Fallacy of "Comfortable" Religion

When Swami Vivekananda was lecturing in USA, a person asked him "But Swamiji, following your teachings is not comfortable." Swamiji replied "It is not supposed to make you comfortable, but a better human being."

This has become especially relevant nowadays, because there are a plethora of "new age" gurus who are preaching "comfortable" religion to their legions of admirers. They need not change their lifestyle, but just follow their gurus! This is also evident in the numerous TV channels spewing religious discourses, mostly making their viewers smug & complacent about their colourless lives.

The fallacy of this becomes evident, when we read Patanjali, who (in the context of Yoga) said "Yoga Chittavritti Virodhaha". Even in Yoga, there is much more than just physical contortions. Unless there is a strong foundation of ethics, it may become counterproductive. Swami Yatishwarananda, a revered monk of the Ramakrishna Order said, "A spiritual aspirant first has to become a perfect gentleman (or lady) in the highest sense of the term, before trying to be an aspirant." Or to put it in humorous terms used by Mary Poppins, "Practically Perfect"! 

In the "Sermon on the Mount", (Matthew 6.24), it is stated that "You cannot serve both God & Mammon." It is everyone's experience that not serving Mammon is exceedingly uncomfortable. In John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", the protoganist, aptly named Christian, was not comfortable with his burden of worldiness, & underwent great tribulations to get rid of it. In Kathryn Hulme's "The Nun's Story", the Mother Superior advises the postulants that their life, far from being comfortable, is a "Life against Nature."

In this context, it is as well to make it clear that Piety is not a Spiritual virtue. Ravana was a very pious (& learned) man, which did not at all prevent him from acting unethically. It is futile (but comfortable!) to be a churchgoer, if one breaks most of the Ten Commandments & does not heed the Sermon on the Mount. At least the Catholics are notionally aware of their frailities, because of their Confession, but the others are blissfully comfortable in their life.

Observing the Lent austerities among the Christians & the Ramzan fasts among the Muslims, are by no means physically comfortable, but essential to their religions. It may also be mentioned in passing that following the Five Pillars of Islam may not be enough, unless the high ethical social behaviour enjoined by the Prophet (PBUH) in the Quran is also scrupulously followed.

To conclude with a medical metaphor, preaching a "comfortable religion" is like prescribing a palliative drug to a terminal disease called "Life"  where an "uncomfortable" therapeutic drug called "True Religion" (of whatever denomination) is called for. Here it may be recalled that Swami Vivekananda was the first to globally proclaim that all religions were true. This was reinforced more recently by Bhagawan Satya Sai Baba who defined Hindu as a joint word of "Hin(sa)" & "du(ramu)", i.e., one who stays away from violence (including hating other religions.)