All Are God Given And True
I believe in the fundamental
Truth of all great religions of the world. And I believe that if only we could,
all of us, read the scriptures of the different Faiths from the stand-point of
the followers of those faiths, we should find that they were at the bottom, all
one and were all helpful to one another. Belief in one God is the cornerstone
of all religions. But I do not foresee a time when there would be only one
religion on earth in practice. In theory, since there is one God, there can be
only one religion. The one religion is beyond all speech. Imperfect men put it
into such language as they can command, and their words are interpreted by
other men equally imperfect. Hence the necessity for tolerance, which does not
mean indifference towards one's own Faith, but a more intelligent and pure love
for it.
If were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after Truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe even in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after Truth and if today it has become moribund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued and as soon as the fatigue is over Hinduism will burst forth upon the world with a brilliance perhaps unknown before. Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions. Its creed is all embracing. Hinduism tells every one to worship God according to his own Faith or Dharma and so it lives at peace with all the religions.
The Buddha's Contribution To
Humanity
God's Laws are eternal and
unalterable and not separable from God Himself. The Buddha disbelieved in God
and simply believed in Moral Law. Great as Buddha's contribution to humanity
was, in restoring God to His Eternal place, in my humble opinion, greater still
was his contribution to humanity in his exacting regard of all life, be it ever
so low.
The Message Of Jesus
What does Jesus mean to me ? To
me, He was one of the greatest teachers, humanity has ever had. To his
believers, he was God's only begotten Son. There is one thing which came to me
in my early studies of the Bible. It seized me immediately. I read the passage:
'Make this world the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and everything will
be added unto you'. I tell you that if you will understand, appreciate and act
up to the spirit of this passage, you would not even need to know what place
Jesus or any other teacher occupies in your heart. If you will... clean and
purify your hearts and get them ready, you will find that all these mighty
Teachers will take their places without invitation from us. That, to my mind,
is the basis of all sound education. Culture of mind must be subservient to the
culture of the heart. May God help you to become pure.
The Distinctive Contribution Of
Islam
Islam's distinctive contribution
to India's National Culture is its unadulterated belief in the Oneness of God
and a practical application of the truth of the Brotherhood of Man for those
who are nominally within its fold.
Real Religion Transcends All
These Religions
Religion should pervade every one
of our actions. Here religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief in
ordered moral government of the universe. It is not less real because it is
unseen. This religion transcends Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc. It does
not supersede them. It harmonises them and gives them reality.
Religion Should Be Based On
Humanity
Religion is to morality what
water is to the seed that is sown in the soil. Just as the seed is choked under
the earth when it is not duly watered, so too the morality which is devoid of
the fertilising influence of religion gets thin and dry and is ultimately
destroyed. In other words, morality divorced from religion would be an empty
thing. There is no religion higher than Truth and Righteousness. If we commit
sins with the name of God on our lips, can we hope to win the grace of God ?
Suppose one man admits the existence of God, but lives a life of falsehood and
immorality, while another knows not the name of God but lives a life of truth
and virtue, can there be any doubt as to which should be regarded truly
religious as well as moral?
All Worship The Same Spirit
The Allah of Islam is the same as
the God of Christians and the Ishwara of Hindus. Even as there are numerous
names of God in Hinduism, there are many names of God in Islam. The names do
not indicate individuality but attributes, and little man has tried in his
humble way to describe mighty God by giving Him attributes, though He is above
all attributes, Indescribable, Immeasurable. Living faith in his God means
acceptance of the brotherhood of mankind. It also means equal respect for all
religions. It would be height of intolerance...to believe that your religion is
superior to other religions and that you would be justified in wanting others
to change over to your faith. All worship the same Spirit but as all forms do
not agree with all, all names do not appeal to all. Each chooses the name
according to his associations and He being the Indweller, All-powerful and
Omniscient, knows: our innermost feelings and responds to us according to our
hearts.
Man's Conception Of God Is
Limited By His Mind
Man can only conceive God within
the limitations of his own mind. What matters then whether one man worships God
as Person and another as Force? Both do right according to their lights. None
knows and perhaps never will know what is the absolutely proper way to pray.
One need only remember that God is the Force among all the Forces. All other
Forces are material. But God is the Vital Force or Spirit which is
all-pervading, all-embracing and therefore beyond human ken.
One Spirit, Many Forms
The need of the moment is not One
Religion, but mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of the different
religions. We want to reach not the dead level, but unity in diversity. The
Soul of religion is One but it is encased a multitude of forms. Truth is the
exclusive property of no single scriptures. The forms are many, but the
informing Spirit is one. How can there be room for distinctions of high and low
where there is this all embracing, fundamental unity underlying the outward
diversity? For that is a fact meeting you at every step in daily life. The
final goal of all religions is to realise this essential oneness. Hindu Dharma
is like a boundless ocean teeming with priceless gems. The deeper you dive the
more absolutely proper way to pray. One need only remember that God is the
Force among all the Forces. All other Forces are material. But God is the Vital
Force or Spirit which treasures you find. In Hindu religion God is known
various names. I have accepted all the names and forms attributed to God, as
symbols connoting one Formless Omnipresent Rama. To me, therefore, Rama
described as the Lord of Sita, son of Dasharatha, is the All-powerful Essence
whose name, inscribed in the heart, removes all suffering, mental, moral and
physical.
The Spirit Behind Image-Worship
I value the spirit behind
idol-worship. It plays a most important part in the uplift of the human race. I
break down the subtle form of idolatry in the shape of fanaticism that refuses
to see any virtue in any other form of worshipping the Deity save one's own. Proper
worship is not image-worship; it is the worship of God in the image.
A Mantra Of Universal
Significance
If only the first verse in the
Ishopanishad were left intact in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live
for ever .... The verse means that all that there is in this universe great or
smal1, including the tiniest atom, is pervaded by God, known as Creator or
Lord. Isha means the ruler, and He who is the Creator naturally by very fight
becomes the Ruler too. (Enjoy that which He gives. Do not covet the riches of
anybody.)...
The truth that is embedded in
this very short Mantra is calculated to satisfy the highest cravings of every
human being whether they have reference to this world or to the next. If it is
Universal Brotherhood, not only brotherhood of all human beings, but of all
living beings, I find it in this Mantra. This Mantra tells me that I cannot
hold as mine, anything that belongs to God and if my life and that of all who
believe in this Mantra has to be a life of perfect dedication, it follows that
it will have to be all who believe in this Mantra, has to be a life of
continual service of our fellow creatures. The Gita and forgot all its
contents, but had a copy of the Sermon, I should derive the same joy from it as
I do from the Gita.
The Gita Has Ever Been My Light
And Hope
I must confess to you that when
doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me m the face, and when I see no
one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagawad-Gita and find a verse
to comfort me and immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming
sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left
any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teaching of the
Bhagawad-Gita. Let the Gita be to you a mine of diamonds, as it has been to me.
Let it be your constant guide and friend on life's way. Let it light your path
and dignify your labour. Broad Religious Toleration will Break The Barriers And
Lead To Peace. Tolerance gives us spiritual insight, which is as far from
fanaticism as the North Pole from the South. True knowledge of religion breaks
down the barriers between Faith and Faith. Cultivation of tolerance for other
Faiths will impart to us a true understanding of our own. Tolerance obviously
does not disturb the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil. The
golden rule of conduct ... is mutual toleration, seeing that we will never all
think alike and we shall always see Truth in fragment and from different angles
of vision. Even amongst the most conscientious persons, there will be room
enough for honest differences of opinion. The only possible rule of conduct in
any civilised society is, therefore, mutual toleration.
Source: Light of India or Message
of Mahatmaji by M. S. Deshpande