It is true that Scholastics invented what professed to be logical arguments proving the existence of God, and that these arguments, or others of a similar tenor, have been accepted by many eminent philosophers, but the logic to which these traditional arguments appealed is of an antiquated Aristotelian sort which is now rejected by practically all logicians except such as are Catholics. There is one argument that is not purely logical. I mean the argument from design….

However, the most intriguing aspect of the followers of almost all the major religions is that they do not stick to the principles and spiritual values of their respective religions and their interpretations of their faiths change according to their political conditions. Religion to them has become a political tool to further their narrow political interests and in pursuance of their interests, they most often become savages and indulge in bloodshed and mayhem in such a dastardly and heinous way that even the most savage beasts would be embarrassed.

Religion is the highest plane of human thought and life, and herein we find that the workings of these two forces have been most marked. The intensest love that humanity has ever known has come from religion, and the most diabolical hatred that humanity has known has also come from religion. The noblest words of peace that the world has ever heard have come from men on the religious plane, and the bitterest denunciation that the world has ever known has been uttered by religious men. The higher the object of any religion and the finer its organisation, he more remarkable are its activities. No other human motive has deluged the world with blood so much as religion; at the same time, nothing has brought into existence so many hospitals and asylums for the poor; no other human influence has taken such care, not only of humanity, but also of the lowest of animals, as religion has done. Nothing makes us so cruel as religion, and nothing makes us so tender as religion. This has been so in the past, and will also, in all probability, be so in the future. Yet out of the midst of this din and turmoil, this strife and struggle, this hatred and jealousy of religions and sects, there have arisen, from time to time, potent voices, drowning all this noise — making themselves heard from pole to pole, as it were — proclaiming peace and harmony. Will it ever come?...

“Pandit ji” was a name known to me since I was little past the toddler stage. My mother spoke of him as a revered friend, almost a father figure, both to her and to my father. I had little idea of his importance as a statesman beyond the fact that he was the Prime Minister of India. To my infant mind he was the kindly old man who had provided my father with two sets of uniform, the smartest he ever possessed. In January 1947 my father had stopped in Delhi for two days on his way to London for the Aung San-Attlee talks that were to be the first phase of formal negotiations for Burmese independence....

The Glorious Quran is the last and final revelation which was revealed to the last and final Messenger Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). For any book to claim that it is a revelation from God, it should stand the test of Time. Previously, it was the age of miracles; the Quran is a miracle of miracles. After that, came the age of literature and poetry. Muslims and non-Muslims alike say that the Quran is the best piece of Arabic literature present on the face of the earth….

Parvati not only plays dice with the universe, she is engaged in an eternal game of winning and losing with Shiva, her partner. It’s a game spanning the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction, of fragmentation and reunification. It is Cosmic Lila, Divine Play, the Grand Illusion, Maya. Gambling during Diwali is considered auspicious, not the least because it emulates - however weakly - the cosmic interplay of Parvati and Shiva. It’s not about winning or losing but how you play the game….

Waris Shah gave it the classical form. Heer became a powerful commentary on the social, cultural and religious customs of the times the two lovers lived in. The verses of Heer are short and have been interpreted in a mystical sense. “Our soul is the tragic heroine Heer, Our body is the lover Ranjha, Our spiritual preceptor is the yogi Balmath, and the five helpful saints are our five senses, who support us in our adventures dread. Truth is our judge.”...

Muslims have gone through a traumatic period in the last several years. They have spent a lot of time in introspection. They have shown great wisdom and maturity in fending off severe and very brazen provocations. One hopes that it is this maturity that is now beginning to be reflected....

Every time death and destruction result after the ‘normal’ weather pattern is disrupted and hurricanes, typhoons and storms occur or vigorous seismic activity takes place that results in earthquakes and tsunamis, our clerics and even many professionals and intelligentsia describe them as proof of God Almighty inflicting punishment and pain on humanity gone astray. Once upon a time, epidemics such as the plague and smallpox were considered scourges of God who wanted to chastise human beings....

Ravana lived his life according to the tenets of Jabali. Though a devout Shiva Bhakta, he never tried to imitate the ascetic lifestyle of his favourite God. He grabbed life with his twenty arms and drank the nectar of pleasure with his ten mouths. Ravana was someone who lived life fully. Unlike Sri Rama, he had no reverence for his parents. Though a Brahmin, he did not offer any special privileges for Brahmins in his kingdom....

The word ‘tightrope walk’ was initially coined for an act of derring-do entertainment, that is, a tightrope is a tightly stretched wire or rope fixed high above the ground on which someone walks across in order to entertain people. But the spirit of the tightrope walk, that is, maintaining a balance between two opposites, is a great principle in real life….

When the whole world was living in jungles and leading a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, people living in this part of the planet had developed a highly evolved culture. Their thought process was so unique that it encompassed within it, entire creation; there was no aspect of the physical as well as the spiritual world that was left unattended and un-detailed....

The Quran carried the concept of voluntary giving to an obligatory tax. Called Zakat, it is meant for the poor, the destitute, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, to free those in bondage and those in debt, for helping the stranded wayfarer and to serve God’s purposes. The Gita, too, has stipulated that the gift should be given in the belief that it is duty, that is, it must be given. The Quran also stipulates that the Zakat should be given at a fixed rate on all your assets, your wealth, both visible and otherwise....

With more and more people of lesser dedication than its founders and their immediate clan, following, the atmosphere and environment, in which the rituals took place, became more mundane and intermingled with materialistic concerns. That Allah has stated in His Holy Word, that it is not the blood and flesh of the sacrificial animals that reaches Him, but rather the spirit of those, who offer the sacrifice....

The need of the hour for the Muslim world is introspection.... Much of the world is cursing the religion, Islam, which has been an abode of peace, brotherhood and equality. The religion which was revealed to unite the whole world, irrespective of religion, region, colour or creed has divided Muslims themselves even further into sects, while their tribal, ethnic, linguistic, racial, regional and other divisions continue to hold sway as before….