By the time I came to the US with my family in 1993, my mind held a lot of information gleaned from those various conversations and discussions. But it was not until six years later that I was jolted into making a study. One day driving home in Hendersonville, North Carolina, I heard a question over the radio, “Is your religion true because you believe it OR do you believe your religion because it is true?” I don’t remember listening to anything more; I think I lost the station as I flipped the dial. But those words got to me. I spent long hours trying to answer what seemed like an ordinary “party riddle”, but which I knew was deeper than that. There were serious implications and ramifications to each option and I would jot them down. I tried to give a good reason for my beliefs, but every such reason seemed to be matched by reasons from others’ beliefs too. Of course there were differences in the religions but just stating the difference didn’t help. What was needed was a reference point to make a meaningful comparison. Alas! There was no such thing as a universally accepted standard!
This started me on an intense search for something more satisfying than what was in my hand. I needed something to appease my restless mind. If nothing could be done about this question with the information available, I wanted to know that for sure. If there was a more definite, credible answer, I was going to look for it.
There were times I was so intense that my wife and children wondered if this was a reasonable venture or whether I would lose my mind. Their’s was a real fear – because mine was a real search. I was not interested in academic hair-splitting. I decided that if anything was going to impress me it would have to be the broad facts and evidences. I was not going to play games with this question.
As the concepts developed I found a group in Maryland that was willing to listen. My mother and sister Parul lived there and while on visits to them, I would set aside time to discuss my findings. It is to them I owe my appreciation for their eagerness, feed back, and encouragement. There was Biju, Parul, CJ, Karen, Geetika, Glen, Nick, and others. Thank you each one.
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