Religion Must be Lived Everywhere, At All Times

The science that explains man and the world is ‘philosophy’, and that science which trains us to relate to the world around us is ‘religion’. A mere theoretical understanding of life, which philosophy can supply, may perhaps give us some insight into the mechanics of life, but it is not sufficient. We must be individually trained to handle this highly sophisticated machine—the body, the mind, and the intellect—to use it at will, with ease and freedom, with joy and confidence. For this mastery, we must live the philosophical insights in the day-to-day affairs of our own lives.The ways to self-mastery expounded in all the great textbooks of true living, tell us not to escape from life, but to maintain an intelligent way of living, according to our circumstances in life and to use diligently and to our advantage, the inner and outer events of our lives. True religion is to be practised not only in temples, prayer rooms or hermitages. Religion, if it is to bless us with its joy, must be lived in the office, at home and in government chambers too.In every walk of life and at all moments, we must accept and use the ever-changing challenges, and while consciously meeting them train ourselves to become stronger individuals, with greater mastery over ourselves and over the outer world. This mindful way of living consciously, struggling to improve ourselves from moment-to-moment in our bodily strength, in our heart’s emotions, and in our intellectual capacities is the true religion, which transports even a base individual from his earthbound sorrows into the joys and perfection of a Realised sage.Religion, properly understood, is the most progressive way of life, because all the mental impediments that stand in the way of progress are the creations of egocentric living, and they are eliminated in the process of religious discipline.A universal renaissance of religion will be a wholesome corrective to the errors and follies of a materialist scientific civilisation that has exalted knowledge and power and ignored the saving wisdom of the Spirit.