Faith in the Faith of the Faithful

The idea of god is necessary and powerful

The below account has been brewing in my heart for almost eight years. For some reason, I was not able to muster the enthusiasm to write it. It is just as well that I didn’t write it sooner. The insights I acquired have stood the test of time as my faith in the faith of believers has only strengthened.

When deciding whether to capitalize the word g-o-d, I decided to defer to the Grammarist website. Since I have used the word as a common noun and not as a proper noun, I decided to spell it with a lower case g.

The above is an AI-generated image of Ganesha.

A tourist on a pilgrimage

Several years ago, I went on a popular pilgrimage in India. The plan was to visit eight different Ganesha temples, all of them set in small towns far from the megapolis where the journey would begin. A group of about thirty devotees (and me) would travel by coach over three days.

Even though I am not particularly religious in the traditional sense, this was my way of breaking out of my Mumbai bubble, my city in India. I wanted to see the “real India” and one where I would be able to experience it like a local rather than as a visitor from the US. Since I would be traveling solo, this was an easy way to outsource the planning and also get to know some fellow travelers and understand how it is with them. 

Each morning, when the coach dropped our group at the temple, a long line was already snaking out of the temple sanctum. The lines were orderly, and they were kept moving at a brisk pace by the polite security staff. It was very moving to see family units composed of all ages – elders with walking sticks to newborns in arms – standing patiently in the queue.

As I got closer to the sanctum, I noticed that there were television screens showing the image of the idol that all the devotees were here to visit. This made no sense to me. The idol was not changing in any way; so, what was there to see? I wondered with a touch of amusement. Or was it condescension?

Vighnahar Temple Ozar - The Ashtavinayak temple with golden dome. | In my eye (inmyi.com)

Among the faithful

I realized that to the devotees, this was the first “darshan,” the sacred viewing for which they had traveled great distances with limited resources and few comforts. 

When I reached the sanctum – not much larger than a room 12 feet square – I noticed that the devotees were tending to linger more, even seeming reluctant to move on. Some found a corner, flopped down on the floor just as they might when visiting the home of a friend, and refused to budge. They remained for 10-15 minutes with palms together, eyes closed. They seemed to be meditating or silently sharing their joys and concerns with the almighty. The security staff left these devotees alone, even as they kept urging the rest to move on so that the queue would keep advancing.

I chatted with a young couple standing behind me. They shared that they had taken an overnight coach and had managed to bathe and freshen up at a relative’s house (visiting a temple before bathing is a big no-no in Hinduism). They had rushed to the temple in order to not get stuck in the queue for hours in the intense heat. Their attire and demeanor suggested that they were small-scale farmers, just literate enough to get by.

As I pondered their devotion and observed similar others, a thought flashed in my mind. They were not merely visiting god; they were visiting with god.

Religious faith as life support

I wondered if this might be the believing person’s mental health therapy and antidepressant / anti-anxiety medication rolled into one.  

And then I thought: who is to say that this is worse than years-long talk therapy or medications that can be addictive and have side-effects. Both of these modalities are not generally known for providing lasting relief. Besides, those types of interventions would be unavailable, and unaffordable even if made available, to these humble people. 

We all need support at some or other time in our lives. We all face situations that challenge our faith in ourselves, our hope that things will get better, our despair that nothing is worth the effort.

It occurred to me that faith in god’s kindness and power might help to face those challenges better than the ways in which spiritually desolate people tend to deal with hardships—substance abuse, partner abuse, family neglect, consumerism, and other choices that offer only a temporary escape while doing long-term harm.  

I imagined the thought bubbles hovering over the heads of these devotees. Maybe they were silently sharing their woes and laying their fears and worries at the feet of the deity. Maybe they were invoking blessings for protection for the newborn and the aged. Maybe they were making promises to donate or fast or perform sacrifices if they were delivered from misery. 

God as father, mother, brother, friend

The words of a Hindu devotional song addressed to god sprang to mind:

You are my mother and my father
You are my brother and my friend

You are my companion and supporter
I have no one in my corner but you
You are my brother and my friend

You are my boat, and you are my boatman
You are my brother and my friend

I am the flower that could not bloom
I am as insignificant as the dust at your feet
Keep your benevolent eye ever on me
You are my brother and my friend
You are my brother and my friend

As this song says, I saw that the devotees’ visit to the deity and to the temple had the same aspects of familiarity, comfort, and eagerness as when visiting after a long gap a parent, sibling, or close friend. There was the same expectation of finding sympathy and community, and through those, the power to deal with challenges, to persevere, and to be resilient.

I became a believer (in the faith of believers)

I was a changed person after this trip. I do now think of it as a pilgrimage.

In a sense, I had met god. Not directly, of course. This was a god of the people, and the devotees had revealed him/her to me through their faith in the concept of a benevolent, generous, and engaged god. 

I no longer see religious people as blindly superstitious. Rather, I see them as valiant strivers who, lacking m/any resources, fight the good fight with what they have or can summon. They find strength in belief, the same belief that gave strength to their ancestors and that continues to give strength to members of their families and communities. 

Indeed, this shared belief is also the inspiration for shared religious celebrations and traditions. It gives form and structure to their days and to the seasons of their lives. It creates a common understanding of what is good, how to be good, and of their proper/expected roles in their families and communities. 

Would I rather have all this, or would I rather have a medicated numbness? Would I rather have this, or would I rather have fractured loneliness? Would I rather have this, or would I rather have spiritual despair? Would I rather feel helpless, or would I rather have faith? I choose faith and community. 

The idea of god is what is powerful

Since this pilgrimage, I also have a reasoned appreciation of the idea of god. Is god real? It is impossible to know given the fact that there is no universally accepted definition of god and no way to objectively, reliably (i.e., with consistency), and empirically ascertain the “realness” of god.

However, I know now that the idea of god is not just real, but essential. 

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Note: In the above, I am thinking only of a personal relationship with a higher power. I am not at all thinking of instances where religion becomes political, militant, authoritarian, patriarchal, etc.