In recent times, an alarming narrative has emerged within the Malaysian blogosphere, suggesting a historical event that appears to be a misinterpretation or perhaps a deliberate misinformation campaign. The claim revolves around a so called Malay prince named Manabharana from Srivijaya, purportedly attacking and conquering the Chola kingdom. This misleading story has gained traction and is spreading like wildfire across various social media platforms. The need to address and rectify such inaccuracies is crucial not only for the sake of historical accuracy but also for fostering a responsible and informed online community. To delve into the matter, it is essential to clarify that historical records reveal the existence of multiple individuals named Manabharana throughout history. However, a nuanced understanding reveals that all these figures were Tamils (Damila) hailing from the Pandya kingdom, with references to their exploits documented in Tamil inscriptions and Sri Lankan chronicles
I have always believed that religion and the existence of God should be questioned. However, questioning does not mean one has to loose faith in these two.
People interpret the concept of God differently. Some choose to believe in God due to their own personal experience. Others believe in God because they are told to.
It was never a problem to believe or even to disbelieve in God. The crux of the matter has always been how you compare your way of believing with the believes of others.
What causes problem between the different set of people is their view on others who have a different view from them. The very egoistic concept of 'Only we worship the real God' is the root cause of all religious wars.
This egoistic concept is then emphasized by the need to be in certain religion in order to be accepted as true believers of the actual God.
The actual God who nobody has seen or interacted with. But again, the problem here is neither the existence nor the non-existence of God.
It usually starts with the concept of 'Messenger'. The messengers often describe themselves as people who were chosen by God to spread the true teachings of God.
The messenger will then proclaim that those who do not believe in his words are doomed to be in hell. The ones who accept his teachings are to be guaranteed a place in paradise for they have accepted his view of God as the only true view.
This concept will then evolve into a series of teachings. As the crowd who believes in the teaching gets larger, it forms its own following.
A name will then be given. It becomes a separate entity within the existing community. It will have its own rules to follow based on a particular source which we have decided to call as the scriptures.
The scriptures echoes the principles laid out by the messenger, which he claims as revealed by God. It becomes the de facto rule book which everyone in the group must follow in order to be accepted.
Along the way, the crowd gets bigger and bigger. Nobody questions if the messenger was speaking the truth or was it just a hoax to promote his own ideals.
Even when questioned numerous time, nobody will be able to provide any evidence that the messenger actually interacted with divine forces because very often, the messenger was all alone when that happened.
If God wanted his message to be heard by everyone, then the best option will be to select a messenger from each clan all over the world at the same time, with the same message, from the same source.
Selecting one particular human thousands of miles away from a larger community does not seem to be the ideal way of spreading the good news from God.
Because if that is indeed the true message, what about those thousands of people who lives miles away that will most probably die without hearing the message?
Say for example, I as God chose Mr.A from Nigeria to spread the true teachings in an era where Internet or telephones does not exist.
It then takes 500 years for that message to travel to China. In this 500 year period, millions of people died without even hearing the message. Because the message never reached them. So they don't know.
Can I as God then punish them because they never embraced the religion promoted by Mr.A?
As I said earlier, if humans are supposed to be part of a particular religion in order to be accepted by God, then I as the God would have selected a messenger from every community in this planet.
Selecting one guy from a far away land and punishing someone miles away for not being part of the team which they never knew existed seems to be very unfair.
The other thing to ponder will be this. What about those people who lived and died before the time of the messenger himself?
Once again, millions of people would have believed or disbelieved in me before I appointed Mr.A as the de facto messenger of my team. Sending them to hell is again very unfair.
Now assuming that those who died without knowing Mr.A's message or those who lived and died before his time will not be punished, then wouldn't that mean others have the right not to be part of the team and escape punishment?
These questions are actualy very important questions. But it is entirely up to you on how you wish to look upon it.
A friend once asked me "Do you Hindus still believe in Ramayana?".
I replied "Yes. Historically yes. But we cannot expect everyone to have the same interpretation. People will have their own views about it. This is why we do not force people to believe it in our way. The message inside Ramayana is more important than how you choose to believe in it"
My friend then went on to say how such myths do not exist in his religion and why he thinks his religion is the only true religion in this world.
I replied with a smile "If you can believe in a story told by a man from a different culture who claims that someone whispered to him when he was all alone in a cave, why can't I believe in something historical told by my own ancestors?"
There was no response and I was not expecting one too.
People interpret the concept of God differently. Some choose to believe in God due to their own personal experience. Others believe in God because they are told to.
It was never a problem to believe or even to disbelieve in God. The crux of the matter has always been how you compare your way of believing with the believes of others.
What causes problem between the different set of people is their view on others who have a different view from them. The very egoistic concept of 'Only we worship the real God' is the root cause of all religious wars.
This egoistic concept is then emphasized by the need to be in certain religion in order to be accepted as true believers of the actual God.
The actual God who nobody has seen or interacted with. But again, the problem here is neither the existence nor the non-existence of God.
It usually starts with the concept of 'Messenger'. The messengers often describe themselves as people who were chosen by God to spread the true teachings of God.
The messenger will then proclaim that those who do not believe in his words are doomed to be in hell. The ones who accept his teachings are to be guaranteed a place in paradise for they have accepted his view of God as the only true view.
This concept will then evolve into a series of teachings. As the crowd who believes in the teaching gets larger, it forms its own following.
A name will then be given. It becomes a separate entity within the existing community. It will have its own rules to follow based on a particular source which we have decided to call as the scriptures.
The scriptures echoes the principles laid out by the messenger, which he claims as revealed by God. It becomes the de facto rule book which everyone in the group must follow in order to be accepted.
Along the way, the crowd gets bigger and bigger. Nobody questions if the messenger was speaking the truth or was it just a hoax to promote his own ideals.
Even when questioned numerous time, nobody will be able to provide any evidence that the messenger actually interacted with divine forces because very often, the messenger was all alone when that happened.
If God wanted his message to be heard by everyone, then the best option will be to select a messenger from each clan all over the world at the same time, with the same message, from the same source.
Selecting one particular human thousands of miles away from a larger community does not seem to be the ideal way of spreading the good news from God.
Because if that is indeed the true message, what about those thousands of people who lives miles away that will most probably die without hearing the message?
Say for example, I as God chose Mr.A from Nigeria to spread the true teachings in an era where Internet or telephones does not exist.
It then takes 500 years for that message to travel to China. In this 500 year period, millions of people died without even hearing the message. Because the message never reached them. So they don't know.
Can I as God then punish them because they never embraced the religion promoted by Mr.A?
As I said earlier, if humans are supposed to be part of a particular religion in order to be accepted by God, then I as the God would have selected a messenger from every community in this planet.
Selecting one guy from a far away land and punishing someone miles away for not being part of the team which they never knew existed seems to be very unfair.
The other thing to ponder will be this. What about those people who lived and died before the time of the messenger himself?
Once again, millions of people would have believed or disbelieved in me before I appointed Mr.A as the de facto messenger of my team. Sending them to hell is again very unfair.
Now assuming that those who died without knowing Mr.A's message or those who lived and died before his time will not be punished, then wouldn't that mean others have the right not to be part of the team and escape punishment?
These questions are actualy very important questions. But it is entirely up to you on how you wish to look upon it.
A friend once asked me "Do you Hindus still believe in Ramayana?".
I replied "Yes. Historically yes. But we cannot expect everyone to have the same interpretation. People will have their own views about it. This is why we do not force people to believe it in our way. The message inside Ramayana is more important than how you choose to believe in it"
My friend then went on to say how such myths do not exist in his religion and why he thinks his religion is the only true religion in this world.
I replied with a smile "If you can believe in a story told by a man from a different culture who claims that someone whispered to him when he was all alone in a cave, why can't I believe in something historical told by my own ancestors?"
There was no response and I was not expecting one too.
Maybe we should first look at the view that there is no 'Mr. God'. 'GOD' is an all powerful Energy source. Draw it if you can. All religions are man made, with this energy input. Where/what is this Energy? - we are not qualified to know; so don't ask.
ReplyDeleteWonderful article !
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