Sarva Dharma Sambhav

Thursday, December 14, 2006 SARVA DHARMA SAMBHAV freinds let us now analyse some thoughts that are solemnly repeated as facts by everybody, the most oft repeated one is " ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUAL"let us analyse this statement scientifically as i am a adrent believer in Swami Vivekanandas to question things before accepting them. question comes from the word quest, so friends here begins our quest to find the truth in regards to the unwritten rules that have pervaded our lives.are all religions equal or are at least their basic tenets equal.i would analyse these tenets in light of scientific knowledge and would like to be corrected wherever i err (a small person like me would do that often). the first basic belief is that there is only one god, so how do our religions define it. lets start with Islam, the most modern religion (in terms of its birth). Islam believes that there is one god i.e. ALLAH and the last prophet MAHUMAD (pbuh) has shown the ultimate path and that rest all is farce. lets proceed to Christianity, the religion founded on the altar of the sacrifice of Lord CHRIST. Christianity believes that god is one and he forsake his only son to save humanity and that heaven is achievable only through him. Now let us analyse the Hindu thought in this regard. The old maxim of “ ekam sat vipra bahuda vedaanti” i.e. the truth is one the seers look at it differently. And that is not all hindus especially adwaitis proclaim “aham bramasmi” that they are Bhrama the creator themselves. According to science the sum total of energy from the day of creation of universe till today is the same, only forms have changed. We also believe that there exists a energy source called as Paramatma and that we are miniature representations of the same dive form which can revert back to the paramatma. So the god of HINDUS is us. 10:36:44 AM Posted By hindu icon Comments (1) Musings Comments K.Venugopal Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:14:02 PM Dear Hindu Icon, Hinduism is a culture that celebrates unity in diversity. It is inclusive in its character. Therefore a Hindu, imbibed in the ethos of Hindu culture, can accept Islam as also a path to God. There are individual religions or tendencies in Hindu culture that are as exclusive as Islam. But because of the depth and pervasiveness of the Advaitic ideal, Hindu culture is able to absorb all extremities and they merge into the Hindu ocean to become harmless expositions of quaint points of view. This cannot be matched by Islam. Therefore whatever Islam is, Hinduism is greater. Both are definitely not in the same league. Therefore I agree with your thesis. Shersingh Friday, December 15, 2006 7:50:15 PM Mr Venugopal, what you say is true upto a point, though I cannot accept that any one faith is greater or lesser than any other. But while acknowledging Hinduism's inclusive nature, you yourself at times display an intolerance towards other faiths. Why the dichotomy? K.Venugopal Saturday, December 16, 2006 9:21:20 AM Dear Shersingh, When I speak of Advaita I am not speaking of faith. Faiths are by definition the same, just the intensity being different from individual to individual. Advaita is an understanding you awake to and you begin to see in a different light. No faith is called for. I am intolerant only to dogmatism, by which I mean the placing of the word as more important than the spirit. Thanks for your comments.