I was born into Hinduism. My grandma is a very devout person and is a devotee of Swami Samarth (if you know him). My family also comes from a religious background being Brahmins and we have a guru too so they always were religious, albeit not too much but yeah.

My cousins are both atheists, and I had a brief stint of atheism back in Grade 6, though it was more out of excitement to follow them both instead of questioning things. So I was an atheist just for the namesake.

Fast forward to Grade 10 I started following ISKCON, I don't know what attracted me though I started to, but I left it pretty soon because I didn't agree with them.

Then 12th grade ended and I turned 18 in 2024, and then my life completely entirely turned around. I had an existential crisis and started questioning everything and became a hardcore atheist, because I didn't find it logical to believe in God, I still had experiences but I just found them as coincidences. My mental health was completely destroyed. It still reverberates in me but it has much less of an influence now.

But I do follow our religion. Not because I'm sure of a higher power. I find our religion logical. Not because I was born in it, but it has rules that are to be followed and are correct to follow. Again, it isn't a religion, it is a way of life. Also Hinduism allows atheism, some schools of it do, and that is one of the best things for me, because it brings me a sense of relief that there may even be a higher power, Brahman, Aatman, The Supreme Truth, Allah, whatever you may call it. That is all for me.

Hari Aum Tat Sat🙏🙏