Acharya Prashant responds to a question about why religion, which can seem childish and irrelevant, is followed with such militant fervor. He begins by acknowledging the questioner's use of the word "childish," stating it provides a good starting point for the discussion. He explains that human beings are born as kidsâimmature, dependent, and enslaved to their physical tendencies, bodily configuration, and habits. While physically, it is evident that we are born small, dependent, immature, and unwise, it appears that over the next 20-25 years, we grow up. When we grow up physically, we are said to be adultsâmature, thoughtful, wise, free, capable, and independent. However, this growth does not always happen in the psychological sense. Inwardly, we are born a kid, and we remain the kid. Acharya Prashant then distinguishes between two types of religion. There is a religion that liberates us from our inner tendencies, weaknesses, and inner darkness. And there is a religion that acts as a toy in the hands of the child. Therefore, religion is not one thing, but two things. To keep these two distinct, he sometimes calls real religiosity "spirituality," and the common kind of religion, which the questioner referred to, as just "organized religion." Unfortunately, what we mostly see is a display of the latter kind of religion. Instead of granting us the benefit that we so deeply need, it actually becomes a continuation of our immaturity and another bondage on the one who is already in so many chains. The presence of the wrong kind of religion, with its childish displays of ceremony, hollow superstitions, and rituals, should not convince us that this is all there is to religion. These are mostly acts of ignorance, or distortions in the spirit of religion. That's not real religiosity; we need real religion. Religion is not just an unnecessary thing foisted on us by history, tradition, or priests. True, pure religion is a liberating force, not the branded kind of religion. It is a solution to the core problem that we have. The essence of true religion is self-knowledge. True religion has to be a liberating force because it exists for us, and therefore it has to do intimately with our condition. We must know what our condition is, and that is self-knowledge. When we know our condition, we know what to keep in ourselves and what to drop, what ails us, and therefore what could be a possible solution. This process of self-knowledge, with a deep assurance that freedom from internal bondages is possible, is the essence of true religion. It is freedom from the inner bondages that we are born with and the bondages that get manifested in the world around usâin our social systems, education, family, and politics. The human being is deeply conditioned, and that's why man needs religion. As long as we are who we are, we will continue to need religion.
