I was an atheist till the age of 30 years, even though my parents were Hindus and they believed in the existence of God. They used to worship five deities – Ganesh, Devi, Shaligram or Shiva, Vishnu and Surya (Panchayan Devata). My parents suggested that I worship our five deities at the time when my father was not at home. I followed their advice and used to worship only to obey them because I had no interest in it as I didn’t believe in God or the deities. I believed that nature and science are everything. There is nothing except the things given by nature and the discovery of science. The natural things which I see around me are the only universal facts and truths. God, Deities and Religion are nothing more than the fear and terror created by clever and selfish human beings for their personal gains. Everything should be viewed and reviewed on scientific logic, cause and effect.
However, after the age of 30, I began to question my atheist beliefs and thoughts. Perhaps it was an important turning point in my life. I reviewed and rethought on my atheist beliefs and made the following observations:
Is nature everything? Who is the creator of nature? Does God really exist? Doesn’t religion have any meaning and significance? If it is so, why is the majority of the world population in favour of religion and believe in the existence of God?
Science has made remarkable contributions to the welfare and the luxurious life of human beings. But, is science everything? If it is so, why is science unable to keep human beings alive forever? Up till date science has not been able to check human beings from dying. There must be an invisible power to manage and control the whole universe (including nature and science). Finally, I concluded that such invisible power must be the Incorporeal Supreme Being, who is known by different names as God, Allah, Ishwar etc.
On this background, I had my transformation from atheism to theism. From being a firm atheist, I turned to be a believer in spirituality and the existence of God.
So far as my transformation from non-vegetarian to vegetarian life is concerned, I am greatly indebted to Brahma Kumaris Organisation.
Not more than 10 years before, I was a non-vegetarian. I couldn’t imagine being a vegetarian. One day, in the year 2006 I was with one of my friends – Mr. Raj KumarKhadka at my home-village Lalbandi, Sarlahi. He requested me to accompany him to a small one-storeyed Brahma Kumari centre. Inside the hall, some people (men and women) were sitting on the floor. We both also had our seats on the floor. Soon, the hall was packed. Some people were standing at the doorstep and outside the hall.
In the meantime, one sister clad white dress entered into the hall and took her seat (on Sandali). She was Brahma Kumari Sister Prabha. The announcer announced the beginning of the program and I came to know that it was the pictorial exhibition of the B.K. Centre, Lalbandi.
This program motivated us to know further more about spiritual knowledge imparted by Brahma Kumaris. We were encouraged to participate in the 7-day Rajyoga course. Thereafter, we began to listen to the Godly Versions known as Flute of Knowledge (Gyan Murli). Till then, I had decided to become a vegetarian. The interesting and remarkable thing was that the Brahma Kumari sisters didn’t advise me to become a vegetarian, but I myself decided to follow vegetarianism. I think that it happened due to the power of spiritual knowledge.
Thereafter, with regard to non-vegetarianism, the following perception was developed in my mind –
“There is no basic difference in the body structure (physical appearance) of human beings and animals. Both have a head, a mouth, two ears, two eyes, a nose, same red blood; same body systems (digestive, blood circulatory, muscular, skeleton, respiratory, nervous, glandular and reproductive). So it will be inhumane to kill the animals and eat their flesh. They should also be given their right to live in this world.”