The more violent a person is externally, the more cowardly they are internally, driven by a deep-seated fear they refuse to confront. Acharya Prashant further elaborates that these so-called religious people are often bigots without knowing the basics of their own faith. They are slaves to their beliefs and ignorant of their inner workings. He uses an analogy of a cat and a dog, whose gods are imagined as a watermelon and an orange, respectively, leading to an unending enmity based on mere imagination. This is what happens in the marketplace of religion, where people fight over their imagined concepts. He states that self-knowledge is like poison to the ego, which is why it is avoided. The ego prefers the sweet, sugary pills of folk religion, which provide a pleasant taste but offer no real cure for its underlying sickness.
