Recently I was travelling briefly to my home town and I happened to pick this book from the roadside bookseller. Not a bad bargain for 100 bucks.
The book has earned rave reviews and made good money for the author. As a pulp fiction, the book is an excellent read. Being fair to the author - he has tried hard to be fair to all those involved viz. the Catholic church, Priory of Sion & the Opus Dei. However, I guess that is more on a pragmatic line of thinking on his part than for any other reason.
As a reader, I picked up the book to know the "Truth" and got disheratened when I finally learn from the author that he has been trying to "Entertain" me with a thriller. Mr. Dan Brown has only written a brilliant treasure-hunt story that takes place over-night. The clues are so very artificially made up (and more artificially decoded by the protagonists) that they are totally devoid of any sincere motives.
I don't find meaning in the kind of reasearch that the author has put in to unearth the truth because, if it were sincere, then what resulted would not have been a cheap thriller at the expense of the Church and the Opus Dei. Definitely peoples' faith is not something to be lightly played with in the way done by Mr. Dan Brown. (And then he asks what is faith if it is not fabricated?) Da Vinci must be really feeling helpless (wherever he is) seeing the way his art is being used as a testimony in a thriller by a best-selling author to alter the history so very naively without bothering to give a thought to the immense damage that is being caused.
During the time I was reading the book and also after I finished it I was going on trying to answer one question that constantly popped up on my mind - "after all what is religion?" Is it just a set of do's and don'ts that are put in by some messiah (just to keep the people disciplined)? How does one become messiah? Are all messiahs some kind of influential men who put on the mantel of a messiah to put down these do's and dont's just like Jesus? (Mr. Brown thinks Jesus was an influential person to seduce a princess but not influential enough to avoid his crucifixion. Even then his eyes fall only on the influential trait rather than the magnanimity of His character in suffering crucifixion).
Coming back to the question of what is religion if it were just a set of do's and dont's then religion is nothing more than the rules put in by the governments or the kinds of false fears that are created in the minds of children to keep them from being naughty (as is very common in Indian parenting). Christianity as a religion is actually founded on such a premise (Fear of hell and heaven has been so successfully imbibed in the religion). The very concept of religion is actually to contain the spiritual essence and definitely the followers of Christ missed the actual point. Defintely if Christ were to come down today, He would say that He is not a Christian and would not like to be one. If you take the Islam religion also, there are similar premises as that of Christianity. Historically, we need to acknowledge the fact that in all the cases, the founders of these religions have propagated the messages relevant for that point of time and for that very reason, their teachings are to be accordingly understood (and did the world give all those enough time to convey the complete message...Jesus, the Prophet, Zoraoster, Joan of Arc, all were abruptly interrupted in their duty).
India is the only land that has been tolerent to all kinds of messiahs and that is exactly the reason for the spiritual wealth (mind you, not religious chaos) of this country. A spiritual teaching is a powerful truth that stands intelectual & experimental scrutiny and is not necessarily to be blindly followed on faith - this is what this country has been proclaiming to the world.
In this context, I am reminded of 2 significant books on Indian spirituality. One by Paul Brunton - A Search in secret India (1931) and the other by William Somerset Maugham - Razor's Edge (1946) later made into a movie (1984).
The same questions that are being asked in respect of The Da Vinci Code - "whether these are true?" must have been asked even of The Razor's Edge and Somerset Maugham's words - "I have invented nothing". But then he has portrayed things in it in all sincerity. I was very much touched by the book and the honesty of the author. (The author has not his personal gains on his agenda naturally!)
The following is from the first words of Somerset Maugham in his book which I like every one cherish:
"The man I am writing about is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water. But it may be that the way of life that he has chosen for himself and the peculiar strength and sweetness of his character may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature."
Can't we think of Jesus Christ and respect Him for the same reason whatever His followers have made of Him and His teachings? After all without the experiential element, isn't religion just another rule book which we can rewrite as our fancies dictate?
The book has earned rave reviews and made good money for the author. As a pulp fiction, the book is an excellent read. Being fair to the author - he has tried hard to be fair to all those involved viz. the Catholic church, Priory of Sion & the Opus Dei. However, I guess that is more on a pragmatic line of thinking on his part than for any other reason.
As a reader, I picked up the book to know the "Truth" and got disheratened when I finally learn from the author that he has been trying to "Entertain" me with a thriller. Mr. Dan Brown has only written a brilliant treasure-hunt story that takes place over-night. The clues are so very artificially made up (and more artificially decoded by the protagonists) that they are totally devoid of any sincere motives.
I don't find meaning in the kind of reasearch that the author has put in to unearth the truth because, if it were sincere, then what resulted would not have been a cheap thriller at the expense of the Church and the Opus Dei. Definitely peoples' faith is not something to be lightly played with in the way done by Mr. Dan Brown. (And then he asks what is faith if it is not fabricated?) Da Vinci must be really feeling helpless (wherever he is) seeing the way his art is being used as a testimony in a thriller by a best-selling author to alter the history so very naively without bothering to give a thought to the immense damage that is being caused.
During the time I was reading the book and also after I finished it I was going on trying to answer one question that constantly popped up on my mind - "after all what is religion?" Is it just a set of do's and don'ts that are put in by some messiah (just to keep the people disciplined)? How does one become messiah? Are all messiahs some kind of influential men who put on the mantel of a messiah to put down these do's and dont's just like Jesus? (Mr. Brown thinks Jesus was an influential person to seduce a princess but not influential enough to avoid his crucifixion. Even then his eyes fall only on the influential trait rather than the magnanimity of His character in suffering crucifixion).
Coming back to the question of what is religion if it were just a set of do's and dont's then religion is nothing more than the rules put in by the governments or the kinds of false fears that are created in the minds of children to keep them from being naughty (as is very common in Indian parenting). Christianity as a religion is actually founded on such a premise (Fear of hell and heaven has been so successfully imbibed in the religion). The very concept of religion is actually to contain the spiritual essence and definitely the followers of Christ missed the actual point. Defintely if Christ were to come down today, He would say that He is not a Christian and would not like to be one. If you take the Islam religion also, there are similar premises as that of Christianity. Historically, we need to acknowledge the fact that in all the cases, the founders of these religions have propagated the messages relevant for that point of time and for that very reason, their teachings are to be accordingly understood (and did the world give all those enough time to convey the complete message...Jesus, the Prophet, Zoraoster, Joan of Arc, all were abruptly interrupted in their duty).
India is the only land that has been tolerent to all kinds of messiahs and that is exactly the reason for the spiritual wealth (mind you, not religious chaos) of this country. A spiritual teaching is a powerful truth that stands intelectual & experimental scrutiny and is not necessarily to be blindly followed on faith - this is what this country has been proclaiming to the world.
In this context, I am reminded of 2 significant books on Indian spirituality. One by Paul Brunton - A Search in secret India (1931) and the other by William Somerset Maugham - Razor's Edge (1946) later made into a movie (1984).
The same questions that are being asked in respect of The Da Vinci Code - "whether these are true?" must have been asked even of The Razor's Edge and Somerset Maugham's words - "I have invented nothing". But then he has portrayed things in it in all sincerity. I was very much touched by the book and the honesty of the author. (The author has not his personal gains on his agenda naturally!)
The following is from the first words of Somerset Maugham in his book which I like every one cherish:
"The man I am writing about is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water. But it may be that the way of life that he has chosen for himself and the peculiar strength and sweetness of his character may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature."
Can't we think of Jesus Christ and respect Him for the same reason whatever His followers have made of Him and His teachings? After all without the experiential element, isn't religion just another rule book which we can rewrite as our fancies dictate?
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