137 Spirituality vs Fluff – Don’t Check Your Brain at the Door: Religion Still Needs Reason

Responding to a comment left in the live chat of my interview with Sri Dharma Pravatarka Acharya (of DharmaNation youtube & the International Sanatana Dharma Society) on the topic of 'are all religions the same?'. The comment stated that the "essence of all religions are the same". I debunk this foolish comment based on logic, which I believe is something we shouldn't abandon when discussing religion but yet we do constantly. @DharmaNation Live 11.9.2024.

0:00 – Intro to responding to chat from episode 136
5:00 – Sanatana Dharma is a religion of inquiry encouraging logic & research unlike Christianity
7:27 – The world & religion is logical & rational | religion becomes about feelings | everything is logical on some level
17:35 – Acting illogical is unattractive to outsiders
20:20 – Religion is an escape from the world | making religion illogical to escape logical world | religion is a game
22:49 – Saints who escaped game of life without making up a new religion
25:16 – True religion is not happy | being always happy is an escape
27:10 – Gandhi said the essence of "all true religions" are the same & one | finding a true religion | misinterpreting Bhagavad Gita by Gandhi & Christian missionaries
30:20 – "All essence is the same" called as authentic scriptural idea when its only a century old
31:36 – Defining essence of religion
35:19 – Impossible to study "all" 10,000 religions to prove their essence is the same
41:11 – Internal vs external religion | discrediting influence of externals
48:24 – How to define the essence of religion while ignoring externals | Black Sabbath example
52:04 – Defining essence of religion to the point of destroying religion
54:41 – Making friends with feel good statements
55:22 – Proving atheists right with our own illogical statements
56:37 – If externals don't matter neither do individual religions | mix & match religions as they are all one | no religions are special
1:05:24 – Sanatana Dharma is not based on feelings
1:06:32 – Promoting religious uniformity
1:07:57 – Closing thoughts | spiritual growth stunted by ourselves

For seekers who’ve outgrown spiritual fluff.
This isn’t about trends, vibes, or blind devotion. This is real talk for real seekers.

🎙️ Each episode is part of a larger journey. This isn’t random content—it’s a structured path into deeper truth, not easy comfort.

I’m Premanand Das Bhagat (Aaron Joy), in Portland, Maine, USA.
I followed the so-called spiritual path—believed everything and anything, joined a cult, and ran in circles. Through honest effort, deep unlearning, and painful self-awareness, I found clarity in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).

Now, I speak to those who feel the same disillusionment.
If you believe in asking questions, rejecting lazy universalism, and using logic and scripture together to navigate this chaotic world—you’re in the right place.

🕉️ I'm a Integral Vedic Counselor, Certified Spiritual Life Coach and Ayurveda Specialist. I'm a student of Dr. David Frawley and devotee of Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, following the non-Advaita, non-Universalist Vaishnava lineage of Ramanuja. My spiritual name was a gift from Dr. Chaturbhai Babaria (Swaminarayan Gurukul USA).

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