My God Versus Your God?

"Religion has been at the forefront of controversy, hatred and wars throughout all of recorded history. And there is no issue that has been more contentious than the name of The Creator.

Each of the major religions has, at its very core, the fundamental concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator that is beyond the understanding of the limited minds of mankind.

Since these diverse cultures all agree that there is One Creator, a Creator whom we all honor, and whose ways we all strive to learn to live in harmony with, then isn't that a common bond that we should all share and celebrate?

Who can claim to know the "true" name of the That Which is beyond name and form? Is it even meaningful to try to name That Which is beyond name and form?

God, Khoda, Allah, Alaha, El, Elohim, Elat, Om, Jehova, Jah, Yahweh, Brahman, Ram, Krishna, Ahura Mazda, Tao... and many more, have all been used to refer to That Which is beyond name and form.

Nonetheless, words and names are only metaphors that we use to refer to something. The meaning is not inherent in the word, rather the meaning is something that is agreed upon. For example, each language has its own words for mother and father and for hot and cold... is it surprising then that each culture should have its own words to refer to the One?

(For Christians who find it difficult to say the name Allah, it may be helpful to note that in the Semitic language of Aramaic that Jesus probably spoke, the Aramaic name that is translated as God in the European bible was actually Alaha. Indeed, Allah of the Qur'an and Alaha of Jesus are the same One. The name God is a relatively new, and perhaps unfortunate, European invention that has been the source of much misunderstanding, fear and hatred.)

Throughout recorded history, the differences of mankind have been used as excuses for crusades, wars and hatred. Must every generation fall prey to the same old foolishness, or is it finally time for a new understanding, an understanding based on That Which we all share in common?

May we all learn to celebrate the glory of the Divine Flame that glows in the heart of all beings.

May we learn as one great nation of mankind to celebrate the glory of our Beloved rather than quarrel over our petty differences."

with love,

wahiduddin

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Spirituality has become far removed from material life, and so God is far removed from humanity. Therefore, one cannot any more conceive of God speaking through a man, through someone like oneself. Even a religious man who reads the Bible every day will have great difficulty in understanding the verse, 'Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' The Sufi message and its mission are to bring this truth to the consciousness of the world: that man can dive so deep within himself that he can touch the depths where he is united with the whole of life, with all souls, and that he can derive from that source harmony, beauty, peace and power.

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_1.htm


God speaks to everyone, not only to the messengers and teachers. He speaks to the ears of every heart, but it is not every heart which hears it. His voice is louder than the thunder, and His light is clearer than the sun -- if one could only see it, if one could only hear it. In order to see it and in order to hear it man should remove this wall, this barrier which he has made of the self. Then he becomes the flute upon which the divine Player may play the music of Orpheus which can charm even the hearts of stone; then he rises from the cross into the life everlasting.

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_22.htm