One God : basic truth of all faiths

25 December 1985, Christmas, Brindavan

Professor Kasturi's English.

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Journey to the Divine The Culture which laid emphasis on the four (the basic aims of life - , , , and ), looked upon life as a journey to the Divine - the attainment of (Liberation). But how can men caught up in the quest for wealth and sensuous pleasures develop the desire for ? Man today makes no attempt to discover his true nature or his real destiny. Forgetting the great truths given to the world by sages and seers, men are leading utterly meaningless lives, unaware of the potentiality of the human to become the Divine.

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There is, for instance, the simple gesture of folding hands when one greets another in offering "." What is the inner significance of this gesture? For one thing, the coming together of the two palms is a demonstration of the unity that subsumes the multiplicity. For another, it represents the offering of the five sense organs and the five organs of action to the Lord as an act of surrender. The Muslims use the term as form of greeting. What does the word mean? "" refers to "", the Lord who is the embodiment of Truth, Awareness mad Bliss (); " " means " " (mergence). means merging in the Supreme who is also the embodiment of Truth and Bliss. The Christians also have similar expressions for indicating submission to the Divine.

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The Basic Truth All faiths have emphasized one common factor - that there is only One God and Truth is His form. There are no differences between , Muslims and Christians on this basic concept. All religions, all scriptures, all spiritual teachings point only to one truth - the unity of Divinity. Instead of realising this, men are lost in wrong paths.

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When Jesus was addressing the Jews, an ethereal voice declared: "All lives are one, my dear Son. Be alike to everyone." When Jesus was being crucified, the same ethereal voice declared that the human body is only a vesture for the Spirit. The body is subject to constant change. But the indwelling Spirit is immoral. This was the truth proclaimed by when it said: "The body is a temple in which the Eternal Spirit resides as the Indweller." The inner meaning of this is that wherever you may go, the Eternal Spirit remains with you. You must regard the body as the temple of the Spirit; bear in mind that Divinity is ever within you. Only when you realise this truth can you begin to experience the Divine.

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Do not decry other religious faiths Whether in Hinduism or Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism, Christianity or Islam, Divinity is One and ONE ONLY. Those who profess great love for their particular religion are indulging in make-believe when they assume that their religion is superior to that of others. regard Hinduism as the greatest religion. Wherein lies its greatness? If you declare that the God of all religions is One, why claim superiority for Hinduism and decry other religions? Does that bespeak your love for Hinduism? This applies also to those professing Christianity. They say: "We are Christians. We believe in the unique divinity of Jesus. There is no other divine Saviour." One may claim that Jesus is Divine. But is he entitled to deride other religions? No religion should allow decrying of other faiths. It is not a religion at all that cavils at other religions. It is a form of arrogance. The great saints who worshipped Christ or or or were inspired by their profound teachings. But how many of the followers of these faiths live up to these teachings today? If the teachings of the Founder of a religion are not followed, can it be called a religion? Those who, in the name of religion, further their selfish interests are bringing discredit on the founder of the religion.

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The first thing to be learnt is that THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD. Men may be different in form and name and colour and their country and historical circumstances may vary. But, God has no such differences. Hence, you should not cavil at any religion or attack it or deride it. You may profess whatever faith you like. But, you should not disparage another's beliefs. It is a travesty of devotion. says in the that the mark of a true devotee is absence of illwill towards anyone (). We must respect the divine that is in every creature.

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Religious intolerance It is a characteristic of the Age that one religion is pitted against another. This only reveals the small-mindedness of the followers and is not the fault of the founders. It stems from envious intolerance and egoistic conceit. These afflictions prevent one from understanding his own religion, while condemning that of others. No one should cast aspersions on the deities or founders of other faiths. All of them are worthy of worship. It is narrow-minded pettiness to say Jesus is great and or is small or vice versa. Such misguided propaganda is puerile and demeaning. It is not an index of true devotion. It is a kind of mental aberration.

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We are all aware of the kind of selfless service which birds, animals and trees are rendering to man. But we see many men who out of selfishness are not only ungrateful to their community, their parents and their , but even to God. Such persons can never come to anything good. They do not realise the truth of the saying, "As you sow, so shall you reap." If you have good thoughts and do good deeds, they multiply like good seeds sown in a well-manured field. But if you fill your heart with bad feelings, bad thoughts will multiply many-fold.

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The meaning of true devotion You must make continuous effort to cultivate your heart on right lines. and are considered important for this purpose. But these disciplines are not easy to practise. , the path of devotion, is superior to these. The devotee seeks to enjoy the bliss of continuous contemplation of the Divine and does not even desire mergence in the Divine.

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Good company takes one near to God In the , we see that by his association with , , the brother of , was transformed into a devotee of the Lord. On the other hand, , because of the influences of the evil-minded , brought infamy and widowhood upon herself and estranged herself from her noble son .

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In the , we have the example of , who had to endure many difficulties and humiliations because of indulgence in gambling with dice during a brief association with the wicked . Association with the evil-minded can lead to endless troubles. Pay any price to avoid the company of the bad. Pay any price to acquire the company of the good. The company of the good takes you near to God. makes you dear to the Lord. When you are near and dear you become one with God. When you have realised God, you have secured everything. Without God, everything else is valueless.

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Jesus's vital message to mankind In the , came to establish the reign of and (Truth and Righteousness). In the , came with the mission to promote and (Love and Peace). In the (the present ), , , , and are the purposes of the Divine Mission. Hence you must make these four the guiding principles of your life. When you adhere to these four principles, (Non-violence) issues as a natural result. There is no use in merely invoking the name of Jesus and praying to Him without regard to His most vital message: "God is in everyone. Do not revile anyone. Do not cause harm to anyone." This was Jesus's greatest message.

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