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Vedanta says that all
religions contain within themselves the same essential truth
From: "jagbir singh" <adishakti_org@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:31 pm
Subject: Vedanta says that all religions contain within
themselves the same essential truth
> >
> >
> > Dear Semira,
> >
> > Definitely and without question the Divine Message will
triumph
> > over the organization itself. In future more and more
people will
> > embrace its central message of evolving into the eternal
spirit
> > that all religions, holy scriptures and prophets have
since time
> > immemorial upheld. The Divine Message is a spiritual
sanctuary, a
> > beacon of hope, joy, peace of eternal life to all
humans. The
> > Shakti/Holy Spirit/Ruh/Aykaa Mayee is the Divine
Feminine that
> > gives Self-realization/Birth of Spirit/Baptism of
Allah/Opens
> > Dasam Dwar for humanity to enter the Sahasrara/Kingdom
of
> > God/Niche of lights/Inner Sanctuary within where
Brahman/God
> > Almighty/Allah/ Waheguru resides as THE LIGHT. Semira,
not only
> > the current Sahaja Yoga organisation but all religious
> > organizations as well have merely been intended as
temporary
> > vehicles and starting points for the Divine Message.
> >
> > jagbir
> >
> >
>
> i would like to add that the Shakti/Holy Spirit/Ruh/Aykaa
Mayee is
> not really an intellectual premise but a faith experience
of the
> Divine Message. Immediately after the Divine Feminine
gives Self-
> realization/Birth of Spirit/Baptism of Allah/Opens Dasam
Dwar the
> seeker will feel the Cool Breeze, the Ruach or Breath of
God,
> flowing rom his/her hands and head. The Holy Spirit is
indeed a
> daily experience of His Breath for the rest of your life.
The
> Divine Message is a spiritual sanctuary, a beacon of hope,
joy,
> peace of eternal life to all humans.
>
> "So we must know that it's a new explosion. That's why I
call it
> Blossom Time, that we are definitely spiritual people. We
have got
> spirituality and that the Divine is working. So the Kali
Yuga is
> finishing. Now it is the Krita Yuga ...
>
> Krita Yuga means at the Time when this All-Pervading Power
has
> started acting. Nobody felt the Cool Vibrations. Can you
believe
> that? It was never related to any science. It was never
related to
> physical science especially. So I must say the achievement
of
> Sahaja Yoga is tremendous ... The All-Pervading Power
has started
> acting as I am on Earth!" (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi)
>
> Just a handful of humanity is stirring to the faintest of
Light
> discernible at the earliest breaking of the Divine Dawn.
They are
> the SYs who daily experience His breath flowing through
their hands
> and head, and meditate on His Spirit within. They truly
understand
> that the Shakti/Holy Spirit/Ruh/Aykaa Mayee is not really
an
> intellectual premise but a faith experience of the
Resurrection and
> Last Judgment. All religious organizations have merely
been
> intended as temporary vehicles and starting points for the
Divine
> Message, the collective culmination of God's Plan for
humanity.
>
> jagbir
>
>
Harmony of Religions
"Truth is one; sages call it by various names," the Rig
Veda, one of
Vedanta's most ancient texts, declared thousands of years
ago.
We are all seeking the truth, Vedanta asserts, and that
truth comes
in numerous names and forms. Truth—spiritual reality—remains
the
truth though it appears in different guises and approaches
us from
various directions. "Whatever path people travel is My
path," says
the Bhagavad Gita. "No matter where they walk, it leads to
Me."
If all religions are true, then what is all the fighting
about?
Politics, mostly, and the distortions that cultures and
limited human
minds superimpose upon spiritual reality. What is generally
considered "religion" is a mixture of essentials and
nonessentials;
as Ramakrishna said, all scriptures contain a mixture of
sand and
sugar. We need to take out the sugar and leave the sand
behind: we
should extract the essence of religion—whether we call it
union with
God or Self-realization—and leave the rest behind. Whatever
helps us
to manifest our divinity we embrace; whatever pulls us away
from that
ideal, we avoid.
The carnage inflicted upon the world in the name of religion
has
precious little to do with genuine religion. People fight
over
doctrine and dogma: we don't see people being murdered over
attaining
divine union! A "religious war" is really large-scale
egotism gone
berserk. As Swami Prabhavananda, the founder of the Vedanta
Society
of Southern California, would smilingly say, "If you put
Jesus,
Buddha, and Muhammad in the same room together, they will
embrace
each other. If you put their followers together, they may
kill each
other!"
Truth is one, but it comes filtered through the limited
human mind.
That mind lives in a particular culture, has its own
experience of
the world and lives at a particular point in history. The
infinite
Reality is thus processed through the limitations of space,
time,
causation, and is further processed through the confines of
human
understanding and language. Manifestations of
truth—scriptures,
sages, and prophets—will necessarily vary from age to age
and from
culture to culture. Light, when put through a prism, appears
in
various colors when observed from different angles. But the
light
always remains the same pure light. The same is true with
spiritual
truth.
This is not to say that all religions are "really pretty
much the
same." That is an affront to the distinct beauty and
individual
greatness of each of the world's spiritual traditions.
Saying that
every religion is equally true and authentic doesn't mean
that one
can be substituted for the other like generic brands of
aspirin.
Every Religion Has a Gift
Every religion has a specific gift to offer humankind; every
religion
brings with it a unique viewpoint which enriches the world.
Christianity stresses love and sacrifice; Judaism, the value
of
spiritual wisdom and tradition. Islam emphasizes universal
brotherhood and equality while Buddhism advocates compassion
and
mindfulness. The Native American tradition teaches reverence
for the
earth and the natural world surrounding us. Vedanta or the
Hindu
tradition stresses the oneness of existence and the need for
direct
mystical experience.
The world's spiritual traditions are like different pieces
in a giant
jigsaw puzzle: each piece is different and each piece is
essential to
complete the whole picture. Each piece is to be honored and
respected
while holding firm to our own particular piece of the
puzzle. We can
deepen our own spirituality and learn about our own
tradition by
studying other faiths. Just as importantly, by studying our
own
tradition well, we are better able to appreciate the truth
in other
traditions.
Deepening in Our Path
Just as we honor the various world religions and respect
their
adherents, we must grow and deepen in our own particular
spiritual
path—whatever it may be. We shouldn't dabble in a little
bit of
Buddhism and a little bit of Islam and a little bit of
Christianity
and then try a new combo plate the following week. Spiritual
practice
is not a smorgasbord. If we throw five varieties of desserts
into a
food processor, we'll just get one unpalatable mess.
While Vedanta emphasizes the harmony of religions, it also
stresses
the necessity of diving deep into the spiritual tradition of
our
choice, sticking with it, and working hard. To paraphrase
Ramakrishna, If you want to dig a well, you have to choose
your
location and keep digging until you reach water. It doesn't
do any
good to dig a bunch of shallow holes.
While a shallow spiritual life is probably better than no
spiritual
life at all, it nevertheless doesn't take us where we want
to go: to
freedom, to God-realization. Once we choose which spiritual
path we
wish to follow, we should doggedly pursue it until we reach
the goal.
The point is, we can do this while not only valuing other
traditions,
but also learning from them.
Different Paths to the Same Goal
Vedanta says that all religions contain within themselves
the same
essential truths, although the packaging is different. And
that is
good. Every human being on the planet is unique. Not one of
us really
practices the same religion. Every person's mind is
different and
every person needs his or her own unique path to reach the
top of the
mountain. Some paths are narrow, some are broad. Some are
winding and
difficult and some are safe and dull. Eventually we'll all
get to the
top of the mountain; we don't have to worry about our
neighbors
getting lost along the way. They'll do just fine. We all
need
different approaches to fit our different natures.
Despite external variations in the world religions, the
internals are
more alike than not. Every religion teaches similar moral
and ethical
virtues; all religions teach the importance of spiritual
striving and
the necessity of honoring our fellow human beings as part of
that
striving.
"As different streams having their sources in different
places all
mingle their water in the sea," says an ancient Sanskrit
prayer, "so,
O Lord, the different paths which people take through
different
tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight,
all lead
to Thee."
Harmony of Religions
www.vedanta.org
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