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teufelfisch

-- from The Sayings of Ramakrishna
New York: The Vedanta Society, 1903

God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with wholehearted devotion. One may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise. It will taste sweet either way.

As one and the same material, water, is called by different names by different peoples, one calling it water, another eau, a third aqua, and another pani, so the one Everlasting-Intelligent-Bliss is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by some as Jehovah, and by others as Brahman. As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or rope, so diverse are the ways and means to approach God, and every religion in the world shows one of these ways. As the young wife in a family shows her love and respect to her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and every other member of the family, and at the same time loves her husband more than these; similarly, being firm in thy devotion to the deity of thy choice, do not despise other deities, but honour them all.

Bow down and worship where others kneel, for where so many have been paying the tribute of adoration the kind Lord must manifest himself, for he is all mercy.

The devotee who has seen God in one aspect only, knows him in that aspect alone. But he who has seen him in manifold aspects is alone in a position to say, "All these forms are of one God and God is multiform." He is formless and with form, and many are his forms which no one knows.

The Saviour is the messenger of God. He is like the viceroy of a mighty monarch. As when there is some disturbance in a far-off province, the king sends his viceroy to quell it, so wherever there is a decline of religion in any part of the world, God sends his Saviour there. It is one and the same Saviour that, having plunged into the ocean of life, rises up in one place and is known as Krishna, and diving down again rises in another place and is known as Christ.

Every man whould follow his own religion. A Christian should follow Christianity, a Muslim should follow Islam, and so on. For the Hindus the ancient path, the path of the Aryan sages, is the best.

People partition off their lands by means of boundaries, but no one can partition off the all-embracing sky overhead. The indivisible sky surrounds all and includes all. So common man in ignorance says, "My religion is the only one, my religion is the best." But when his heart is illumined by true knowledge, he knows that above all these wars of sects and sectarians presides the one indivisible, eternal, all-knowing bliss.

As a mother, in nursing her sick children, gives rice and curry to one, and sago arrowroot to another, and bread and butter to a third, so the Lord has laid out different paths for different men suitable to their natures.

Dispute not. As you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also the equal liberty to stand by their own faiths and opinions. By mere disputation you will never succeed in convincing another of his error. When the grace of God descends on him, each one will understand his own mistakes.

There was a man who worshipped Shiva but hated all other deities. One day Shiva appeared to him and said, "I shall never be pleased with thee so long as thou hatest the other gods." But the man was inexorable. After a few days Shiva again appeared to him and said, "I shall never be pleased with thee so long as thou hatest." The man kept silent. After a few days Shiva again appeared to him. This time one side of his body was that of Shiva, and the other side that of Vishnu. The man was half pleased and half displeased. He laid his offerings on the side representing Shiva, and did not offer anything to the side representing Vishnu. Then Shiva said, "Thy bigotry is inconquerable. I, by assuming this dual aspect, tried to convince thee that all gods and goddesses are but various aspects of the one Absolute Brahman."

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Logos

That was beautiful. The part of religion that never made sense to me was that there is only one right path.

This is the third time this week I have found myself presented with this concept.

This is for the one two war of over who's god is the right one can it be the asian one? The black one, or the white one? The answer to the question really isn't contreversal there is only one God and his love is universal! --Everlast (Whitey Ford)

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The more I learn, the less I know.
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True religion is real living, living with all one's soul, with all ones goodness and righteousness. --Albert Einstein

teufelfisch

I hear you on that. My religion/spirituality has evolved from a blend of Methodist Christianity, Taoism, Hinduism, Indigenous religions, and my own strange ponderings.

With this in mind, the part of the article I'm not so sure I agree with is the idea that everyone should follow the religion to which they were first introduced. I was raised a Methodist. While this has been a very strong influence in my beliefs, there are parts of other religions that I also agree with and have picked from. Naturally, I feel that each individual should be able to make sense of things for him or herself.

I never understood why people kill each other over their beliefs-- especially Muslims and Christians. People forget that both of these religions evolved from Judaism, and Allah is one and the same as God as Yahweh. Stupid, stupid, society. Learn to accept, people! The other guy might have something you can learn from!

"you must spread some reputation around before giving it to logos again"