A “Pious Devotee”?
by Kelvin Chin
Life After Life Expert
How do we measure piety? What does “being pious” mean?
The Oxford dictionary definition says: “devoutly religious.” But interestingly, it also cites a secondary meaning: “making a hypocritical display of virtue.”
Whatever the religious tradition — Judeo, Christian, Islamic, Vedic, or any other of the thousands on Earth — there tend to be religious rituals and obligations expected to be fulfilled by their followers. They can range from not eating at all (fasting) to eating certain foods only (kosher), and wearing head coverings (yamaka, hijab) to shaving one’s head, and prayers or meditation at certain times of the day.
I respect everyone’s religious beliefs. To me, that’s a very personal thing. A choice that each person makes within themselves.
But I don’t judge a book by its cover.
And yes, I do think it’s important “to judge.”
Not a person’s inner state. But as I discussed in my YouTube video on “Judging Others,” we should definitely judge other people’s behavior. Their actions. Because if we ignore their actions, we won’t learn anything about human behavior. And we’ll then be vulnerable to being abused by uncaring people.
So with people who claim to be pious, what does this mean?
We need to observe their behavior. But not merely the superficial acts they perform. Because many charlatans are very skilled at doing the rituals — fasting on holy days, praying multiple times a day, wearing the appropriate head covering (as George Carlin famously pointed out, in some religions, men must cover their heads in temples but women must not, and in other religions, the opposite is required), however because these “religious performers” are only “acting the part,” they find it impossible to hide their true personality all the time and can’t help but “fall out of character” and abuse their wives, cats, dogs, children, co-workers, strangers (and everyone else under the sun) when they leave the temple, mosque or church.
So, let’s assume God exists. Let’s not debate this because there is no real “scientific proof” either way. But for the sake of our discussion, if God exists, I think we would all agree that God must have “common sense.” (I can even hear our old friend George Carlin on the other side agreeing with that!)
So which one makes more sense, more “common sense”?
Whom do you admire more? Who seems to you to be living life more spiritually?
Is it the one who prays and fasts whenever he was told to, but gets pleasure from making others feel miserable? Or is it the one who forgets to pray and never fasts, but who is kind and compassionate to her family and community, and just so happened to be born with Type-1 diabetes?
I’ll let you decide. You judge. Use your common sense. As I suspect God would do.
Kelvin H. Chin is a Meditation Teacher, Life After Life Expert, and Author of “Overcoming the Fear of Death,” “Marcus Aurelius Updated: 21st Century Meditations On Living Life” and “After the Afterlife: Memories of My Past Lives.” He learned to meditate at age 19, and has been teaching Turning Within Meditation and coaching others in their self-growth for 50 years. He helps people understand their life challenges through their individual belief systems, and helps them find their own solutions. His past life memories reach back many centuries, and he accesses those memories in his teaching and his coaching in the same way all coaches draw on their own available experiences for perspective and effective analogies. He can be reached at www.TurningWithin.org.