What is
"Religion"?
Any impartial mind making
a comparative study of the principal religion of the world in a sincere manner
is sure to come to the conclusion that the ultimate source of religion is God,
and that the newer religions can be traced to older ones and the older ones to
still older ones and so on.
The Vedas are the fountain
heads from which the stream of religious thought has flowed through the
channels of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. None can
deny the fact that the moral precepts and teachings of Buddhism have much in
common with those of Christianity. The Essence cult of Buddhism prevailed in
Palestine when Jesus Christ was born. In the same way, you can find parallels
in Judaism and Zoroastrianism, which were based on Hinduism. Islam is indebted
to both Judaism and Christianity. There is no discredit or disrespect to any
religion by accepting this historical fact.
On the contrary, it reveals
the golden chord of unity running through all. All relative knowledge must
naturally end in the realization of that Unity, and to realise that unity must
be the aim of all true religion. There are signs all over the world that
humanity is anxiously looking forward to a Universal religion, which embraces
all the special religions of the world - a unique system of religion as well as
a system of philosophy that is of universal character.
The following all
inclusive words of the Blessed Lord Krishna in Bhagawad Gita were not uttered
in vain:
"Whosoever comes to
me through whatsoever path, I reach him; all men are struggling in the paths
which ultimately lead to ME, the Eternal Truth."
(Courtesy: Excerpts from
Mr. Ramachandra's "Hinduism in a Nutshell")
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