It is my belief and an obvious fact that ‘order’ is the key for the existence of anything at all. In the same way it is a necessity for human existence and the continuance of the world that ‘order’ remains strong. Where order fails chaos is inevitable. But, what could be the governing factors that keep order in place? Some would say that it is the law, enforced by man for the purpose of retribution. But at all places is the law equal and does it always serve justice? As it is evident enough the law is not always sufficient or accurate to maintain order. Hence, acts contrary to maintaining balance will always be committed since man enforced law is faulty. How can man refrain from committing these acts? Since there will be no consequences of his actions man has no reason to uphold order. If man is to discipline himself and protect order it needs to come not from any external force but from a force within him.
That is why man has a conscience, an inner force that tells him what to do. That stands as the ultimate judge of what a person has done. If a man is to be held accountable for his actions, what better way is there than within himself? An inbuilt system that holds him answerable for his actions. It all comes down to this, the verdict of a man’s conscience. This is where the fact known as morality comes up. A moral good or bad is what values a person has inbuilt in his conscience. If he is infused with good morals that is when he will always answer to his conscience and be held accountable in a way that is correspondent with maintaining order. But how can a person instill good morals in him from the very beginning of life. Which force can guide him to do so?
Finally I come to my point with the clear answer for the all the above questions. The answer is ‘religion’. It is the system, no matter how different, that develops a persons a conscience to uplift order. Teaching him what is good and what is wrong. It could be so strong that it affects a person’s conscience with guidelines as the good and the bad to hold him accountable at the end of the day. Hence religion is the ultimate force of accountability. It is beyond humans themselves and in a person’s mind there is no hiding from retribution laid down by religion. Hence, religion governs people indirectly, which as explained above is pivotal to maintain order.
Out of all religions that lay down guidance to what’s good and bad, what I should do and how I will be held accountable for it, I chose Buddhism. Not simply because I was born as one but because at some point in life I went on a journey of discovery which finally lead me to agree with the teachings of Buddhism. If you ask me why, it’s simply because it is correspondent with the way I see the world. What I explained in length above is how I perceive this world. In the search for the perfect system of accountability I find Buddhism to be more suited to my perspectives. Why I think so cannot be explained briefly but ill outline it through a few key words which according to me are the values in Buddhism I admire.
The first one is ‘Karma’. In the eyes of a Buddhist he is accountable for any and all of his activities. The phrase which we say “put yourself in their shoes” is basically how karma functions. At some point your actions will come back to you. Whatever done to others will return in an equal or similar way as if every action has a reaction. May it be good the reactions will be good and if it is bad the reaction will equally be painful. This brings us to classify the good and bad deeds we do as sins and merits. Depending on your merits and sins your fate will be determined. The mere belief of such a system of accountability makes a person think if they would like the same done to them before doing anything to another person thus making him fear the consequences of doing what is deemed wrong to another person. I see this as a brilliant way to hold yourself accountable for your actions thus ensuring a person’s stand point as someone more disciplined. Also to me personally it helps me keep track of my actions and make sure I do what is right and not do what is wrong. Hence, this has become the main building blocks of my morality.
The next thing I value the most is the very key concept of Buddhism which is the key concept of admittance and acknowledgement of change. We as humans desperately hang onto what we hold dear, to a point where letting go is one of our greatest fears. Buddhism teaches us to admit the fact that change is inevitable and that at some point what we hold dear will change. Thus remaining unattached to superficial things makes life more humble and simple. In my life this has guided me to obtain and keep my needs very simple and less complicated. Also as a person I have grown stronger having the ability to not emotionally get over attached to changing elements in life making me more stable as a person.
The next thing would be how Buddhism grants us the ability to unlock the mind. In moments of distress I meditate which helps me sort out my thoughts and calm my mind helping me achieve stability. Meditation is the key to attaining higher levels of spiritual development in my religion and practicing this has allowed me to be more focused in the targets in life I need to accomplish. Buddhism provides guidelines on how to open the gateways to discover your identity through a spiritual approach. Which I find to be one of the most important elements any person should have in life. It helps you become independent, confident and also genuine to yourself. Hence, it helped me find myself.
Among many other things I value in my religion these are a few that would allow me to outline why I follow its teachings. As much as I respect other religions and learn from them, Buddhism is the religion I prefer to agree with my perception and above all, it molded me to the person I am today.
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