SUNYA TALK: TO WORSHIP OR BELIEVE?

Before watching a video, there is usually a warning that says, “Viewers discretion advised.” This means that the viewer has the freedom to stop watching the video if he or she is offended by the type of content that is being displayed.

In Sunya, we steer clear of talking about God and religion. This does not mean that we do not believe in either. The only reason is that these topics tend to be sensitive and controversial. To top that, it has no relation with Sunya. Sunya is just a form of practice, and it has nothing to do with religion. It is common to all regardless of their beliefs.

In the recent past, there have been allegations that Sunya is anti-Christian and non-Hindu. There were even accusations of it being against Dharma. The modern-day gurus and babas mostly put forward these allegations. Today, I will tell you about the very early days of Sunya and how the wife of an engineer, Chong, accused Sunya of being anti-Christian and how I had to face it. This will touch a few religious topics, even though we do not have anything to promote it or be against it. As I mentioned earlier about how the viewers' discretion is advised, if you feel like this would offend you in any way, I would suggest that you stop reading this right here.

Chong, our engineer, was sitting at the coffee table in the morning. After small talk, he mentioned that his wife believes that Sunya is anti-Christian and entirely against it. We do not endorse the building of statues of gods, but if the Sunyatee wants to go to their place of worship, we will never interfere with them as long it does not interfere with the practice of Sunya.

Chong mentioned that his wife wanted to meet me; however, he did not want this meeting to occur since he was nervous that I would debate with her, and we would have a falling-out. His wife kept insisting on meeting me, and I had no issues with it since I wanted to settle down the misunderstanding. I went to their house and ran into another friend of mine, Mr. Chew, over there incidentally. It was around 9:30 in the night, and Mr. Chew decided to take his leave. I thought I would do the same, but Chong’s wife was eager to talk about Sunya, and I made up my mind to stay on.

His wife told me that things were going great ever since Chong converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, their kids keep reciting the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hung” and that it was against Christianity. She accused me of breaking her family apart, somehow relating it to Sunya. I let her rant and ease her anger at me. She then asked me, “What is the point of reincarnation? Why do you want to suffer from one life to another?” I told her that reincarnation is a phenomenon and cannot be changed. Just like how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. I also told her that the reincarnation could be stopped in this very life if I wanted it to. This took her aback since she assumed that I was a Buddhist, and this was the first time she heard that reincarnation could be stopped.

I asked her if she knew where she would end up in her afterlife. She replied, saying that she would be in Jesus’ mansion in heaven. I asked her if she knew this for a fact, and she diverted the topic to the principles of Christianity. I asked her the same question once again, and she started talking about Chong and her children. After continually asking the same problem, she told me that she was not sure. She asked me if I knew where I was going, and I told her that I was sure about everything in the afterlife. This puzzled her, and she asked me how I knew this. I told her about the concept of the Supreme Abode.

This involves the Supreme Consciousness in Buddha’s teachings. There are three things we have to do to go to the Supreme Abode. We have to have a Father, glorify his name, and believe that we can go there. This comes under religious teachings and not Sunya. Father here means the Lord or God that you believe in. The role of Sunya is more like a teacher. You can choose your own Father and religion. Sunya will provide unbiased information that would change the entire course of life for the better. By glorifying, I do not mean worship.

Worship is just blindly following someone and glorifying means to follow their beliefs and practices. I told Chong’s wife that she only worshipped Jesus but did not have faith in him. This triggered her anger, and she said to me that she has been following Jesus and Christianity for around 20 years. She asked me if I was sure that she would go to the kingdom of Jesus in her afterlife. I told her that God’s love is always unconditional. Love everyone and maintain peace, and you shall go to His Kingdom. This convinced her, and she opened up her mind to Sunya.