Why do Indians value religion so much?

A daily life lived with gods, which cannot be understood by the word "belief" alone

Morning.

Before the sun has fully risen.

In the kitchen of a certain home, a mother places flowers on a small plate.

Beside her, the father is preparing to go to work.

The child is wearing a uniform and heading to school.

It is a very ordinary morning.

There is just one thing that is a little different from a Japanese household.

In a corner of the house,

there is a place like a small altar.

There are statues or pictures of gods there,

flowers,

a light,

and someone in the family puts their hands together in prayer.

And then, an ordinary day begins just like that.

In India,

religion is not "something only for special days."

It is not just for when you go to a temple.

God is in everyday life.

This may be the first thing that surprises Japanese people when they try to understand India.

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■ In India, the question "Do you believe in religion?" itself is a bit different

In Japan,

if you are asked,

"Do you believe in religion?"

some people might get a little defensive.

Do you belong to a specific religious organization?

Do you go to worship every week?

Do you strongly believe in the doctrine?

It sounds like that.

However, in India, religion is more deeply integrated into daily life.

In a large-scale survey by the Pew Research Center, 84% of Indian adults answered that "religion is very important in my life," 60% said they pray every day, and 71% said they visit a place of worship at least once a month.

Furthermore, there are results showing that almost all Indians believe in the existence of God in some form.

In other words, in India,

religion is not just an ideology of "believing or not believing."

It is about how to live.

It is included in that.

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■ There is God inside the house, too

In Hindu households,

they sometimes set up a small place for prayer inside the house.

It is not necessarily a large altar.

A corner of a shelf.

A small stand.

A part of a wall.

There,

statues of gods.

Pictures.

Flowers.

Incense.

A light.

are placed.

And in the morning,

someone in the family prays.

Before going to work.

Before going to school.

Before an exam.

Before making a big decision.

They turn to God at the milestones of life.

This,

rather than saying,

"participating in a religious event,"

might be closer to saying,

that God lives together with the family's life.

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■ God is also in cars, shops, and work

When you walk through the streets of India,

the presence of God is not only in temples.

A taxi dashboard.

The entrance to a shop.

A company desk.

A market.

A factory.

A car.

A truck.

A small picture of a god.

Flowers.

A charm.

are sometimes placed there.

Bought a new car.

Opening a shop.

Starting a job.

Pray before that.

Wish for success.

Wish for no accidents.

Wish for the family to be healthy.

What is important here is,

that prayer is not an "act of escaping from reality."

Rather,

pray before facing reality.

Not praying instead of working, but praying before working.

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■ It is hard to understand if you think of Hinduism as "one religion"

When Japanese people try to understand Indian religion,

it is better to stop here for a moment.

When you see the word "Hinduism,"

like Christianity,

Islam,

or Buddhism,

you tend to imagine

one doctrine,

one god,

one religious system.

However, Hinduism is

extremely diverse.

The gods they worship are different.

Customs differ by region.

They also differ by family.

Philosophical ideas are not just one either.

Therefore,

if you lump it together as "Hindus think this way,"

exceptions will immediately appear.

The country of India itself is like that, but

religion, too,

cannot be explained by a single answer.

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■ Why are there so many gods?

When you go to India,

you see various forms of gods.

Shiva.

Vishnu.

Krishna.

Ganesha.

Lakshmi.

Hanuman.

It seems like there are countless others.

From a Japanese perspective,

you might think, "In the end, how many gods are there?"

However,

this is also not enough with just the explanation of simple polytheism.

One ultimate existence

appears in various forms.

There are people who think that way.

There are also people who strongly believe in a certain god.

There are cases where a family cherishes a specific god.

In other words,

how you relate to God is more important than the number of gods.

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■ God is not just a scary existence

In Japan,

when people talk about gods or religion,

there is an impression that it is something to be feared,

or something solemn.

However, the gods of India have

stories that are closer to humans.

They love.

They get angry.

They fight.

They get lost.

They have families.

They fail.

They use wisdom.

In other words, inside the stories of the gods,

human life itself

is included.

Therefore,

mythology is not a story from the distant past.

Daily values.

Good and evil.

Family relationships.

Way of life.

It is connected to that.

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■ Religion is not just for "after death"

When you hear the word religion,

some people might think of

the afterlife,

heaven,

or hell.

However, in the Indian religious view,

the meaning of life itself is important.

Karma.

Reincarnation.

Dharma.

There are ways of thinking like this.

Actions have consequences.

Life has a role.

The way you live leads to the next.

Of course,

not all Indians believe in this in the same way.

Even so,

these concepts have, over many years,

entered into society, language, and values.

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■ The question of "Why does this happen only to me?"

Here, we can see what role religion plays in people's hearts.

In life,

there are events that cannot be explained by effort alone.

Illness.

Accidents.

Unemployment.

Poverty.

Death of a family member.

Betrayal.

Disasters.

When people face such things,

they think,

"Why me?"

Religion

does not necessarily explain the answer scientifically.

But,

it gives meaning.

Why live?

How to accept it?

How to stand up again?

In a society where religion is deeply rooted,

rather than God being an existence that solves all problems,

it also becomes a support for continuing to live within the problems.

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■ It cannot be explained by "the poorer you are, the more you believe in religion"

This is also a point that is easy to misunderstand.

The explanation that religion is strong in India

"because they are poor"

is not enough.

High education.

High income.

Urban areas.

Working at IT companies.

Such people also value religion.

Even in the Pew survey, religious practice is not clearly divided by education level or age, and is seen across a wide range of people.

In other words,

religion will disappear if modernized.

Religion will become unnecessary if science develops.

It is not that simple.

A person writing AI code prays to God in the morning.

In India, that is not a contradiction.

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■ India is not a "religious state"

This is important.

Under the constitution, India

is a secular state.

The preamble of the Constitution defines India as a "SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC."

In other words,

it is not a country where the state officially believes in only one specific religion.

In India,

Hindus,

Muslims,

Christians,

Sikhs,

Buddhists,

Jains,

and people of various other religions live.

Even in the Indian census, multiple major religious communities are distinguished.

Therefore,

"India = Hinduism"

is not the only thing.

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■ Even so, religion cannot be separated from politics

From here, the story becomes a little difficult.

In a society where religion is deeply embedded in people's lives,

it cannot be unrelated to politics.

Religion.

Ethnicity.

History.

National consciousness.

These overlap.

Then,

the question of "Who am I?"

and the question of "Whose country is this?"

become linked.

Religion

is an individual's prayer, and at the same time,

it also becomes a group identity.

From this,

religious conflict,

political exploitation,

majority and minority,

problems also arise.

If you depict religion in Indian society only as a beautiful culture,

you will overlook this part.

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■ "Respecting other religions" and "living together" are not the same

In the Pew survey, while many Indians emphasize tolerance for other religions, an awareness of wanting to maintain religious boundaries in marriage and social relationships was also confirmed.

This is very interesting.

"I respect your religion."

But,

"I don't want you to marry my son or daughter."

These two exist at the same time.

It is also connected to the caste and marriage issues seen in the 41st and 42nd installments.

In Indian society,

coexistence and separation

can exist at the same time.

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■ On festival days, the whole city changes

The time you can feel the strength of religion most easily

might be festivals.

Diwali.

Holi.

Ganesh Chaturthi.

Various religious events.

The city shines.

Colors fly about.

Music.

Prayer.

Family.

Food.

Religion

is not just something that individuals believe in quietly.

It is also a time shared by the whole society.

There,

faith,

entertainment,

family,

community,

economy.

Everything is mixed together.

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■ God is also in the family's memories

There are things you cannot see if you think about the reason why religion continues only through doctrine.

My grandmother prayed.

My mother also prayed.

And I also pray in the same place.

When I was a child,

I ate with my family on festival days.

I was taken to the temple by my father.

My mother told me stories about gods.

Those memories

are linked to religion.

In other words, religion is

at the same time as faith in God, it is also a memory of the family.

That is why it does not disappear easily.

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■ The reason a certain father prays

Night.

A father who returned from work

sits in front of a small altar.

This is not a specific real person, but one scene to think about Indian religion and daily life.

The father

is not a particularly devout religious person.

He does not go to the temple every day.

He does not read philosophical books.

Usually, he looks at numbers at the company.

Mortgage.

Children's education expenses.

Parents' medical expenses.

Work anxiety.

He is an ordinary office worker

who is in every country.

But,

when night comes,

he puts his hands together for just a few minutes.

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■ What is he wishing for?

Is it a promotion?

Is it money?

Is it success?

Of course,

there might be days like that.

But that day,

his daughter had a fever.

The father

wishes for only one thing.

"I hope she gets better by tomorrow."

Scientifically,

give her medicine.

Take her to the hospital.

That is necessary.

The father also understands.

But,

there are parts that he cannot do anything about himself.

He entrusts that

to God.

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■ What do people do when they encounter things they cannot do anything about?

Perhaps,

the core of religion might be here.

Humans

cannot manage everything.

No matter how much effort you make,

there are things you cannot protect.

Children.

Parents.

Loved ones.

Your own life.

The future.

At such times,

people wish for something.

Japanese people, too,

wish at the first shrine visit of the year.

There are times when they pray at the hospital.

Go to a shrine before an entrance exam.

Put hands together at a funeral.

Usually,

even people who say "I don't believe in religion"

at the milestones of life,

sometimes pray to something.

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■ Looking at India, the Japanese "non-religious" also looks a little different

Many Japanese people

answer that they are non-religious.

But,

they go to the first shrine visit of the year.

They visit graves.

They return home for Obon.

They buy charms at shrines.

They put their hands together at the Buddhist altar.

In other words,

"Are you conscious of religion?" and

"Are you living in a religious culture?"

are different.

India

might be a society where that relationship is more clearly visible.

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■ Why do Indians value religion so much?

The answer

is not just "because they believe in God."

Because it is family.

Because it is community.

Because it is culture.

Because it is the meaning of life.

Because it is to accept anxiety.

Because it is to share joy.

Because it has been passed down from parent to child.

And,

because there is no need to separate religion and life.

For Indians, religion is

not a "special thing" separated from daily life, but

a part of daily life itself.

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■ The next morning

The daughter's fever

has gone down a little.

The father

prepares to go to work.

The mother makes breakfast.

The daughter is still in bed.

The father

goes to the same altar as yesterday.

He puts his hands together for just a few seconds.

Yesterday,

it was "I hope she gets better."

Today,

it is "Thank you."

That is all.

If you go outside,

traffic jams.

Work.

Boss.

Emails.

Meetings.

Salary.

The real world is waiting.

But inside the house,

a small light remains.

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I think we should not look at the reason why religion is strong in India

only through giant temples.

True religion

is in smaller places.

A corner of the house.

A mother's prayer.

A father's wish.

A child's exam.

A night of illness.

A dining table on a festival day.

And,

a morning when the family returned safely.

Religion is

not just believing in God.

Perhaps,

it might be to carry a life that you cannot carry by yourself alone, together with something.

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Next time, 46th installment

Why are cows such a special existence in India?

The complex relationship of religion, politics, and life that cannot be understood by the explanation of "a country that does not eat cows"

Why are cows sacred?

Do all Indians really not eat beef?

Whose are the cows walking on the street?

And,

why do problems surrounding cows sometimes develop into politics and social conflict?

Next time,

from one cow, we will enter into the boundary line of modern Indian religion and politics.