Posted on: 01 Jan 2003
All the religions in the world are different feathers of the same bird i.e., different colors on the same God. There is only one God and there is only one universe. Similarly, man is also one. Man should aim for that one God. Man should belong to all the religions in the universe. He should pick up the diamonds of all religions and use them in his spiritual path. One can have love towards his nation. Every nation has some physical boundaries. All people living in that nation have that nationality. Thus, there is a meaning in the nationality because it has some physical basis. But in the case of religion and spirituality, there is no physical basis. Every religion belongs to every man. Therefore, in religious and spiritual matters all religions can be used. The Human Incarnation in every religion announces that He is the Universal Preacher. The message of Lord Krishna i.e., Bhagavad Gita, is for the entire world. The message of Lord Jesus i.e., the Bible, is for the entire world. The message of Mohammed is for the entire world. So there is no need for religious conversions.
In science, the discoveries and theories of Einstein are useful for the whole world. Similarly, every religious preaching is for everybody. Scientists belonging to different countries have made many discoveries and inventions. The field of science includes all the discoveries. If any discovery is removed from science, it becomes discontinuous. Similarly, spirituality consists of the preachings of preachers belonging to various countries. Spirituality must be built up by the preachings of all Human Incarnations such as Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Mahavira and others. Spirituality means the truth, like science. Different religions are following their respective preachers and they have put the essence of their scriptures into practice. This is how traditions are formed. Such traditional practices are comparable to the experimental part of science. The scriptures of different religions are comparable to the theoretical part of science. Scriptures of each religion are like different chapters in this theoretical part of spirituality. In science, a student does not discriminate between scientists based on their nationality. Similarly, in spirituality, one should not have repulsion or attraction to any scripture or tradition in the world.
Collecting the Jewels of Each Religion
Spirituality requires divine virtues, which are emphasized in various religions. The firm faith of Islam, the infinite love of Christianity, the tolerance of Hinduism towards other religions, the social service of Buddhism and the non-violence of Jainism are important virtues that a spiritual person must acquire. These are practical traditional aspects of various religions, which are more precious than their scriptures. These traditions bring out the most important essence of the respective scriptures.
Firm faith of Islam
One must praise the firm faith of a Muslim in God, which is accompanied with strict regularity and discipline. Other people worship God either in their leisure time or on a holiday. But a Muslim worships God everyday, whether it is a holiday or not. He worships God at regular intervals of time whether it is leisure time or work time. The faith in God and the importance given to God supercedes everything and every activity in his life. This aspect is a page in the book of spirituality.
Infinite love of Christianity
Another page in the book of spirituality is the tradition of Christianity, which is infinite love. Lord Jesus says in the Bible “The revenge is mine”. Christians love even their enemies and prove that their love is infinite. Love is God. God is infinite and so love is infinite. Such infinite love alone can attract God. The proof of love is in sacrifice through service. Christians sacrifice a lot of their money for spiritual work. Their love is so unlimited that they sacrifice money even to the spiritual centers of other religions. Even if some religion is opposing their religion, they fund the other religion. This shows their love even for their enemies. Their love for their family bonds is very weak. So the love remains stored in their hearts without much wastage. This concentrated love in their hearts flows entirely towards God and so they sacrifice a lot of their earnings for the work of God. Also, they do not store their wealth for their children, and they ask their children to earn and live on their own after a certain age. Thus, they are able to sacrifice their earnings for God without worrying about saving for future generations.
Tolerance of Hinduism
Hinduism should be another page in the book of spirituality. The house of every Hindu contains pictures of different forms of God. At the same time, Hindus see only one God (Parabrahma) in all those forms of God. They treat the different forms of God as different dresses worn by the same Divine Actor. This indicates that there is only one God for the entire world and Lord Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and Mahavir are only different dresses of the same God. This understanding brings about, not just tolerance of other religions, but also the brotherhood of all human beings in the world.
Social service of Buddhism
Another page in the book of spirituality must be Buddhism. Buddha kept silent about God because the Veda says that God is beyond even imagination. Buddha’s silence about God is often misunderstood as atheism. He concentrated on the society, which represents the entire universe. All human beings in this universe must be uplifted through the right knowledge. Buddha means knowledge. Any Incarnation of God carries out this same work in the world.
Non-violence of Jainism
Jainism is another page. Jains believe in non-violence and non-harming of living beings. They do not kill living beings even for food. The highest justice (Dharma) is non-violence (Ahimsa). God has given life to all living beings. What right do you have to kill and eat other beings? Only if a living being or even a human being disturbs the peace and justice in human society, can the killing of that living being or person be considered. The Lord Himself killed evil people since they harmed society. However, killing a living being, which does not harm you in any way, is the highest sin. God has given sufficient vegetarian food to feed everyone. In fact, science proves today that non-vegetarian food is not even good for health.
Religions are rivers but spirituality is the ocean
Similarly, there are many more precious traditions of other religions, which should be copied on different pages of the book of spirituality. This book should be just like a book of science. Spirituality is the most important practical field necessary to achieve the grace of God. Spirituality must also be a universal subject like science. Nations may have physical boundaries but spirituality has none. Spirituality is the single ocean in which all the rivers of different religions mix and become one. Every human being in this world must enter this ocean through a river and settle there as a fish of the infinite ocean. Man should not end his journey while he is still in the river of his own religion. He should follow the journey through the river up to the very end, where he can find the boundless ocean. Unfortunately, today man is not flowing along with the river of his religion to merge with the ocean. In doing so he is becoming stagnant as a river-fish, who refuses to swim to the ocean.